Rifleman Archive

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Cpl_Fisher wrote:

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Nnekk wrote:

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KyeAshke wrote:

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Nnekk wrote:
One other "bug" and or "balance" issue in general is that the RM is not the almighty "Nuker" they said we would be.

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I disagree. I think we're powerful enough as it is. I do 10x more damage than TK now, and I've not seen anything do comparable damage yet.

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Compare damage output, over just 2 minute period of time, and you'll see that every other ranged professions is on par with us or is at least very close. The reason for this is actually in three parts:

1. Our "Nuker" specials have a very high action cost so we are limited to how and when we can use them.

2. Our "Nuker" specials do not have THAT much of a significant damage to action used ratio that it is negated by the fact that another ranged proffesion can cause the same amount of damage over a 1-2 minute period of time.

3. Equal to your own level MOB's cannot be killed with only 2-3 shots from a RM shot selection; if it were so, then our roles would closer to that of "Nuker"

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you hit the nail on the head here, dps needs to be looked at over2-3 min not on a pershot basis, otherwise we will end up in same boat commando's used to be in, amazing damage for one shot, but easily out paced over time.

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This is an interesting article - it sums up the nuker role quite well. Our major issues hate and no long term dps are standard with the nuker class. It is a design consideration when you create nuker roles.

Online gaming exists to promote teamplay between people who generally aren't that good at People. Or something. And the best way to do this is to give everyone different, yet complimentary, skills; the traditional 'Group'. Well intentioned stuff, of course, but usually it quickly falls into the standard set of archetypes - the Required and the Tolerated.

The Required: If, when making your avatar, you stuck your pin in the list on one of these, you'll have no troubles. People will always need you, and you can pick and choose your groups. There are three essential types here:

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  The Tank: ('Meatshield', Warrior, Paladin, Enforcer, Knight, Brawler, etc...) (Swordsman, Pikeman, Tk, Pistoleer)
  This character exists to be hit. The enemy will attempt to reduce his life points while he does the same in return. The tank has a larger amount of life points than other players, is generally better protected, and has skills to make the enemy focus on him alone. This character is the minimum requirement for a group, albiet of one.

  
  
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  The Healer: (Cleric, Druid, Preist, Medic, Doctor, etc...) (Doctor, Combat Medic, Medic)
  This character exists to replace lost the Tank's lost life points, as they are lost. Typically the spell or ability that does this, does so at a rate of more than one life point per energy point spent, effectively multiplying the Tank's available life points many times. The enemy, unless also being healed, cannot possibly match this. Attrition takes care of the rest. Tank + Healer is the basic core of a group, and in most situations is all that is ever required.

  
  
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  The Crowd Control:('Mezzer', Enchanter, Illusionist, Beaureaucrat, Trader, etc...) (Smuggler, Pistoleer)
  The most optional of the Required, this character (usually fragile), has a number of implausable abilities that stun, hypnotise, subvert and otherwise control enemies. This ensures that the Tank + Healer combo have only to deal with one enemy at a time, no matter how many enemies are designed into the encounter. With these basic three, there are very few situations where attirtion and patience cannot prevail, and those that do exist have to be created specifically.

The Tolerated:Because a character creation screen with only three choices on it looks a bit daft, we present the Others; classes or professions that revolve around only one core ability or skill that didn't really fit in any of the above, or things that just sounded cool or seemed like a good idea at the time. Go away and solo, if you even can...no-one wants you unless the above positions have already been filled.

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  The Nuker:(Wizard, Nanotechnician, etc...) (Swordsmen, Rifleman, Commando)
  This character is given a set of abilites that cause phenomially high damage, compared to the Tank's output, usually with a long recharge timer. However, these classes are usually made to be extremely fragile and barred from any kind of heavy-duty Tank-style protection. A shame, as even the most rudementary enemy A.I. will quickly identify them as the biggest threat and quickly beat them down. This means these classes are given a potential that far exceeds what is safe to use, in turn, meaning that for most of their life they are not fighting the game, but their own self-control.

