Main > General Discussion
Fellow Ex-Gunners Of Icarus Lend Me Your Ears!
KitKatKitty:
--- Quote from: Koali on February 19, 2015, 05:05:50 pm ---We could just ask Muse to pull a VALVe and give the gunners better hats, or perhaps gunner hats with particle effects...
--- End quote ---
I'm all for new hats! Always! But what we should more focus on are the testing ammos Muse had been working on that would give gunners privileges based on those special ammos, instead of the stamina. Have an ammo that allows the gun 5% extra arc or slightly faster reload ammo. That way it would actually be important for a gunner to have more than 1 ammo per gun.
Xylo Wenchbane:
Hey guys I'll start off and admit I read up to page 10 and then thought that maybe what we're dealing with isn't simply a mechanics issue but possibly a social issue too..
The Engineer should be the default class players get. That way when they quickjoin a match they can learn the basics of how to play, using and switching tools, getting accustomed to the "slang" used for certain ship fits/weapons/etc. and also the priority of repairs on a ship. Then the next step is the gunner to learn the finer points of using weapons, seeing what they're effective against and at what ranges, how the ships speed and momentum affect bullets and what effect the ammo types provide. Then the last step is the Pilots which dictate ship positioning and in the case of a captain pilot the overall strategy of the boat and guidance for the crew.
So let's start out with the pilot class. I'll provide two examples of what I see;
First point is the tool under the piloting category that the pilot will almost never use because it isn't useful for them and they will almost exclusively be on the helm steering the platform. I'm talking about the spyglass, it naturally grew as a responsibility for the other crew to spot and mark enemies so the gunner can get to work promptly dismantling them.
The next point relates to how I've seen some of the Russian crews of yore manage their ships. The gunner would generally be the captain playing the game a la time crisis (Think arcade "on-rails" shooter) and this was surprisingly funny and effective.
The Pilot's responsibility whether they're captain or not is to provide the window for the gunner to deal damage with the hull mounted guns. Now the gunner should be glued to the main gun or moving between guns.
Next the Engineer. Which I have some experience with. Mainly keeping the ship in running order so the gunner doesn't suddenly lose arc because the balloon popped or one of the turning engines got blown and caused the ship to spin out and ultimately lose the gunners arcs.
The engineer spots for the gunner and pilots to position and battle enemy vessels. The engineer gets all their usual role tools they also get the one ammo type this is where I will propose a change. While having two assigned to different components of the ship generally one will have enough down time during buff/chem cycles to don another weapon and possibly prepare for a bifecta, or even if the main engineer gets time a trifecta, this helps immensely with damage output.
Now what if we provide an item that would similarly be useless for the gunner to use since he's always gonna be planted on a gun which provides a little bit of convenience for the engineers and helmsman. Give them a flintlockesque pistol the gungineers could use to slow down opposing crews (not ships) movement speed and possibly interrupt certain mounted actions. This provides the convenience of covering blindspots (somewhat) and affecting enemy crews minimally enough to have an effect while not making the gunner useless and reinforcing their role as the heavy weapons that hurt.
The item could cause a noticeable but not completely debilitating affect on crews movement speed (Since engineers mostly move around to pilots who rarely move around) It could have a small interrupt effect on mounted crews (gunners and helmsman and any gungineers) Give it one shot then a slight reload this way it's not an auto spam and if you have two it's likely to interrupt some steering/chem/buff cycles. The worst that could happen is 2 engineers and the pilots use it simultaneously which makes the ship vulnerable to being outmaneuvered and having cycles miss or out of tune slightly. The aiming shouldn't be super accurate but also not a massive spread so that you'll get a hit'n'miss from mediumish distances and maybe a more profound effect up close.
I'm against scaling passive boosts since that can easily spiral out of control and make it more frustrating for newer players to join and doing arbitrary cuts on classes right now doesn't seem to be good. The only other thing I would recommend is shuffling who can use what ammo but I'm not sure that's a super idea either.
It's just a small idea but let me know what you guys think.
Sarabelle Marlowe:
I admit it does feel somewhat biased as far as the need for a gunner. But then that depends very much on what ship you happen to be on with what guns. There are guns that excel with one ammo type, but then there are others that do with many types...this is where having a gunner can make a decent ship into a more efficient one.
When maxing out gunner, I fully admit that I had help. As in, I play most with my fiance, Alistair, whom of which favors pilot. This was a huge advantage. We would work together, he comparing ship builds and I working with him on plays. And with us working together, it made it so that even ships where three engis are seen more often (like squid) he insisted that I stay gunner to utilize every gun he brought. We have done some crazy stunts working together, and I got my max levels with this class. As a result, I got good enough to the point that others request me staying gunner. The downside is that Alistair doesn't like playing without me gunning for him since we have such good synergy together.
While not a very satisfying reply, I suggest to a gunner, if you can, buddy up with a pilot. Play together long enough and you'd be surprised what you can accomplish.
Also, I like the idea of more hats. Hats are awesome.
But even better would be more ammo types. More ammo types means more need for them and more need means a gunner is a must. I'm all kinds of alright with this.
Xylo Wenchbane:
--- Quote from: Sarabelle Marlowe on March 19, 2015, 09:32:19 pm ---I admit it does feel somewhat biased as far as the need for a gunner. But then that depends very much on what ship you happen to be on with what guns. There are guns that excel with one ammo type, but then there are others that do with many types...this is where having a gunner can make a decent ship into a more efficient one.
When maxing out gunner, I fully admit that I had help. As in, I play most with my fiance, Alistair, whom of which favors pilot. This was a huge advantage. We would work together, he comparing ship builds and I working with him on plays. And with us working together, it made it so that even ships where three engis are seen more often (like squid) he insisted that I stay gunner to utilize every gun he brought. We have done some crazy stunts working together, and I got my max levels with this class. As a result, I got good enough to the point that others request me staying gunner. The downside is that Alistair doesn't like playing without me gunning for him since we have such good synergy together.
While not a very satisfying reply, I suggest to a gunner, if you can, buddy up with a pilot. Play together long enough and you'd be surprised what you can accomplish.
Also, I like the idea of more hats. Hats are awesome.
But even better would be more ammo types. More ammo types means more need for them and more need means a gunner is a must. I'm all kinds of alright with this.
--- End quote ---
I see your point with how you work in a team with Hubby, but more ammo doesn't mean more demand for the class if all classes have access to it. It just means Heavy and Burst round for engineers will change to the "Ammo of the month" Instead if you shuffle ammo between classes or provide something else to fill that single slot it should bring gunners back into competitive perspective.
Gotta love drunk posting. Also just gonna salute you because the cider tells me too...
Sarabelle Marlowe:
--- Quote from: Xylo Wenchbane on March 20, 2015, 07:40:54 am ---
I see your point with how you work in a team with Hubby, but more ammo doesn't mean more demand for the class if all classes have access to it. It just means Heavy and Burst round for engineers will change to the "Ammo of the month" Instead if you shuffle ammo between classes or provide something else to fill that single slot it should bring gunners back into competitive perspective.
Gotta love drunk posting. Also just gonna salute you because the cider tells me too...
--- End quote ---
While yes, in some cases this would be the point with a gun that excels in one ammo type, there are plenty now that are. My argument is more with that there are guns now that do best when there are more on hand. (whatcha, heavy flak, ect). It's vital to have a gunner with these types. By having more ammo types to choose from, that opens up more guns that are more efficient by having multiple ammo types. At least, that's the theory.
Or more guns to choose from, but we saw what happend with that recently.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version