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The Rocket Generation

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Aug 24, 2005 KixKizzle link
Anyone remember the days of release when the best weapon was a tachyon blaster? (I think I remember its name)

Neutron mark III but with 200 mass :)

Oh sweet sweet nectar of killage. Energy was fought with energy. Green energy bolts drifting through space was all you ever saw...

Oh man I miss those days. Now we have flares bein shot everywhere. Even with the update they are still horribly overpowered. For an example:
Before the update I got an SCP 2 flares 1 agt.
I fought for 2 days in BP (only like 8 hours of fighting).
I killed 200+ players in that amount of time.

At one point in time there were 7 itani's in the sector and I killed 5, I was still at 50%. I'm not bragging just showing how freakin powerful these beasts of a weapon are.

Now I suck with flares. Though, during that time I was invincible. Anyone shoots at me I just turbo at em and release flares. So incredibly simple. The problem with flares is that they are so damn powerful. 1500 damage * 2 or 3 S ports. 12 ammo is nice and all but all that matters is the size of your punch. Get a triflare valk and you can still dodge energy rather easily. Get a triflare valk against an ibg, 2 shots, they are gone.

Now try picking off a valk at 200m (since that's how far away your gonna be when backing up away from them). 150m is too close. Mistakes are easy to exploit at 150m.

My suggestion is:

Iceflare:
800 damage
16 rockets
95 m/s
Mass: 400
Detonation radius: 21m
12800 damage max

Starflare:
1000 damage
14 rockets
85 m/s
Mass: 600
Detonation radius: 23m
14000 damage max

Sunflare:
1400 damage
12 rockets
80 m/s
Mass: 1000
Detonation radius: 25m
16800 damage max

Even then, they might need more nerfing.
I mean seriously... Can you fight flares with energy?

[edit]
@Ghost,
Different question then.
A noob with flares.
A noob with energy.
Who wins?
[/edit]
Aug 24, 2005 Ghost link
It's possible, just very difficult. And you usually have to count on your opponent making a few mistakes. However, I think it would make sense to have the lighter flares have a higher speed than the heavier ones like you suggested.

Edit:
@Kix Flares win if they're both new players. But if they're both experienced it depends on other factors like ship type and what else they have in addition to flares. I'm not arguing with you though, I don't know if I came off that way in my original post. I completely agree with your suggestions.
Aug 24, 2005 johnhawl218 link
higher speed, lower damage and radius (splash & detination)
Lower speed, higher damage and radius (spalsh & detination)
Aug 24, 2005 roguelazer link
Rockets were predominant even when we had the blue ions, and they really were overpowered energy weapons.
Aug 24, 2005 Phaserlight link
Yes, you can fight flares with energy.. I do it all the time in my SVG. It's a defensive game, but a lot of fun. You just have to learn the tricks your flare using opponent is going to try, and know the right moves to counter them...
Aug 24, 2005 Chimaera link
Phaser, I do that all the time, it doesn't change the fact that you can get lucky and win while using flares, in a way that you just can't with blasters.

To fight flares, you have to be perfect.

And the other problem is, the more flares a ship can load, the more powerful it becomes.

Not true for energy, as you're still sucking on the same battery.
Aug 24, 2005 icbm1987 link
Make Rockets and Missiles take "launching energy"

Something has to provide the activation for them... and that would make the most sense.

that way... they'll have to worry about battery consumption as well... and that should even things out a bit.

But the prox trigger makes it easier to be a bit sloppy.

-Zoras
Aug 24, 2005 CrazySpence link
you hate flares? man you should have been around when rockets were invisible you were just sitting there then all of a sudden "Hey where's my ship...my eyes are freezing and my blood vessals are all exploding through the surface and my lungs just collapsed and now I am a corpse what the heck!!" so don't complain about flares! just think about how bad it would be if they were invisible again!
Aug 24, 2005 Anevitt link
CrazySpence this isnt the days of the Old Wild Wild West (aka: alpha) The fact of the matter is that flares are way overpowered. Plus it would be nice to see different types of weps be able to go head to head against each other on a reasonably even (Itll never be truly even but at least it can come close) basis.

Although I have to admit...havin invisible rockets would be mad fun :-P
Aug 24, 2005 Ghost link
Yeah, flares are incredibly dominant in group combat especially. If you turn your back on an enemy with flares, you're dead. And if there's two enemies with flares on you, you'd better go get help.

Relayer and I had one of the most fun fights I have had in a long time. I was in a TD hog, megaposi and n3. Relayer was in a centaur with swarms and neuts. We talked afterward about how much fun the fight was and came to the realization that we enjoyed it so much because neither of us was using rockets and neither of us was in a cent or prom. Unfortunatly this kind of combat is rare nowadays.
Aug 24, 2005 Cunjo link
NO! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL IN THIS UNIVERSE, NO MORE FLARE NERFING!!

