Yan Darn
DUST University
Ivy League
6
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Posted - 2013.07.31 16:56:00 -
[1] - Quote
Tl;dr Refine passive scanning mechanics, then you need 'minimal' changes to balance scouts, shield and armour skills/items in general.
This is assuming you have read recent CCP comments on plans to change tac-net and UI display (some I agree with some I don't - I'd link but I'm on my phone...there are also plenty of other great threads discussing scanning)
Passive scanning: I've never seen a single coherent explanation to how scan precision and profile dampening affect passive detection rates/range. Lets refine that.
This is my idea of how they should interact with each other.
First - Make profile a kind of signature radius - example: take the standard 55db profile - make this means they have a sig radius of 5.5m - if they are within 15m of someone with a standard passive scan range of 10m they actually show up on radar. This would also help alleviate the minuscule scan range on suits.
Second - introduce a new spotting mechanic available to all. Ok - in lieu of spare buttons - make spotting basically a case of ADS on a target BUT this is directly related to scan precision/profile - standard time you have to lock ADS on someone should be 5secs, in which time they show up for say 5 secs (maybe 3 whatever). This should be in the case of someone with 55 precision ADSing someone with 55 profile. Any difference in precision and profile between spotter and target should add/remove time it takes to activate the spot. I.e a med suit targeting a light suit (45 profile) would take 6 secs to activate spot - light targeting med suit would take 4 secs (because of 45 precision). We could also use this equation to determine length of time target remains spotted.
So, now snipers can spot targets - scout snipers are gonna do this more efficiently. It also means someone who sees a sniper, and can ADS them for long enough can now spot them for the entire team (did I mention that spotting, including active scanning should be team wide?). Scouts can get in closer before radars pick them up due to speed and profile and will be harder due to speed and profile to effectively spot.
Side notes: different suits could also have max targets spotted value as well, scouts would obviously have more -maybe also a skill (similar to the EVE) that increases the number of targets that can be spotted comes after getting a certain level in Scan Precison.
Ok - on to shields and armour changes (well shields...) regarding stealth. I'm not gonna rehash the balance issues as they are, there are plenty of topics on that.
Now basically, give shield extenders a profile penalty as armour has a speed penalty. This means shield tankers are now easier to spot and show up on radar from a further distance. Basically if you want to buffer your defences you will have to trade speed or stealth - if want speed AND stealth you will have to trade tank buffer. Makes sense right?
So okay, none of this helps heavies, it's difficult because we only have the one racial variant to balance against. The only thing I can think of is to allow Heavies be able to spot more targets, and allow auto-spotting of targets in radar range to offset the fact they will have trouble spotting anything but other heavies within 10 secs- but that is barely throwing them a bone.
Side note: Weapons ideally should have a fixed profile penalty on firing/charging, add skills per weapon (maybe not all weapons) to reduce the the penalty.
The end. |