Keep the blast radius (obviously) but make the further splash damage like when the opponent just barely got into the splash less damage. But keep the main splash damage the same like when it's not a direct hit but just barely misses. Problem solved.

So a gradient?

I don't know the numbers in terms of explosion radius, but for example:

Within 1 meter of explosion = full splash damage
Within 2 meters of explosion = half splash damage
Within 3 meters of explosion = quarter splash damage
etc

Is this what you mean?

Yeah. I read somewhere that the further you are from the direct hit of the grenade (or whatever the mass driver shoots) that hits the ground, it does a little less damage. Since people are complaining about the damage and it being "OP," why not make it so they Mass Drivers can keep on denying an area, without causing too much "OPness." BTW teamwork is OP.

I just use the Tac rifle.

Keep the blast radius (obviously) but make the further splash damage like when the opponent just barely got into the splash less damage. But keep the main splash damage the same like when it's not a direct hit but just barely misses. Problem solved.

Also for grenades, reduce the damage so it's not a one hit KO, but make it have a disorienting effect on the opponent so it's more realistic.

I have been using my mass driver for months and I think this could work. Although, using the mass driver as long as I have I have learned the ways of the Freedom. And that has given me deadly precision .

The md actually already has this to a degree, ccp have said so, cross atu will probably be happy to link you it. And what your not gonna give us an higher base splash damage? It doesnt need fixing people need to learn how to fight it!!

I'm ok with the damage on the grenades, but I would like to see soemthing akin to a flashbang that disorients the character (loss of sound in immediate area, bright light, added sway, etc). It shouldn't completely knock them out of a fight, but at least make it harder to operate. Blast radius might need to be fairly small on this though.

I know. But way too many people are complaining and that made me make this post. Okay

deadly precision

Well would you be willing to give it a higher alpha splash if the falloff were greater?? Ill tell you now its loaded question, if you say no then you are saying you want it nerfed to oblivion, if you say yes then the qq will be more because people who actually main with mds all the time will shred!!

The damage profile isnt the way to 'fix it'!!

Sorry if I sound like im being too dismissive im just fed of people crying about it!!

The MD already has this, but the difference between a full 0m damage and at it's edge, isn't very much.

Try it out, find a wall and keep inching towards it while taking a shot, take note of how much damage it does to you on the outer edge of it's radius, then go right up against the wall after letting your shields rep, and shoot the MD point blank.

It might be a 40HP difference, so it's not much but the feature is technically already there.

over 9 meters in splash damage

Nerfing it to oblivion would be cutting it's splash damage and direct damage in half while lowering it's clip size and reload speed. Think about it.

Let's not forget that's 9 meters radius ... giving 18 meters of area affected ... you can be off in aim by 9 meters in EITHER direction and as Djinn says ... do maybe 40 hp less damage than an aimed shot !

Well would you be willing to give it a higher alpha splash if the falloff were greater?? Ill tell you now its loaded question, if you say no then you are saying you want it nerfed to oblivion, if you say yes then the qq will be more because people who actually main with mds all the time will shred!!

The damage profile isnt the way to 'fix it'!!

Sorry if I sound like im being too dismissive im just fed of people crying about it!!

Keep the blast radius (obviously) but make the further splash damage like when the opponent just barely got into the splash less damage. But keep the main splash damage the same like when it's not a direct hit but just barely misses. Problem solved.

Let's not forget that's 9 meters radius ... giving 18 meters of area affected ... you can be off in aim by 9 meters in EITHER direction and as Djinn says ... do maybe 40 hp less damage than an aimed shot !

How about **** you? Mass driver is fine.

Hold 40 less damage on 75 shot isnt enough what the hell is wrong with you?? This would mean an assault md requires 10 shots for a 350 ehp suit?? That requires 8 seconds not including a 3 sec reload!

Dont quote the assault variant splash radius to try and make the weapon sound op!!

Might have misread but hey ho!!

I'm not crying about it. I'm thinking of a buff/nerf that acts as a deterrent to stop the people making giant rage posts about the spam. And yes if they cut the splash damage like at the edge of the splash maybe a little less, then a splash damage buff would be indeed acceptable making it a formidable area denial weapon.

Fine, while I personally want this to happen it wont stop QQing its an aoe weapon, people always complain aod weapons when there is nothing else to complain about!!

To an extent I agree with some of the rage people. 1 vs 1 the MD sucks. But if 12 people just spam MDs all day, all the splash damage adds up to a **** load of damage. And I'm pretty sure that's what people are complaining about. This slight nerf would help then at least turn around and shotgun them in the face before they die. Or not.

To an extent I agree with some of the rage people. 1 vs 1 the MD sucks. But if 12 people just spam MDs all day, all the splash damage adds up to a **** load of damage. And I'm pretty sure that's what people are complaining about. This slight nerf would help then at least turn around and shotgun them in the face before they die. Or not.

