Tallen Ellecon
KILL-EM-QUICK
RISE of LEGION
1532
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Posted - 2014.03.05 17:24:00 -
[1] - Quote
So after the weapon nerfs I need to get 3 things out of the way
1. 3/4/5 for damage mods is a little drastic, considering both proficiencies and base damage were nerfed. 2/4/6 or 3/5/7 would have been fine, the stacking penalty would have done enough.
2. The Mass driver buff, even as someone specced into mass drivers, is unnecessary, the rifle nerf was enough to make it more viable. The damage was never it's niche it was the splash radius, and if anything was to be buffed it should have been that. I don't see it being FOTM again, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.
3. AV vs. Vehicles...... all you've done is make AV nades harder to use, other than that it's still the elephant in the room.
On to the main topic shields versus armor. Before the armor buff, armor afforded little extra HP over shields, it slowed people down massively, and still required other means of regeneration. So when the buff was put into place like every other "rebalance" it went too far trying to change too many things at once. Armor dwarfed shields, led to high slot being used for damage mods, and ushered in the age of the CR and RR. So let me start as to why not balancing armor and shields affects everything.
The new shield damage based proficiency on blaster and laser tech will be inferior to the projectile and rail bonus to armor as long as there is more armor than shields overall. The AR already has a problem with it's shorter range, and the PLC still doesn't have the damage to counter it's entire setup. Losing the ability to do more damage to the majority of HP puts them further behind. The Ion pistol similarly will be the inferior sidearm as it has low enough base damage as is, low range, and can only improve damage against shields while most side arms face against armor. Lasers rifles are getting a buff (no solid numbers yet) and Scrambler weapons have bonuses to headshots, but they face the similar problems.
So now that damage mods have been nerfed, that removes any hope that blasters and lasers will effectively be able to take care of an enemies armor. Inversely the low shield HP environment means that rails and projectiles have less to worry about when getting through their weapons weaker target. I could run circles around this, but effectively it's become a game of Armor is where the HP is, CR and RR are the counter to armor, you can never stack enough shields to counter CR and RRs so shield based weaponry will never be as effective.
So taking into account the past imbalance between armor and shield, it is obvious why we were brought here. Shields regen faster, require no external module or equipment, but have lower base numbers for mods. Armor has higher base HP for mods, but slower regen, and a speed penalty. Another balancing factor when it can to balance was shields would not recharge while taking damage, armor regen is constant. So if armor is supposed to trade regen for higher HP, why are the base HP of every suit (excluding Amarr and Min) equal? Without modules shield based damage is fairly equal, but the way modules are set up, it's much easier to stack armor HP than shields and much more useful. The Caldari are supposed to be shield tankers, not necessarily tied to it, but the fact that they brick tank is an indicator that purely shield tanking is inferior to purely armor tanking, and the slot set up of the Cal Logi needs to be reworked.
I'd like to see one or two of these changes:
A reduction in armor mod HP, the basic armor plate offers more than a complex shield extender, in both HP and especially fitting space. The previous speed penalty for armor made it unbearable, but there has to be some sort of counter or alternative to promote shield tanking in those with more high slots. I like the idea of lower the amount of HP that can be added to help bring lower and higher tiered suits closer together without eliminating their advantage. Higher TTK brings back the problem of medium suits taking two clips to kill by lower tier weapons. I'm all for upgrading, but if a new player with good aim needs two clips to take out an assault or logi it just reinforces gear over player ability.
We need better tiered shields. Basic and enhanced shield extenders are a waist of a slot unless the user is trying to save CPU/PG , 44/55/66 or 44/66/88 would make them far more desirable. Armor would still be superior in raw HP, but limited by the need for regen.
Make weapon proficiencies not purely armor or shields. For blasters and lasers 2% towards shields 1% towards armor per level, and projectiles and rail 2% towards armor 1% towards shields per level. This makes the proficiencies still effective, but not overpowering towards one damage type.
Little Red Button (only press in case of emergency): Raise base armor HP of every suit, increase base shield recharge, make shield based weapons more effective against armor. Keep the majority of HP in the Armor, and the majority of regen in the shields.
I just want every weapon and suit to have a viable niche, and want most to be useful in competitive play. Without finding a way to balance shields and armor many weapons will remain less effective with current and proposed stats.
Where is my Gallente sidearm? 1.8? When is that? SoonGäó514
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