Landari Zeta
Exit Wound Heavy Industries
16
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Posted - 2013.02.04 07:12:00 -
[1] - Quote
As I am sure many people already know, I'm a man who loves his tanks. That said, I have big problems with the Large Missile Turrets you mount on HAVs. I would like to specifically address a few issues I have been experiencing without trying to sound too biased. In its current iteration, it feels more like a barrage of bullets than a volley of missiles.
1.) Splash Damage
The splash damage inflicted by Large Missile Turrets is quite low for a weapon in its size category. This combined with its relatively small damage radius makes it a poor choice for close quarters defense against infantry.
To compare, a standard Mass Driver deals 115.0 HP in Splash Damage. The ST-201 Accelerated Missile Launcher only deals 80.0 HP per missile. The launcher fires 4 missiles for a total of 360.0 HP total potential damage. While this may seem high, the actual damage applied in a combat situation is a lot lower.
2.) Blast Radius
The same Large Missile Launcher has a Blast Radius of 3.0 meters. While 3.0 meters may seem like a decent blast radius for a missile, it feels a lot less due to the agility of infantry. I feel the problem is that a weapon of this scale, a missile no less, should have a wider blast radius due to its nature as, well, a missile. The same standard Mass Driver I previously mentioned has a Blast Radius of 4.0 m.
(I am not sure if the actual Blast Radius is bugged, but it feels like it has a significantly lower Blast Radius than it states. I have landed missiles easily 1.0 m away from infantry without doing as much as a scratch to their shields.)
3.) Missile Visibility
A minor problem I have is the missile smoke trail as it leaves the Turret. It feels too thick and it makes it quite difficult to aim follow up shots. I would suggest making narrower missile trails that follow each missile instead of thick white clouds that follow them.
Suggested Changes
I'll just be blunt. It does not kill infantry as well as it should. Infantry is HAV Main Enemy #1, but I won't go into that right now.
I have only fought other Large Missile users while driving my own HAV, so I cannot make any statements on how they are from an infantry's perspective. I am in no way requesting changes so I can go on a joyride laying waste to infantry, I am just asking to make it more usable against infantry. In its current state the only way to actually kill anyone is to land the direct damage onto them.
I would like to suggest the following changes for consideration.
1.) Missile Volley Size
I am not so sure that the whole volley is working as of now. Honestly, I would prefer firing one missile at a time from a magazine instead of having 4 missiles spray randomly in front of me. They would be easier to control and would be more balanced if the turrets were to receive a damage upgrade.
2.) Blast Radius/Splash Damage
I feel increasing the blast radius, as well as making sure its the accurate size, would help fend off smaller threats with AV weaponry. The Large Missile Turret adequately fights other HAV's with its direct damage, but cannot defend itself from smaller targets that pose an equally as large a threat.
For the turret I used as an example, the ST-201 Accelerated Missile Launcher, if the damage radius were upped to 6.0 meters and the splash damage was upped from 80.0 to 120.0 or even 140.0, it would do far less damage than a grenade per-shot for the same blast radius. Combined with controlled missiles fired from a small magazine, it would make an accurate, easy to control weapon with a blast radius fitting of an HAV mounted weapon.
3.) Smoke Trails
I feel they are over dramatic and it is only making it difficult to make follow up shots. This is merely my observation from trying to return fire to moving HAV's. If only one missile were fired at a time or the smoke trails were narrowed or replaced with a missile thruster animation altogether, it would be easier to shoot.
Let's just be honest. Large Missiles are completely underwhelming from an Anti-Infantry perspective and an Anti-Vehicle perspective both. It is hard to take out small targets and an enemy HAV with a Railgun or Blaster has a better chance of taking you out then you taking them out. As of now there is no benefit to using Large Missiles over Blasters or Railguns and quite honestly, it cannot even be considered the middle ground as others have proposed. Large Missiles need their own position as equals among the other Large Turrets and should not be considered their lesser.
Overall this is only my view on Large Missile Turrets. As a Caldari player in EVE, I would like to see Missiles get placed in a position to where they are just as favorable as any Large Turret. I have not yet tried out the higher Tier Missile Turrets as of now, but I honestly do not expect them to get much better.
This is merely my feedback as a Beta Tester so keep the hate to a minimum. |