This thread is basically what the title says. I made it as a place to throw every random idea I've got and to satisfy my own whimsy. Not everything will be serious, some of it extremely serious. How much I care about any one idea is probably directly proportional to how long I write about it.
This thread is basically going to progress and get more detailed as time goes on and new changes to the game happen. At first I'm just going to organize it by topic, and for now it's going to be rather sloppy.
Commando.
In terms of weapons that he currently has, Commando is completely fine. Internally, he is balanced.
To me, the Commando has a fairly well-defined role; clear out the smalls with sustained fire. The problem with the second part seems to be that as the Commando's weapons rise in tier, they get further away from that idea. They go from high mag size to low mag size as you go further, and gain higher damage instead. Many people complain that every Commando weapon is the same, and in a sense this is true. However, in many ways they are not alike at all. They have enough differences that they don't play the same, and as such there's actually nothing consistent between them besides selective fire.
The Bullpup, being a tier 1 weapon, does everything Commando is supposed to do; spray a lot of low damage bullets.
The AK47, being a tier 2, is different from that. The AK is surprisingly accurate when burst fired from the hip, and at lvl 6 it's very easy to hip fire for bursts of 2 rounds every one-third second at mid range. It deals more damage per hit, but fires much more slowly. It has a smaller, yet still large, mag capacity. Its reload time is much longer. It is also visually different in that it doesn't have a holo or red dot sight.
The SCAR is different from and similar to both of the previous weapons, and as such it does not constitute a normal tier 3 weapon. It is like the Bullpup in that it has a very high rate of fire. It is like the AK in that it deals higher damage per hit. It has a red dot, but it's also passable for hip firing in bursts. However, it is completely unlike both of them in that it has a low mag size.
This creates something of a problem in that the Commando does not have a tier 3 weapon that progresses from his tier 1. What he has is a hybrid weapon that progresses from his tier 2 and takes a couple elements from the tier 1, but is otherwise completely different. To me, this actually makes the Commando interestingly unique and presents an opportunity for a companion tier 3 weapon to the SCAR.
HK21E
Light Machine Gun
80 rounds
30 damage
0.075 rate of fire (800 rpm)
Weight: 10
3 reserve mags.
6 second reload time.
Costs 2500 pounds.
Even with a much higher rate of fire, the SCAR has nearly double the 21E's dps. It only catches up after the SCAR has to reload, and then the SCAR only falls behind by a little over 100 dps.
Again, in terms of what he currently has, there is nothing wrong with the Commando. There's just the odd way in which his weapons progress.
Firebug
Firebug is fairly underrated, and it always has been. True, it has always had major shortcomings that made it impractical. Spewing flames all over the place causes a lot of FPS lag for everyone in front of you and it's often very blinding, but this is easily handled by being very conservative in your flaming. You'll also run out of ammo easily if you aren't careful, and your only purpose in helping kill the large ZEDs is to crisp them until they start running around in a panic. The MAC10 really only fixed the Firebug's one problem of being virtually incapable of killing Husks, and this is okay to me. The Firebug only lacks one thing as of now; a tier 1 weapon.
Blowtorch
Melee range butane torch.
Same damage and fire rate as the Flamethrower.
25 Ammo.
5 reserve bottles.
4 second reload time.
4 weight.
Will not ignite you when used point blank.
Takes up your slot 2.
Gains the same bonuses as the Flamethrower, except for the range benefits and the discounts.
Costs 250 pounds.
Would prefer if lvl 6 Firebug spawned with this and not a MAC10.
Sharpshooter
Sharpshooter has a fairly confused progression line for his weapons, much like the Commando's tier 3 does not progress directly from tither of his other weapons. The lines for Sharp go something like this.
9mm
|
Handcannon->Xbow
|.......|
LAR<->M14
|
Xbow
This highlights the point that Sharpshooter actually has several different weapon lines, all of which are fairly confused. It starts at 9mm and goes to handcannon, which ends the "handguns" line. From there you can take a hard left and go to the Xbow, since HC and Xbow share a piercing effect. After HC you can go for the LAR which starts the "high base damage semi-auto" weapons. That line progresses to the M14 and ends there. Last you can go from LAR to the Xbow (though they can't be carried together) and get to the end of the "sight-focused big hitters", or weapons which rely heavily on sights or scopes and deal the highest damage per hit on headshots. You can also have the Handcannon progress directly to the M14, as they have the same base damage and rate of fire (as of the current beta patch). You can also just keep using a LAR, as in many cases it is actually better than the M14.
Even this line I just made is not entirely correct. 9mm obviously does not progress to the Xbow, as they are completely different. This is mostly due to the fact that 9mm was originally not a Sharpshooter weapon, and therefore doesn't function like one at all.
