What We Are Up To - Something Fresh From The Labs

[Boltok]

Killerwatt
I mean what do I say about this weapon from it's description. You guys make it sound like it's a complete monster, and easily a tier 5 weapon off the bat; yes please. I like that the survivalist is getting another exclusive weapon but it doesn't really get any bonuses for having it's own weapons like the rest of the perks. I mean the 20% global damage is nice but it needs something to give it a clear advantage over the rest instead of just being a mix-mash of other perks. Maybe using its perk specific weapons give him extra damage or something? I heard you guys wanted to re-work that perk so in due time of course. Cause I think he's a solid perk: nice skills all around and great survivability (obviously), but it just needs something perk specific to really be more useful. At the moment, it seems a bit counter-intuitive to give the Survivalist perk specific weapons but have all these skills benefiting every weapon but it's perk specific weapons. I like the Freezethrower, it's useful; but, my skills don't benefit it and it's usefulness doesn't outweigh it's lack of skill support from the perk.

Helios Rifle
As for the Firebug only weapon, it looks like a solid tier 3 or 5 weapon and I wouldn't mind either one. I'm a little worried about it not doing what the Microwave gun does best at the moment, which is pushing everything (mainly big Zeds) off of you with that alt fire. The Helios Rifle doesn't seem to have that since it's full-auto or 3-round burst. That and what tier I think it could be tells me that it's going to be stronger than the Microwave Gun in some way (DPS, Raw Damage, etc). Sounds good at first, but you guys have the Firebug at a place where it's a little Zed destroyer; no perk kills little-med zeds like the Firebug does. So with the way the perk is, I don't think it should be a Big and Little Zed killer. You guys tried that with the Husk Cannon and before the nerf, Firebug was like the Destroyer of Worlds, I was clearing areas left and right and Big Zeds were almost a joke (HoE). I mean yeah, the Berserker destroys all it touches but not at a range (and don't tell me the Eviscerator can compete with the old Husk Cannon cause it couldn't; still love it though). Anyway, Firebug, shouldn't be an everything killer with the weapons it has (in my opinion). Something to keep in mind when balancing that weapon. I'm rarely in danger already as the Firebug thanks to the Microwave Gun alt fire so having a Destroyer of Worlds weapon repeat would just be great but not great at the same time if you get what I'm saying. Of course, If you guys are going for the Destroyer of Worlds thing for the Firebug then I'm all for it! (But make a higher difficulty if you do)

I know I didn't really talk about the weapons themselves as much as I did the perks but I just wanted to share how I think these weapons would impact the perks as they currently stand. The weapons seem good so that's not where I have my concerns, it's more about the perks that they will be affecting. Also I'm seeing talk of a Scientist perk, and you guys have a small collection of, what I'll call, SciFi weapons so yeah new perk, go for it (no idea what that perk will do though). Either way, I'm looking forward to these weapons, appreciate all the work you guys do

[missing_trigger]

TWI, please, do somesing with Firebug's and Survivor's skills and already exsisting weapon balancing first.

[RawrUK]

I proposed the zapper long ago, I don't understand why you'd force this energy crap down the bug's throat. There's a whole lot of potential for an energy-focused perk, and it makes literally zero sense to give the firebug a friggin' plasma rifle.

... whatever.

Maybe it's your delivery that makes people unwilling to listen?

[Zakxaev68]

Smells like burned clot skin, to me, from that "Killerwatt" description. Used to replace the ZED Gun MK2? My hopes for a ZED Gun return slammed into the ground.

[Pavlov's Dog]

Those are some sexy weapons, right there. I'm hesitant re: the helios rifle - the microwave gun feels very underwhelming to me. But ranged firebug sounds like a good time. The killerwatt looks like it'll be a lot of fun. I like the sound alternate fire mode, too.

