Hypothetical Balance Changes - Shaft

[TheCongoSpider 8,957]

This is an experiment thread to see what ground I can make with this. The point of this thread is to discuss how balance would be affected if particular changes were made to a turret, preferably a buff. 

 

Patch Note ###:

 

Shaft:

 

Arcade weak damage % increased to 50%

 

Impact force for sniping shots increased by 40%

 

 

 

 

I don't know if any of the existing threads are like this. The only thread I see this being similar to is "Let's Discuss Game Balance" but what is talked about there is what the balance already is and not potential changes.

 

[CabbageRoll 3,018]

Gauss reload reduced by 90%

Impact force increased by 300%

[TheCongoSpider 8,957]

 

It was actually meant to have separate topics for separate turret changes and not just one big mega-thread. Each topic would discuss how the change in the original post would affect gameplay and in what way. 

 

If this topic is approved and stays up, then I or maybe you guys can branch off to the other turrets with more balance changes. Those 2 in the original post were the only things I could have changed for Shaft without it becoming unbearably OP. 

 

Gauss reload reduced by 90%

Impact force increased by 300%

Gauss usage would skyrocket. If by reload, you mean sniping shot reload, then it would become:

 

M0: 0.4

 

M1: 0.371

 

M2: 0.353

 

M3: 0.324

 

M4: 0.3

 

Almost non-existent basically. If you mean for the arcade shot, it would be worse. 

 

If you actually mean a 90% increase in the sniping reload, then it would make more sense, although it would be an inconvenience to target lone enemies. 

[wolverine848 13,097]

It was actually meant to have separate topics for separate turret changes and not just one big mega-thread. Each topic would discuss how the change in the original post would affect gameplay and in what way. 

 

If this topic is approved and stays up, then I or maybe you guys can branch off to the other turrets with more balance changes. Those 2 in the original post were the only things I could have changed for Shaft without it becoming unbearably OP. 

 

 

 

Gauss usage would skyrocket. If by reload, you mean sniping shot reload, then it would become:

 

M0: 0.4

 

M1: 0.371

 

M2: 0.353

 

M3: 0.324

 

M4: 0.3

 

 

 

Almost non-existent basically. If you mean for the arcade shot, it would be worse. 

 

If you actually mean a 90% increase in the sniping reload, then it would make more sense, although it would be an inconvenience to target lone enemies. 

Pretty sure Cabbage meant all buff - as that was what you did with shaft.  Was a spoof.

 

Not sure the point of the thread.  All shaft-users will give thumbs up and everyone else the opposite.

 

Was your hypothetical just an ice-breaker?  Was not an actual suggestion was it?

Edited July 13, 2019 by wolverine848

[TheCongoSpider 8,957]

Was your hypothetical just an ice-breaker?  Was not an actual suggestion was it?

They are not suggestions. 

 

Not sure the point of the thread.  All shaft-users will give thumbs up and everyone else the opposite.

It's just to discuss how it would affect battles and game balance in general in-depth. And if they give thumbs up to a change that makes it very OP, then those players don't care about balance, but for personal gains. 

 

In foresight, it felt like a nice way to keep the Game Discussion sub-forum alive with new threads. 

[DieselPlatinum 5,121]

Vulcan damage increase by 25%.

 

Damage reduction of Vulcan after overheating removed.

 

Spin up time cut by 65%.

[XxStriker 519]

You really think it needs another buff after the reload time post sniping was already reduced the last balance change?

 

Besides what's the point in impact force if it oneshots everything anyway?

[Michael828 816]

That buff in Shaft's minimum arcade damage would make it more comparable to Smoky and Thunder. Players may start relying more on arcade shots than sniper shots, which could make Shaft turn into more of a medium range turret than the long range turret it's supposed to be. Not to mention that's just extra DPS for the dreaded RFM alteration.

 

Impact doesn't mean much for Shaft, but I know for sure a 910 impact force at M4 is way too high. This may bring us back to the old days when Railgun used to easily flip light and medium hulls, and players really didn't enjoy that.

 

I know this is just a hypothetical case, but I believe Shaft is the last turret to deserve a buff. In my opinion, some candidates for a buff would be Vulcan, and Twins. Maybe reduce Vulcan's barrel startup time by 30%, and increase Twin's projectile speed by 25%. Several other turrets may need a nerf, like Hammer, Ricochet, Gauss, Magnum, and Freeze. I can't think of proper nerfs for them.

[TheCongoSpider 8,957]

You really think it needs another buff after the reload time post sniping was already reduced the last balance change?

 

Besides what's the point in impact force if it oneshots everything anyway?

It is not a suggestion. I could have nerfed it but buffs are more interesting. 

 

Not all shots one-shot the enemy, especially if they have protection or you are not using double damage while they're using double armour. For something that has to charge up for 4 seconds (or 8 for Heavy Capacitors), it would make sense to have strong impact force. That would be their "reason" for increasing it. 

 

I know this is just a hypothetical case, but I believe Shaft is the last turret to deserve a buff. In my opinion, some candidates for a buff would be Vulcan, and Twins. Maybe reduce Vulcan's barrel startup time by 30%, and increase Twin's projectile speed by 25%. Several other turrets may need a nerf, like Hammer, Ricochet, Gauss, Magnum, and Freeze. I can't think of proper nerfs for them.

Yeah, I think more buffs to Shaft would be unnecessary. Since this topic doesn't seem to be breaking the rules, I'll do Vulcan or Twins next. This topic came about because I wondered how powerful Shaft would be with just its weak damage % increased to 50%. That felt too little of a change so I looked for another parameter to increase but I couldn't find any to change without making it unbearable OP except impact force. 

 

And these are just tweaking random statistics. Some may look like real balance changes or "suggestions" since some statistics tie in with others for consistency. 

Edited July 13, 2019 by TheCongoSpider

[Benefactor 6,888]

Firebird: leave the afterburn but reduce damage by 20% - Repair Kit or friendly freeze has no effect on afterburn.

[TheCongoSpider 8,957]

Heh, it seems as if this topic has taken an alternate route. I would give the balance changes and I would abstain from giving input on that specific balance change. Wanted to see discussions from everyone else. If I am going to comment on anything, it would be on the bare minimum of the change. 

 

I guess what we can do is toy around with some of the parameters of each turret and see how it would affect other turrets and gameplay. That may look messy if it's done in one topic, that's why it was better to put changes for each turret in a separate topic. 

 

Firebird: leave the afterburn but reduce damage by 20% - Repair Kit or friendly freeze has no effect on afterburn.

I can't see how Freeze wouldn't be able to put out the afterburn if you kept it the same.