Since the beta, the Sharpshooter has all but been perfectly balanced. The "Sharpmando" no longer exists to the same degree that it used to, at least on HoE. The Sharpshooter now functions for his intended job and nothing else unless he can rapidly headshot with M14. This means he is now actually limited at crowd control compared to the Commando. At this point I had intended to put forth some stats for a sniper rifle, simply to finish up. However, I don't think it's necessary. If TWI wants to make a bolt action rifle, I say wait for them to decide so. I will merely suggest some guns that would be appropriate. My personal favorites are the M40A3 or the L42A1 (which is a modified Lee-Enfield). I highly discourage the L96. It's in too many games already.
Support
I honestly don't know what to say about the Support. It's the poster boy for basic class balance. His role is clearly defined, his weaknesses apparent and consistent, and his strengths always useful. His weapons have a clear and understandable progression, essentially being the only perk that has a perfect textbook tier line. Shotgun is standard, Hunting Shotgun is powerful but functions very differently from the Shotgun, and the AA12 is essentially a direct upgrade from the Shotgun. The only instances where the Support is somewhat overpowered would be the Patriarch fight, and that's only because of the Patriarch's bad AI. Welding the big man in side the room with you basically auto-wins you the game.
In terms of new things I want to add, I have one particularly intresting shotgun I've been throwing around for a little while.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTs-255
Revolver Shotgun
Same number of pellets and damage as the Shotgun.
Same spread as the Shotgun.
5 round cylinder.
9 moon clips reserve.
3 second reload.
0.3 rate of fire.
8 weight.
1000 pounds.
Ammo costs 15 per clip.
I see this as something of a direct sidegrade to the Shotgun. It acts as a bit of a tier 1 hybrid. It reloads in a single unit like the AA12 (and sort of like the HS, as it always reloads a set number of 2 shells) and does the same damage as the regular shotgun. It also has a smaller amount of loaded ammo, meaning it will burn through its cylinder very quickly. While the regular Shotgun has a long total reload time, its reload can be interrupted and it can be fired as-is, while with the Revolver Shotgun you must finish reloading before you can fire. This helps to counter the MTs-255's higher total ammo and shorter overall reload time. Personally, I would find the two weapons to be a good toss-up, and maybe if it existed in-game I would carry both during the later waves if my team wanted me to mule some extra weapon.
This thread is basically going to progress and get more detailed as time goes on and new changes to the game happen. At first I'm just going to organize it by topic, and for now it's going to be rather sloppy.
Commando.
In terms of weapons that he currently has, Commando is completely fine. Internally, he is balanced.
To me, the Commando has a fairly well-defined role; clear out the smalls with sustained fire. The problem with the second part seems to be that as the Commando's weapons rise in tier, they get further away from that idea. They go from high mag size to low mag size as you go further, and gain higher damage instead. Many people complain that every Commando weapon is the same, and in a sense this is true. However, in many ways they are not alike at all. They have enough differences that they don't play the same, and as such there's actually nothing consistent between them besides selective fire.
The Bullpup, being a tier 1 weapon, does everything Commando is supposed to do; spray a lot of low damage bullets.
The AK47, being a tier 2, is different from that. The AK is surprisingly accurate when burst fired from the hip, and at lvl 6 it's very easy to hip fire for bursts of 2 rounds every one-third second at mid range. It deals more damage per hit, but fires much more slowly. It has a smaller, yet still large, mag capacity. Its reload time is much longer. It is also visually different in that it doesn't have a holo or red dot sight.
The SCAR is different from and similar to both of the previous weapons, and as such it does not constitute a normal tier 3 weapon. It is like the Bullpup in that it has a very high rate of fire. It is like the AK in that it deals higher damage per hit. It has a red dot, but it's also passable for hip firing in bursts. However, it is completely unlike both of them in that it has a low mag size.
This creates something of a problem in that the Commando does not have a tier 3 weapon that progresses from his tier 1. What he has is a hybrid weapon that progresses from his tier 2 and takes a couple elements from the tier 1, but is otherwise completely different. To me, this actually makes the Commando interestingly unique and presents an opportunity for a companion tier 3 weapon to the SCAR.
HK21E
Light Machine Gun
80 rounds
30 damage
0.075 rate of fire (800 rpm)
Weight: 10
3 reserve mags.
6 second reload time.
Costs 2500 pounds.
Even with a much higher rate of fire, the SCAR has nearly double the 21E's dps. It only catches up after the SCAR has to reload, and then the SCAR only falls behind by a little over 100 dps.
