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So this was meant specifically to discuss the implementation of the beam:beam "doom laser." Mostly regarding how it should function and how it should be balanced.
I havent heard a whole lot about the devs' current plans for it, though ive heard stuff like restricting its use on turrets, requiring that a ship come to a complete stop before firing, dropping the shields of the ship etc. If anyone has information or if a dev would like to make suggestions, that would be great.
So i guess ill start with my own ideas:
I would like to avoid the above, i.e. restricting its use on turrets, disabling shields or bringing the ship to a stop. I think it could be balanced better by the numbers, specifically weapons ratio used, its effectiveness versus various defenses, power consumption, and group size.
My first thought was of course to make power consumption ramp up as you approach a 1:1 ratio. The weapon combo simply taxes the reactor more than any of the alternatives. Ships that intend to employ a doom laser anywhere near as large as a typical weapon they could have employed for their mass would want that weapon to have priority and to keep other sources of power consumption to a minimum, i.e skimp on other weaponry in their size range in favor of this one high alpha weapon.
Second, was to ensure the doom laser doesnt get the latch on effect provided other laser systems and can only fire directly in line with the orientation of the vessel as a whole, not where the mouse is pointed.
Third, was that the b:b combo could be extremely effective against only armor and unprotected blocks relative to other weapons, say 2x as much damage as other weapons, but easily defended against by shields. Something like dealing only 1-5% of its overall damage to shields. Tactically, this would mean a pilot would want to refrain from employing their laser until theyre certain the target's shields are down, or they would be wasting a lot of potential damage.
The fourth suggestion was a bit complicated and rubbish, but heres the gist of it: take the total size of the weapon versus weapon ratio into account for determining if its truly a doom laser. A small 1:1 b:b, less than 10k blocks, would only have average damage for a weapon its size, favoring very deep penetration (as damage permits) but relatively little acid damage, but gets extended range and only moderately increased power consumption. A gigantic 1:1 beam of more than 10k blocks would behave like a doom laser, with the number of blocks ramping up the damage and power consumption significantly, but reducing the range back to average as it approached 20k blocks, and remaining there from then on. It would however have expanded acid damage range, being able to gut entire vessels. A weapon ratio that isnt at least 100:95 would recieve range bonuses and moderate power increase, but not acid damage or overall damage increases. Beyond that point, and above 10k blocks, acid damage and total damage, and power consumption, increase sharply.
So small b:b weapons make for good long range support with slightly below average block destruction, very large ones become capable of incredible damage.
I would definitely combine 4 with 3, and 2, where smaller lasers do closer to average damage to shields and blocks, and larger ones deal significantly more damage than usual to blocks but fair very poorly against shields. But either way have difficulty tracking moving targets because of the lack of latch-on and requirement to keep the weapon output in line with the target.
This is also sort of a counterpoint to the mis:mis bomb, which can only be effectively fielded by very small craft, and bypasses shields completely. The doom laser is most effectively employed on very large craft, and while every bit as effective as the bomb plus some against armor and systems, is severely handicapped by shields.
And while it could be effectively employed as a main weapon on the ship, only extremely large capitol turrets would be able to meet its full potential as a doom laser, rather than as simply a long range beam weapon.
The exact numbers used are just examples. For instance maybe it should only become a doom laser after both the primary and secondary exceed 20k blocks, or 50k, or it should have a 99% reduction to damage to shields.
So then i wanted to hear others thoughts too. How could a real "doom laser" weapon be incorporated into the game and simultaneously be kept balanced?
I havent heard a whole lot about the devs' current plans for it, though ive heard stuff like restricting its use on turrets, requiring that a ship come to a complete stop before firing, dropping the shields of the ship etc. If anyone has information or if a dev would like to make suggestions, that would be great.
So i guess ill start with my own ideas:
I would like to avoid the above, i.e. restricting its use on turrets, disabling shields or bringing the ship to a stop. I think it could be balanced better by the numbers, specifically weapons ratio used, its effectiveness versus various defenses, power consumption, and group size.
My first thought was of course to make power consumption ramp up as you approach a 1:1 ratio. The weapon combo simply taxes the reactor more than any of the alternatives. Ships that intend to employ a doom laser anywhere near as large as a typical weapon they could have employed for their mass would want that weapon to have priority and to keep other sources of power consumption to a minimum, i.e skimp on other weaponry in their size range in favor of this one high alpha weapon.
Second, was to ensure the doom laser doesnt get the latch on effect provided other laser systems and can only fire directly in line with the orientation of the vessel as a whole, not where the mouse is pointed.
Third, was that the b:b combo could be extremely effective against only armor and unprotected blocks relative to other weapons, say 2x as much damage as other weapons, but easily defended against by shields. Something like dealing only 1-5% of its overall damage to shields. Tactically, this would mean a pilot would want to refrain from employing their laser until theyre certain the target's shields are down, or they would be wasting a lot of potential damage.
The fourth suggestion was a bit complicated and rubbish, but heres the gist of it: take the total size of the weapon versus weapon ratio into account for determining if its truly a doom laser. A small 1:1 b:b, less than 10k blocks, would only have average damage for a weapon its size, favoring very deep penetration (as damage permits) but relatively little acid damage, but gets extended range and only moderately increased power consumption. A gigantic 1:1 beam of more than 10k blocks would behave like a doom laser, with the number of blocks ramping up the damage and power consumption significantly, but reducing the range back to average as it approached 20k blocks, and remaining there from then on. It would however have expanded acid damage range, being able to gut entire vessels. A weapon ratio that isnt at least 100:95 would recieve range bonuses and moderate power increase, but not acid damage or overall damage increases. Beyond that point, and above 10k blocks, acid damage and total damage, and power consumption, increase sharply.
So small b:b weapons make for good long range support with slightly below average block destruction, very large ones become capable of incredible damage.
I would definitely combine 4 with 3, and 2, where smaller lasers do closer to average damage to shields and blocks, and larger ones deal significantly more damage than usual to blocks but fair very poorly against shields. But either way have difficulty tracking moving targets because of the lack of latch-on and requirement to keep the weapon output in line with the target.
This is also sort of a counterpoint to the mis:mis bomb, which can only be effectively fielded by very small craft, and bypasses shields completely. The doom laser is most effectively employed on very large craft, and while every bit as effective as the bomb plus some against armor and systems, is severely handicapped by shields.
And while it could be effectively employed as a main weapon on the ship, only extremely large capitol turrets would be able to meet its full potential as a doom laser, rather than as simply a long range beam weapon.
The exact numbers used are just examples. For instance maybe it should only become a doom laser after both the primary and secondary exceed 20k blocks, or 50k, or it should have a 99% reduction to damage to shields.
So then i wanted to hear others thoughts too. How could a real "doom laser" weapon be incorporated into the game and simultaneously be kept balanced?
