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Discussion / Re: Weapons and damage in 2.5 (HEAD)
« on: May 18, 2012, 06:56:15 pm »The big thing that strikes me, looking at these damage numbers, is that it's hard to justify taking a Laser Rifle over an Assault Rifle...
So take the Assault Rifle, or the electromagnetic rifle, or any of the other rifles. I dump the laser rifle in favor of the heavy laser, plasma rifle, or the em rifle. Either three choices are better for one reason or another. I've also carried an assault rifle long into the campaign to help with balancing weapon ammo usage. Assault rifles always have ammo for sale, laser rifles take a bit before the world supply chain takes over, and if I load up on lasers, I'll burn through ammo too quickly.
The one thing I would say though, and this may not be too popular, is that you should have to research the lasers in order (just earth based tech, stuff we find we should be researchable whenever). Start with the pistol and work your way to the heavy, dumping the lesser weapons along the way. Then at least you learn the weapons and take the ones that work for you. For the last few releases I've found the heavy laser to be the more effective and useful in my squads. It puts enough damage on them at range to soften them up a bit from it's accuracy, and at close range it hits pretty hard.
Now, if there is a gimp to accuracy in 2.5, then yes, that may make it far less useful. That might negate the main reason I carry them. I'd have to play with them to see how they work in practice.
In general, I hate these kinds of analysis because you have to take the weapons in context of game play. Many things make a weapon a better choice over another other than just numbers and damage, such as map types and when you expect to engage the enemy. But good analysis anyway. A little theory can go along way.