Hold 40 less damage on 75 shot isnt enough what the hell is wrong with you?? This would mean an assault md requires 10 shots for a 350 ehp suit?? That requires 8 seconds not including a 3 sec reload!

Dont quote the assault variant splash radius to try and make the weapon sound op!!

Might have misread but hey ho!!

Read the forums they sure as hell complain about the forge!!

It's also the imbalance between explosives bonus to armour compared to other weapons bonus to shield ... coupled with armour bonused weapons being mostly AoE ... and on top of that Armour being gimped compared to shields for so long anyway.

On top of all that ... some "scrub" that can't aim properly can spend point in a weapon that will 2-3 shot (with damage mods probably) anything armour tanked in what ? about a second provided he can land those shots within 9 meters !!! of his target.

There's undeniably something 'easy-mode' about that.

Your an idiot. Of course they complain. But when they don't complain about them, they complain about the Mass Drivers. Elaborated enough?

You are so god dam stupid it hurts. AMDs do like 150 damage on splash, even with mods that like 160 damage. 2 or 3 shotting? LOL, more like 12 shots to kill.

You are so god dam stupid it hurts. AMDs do like 150 damage on splash, even with mods that like 160 damage. 2 or 3 shotting? LOL, more like 12 shots to kill.

You are so god dam stupid it hurts. AMDs do like 150 damage on splash, even with mods that like 160 damage. 2 or 3 shotting? LOL, more like 12 shots to kill.

Multiple of any weapon on one target or area is vicious. Two ARs on a single assault will shred it instantaneously. Let's not get bent out of shape because people are working together to focus fire.

You are so god dam stupid it hurts. AMDs do like 150 damage on splash, even with mods that like 160 damage. 2 or 3 shotting? LOL, more like 12 shots to kill.

If you have 5 ARs, you can focus fire a couple of targets at a time and shred them quickly.
If you have 5 MDs, you can saturation-bomb and area and kill 5+ enemies in the time the ARs took to kill 2.


I don't know... I'm pretty sure it only takes 2 MD splash hits to kill my Scout.

+1 this exactly. And Mossellia just assumed everyone was Assault. But even then it's less than 12 shots unless fully tanked proto.

I run a scout and it takes one seconds of AR fire to kill me, how about we nerf ARs since they are the OP weapon.

MD finally works in 1.3 and AR users ***** and complain constantly when they are the ones using the OP weapon.

Scouts need a buff. And my idea will make it balanced against scouts because scouts run fast and if the splash damage just splashes them by the edge of the radius or a little less, no worries. Direct damage and near direct is what you should be worried about.

Then the problem arises on Assault Massdrivers where they can get up over 9 meters in splash damage. How do you gradiant something like that.

Massdrivers shouldnt be touched till the Gal AR gets a major range reduction. They are suppost to be short range Assault rifles yet they have a greater range then medium - long range scrambler rifles.

Are you ********? GO look at the stats again, splash radius is 6.6m. Do your research before you whine.

Then the problem arises on Assault Massdrivers where they can get up over 9 meters in splash damage. How do you gradiant something like that.

Massdrivers shouldnt be touched till the Gal AR gets a major range reduction. They are suppost to be short range Assault rifles yet they have a greater range then medium - long range scrambler rifles.

It's interesting, but when you compare the DPS of the MD to say, an AR, it is nowhere close.

(not considering any skills that may increase damage etc)

Duvolle AR - 467.5 DPS
Freedom MD - 127.6 DPS for splash, and 266.2 DPS for direct hits.


An AR can wipe somebody out about 1.8 times faster than if the MD was scoring 100% direct hits. And if we consider splash only damage from the MD, the proto AR can take somebody out roughly 3.7 times faster.


I think once we get aim assist back in 1.4, the MD won't be able to do as well in CQC vs any fully auto weapons (or even the shotgun).

DPS coparision between a direct hit and a spash weapon is strange as the DPS of a MD can surpass the DPS of an AR easily if you hit multiple targets and with 6 to 9 m splash radius its more likely to hit multiple targets.

Imho DPS is more important for automatic weapons, for singleshot weapons the Alpha damage is more important and 266 isn't all that bad (although alpha could be a bit higher for less spash damage [b]or[/b ]radius)

15 m arming timer for the projectiles would probably fix it. But it would need something to compensate for that. Maybe a small reduction in drop and increase in projectile speed would do?

Implying dps means anything with half the guns in Dust. Remember people though the flaylock and tac ars were fine as they were. The only people defending the mds are people afraid of losing their crutches just like the tac ar users.

No the md is also a short range breaching weapon, your just killing it!! An arming distance will cause more problems then it solves, people will use it like a shotgun cqc. 15m is too much and anything lower is not enough, this is a primary weapon you cant just impose a dead zone!!

Who ever said it was a close range weapon? People already use it like a shotgun in CQC. The Laser Rifle is a primary weapon and has a deadzone... Of like 30 meters. You're argument is invalid.

