Weaponsmith Archive

Thread: The forgotten gun...

WerrtZer
Tue Feb 17, 2004 9:39 am
#1

What with all the new weapons and loot and fixes patched in last week, the poor old Tangle Pistol still sucks.


As both a smith and a pistoleer I have strived to make both myself and my customers decent pistols over the months. As a PvPer from time to time I crave the stun damage type of the Tangle but cringe at it's lack of decent stats.


Using 894oq 916con codoan, some 928oq 962con polysteel and a (very hard to find) nym's high velocity feed mechanism I managed to turn out a Tangle last night that was 67-127 3.2. I have yet to get it sliced and can only pray for a damage slice.


But really damage (or speed) isn't the problem here. The problem with the Tangle is the crazily bad range modifiers.
Honestly only pikemen have more misses than this gun (and even they got a fix).
Misses are only part of the problem here. The 48m range on this gun is simply a joke and add to that the insult of a -80 mod at that range and you can see why pistoleers are getting such a pasting in PvP.
With the incredibly popular Jawa Ion, the choice of the FOTM rfile/fencer templates out there right now, we can see such a sharp focus between the 2 weapons.
For a start the Jawa Ion has 64m range (fair enough it's a rifle) and is pretty accurate at the ideal range. At ideal it has a + mod and even at PB ismore likely to hit your target as the Tangle is at 48m.
Secondly the Jawa Ion is AP1 and so negates some of the stun protection layers found in a lot of composite nowadays.


Here is a direct comparison (based on my own average stats from my server)


Tangle Pistol


65-106 3.2


-2, PB
-10, Ideal (10m)
-80, Max (48m)


3.5% wound chance


14/29/23




Jawa Ion Rifle


126-228 5.6


-50, PB
+12, Ideal (40m)
-80, max (64m)


9% wound chance


13/28/45



Now take into account the speed/accuracy mods that the master sharpshooter gets compared to the master gunfighter, along with the AP rating and extra range afforded by the rifle, and then apply 35% damage slices to both those weapons.


We had a fix on the awful DX2, in terms of range mods, but quite honestly too many suits of armour have acid resists. Stun is essential, but without accuracy, useless.


I'm not whining here and this belongs as much on the pistoleers forums as it does on the WS ones, but given that this gun is such a pain to make (control units) and is so tough to enhance (up until now at least) I really thought we were gonna get some type of upgrade.
Instead I read about the new Genosian Sonic blaster. Once again a stun weapon, but having seen screenies I find that it has the SAME low damage/high speed albeit better range mods, and ALSO requires rare loot items.

Some one tell me what the Devs are thinking of please, because I can't understandmoveslike this at all...



Dev' Eloper uses Combat Balance Reschedule on you for 6-8 months worth of damage points!
You shoot your mouth off on the forums but miss! You post constructively but it is deleted!
Ubercred It'Duper tips you Cr 27,000,000,000,000,000,000 but you evade it!
Dev' Eloper uses Publish 10 Vendor Fix on you for 55 item limit damage! Your vendors and 12 months of work have become incapacitated!
You use Cancel Account Button on Dev' Eloper for $15 p/m of damage!
Dev' Eloper tries to use JTL Expansion pack on you for $50 worth of damage on you but misses!

You use windows sys32 fdsk utility on StarWars Galaxies program files for 2.4Gb of damage! StarWars Galaxies: An Empire Developed is no more!!
SeretSajet
Tue Feb 17, 2004 9:49 am
#2

Well put. As one part hunter and one part weaponsmith I try to appreciate the usefullness of a variety of weapons. For example the Tangle pistols and lets not forget the Stun Damage Jawa Ion Riflesare still good for Kimogilla hunts (for all you out there on Lok looking for scales) and the Striker pistol has some value for pistoleers against the Nightsisters (because of they weakness to kinetic damage). And then there is the DX2 which isn't a bad weapon but its one of the only few Acid Damage weapons in the game (and we all know Acid damage is usefull). The problem is these pistols don't seem to be worth spit to most players who go on basic damage and speed stats alone, and lets face it most of our customers do.


What we need is more balance. Why make a basic Energy or Heat weapon have the best stats leaving special damage weapons in the dust? Why not find other ways to balance the two. Maybe raise their stats but give them bigger HAM costs or range. This is just a off-the-wall suggestion but I'd like to see what more of you think.



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Jedi_Titus
Tue Feb 17, 2004 10:24 am
#3

I'd love to see a barrel added to the tangles schematic. I think that would go a long way in bringing it "in line" with the other pistols.Besides a pistol with no barrel just doesn't make sense.



Egan Vorlock: Master Weaponsmith, Carbineer - Starsider

Elesar Vorlock: Master Ranger, Creature Handler, Pistoleer, Proud Bothan - Starsider
-Strife-
Tue Feb 17, 2004 10:33 am
#4

The tangle sucks for a good reason.


It cuts through 90% of the armor out there like butta'.