[Aleflippy]

As someone with an unhealthy obsession for the firebug, you bet I'm gonna use that Helios Rifle until it breaks! The MAC-10 also happens to be one of my all-time favourite...So I'm damn glad we're getting another ranged option (that isn't a commando crossperk nonetheless)

A bit more sceptical about the Killerwatt... Mostly because I expected (and hoped?) that it would have been a SS weapon (sort of a crossover between the M14 and the Railgun). But I guess we'll see how it plays out. Plus, it its followed by a nice and juicy rework of the perk... It might be surprisingly awesome!

However, I'm not too fond of the design of any of them... The Helios is a bit too similar to the MWG in my opinion (but it may be done on purpose?), while the Killerwatt looks almost like a lava lamp turned into a gun

[NokiaSE]

Good to have new things. But it's hard to get excited for big weapons at this point... :c

[Kittenmittens]

Cool! But I hope the Husk Cannon is also getting a serious re-work. Otherwise it should just simply be removed imho.

Currently the Husk Cannon is not working as intended due to a bug that causes it not to do the damage that was intended. This should be fixed in the next update.

[Aleflippy]

Good to have new things. But it's hard to get excited for big weapons at this point... :c

Big as in "bulky and heavy" guns or as in higher-tiered ones?

Because I definitely agree that a few T1 alternatives would be nice... And maybe a bit more T2 as well (even if we got the Tommygun last time)

[Eight Foot Robot]

Now going full sci-fi with this update? perfectly okay since fictional weapons can be allowed to do things not possible with real life weapons and can make for interesting gameplay options.

the Helios rifle looks the most interesting, for me, firebug's i find weapons generally boring (and with the husk cannon nerfed into uselessness but i hope the next damage fix will make it better) but from the sound of things, it would work like the Plasma guns from DOOM 2016 and Halo, i think i might have a new main tool for the firebug. and also the description makes it sound the zeds might explode on kill with the gun like the DOOM Eternal plasma gun kills from the gameplay previews, or in this case, an inherent ZED Shrapnel quality into the gun? and i guess this would be the fouth bullpup in the game (counting the P90)

the Killerwatt, love the name but looks weird like a DNA Helix then some kind of tesla gun. i guess it will work like a flamethrower almost but with tracking electricity, and its alt fire i guess would shoot a beam or something like a PPC bolt from Mechwarrior. gonna have to wait and see how this thing works.

i wonder if we will get one more weapon squeezed into this update too

[NokiaSE]

Big as in "bulky and heavy" guns or as in higher-tiered ones?

Pretty much but not exactly. Big ones are in correlation with smaller ones. What I'm trying to say goes to the design philosophy that's currently in place.

Basically, we need to have more weapons that have more pros and cons like what Boomstick used to be; it was power-wise very good (versus being more-or-less-average) making it a potent hence worthwhile option and an easily considerable pick-up - and - not absent with drawbacks (namely it's horrible mag size as well as pellet spread) that will render a player to always choose it over its competitors. IMO, it was almost too perfect, that any other weapon, if not similarly perfect in their own right, will pale in comparison.



I'm saying TWI need review the game's existing arsenal to make each option potent in the way like Boomstick was boasting its qualities under a frame of stats that offered the best cost-performance ratio. Excluding those that's designed to be a transitional option, every single weapon should be irreplaceable to a respectful extent.

On this note - this is the main reason I personally haven't been using the upgrade system a whole lot as in: I haven't been trying to make weaponry of lower tier higher tier and more viable, because said system hasn't been capable of achieving beyond its given purpose "scaling the given weapon upward somewhat for larger Zeds at the cost of excessive weight and-or excessive dosh."

Mere stats increment isn't enough, it just couldn't cut it, not until the tweaked stats could translate to any practical slash non-numerical result like a tighter or looser pellet spread will affect not just the weapon's effective range but its ability to tackle multiple targets and its precision also, or like the Railgun becoming a real large Zed menace simply by having some additional damage.



