Tebu Gan
Dem Durrty Boyz
General Tso's Alliance
956
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Posted - 2014.05.16 22:50:00 -
[1] - Quote
Hey fellas(CCP), very good choice with Rattati. He is certainly one of my most liked devs, as he often demostrates a very strong understanding of the actual gameplay. It's one thing to look at things on paper; a totally different thing to actually put them to practice.
But I've been itchin all day to get in front of this keyboard, as I live and breathe tanks. Vehicles in general, but tanks certainly are my baby. I've made a thread pertaining to this very subject, and have discussed with Harpyj this very thing in his own thread. Excuse me if I get a bit long winded.
To start with, I understand the need for narrowing the discussion down to specific topics. But when we talk tanks, or anything for that matter, the solutions aren't always rooted solely with something like say turrets.
For example, I can say that blasters are too strong, and from there deduce that they need a change because they are doing so well against infantry. But that isn't the only problem when it comes to AV and Tank interactions. If the blaster was just as effective against infantry but very easily pushed back or eliminated, we would not have a problem at this moment.
So let's use a bit of caution, and take other factors into account, when we go about talking turrets, or any balancing theories for that matter.
Large Blasters
At first glance, I know it's rather obvious that they are just too good at killing infantry. I've seen numerous people posting about the strength and "accuracy" of these things, and concluding that the problem must lay there. I've even seen a few that declare they are far too effective against tanks!
But my first question would be, WHY do these things make them so effective? When I think of a turret, I don't just imagine the turret, but the tank the turret fits to. The whole picture. So let me walk ya through a fitting scenario.
Madrudger Blaster
In all honesty, is that all you see when a blaster is shooting you, the turret? Yes, the turret is causing you much grief, but I feel it's more the fact that what that turret is mounted to is damn near invincible to infantry. So for instance, a madrudger is typically ALWAYS fit with a rep. A well fit one at least. Pop three on that sucker and what do you get?
A lot of pissed off AV that's what. See, a madrudger has a very easy time taking AV damage, and mitigating it to 0. Add to that a very decent range with the blaster. So I can very easily sit back at a distance, using cover to break swarms (Obstructions or elevation) when needed to heal, and basically maintain a near constant presence on the field.
The devs know this I know, but I think it's important to bring this up when we consider balancing the turret types. Else you nerf something else into oblivion, because you overlooked other factors that tie into balancing a particular item. (not just aimed at CCP but EVERYONE, as I've seen everyone do it, myself included)
]Any changes to a turret type MUST consider how this affects the tanks themselves -
What I'm saying here, is if we consider just balancing the blaster turret, we will likely end up overdoing it (or under) as we didn't consider what would be using said turret. Will adding dispersion, or lowering the damage output, really fix the problem?
While you can make it much harder to actually kill infantry with a blaster, this won't have a major affect, as often times we can take all the time we want. And in all honesty, it is very hard to kill infantry now with a blaster. Though the trick is to burst out your shots, which mitigates the kick and allows for pinpoint accuracy. As that first shot basically goes where it is aimed.
A ROF nerf wouldn't change their killing power.
RANGE
So, now I consider what I think is the best idea going forward for blaster turrets.
Reducing effective range considerably
What if the blaster had a 75M optimal range and damage falloff to 125M? While we do need to address some other glaring issues, like armor reps, damage mods, ect; I think this could be a very positive change.
This would in effect, force a tank to engage at distance infantry are much more familiar with. But let's think about it for a minute.
-Forgegun range 300M
-Swarm range 175M
This shifts the advantage, as a swarm or forge gunner have a very large window to engage one before it presents a threat. Meaning a blaster tank will have FAR less time to engage an enemy that is actively trying to counter him.
It gives AV the advantage, as they do work at a disadvantage to infantry, they need considering how tough a tank actually is. Not to mention the time a tank will need to actually get out of a hot zone. While fast, at such a short engagement range, their impact will be limited if AV actually presents itself, as they will still be able to target a tank in safety from said tank. (Buildings anyone?)
Focused on just blaster here, but I have MUCH to say on tanks as a whole. Let me know what ya think fellas, love me some constructive criticism.
Tanks - Balancing Turrets
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