New ESF Weapons discussion

[SolLeks]

I wrecked a few pilots with the mass drivers, I like them as they do a good ammount of damage.

Still worse than the rotary though.

also, it takes 6 or 7 shots to the back of a MBT (tested on prowler) to kill it so it is kinda garbage A2G.

[Gatekeeper]

Originally Posted by Rbstr

More NS weapons is pretty weak. They barely have any weapon differentiation as it is.

I agree. The differences between the three factions were much more pronounced in PS1, which really helped to build a unique sense of faction identity.

That said, I'd rather they added weapons like these that are openly NS, rather than weapons like the sniper rifles and battle rifles which claim to be ES, but which are actually just cut & pasted stats with different skins applied.

[Wahooo]

Originally Posted by Gatekeeper

I agree. The differences between the three factions were much more pronounced in PS1, which really helped to build a unique sense of faction identity.

That said, I'd rather they added weapons like these that are openly NS, rather than weapons like the sniper rifles and battle rifles which claim to be ES, but which are actually just cut & pasted stats with different skins applied.

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I disagree. Yes the MA and HA weapons were more distinct, but we have more choices for rocket launchers including carryovers from PS1 for each faction.

The MBTs are at least as varied as they were in PS1 and although we don't have the deli variants the ESF differences are pretty good.

In general i'm all for cut and pasted stats with different skins. Hell I would have preferred that over ANY NS weapons. Some unique stats and functions and some hidden NS weapons/platforms with unique skins would be great, it is a balancing act and sure a lot harder to balance correctly the number of weapons we have if they were all to have unique traits.

[snafus]

Originally Posted by SolLeks

I wrecked a few pilots with the mass drivers, I like them as they do a good ammount of damage.

Still worse than the rotary though.

also, it takes 6 or 7 shots to the back of a MBT (tested on prowler) to kill it so it is kinda garbage A2G.

Ya used as a solo ESF they will be pretty shitty. But used within an airwing they will be able to rape enemy armor and other slow moving targets. You give me 6 ESF with those fuckers on them and we will never have issues with sunderers again.

[SolLeks]

Originally Posted by snafus

Ya used as a solo ESF they will be pretty shitty. But used within an airwing they will be able to rape enemy armor and other slow moving targets. You give me 6 ESF with those fuckers on them and we will never have issues with sunderers again.

true true. I guess I just tend to look at it that way because even though I have tried to raze an air wing many times, it has never worked =/

[PredatorFour]

So their reasoning for adding these new weapons in was to make " air fight air" but in doing so have put some great A2G weapons in too, makes sense...

[phungus]

Originally Posted by snafus

Ya used as a solo ESF they will be pretty shitty. But used within an airwing they will be able to rape enemy armor and other slow moving targets. You give me 6 ESF with those fuckers on them and we will never have issues with sunderers again.

6 ESFs with locusts will be even worse. If the weapons are released as is no one will use anything other then the locust cannons. Why would they?


After testing these weapons, and even using them against targets that fought back a bit around j908 here are my recommended changes:

NS Mass Drivers: Seem fine. Might need a buff, but who knows, see how they work on live once sniper pros start using them.


Locusts: Need to be nerfed, alot. These things have better rof then rotary cannons, higher damage per shot and larger clip then the standard nose guns, and have the AoE damage of the banshee. It's fricking insane!

-Remove the AoE
-Increase spin up time, by alot
-Increase cone of fire
-Add significant damage drop off beyond 200m


Coyotes: Currently they seem like they are just superior to A2Am tomcats. I think more can be done here to really make a unique and viable weapon.

-leave A2Am tomcats alone, let them be low skilled noob friendly fire and forget weapons
-Reduce range of Coyotes to 200m
-Allow Coyote missiles to lock onto both Ground and Air vehicles


AB tanks: Cert lines still haven't been tested. A spare ammo loaded flare would make AB tanks perfect. If AB tanks came with a single -ammo handled flare (so you have to resupply to get it again) then new ESFs would have a flare, other utilities would become more viable, and high skilled pilots would really start considering taking AB tanks rather then locust cannons. Would be very easy to handle, if you have the utility flares loaded your first flare you pop is that one on the timer, pop it again while the utility flares is on cooldown and you pop your ammo handled flare that you only have one. Gives you a spare flare if you need it, and allows players to consider an alternate utility if they are OK with having a single flare they have to return to base to resupply.



An ESF player given these choices would have quite a few very viable options, AB tanks for the extra flare and manueverability, locusts for longer sustained fire output, rocket pods for anti armor duty, Coyotes for close range vehicle combat, A2Am for new players to be a threat, and Mass Drivers for long range sniping.

[Rolfski]

These weapons are broken atm. There isn't really anything to discuss until devs have properly balanced them.

[snafus]

Originally Posted by SolLeks

true true. I guess I just tend to look at it that way because even though I have tried to raze an air wing many times, it has never worked =/

Yeah man I plan to have at least have four to six of our air wing fit the mass driver on op nights with 2x zoom. The rest will most likely have the Gatling guns for air dominance capabilities. Not only will we be able to remove any exposed sundy but any poor sky guard that renders for the AV team will be short lived.

[KesTro]

Personally not a fan of the new ESF weapons. They will be fun for sure but they'll make air dominance even more of a crutch than it is if ESF's stay as they are.