TWI need to introduce more pros and cons into their existing and future weapon designs, we as players need such introduction to really drive us outside to our preference and away from the urge of daily quests where we would submit ourselves to use other weapons consistently, I demand potent and worthwhile uniqueness in each weapon to fuel my passion with this FPS and hopefully its whole content rather than just a portion of it - after my passion dimmed but still burning after playing this game for 3 years clocking at 1635 hours, or else...

... or else, only the high-tier weaponry that easily weighs at 9 block and higher will ultimately be the only weight class that's necessary potent to carry their user through the onslaught of those chainsaw-guy and freggin' meat-pounder (nimble chainsaw gal, when?)



In retrospect, having all weapons of each tier equipped with more or less the same stats - by making them follow the same balancing approach to place them at overall the same performance level isn't helpful for the game to produce diversity into its gameplay experience as long as the gameplay is solely practiced by the tools we use - which in turn is critically determined and confined by both the loadout of choice as well as weights.

Enough of criticism, I believe an easy way that TWI can do to promote the weapon meta slash gameplay experience is simply bump up the TRADER sellback price from 75% to 85% -- so that it would be more considerable for players to purchase low-tier weaponry early on instead of saving for high-tier weaponry like 8 out of 10 times.

[RaNdOmKiLs666]

Oh awesome a Plasma Gun and Lightning Gun, I've always wanted weapons like this added.

I imagine the Helios will fire quite slowly (300 to 400 RPM), but deal heavy damage per-shot with good effectiveness against armored enemies, but still possessing plenty of ammo to cut through trash mobs. The fire DoT damage will probably be somewhere between low to moderate.

As for the Killerwatt, it looks really cool. It'd be interesting if the projectiles arc between enemies and stun them like the zerk nades. The secondary fire sounds like it'll fire a massive torrent of electricity, which will fry all in its path.

Overall i'm very pleased with these new additions and can't wait to try em' out once the update comes out.Hopefully they'll be as fun to use as i imagine they'll be.

[Aleflippy]

BIG SNIP

That's a very fair point. One I almost fully agree with. I'm all for diversity, creativity and overal differences among the various weapons. However, I would have picked another gun than the Doomstick... Mostly because it was clearly plagued with too many issues, mainly a ridiculously heavy weight and too little ammo.

A weapon shouldn't ever be too good to pass out, but the opposite is also true : a gun with flaws that outweights the pros will never be used.

But I believe its current form is in a good place...And should be used as a canva.

[Servalion]

Currently the Husk Cannon is not working as intended due to a bug that causes it not to do the damage that was intended. This should be fixed in the next update.

Curious. I guess we'll see how it performs then next update.

I see we're back down to 2 weapons this update, after having 3 for so long. I guess it's expected, since we've gotten nearly all the Community Weapon Vote guns put in (Where'd those MK.23s go?!). Add to the fact that these are completely original designs - something I'd expect to take more time and work than simply modeling existing guns - and I think I can be satisfied with these as long as they perform as awesomely as they hint at. Sounds like Firebug might get their T5 (and a buffed up Husk Cannon to boot), whereas Survivalist will get something for themselves that will be more damage oriented. Freezethrower's great and all, but its designed for incapacitation, not killing outright. At least its ammo is super cheap as a result.

To further the case for Survivalist, hopefully their perk rework isn't far off. Giving them another exclusive weapon instills confidence in it being soon, but maybe not this update. Currently the perk does nothing for my interest. Perhaps giving them proper identity rather than being jack-of-all-trades will change my mind.

But besides that, I'm wondering about Weapon Upgrades 2.0. The Spring update will mark a whole year since the initial concept system was put in. Perhaps I've underestimated how long revising it would take. Or maybe other things just took higher priority? Hope to hear something on this soon.

[Aleflippy]

I see we're back down to 2 weapons this update, after having 3 for so long. I guess it's expected, since we've gotten nearly all the Community Weapon Vote guns put in (Where'd those MK.23s go?!).

I believe (and hope) that we're actually back to 2 guns in order to focus more on other content. Hopefully the much-requested fixes, patches and reworks.