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Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Call for Gunner Ammo Ideas

« on: May 21, 2014, 10:43:06 am »

Having a shot or two with all bullet kinds and guns and ships, I've thought the balance through and I have to admit that the game's quite nicely balanced ship and gun wise. The roles and their gear, however, are a dull choice, and this is why I think this thread is necessary.

While I'm leaning towards normal ammo, I think the goal here is to make gunner as unique as other classes by modifying his gear (which consists of bullets), not make him necessary by making him the only class with useful ammunition. All combinations of crew roles should be viable.

So instead of making gunner shoot more hurtful bullets or shoot under angles no mount point can, I suggest ammo that changes the way guns shoot.

• Linked shot, a wonder of steampunk tinkering and cruelty, this ammo would cause sequential shots to be linked together in a different way in every gun, changing its role at the cost of damage. For example, small Flak would be forced to shoot in two round sequences (angles of first and second shot could be aimed), and its projectiles are linked with steel cable that would cause less damage to armor and hull, but would be devastating and entangling to equipment and engines, and may even kill/push the crew if it flies overboard. Hvatcha would be capable of launching a rocket powered net capable of stopping ship's horizontal movement (2 shots per clip max), Heavy mortar would fire heavy shells capable of pinning the ship to the ground, flamer would shoot strings of napalm, and I'm out of ideas for other guns.
  
  Overall: damage and capacity highly reduced, new tactical blocking options in return.
  
• Combo shot, a shot similar to Linked, except it would solely focus on sequential hits and sustained fire. It would benefit the quick and accurate gunner, as the last or every second shot would cause increased damage and effect if it would connect right after the earlier shots. For example, Gatling would spin up and fire faster over time while reducing the turning speed, thus making it a killer against enemies with slower relative speeds, but making it less of a defensive weapon against charging enemies. Rocket carousel would be firing rockets alternating between rockets filled with gasoline that deal almost no damage and igniting rockets, that together guarantee starting fires, but alone wear off quickly. Flamethrower would spread liquid gasoline, possibly even making a gasoline clouds at the end of the range, and at the last few bits of fuel it would spew some fire and explosively ignite the enemy ship covered in gasoline. Flak would be shooting sticky latent dynamite, and last shot would be the detonator that can cause an explosion for more damage than a flak could ever cause.
  
  Overall: A risky ammo - very high damage if the gunner shoots well, very little to no damage if the firing is interrupted.
  
• AoE Denial shot, a more defensive approach to ammo, would be focused on defending from the enemy. Almost all shots would cause a cloud of metal dust that functions like a sandstorm while blocking few kinds of projectiles. Biggest change would be to the Artemis - a slower rocket that could be remotely detonated (fly-by-wire anyone?) that would cause a very big cloud of rocket stopping, damaging dust that fades after a while. Flamethrower would have a very large cone of fire that quickly melts the rockets and shells flying within it, while greatly reducing range (probably no more than 15m). Mortar would be like Artemis but its effect would last longer or it could be more harmful. Flaks would cause smaller clouds upon hit (smaller than rockets), allowing for blocking enemies' gunners' vision.
  
  Overall: Trading range/damage for the ability to defend and deter the enemy.
  

I tried to think of giving the gunner something that works differently from changing the fire rate or damage, and came up with this. Revolution is way better than buffing or nerfing.
But, if we decide that a rebalance is needed, I propose two simple rebalance options, based on how ununique the gunner is.

• Basically, we split equipment into two tiers: a shared, basic one and a class specific, advanced one.
  In the first we would have few basic ammo types (almost all of the current gunner ammo), pipe wrench and extinguisher, and spy eye and rangefinder. Every class can take an item from the basic tier, but the advanced tier is left for the specific class.
  In the advanced tier would be the  Lochanagar shot and heatsink clip and the new ammo that we are coming up with for the gunner; engineer would have the rubber mallet and spanner for efficient fixing, buff hammer, chemical spray, and any extra options the devs might come up with; pilots would have the privilege of flight assisting gizmos and maybe a new type of optic.
• We limit the amount of equipment all classes can have to about to 4, and allow to have more than one item in the class's category. This way everyone picking would have to decide whether they would focus solely on their role or be more flexible.
  Not sure how that would work out, as the current flexibility allowed me to still be able to fight after the crew abandoned me (Happened last match, wasn't even the captain).

Edit: I know that devs already replied that making new weird shots is troublesome, but can i pleaseee get this idea considered without the extra work being an issue?