Forums » Suggestions
Love for the interceptor pilots
Lets take a look at the present state of weapons choices for interceptor pilots, shall we?
Positrons:
velocity: 190-210 m/s
DPE: 44.4-50
rate of fire: 4-5 shots in a second
mass: 400-500 kg
Neutrons:
velocity: 190-208 m/s
DPE: 42.9-54.5
rate of fire: 6-7 shots in a second
mass: 400-600 kg
Phase:
velocity: 170-180 m/s
DPE: 43.8-57.5
rate of fire: 5 shots in a second
mass: 100-150 kg
Why is there this huge disparity? Why, if a pilot wants to fly a little lighter, must the velocity of his fire plummet?
On the higher damage side of the coin, interceptor pilots now have Widowmakers to allow them the high rate of fire of Neutrons while enjoying the damage and velocity of Positrons. Why can't we do something for the lower damage side?
Rather than steal Orion/TPG's fire by enhancing the phase blasters, I'm going to go a slightly different route to fill the void between 150 and 400 kg weapons.
TPG Raven Ion Blaster
Levels: 4/8/-/-/-
Damage: 500
Velocity: 195 m/s
Energy usage: 10/blast
Delay: .16 s
Mass: 280 kg
Grid usage: 4
Auto-aim: Identical to current ion blasters (fairly low)
The addition of better ion blasters gives interceptor pilots the edge they desperately need. Being lighter gives them the ability to get out of the way just a little bit better, which makes all the difference when your armor is thinner than that of your opponent.
I would suggest fudging a Serco and Itani copy of this weapon as well, for use in Deneb. Something like Serco Ion Blaster mkIV and Itani Heimdall Ion Blaster. I think there would be a lot of humor in all three having the same gun with different names. Maybe bump the Itani model to 200m/s and the Serco to 510 damage if you want variety.
Alternatively, the velocity on the Orion phase blaster could simply be increased to be comparable with Neutrons, but I think that a large segment of the community likes their slower speed as a way to make dodging them while mixed with Neuts or Posis more of a challenge. For balance, the TPG sparrow would need a damage increase.
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Why have Neutron mkIIIs and LENBs? Just make them the same thing. Call them either name you like, use the LENB stats.
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Similarly, has anyone ever felt like the flare stats are backwards? Why is the heaviest rocket the fastest? Shouldn't the ice model, designed for interceptors as opposed to the sun model which is obviously best managed by heavy ships, be the faster of the two? Why penalize the light-minded pilot by taxing damage AND velocity?
I propose the velocity of Iceflares and Sunflares be switched. Further, Starflares should split the difference instead of being abandoned altogether. Increase them from 75 to 80 m/s.
Heavy port rockets are already designed beautifully- to get the greater damage there is a sacrifice. Small port rockets lack this balance, making Sunflares the choice of everyone who can buy them.
Positrons:
velocity: 190-210 m/s
DPE: 44.4-50
rate of fire: 4-5 shots in a second
mass: 400-500 kg
Neutrons:
velocity: 190-208 m/s
DPE: 42.9-54.5
rate of fire: 6-7 shots in a second
mass: 400-600 kg
Phase:
velocity: 170-180 m/s
DPE: 43.8-57.5
rate of fire: 5 shots in a second
mass: 100-150 kg
Why is there this huge disparity? Why, if a pilot wants to fly a little lighter, must the velocity of his fire plummet?
On the higher damage side of the coin, interceptor pilots now have Widowmakers to allow them the high rate of fire of Neutrons while enjoying the damage and velocity of Positrons. Why can't we do something for the lower damage side?
Rather than steal Orion/TPG's fire by enhancing the phase blasters, I'm going to go a slightly different route to fill the void between 150 and 400 kg weapons.
TPG Raven Ion Blaster
Levels: 4/8/-/-/-
Damage: 500
Velocity: 195 m/s
Energy usage: 10/blast
Delay: .16 s
Mass: 280 kg
Grid usage: 4
Auto-aim: Identical to current ion blasters (fairly low)
The addition of better ion blasters gives interceptor pilots the edge they desperately need. Being lighter gives them the ability to get out of the way just a little bit better, which makes all the difference when your armor is thinner than that of your opponent.
I would suggest fudging a Serco and Itani copy of this weapon as well, for use in Deneb. Something like Serco Ion Blaster mkIV and Itani Heimdall Ion Blaster. I think there would be a lot of humor in all three having the same gun with different names. Maybe bump the Itani model to 200m/s and the Serco to 510 damage if you want variety.
Alternatively, the velocity on the Orion phase blaster could simply be increased to be comparable with Neutrons, but I think that a large segment of the community likes their slower speed as a way to make dodging them while mixed with Neuts or Posis more of a challenge. For balance, the TPG sparrow would need a damage increase.
.
Why have Neutron mkIIIs and LENBs? Just make them the same thing. Call them either name you like, use the LENB stats.
.
Similarly, has anyone ever felt like the flare stats are backwards? Why is the heaviest rocket the fastest? Shouldn't the ice model, designed for interceptors as opposed to the sun model which is obviously best managed by heavy ships, be the faster of the two? Why penalize the light-minded pilot by taxing damage AND velocity?
I propose the velocity of Iceflares and Sunflares be switched. Further, Starflares should split the difference instead of being abandoned altogether. Increase them from 75 to 80 m/s.
Heavy port rockets are already designed beautifully- to get the greater damage there is a sacrifice. Small port rockets lack this balance, making Sunflares the choice of everyone who can buy them.
That was a beautiful post.
bump!
and agreed, more variation of weapons in general would definitely increase the quality of gameplay by allowing further customization instead of the same 3/4 common weapon combos
and agreed, more variation of weapons in general would definitely increase the quality of gameplay by allowing further customization instead of the same 3/4 common weapon combos
bump.
lenbs > n3s * 1.2
lenbs > n3s * 1.2
So LENBs > N3.6? :P
Yeah! I've always liked Phase Blasters, but they've seldom been a weapon that could be seriously considered in a real fight. Even the TPG and Orion variants are somewhat sub-par compared to their contemporaries, which is somewhat annoying, seeing as they require a reasonably high faction rating to acquire.
I don't so much mind the low damage of Phase guns, as the absurdly high fire rate and very low power drain allows a pilot to literally fill the space around them with phase rounds. However, the low shot speed makes any such endeavor rather fruitless.
Also, I agree in regards to the flares. At the very least, Sunflares ought to accelerate slower than Iceflares.
I don't so much mind the low damage of Phase guns, as the absurdly high fire rate and very low power drain allows a pilot to literally fill the space around them with phase rounds. However, the low shot speed makes any such endeavor rather fruitless.
Also, I agree in regards to the flares. At the very least, Sunflares ought to accelerate slower than Iceflares.
can we have a midrange phase blaster with mayhap a lil better a/a leave flares alone they have been nerfed enough.
actually i think a iceflare variant with just more speed would be awesome on fighters.
something like 95 would make it a really sweet weapon, not to do damage but to knock your opponent off his course or to catch him off gard.
something like 95 would make it a really sweet weapon, not to do damage but to knock your opponent off his course or to catch him off gard.
yea iceflares should be faster, or seeker missiles (seeker drops) given some concussion, they already go 120 i think
seekers need the ability to reload.
I'd buy TPG Ravens, as long as I don't need TPG standing to get them.
Corvus better have a knockoff.
Corvus better have a knockoff.
I agree entirely. Bravo on a well done post.
This is now available in-game. 8 days, not bad?
You pwn all incarnate. Long live the space gods!
The grid usage was a nice touch. I wish I had thought of that.