The nerf the Lasher actually warrants

Krinsath · 2004-02-25, 10:08 AM

I noticed something last night while playing my VS character. The Lasher needs a nerf.

No, not to it's damage, not to the reload or the range. A nerf to it's ammo box.

The Lasher needs to have a clip of 50, but use 2 rounds to fire an orb. Why? I was looking at my inventory and my standard loadout has 5 boxes of energy ammo for my Pulsar and for my Lasher. That's 250 rounds of ammo, or 10 reloads. A JH user carrying the same amount of boxes gets 5 reloads. A MCG would get 2.5 reloads out of it. The Lasher and the JH have roughly equal damage potential, so I get 2x the kills in the same amount of inventory space.

Wasn't that the whole reason that shotgun ammo was reduced in the first place? However, working the boxes won't help because the Pulsar and Beamer are both slightly underpowered and NEED those larger boxes (takes half a box just to kill a Spit). Hence, why not increase the clip size and drain per shot? The lasher would be the same in terms of use and the other weapons would be unaffected, but people couldn't spam as much if every reload drains an entire box of ammo.

As it stands I carry 250 rounds, 6 medpacks and 3 jammer nades. I don't think any other empire could cram as much killing power into a RExo inventory.

Between that and the bug fixes, the Lasher should be good after that.

GreyFox · 2004-02-25, 10:14 AM

Yeah, sounds reasonable...

SilverLord · 2004-02-25, 10:20 AM

Agreed, I like that idea.

It needs bugfixed also guys, remember. It lashes through walls and hits us behind them.

Neofite · 2004-02-25, 10:23 AM

Yeah, that does sound like a good fix for the problem.

SilverLord · 2004-02-25, 10:27 AM

Fix the bugs and everything will be fine.

Right now, the Lasher has a 5m zome of u can't get close to or you'll get hurt area around the user.

Krinsath · 2004-02-25, 11:10 AM

Well, the other problem is that they have a lot longer field life out of the same space, so they can carry more goodies and unbalance the fight. Victory by inventory...or some such.

Wraithlord · 2004-02-25, 11:23 AM

I use MA

MA+Range>lasher

indoors I use a boomer or small unit tactics

boomer+surprise>lasher/s

4 people croutched w/ MCG's or cycler> lashers

Ive given up trying to compete with the twitchy surge n00bs in this game, Ive come up with my own (fairly uniqe) style of fighting that involves croutch walking with an assualt rifle through an enemy base letting the zerglings rush into the room, then I fire from the doorway and kill the weakend enemy. Please try being careful and using tactics. They DO work

Krinsath · 2004-02-25, 12:45 PM

This isn't so much a "Lasher is unbeatable" nerf...this is "Lasher can do more than it's counterparts and really shouldn't be able to" nerf.

The combat effectiveness of 25 lasher orbs is the same, all that'd be changed is the amount of ammo required to fire those 25 orbs. 10 full reloads is a lot, since a RExo JH user has to give up 3/4+ of their inventory to achieve what the VS can do in a little over 1/3. The VS can then carry more nades, medpacks, support gear, etc.

That *is* an unfair advantage. Remember that's why the shotgun ammo got cut by almost half, because the NC were getting a very long time out in the field that neither the VS nor TR could match. Now the Lasher has conveyed that advantage to the VS. In the spirit of fairness, it should be balanced out as described.

Dharkbayne · 2004-02-25, 01:19 PM

True, it takes two ENTIRE BOXES for ONE clip of MCG ammo, yet vanu get two reloads a box.

BadAsh · 2004-02-25, 02:25 PM

Actually, I'd prefer a buff to shotgun shell and 9mm ammo boxes rather then a reduction in Lasher energy.

More ammo is better IMHO. Running dry during a good fight sucks especially with the vast distances you might get stuck walking to get more... or get busted trying to loot some ammo...

I'd suggest:

32 shells per shotgun box
100 rounds per 9mm ammo box

And, yeah I know, the shotgun boxes were just adjusted from 30 to 16... so the odds of the devs reversing that decision are slim to none... but I get my opinion anyway :P

GreyFlcn · 2004-02-25, 02:33 PM

I'd suggest:

No Lash+Hit bug
No WallLash bug

JakeLogan · 2004-02-25, 02:57 PM

another idea I was thinking about is give the lasher an ability like the pulsar but instead of being bewteen standard and AP ammo it would be direct fire (orb hitting you and no lash) and Lash damage (lash effect only not damage from direct hit.) any thoughts or comments (no flames please.)

Augustus · 2004-02-25, 04:06 PM

Originally Posted by Krinsath

The Lasher needs to have a clip of 50, but use 2 rounds to fire an orb. Why? I was looking at my inventory and my standard loadout has 5 boxes of energy ammo for my Pulsar and for my Lasher. That's 250 rounds of ammo, or 10 reloads. A JH user carrying the same amount of boxes gets 5 reloads. A MCG would get 2.5 reloads out of it. The Lasher and the JH have roughly equal damage potential, so I get 2x the kills in the same amount of inventory space.

You completly ignored Rate Of Fire.

Yes, the JH and Lasher have "roughly equal damage potential" if you're reffering to TTK.
However, the JH kills Rexo in 3 shots but the Lasher needs 6.

Krinsath · 2004-02-25, 05:26 PM

Augustus, there's no change at all to the combat effectiveness. It's taking away the killing potential that the VS have simply by virtue of inventory.

JH 3 shots...5 boxes of shotgun ammo = 80/3 = 26...27 if you want to round.

Lasher - 6 shots...5 boxes of Lasher ammo = 250/6 = 41...42 if you round.

See the massive difference?

Sure, you cut the Lasher's ammo capacity by half, and you end up with 21 kills as opposed to 26 for the JH, but the Lasher also does more damage to surrounding targets and has a better range, so it's still a balanced trade-off.

SilverLord · 2004-02-25, 05:40 PM

I def agree that the 9MM boxes need a tiny buff for the MCG because whn I'm in a zerg, i prolly get about a 60/40 hit miss ratio and it just runs my ammo dry very quick. The better I get with the MCG, the lower my ammo gets everytime I go to battle.