- May 29, 2024, 15:45
- Welcome, Guest
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
Pages: [1] 2
1
Discussion / Re: Help me understand guns that are not shotguns
« on: March 16, 2012, 20:57 »
Ultimate: I have only tried the new assembly once or twice, but the math says it doesn't derive a significant benefit vis a vis other rapid fire weapons. If you want to make a basic chain gun assembly, try the gatling gun. It is a great value.
2
Discussion / Re: Help me understand guns that are not shotguns
« on: March 15, 2012, 21:17 »
I would much rather ditch a rocket / missile launcher than my combat/tactical/assault shotgun. It may be possible to live without it, but I would rather not. Fair enough that the double is usleless without shell box, but for others, 5 or 6 shots is enough to deal with pain elementals.
Two other points:
The original poster asked about early / midgame / late game weapons:
MAc - Shotgun > combat shotgun > plasma
MCe - Shotgun> chaingun and combat shotgun > plasma (early EE makes a huge difference)
MEn - shotgun > combat shotgun > plasma
Note that I may switch to the chaingun at any point depending on the map. The chaingun is generally better on the maze of rooms maps, where you are more likely to have several enemies approaching you at medium ranges from different directions. But I would say my bread and butter means of dealing with difficult enemies is shotguns of one sort or another and corner shooting until I get plasma. Chainguns remain in use throughout the game (until nuke plasma rifle) for dealing with formers and the like.
With respect to ammo, obviously for MAc its a no brainer. For the other two rapid fire builds I would say 2 stacks of shells, 1 stack of rockets, and a TOTAL of five stacks of 10mm / plasma. However, in the early game if you plan on clearing the court and the wall carry as many rockets as you can, rockets are the best means of dealing with tough enemies at long range before you have enough traits to be dangerous with rapid fire weapons. As the game goes on you can replace 10mm with plasma, and once you get the nuclear plasma rifle you can ditch plasma completely. All of the rapid fire builds should be able to clear spider's lair pretty easily.
Also - the new assault rifle sucks. It doesn't even remotely compare to the old one - it uses more ammo, fires slower, and is less accurate. The old assault rifle allowed rapid fire builds to be as efficient as a pistol user when it comes to ammo consumption. The new assault rifle just slightly increases your damage per bullet and slightly increases accuracy, at a cost of less damage. It is not worth it in the least. The assault rifle wasn't a complete no-brainer - the old tactical boots / armor could be worth it. The new assault rifle is really the hyperblaster - it is even more of a no-brainer than the assault rifle because you can use it all the way from when you build it in the armory to level 24, whereas the assault rifle was more of a mid game weapon whose main advantage was ammo efficiency.
Any and all rapid fire builds benefit from the hyperblaster. There are better weapons if you get exotic weapons or mods, but the hyperblaster is worth basically 3.5 tech mods, 2 power mods, and 2 agility mods. Plus it benefits twice as much from triggerhappy compared to a vanilla plasma.
Two other points:
The original poster asked about early / midgame / late game weapons:
MAc - Shotgun > combat shotgun > plasma
MCe - Shotgun> chaingun and combat shotgun > plasma (early EE makes a huge difference)
MEn - shotgun > combat shotgun > plasma
Note that I may switch to the chaingun at any point depending on the map. The chaingun is generally better on the maze of rooms maps, where you are more likely to have several enemies approaching you at medium ranges from different directions. But I would say my bread and butter means of dealing with difficult enemies is shotguns of one sort or another and corner shooting until I get plasma. Chainguns remain in use throughout the game (until nuke plasma rifle) for dealing with formers and the like.
With respect to ammo, obviously for MAc its a no brainer. For the other two rapid fire builds I would say 2 stacks of shells, 1 stack of rockets, and a TOTAL of five stacks of 10mm / plasma. However, in the early game if you plan on clearing the court and the wall carry as many rockets as you can, rockets are the best means of dealing with tough enemies at long range before you have enough traits to be dangerous with rapid fire weapons. As the game goes on you can replace 10mm with plasma, and once you get the nuclear plasma rifle you can ditch plasma completely. All of the rapid fire builds should be able to clear spider's lair pretty easily.
Also - the new assault rifle sucks. It doesn't even remotely compare to the old one - it uses more ammo, fires slower, and is less accurate. The old assault rifle allowed rapid fire builds to be as efficient as a pistol user when it comes to ammo consumption. The new assault rifle just slightly increases your damage per bullet and slightly increases accuracy, at a cost of less damage. It is not worth it in the least. The assault rifle wasn't a complete no-brainer - the old tactical boots / armor could be worth it. The new assault rifle is really the hyperblaster - it is even more of a no-brainer than the assault rifle because you can use it all the way from when you build it in the armory to level 24, whereas the assault rifle was more of a mid game weapon whose main advantage was ammo efficiency.
