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XxGhazbaranxX
The New Age Outlaws
WINMATAR.
500
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Posted - 2013.11.02 11:46:00 -
[1] - Quote
Hello,
The plasma cannon is what many would call a pre-nerfed weapon. I completely disagree. The plasma cannon can be a very good weapon in skilled hands but as a plasma cannon user I cannot in any way deny the shortcomings of my weapon. It will never have the Utility of any other weapons in the game. It's not an AV weapon but it's not purely an anti infantry weapon either. It's a weapon that falls in between the lines. It Does two thing but excels in neither. With this post I will try and give definitive feedback of the weapon, how it could be balanced and how the user should have the ability to alter it's purpose via specialization. Many people might want to ask why I have the right to actually talk about the plasma cannon and I want the readers to note that I am, if not good, at least adept at using the weapon.
PROOF ( just in case you doubt me )
- My first video
- Long Range Kills
- propagande video
- Instuctional video - How to lead your target with a plasma cannon
Where The plasma Cannon Stands in DUST 514 Gameplay
Now that we got the introductory part of this post set, I would like to define with all certainty where the plasma cannon stands in the in DUST 514. The Plasma cannon, henceforth refered to as the PLC, is a support / janitorial weapon. Many people on the Cannon Fever channel might disagree but as a strict plasma cannon user, one that does not use a side arm, I have noticed it works in roughly three ways. Although I just mentioned two ways the plasma cannon is used, it's direct damage cannot be counted on because of it's slow projectile speed, therefore the damage is most likely to be applied as splash. So we are left with two options. Support damage, in which the weapon deals the initial bulk of the damage and the remaining enemy HP is removed by either a side arm or an allies fire or janitorial work where the initial damage is dealt by grenades or by ally damage and then then enemy is finished off by your splash or direct hit. The PLC is not used strictly this way, since you can use it as a slayer weapon with enough footwork and skill but the general gist of the weapon is of one that cannot be mainly used to to be as efficient as an assault rifle or a mass driver on their own.
As an AV weapon the plasma cannon falls into these two categories also but for different reasons. The plasma cannon is very good at dealing damage to vehicles and it shortcomings come from it's user and it's bottleneck which is it's reload speed. In this aspect of the game the PLC is also support damage because it does not have the DPS or ALPHA necessary to kill vehicles on it own and janitorial because it will mostly pick off vehicles that have already been dealt damage. In any case the PLC cannot tae care of vehicles as easily as any other AV weapon, including AV grenades can.
Why it's balanced
The PLC, being a weapon that can effectively take care of infantry and vehicles on theory, should not be able to deal with with any of them as efficiently as dedicated weapons. CCP decided to put some MAJOR drawback on the weapon. These drawbacks are meant to keep a weapon that has such a huge damage potential, in check. These balancing mechanics are:
- Starved ammo capacity: By reducing the ammo of the weapon CCP can effectively control how sustainable the weapon is on the battlefield, hence effectively capping the amount of potential kills the weapon can have in a certain period of time. This avoids extremely long active time as well as a time in which people can recover from such brutal damage.
- 1 projectile per clip: Starving a weapon of this caliber is not enough. Ensuring that the enemy has time to respond is an essential part of balance. If the enemy can't respond then the weapon is the considered overpowered because it can take care of enemies faster than the enemy can take care of you thene everyone would be using it (INSERT OP WEAPON HERE).
- Reload speed: same as the one shot per clip. This ensures response time of the enemy.
- projectile speed: Ensuring that the enemy hast time to evade a One hit kill balanced the weapon further making skill essencial in the use of the weapon. Look at the "instructional video" as an example of skill )
[u]Why it's not functional[/u
While these are all perfect drawbacks, CCP failed to take into account new mechanics such as aim assist and better hit detection that have significantly reduced the time to kill of every weapon in the game. These past mechanics that seemed good at the time and somewhat balanced if not a tad overdone are an exaggerated amount of drawbacks The weapon weapon in the gameplay that we encounter now.
Apart from the above mentioned, any weapon that has these number of drawbacks should have an immense amount of skill options to reduce those drawbacks. Currently the weapon is granted with a limited amount of skills to counter the extreme amount of drawback it contains.
Plasma Cannon Advocate
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XxGhazbaranxX
The New Age Outlaws
WINMATAR.
500
|
Posted - 2013.11.02 11:47:00 -
[2] - Quote
reserved
Plasma Cannon Advocate
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XxGhazbaranxX
The New Age Outlaws
WINMATAR.
503
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Posted - 2013.11.02 22:58:00 -
[3] - Quote
This thread is not meant for the weapon. It's meant for an increase in different skills to augment it's power. An increase to the damage of the weapon will just make it a weapon anyone can use while an increase in the amount of skills available will reward those who have suck with the weapon through and through by giving them more options to augment it's power.
Any buff will make it easier to use which is not what should happen to the weapon. All the traits of this powerful weapon should have a drawback. In this case obtaining even more power with the weapon means sinking more sp to it. Any direct buff will break the weapon.
Smooth Assassin wrote:Plasma cannon sucks no don't use it without that OHK but if you're gonna stack damage mods on it then no.
Even with proficiency 5 and 3 damage mods, which I use with my assault logi fit, the splash damage is still 436 splash. There is currently no well fit suit that will be one shot with splash. The direct damage is the only sure way to one hit kill your opponent in competitive play but even this is extremely hard. To date there is no way to do it unless you know how to lead your target and if the target is not aware the projectile is heading towards him. In CQC unless you have the the element of surprise you might as well commit suicide 50% of the times.
Again. If CCP makes more skills for the weapon they ensure the weapon finds it's place competitive play.
Plasma Cannon Advocate
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XxGhazbaranxX
The New Age Outlaws
WINMATAR.
504
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Posted - 2013.11.03 16:40:00 -
[4] - Quote
gustavo acosta wrote:Why does everyone and their mother say that "the Plasma Cannon isn't an AV weapon?" I mean seriously has anyone tried to plasma a Caldari tank? Shields are paper to the plasma cannon. At this point it doesn't matter whether CCP decides to buff because technically speaking the plasma cannon can do up to over 1,500 in direct damage, with the right amount of damage mods.
1610 damage with 3 complex damage mods and profi 5. With a 5 second RoF, first shot, animation after shot is almos 1 second long + 3.5 second reload + .45 second charge time. You ca provide damage and kill a tank if he is dumb enough to stay there.
Plasma Cannon Advocate
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XxGhazbaranxX
The New Age Outlaws
WINMATAR.
504
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Posted - 2013.11.03 16:43:00 -
[5] - Quote
Spectral Clone wrote:Ulysses Knapse wrote:The main problem with the Plasma Cannon is that it's too difficult to use. It's only decent weapon when put in the hands of a master operator. I'm not saying it should be a weapon for noobs, but most of the other weapons in the game are far easier to get the hang of. Exactly, it is only a DECENT weapon when used by very skilled players. Other guns, like the AR or FG totally shred the enemies to pieces when used by skilled players.
Forge gun and AR are decent weapons weapons when used by un skilled players and as you said totally shred enemies to pieces when in the hands of a skilled player. The plasma cannon should be decent in the hands of a skilled player and shred things to pieces in the hands of a player that has maxed out his tree. I am nearly there and it's just a decent weapon. I can't lie it's not the best. But if CCP where to give us more skills to make it more powerful then we too could shred our opponents.
Plasma Cannon Advocate
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