Put away your pitchforks this is just an idea. I was thinking that maybe it would be cool if Oasis was changed a bit, instead of having a dead zone in the center of the map… or worse the current Oasis event each hour… why not make Oasis the Stonemist Castle of the desert borderlands?
It could be a large castle. I’m not entirely opposed to the laser idea, however it needs some changes. Perhaps rather than zerging over it every few hours to charge a laser that will completely level the map, maybe it could have a powerful effect that’s a reward for holding say 3 charging substations that are nearby (possibly underground with basically a cell tower above) for a period of time. Each of these three substations would need to be defensible outposts….like a fully upgraded camp with the extra security. When your team controls a substation, the tower above would send a continuous beam of light (of your teams color) to the top of the Oasis Castle, where it would charge the laser. If you controlled only 1 shrine, it’d take something like 3 hours to charge. If you controlled 2, 2 hours, and if you control all 3 then it’d charge in an hour. Timing of course could be changed through testing.
I’d suggest not having swords pop on the substations..but rather have a sentry be part of the guard… I would change all sentries so that once the sentry is dead, or you are stealthed the orange marker on the map disappears. If he can’t see you he can’t reveal you basically.
Once the laser is charged, someone could go to the top of the tower and go to a control panel to control the laser. Activating that panel would bring up a map of the borderland. Any person revealed by a sentry would show up as an orange dot. Otherwise you’re counting on your team/commander to give you directions as to where to fire (I.e… north door of the air keep, or if someone pings the minimap it shows up on this map).
The laser would have 3 charges you could fire anywhere on the map. Each of these charges would be enough to fully bring down a tier one door (it wouldn’t damage things or characters that belong to your team). If you concentrated all 3 charges on a tier 3 door, it would bring that door down. It would also destroy siege (unless your shield generator is on at the right time), and do massive damage to enemies. If your team was in the fire keep fighting the lord and got jumped by a huge zerg of the other team, if the laser has charges you could focus the beam in the lords room (perhaps on the commander tag) and devastate both the lord and the other team. Similarly if the commander is fighting a zerg out in the open… fire where he/she instructs to help turn the tide of the fight. Just remember, you have a very limited number of charges. The number of charges could be adjusted based on testing.
Also, the oasis castle would be worth ppt similar to smc… so it would be worthwhile to hold from that perspective. It’d be very difficult to keep both opposing teams out of both the substations and the tower. I think the substations would be best kept underground as they should not be places to siege other towers from. That said the Oasis castle should be out of range from the other towers… if you want to assault it…actually assault it.
Just an idea.