  
  
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  The DPS:(Thief, Rogue, Assasin, Monk, Martial Artist, Shade, Swashbuckler, etc...) (fencer, Tk, CM, Pistoleer)
  These characters are given low damage attacks, but have a very very fast recharge on them ('Damage Per Second'); in a way, the opposit of the Nuker above. Again, they are not generally allowed to have much protection, and sometimes will have even more damage-over-time attacks; poisons, backstabing, critical hits, etc. While individual hits are minor, the sheer quantity of them soon attracts the enemy A.I.'s notice, and despite often having evasion-type skills, they are soon beaten down with no real contest. Unlike the Nuker, who can choose not to press the 'Nuke' button, the DPS's only way of slowing down their overwhelming assualt is to stop attacking altogether, or rely on hastily implemented 'don't hurt me' type skills. Again, potential far exceeds practicality.

  
  
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  The Pet Classes: (Creature Handler, Necromancer, Hunter, Magician, Summoner, Engineer, etc...) (creature Handler)
  This character is given the ability to either create, or subvert, creatures to do his bidding, i.e. NPC Tank. Since they usually also get an ability to heal the pet too, this effectively turns the Pet Class from one player into a two-man Tank + Healer group. Very good for soloing, so much so, that there is usually some kind of artificial xp penalty to slow them down a bit. Not that useful in groups, but then these players don't care anyway.

  
  
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  The Explorer: (Scout, Ranger, adventurer, etc...) (ranger, scout)
  This class is given various skills that facilitate exploration of the game world; run speed, outdor invisbility, teleporting, hill climbing, water breathing, and so on. These are very good for the intended task, but rarely bring anything useful to the business of Grouping, or Winning The Game. Usually, they end up with DPS characteristics as an attempt to round them out.

  
  
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  The One-Buff-Wonder: (Various...) (CM, SL)
  This class has one supremely useful ability which is not actuallly needed from moment to moment, but every now and then. They have little else to offer, particularly in group combat. Examples include spells that increase regeneration, reduce downtime, increase xp/loot, travel or teleport spells, cures for longterm debuffs (diseases, etc), spells that move respawn locations, and most trade/craft/manufacturing skills. Useful people to have about, but not people you'd take on a dungeon crawl. Unfortunately, their ability is typically only gained by dungeon crawling lots.

  
  
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  Cool Ideas: (Various...) (BH, most crafting and all entertainer professions)
  Simply put, these are classes or professions based entirely on image, and not on gameplay at all. Things that just sounded cool to a concpet artist, but have no established archetype, or gameplay niche. Often drawn from one single example in a film or story, and turned into an entire profession; they may be cool, but invariably end up a botched, patched, broken class to play, as successive developers try to work out just what a 'Ninja', 'Inqusitor' or 'Trader' actually are, in game mechanic terms.

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KardenTyrell wrote:

Did something change about cover breaking? Because now I can't get into cover when something is 20m away, and breaks at that distance too.

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Message Edited by PyscoJuggalo on 05-09-2005 07:12 PM

Message Edited by Sandzibarr on 05-10-2005 12:19 AM

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SANDZIBAR : IMPERIAL COLONEL : ACE : SNIPER

• Fixed an issue where zoning caused auto-attack to turn off.
  
• Combat spam now reports the correct weapon name when using Force powers or grenades.
  
• Critical Shot will now correctly do more damage when a critical hit is scored.
  
• Area Taunt now correctly generates hate to targets in range.
  
• Non damage attacks like taunt will no longer show an invalid flytext amount.
  
• Nightsister and Peko Albatross should now have proper bonus attributes.
  
• Commands that fail due to a bad state or posture will give feedback about why the command failed. (good - but does it fix the the fact you can't enter the state?)
  
• Nightsister, Peko Albatross and RIS layers should now have proper bonus attributes.

Quests

• Kint Szam will give the Kkorrwrot badge to players who speak to him and have already finished the Kkorrwrot hunt.
  
• The Clone Relic quest for the Clone Trooper armor will now give out the Hologram X-wing reward correctly when you do the Rebel path.
  
• Clone Trooper Armor Quest: You will now receive the full set of the Clone Trooper armor when finishing this quest, even if your inventory is full.
  
• "Befriend the Wookiee" quest is now repeatable if failed. If player fails the quest, just talk to Boshaz to restart the quest.
  
• Fixed an issue with unpacking ARC-170 deeds.
  