Any and all rapid fire builds benefit from the hyperblaster. There are better weapons if you get exotic weapons or mods, but the hyperblaster is worth basically 3.5 tech mods, 2 power mods, and 2 agility mods. Plus it benefits twice as much from triggerhappy compared to a vanilla plasma.
3
Discussion / Re: Unused master traits! What should we do to give them more love?
« on: March 15, 2012, 20:36 »
First, a bit of analysis on the traits as they exist now:
MRM: This requires Finesse, which is the best non-specialized damage-increasing trait in the game. Compare reloader to finesse. Reloader offers a 20% decrease in reload time compared to finesse at 15%. No one complains about the lack of offensive power in shotgun masteries. Finesse gives you 75% of the bonus but is usable across all weapons, and after you have invested two points, the third point becomes pure awesome with a 45% decrease in firing speed for all weapons. Second, having points invested in finesse means you can usually get whizkid right around the time you do hell's armory, which will give you easy access to assemblies that WILL increase your damage.
As far as MRM itself, I have to test this out, but the thing is it will allow you to run in circles around slower enemies. Hellrunner and dodgemaster help you run *away* from an enemy, but a) the accuracy penalty makes non-shotguns too slow to fire and b) weapons generally fire slowly enough that, even if you hit the enemy, you will generally get hit in retaliation. But if you are running with MRM and fire a fast weapon, it seems likely that you can fire and start moving again before your enemy retaliates, and once you start moving again you are still running. Theoretically this should allow much better active defense than either finesse or hellrunner.
Also, while it blocks SoB, it does NOT block EE. EE is a significant damage increase for chainfire weapons - I dare say much more important for enemies on the edge of vision. There is no reason you have to beeline for your master trait - taking 1 or 2 levels of another helpful trait can really increase your gameplan. EE also allows you to focus on mods/assemblies that add damage instead of accuracy. MAc suffers in the damage department unless you get a lucky S mod or laser rifle. EE builds can go for e.g. burst cannon assembly.
I personally would like it if the master trait itself got a SLIGHT buff, but I don't have any ideas that would add a unique mechanic and not simply copy another existing trait.
Msv - briefly, it does not block SoG and EE. 5 levels of SoG turns any character with a decent pistol into a juggernaut of destruction. The only limit is reload time, and 10mm chains can help. You can go for this trait and put everything else into SoG. I think it would be fair if you took 0 damage 60-70% of the time. In terms of late game enemies, this master trait really only effects arachnotrons, and even with this trait and 70% chance not to take damage, a group of arachs can chip away at you pretty quickly. And as discussed with runningman, EE can boost damage significantly.
My problem with this trait is that it adds little survival against the toughest enemies. Compare it to e.g. berserker, entrenchment, MMB. I would rather have a passive 10-20% damage decrease against all damage than anything else. Another interesting option would be to reduce the damage taken by armor. Or to have large health packs heal all the way up to 150% health even if the character is at 1% health to begin with. Of course, I think this passive damage decrease in addition to the 70% chance not to take damage would be too powerful. As it stands, the weak enemies that this trait will work against are almost no threat in the late game anyway, and it offers no help against the toughest enemies that laugh at your 5 points in tough as nails. What I want to see with this mastery is something to increase defense / efficiency against the nastiest enemies.
I think it would see more play if it added a bit of extra damage, but I think that would detract from the unique character of the trait.
MEn - interesting trait with a balance of defense and offense. I think it takes a bit more planning to use it properly than most other masteries. If your armor absorbs 0% damage of the relevant damage type, then you are not using it properly.
The thing is to abuse the % damage reduction by stacking it with other high % damage reduction. Fireproof armor + MEn = 75% reduced fire damage. Cerebrus armor + MEn = 100% reduced fire damage. Ballistic armor = 60% reduced melee damage.
Also, the trait does NOT block eagle eye. You can get a lot more efficiency out of your chain fire weapons with a point here. With regard to skarczew's comment - a MEn character with a point or two in eagle eye is going to do more damage than an ammochain character.
One minor buff would be to add a little more % damage increase or damage reduction after say 2 rounds of chain firing. So by your third round you are really dug in and get e.g. an extra 5 or 10% damage reduction or an extra 1 or 2 flat damage reduction.
MRM: This requires Finesse, which is the best non-specialized damage-increasing trait in the game. Compare reloader to finesse. Reloader offers a 20% decrease in reload time compared to finesse at 15%. No one complains about the lack of offensive power in shotgun masteries. Finesse gives you 75% of the bonus but is usable across all weapons, and after you have invested two points, the third point becomes pure awesome with a 45% decrease in firing speed for all weapons. Second, having points invested in finesse means you can usually get whizkid right around the time you do hell's armory, which will give you easy access to assemblies that WILL increase your damage.
