Warburg Nuke Powers

[Derek Icelord]

I propose the Warburg temporary powers granted from launching the rockets be either buffed or made easier to obtain. The requirements, in my opinion, are not worth the benefit these temporary powers provide.

 

Currently, obtaining these powers requires you to enter The Web tunnels in Warburg and locate scientists, defeat the Arachnoids around them, then bring them to their preferred door, whereupon they give you a code fragment. 3 code fragments allows you to pick one of the 3 terminals back in The Web. The terminal used determines which temp power you're granted upon successful launch. Bring this code to the main launch console on the surface and launch the rocket to obtain your power. The Access Bypass salvage reduces the code fragments required by 1 (only one Access Bypass salvage can be in a character's inventory at any given time). Being defeated by another player (if you ever see one) lets them steal your code fragments or launch code. It is a PvP zone after all.

 

All of that is fine. The problems come in the limitations.

1. A player can only escort one scientist at a time.
2. Code fragments are not team-wide credit, only to the player the scientist was following at the time they enter their door.
3. Scientists mark a random door on the map, which may be at the far flung corner from where you rescued them.
4. You can only have 1 charge of each temp power at any time. Launching a rocket that would grant a power you already have gives you nothing (except badge credit if you don't have that already).
5. With the current power level of players, particularly with Incarnate abilities, the nuke powers feel more like water balloons than nuclear detonations.

 

The 3 powers are:
Biological Mutagens (ally AoE buff)
    +150% Damage for 5 min, +400% Regeneration for 5 min, 60ft radius, 20 targets max
Nuclear Blast (targeted AoE damage)*
    235.60 energy damage and 160.64 smashing damage (for 396.24 total), -30.00% endurance, 3.00 magnitude knock, -100.00% recovery, 120ft radius, 16 targets max, 171 bonus energy damage if the target is a robot
Chemical Burn (enemy AoE debuff)
    -50.00% RES(All) for 2m 0s, -35.00% DEF(All) for 2m 0s, 1.00 magnitude knock, 60ft radius, 20 targets max    

*Power creates a pseudopet, so I'm trusting City of Data's numbers are correct since you can't see them in-game.

Proposals for easing acquisition of the powers:

1. Remove the limit on scientists that can follow a player (or make the limit 3 if it's easier to implement that way)
2. Make the code fragment rewards credit the whole team. I know it's a PvP zone, but you can already be attacked by any player not on your team regardless of alignment.
3. Allow scientists to be led to any door, or change it so the marked door is the nearest one. These people should be happy we're saving them at all.
4. Remove the limit on charges. The in-game info lists a 5 minute cooldown, that seems reasonable. Make it like accolades where global recharge doesn't affect them.

 

OR

Proposals for buffing the powers:
Biological Mutagens: Increase the radius to at least 120ft and raise the target cap to 255 like other AoE buff powers. Maybe up the damage buff a bit.

Chemical Burn: This is by far the strongest power. My only suggestion is to make the debuffs unresistible so they're useful against AVs where you want some extra "oomph", and perhaps increase the duration to 2.5 or 3 minutes.
 

Nuclear Blast: This poor power is a forgotten relic. It does less damage, with a lower target cap, than any of the judgement incarnate powers (for reference Judgement powers typically do 428 damage to 30-40 targets with a 2 minute cooldown). The only thing going for it is being available if a character exemplars below level 45. Either boost the damage by at least 15% or make it unresistible.

 

 

Between making them easier to obtain and buffing the powers, I think making them easier to obtain is the better option. I think there is also an argument to be made for doing both, or at least reevaluating their level of power after seeing if players bother to use them once they're easier to acquire.

[Rudra]

I oppose this request.

 

14 minutes ago, Derek Icelord said:

A player can only escort one scientist at a time.

You can lead as many scientists as you can manage. They don't immediately despawn when you change scientists. So as long as you are willing to invest the effort, you can escort multiple scientists at a time. You just keep changing who you are escorting every time you get so far past the last scientist you escorted.

 

Also, you can get bypass codes that reduce the number of scientists you need to complete for each launch.

 

15 minutes ago, Derek Icelord said:

You can only have 1 charge of each temp power at any time. Launching a rocket that would grant a power you already have gives you nothing (except badge credit if you don't have that already).

I don't view this as a problem. It prevents players from stockpiling large numbers of missiles.

 

16 minutes ago, Derek Icelord said:

With the current power level of players, particularly with Incarnate abilities, the nuke powers feel more like water balloons than nuclear detonations.

So you are complaining that a temp power that can be reduced to a single scientist rescue per missile isn't as potent as god powers you have to grind and craft? I'm not seeing a problem here.

 

All told, I'm not seeing a problem that needs to be fixed, just a request for yet more power creep. So I'm against the OP.

[Mystoc]

Quote

1. Make the code fragment rewards credit the whole team. I know it's a PvP zone, but you can already be attacked by any player not on your team regardless of alignment.

 

They want the scientist to be stealable and to promote fighting if you can just join teams to share the reward PvP is less incentivized why fight over credit when you can just share it? also being able to mass the farm this in a team of 8 seems very strong to me given they are AoE wide nukes that can stack.

 

I like all your other suggestions though especially being able to lead multiple scientists its a good idea it also makes you a juicer target to fight the more you collect the more risk you face just having it all stolen if you are defeated in PVP so its balanced.

[Owl Girl]

i am all for putting more powerful weapons of mass destruction into the hands of those with the Vision and Will to put them to productive use. however, I don't think they should be any easier to get than they are now. my hope would be that if the warheads were more useful, people would be motivated to visit Warburg more often and the current method of gathering nukes can be a good way to provoke PvP action 😃

[FDR's Think Tank]

Having expanded Missile Silos for storing Missiles seems like exactly the sort of thing Super Group Bases could have allowed for.

