Development Cycle Archive
Thread: IC 1-12: Combat Roles; Rifleman
What is the role of the Rifleman? Presently there seems to be two contradictory roles for the Rifleman. We have titles such as Sniper. This indicates precision shooting at long range. The Snipers motto is "One Shot, One Kill". To this end we have skills like ConcealShot.
The Rifleman also has the role of the machine-gunner. The AoE attacks and the "Gunner" title fall into this category.
As a practical matter. As a novice most Rifleman will act more like the Sniper. Or at least I did. The use of pet tanks of course will change this view. But at novice ConcealShot becomes your friend. Firing from concealment to hit your opponent.
As your speed increases and you advance you drift more towards the Gunner version. The ability to hit multiple targets at a fast rate is the hallmark of the machine-gunner.
What defines the Rifleman role in combat? Depends on the level of the Rifleman as explained above. But in general the Rifleman is the basic grunt. He's the infantryman. His role in combat is to inflict damage at longer ranges than the other professions.
What basic combat elements should they possess? Most of their current combat elements are pretty fair. They can hit the mind pool but at a high costs in PvP. This isn't much of an issue in PvE as all MOBs have pretty balanced HAMs (thought I would like to see this changed).
What offensive abilities? The Rifleman should be able to hit at range and be most accurate while prone. As they currently are. They have abilities of the Sniper and the Gunner. In effect their weapons are assault rifles. Capable of firing single directed shots or going automatic to supress the opponents. They should also have the ability to suppress the enemy. This is the standard job of the machinegun in the military. To put out fire to make the enemy keep their heads down. This would mean changing their current posture up attacks to posture down or giving them some other attack that wold do this. Something unique to the Rifleman and not SuppressionFire from Marksman.
What defensive abilities? Please fix block or at least explain what it's suppose to do. It appears to be broken as when it works you get a message the you "counter-attacked" but you still take damage. Their Sniper and Concealment training would indicate that they are better at remaning unseen and harder to hit. Which works well with their Ranged defense.
A rifle can be used effectively in close combat. As a long weapon it can be used to block incoming strikes rather effectively and this method is still taught in the modern military. As such the Rifleman should have some decent melee defense. Though not nearly as good as any of the melee classes, it should be better than other ranged classes.
What unique abilities? The SniperShot is good for PvP. However it's very limited and has no use in PvE. Please keep it the way it is but also add an PvE aspect. My suggestion would be to make it a Mind attack with a status effect. Maybe Blind, from the blood running into the targets eyes from the head wound (head wounds almost always bleed heavily in real life).
SurpriseShot : Noone is sure what the point of this is. Presently it's a random attack single target. It doesn't require TakeCover as the wording in it indicates. Please define and repair this skill if appropriate.
StartleShot : This shot is redundent with FlushingShot. The two are nearly identical with FlushingShot having one advantage over it. There is no present use for StartleShot as FlushingShot is obtained earlier and does everything that Startle does making it pointless.
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat? Depends on the type of combat and the target. In general the Rifleman is the basic ranged grunt. They can target the targets Mind if this is advantageous or spray fire with their AoE if needed. They should have good damage output and AP which can assist against tough targets.
How could/should they interact with other professions? See above. The Rifleman is one of the two main ranged combat professions. The other being the Carbineer (Assault troops).
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants? The Rifleman is much less effective while firing on the move. The bulk and long eye relief of the rifle make firing on the move or from the hip less effective than say a Pistol or Carbine. As such they are best when not moving. To this end they will need other professions to screen for them in combat. As such Pistoleers, Carbineers, and the melee professions will be needed to keep the enemies at a distance. This enables the Rifleman to fire with the most accuracy and cause the most damage. Commandos can also be used to keep the enemy away with their heavy damage and AoE effects. The Rifleman in turn eliminates those that threaten these closer range allies.
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War? Most of what was stated above also applies to the GCW. They are the machine-gunners and long range specialists. They can target the Mind pool but at a high cost of their own mind. They excel at open range combat where there is little cover for the close combat specialists can use to get close. This last point is of only limited value given the 64m range limitation. As the ranges are short enough that even in the open they can be closed fairly quickly.
For me the essential aspects of the Rifleman are:
1. Heavy damage weapons that are more accurate at longer ranges than short
2. Very high accuracy with our weapons while stationary
3. High-speed firing
4. Ranged death-blow
5.Good ranged defense
6. Poor melee defense
7. Poor accuracy while moving
I agree with above, The sniper role will not work. People have rader and players find you fast, unless you want Rifleman to be only PVE. The heavy gunner role seems more appropriate.
P.S. NOT to metion when u hurt someone while buffed........ unless u can spam your specials.... They regen before u can hurt their 3k HAM.... BUFF's
DEVS i ask you relook BUFFS.......... they ruin this game.
BTW, keep foods, drink, and drugs......as they are.. They dont raise a players abilities that much...PLUS u can only have soo much baed on filling. This system should be the buff system... NOT DOCS
Titles? I don't care if you change our title to "Toothfairy". I'll still be a Rifleman and wear the "Toothfairy" tag proudly.
Respectfully,
Ansom Mistwalker - Bloodfin, the Loading... server
The griefer's mantra, "It's only a game."
I'd say make Riflemen a profession like Pistoleer and Carbineer. It is 100% combat orientated, and I suggest making it 100% focused on Machine Gun style.
Then make a New Profession based off of the Ranger's Concealment/Cameo line and the Marksman's Rifle line. This new profession would be half sniper skills and half infiltrator skills. Special Ops Profession or something. That way Rifles will have another profession to diverse themselves in.
I've been working on a model for this, but I don't have a lot of time I can devote to it. Now that I've said something, i may find the time...
