Pardon me for the cringey title, but I’m trying to calm my insides as I’m expecting a job interview call as I’m writing this (although I would’ve gone with the same even in a relaxed state. Plus the original one feels too nerdy. HINT: A reference to an icy dragon from one of RA Salvatore’s books).
What is deathbutton?
You might have heard or read about your grandpa older players talking about “death-button” setups. To the unfamiliar, ask one of the old pilots commanders and you’ll probably hear responses along the lines of, “It was way, way, way back when Griffins ruled the skies and brought pain and demise, blah-blah.” Before you say, “OK Boomer,” hear them out. I’m certain they can summarize deathbutton with “OK, BOOM!”
Death-button setup is or WAS as it says in the name. Press the red button to kill a red. There are variations like the RDB or PDB (plasma deathbutton) but they follow the same principle as the classic death-button setup: Pinata/Orkan Griffin.
Classic to cryos
Back in the days (yes, I’m what of em), the classic setup (Pinata+Orkan) was Da Bomb. Shotguns existed but I’m telling ya, you ain’t gettin that 100m sweet range of yours. Once you enter that 300m, it’s curtains close for you, unless you can Gepard-shuffle away from the death-button kill range.
Yep, those were the days. The best part? You can easily get Orkans with gold!
Even with the release of newer weapons and after some nerfs, the Orkan was still the go-to weapon, especially for F2Ps. Well, you can’t go wrong with them as they’re easily acquired and can still tango with the newcomers. But that’s until the final nail in the coffin hit the servers. That clip size reduction from 32 to 25 finally hammered and sealed the casket shut, totally burying it (along with the efforts of those who heavily invested in Orkans). R.I.P., Orkans. You will always stay embedded in our metal hearts.
When an old thing passes on, a younger, sleeker, more colorful one takes its place. The classic death-button got its eye poked and its baton snatched by the cryogenic rockets. They have the same 300-meter range, slow-moving rockets, and splash damage. The old deathbutton rockets vary in clip size depending on weapon type, with Orkans having the most clips.
In the case of cryos, they all have the same clip size and reload time, but varies in damage per rocket. This would eliminate the awkward feel of waiting for all your clips to go full.
A major feature of cryo rockets is its ability to inflict Freeze status, which slows a target by 60% and places a Death Mark debuff into it. This will make the target receive 20% more damage from all sources. This makes cryos a good addition to a team as it just doesn’t bring damage to the table but also status effects, thus pissing on the classic death-button’s grave.
So, what happens to the death-buttons? Well, Exodus still outbursts Glacier and it should since they share the same upgrade cost. In the case of Pinata/Orkan versus Rime/Cryo, the latter outbursts the former by 50%/30%, sidelining the classic DB into training wheels in preparation for acquiring a cryo setup.
How to make classic DB great again?
This is a tricky situation in my opinion. With cryos locked behind a massive silver paywall, buffing (or reverting the nerf, in case of Orkan) the classic DB could make players opt out of cryos, especially if they become highly effective against Arthur. Unless Pixo decides to drastically reduce cryo upgrade costs, I feel that nothing can really be done to Pinatas and Orkans without affecting cryo sales. They’d probably bump up the upgrade costs of classic DB to compensate, but this defeats the purpose of them being some sort of beginner-type weapons. I guess they’d really end up to be training wheels after wall.
I once had the idea of turning Pinatas, Orkans, and Exodus into incendiary rockets, with DOT burn damage to at least give them some oomph against DR. Another thought was to increase their splash effect but reduce its damage the farther away from the center and put an “impact damage” for direct hit (although I think this would suit Tridents more).
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’m not totally dismissing the potential of classic deathbutton. Lottie-Rose ran DB Ravens in her hangar. Still, I feel that what’s keeping them viable is the Raven’s jump bonus. Also, IIRC, Lottie has recently been shifting her DB Ravens to cryos. So, is this the end for Pinata/Orkans? Sadly, that might be the case if you’re aiming for higher leagues. But if you’re still enjoying the classic death-button setup, then by all means, just play them. After all, our goal of playing is to have fun.
See y’all in the battlefield.
The Omniscientist 