Rifleman Archive

Wanted to share with everyone what I listed as some of our issues. I'm sure I probably missed some or new ones have cropped up since I made this list (i.e. FS Ranged Mods not working so wasn't on the original list).

1. Block : Does not appear to activate as often as it should. Believe that this is a know bug.


2. SurpriseShot : Surprise Shot does not work as the description implies


3. StartleShot1/2 : Redundent with FlushingShot1/2. Same damage and delay mods but without the state effect


4. AoE attacks : Causes aggro thru walls and other situations there is no LoS


5. Berserker Rifle : Uncraftable due to a required part having no serial number


6. Melee Defense : Appears higher than it actually is due to the to hit bonus. Leads to confusion.


7. Bowcaster : Iconic weapon from Star Wars is nearly worthless in combat after Marksman Rifle II.


8. SniperShot : Incapped players still have secondary defenses that activate and negate this attack


9. Accuracy in Specials : Remove accuracy mods from specials and place them in the corresponding proffesion


10. Accuray : Rifles tend to have an accuracy spike between ideal and max range. It isn't unheard of to drop 70 for just 4m


11. Dizzy : Dizzy has no effect on creatures (also a Scout/Ranger trap issue). Suggest also causing it to reduce accuracy (50% of Blind mod?)


12. FlurryShot2 : Damage modifier for FlurryShot2 appears to be lower than FlurryShot1 and does not scale as do the other level 2 specials in Rifleman.


13. FS Ranged Mods : FS Ranged Mods are not working. However FS Melee Mods are working for ranged weapons.


14. Prone Auto-Attack : While prone the default auto attack does not appear to be working. However specials still work. (new)

Explanation of the Top 5

1. Block : Currently Block does not seem to be working as much as it would seem to indicate. I believe that this is a known issue with it not activating like it should. One thing I’ve noticed is that my TC character who is Rifleman 1/0/3/1 is getting many more Blocks than my main which is a Master on live. Issue could be with the accuracy of the MOB’s I’m fighting in the instances.

Combat spam is also showing incorrectly in that it does not indicate how much damage was stopped with Block.

Suggestion : I’ve listed Block as both a Bug and a Gameplay. The reason being of my suggestion for a fix and change to it. Block should work as Dodge does. It should negate all damage and negate the state effect. However, it should only work vs melee attacks. It does make sense to be able Block someone swinging a melee weapon at you with a Rifle. In this capacity it is a Parry (possible rename for Block?). However the idea of Blocking incoming blaster fire makes much less sense. Doing so would more than likely ruin your weapon. You can block a Power Hammer for example by parrying the shaft of the weapon. As long as the head doesn’t hit you should be ok. But how do you do so with a bullet? Doing so would destroy your weapon or at least make it unusable.

This would make Block (Parry) a useful skill but at the same time not as effective as Dodge so it shouldn’t infringe on those defensive templates overly much.

2. SurpriseShot : Presently SurpriseShot does not work as the description states. It does not require the use of /TakeCover to use nor does it ‘Surprise’ the target as it states. What the intent of this ability was suppose to be is unknown.

Suggestion : Riflemen have been asking for a high damage single target random HAM special. Modifying SurpriseShot to this would seem to be a good solution. Recommend that SupriseShot be changed to damage 5.5-6X and delay of 3.0-3.5X. Also move it to Concealment IV box as that branch is rather bare and at that power should be a level IV skill.

3. StartleShot1/2 : Presently StartleShot1/2 are redundant with FlushingShot1/2. StartleShot1/2 has the same damage and delay mods as the corresponding FlushingShot1/2. However FlushingShot1/2 also adds a Stun effect while StartleShot has no state effect.

Suggestion : The Rifleman community has been asking that this be changed or that a state effect such as Blind be added to StartleShot. Personally I’m against adding a state effect that Rifleman doesn’t presently have as it would infringe on those professions that rely on state effects as their advantage.

4. AoE : Well known bug that AoE attacks will agro creatures thru walls and even on different levels. This can cause severe problems in high end dungeons or other close quarters. Please fix bug by putting in some kind of check. If you can’t damage it because of LoS blocking then it can’t agro.

5. Berserker : Presently the Berserker rifle is not craftable. People see this weapon as highly desirable because of the difficulty in gaining the parts for it. However a required part, stabilizer?, drops without any serial number. Recent changes to crafting have apparently made it impossible to craft with unserialized parts. Making the Berserker impossible to craft.

Message Edited by Waste93 on 11-18-2004 06:26 PM

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Waste93 wrote:

1. StartleShot1/2 : Redundent with FlushingShot1/2. Same damage and delay mods but without the state effect

3. StartleShot1/2 : Presently StartleShot1/2 are redundant with FlushingShot1/2. StartleShot1/2 has the same damage and delay mods as the corresponding FlushingShot1/2. However FlushingShot1/2 also adds a Stun effect while StartleShot has no state effect.

Suggestion : The Rifleman community has been asking that this be changed or that a state effect such as Blind be added to StartleShot. Personally I’m against adding a state effect that Rifleman doesn’t presently have as it would infringe on those professions that rely on state effects as their advantage.

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PsychoticChipmunk wrote:

Looks like a good list, and eerily familiar. Think this one has a good chance of being responded to unlike prior correspondent posts? And how many token combat revamp replies will we get?

Yes yes I realize corr's went there and got to talk with the devs and understand the balance so all is not lost (even though you didn't get to take part in it) but still, think anything will change this time 'round?

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Fremen_Feyadkin wrote:

How about having StartleShot1/2 able to counter FeignDeath?It makes sense to use a posture-up attack on someone that is lying on their back.Its a common misconception from non-riflemen and non-smugglers that our posture-up attack can counter FD, so how about making it a reality?

FD in pvpmakes no sense at all and really needs some way to be countered. I get a message that i can't SniperShot him/her becasuse he is not incapped, but then i can't posture-up himso i can incap him.

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Message Edited by Jeisyn on 10-18-2004 12:54 PM

Jeisyn wrote:

well - i was grinding some huurtons and quenkers the other day. I'd have between 2 and 8 critters on me and it sure didn't seem like the old AOE i've come to know and love! Same with a horde of nym pirates - strafe was hitting just one at a time.

Was your primary target a MOB or the lair? I've had some issues when I've had the lair as the primary target and the secondary targets (MOB's) were not getting hit in the past. Also if you were targeting the lair, the combat que frequently clear itself when a secondary MOB target dies. Which could lead you to believe that you weren't hitting the other MOB's.

I'll see if I can confirm this 'issue' tonight.

note: my fencer AOE's didn't have any problem hitting everything in front of me/around me.

Melee and Ranged AoE attacks are completely different. Melee is a radius attack that effects everything around you. Ranged are cone attacks that will only effect targets that are in the cone between you and the primary target.

Completely different parts of the code. So it is possible for one to work fine while the other is not.

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Jeisyn wrote:

is it me, or does our AOE cone stillseem borked???

i have a very hard time hitting multiple targets in my strafe2 cone - i used to hit everything in about 30 degrees... can anyone else confirm?

this was in our old 'issues' thread back in september...

Message Edited by Jeisyn on 10-18-2004 12:54 PM

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I think it still only affects targets that are 'in-combat' with you(or maybe even group members as well). I don't recall whether or not this is 'working as intended' or a 'known issue', but I would hope it's the former. If all your targets are aggroed directly on you, this could be something else entirely...