I did not know combatglue had commented on this.
Thanks for the valuable information.
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Wanting interesting/novel items and wanting those items to be thoughtfully balanced arenāt mutually exclusive concepts. Itās about the nuances. Iām not sure what more there is to say.
For the record, I actually thought that a molotov nerf was necessary but the molotov nerf we got was too far. In my opinion, it would have been better kept as a fire accident that uniquely voids SA if the body is found instead of simply making it another one of many impact explosive devices, but I wasnāt a part of that discussion when it was still taking place.
My personal thought about the oil canister is āletās play the players as they wantā.
For a while, the oil canister was requested to be used on the main missions. Now that in the coming weeks, weāll get the opportunity to use it, some talks have arisen. I do understand the worries, but we are talking about a game that is, at first, a solo game.
By definition, Hitman game is about creativity and replayability. The oil canister is ājustā another way to achieve the mission. You get no obligation to play with it. And itās still possible to play the game with your own rules (hide all bodies, no KO, no guns,ā¦ whatsoever). How other players are playing the game doesnāt matter for me.
For speedrunning? Iām not a speedrunner, so Iām not an expert to talk about it, I know. But when Iām watching speedrun videos, I do not think that oil canister would be a game changer. So, at first stance, the introduction of oil canister would not modify the speedrun strategies. If it is indeed the case, correct me if Iām wrong.
For ET? With the items already present (like the fart case or the sick pistol), the introduction of the oil canister would not change much the story.
For Contracts? Oil canister probably would probably break some puzzle contracts. I do understant this point.
I donāt think the oil canister will break the game:
- Fire accident requires the drop of oil (which is illegal) and a lighter (gun or taser).
- Explosive accident needs the canister and a trigger (gun or explosive).
- When compared to the E-phone (allows an accident kill and is legal to drop), the oil canister must be combined with another one to work properly, diminishing its impact.
- Other powerful items are also present (fart case, sick gunā¦) and isolate targets.
Oil canister introduces new game mechanics (puddle of oil, can be used to neutralize, explosion). Itās time to enjoy them in the main game.
The E-phone was already removed in the past because it was too OP. Is oil canister the same situation as E-phone? I donāt think so!
On a last note, IOI has nerfed the molotov cocktail by removing the accident āstatusā. Personally, thatās something they could do with the E-phone (remove the āaccidentā kill of it).
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I only just realised - the date the oil canister goes live is October 14th. Which is a Monday.
Thatās quite an odd day for them to have something new going live. Its always been towards the end of the weekā¦ Wonder if that date is just an error? 
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I know, you canāt win can you. If thatās the stance, then keep it Freelancer exclusive because we donāt want it nerfing for that mode as well 
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Better idea: letās make it NOT the stance!
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But it could change the meta! Do you even grasp the gravity of this situation!?
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My guess is that the canister will behave like the molotov in that it will be a non accident fire kill, which in turn will make that feature completely worthless, and the explosive element will probably be nerfed in the next patch if it wasnāt nerfed already.
I have absolutely zero faith in this item and have no intention of using it until the next patch is released. Whatās the point of using an item that you know itās gonna be nerfed. Just the fact that this conversation is being had probably means that the poor canisterās fate is already sealed.
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I kind of agree with @Guillermo_Murillo as bleak as the idea of actively being cynical about new unlocks sounds thereās a pattern of this:
-IO releases a new item into the game (the Lancer, the Molotov, the phone, the canister)
-This upsets the meta and the working order of things, annoying veteran players
-IO decides to listen to these people and overnerf the thing into the ground
-The item becomes a useless paperweight
-They go back to giving us reskins instead
Like hereās the thing thereās a ton of things already in the game that mess with the leaderboards, on PC the top ten is cheated runs. The Kalmer glitch is already banned on Speedrun.com, which is way more useful than almost all of these unlocks in their prime. Now does this mean I think Kalmer glitch is bad and the weapons are fine? Not necessarily, but what Iām saying is that the community already self-polices its leaderboards so how is banning a weapon not possible like banning a glitch?
