Aeon Amadi
Fatal Absolution
General Tso's Alliance
6888
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Posted - 2014.11.03 22:15:00 -
[1] - Quote
Get ready, because this is going to be long-winded.
If you consider that a Prototype Ion Pistol has a damage ratio of 60.64 damage, using all 16 shots in the magazine will net you about 970, the second lowest of all the sidearms. (Damage by Magazine) levels are:
Magsec SMG: 1978
SMG: 1848 (2310 with Min Assault 5)
Scrambler Pistol: 1162
Bolt Pistol: 1008
Ion Pistol: 970
Flaylock: 770
Of course, the Ion Pistol is more about it's high alpha damage but there's an inherent problem there. Apart from hit detection with this thing is sketchy at best (shield flickers but no damage being common) the pistol is powerful because the charged shot can deal out some pretty hefty damage.. But if you miss, it's not just the charge up time you have to worry about.
Seize Duration:
I tracked down the Delta Final Numbers google Doc and it said that the Ion Pistol was supposed to have a 1.5s seize duration but in-game it's actually 2.0s. Both of these are rather long when you're being shot at and there's no room for error.
DPS:
DPS is decent but you're really going for quick kills due to the weapon's abyssmal range as smart players will simply back out of the weapon's maximum range to prevent any damage application at all. Even though it's maximum range is 38 meters it's optimal is only 20-22; giving a rather intense drop-off in damage between the optimal and maximum. Even within it's optimal it can take anywhere from 10 rounds to the entire magazine to kill even a lightly armored Assault suit (my STD Gal Assault only has three complex reactive plates and has 736 Total HP). Sentinels are completely out of the question without charging up the entire magazine, even from a Proto Ion Pistol, doesn't deal enough damage to kill them.
Alpha Damage:
It's a great feeling to off someone in a single shot but there's been times I've engaged Scouts that survived a fully charged shot from a CreoDron Ion Pistol and close the distance to kill me with their Shotgun. And the reason why is very simple, actual damage output from only charged shots has to be looked at like this:
(Charge-up Time)
--> (Fire)
(Seize Duration)
--- (Charge-up Time)
------> (Fire)
So while the charged damage -looks- appealing at first, the damage potential per second is actually staggeringly low and the risk factor is far too high for such a short ranged weapon. The only thing the Ion Pistol has going for it is it's skill-shot alpha damage, but even that is only high enough to one-shot lightly armored targets; which compared to the Bolt Pistol is poor due to the fact that the Bolt Pistol has no seize duration, a higher rate of fire, and -much- higher overall damage potential; magic bullet theories aside. The charge-up time is very similar as well at the Proto level but it's also accompanied by a faster reload time than the Ion Pistol. So there's really no point to using the Ion Pistol at all unless you just like having a safety net of a bunch of rounds in the magazine that you won't live long enough to use.
Proposal:
This thing need it's heat build up re-evaluated to be worth a damn. Honest to god, having the seize duration immediately after firing a charged shot (especially with a bug that doesn't even tell you it's charging) puts an incredible burden on the user. It'd be far more efficient if the weapon would build up heat but not seize up immediately, much like a Scrambler Rifle, so that the user could make a few panic shots when/if they miss or the target survives - both being very likely.
Important
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Post Lv5
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