4 replies to this topic

[Hobo Dan]

So I got thinking about PPC damage over the weekend. Right now, PPCs do 10 points of damage to the location hit. What if PPCs did “splash damage?” I don’t mean splash damage like how SRMs used to do splash damage. When I think of PPCs I think of lightning.

So my proposal is to make PPCs do 50% of their damage as pin-point and 50% as Splash/Spread to adjoining sections of the mech. Obviously these numbers could be tuned (60/40 split or more) until the right balance is found, but I use 50% to make the math easier.

For example, say you fire a standard PPC at an enemy within optimal range and hit the targets Left Torso. In my example, 5 damage will be dealt to the Left Torso and then 2.5 damage to the target’s Left Arm and Center Torso, totaling 10 damage. If you had hit the Left Arm instead, it would have been 5 damage to the Left Arm and 5 damage to the Left Torso. A Center Torso hit would be 5 damage to the CT and then spread the damage even more between the Left/Right Torso and the Legs (not sure how to deal with the cockpit).

Maybe this ruins the PPC, or maybe it diminishes the pin-point alpha issue. I know many out there believe none of the weapons are the problem, the problem is pin-point targeting. Well I am pretty confidant the pin-point shots are here to stay, so I am just thinking within the current mechanics. Also, I am not a fan of shots not going where I aim and shoot.

[Corvus Antaka]

its one idea. been tossed around for a long time. if you combined that with multishot ac's, pinpoint dmg and jumpsniping would take some big hits.

the question then though might become, have we nurfed pinpoint dmg so far that precision aiming is no longer a valuable skill?

and also, is it then easier to destroy an XL engine because if it's glowing red and you hit arm or CT mech still dies from splash, vs now a miss with a PPC can overheat you and hit the mechs fresh CT instead, thus giving it more surviviability rather than less.

as an erppc spider pilot I think splash would help me more than hurt me. its not easy landing shot after shot on a mechs CT at longer ranges, and splash over the course of 10 shots might actually help me more than hurt me.

still, the idea has it's merits. maybe if it was a 70/30 split splash for example.

[Hobo Dan]

70/30 may not be a bad number.

I didn't consider XL engines effected by the Splash, but then again IMO we use too many XLs these days so adding just one more reason to think about taking one or not may not be the worst thing ever.

Colonel Pada Vinson, on 13 January 2014 - 11:56 AM, said:

the question then though might become, have we nurfed pinpoint dmg so far that precision aiming is no longer a valuable skill?

I think making PPCs splash would allow the removal of the stupid charge mechanic Gauss Rifles and that alone would probably keep value in pin-point aiming.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

I've long been an advocate of what I call damage arcing. Have a PPC do 50% to the initial location, 30% to an adjacent location, and 20% to a final location. This would chain the damage around the mech in arcs of lightning, rather than making it like an energy bullet as it currently behaves. This could have lots of potential for visual effects, too.

I'd suggest that arcing not allow jumps to the head, though if the initial hit is to the head then it gets the full 50% damage from the first impact.

I'd also recommend that "adjacent" be rather liberal in interpretation. Arm would be adjacent to side torso and leg, leg would be adjacent to arm, side torso, and center torso, center torso would be adjacent to everything but the arms, etc.

Finally, when determining arc locations it should weight them based on whether they've been hit already or not (by that shot, or by other shots within, say, 2s of the first, or whatever). So if a shot hit the left arm it might bounce to the left torso, but would have only a small chance to bounce back to the arm again (and would be more likely to hit the CT or left leg for its second bounce).

Arcing on PPCs would be flavorful, would keep accuracy meaningful (if fully 50% of the damage is on the initial hit then it still matters where you aim), and would help to spread PPC damage without turning them into glorified lasers or other damage-over-time weapons.

[Prezimonto]

Levi Porphyrogenitus, on 13 January 2014 - 12:47 PM, said:

I've long been an advocate of what I call damage arcing. Have a PPC do 50% to the initial location, 30% to an adjacent location, and 20% to a final location. This would chain the damage around the mech in arcs of lightning, rather than making it like an energy bullet as it currently behaves. This could have lots of potential for visual effects, too.

I'd suggest that arcing not allow jumps to the head, though if the initial hit is to the head then it gets the full 50% damage from the first impact.

I'd also recommend that "adjacent" be rather liberal in interpretation. Arm would be adjacent to side torso and leg, leg would be adjacent to arm, side torso, and center torso, center torso would be adjacent to everything but the arms, etc.

Finally, when determining arc locations it should weight them based on whether they've been hit already or not (by that shot, or by other shots within, say, 2s of the first, or whatever). So if a shot hit the left arm it might bounce to the left torso, but would have only a small chance to bounce back to the arm again (and would be more likely to hit the CT or left leg for its second bounce).

Arcing on PPCs would be flavorful, would keep accuracy meaningful (if fully 50% of the damage is on the initial hit then it still matters where you aim), and would help to spread PPC damage without turning them into glorified lasers or other damage-over-time weapons.

I love this idea so much I want to have it's babies. Don't tell my wife.