Designed to deliver damage at ANY RANGE in a wide splash radius

The Mass Driver is a semi-automatic, multi-shot grenade launcher useful as both a breaching tool and area denial weapon. Firing smart HIND explosive rounds, the weapon is highly effective against all forms of dropsuit and light vehicle, while its lightweight frame and compact design make it easy to wield in both urban and open terrain engagements.

slow down the rate of fire and you balance this weapon. a nice slow reload animation between each shot should do the trick!

The best sollution is to buff blubery intelligence not to nerf tge md.

Iv used tge mass driver for several builds and remember when they were feard then nerfed and now fixed again. Someone pointed out that the biggest complaint is they take no skill to aim(absolute nonsense) but what about swarms and av nades oh yea thats av not ai so its ok.

For cqc you really should try the breech models pow good dammage on direct hits really rewards skilld md users and the tighter splash really reduces your suicide chances. Iv lost count how many times iv blown myself up but hey if it denied a kill then more tge win for me.

The breach works well in cqc, you have to treat it like a slug firing shotgun, but personally I engage the majority of enemies at around 15m to alow me to escape!!

Comando with breech and assault varients fitted . Your welcome

I get more hatemail using my comand with md + any other wepon than I ever get when im tanking.

I can imagine, although I cant wait for gunships, then im gonna hang your tank out to dry!!

Keep the blast radius (obviously) but make the further splash damage like when the opponent just barely got into the splash less damage. But keep the main splash damage the same like when it's not a direct hit but just barely misses. Problem solved.

I look forward to you trying ehemm by trying I mean going down in a ball of flames did some one say anti air havs (it might have been a while a go)

It still hits it still does damage just not very much, you could use it in cqc but it is higjly inadvisable!! In the description of the md!!
[quote=description] Designed to deliver damage at ANY RANGE in a wide splash radius

That would be good.

In chromosome the regular mass drivers had a 4-5 round clip and a 6-8 round clip for the assault. This was the best way to balance them. people couldnt just spam them the way they do know.

My corp has 3 commandos and when the enemy is using nothing but MDs they switch to dual MDs and get hate mail. its stupid.

It would still be able to do direct damage at close range... A lot more than the LR as well.

I just feel the mass driver should take more skill at a closer range. Right now its just comically easy to use a close range. I want it to be a good weapon that can drop people, but at the very least, takes some skill to use.I would love to see it be more of a niche weapon that destroys in its niche, and not a weapon you can use for almost every occasion. IMO the only weapons that are easier/simpler than the MD are ARs, LLAVs and rooftop FGs.

Then the md is in the right place, other weapons need a buff, not nerfing the md, llavs are in the process of being nerfed, and rooftop forges are no worse that rooftop snipers, or rooftop tanks (ive seen that before)

I have been using my mass driver for months and I think this could work. Although, using the mass driver as long as I have I have learned the ways of the Freedom. And that has given me deadly precision .

I will be honest, I have a distaste for mass driver users (I'm not one...yet, that could change haha..) however I have noticed over the last couple of months a few mass driver guys being able to aim really well, even at distance. I have to pull even more range from them now to ensure a kill, however this isn't always possible.

I don't want it nerfed. I want it changed, an arming timer in exchange for something else, I don't know what though. Maybe a bigger clip would work? Idk, I just feel a semi auto grenade launcher shouldn't be the best weapon to use in CQC in any game.

I will be honest, I have a distaste for mass driver users (I'm not one...yet, that could change haha..) however I have noticed over the last couple of months a few mass driver guys being able to aim really well, even at distance. I have to pull even more range from them now to ensure a kill, however this isn't always possible.

As I've said before and will say again. As a proto masshole user I will be happy to see the MD removed from the game, CCP can even keep the SP invested as a punishment for spec'ing into a noob tube as a reminder.

Before people bleat and QQ, I was using the MD BEFORE is was FotM, so yes I know how to use it and very effectively. Why every FPS needs such a pathetic weapon is beyond me.

My counter for the MD is to bum-rush the idiot using it and smash him the face with the butt of my gun.

Great for you just because dont like doesnt mean its pathetic, thats your opinion your entitled to it, but based on my opinion I dont see why any game should use rifles, or snipers so on and so on!!

Its a weapon it has a role deal with it!!

Its a weapon it has a role deal with it!!

The "role" is area denial and crowd control, not CQC. I've already stated how I deal with it. I guess you are one of those unskilled masshole users that are hoping splash damage will get you a kill?

Please read the description, it says area denial and breaching tool, breaching implies short range, urbanised warfare, it a minmatar weapon, which is short to mid range, no its not designed for cqc, but the fact the shotgun is poor is not the mds fault or problem!

I deal with them in the exact same way! They cant stop me if I move fast enough, once everyone learns there own way to counter the ratio chasers will leave the weapon and find something else, there already moving back to assault rifles!!

Maybe the new aim assist will get everyone off the mass driver. I hope it does, for everyone's sake. I hate the AR a lot(wasted skill points if you ask me) but I would rather have everyone using ARs than the MD.