Again, in terms of what he currently has, there is nothing wrong with the Commando. There's just the odd way in which his weapons progress.
Firebug
Firebug is fairly underrated, and it always has been. True, it has always had major shortcomings that made it impractical. Spewing flames all over the place causes a lot of FPS lag for everyone in front of you and it's often very blinding, but this is easily handled by being very conservative in your flaming. You'll also run out of ammo easily if you aren't careful, and your only purpose in helping kill the large ZEDs is to crisp them until they start running around in a panic. The MAC10 really only fixed the Firebug's one problem of being virtually incapable of killing Husks, and this is okay to me. The Firebug only lacks one thing as of now; a tier 1 weapon.
Blowtorch
Melee range butane torch.
Same damage and fire rate as the Flamethrower.
25 Ammo.
5 reserve bottles.
4 second reload time.
4 weight.
Will not ignite you when used point blank.
Takes up your slot 2.
Gains the same bonuses as the Flamethrower, except for the range benefits and the discounts.
Costs 250 pounds.
Would prefer if lvl 6 Firebug spawned with this and not a MAC10.
Sharpshooter
Sharpshooter has a fairly confused progression line for his weapons, much like the Commando's tier 3 does not progress directly from tither of his other weapons. The lines for Sharp go something like this.
9mm
|
Handcannon->Xbow
|.......|
LAR<->M14
|
Xbow
This highlights the point that Sharpshooter actually has several different weapon lines, all of which are fairly confused. It starts at 9mm and goes to handcannon, which ends the "handguns" line. From there you can take a hard left and go to the Xbow, since HC and Xbow share a piercing effect. After HC you can go for the LAR which starts the "high base damage semi-auto" weapons. That line progresses to the M14 and ends there. Last you can go from LAR to the Xbow (though they can't be carried together) and get to the end of the "sight-focused big hitters", or weapons which rely heavily on sights or scopes and deal the highest damage per hit on headshots. You can also have the Handcannon progress directly to the M14, as they have the same base damage and rate of fire (as of the current beta patch). You can also just keep using a LAR, as in many cases it is actually better than the M14.
Even this line I just made is not entirely correct. 9mm obviously does not progress to the Xbow, as they are completely different. This is mostly due to the fact that 9mm was originally not a Sharpshooter weapon, and therefore doesn't function like one at all.
Since the beta, the Sharpshooter has all but been perfectly balanced. The "Sharpmando" no longer exists to the same degree that it used to, at least on HoE. The Sharpshooter now functions for his intended job and nothing else unless he can rapidly headshot with M14. This means he is now actually limited at crowd control compared to the Commando. At this point I had intended to put forth some stats for a sniper rifle, simply to finish up. However, I don't think it's necessary. If TWI wants to make a bolt action rifle, I say wait for them to decide so. I will merely suggest some guns that would be appropriate. My personal favorites are the M40A3 or the L42A1 (which is a modified Lee-Enfield). I highly discourage the L96. It's in too many games already.
Support
I honestly don't know what to say about the Support. It's the poster boy for basic class balance. His role is clearly defined, his weaknesses apparent and consistent, and his strengths always useful. His weapons have a clear and understandable progression, essentially being the only perk that has a perfect textbook tier line. Shotgun is standard, Hunting Shotgun is powerful but functions very differently from the Shotgun, and the AA12 is essentially a direct upgrade from the Shotgun. The only instances where the Support is somewhat overpowered would be the Patriarch fight, and that's only because of the Patriarch's bad AI. Welding the big man in side the room with you basically auto-wins you the game.
In terms of new things I want to add, I have one particularly intresting shotgun I've been throwing around for a little while.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTs-255
Revolver Shotgun
Same number of pellets and damage as the Shotgun.
Same spread as the Shotgun.
5 round cylinder.
9 moon clips reserve.
3 second reload.
0.3 rate of fire.
8 weight.
1000 pounds.
Ammo costs 15 per clip.
I see this as something of a direct sidegrade to the Shotgun. It acts as a bit of a tier 1 hybrid. It reloads in a single unit like the AA12 (and sort of like the HS, as it always reloads a set number of 2 shells) and does the same damage as the regular shotgun. It also has a smaller amount of loaded ammo, meaning it will burn through its cylinder very quickly. While the regular Shotgun has a long total reload time, its reload can be interrupted and it can be fired as-is, while with the Revolver Shotgun you must finish reloading before you can fire. This helps to counter the MTs-255's higher total ammo and shorter overall reload time. Personally, I would find the two weapons to be a good toss-up, and maybe if it existed in-game I would carry both during the later waves if my team wanted me to mule some extra weapon.
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