CeeJ Mantis
Mantodea MC
34
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Posted - 2014.08.31 18:19:00 -
[1] - Quote
Here are my thoughts on this update. I like much of where it's going, but still havee reservations on a few things.
Forge guns and Railguns: Having recently speced more into Forge Guns, I can say that I have only gotten 1 double kill in the last week with a single shot. Using the forge gun on infantry is not about using the splash, but about hitting them directly. The splash radius and damage is not enough to kill most suits, and to hit them directly you just wait until it turns red and let go, and once you get the travel time for the round down, you can hit moving infantry with ease. I think removing the splash when all it does is kill scouts and militia frames is unnecessary. It's like trying to kill suits with the splash from the PLC. You can do it, but only to the weak ones, and not very well. Direct body hits are needed to kill most suits. occasionally getting a multikill (and it only does happen rarely) is a fun surprise, not a winning tactic.
Shield Tank HP: I am a bit weary on giving shield based HAVs too much more HP as the 2 fitting extention modules are on low slots, which allows them to tank effectively on high slots. The most fearsome of tanks I've seen in this game are the 5000shield 3000 armor gunlogis as my allotec flux and allotec plasma cannon don't seem to do much before they can escape. Even teamwork isn't easy against them as they just have too much HP and 8000 damage is a lot to have to do in only a matter of 5-10 seconds.
Scrambler Rifle:I think the weapon preforms comparably to others unless you use an input device that allows them to reach their maximum fire rate. It's versatility (charge), precision, and ammo efficency are the reasons I chose, and stuck with it for the last year. I want it to be balanced in a way that doesn't take away from this gun feeling like the expert's choice. Too many weapons just send dozens of bullets down range, and being able to (and encouraged by) this weapon to take aim and really try to go for those headshots is what makes it feel so awesome.
Plasma rifle: Something, whatever it is, needs to be done for this gun. Trying to use one lately has been quite the exercise in frustration as I can't even get close enough to people to be within optimal range to start shooting, and with the popularity of RRs, I find that many of my deaths happen from assailants that are beyond the 50m optimal of the Burst AR. Many of them are beyond the 78m effective range too. The best feeling rifles are the Krin's and Baloc's as the have a 50m optimal and 85m effective. Giving plasma rifles similar numbers (higher optimal range, higher effective range. and a longer range over which their damage drops) might be a solution. They still do their damage at close quarters, but they aren't so ineffective at a range that I can actually kill people when aiming for the head. Too much trepidation over the old Tac rifle dominance of yore is holding back the drastic change needed to make this weapon a desired asset on the battlefield.
Scrambler Pistol: While many say the ScP needs a RoF increase, they are wrong. It is already insanely powerful. It's headshot bonus is arguably too high, and the ScP operation skill is too good. More rounds than an ion pistol, and a +450% headshot modifier means that it has the largest magazine size of any handgun, and does the most damage per shot, even beyond it's effective range (headshots still do over 100% damage al 70m). Heck if it had an optic, you'd see A LOT more ScP users on the battlefield. All having RoF did to the ScP in the past was make it a trigger mashing headshot death machine. Now you have to aim, or trigger mash with less efficiency. Sounds fair to me. In properly skilled hands it is the deadliest sidearm in the game. It's just not so easy as the SMG's point and hold the trigger to win. As a tactical weapon it should feel rewarding to use precision over volume of rounds, and mechanics should enforce that style.
Nanite injector: I have mixed feelings on this. Lower quality needles will be so much bettert. And it encourages more shield tankers and injector use. I see high end needles being really scary, and perhaps broken, but hopefully that encourages their use.
Everything else seems fair to me. We'll see if it breathes some life into this game.
Longest plasma cannon kill: 236.45m
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