There are a couple of key differences. Trappers were the position requiring the most skill in the original version. Isolating the monster in a dome, where it could be easily damaged, is extremely valuable to a team's success.
Now, every hunter has access to the team’s dome. It also won’t miss anymore. To balance this out, Turtle Rock has taken steps to ensure that you won’t be able to take down a less-experienced monster player in one dome.
As the monster knocks players down, incapacitates them, or takes damage, the dome will lose some of its charge. It also has a clearly visible recharge timer, so monsters and hunters all know when the next, inevitable fight is coming.
“No one liked to watch the monster not fight and die in a cage,” says lead designer Brandon Yanez. “So the entire flow minute-to-minute is just getting into fights and encouraging those fights. Dome goes up, there’s a five-minute timer, it’s ticking down. You can’t run out of a dome. If the monster gets an incap on anybody it takes off a huge portion of the time. If hunters start eating into the monster’s health, it’ll start taking increments off the time.”
In exchange, Trappers now have a dash ability and a planetary scanner that points in the general direction of the monster. This keeps the role valuable without penalizing the team for having a rookie in that slot.
All hunters will also have a very minor health recharge. This mitigates the situation in which you’re too far from a medic, or that player is still learning how to manage the team’s health.
Another big change is how the dropship respawn mechanic works. It used to be on a constant cycle of two minute countdowns. Now, it takes on more of a MOBA feel, with the timer getting longer as the match goes on.
Specific actions will increase the timer’s length. It starts at zero, but as the monster evolves and other actions occur during the match, it will permanently lengthen.
