• Please make sure you are familiar with the forum rules. You can find them here: https://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/index.php?threads/forum-rules.2334636/

Chainsaw 'nerf'

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
widowmaker

widowmaker

Grizzled Veteran
Jun 24, 2009
180
7
#1
I hear a lot of people saying that the chainsaw is overpowered and unfair. It occurred to me that the chainsaw should have some sort of recoil or kickback when chewing through a head. Since nerfing is rarely an effective balancing fix, perhaps adding a large recoil effect when hitting something could help. I've never fired up a real chainsaw so I don't know how big the effect is, but it seems logical to me. Currently it just shakes, but that doesn't do much. Forcing the player to readjust the chainsaw's aim could add a bit of a challenge and balance. It should be significant enough to discourage charging through a line of zeds.
 
#2
widowmaker said:
It should be significant enough to discourage charging through a line of zeds.
Click to expand...

Not really. One can charge through a line of zeds even with the bullpup.
The kind of "recoil" you're talking about would make the chainsaw absolutely useless. Plus it would be really unrealistic (wielding a chainsaw to kill inhuman creatures is unrealistic also, but oh well...)
What is really annoying in badly-designed maps is the berserkers with the chainsaw who camp the doorsteps and annihilate everything.
 
Upvote 0
#3
I know the reality argument is total bull****e, but I thought I'd just say this: you're on the right track with the recoil, but there wouldn't be as much as you're suggesting. The only way for a chainsaw to recoil like you're suggesting is for it to hit a rock or some metal, and then it would recoil into your face.
 
Upvote 0
#4
Personally I've never heard that the saw is OP. Sure, they can hold things pretty well, but they still need support.

Support is OP when you have a shotgun with a ****load of ammo and additional damage with some penetration on the side spewing its molten metal death down a hallway, with a hunting shotgun in reserve.
 
Upvote 0
#8
Nanostrike said:
Dude...with the Katana now easily being a rival to the Chainsaw's power, if not the outright superior weapon, the Chainsaw doesn't need a nerf at all! If anything, it could go for a slight buff!
Click to expand...

Damn right.

Atm, the katana pretty much owns everthing. Including fleshpounds. Those things that before could only be owned by chainsaws? Yeah. katanas do em too. Without having to decap. On hard.

it's insane.
 
Upvote 0
#9
Krieg Jaeger said:
Damn right.

Atm, the katana pretty much owns everthing. Including fleshpounds. Those things that before could only be owned by chainsaws? Yeah. katanas do em too. Without having to decap. On hard.

it's insane.
Click to expand...

As a Commando, I watched ONE Level 3 Berserker go to town on a Fleshpound on Hard. It's health literally evaporated and it went down after about 10 seconds (It was pinned in a corner and had it's focus on another teammate, so it was trapped and couldn't really hit back, but that's not the point). That's pretty crazy. Not even chainsaw Alt-Fire spam can do it that fast! A team of 2-3 Zerkers with Katanas can chew one up in SECONDS.

The Katana is THE melee weapon at the moment and I've yet to see a single Chainsaw user since it came out, unfortunately. That excessively loud, movement-slowing death machine is just plain outshined by the sleek, fast blade.

Without some sort of boost, I don't see anyone going back to the chainsaw, either. The 'Wall of pain' effect from the primary fire is in no way a trade off for its slow movement, basically turning you into 'doorway-camp man'. As valuable as that role is...no one really wants it. Especially when a Fleshpound can charge right through you...
 
Upvote 0
#10
i like how we were all worried about the machete before the patch... the chainsaw as it is offers nothing over the katana accept ROF which is nothing when you can reachout and do damage to stuff with out coming close enough to be injured by them and then run away, to some that up in needs a buff
 
Upvote 0
#13
Discoisntdead said:
The kind of "recoil" you're talking about would make the chainsaw absolutely useless. Plus it would be really unrealistic (wielding a chainsaw to kill inhuman creatures is unrealistic also, but oh well...).
Click to expand...

"Realistically", a Chainsaw is totally worthless as a weapon. No, seriously. Not too long ago sometime tried to fend off a wild cat with a chainsaw.

The Mountain Lion got away with a fairly shallow wound.

Chainsaws are meant to chewing up hard, dry wood. Not soft, gooshy flesh. In addition to not doing much damage, the chain would quickly get stopped up with gore. They would, also, recoil pretty hard - people have injured themselves when they didn't bring the saw into the tree correctly and it glanced off.

tl;dr, the chainsaw is inherently unrealistic. Ergo, attempt to apply realism to it kinda fail.

That and well, the last thing the 'Saw needs right now is a nerf.
 