 

The game isn't balanced that way though, so it could be a long term concern to allow players build an arsenal of WMDs.

 

But... I did notice one thing: Biologicial MUTAGENS, Chemical Burns, Nuclear Blast... It's almost like you have Mutant, Science, and Natural Origins. There is no restriction on Warhead type Ownership, but it might be neat to add two new types of Warheads to round out the "Origin" representation. This would also give players two other Warheads they could hold a charge for.

 

Technology- Digital Magnetic Pulse: Unlike an normal Electro-Magnetic Pulse, this type of Pulse has it's frequency keyed to benefit allies and harm enemies. The core affect of this would be to boost Stamina regen for allies and debuff Stamina Regen on Enemies. 11 Allies Max, 11 Enemies Max targeting might work well for this, it would be something people would save for Leagues, anyway.

 

Magic - Chaos Vortex: Everyone in the area of this effect get's a bonus to the recharge rate of all their powers, but this is paired with a regen debuff. No maximum target on the effect, affects enemies and allies alike. (This may be a terrible idea, because recharge might be the only thing that stops NPC's from overwhelming players with attacks. Then again, some people really have effective tanks. With the right strategy, this one could be hilarious and really speed up battle.)

 

More weapon choices gives people more reason to visit, especially since I can see people finding many specific uses for these two alternative warheads as well.

[Greycat]

The only problem with the Warburg nuke - hate to say "mission" - is that the scientists are obviously the dumbest scientists on Earth, as ramps are insanely difficult for them to figure out.

 

Other than that - which is a problem with most NPCs - it doesn't really need to be made easier or buffed.

 

Though the suggestion of two more for the other origins seems interesting.

[Rudra]

9 minutes ago, FDR's Think Tank said:

Having expanded Missile Silos for storing Missiles seems like exactly the sort of thing Super Group Bases could have allowed for.

 

The game isn't balanced that way though, so it could be a long term concern to allow players build an arsenal of WMDs.

 

But... I did notice one thing: Biologicial MUTAGENS, Chemical Burns, Nuclear Blast... It's almost like you have Mutant, Science, and Natural Origins. There is no restriction on Warhead type Ownership, but it might be neat to add two new types of Warheads to round out the "Origin" representation. This would also give players two other Warheads they could hold a charge for.

 

Technology- Digital Magnetic Pulse: Unlike an normal Electro-Magnetic Pulse, this type of Pulse has it's frequency keyed to benefit allies and harm enemies. The core affect of this would be to boost Stamina regen for allies and debuff Stamina Regen on Enemies. 11 Allies Max, 11 Enemies Max targeting might work well for this, it would be something people would save for Leagues, anyway.

 

Magic - Chaos Vortex: Everyone in the area of this effect get's a bonus to the recharge rate of all their powers, but this is paired with a regen debuff. No maximum target on the effect, affects enemies and allies alike. (This may be a terrible idea, because recharge might be the only thing that stops NPC's from overwhelming players with attacks. Then again, some people really have effective tanks. With the right strategy, this one could be hilarious and really speed up battle.)

 

More weapon choices gives people more reason to visit, especially since I can see people finding many specific uses for these two alternative warheads as well.

Where are you getting origins from the Warburg Rockets? How is nuclear a natural origin?! If you want to expand the variety of rockets? Okay, I don't really care. Just don't pretend they have anything to do with character origins.

[FDR's Think Tank]

12 minutes ago, Rudra said:

Where are you getting origins from the Warburg Rockets? How is nuclear a natural origin?! If you want to expand the variety of rockets? Okay, I don't really care. Just don't pretend they have anything to do with character origins.

 

Actually, I confess I made this suggestion back when the game was live... while the devs were amused by the Origins connection, they stated they didn't feel like it would be balanced to give players too many "Nuke" abilities. Of course, at that time, they were still thinking PvP was something they were genuinely trying to balance and that was the only reason for prohibiting more... even if it was just 2 more and they were different effects.

 

I suspect those concerns don't exist anymore, since if PvP is going to be balanced, Nukes aren't the ongoing concern.

 

As far as why Nukes are "natural".. because it's the closest to standard military ordinance on a warhead, Nuclear Radiation is something that everyone is exposed to, thanks to the Sun, and it's the most likely of the three for people to imagine being used. Also.. Chemical Burns is clearly Science, Mutagen is clearly Mutant.... and I want an EMP Warhead, which ought to be Tech. The last was Magic.

 

And Superheroes is all pretend, so not only will I pretend Warhead types DOES have to do with Origin, but I will pretend many other things too. I am just that pretentious.

[Zappalina]

I love getting nukes in Warburg.  I get so frustrated but enjoy the smack talk of when someone steals a scientist or engages in PvP. I like using the nukes in PvE as a buff usually during a nemesis event in PI and someone says Is that a nuke from Warburg?

The part where we could lead out  more than one scientist is good, I like the rest of it how it is and am resistant to change sometimes, but good suggestion on leading more than one out at a time.

[srmalloy]

3 hours ago, Derek Icelord said:

Chemical Burn: This is by far the strongest power. My only suggestion is to make the debuffs unresistible so they're useful against AVs where you want some extra "oomph", and perhaps increase the duration to 2.5 or 3 minutes.

Guess again. Resistance is also resistance debuff resistance, so if you apply a 50% resistance debuff to a target with 90% Resistance, they resist 90% of the debuff, resulting in a net of 5% debuff to their resistance (see the wiki for Resistance (Mechanics)). Now, if it was an unresistable debuff, then it would be the strongest power, but if it's resistable, it's not going to do much against the targets you would most want to use it on.