Jawa Ion on the otherhand, was balanced with the idea of a 3x damage multiplier on the shooter. With that gone, there are no disadvantages of using it against armored opponents. If anything the Jawa Ion is overpowered in the current scheme of things.






Strife & Discord
Master Weaponsmith
The Arsenal of Strife
-107 4517 Ragnarok Naboo

WerrtZer
Tue Feb 17, 2004 11:09 am
#5






-Strife- wrote:

The tangle sucks for a good reason.


It cuts through 90% of the armor out there like butta'.


Jawa Ion on the otherhand, was balanced with the idea of a 3x damage multiplier on the shooter. With that gone, there are no disadvantages of using it against armored opponents. If anything the Jawa Ion is overpowered in the current scheme of things.








Wait. The Tangle sucks for good reason...?


What the hell does that mean? Does it mean that riflemen deserve a more accurate, armour-piercing, longer range stun weapon that is higher powered? I think an awful lot of pistoleers out there would disagree with you.


You criticise the tangle but then say the jawa ion is overpowered: excuse me but that's contradicting your own post in less thanthe space of afew sentences.


I'm no rifleman and have no intention of grinding to get there. However, a master headshot with an average Jawa ion from ideal rangeagainst me in my 33% stun layered helmet STILL hits me for 300+ damage after my mitigation is taken into account, and hits so much more accurately. On the other hand I fire backat my attacker (if I'm still standing)with my tangle using stopping shot: the delay caused by this alone means I get off only one shot to 3 of his, and that 3/5 times I'll still miss them. If the target has stun layered comp 30%+ of my damage is absorbed and if the target has mitigation my low min dmg means he gets hurt even less.


Here is the most absurd part: If he opens up on me from more than 48m (which most riflemen will) I need to close range while my blue bar takes a dive. This does not occur with any other gun so why is the Tangle the exception?






Dev' Eloper uses Combat Balance Reschedule on you for 6-8 months worth of damage points!
You shoot your mouth off on the forums but miss! You post constructively but it is deleted!
Ubercred It'Duper tips you Cr 27,000,000,000,000,000,000 but you evade it!
Dev' Eloper uses Publish 10 Vendor Fix on you for 55 item limit damage! Your vendors and 12 months of work have become incapacitated!
You use Cancel Account Button on Dev' Eloper for $15 p/m of damage!
Dev' Eloper tries to use JTL Expansion pack on you for $50 worth of damage on you but misses!

You use windows sys32 fdsk utility on StarWars Galaxies program files for 2.4Gb of damage! StarWars Galaxies: An Empire Developed is no more!!
Jedi_Titus
Tue Feb 17, 2004 11:36 am
#6

The tangle deals with armor that same as any other weapon. If the armor has no resist to it then of course it goes though. The answer to that would be...






WerrtZer wrote:


If the target has stun layered comp 30%+ of my damage is absorbed and if the target has mitigation my low min dmg means he gets hurt even less.







Also the tangle is not armor piercing. Stun damage is simply another type of damage just like heat, or energy, or kinetic or..... It can be protected against the same as any other danage type. There is no reason why the tangleshould be any worse than any other weapon.



Egan Vorlock: Master Weaponsmith, Carbineer - Starsider

Elesar Vorlock: Master Ranger, Creature Handler, Pistoleer, Proud Bothan - Starsider
WerrtZer
Tue Feb 17, 2004 11:47 am
#7






Jedi_Titus wrote:

The tangle deals with armor that same as any other weapon. If the armor has no resist to it then of course it goes though. The answer to that would be...







WerrtZer wrote:


If the target has stun layered comp 30%+ of my damage is absorbed and if the target has mitigation my low min dmg means he gets hurt even less.








Also the tangle is not armor piercing. Stun damage is simply another type of damage just like heat, or energy, or kinetic or..... It can be protected against the same as any other danage type. There is no reason why the tangleshould be any worse than any other weapon.







Wait, I'm confused here: are you backing my statement or disagreeing with it or what?


I know the Tangle has no AP rating. I am talking about the Jawa's AP1 capabilities, while combined with it's superior range mods, and the better DPS. Stun layered armour is still cut through by the Jawa Ion, and since stun layers can be gotten no higher than 40% (while incurring huge encumbrance penalties) the AP1 negates 25% (?) of that protection.


This is not a level playing field...




Dev' Eloper uses Combat Balance Reschedule on you for 6-8 months worth of damage points!
You shoot your mouth off on the forums but miss! You post constructively but it is deleted!
Ubercred It'Duper tips you Cr 27,000,000,000,000,000,000 but you evade it!
Dev' Eloper uses Publish 10 Vendor Fix on you for 55 item limit damage! Your vendors and 12 months of work have become incapacitated!
You use Cancel Account Button on Dev' Eloper for $15 p/m of damage!
Dev' Eloper tries to use JTL Expansion pack on you for $50 worth of damage on you but misses!

You use windows sys32 fdsk utility on StarWars Galaxies program files for 2.4Gb of damage! StarWars Galaxies: An Empire Developed is no more!!
Jedi_Titus
Tue Feb 17, 2004 11:59 am
#8

I'm backing you WerrtZer and disagreeing with -strife-.


