Kowwa Dooty: Modernizing Assault Rifle

[Galaxy Brain]

So, in preparation for a sequel to my Melee Primary testing thread using Ranged Sets... I played AR for the first time in years and.... 

 

Wow, it doesn't feel right.

 

The damage didn't feel quite there, the speed was incredibly lacking, the lack of a self buff, and the mitigation being mostly RNG combined made for a very underwhelming experience. In order to give the weapon some polish, I think theres some things we can implement to give it some fun new ammo:

 

1) Full Auto

Going in alphabetical order between Archery, AR, and Beam Rifle, I was able to play back-to-back the 3 sets that had the "original free nukes". Of these, both RoA and Overcharge both do over 220 base damage in a proper AoE, compared to Full Auto's 180ish base damage in a narrow cone. While lighting up a whole hallway of enemies is fun, being locked in place to do that for 4 seconds is not. Also, with similar target caps the "circle" AoEs of the other weapon ranged sets just work better. RoA has an identical 4s animation, but you can fire it at a location from safety and let it rain which is much safer than Full Auto, on top of doing more damage!

 

Supposedly, you're able to land a "Lucky Shot" for more damage but I don't think this works (more on that in a bit!). FA just feels far too sluggish for something that should be a show-stopping barrage of... slugs.

 

I would recommend speeding up the animation, adding some sort of mitigation to the move with maybe Terrorize / Knockdown per DoT, or just upping the damage WAY up for the commitment. 

 

 

2) Ignite

AR essentially gives up Aim for this power and... it's ok? Without a means of keeping a foe in the patch, it is incredibly finnicky and with the KB present in the set it sort of fights itself. The sentinel version switches this to an extreme DoT you can just put on somebody which is nice, but you lose a bit of it's soul. Luckily, we have a similar power to draw inspiration from: Enflame.

 

What I would love to see is to turn Ignite into a version of Enflame where you either

• A: Select a target and Ignite is centered on them, burning them up and any enemies surrounding them. If the foe moves, it moves with them.
• B: Enemies who are hit by ignite take a strong DoT just for touching the burn patch, with the patch itself having severely reduced damage (I'm thinking like 50/50 split between patch and the applied DoT to have it behave the same as now).

 

I think either idea would be great as IMO the only issue with Ignite is actually leveraging it. It does a TON of damage, but it has a tiny radius. Either keeping it on an enemy or having it just work with 1 touch of the flames would be awesome. Oh, and shaving a second off the animation time wouldn't hurt 😉

 

Speaking of speed, Flamethrower currently deals it's damage over 7 seconds. Could this be sped up so it actually applies damage competitively? It casts in 2.33 seconds but it also seems to start applying damage after a delay, tightening that up significantly will help AR immensely when compared to other blast sets which can deal cone damage instantly.

 

 

3) Lucky Shots/Head Shots

Touched upon with Full Auto, a trope missing from AR (notably Sniper Rifle) that is in every FPS ever is the Head Shot for critical damage. Since the set lacks Aim, it should have means of gaining bonus damage like Dual Pistols can, and for the rifle I think the occasional burst of extra lethal damage is fitting. Lets say you have a % chance to deal 30-50% of base damage as a HEAD SHOT:

• Burst - 20% chance
• Slug - 30% chance
• Sniper Rifle FAST - 50% Chance
• Sniper Rifle SLOW - 100% Chance
• Full Auto - 25% chance per bullet?

 

Incorporating Bean Bag, maybe the chance increases vs Stunned Targets. Or better yet, increases with ToHit to give it that coveted Targeting Drone synergy!

 

Over time these will add up on top of a more reliable Ignite and Flamethrower to really sell that you are one-hero army that can take down mooks left and right non-stop and give AR a more unique and competitive feel. 

 

Actually, speaking of:

 

 

4) Unique Ranges

More of a "For Fun" idea, but since Savage Leap has tech that is based on range, why not port some of that for AR? Specifically, I'm thinking of two powers.

 

1. Buckshot: Greatly increased damage, knockback Mag and Knockback chance the CLOSER you are to the target
2. Sniper Rifle: Greatly increased damage, knockback Mag and Knockback chance the FURTHER you are from the target

 

I don't expect these last ones, but given how these weapons tend to work in other media, playing into that trope would be something unique!

 

 

Thoughts?

 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by Galaxy Brain

[0th Power]

Love the ignite idea.  I love all the ideas, but especially that one. 

[MTeague]

Ignite definiltey works best paired with an Immob, or some Knockback/Repel to shove things into a corner and light the corner on fire. 

 

For my AR/MC, I just rely on Kicks, Ki Push, and Reaction Time to trap bosses in the burning corner.  

Reaction Time doesn't really trap them but it takes them a LOT longer to leave the burning patch.

Minions are less of an issue, the're just gonna die anyway.

[Galaxy Brain]

20 minutes ago, MTeague said:

Ignite definiltey works best paired with an Immob, or some Knockback/Repel to shove things into a corner and light the corner on fire. 