Flares already give up guidence, targeting, and limitless ammo for their splash and potency. They take skill to use, especially against a good pilot (just like any other weapon, excepting perhaps swarms) You cannot win a fight against a neut cent or valk with flares alone, and they are already virtually useless as an exclusive weapon thanks to the new ammunition limitations (a flare vult or cent with only flares will often run out of flares long before succeeding in killing the target) now you want to make it harder to hit the target?

What you're suggesting would deal the final killing blow to flares (sunflares especially), and render them comprably useless. Since they nerfed the sunflare ammo, I've already seen an enormous increase in gemini-spamming tactics. The last thing I (and I'm sure many of you as well) want to see is everyone switching over to seekers to start a <-CENSORED-> universal spamfest. If you're going to nerf something, nerf something that's actually a danger to the gameplay... like missiles.

and Kix, a noob with flares loses, because all they can get is iceflares... especially against a noob with energy, who never runs out of ammo.

and here's the gold deposit, right here... you watching? Kix says: >>"Now I suck with flares"<<
Now, I don't mean to sound like a complete ass, but just because other people can use them mroe efficiently than you doesn't mean they need to be nerfed! it just doesn't! you don't see me demanding that your <-CENSORED-> neuts be nerfed do you? I get killed by neuts a lot more often than I get killed by flares. In fact, there has only been once that I was nearly killed (read: nearly) by flares since I got out of my wraith.

So here I am, the bottom line:
Flares are extremely easy to evade already, even in a ragnarok. Pilots unload two to three tubes of suns on my <insert_heavy_ship_here> all the time without hitting me once. When up against neuts, you're proper f'ed if you're flying something heavier than a hog without an AGT, and even then you're in some pretty deep shit.

EDIT: PS. Kix, I know it sounds like I'm picking on you, but I mean no offence...
Aug 24, 2005 icbm1987 link
Good Idea Cunjo,

Nerf AGT too.
Aug 25, 2005 Harry Seldon link
Nerf AGT too.

No. Never. No frigging way. AGT are already useless at 200+m range (or less...), and if you can avoid them, then you're effectively adding 1500kg and nullifying an entire L port (or two).

If AGT get nerfed, I'll probably just log off, and not return in the foreseeable future. Either that, or fly only flare-equipped ships. I refuse to fight with energy weapons, or light ships simply because they require way too much effort to aim and hit something effectively, and I'm on to have fun, not frustrate myself with trying to hit people, or even bots (with their current affinity for dodging...) with energy weapons.
Aug 25, 2005 Shapenaji link
I think we energy users should get a damage increase then....
Aug 25, 2005 CrazySpence link
or maybe a proximity energy weapon
Aug 25, 2005 silentbob13 link
Nerfing the AGT would be ridiculous. I don't even use them, and haven't since I started doing pvp. In ANY relatively light ship it is nearly impossible to score a single hit unless you sneak up on them.
Aug 25, 2005 Apex link
My take on flares:

Fairly simple weapon to use.

Allows a newer or less experienced player with a general knowledge of leading and targeting to land many hits on other players if calculated.

Allows less skilled players to give very experienced energy users an extremely hard time because if they get too close the splash radius on a flare allows for VERY hits.

Forces experienced energy users to consider changing weapon and ship configuration because current light fighter-energy tactics are now ineffective.

Yes, Shape, I believe we need a damage increase. especially considering how long it takes to wear down on an Aggresso cent or Prom that's equiped with a bunch of rockets.
Aug 25, 2005 icbm1987 link
"I refuse to fight with energy weapons, or light ships simply because they require way too much effort to aim and hit something effectively, and I'm on to have fun, not frustrate myself with trying to hit people, or even bots (with their current affinity for dodging...) with energy weapons." - Harry Seldon

Something about that statement proves that energy weapons aren't effective enough.

If anything, nerf nothing... just buff energy weps to the point where they aren't a hassle to use.

BTW... I was just joking about the AGT.
Aug 25, 2005 Phaserlight link
How about, instead of a damage increase, all energy weapons get a velocity increase... say 10-20% across the board? This would make energy weapons easier to hit with.
Aug 25, 2005 Will Roberts link
I agree with cunjo. Leave flares alone. I'd like to see rails unnerfed a bit, as well. Yes, they cause damage, but they are harder to use, have a limited loadout and long wait between volleys. And they've just nerf the load out on the sunnies.

I can't count the times I've gone into BP with flares and had my chrome-plated Serco butt handed to me by an experienced pilot in a energy only revc or valk. Granted, I'm relitively new to the game. I still miss more than hit with flares, but then, there's a lot more work involved than '+shoot2 and keep him in the crosshairs'. For the work involved, I think that when I finally do hit, it should count.

As a concession, I can paint bunnies and flowers on my sunflares to make them appear less threatening. ;D