wilcou Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 I play as a starguard (rycer equivalent) and have a gripe with one of the primary weapons we get, the ion cannon. I think the best way for the ship to be played would be to open up on targets with ion cannons first (to lower shields) and then switch to quads or whatever to take out the hull. The way it works now, however, is that ion cannons have very short range, about 4k, whereas the quads (which I think are the best of the other guns) have the longer range of 5k. Seeing as ion cannons should be used first, the problem is obvious. Please buff the range on ion cannon to bring it more in line with the other guns, or (ideally) a little longer. Nerfing its accuracy would be acceptable to me if the range was long enough. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleet_Xia Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I play with the same weapon load out on my FT-8. I noticed the same problem...... It would be fun for a while if they did increase the range of the ion cannons. For a while.... The problem is that if we got to start our burst any earlier, it would be so OP ~ nobody could fly anything else. And then every match would be a head to head burst fest with 12 strikes vs 12 strikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sindariel Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 (edited) Ion missiles suffer the same problem. They have only 5000m range and 3 secs lock-on time. Within that timeframe and range, I could destroy my opponents shields with my blasters before I get a lock-on, which makes ion missiles completely pointless. Edited January 4, 2014 by Sindariel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altheran Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I agree that it may need a greater range on Ion Cannon. Strike fighters are polyvalent ships between Scouts which shine at "short range" and Gunships which shine at long range... So why not letting them shine in "medium" range ? At the moment it's achievable with the striker with twin missiles (long blaster + long and medium missiles) but not with the basic one as the only viable combo (in my opinion) is the Ion Cannon as a second blaster (short range) since any combination of offensive blasters is redundant. But I wouldn't reduce accuracy in exchange of range, I'd rather give up on firing angle... After all, the further you are from your target, the easier to keep him at your center. And Scouts manoeuvres would still be somewhat efficient. With Accuracy debuff, the range plus the angle would make manoeuvres useless as it would be easy to keep the target "in cannon sight", while evasion will do the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slivovidze Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I'd actually be all in for giving fighters laser cannons insane ranges, 7k or 8k even. Of course, with big (and I mean big) accuracy loss and notable damage falloff. That would give fighters a chance to attack from real medium range, and it would also give that "wingman" copilot ability actual use. Same for rockets, if their lasers were made for midrange shooting, short range missiles would need some tweaks or replacement. Cluster missile equivalent with 2k longer range, 1,8s lockon, 25% more damage and 25% or even 50% less ammo capacity. Ion missiles are totally useless now, if these had 10k range with no other change, they could become viable. And protons could get buffed to 12k range too, so they'd still be the insane cruise missiles. This all comes from me as a NovaDive pilot. I find it somehow strange that there are actually two short range classes and one not long range, but huge range. Also, we are having these conversations now, when we have 3 ship classes out of minimum 5 that we know will be there. Maybe the bomber coming in Feb will be the ship with midrange equipment we are looking for? Maybe the infiltrators will be midrange ships? (God knows how that would be balanced though) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alxmdsn Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I'm pretty sure both have range buffs in the upgrade tree.. I find the ion missiles useful for many things. Getting in close, firing and then popping to 10km to get a proton torpedo off. On my Rycer however I didnt really like the ion cannon. I usually use the heavy laser cannons simply because they do great dmg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sindariel Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 (edited) 5% increased range is freaking useless and doesn't make any difference. I find the ion missiles useful for many things. Getting in close, firing and then popping to 10km to get a proton torpedo off. Why would you pop an ion missile at close range before firing a proton torpedo at long range. Protons bypass shields completely. This doesn't make sense. And as i said before, when you have an opponent for 3 seconds within your targeting reticle, it's more efficient to burn his shields down with your blasters and finish him off with a concussion missile instead of using an ion missile. Ion missiles need 7k range like concussion missiles, or a shorter lock-on time. Edited January 4, 2014 by Sindariel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lymain Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 It'd be nice if they had 6km base range or if you could switch weapons without delaying your shots at all (or both). As it is, they only seem useful as part of a team support role, and it's kinda weird to limit a weapon like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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