Sorry to confuse you. My point was that saying "it stinks because it has stun damage" is not a valid reason...


Pointing out the armor resist and AP was support for why stun damage should not be looked at any differently than any other damage.



Egan Vorlock: Master Weaponsmith, Carbineer - Starsider

Elesar Vorlock: Master Ranger, Creature Handler, Pistoleer, Proud Bothan - Starsider
-Strife-
Tue Feb 17, 2004 3:31 pm
#9

First of all, it's only an opinion - based of my understanding of the game, and how the combat system was intended to work. I would think that some of you would have a general idea of what this is, and I now see that I must elaborate further.


Most weapons, not all, fall into a general niche. Each gun serves its purpose, whether it be AP, High damage, or specific damage types. But not matter what advantage it may have, it should have a disadvantage when used improperly.


When these guns were first implemented and balanced the word was a very different place. Much has changed since then, but for now I will be looking at their purposes then, and not now. As this is why, the guns have the stats that they do today.





The classic FWG5: Heat Damage


Advantages - Fast rate of fire and High max damage, only the republic at this time had a max damage that was similar but was not useable due to a broken certification. Reasonably low HAM cost, Pistols have a 1x melee damage multiplier.


Disadvantage - No APand Very large damage spread. Penalties for long range use.


Overall was the epitome of pistols when enhanced and used properly with specials. So overpowering in fact that the devs decided to change it, a lot with several other pistols. It's damage type was negligible as it was rarely a vulnerability or special protection for a vast majority of armors/mobs/npc's out there.





The SG82 Rifle: Cold Damage


Advantages - Ranges are geared toward medium ranges, allowing a target to be closer to you. Close damage spread, consistent damage. Cold damage, magnificent against Krayt dragons one of the Toughest and most Rewarding MOB's up to that time.


Disadvantages - Ranges are geared toward medium ranges, when a target is to close or to far you suffer an accuracy penalty. Low max damage for a Rifle. No AP. Carries a 3x mellee damage multiplier


A decent low level rifle for the up and coming rifleman. A relatively low certification and a nice spread so that you can more than likely kill your target in 1 shot if it was your level.





The preceding were just examples, now for the argument itself.....





The Tangle Pistol : Stun damage


Advantages : Stun damage, every suit of armor out there has a vulnerability to stun, unless the armor crafter intentionally adds a stun protection layer. Even then the protections are relatively low. A pistol, like most, has ranges geared towards the point blank to near ranges. 1x mellee damage multiplier, allowing reasonable survivability in a mellee confrontation. Low HAM.


Disadvantages : Extremely low max damage, with a wide damage spread. Slow speed.Difficult to enhance via +20-40 feed mechanisms. Innacurate at long ranges.


The Tangle Pistol - When your opponent was wearing composite, and your standard gun wasn't cuttingthrough it, Your choice was to either suck it up and hope you win or change tactics. One of them was to switch to the tangle pistol in the hopes that you could cause many small direct hits, rather than many large significantly resisted hits. It worked until people figured out how to counter it withstun layers and properly shifted PSG's



The Jawa Ion Rifle: Stun damage


Advantages: Stun damage along with AP2, as long as your target stayed far enough away you would be able to shoot and kill, until your mind ran out. Reasonably tight damage spread, with a moderate speed for a rifle.


Disadvantages: Medium HAM costs. Inherent with most rifle specials, a significant HAM multiplier with the use of specials. Unbuffed/spiced mind costs add up quickly. A 3x damage mellee multiplier, if you were being hit in mellee, you will die - quickly. Has the Ranges of most rifles. As with all rifleman, you get a knockdown, but nothing else in PvP. Your tactics are limited to shootand/or run.


The Jawa Ion Rifle at range is a excellent weapon to counter armored opponents. But if you were fighting a ranged opponent they got shots in against you as long as you are able to shoot them (64m). As your opponent got closer they become more accurate, while you become increasingly inaacurate. If they don't die before closing, your must withdraw, switch weapons, or continue firing hoping you still hit the guy. If fighting a mellee opponent, you *must* kill them before they can reach you, otherwise the 3x damage multiplier will be to costly at mellee ranges.




Now, in todays game of no more multipliers, the above arguments are mostly invalid. But as I had said earlier, the reason why the guns are they way there are, is that they were balanced with a different combat system in mind.


There is a "combat revamp" going on now. To reflect the changes in the system.


I've typed to much and already grown bored with this, just trying to state my justifications for my earlier post. You can agree to disagree, It's only my opinion.





Strife & Discord
Master Weaponsmith
The Arsenal of Strife
-107 4517 Ragnarok Naboo

Dynastar
Tue Feb 17, 2004 4:08 pm
#10


Edit: Gah, I'm stupid and didn't read everything.

Message Edited by Dynastar on 02-17-2004 03:10 PM



Ramsey Logan
By Federal Law, Riflemen do it with 16 inches or more!
Master Pikeman
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