CorporateDan wrote:
I would like to have concealment do something more in PvP like hide a rifleman off the radar. It would be a great way to have an ambush.
The problem with riflemen balance is that rifles are better in combat then carbines and pistols. You don't ever see an infantry division deployed with a bunch of pistols, they have combat rifles (usually without a pistol sidearm ever either)
There is no balance that can be done to make pistoleers and riflemen equal that will make sense in real life.
Rifles are more accurate at ALL ranges, usually have bigger clips, and shoot MUCH more powerful rounds.
What defines theRiflemanrole in combat?
What basic combat elements should they possess?
Long range ability, strong attack at range, weakness against close-combat, and making themselves not a big target when they are not in a direct assault role.
What offensive abilities?
Sniping shot, take cover/crawl, and concealed shots are all good skills for a rifleman. They should also be expanded to make the sniper undetectable on player radar. Though, they can still see where the shots were coming from if they are looking from the correct perspective. Also, a player who got attacked should not automatically target the would-be rifleman. Perhaps special sniper rifles that would give even a harder time for someone to see a muzzle flash. If this is adopted, then perhaps choice of clothing would be even more appreciated.
What defensive abilities?
They should not have any much more defensive ability than they currently have. Their best defense is their offensive capabilities on range attacksand their ability, if given, to conceal their activities.
What unique abilities?
Crawling while under cover, sniper shot, concealed shot... they are all very definitive for the profession
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
They are an advantage in any group as they can be involved and contribute to a combat situation without being in serious danger themselves.
How could/should they interact with other professions?
As it is, all supporting professions like medic/entertainer/artisans exists to support all combat related professions. Rifleman is no different as they still need medical attention, require downtime after action, and need to buy other needed supplies.
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
They need close-combat capable professions to bail them out of those difficult situations.
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?
They remove opposing individuals from range and undetected.
Overall I think this profession makes all the other combat professions vulnerable. And they are balanced within themselves to be vulnerable to those who gets too close to assault them.
Also I'm going to be talking about reality a bit. Even though this is a game there are reasonable assumptions made in the course of itin which the principles of RL have bering.) )
)Shouldn't full auto mean something in game? If in SWG we have weapons that are not only discribed as being fully auto, but attacks with weapons that are not normally fully auto shouldn't we be able to do something with them beyond what we currently do?
A few things I'd either like to see or would at lest like to see discussed would be:
A large cone attack that does very low damage, but induces an accuracy reduction status effect. Counter: Squad leaders would remove this effect and bolster resisting this effect with a successful rally command. Balance: Characters with alertness would have an inherent defense against this attack show thier ability to quickly react.
A large, inaccurate cone attack that does good damge. Balance: Each successive use imposed an increased accuracy penalty.
Some full auto weapons can be used in a 3 round burst or semi-automatic mode. Enable certain weapons to have "modes" that can be selected. Certian modes enable certain attacks while disabling others. Various penalties/bonuses could result of the mode selection in conjunction with special attacks. Example: Semi-automatic mode with HS3 would be the most accurate, 3 round burst with HS would be much less accurate but would cause more damge, and full auto with HS3 would be impossible. Balance: All the ranged weapon classes would have to be reworked to accomidate something like this, (hey I never said they were modest ideas lol) Ham costs in association with mode and special used is probly the primary balance method.
Some weapons are only fully automatic, machine pistols, SMG's, M-60's. There are plenty of RL examples for each class. Fully automatic weapons are spcially made for that mode of operation. This could be represented by low HAM costs for aoe attacks, special components that are crafted for/into the weapon allowing for more accuracy/control (like a tripod for a MG). Balance: Depending on the weapon it could be ease of movement (it takes time to set up and tear down an MG on a tripod) Immobility (Perhaps this weapon only exsists in player crafted bunkers and can't be moved at all) and finally inherent inaccuracy, a scope or laser sight is worthless in the midst of full auto fire.
Single shot weapons are still in use today. They are generaly thought of as being more accurate, and encompass the "make every shot count" mentality. Many Police sniper rifles are single shot, some military are, or if semi-automatic that is the only mode they fire in. Generaly sniper weapons are custom made for an individual and include high tech to make the weapon as accurate as possible. Such weapons could reward carefull shot preperation, perhaps each "turn" spent aiming would result in additional damage applied with the shot. Flash supressors could be crafted into or added to the weapon to increase the chance of going undetected while firing kenitics. Alternate power sources could produce blaster bolts that are not in every races visable spectum. Balance: The tendancy when talking about this is to make the weapon slower but have high damage. If the number of aims used governs the damage multiplyer (up to a fixed cap) then it balances due to the prep time for the aims, the chance to hit your target, and if your target is even in range/LOS when your ready to shoot. If teamed up with some sort of conealment ability, detection could interupt the aiming for instance as the shooter hurries his shot. Firing from the same location allows the enemy to decern your location. And also limited movement.
Finally cover: I'm not talking about the rifleman ability per se, rather the ability of anyone to realize that its much better to be behind something sturdy that to stand in the open. Currently postures affect your opponents accuracy as well as your own, but other than that terrain breaks down to LOS (Line Of Sight) issues. How many of you have shot thru a hill but cant get LOS to the fat guy behind a tree? If I kneel in a gully or behind a rock so that much less of me is visable, should'nt I be harder to hit? Perhaps some specials that are terrain dependent? Pistols excell in close in fighting due to the ease of moving the weapon in relation to your body and the target for instance. Allow different professions to have different modes for taking cover in different environments. Corners in cities for example.
Well it was a small book in the making but if you've read this far thanks for sticking it through.
And please excuse the bad speeling! lol