Title says it all. I don't mean the one that ups your weapon power level, I mean the one that ups your damage.

 

I picked up one of these on my Gunship and killed four ships in four shots. And not damaged ships, either. We're talking your big Corellian ships... I mean, ships with full shields and no hull damage.

 

Deathmatches and GSF don't need this, even if it was crazy fun to do it at first. People are already complaining about one shots, and this power-up let me do it consistently. Did I add that this gunship only has the first 2 tiers unlocked on the Slug railgun I was using?

 

The other power-ups are good and balanced, I would say... not game changing, but a boost. But the damage... it's just wrong. Thoughts?

It's not just gunships. I one-shot strikes with my burst cannons all the time. It could use some tuning down but in general I like the power-ups. A damage power-up help me bring our team back from about a 5 kill deficit to win 50-48. Held them at 48 for about 7-8 kills. It was fun.

I am fine with the double damage. I don't care that your gunship killed four people- when you get that, it is an opswide announcement to the other team, and the powerup is rare. If they want to sit around and get owned, good for them.

 

 

Full charge a slug with that. UNNNNLIIIMMITTED POWWARRRRRRRRR

i picked up that boost in a match the other day with a Targeting Telemetry/Concentrated Fire Blackbolt.

 

I confess, I very much enjoyed watching a bomber disappear into smoke and flame under a cloud of big red numbers.

I think there should be a power-up that is all 3 power boosts but only 30 seconds.

I am not a fan either, I would rather it be a temporary infinite power pool/missile restock rather than a damage buff.

Title says it all. I don't mean the one that ups your weapon power level, I mean the one that ups your damage.

 

I picked up one of these on my Gunship and killed four ships in four shots. And not damaged ships, either. We're talking your big Corellian ships... I mean, ships with full shields and no hull damage.

 

Deathmatches and GSF don't need this, even if it was crazy fun to do it at first. People are already complaining about one shots, and this power-up let me do it consistently. Did I add that this gunship only has the first 2 tiers unlocked on the Slug railgun I was using?

 

The other power-ups are good and balanced, I would say... not game changing, but a boost. But the damage... it's just wrong. Thoughts?

 

 

They don't need to be removed, they just need to be lowered, down to about 10-15-20 percent extra damage rather than 200 percent.

I agree - they need to be toned down hard. Once I grab it, ships just explode from a couple of light taps.

These powerups should not exist in the PvP game.

 

They SHOULD have existed in the original PvE space game. If you're going to make a Star Fox-like rail-shooter, it should at least have some of the fun parts of Star Fox-likes, like powerups. However, the Devs stated at the time that they didn't want to include powerups due to it being too arcade-y and unrealistic.

 

...So now they include them in the much less arcade-y, much more "realistic" GSF. It's going back on everything they previously said. Powerups wouldve been great in a PvE rail-shooter, but not a dogfight sim with paper-thin hulls and shields.

 

Bioware's decisions make no sense sometimes.

I am not a fan either, I would rather it be a temporary infinite power pool/missile restock rather than a damage buff.

Missile restock powerup. Yes please.

I'm a big believer in the powerups. The thing is that Death Match needs a bribe to get you to go places. The double damage buff- which is rare and means "scouts will swarm this guy"- is the big prize.

 

Here would be my suggestions:

 

1- Blaster Overcharge is generally far too weak. It should probably have double or even triple the duration.

2- Shield Overcharge could probably last a bit longer too. Unlike blaster overcharge, shield overcharge is actually good in a fight- but you often had to scour the map to find a powerup, so now you are at 1/4 engine power, with a really good shield with 45 seconds on it, and it will take you at least 20 to get back in the action.

3- Engine Boostwhatever is pretty much perfect.

4- There should be upgrades that last until you die, but for lesser components. For instance, a really big sensor or communications upgrade that lasts as long as your ship does. Other things could be small accuracy boosts, small range boosts, or even small percent missile lock on reductions. A powerup that grants some repair plus some extra hull would also be sweet.

 

 

By biggest concern with death match is one that the powerups help with- Team A decides to live at their cap ship. They could make this decision consciously in a full premade- they all get gunships, get a small lead, and then wait the timer out. The much more common one is when Team B is farming them and they can't go anywhere else though.

 

In both of these cases, an additional mechanic or feature should come in to play that should give Team B extra points. In the first case, it would serve to make this degenerate strategy a losing one, such that we would never see it (instead of rarely- it does happen). In the second case, it would end a route a bit faster, preferably with a req bonus to Team B to make up for all the ships unmurdered. I don't know what that mechanic or feature would play like, though.

Missile restock powerup. Yes please.

 

It's called a weapon recharge power up... Yes they restock ammo

Killed a bomber with a 3k crit on my burst lasers, yesterday and one-shotted several scouts.

Just another example, that the devs have zero sense for balancing.

Killed a bomber with a 3k crit on my burst lasers, yesterday and one-shotted several scouts.

Just another example, that the devs have zero sense for balancing.

 

If they let you rampage like that, then that's on the other team, not the devs. You understand it's a rare powerup, it is visible on the game map, in ops chat, and on target, and the effect in unambiguous and temporary, right?

I am fine with the double damage. I don't care that your gunship killed four people- when you get that, it is an opswide announcement to the other team, and the powerup is rare. If they want to sit around and get owned, good for them.

 

I'd be fine if they lowered how much it increased damage (even 10% is a good boost, you notice it when you have damage capacitors fully boosted), but doubling damage is insane. It doesn't matter if there is an ops wide announcement, you're not necessarily going to know where they are exactly and there are plenty of other things to worry about now as it is. Look out for the gunships on the perimeter, keep that bomber busy, etc. And moving away from where your teammates are because some guy has some uber damage boost isn't really going to fly, either. It's better to be on the lookout for him or her and not avoiding them.

 

Maybe that argument would fly a little more if they had a big obvious dot on the map and visible on the screen, but that'd be silly. Rather than making it so overpowered, just tone it down to be more in line with the other boosts: nice but not over the top game changing.