There are a number of options if we stick to the perception/deception theme of the upgrade path. Aura gives you information about your surroundings, so that dimension is covered (I don't think aura needs to be combined with anything because it's an awesome upgrade on its own). Phantom alters the alien's appearance and the amount of sensory information the marines have available to them, so that dimension is covered. As such, it would be cool if the third ability involved some form of misdirection.
If this can be skill-based rather than RNG, all the better. I already suggested some form of triggerable personal hallucination used to confuse enemies/draw fire during ambushes, and I think it's an interesting concept to explore. Another misdirection-related option would be some kind of sound decoy which operates by assuming certain things about map geometry so as to create plausible footstep sounds in the direction of doorways and vents. I'm sure we can come up with other ideas if we think along these lines.
Back to cloaking:
I think cloaking would be a lot more useful and lead to better play if it was more dynamic (rather than mostly hiding you when you aren't moving quickly or aren't being shot at). I'm still not convinced we need to separate cloaking and silence. I bet a lot would be accomplished by just changing the way cloaking functions so that you're never fully cloaked but never fully uncloaked. It would turn the upgrade into something which generally makes aliens harder to see but which never makes fully hides them (yes, I understand that the shimmer/distortion makes spotting unmoving aliens pretty easy). It would just be a matter of balancing the min. and max. cloak percentages for each upgrade level, and of determining how quickly the in-combat/moving and out of combat/still states should transition. Arbitrary numbers once again:
Tier 1: Cloak Minimum: 20% / Cloak Maximum: 60% (3 second transition from min. cloak to max. cloak; instant transition from max. cloak to min. cloak)
+ Silence: Muffles footsteps
Tier 2: Cloak Minimum: 30% / Cloak Maximum: 70% (2 second transition from min. cloak to max. cloak; .5 second transition from max. cloak to min. cloak)
+ Silence: Muffles footsteps and attack sounds
Tier 3: Cloak Minimum: 40% / Cloak Maximum: 80% (1 second transition from min. cloak to max. cloak; 1 second transition from max. cloak to min. cloak)
+ Silence: Total silence
So at tier three you'd have 40% coverage even in the middle of combat. This would be countered by flame damage, scans, etc. If that's excessive, the number could just be dropped to whatever value seems balanced. At the same time, you'd only ever be 80% cloaked no matter how still you are. This would discourage terrible ambush spots, since it wouldn't take a seasoned player to spot the "cloaked" alien at that level. If that's still too cloaked for regular play, you'd just drop the maximum value to whatever seems balanced. Silence would still be the bread and butter of this particular upgrade, but cloaking would have a role to play by making the alien lifeform generally harder to pick out in the confusion of battle.
Old Options:
I mentioned that I don't see redemption having a role to play in NS2, and the same is true of focus. Combat seems alright without it.
Comments
If this can be skill-based rather than RNG, all the better. I already suggested some form of triggerable personal hallucination used to confuse enemies/draw fire during ambushes, and I think it's an interesting concept to explore. Another misdirection-related option would be some kind of sound decoy which operates by assuming certain things about map geometry so as to create plausible footstep sounds in the direction of doorways and vents. I'm sure we can come up with other ideas if we think along these lines.
Back to cloaking:
I think cloaking would be a lot more useful and lead to better play if it was more dynamic (rather than mostly hiding you when you aren't moving quickly or aren't being shot at). I'm still not convinced we need to separate cloaking and silence. I bet a lot would be accomplished by just changing the way cloaking functions so that you're never fully cloaked but never fully uncloaked. It would turn the upgrade into something which generally makes aliens harder to see but which never makes fully hides them (yes, I understand that the shimmer/distortion makes spotting unmoving aliens pretty easy). It would just be a matter of balancing the min. and max. cloak percentages for each upgrade level, and of determining how quickly the in-combat/moving and out of combat/still states should transition. Arbitrary numbers once again:
So at tier three you'd have 40% coverage even in the middle of combat. This would be countered by flame damage, scans, etc. If that's excessive, the number could just be dropped to whatever value seems balanced. At the same time, you'd only ever be 80% cloaked no matter how still you are. This would discourage terrible ambush spots, since it wouldn't take a seasoned player to spot the "cloaked" alien at that level. If that's still too cloaked for regular play, you'd just drop the maximum value to whatever seems balanced. Silence would still be the bread and butter of this particular upgrade, but cloaking would have a role to play by making the alien lifeform generally harder to pick out in the confusion of battle.
Old Options:
I mentioned that I don't see redemption having a role to play in NS2, and the same is true of focus. Combat seems alright without it.
Feel free.