Maken Tosch wrote:As someone has pointed out, what seems broken to you could be balanced to others. I don't see a problem with the remote explosives for the following reasons:
1. They sometimes explode prematurely. If you're lucky, you come out alive with barely half armor (insta-dead if you're in a scout suit). I had this happen to me on several occasions. Be careful on how you throw them... they explode too early if you throw them the wrong way.
2. You have no control as to which remote explosive you activate. Rumors are going around that they explode in the order you place them. But my game play experience has taught me that such a rumor is baseless as they all explode (assuming you planted more than one of them) in unison. This means that if I place an explosive on objectives A, B, and C and someone tries to hack A, I can activate the explosives to kill that hacker, but that means another hacker can come in without fear of getting killed the same way. Which brings me to my next point.
3. I have to restock them once I run out. But if the enemy decides to destroy the supply depots, then I am S.O.L. and then forced to get myself killed just to restock. By the time I'm ready to plant more explosives, the objectives will have already been overrun.
4. Let's not forget the threat of a skilled sniper who can one-shot-kill a explosives runner in a scout suit.
5. They can be spotted by other players. It appears that other players have adapted to this technique of planting explosives near the objectives by simple shooting at the explosives before hacking. Sometimes, a grenade that strayed too close or a tank shooting too close can easily trigger the explosives and thus clear a way for people to go through safely.
6. Apparently, their blast radius is not that wide at all. I have tossed several explosives nearby my opponents, but they were just a foot too far for the explosive to work.
7. You can't throw them very far. I can't even throw an RE over a ledge if my life depended on it. They just keep going towards the floor where I stand even when looking up.
As you can see, they are not overpowered in any way. People just so happen to use them in ways that outside their operational design. In Eve Online, an Iteron Mark V (an industrial hauling ship) is able to shoot down a mission-fitted Megathron (a battleship) while fitted with only one energy neutralizer and one small blaster vs. the Megathron's large guns. Then there is the Orca (an industrial command ship) that can face off against a battleship if done properly at the hands of an experienced pilot. Then there is the battleships that can be used as a mining vessel. Then there is the Myrmidon (a Gallente battlecruiser that mainly armor tanks) that can be fitted with just energy neuts and hull tank with reinforced bulkheads.
These are clear-cut examples of tools/ships being used outside of their operational design, which is inevitable no matter what CCP does.
I know what some of you are going to say. "But Maken, you're talking about Eve Online. This is Dust. A different game."
That may be true, but DUST is built by CCP which is the same company that made Eve. According to CCP, Dust's purpose is to expand on Eve's universe. It can operate on its own just like Eve, but it will be operating under Eve's server. But that's besides the point.
Let's also no forget that some DUST mercs have also discovered how to properly fit a tank on a dropship and turn it into something that does live up to its name. A ship that drops. Then there are the LAVs being used to just simply run people over. Wouldn't you run over your opponent if he just so happens to be walking in front of you? And let's also not forget that I have used the dropship for the sole purpose of abandoning it mid-flight by jumping out of the pilot seat and falling down with my inertia cancelers once I'm over my target objective. Never mind the poor souls who just spawned in the dropship just to die in a crash as I bailed out. If I time it right, the dropship could do enough damage to a nearby installation as it crashes into it. And don't get me started on a mercs I have spotted wearing a heavy suit armed only with an assault rifle thinking that their poor excuse for an alternative-assault suit could be of any use.