News: The Fission

[Death2All]

Originally Posted by Johari

Wouldn't it play into the VS theme of mobility if the Fission is actually both? Don't get me wrong I love the look and I'd love to see what a reskinned Lancer would look like but what if the Fission had 2 fire modes? One is the slower lock-on projectile as described and the secondary toggle fire is the old Lancer style charge-shot of old?

I would perfectly happy if the fission had an alternate variant, or as you suggest fire mode that behaved exactly like the original Lancer. I could care less what the name of it is. But Lancer would be preferred

Can't say I'm too thrilled about all empires being given lock AV either. No need to ruin the uniqueness of each empire and over simplify the game for everyone.

[Atheosim]

I'm sure there will be myriad customization options to allow for an extremely different user experience for each esav. And in all likelihood, ES customization options... VS can modify their whositwhatsitmajigger capacitationorz to make the locking orb change into a much faster dumbfire bolt. easy.

[VanuMAXGuy]

Originally Posted by Talek Krell

If both aren't an option, why not make the "Lancer" a module that you add to the Fission to change its functionality? Or a variant. A way to change the weapon without using a different model.

Do not reduce the legendary Lancer to a pathetic little module for a new gun, that would be incredibly insulting to it.

[Talek Krell]

Originally Posted by VanuMAXGuy

Do not reduce the legendary Lancer to a pathetic little module for a new gun, that would be incredibly insulting to it.

Your opinion is noted. Thank you for contributing!

[Sardus]

Starfire max in the power of your hands? :O

[Quovatis]

I enjoyed the lancer in PS1. It was a rewarding skill-based weapon. You got slightly longer range than the other empire's AV weapons, one more round per clip, and a very fast projectile. It meant you could actually hit a tank behind a building where you can only see a few pixels. That's why I hated the striker (which sounds like what the Fission will be similar to). The striker would hit trees half the time, and the enemy gets a lock-on warning. In certain situations the striker was superior, but for me, that was rare. So I hope to see the return of the lancer. It was my favorite weapon in PS1.

[Ceska]

If you got the Lancer back, it should have some kind of damage decrease over distance, as it is mentioned for Pulsar, based on plasma bolt.
So VS can have their toy back, but NC can forget their TV-guided rocket ?

PS : I'm not sad of losing TV-guided, it made battle static, but seeing people whinning for their sweet toy is just annoying...

[Erendil]

Originally Posted by Johari

Wouldn't it play into the VS theme of mobility if the Fission is actually both? Don't get me wrong I love the look and I'd love to see what a reskinned Lancer would look like but what if the Fission had 2 fire modes? One is the slower lock-on projectile as described and the secondary toggle fire is the old Lancer style charge-shot of old?

Yeah I was thinking that as well. It'd fit quite well into the VS theme of versatility. But personally, I'd much rather all three empires have both firing modes on one ESAV weapon instead two separate weapons, rather than giving that advantage to just the VS. It fits the "flexibility over firepower" advantage that infantry have over vehicles, and given the solo-vehiclefest that PS2 will most likely become I fear that softies are going to need all the help they can get when outside.

Plus, in PS1 both the Striker and Phoenix already have dumb-fire modes which I presume will carry over to PS2. It would be a logical next step for the Devs to give the VS AV 2 modes as well. Hopefully they'll improve the Striker/Phoenix dumb-fire modes so they're actually useful against moving vehicles as well, though.

Originally Posted by Ceska

If you got the Lancer back, it should have some kind of damage decrease over distance, as it is mentioned for Pulsar, based on plasma bolt.
So VS can have their toy back, but NC can forget their TV-guided rocket ?

PS : I'm not sad of losing TV-guided, it made battle static, but seeing people whinning for their sweet toy is just annoying...

Damage Degradation has been slapped onto other VS weapons as a balance measure to counteract their superior accuracy over NC/TR weapons. However, the Lancer would not have any such advantage over the Striker/Phoenix in many situations. And we have no idea how many shots it'll take to destroy vehicles with ESAV, so it's too early to tell whether or not Degradation would even make sense as a balancing measure.

As for the Phoenix, BorisBlade and Bobby Shaftoe both covered reasons why the Phoenix camera mode needed to go. I will add the fact that its ability to fire around buildings and over walls and hills made it next to impossible to break out of a base under NC seige without a large numerical advantage. Much like the Lasher's lash, it was simply too hard of a feature to balance with any measure of success.

[Fenrys]

Originally Posted by Erendil

Damage Degradation has been slapped onto other VS weapons as a balance measure to counteract their superior accuracy over NC/TR weapons.

There's some conflicting information about that. It seems to me that what you've said is the way it should be, but in the last webcast Higby said VS weapons got LESS damage degradation and LESS bullet drop (as in they still drop a little bit) compared to NC/TR weapons. We'll see if the extra recoil is enough to balance things.

If VS still get mobility as part of their theme, then having longer range weapons makes sense. For example, the PS1 Magrider would need an accuracy buff to take full advantage of its mobility.

[Erendil]

Originally Posted by Fenrys

There's some conflicting information about that. It seems to me that what you\'ve said is the way it should be, but in the last webcast Higby said VS weapons got LESS damage degradation and LESS bullet drop (as in they still drop a little bit) compared to NC/TR weapons. We\'ll see if the extra recoil is enough to balance things.

If VS still get mobility as part of their theme, then having longer range weapons makes sense. For example, the PS1 Magrider would need an accuracy buff to take full advantage of its mobility.

Yeah the latest PC Gamer article Higby stated the "bullets...do lose damage over time." I wouldn't really call it conflicting info tho. More like a little sketchiness on the details. Even if bullets degrade over time (I wish they wouldn't, but w/e), I'm 99% sure the VS weapons will degrade more than their NC/TR counterparts. So either way the VS get the lion's share of degradation.

Oh, an FWIW the TR get part of the "mobility" theme this time around. They're all about speed, so their vehicles do have a higher top speed than the VS ones, although VS still win on the maneuverability front (turning, strafing, acceleration, etc). And of course we still have "Versatility" as a theme as well.

It also seems that "accuracy" is another theme since our weapons' energy blasts appear to be treated as more than just "glowing bullets" in PS2. They actually have slightly different flight characteristics (like no bullet drop, for example). So yeah, the Lancer would fit right in.

[Sabrak]

Originally Posted by Johari

Wouldn\\'t it play into the VS theme of mobility if the Fission is actually both? Don\\'t get me wrong I love the look and I\\'d love to see what a reskinned Lancer would look like but what if the Fission had 2 fire modes? One is the slower lock-on projectile as described and the secondary toggle fire is the old Lancer style charge-shot of old?

^ This.

But instead of a secondary fire mode, make it a customization option.

The lancer needs to be in the game in some way, because it was a great signature weapon for the VS (and I played NC).

[Ceska]

The thing with Lancer, is that it as a very fast traveling speed. When a NC with a laser guided Phoenix need to steer is rocket until he hits a moving target, he can only fire a few ones, whereas a Lancer can hit multiple time in a few seconds, and so that's why it should have damage decrease over distance to conteract the fact that with TV or Laser guided weapon, the more distant is a target, the less rocket you can launch

[Shamrock]

Id say just have the Fission as a variant of the Lancer, say you get the lock on option but for a degradation in either range, rate of fire, or damage.

Oh and the whaaa-POW noise as the lancer fires HAS to stay, its a signature sound.