Upvote 0
#15
ok girly men, howabout this for a ballance suggestion.

the katana is a cutting sword, not meant to deal with metalic armours ( its area of invention and use featured armours made out of things other then metal). ergo it should receive a damage nerf against ARMOURED targets. basically that will make the katana -20 to -50% against the fleshpounds; seeing as they do have metal coming out of every bit of them. (possibly a nerf against scrakes also?)

the chainsaw should be switched up a bit and have a 'horzine bioGas converter' bolted to the side, that little babie produced bio fuel out of relatively thin air, but at a slow rate (roughly half the speed that the chainsaw burns it at), the chainsaw would have fuel for about 2 to 3 minutes of continuous work; not counting idleing. the idea of ballancing like this is that the chainsaw is supposed to be seen as a better weapon against all targets, while the katana specializes against soft targets; however the chainsaw has limited fuel, and hence shouldent be relied upon completely.

edit and kudos to the man above me for saying what ive said before, the game is meant for suicidal, playing on easy means whenever you want to say nerf, you should have a cup of stfu!
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
#16
Colt .45 killer said:
ok girly men, howabout this for a ballance suggestion.

the katana is a cutting sword, not meant to deal with metalic armours ( its area of invention and use featured armours made out of things other then metal). ergo it should receive a damage nerf against ARMOURED targets. basically that will make the katana -20 to -50% against the fleshpounds; seeing as they do have metal coming out of every bit of them. (possibly a nerf against scrakes also?)
Click to expand...

Uh, 85% of the Flesh Pound's body is flesh. He's hardly "Armored."

Your stereotypical Fantasy Adventurer Chick in a chainmail bikini has better armor than the FP.

Also Scrakes have no armor. They just have kevlar-like skin.

the chainsaw should be switched up a bit and have a 'horzine bioGas converter' bolted to the side, that little babie produced bio fuel out of relatively thin air, but at a slow rate (roughly half the speed that the chainsaw burns it at), the chainsaw would have fuel for about 2 to 3 minutes of continuous work; not counting idleing. the idea of ballancing like this is that the chainsaw is supposed to be seen as a better weapon against all targets, while the katana specializes against soft targets; however the chainsaw has limited fuel, and hence shouldent be relied upon completely.
Click to expand...

Uhhhh, how about no?

The 'Zerker is about having the ability to attack all the time. That's how melee weapons work. You trade RANGE for RELIABILITY. A crossbow can reach out and touch someone - it can only do that if it has ammo however. A melee weapon can't do that - but it can always be counted on to work when you need it to work, because it doesn't run out.

tl;dr, melee is about not needing ammo. That's dumb.
 
Upvote 0
#18
lols wolfdust, actually neglect my post i just tried it out ingame on hard, the chainsaw feels even better now for decaping FP's, the katana isnt the greatest. so the game already mirrors my suggestion that the katana be better for soft targets, and the chainsaw just average against all.

btw the FP has metal stickin outa him, unless thats decoration, that would suggest he has a specially built skeletal system not made of bone... ;)
 
Upvote 0
#20
Wolfdust said:
"Realistically", a Chainsaw is totally worthless as a weapon. No, seriously. Not too long ago sometime tried to fend off a wild cat with a chainsaw.

The Mountain Lion got away with a fairly shallow wound.

Chainsaws are meant to chewing up hard, dry wood. Not soft, gooshy flesh. In addition to not doing much damage, the chain would quickly get stopped up with gore. They would, also, recoil pretty hard - people have injured themselves when they didn't bring the saw into the tree correctly and it glanced off.

tl;dr, the chainsaw is inherently unrealistic. Ergo, attempt to apply realism to it kinda fail.

That and well, the last thing the 'Saw needs right now is a nerf.
Click to expand...

Eh, if chainsaw is so lackluster, why protective clothing is so thick and robust?
The reason why basic chainsaw is not optimal weapon is because cutting chain structurally optimized to cut rigid wood, you are correct in that respect. BUT its NOT a butter knife. Chainsaw accidents tend to be extremely gruesome for a reason. Damage potential is staggering.

Getting chain jammed by gore is not very likely, chain oil is very thick, its almost like porridge when you apply it to the chain. As a matter of fact, I think gore might function as lube. :p

"Kickback" of the chainsaw is directly relative to the rigidness of the matter you are trying to cut. Crappy old Husqvarna in my family's summer cottage kicked like crazy when I tried to cut dry pine log, but when my uncle cut down smallish spruce after rain, it was very tame. I doubt that there will be any kickback in case of Bloats fat belly.

Biggest reason why I wouldn't use chainsaw as a weapon in zombie apocalypse is its weight. 13 kilos is too much for me personally, but I'm pretty small dude. :eek: I bet stronger guy with chainsaw (preferably with some kind of raincoat/gasmask) would spell hell for any zed that wanders too close.

tl; dr, Chainsaw is not optimal melee weapon, but its image and kick-*** appearance make it perfect for a game like this.

@Krieg Jaeger: Why there isn't any proper 40k FPS with chainswords and poopoo? That universe screams for a game like that.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply
Jump to latest Follow Reply
Community News
Forums
Merch
Menu