8 replies to this topic

[SirNotlag]

I know I'm probably late to the party for ideas on the upcoming weapon systems but I took a long break from the game and just got back. I'm wondering how the Rocket launchers are going to be incorporated into the game without either being useless (how machine guns and flamers were for years), or just turn mechs into mini Direwhales that fire one volley and that is all they will do for the match.

I got to thinking how it could be a weapon system that would be useful without having an over bearing alpha. What if instead of just being oneshot volley it fired its rockets individually, of course fast like a machine gun. That allows the alpha to be spread out without forcing the user to commit to a single streaming shot that uses all the rockets in one go.

Stats could be range 400m velocity 600m/s, fairly accurate, 2.5 damage per rocket, fires 3 rockets per second, 0.4 heat per rocket. So a RL-10 can dish out 25 damage in about 3 seconds, pretty good for only .5 tons but that is all you'd get out of it. Keep in mind you would be able to bring multiple launchers for little weight.

Making the launchers work this way allows them to keep the flavour of lots of damage in a short amount of time for little weight but stops it form being an instant alpha, and making it work per rocket allows the user to preserve the ammo, so if a target only presents itself for one second the user could fire only 3 rockets and still have 7 to use later. Also makes it so that bringing bigger launchers doesn't make a bigger alpha it just means you are carrying more ammo.

I know that goes against Lore as they where primitive oneshot weapon systems that would just launch an inaccurate volley of cheap rockets at the enemy. But come on! There is no way to mechanically balance that in game to make it effective or fun.

[LordNothing]

mektek method. got it.

i actually think this is the way to go though. i suggested 3 damage a rocket. where the number you get == number of tubes, no reloads. the wait between rockets would be very short so you could get dps of around 10-12. this cd would be in the range 0.25-0.3. this is twice or more the best dps in the game. you dont have to empty the whole rack in one shot. rl20 would still only last 2 seconds, several could be chain fired to increase the fire time with gh kicking in on your second launcher to keep troll potential down.

i dont think the one shot method works for a weapon that is slow, moderately ranged, and requires leading against moving targets. when i fire most other projectiles i usually miss the first shot which is a best guess and adjust with subsequent rounds. rl kind of needs to be able to do this without wasting all your ammo.

Edited by LordNothing, 13 June 2017 - 11:03 PM.

[Ced Riggs]

It's almost like these rocket launchers are a primitive weapon system not be relied on for anything other than "on a pinch". Good for those missile hard points in the CT or the head, that's about it.

[SirNotlag]

Ced Riggs, on 13 June 2017 - 11:16 PM, said:

It's almost like these rocket launchers are a primitive weapon system not be relied on for anything other than "on a pinch". Good for those missile hard points in the CT or the head, that's about it.

the problem is if their like that, (the same argument that machine guns shouldn't be good against mechs they should be used against infantry), Then you take the weapon system out of the game entirely. If its not effective no one will use it plane and simple. Everyone in this game has access to top of the line tech and equipment and make their mechs work at peak performance anything not working in a niche will just never see the light of day, making it pointless waste of time even having the things programmed in and taking up space in the mechlab.

[Cold Darkness]

what makes you think that a 40 damage burst outside of the normal capabilites of a given mech is not effective? its supposed to be used when you ****** up. if you **** up more than once in a match, thats not a problem of the weaponsystem.

[SirNotlag]

Cold Darkness, on 14 June 2017 - 04:30 AM, said:

what makes you think that a 40 damage burst outside of the normal capabilites of a given mech is not effective? its supposed to be used when you ****** up. if you **** up more than once in a match, thats not a problem of the weaponsystem.

That is the issue! If its a 40 damage burst whats to stop someone strapping 8 RL-20s and just going direstar with a 320 damage alpha on the first mech they find. Instant death is not a fun game mechanic in a game with no respawns.

[Cold Darkness]

contrary to the direstar, you only get ONE shot. the direstar was somewhat interesting, because you could actually do it multiple times.

also, ripplefire, heat, and ghost heat would be easy ways to fix such things. if you give them high ghost heat, youd blow up before firing your entire load.

[LordNothing]

single shot would kind of make sense if i could put rls anywhere on the mech. you could do like a dozen or more of them in chain fire so you always have more rockets somewhere and fire 20 at a time. but you are limited by hardpoints and that severely limits rls.

if you make it a surge dps weapon instead you still keep it in its niche, you can still rely on it for an emergency attack. a 2 second 10dps surge with low heat would be very useful. but as a 20 damage one shot weapon, why dont i just bring more srms?

[jjm1]

Its pretty much a consumable/weapon hybrid.

You can probably think of using RLs like how you might use an artillery strike to get a one time benefit.

Take it or leave it. Most people will probably prefer the heatsinks.