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Why Cannons Suck and Possible Fixes
welcome2earf
Member Posts: 1,746 Arc User
Greetings:
I'm shamelessly jacking the post from ABM on the reddit page (with his blessing) because it sums up my thoughts almost perfectly in relation to cannons and the love they require. Here's a C/P:
From the Reddit Page (in bold): Link to Original Discussion
In the current meta, cannons are inferior to beam weapons for a variety of reasons. The following will sum them up.
1. The damage falloff due to distance is harsh. - This is being normalized to beams in a future patch, so we should be set there. But there are still other issues:
2. Time-To-Target is too slow as compared to beams: This I would say is the second-biggest issue. In short, the visualization of the cannon shots are so slow that you are often shooting at a dead target, previously killed by a beam weapon. Read: the damage packet is delayed for too long.
3. The +10% CritD for DHC is reported to be nonfunctional, particularly during C:RF and C:SV - This speaks for itself.
4. Limits to weapons available on the rear arc. (Turrets, beams and torps)
5. (Derp, thanks magnamadium...I forgot!) The boff selection for Cannon powers are prohibitive as the III versions require a commander slot, whereas B:FaW only require LtCmdr. Also, there are NO ensign-level cannon abilities
6. The closest analog to B:FaW - C:SV - has a much more restricted arc and by extension can hit fewer targets. Compounded with the previously mentioned issues, you can see where the issue lay.
So - what can be done? To me, the answers are simple:
1. It looks like the damage falloff is being dealt with - YAY!
2. Increase the frequency of the cannon animations and/or increase the speed of the actual cannon shots. Barring that, at least change the way the damage packet is recieved by the servers. (I would also submit this is a HUGE issue with torps as well...)
3. Confirm that the +10% CritD is WAI and fix if needed. Also, give people reasons to use other variants: Have normal Dual Cannons get a, say, +2% CritH, and single cannons get an inherent +10% ACC.(Single Cannons need some love...more on that below...)
4. Remove rear weapon restrictions. Yes - make ALL weapons rear- mountable. I see NO game-breaking reason why we shouldn't at the very least be able to mount single-cannons in our rearward arc....it's absurd. If people want to sacrifice fwd damage for some aft defense, let them. However, NOW, I am of the more radical opinion that there is little reason to NOT allow one to mount a DHC on their rear arc. Again, its about making choices and sacrifices. You lose a turret for your fwd arc but you can now do what escorts were MEANT to do: effective strafing runs.
5. Move ALL cannon-buff abilities DOWN 1 ranking so there are ensign-level powers and Level III versions at LtCmdr.
6. Do something to buff C:SV somehow - increase it's arc to a more "The Last Starfighter Death Blossom"-esqe thing but more importantly, bring the boff seating requirement down a notch. Most importantly, increase the amount of targets C:SV can hit at once.
What do you folks think? Thanks for reading and thanks for your time.
Editor's Note: These aren't the ONLY reasons, of course, but I feel the more pressing ones.
I thought it would be easier to post this as they mirror my thoughts. Hopefully we can have some discussion here as well as not everyone gives a TRIBBLE about reddit.
I'm shamelessly jacking the post from ABM on the reddit page (with his blessing) because it sums up my thoughts almost perfectly in relation to cannons and the love they require. Here's a C/P:
From the Reddit Page (in bold): Link to Original Discussion
In the current meta, cannons are inferior to beam weapons for a variety of reasons. The following will sum them up.
1. The damage falloff due to distance is harsh. - This is being normalized to beams in a future patch, so we should be set there. But there are still other issues:
2. Time-To-Target is too slow as compared to beams: This I would say is the second-biggest issue. In short, the visualization of the cannon shots are so slow that you are often shooting at a dead target, previously killed by a beam weapon. Read: the damage packet is delayed for too long.
3. The +10% CritD for DHC is reported to be nonfunctional, particularly during C:RF and C:SV - This speaks for itself.
4. Limits to weapons available on the rear arc. (Turrets, beams and torps)
5. (Derp, thanks magnamadium...I forgot!) The boff selection for Cannon powers are prohibitive as the III versions require a commander slot, whereas B:FaW only require LtCmdr. Also, there are NO ensign-level cannon abilities
6. The closest analog to B:FaW - C:SV - has a much more restricted arc and by extension can hit fewer targets. Compounded with the previously mentioned issues, you can see where the issue lay.
So - what can be done? To me, the answers are simple:
1. It looks like the damage falloff is being dealt with - YAY!
2. Increase the frequency of the cannon animations and/or increase the speed of the actual cannon shots. Barring that, at least change the way the damage packet is recieved by the servers. (I would also submit this is a HUGE issue with torps as well...)
3. Confirm that the +10% CritD is WAI and fix if needed. Also, give people reasons to use other variants: Have normal Dual Cannons get a, say, +2% CritH, and single cannons get an inherent +10% ACC.(Single Cannons need some love...more on that below...)
4. Remove rear weapon restrictions. Yes - make ALL weapons rear- mountable. I see NO game-breaking reason why we shouldn't at the very least be able to mount single-cannons in our rearward arc....it's absurd. If people want to sacrifice fwd damage for some aft defense, let them. However, NOW, I am of the more radical opinion that there is little reason to NOT allow one to mount a DHC on their rear arc. Again, its about making choices and sacrifices. You lose a turret for your fwd arc but you can now do what escorts were MEANT to do: effective strafing runs.
5. Move ALL cannon-buff abilities DOWN 1 ranking so there are ensign-level powers and Level III versions at LtCmdr.
6. Do something to buff C:SV somehow - increase it's arc to a more "The Last Starfighter Death Blossom"-esqe thing but more importantly, bring the boff seating requirement down a notch. Most importantly, increase the amount of targets C:SV can hit at once.
What do you folks think? Thanks for reading and thanks for your time.
Editor's Note: These aren't the ONLY reasons, of course, but I feel the more pressing ones.
I thought it would be easier to post this as they mirror my thoughts. Hopefully we can have some discussion here as well as not everyone gives a TRIBBLE about reddit.
0
Comments
Well you sold me with the Last Starfighter reference.
I'd love for them to move the cannon abilities down a tier. It would, imo, enhance build diversity. I'm not confident the development team wants to consider such a move, but I agree with your idea and the reasons for it.
And I also think the mere presence of reddit is refreshing for topics like this as it helps reach a wider audience and adds more voices to a discussion that needs it.
Also cannon power should start the same as beam at ensign.
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