Ironically while communication is a big criticism IO has been getting, theyre actually super intentive to what Hitman fans ask and since this conversation has happened there will probably be a plan to nerf the oil canister because they DO listen. IOI deserve some credit for not being constructive with their nerfs, I dont think theyve ever buffed an item except for making the Kalmer an accident KO. Hitman fans are their own worst enemy tho: they actively hate anything fun
I wonder, pray tell, if in an alternate universe disguises werenāt in any of the previous games and were instead added in a post-launch update for this game would the Forum campaign for their removal? Because you can make similar arguments: theyāre too useful, any playstyle that uses them will lead to less effort for higher reward than suit only, they mess with the established order of things and make it so you can kill targets than you would be able to earlier without them
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Breaching charges and concussion devices will have you covered there.
You cannot do that with a propane tank either really without worrying someone else will trip it? I also donāt think this would be a bad thing as knowing where your target is going to be and planning in advance is still more in-tune with Hitman than the more likely use-case of dropping one by their feet with a breaching charge or shooting it once from a more hidden spot for an easy kill.
I donāt think itās hypocritical to have a balanced and nuanced stance. Just because people want interesting new items doesnāt mean they want the ICA Tactical Nuke or Lethal Dart Gun.
Now personally Iād rather have the item and it be OP than not have it at all or it be nerfed as overzealously as items have been in the past, and I felt the same with the molotov. I can simply not use it if I donāt want to given itās a sandbox game. But I donāt think critiquing putting too much power into just one item is a bad thing.
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The problem with the oil can is itās too fun and thatās just not what speedrunners come to the game to have
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I am all for fun and I still want it to be balanced in regards to the accident explosion aspect. Iāve explained already why I donāt think this aspect is even offering anything uniquely fun. You can have more fun with a propane. This would be the most boring way to get an accident explosion possible.
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Depends on the target really, if theyāre smoking somewhere isolated (or if you drop a micro taser near the propane) and there are no people around them when the propane blows up thereās no need to worry. Itās still my default option for the Broker for example, since his random spawn makes him annoying to deal with otherwise.
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Right, well with the broker you could probably do that with the oil pouring part of the oil can too. Could also set it up with the accident explosion aspect with a micro explosive on the other side of the canister. But yeah, for smoking targets specifically, nothing quite as simple as āthrow and forgetā. But smoking targets are somewhat minimal and require actually investigating the NPC and their route. I have no problem with easy solutions as a result of prior knowledge gathering.
But really you can get the Broker much faster by swinging by him with a breacher and propane or oil canister in-hand now. I just wish you had to at least have the prior knowledge of how to grab a propane for such an easy method.
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I dunno about that since the propane throwing eliminates the need to have to find him, which is probably the main problem of that ET. You can just grab some propane from the basement, throw it at his usual smoking spot, and go get the egg while he goes wherever. Thatās kinda harder with the canister since you need to chain a proxy micro explosive into it (with a breaching charge heāll probably spot it, and you canāt really know when heāll be near the canister) without him getting KOād by it.
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Interesting roadmap with some brand new stuff 
Looking forward to make some content, cya soon 
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Kind of surprised I havenāt seen anyone mention this (maybe they have, I donāt know) but now that the roadmap has started, other than the Drop itself, we have nothing to do until October 14th now. I played the Elusive Target, and the Arcade contracts, but thereās nothing else new until the Drop is done on the 14th. 
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It was kinda the same with the Undying and the Disruptor tbh. A big focus on the ET and aside from that a few unlocks and FCs once a month or so (I donāt really consider ET reruns as new content).
Personally Iām not particularly complaining, I have other games to play and itās nice to still be getting FCs (even if the latest batch wasnāt exactly a great one).
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You shouldnāt have played it this soon.
But you can replay him via the Arcade till next content drop (pun haha).
Have you done all Featured contracts as well?
Freelancer is your toy then
The gap is very strange. In particular, having more than a month between featured contracts seems like an odd choice.
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