Vell0cet
SVER True Blood
Public Disorder.
734
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Posted - 2013.12.29 16:07:00 -
[1] - Quote
I'm reading a lot of pretty radical proposals that want to fundamentally alter the LR's core mechanics. I think this is a terrible idea. The LR is a phenomenally fun weapon (especially in 1.4-1.5) that no other game has, let's not get rid of that. The LR has many MAJOR inherent downsides:
1. Most importantly, it broadcasts your position to most of the map.
2. It takes time to kill something
3. Because of 1 and 2 you're forced to put yourself out of cover for significant periods of time with a "snipe me" sign on your back.
4. It's horrible at close range
5. Because you're vulnerable up close and most people know where you are, you're incredibly vulnerable to tactics where people ambush you (heavies in LAV's, shotgun scouts, etc).
6. Because it takes time to heat up, you're pretty much forced to chew through crazy amounts of ammo, making nanohives pretty mandatory.
7. Requires Amarr Assault 5 to truly shine, and really should only be fitted on Amarr assault suits.
8. Because of 6 & 7 the spectrum of good LR fits is incredibly narrow.
9. It's strong vs. shields and weak vs. armor, and armor tanking is preferable due to the ability to get more EHP out of it.
Those are some pretty serious drawbacks, but I really don't have a problem with any of them. They're what makes the LR so fun and interesting to use. The LR used to have the longest range (excluding snipers) to compensate and it was pretty reasonably balanced in 1.4-1.5. With the 1.6 HD fix, the LR's reasonably balanced TTK was obliterated by the game-breakingly short TTK of the rifles. I used to be able to 1v1 any AR/SR user and melt them if I was near my max optimal. This was no-longer the case after 1.6. With the latest changes in 1.7, the LR is now never the best weapon in any situation. There is never a situation where a LR would be preferred to a RR. It is currently a niche weapon without a niche (similar to swarms).
The fix isn't to change things that are central to what makes the LR unique, fun and interesting; it's to give the LR its niche back. Extend the optimal range to 120m, give it ADS zoom proportional to the range increase, and nerf the TTK on racial ARs. Increasing the clip size so you could overheat twice before reloading would be a convenience bonus, but less important than the other changes.
Quick/Dirty Test Range Idea
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