• Added bio-linking to some of the weapon quest rewards. (bad)
  
• Corrected range for Soulstinger, Heartbreaker, and Necrosis weapons. (good)

Character Respec

• Made non-combat professions eligible for character respec.
  
• Clicking "yes" on respec dialog box no longer closes respec window if it was open.

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Ackehece wrote:

Combat

• Fixed an issue where zoning caused auto-attack to turn off.
  
• Combat spam now reports the correct weapon name when using Force powers or grenades.
  
• Critical Shot will now correctly do more damage when a critical hit is scored.
  
• Area Taunt now correctly generates hate to targets in range.
  
• Non damage attacks like taunt will no longer show an invalid flytext amount.
  
• Nightsister and Peko Albatross should now have proper bonus attributes.
  
• Commands that fail due to a bad state or posture will give feedback about why the command failed. (good - but does it fix the the fact you can't enter the state?)
  
• Nightsister, Peko Albatross and RIS layers should now have proper bonus attributes.

Quests

• Kint Szam will give the Kkorrwrot badge to players who speak to him and have already finished the Kkorrwrot hunt.
  
• The Clone Relic quest for the Clone Trooper armor will now give out the Hologram X-wing reward correctly when you do the Rebel path.
  
• Clone Trooper Armor Quest: You will now receive the full set of the Clone Trooper armor when finishing this quest, even if your inventory is full.
  
• "Befriend the Wookiee" quest is now repeatable if failed. If player fails the quest, just talk to Boshaz to restart the quest.
  
• Fixed an issue with unpacking ARC-170 deeds.
  
• Added bio-linking to some of the weapon quest rewards. (bad)
  
• Corrected range for Soulstinger, Heartbreaker, and Necrosis weapons. (good)

Character Respec

• Made non-combat professions eligible for character respec.
  
• Clicking "yes" on respec dialog box no longer closes respec window if it was open.

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oohh when was this?

and I agree with someone above, Commando's and rifleman need to have so much damage availible to them they can get themselves into trouble real easy!

Message Edited by Ackehece on 05-09-2005 07:34 PM

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CraftAddict wrote:

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Nnekk wrote:

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KyeAshke wrote:

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Nnekk wrote:
One other "bug" and or "balance" issue in general is that the RM is not the almighty "Nuker" they said we would be.

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I disagree. I think we're powerful enough as it is. I do 10x more damage than TK now, and I've not seen anything do comparable damage yet.

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Compare damage output, over just 2 minute period of time, and you'll see that every other ranged professions is on par with us or is at least very close. The reason for this is actually in three parts:

1. Our "Nuker" specials have a very high action cost so we are limited to how and when we can use them.

2. Our "Nuker" specials do not have THAT much of a significant damage to action used ratio that it is negated by the fact that another ranged proffesion can cause the same amount of damage over a 1-2 minute period of time.

3. Equal to your own level MOB's cannot be killed with only 2-3 shots from a RM shot selection; if it were so, then our roles would closer to that of "Nuker"

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We are the traditional nuker type role. That does not mean we do the best dps. In fact, in most games, the nuker does not do the best dps over time. This is the case here, we do massive ammounts of damage over a very short period of time, we go through our resources very quickly, we do not possess exceptional resource to damage ratios....all things that have classicly defines a nuker.

The longer the fight goes, the less advantage the is to being a nukers. Over time, the other ranged professions will catch up to us.

If you had it in your head that rifleman would out damage any profession under all circumstances, then you were mistaken. Read: nuker, and read what it means, not what you want it to mean.

It means exchanging large portions of resources in a very short period of time into damage at unexceptional efficency ratio. If you would like to fill a role as damage over time, I suggest you look into other professions that fill that role.

Commando, fencer and combat medic come to mind.

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• Distance from target. In that case we get "Too far" and the windup doesn't start.
  
  
• Line of sight. Then we get "Can't see target" and the windup doesn't start.
  
  
• Wrong posture for Sniper Shot. We get "Invalid posture" and the windup doesn't start.
  
  
• Taking damage. These failures happen when we are trying to initiate combat, not when we're in it.
  
  
• Moving. Again, we're trying to initiate combat and have sometimes been holding still a minute hoping the server will let us use our special.

Message Edited by KapowBzapp on 05-10-2005 09:49 AM