What does a perfect weapon upgrade system look like to you?

[Mk137]

Many people in this game are unhappy with the weapon upgrade system in its current state: a flat damage increase for all weapons. It feels half-baked, and it means that upgrades are more meaningful for some weapons than others. For example, it doesn't make a lot of sense to upgrade the medic SMG compared to upgrading the AA12 shotgun. BUT, what if upgrading medic weapons increased the syringe regen rate?

If there is a weapon upgrade system in KF3, what would you want it to look like? Would it improve a range of stats like recoil, spread, mag size, etc? Would the stat changes be different for every weapon, and how many upgrade levels would there be? Would it involve adding or removing any sort of attachments? Would it involve giving entirely unique features to certain guns? (for example, an upgrade to the SCAR would give armor-piercing rounds).

OR...do you think there should be NO weapon upgrade system at all?

One thing to consider is what a player can realistically handle in the space of 60 seconds, especially if some of that time is spent running to the trader. Tripwire will want to make sure that the trader system is not too intimidating for newer or more casual players, and that probably is a good thing for the long-term health of the game.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. I think the weapon upgrade system has a lot of potential, but it is definitely flawed as it is now.

 

[Xenia6669]

The only time I upgrade is on endless. In survival it's difficult (in my opinion) because of money or weight. Most of the time I forget that there even is an upgrade for weapons to be honest, which is a shame because it's a good idea.
The problem with mag size is that you already have that in some perk configuration so wouldn't it be too redondant?
Or maybe there could be points that you could put up to 2 or 3 for each weapons maybe damage and mag size for every weapon but then have a specific one (shotguns would be spread, medic would be syringe regen etc) I don't know if it makes sense but I think it could be a good idea.

 

[Aleflippy]

We spoke about it quite a few times on these forums, including lately ! But I'll try to be quick and thorough for you.

IMO, the HRG and crossperk systems should be fused and incorporated within the upgrade system. It would be the only acceptable way of allowing perks to divert slightly from their role (a key factor that made KF2 lose it's appeal IMO).

Let's say you're a Commando using an assault rifle in order to fulfill your crowd control role. With the use of proper upgrades (FMJ bullets, semi-auto fire, a scope...) you could turn that gun into a proper DMR, effectively becoming a secondary sharpshooter. That's basic, but imagine if we go crazy...

The Sharpshooter has access to a Compound Bow. With the right upgrades, it could turn its arrows into explosive-tipped arrows or burning ones, again acting as a replacement or help towards a demolitionist or firebug in the team.

I think of it as some sort of hybrid between Team Fortress 2's MvM upgrades (minus the player upgrades since we have skill trees) and Call of Duty Modern Warfare's customization (but to a lesser extent !)

Speaking of which, I believe most guns (it would be hard to give ALL of them that peculiarity) should have a "unique" upgrade that sets them out from others. Hopefully, that would allow arsenals to be a bit less crowded, while still allowing perks to tailor their weapons to cater to their playstyle and team comp. I believe we hardly need more than one weapon per tier and per perk... But being able to customize each of these weapons would be great.

For the time-limit constraint, I believe we could have pre-made "loadouts" with a set price that you can build at ease in the main menu. Let's say your fully upgraded SCAR would be worth 2100 dosh instead of the usual 1500, then you could choose to either buy that basic SCAR and periodically add your attachments, or wait until you can just buy your dear lovely gun straight up !


Alternatively, if that proves to be either too difficult, unrewarding or just too boring... I would say that simply increasing the upgrade system to offer more tradeoffs would be a nice step-forward. Why should you only increase your damage? Let's increase your mag size, your rate of fire, your accuracy, your reload speed... But I guess that, again, a lot of these would just step into skills and passives territory.

This points to another problem : it feels as if Tripwire tried their hand at juuuust a tad too many things in KF2. It's great to have ideas and get inspired by successful examples. But now we have an upgrade system, a tier system, a crossperk/HRG system... and weapons that are simply bonkers in the way they work (some could have that "unique ability" I'm speaking of : the Seeker Six tracking ability, the MWG pushback etc.) Some refinement would be great for KF3.

...

As for KF2, I pretty much always upgrade whatever weapon I plan to use for the whole game. I sometimes do it with sub-par weaponry and/or T1 weapons, just for fun. But I seldom refrain from upgrading due to my weight capacity. Usually, I'm not against sprinting like a fatass if it means killing everyone that stands my way.