 

For my AR/MC, I just rely on Kicks, Ki Push, and Reaction Time to trap bosses in the burning corner.  

Reaction Time doesn't really trap them but it takes them a LOT longer to leave the burning patch.

Minions are less of an issue, the're just gonna die anyway.

Right, I was able to use KB into corners to help roast bosses but making it more forgiving would be nice!

[drbuzzard]

One thing should be noted which makes AR look even worse. They lowered the animation time of rain of arrows to 2 seconds a while back.

[Razor Cure]

On 7/27/2020 at 3:26 PM, Galaxy Brain said:

3) Lucky Shots/Head Shots

Touched upon with Full Auto, a trope missing from AR (notably Sniper Rifle) that is in every FPS ever is the Head Shot for critical damage. Since the set lacks Aim, it should have means of gaining bonus damage like Dual Pistols can, and for the rifle I think the occasional burst of extra lethal damage is fitting. Lets say you have a % chance to deal 30-50% of base damage as a HEAD SHOT:

• Burst - 20% chance
• Slug - 30% chance
• Sniper Rifle FAST - 50% Chance
• Sniper Rifle SLOW - 100% Chance
• Full Auto - 25% chance per bullet?

 

I like this idea. But Dual Pistol cant actually gain bonus damage, it has one -Res power, which is not always 'on' (which totally needs to be fixed too, another matter).

I always felt that if you can 'aim' with a fireball etc, why AR (and DP..swap ammo should have been an inherent) doesnt have a Laser Sight or similar click buff.

 

If all the cone/aoe ranges on AR were finally (FINALLY) made the same, then perhaps a closer range/higher dam gimmick could be good on buckshot.

 

Another idea..could also had some possible Lethal DoT _like TW has) to attacks..a bullet is sure gonna make you bleed after all.

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by Razor Cure

[Yomo Kimyata]

AR could probably use a little modernizing, but I would only support it if all mobs that use the set get the upgrades as well.

[Galaxy Brain]

1 hour ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

AR could probably use a little modernizing, but I would only support it if all mobs that use the set get the upgrades as well.

Liiiikkkeeeeee Mercs? 😄

[ZacKing]

1 hour ago, Galaxy Brain said:

Liiiikkkeeeeee Mercs? 😄

yes please.  anything to make them not suck

[Yomo Kimyata]

Sure, Mercs, but I was thinking more like those otherwise useless Hellion Lts!

 

[Sakura Tenshi]

I like these ideas as with a lot of your stuff, @Galaxy Brain, but to be honest I'd rather just abandon the assault rifle set to develop an 'Automatic Rifle' set, a 'Sniper rifle' set, and a 'Trench Broom' set.

 

Edit: I should note I don't seriously want Assault Rifle abandoned. But I still want a dedicated 'sniper' and 'shotgun' powerset.

 

@Yomo Kimyata

Maybe in a higher level version, but one thing I kind of hate about the new Skulls is that they have 'Gravedigger soldiers' and 'graverdigger strikes', and 'death head assailants', all three of whom kind of break the pattern of those lowbie gangs in exchange for loading them up with extra attacks with extra -def which, like with the Praetorian Syndicate, really freaking hurt in the sub 20s game even if you're not a defense oriented character.

Edited July 28, 2020 by Sakura Tenshi

[Haijinx]

22 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

Sure, Mercs, but I was thinking more like those otherwise useless Hellion Lts!

 

Council ... there's reasons they are popular punching bags.  

[Vanden]

On 7/28/2020 at 1:25 PM, Yomo Kimyata said:

Sure, Mercs, but I was thinking more like those otherwise useless Hellion Lts!

But they're supposed to be useless, they're just gangbangers.

[SwitchFade]

Kowwa... Bunga?

[Chance Jackson]

2 hours ago, SwitchFade said:

Kowwa... Bunga?

+ COD

[Chance Jackson]

On 7/28/2020 at 1:25 PM, Yomo Kimyata said:

Sure, Mercs, but I was thinking more like those otherwise useless Hellion Lts!

 

Don't they only have shotguns? 

[Sakura Tenshi]

18 hours ago, Chance Jackson said:

Don't they only have shotguns? 

Hellions (and skulls until they were updated) have Submachine Guns (gunner, the ones wielding the UZIs) and fire burst, the Buckshot Lt.s are the ones you're thinking of, and that was it. The skulls got updated to include the Death Head soldier with a full assault rifle that had Burst, Heavy Burst, and Lead Spray. (which makes them a real pain in the ass. Also upsets me because I feel like a third Hellions/skulls Lt. should have used thugs MM Dual Pistols)

[kiramon]

I think AR needs a general damage boost, and full auto should definitely be a “wide cone in front of you” like for vorpal... and like 2s instead of 4 especially since it feels like that’s when the shots end anyways lol

 

 maybe I should try a sentinel AR with a bunch of range increases like my sonic ar lol

Edited August 2, 2020 by kiramon