Bobphilsfred
16
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Posted - 2012.07.13 02:12:00 -
[1] - Quote
I've played a fair amount of shooters in my time, and from my experience the ARs are often the most used weapon. ARs by design are balanced weapons, they have no real weaknesses and are effective at all ranges. While they're not up to par with the SMGs at close range or the snipers at long range they are quite capable of holding there own and you can still beat those weapons if there is a wide enough skill gap. They are also capable of decimating the SMGs at long range and the snipers at short range. This lack of any weakness often leads to them being my players weapon of choice as it can be used effectively used in just about any situation. ARs are often very hard to balance because there are 2 ways to nerf a gun, cut back on it's strengths or increase the severity of it's weakness and neither works for the ARs. The ARs main strength is it's balanced effectiveness in all situations and you can't cut back on that because that's what makes it an AR, if you make it more effective at one range or another then it becomes an SMG clone or a fast firing sniper, and if it's only a effective at one range then why use it? Why not use a real smg or sniper? As for weaknesses the ARs only real weakness is the whole jack of all trades master of none thing. To enhance this weakness you would have to weaken it in just about every stat, and it's very hard to do that without just going from effective at every range to useless at every range. This balance often leads to them being the most used weapon, but it's not what makes it overpowered. ARs are decent at all ranges, SMGs dominate close range and snipers rule the long distances but wait... Who controls the middle range? There is no dedicated mid range gun, there is a gap between the smgs and snipers. Without any gun to lead the pack at middle range, the balanced ARs fill the vacuum. That's what makes them overpowered, like the SMGs and snipers the ARs have a ranges they are the best at, but unlike the SMGs and snipers there is no range the ARs struggle at. To balance the ARs something needs to fill that mid range role and put them back into the Jack of all trades master of none role. To this extent I believe the HMGs can fill this role quite well with some buffs in the right places. Shorten the time it takes for the HMGs shots to become accurate, but decrease there accuracy while there revving up. Give them longer before they overheat but reduce there effective range. If ARs are still beating them, then give them a damage buff. HMGs low effective range, will make them weak at long range, while the delay before they can fire accurately with kill them at short range but there high accuracy and DPS will make them monsters at medium range.
TL;DR Buff HMGS into a good medium range weapon problem solved. |