As far as MRM itself, I have to test this out, but the thing is it will allow you to run in circles around slower enemies. Hellrunner and dodgemaster help you run *away* from an enemy, but a) the accuracy penalty makes non-shotguns too slow to fire and b) weapons generally fire slowly enough that, even if you hit the enemy, you will generally get hit in retaliation. But if you are running with MRM and fire a fast weapon, it seems likely that you can fire and start moving again before your enemy retaliates, and once you start moving again you are still running. Theoretically this should allow much better active defense than either finesse or hellrunner.
Also, while it blocks SoB, it does NOT block EE. EE is a significant damage increase for chainfire weapons - I dare say much more important for enemies on the edge of vision. There is no reason you have to beeline for your master trait - taking 1 or 2 levels of another helpful trait can really increase your gameplan. EE also allows you to focus on mods/assemblies that add damage instead of accuracy. MAc suffers in the damage department unless you get a lucky S mod or laser rifle. EE builds can go for e.g. burst cannon assembly.
I personally would like it if the master trait itself got a SLIGHT buff, but I don't have any ideas that would add a unique mechanic and not simply copy another existing trait.
Msv - briefly, it does not block SoG and EE. 5 levels of SoG turns any character with a decent pistol into a juggernaut of destruction. The only limit is reload time, and 10mm chains can help. You can go for this trait and put everything else into SoG. I think it would be fair if you took 0 damage 60-70% of the time. In terms of late game enemies, this master trait really only effects arachnotrons, and even with this trait and 70% chance not to take damage, a group of arachs can chip away at you pretty quickly. And as discussed with runningman, EE can boost damage significantly.
My problem with this trait is that it adds little survival against the toughest enemies. Compare it to e.g. berserker, entrenchment, MMB. I would rather have a passive 10-20% damage decrease against all damage than anything else. Another interesting option would be to reduce the damage taken by armor. Or to have large health packs heal all the way up to 150% health even if the character is at 1% health to begin with. Of course, I think this passive damage decrease in addition to the 70% chance not to take damage would be too powerful. As it stands, the weak enemies that this trait will work against are almost no threat in the late game anyway, and it offers no help against the toughest enemies that laugh at your 5 points in tough as nails. What I want to see with this mastery is something to increase defense / efficiency against the nastiest enemies.
I think it would see more play if it added a bit of extra damage, but I think that would detract from the unique character of the trait.
MEn - interesting trait with a balance of defense and offense. I think it takes a bit more planning to use it properly than most other masteries. If your armor absorbs 0% damage of the relevant damage type, then you are not using it properly.
The thing is to abuse the % damage reduction by stacking it with other high % damage reduction. Fireproof armor + MEn = 75% reduced fire damage. Cerebrus armor + MEn = 100% reduced fire damage. Ballistic armor = 60% reduced melee damage.
Also, the trait does NOT block eagle eye. You can get a lot more efficiency out of your chain fire weapons with a point here. With regard to skarczew's comment - a MEn character with a point or two in eagle eye is going to do more damage than an ammochain character.
One minor buff would be to add a little more % damage increase or damage reduction after say 2 rounds of chain firing. So by your third round you are really dug in and get e.g. an extra 5 or 10% damage reduction or an extra 1 or 2 flat damage reduction.
4
Discussion / Re: Dodgemaster
« on: March 15, 2012, 19:32 »
Just to clarify a few things:
Dodge will not work vs. shotguns or revenants. Viles do splash damage with a 2 tile radius, so run speed is more important than dodge chance. Mancubi will commonly hit you with one of the three projectiles they fire.
When Klear said parallel, he is kind of correct, but I think it is more accurate to say that you should not move in a straight line towards or away from an enemy. So if an enemy is on a horizontal or vertical line when you start your turn, move diagonally. If an enemy is on a diagonal line from you, move straight up, down, left, or right.
Also keep in mind that running adds a huge amount to your dodge chance.
Dodge will not work vs. shotguns or revenants. Viles do splash damage with a 2 tile radius, so run speed is more important than dodge chance. Mancubi will commonly hit you with one of the three projectiles they fire.
When Klear said parallel, he is kind of correct, but I think it is more accurate to say that you should not move in a straight line towards or away from an enemy. So if an enemy is on a horizontal or vertical line when you start your turn, move diagonally. If an enemy is on a diagonal line from you, move straight up, down, left, or right.
Also keep in mind that running adds a huge amount to your dodge chance.
5
Discussion / Re: Help me understand guns that are not shotguns
« on: March 14, 2012, 21:00 »
Actually I have to disagree with all the people that say you dump shotguns completely after you get MAc. Shotguns still have their uses.
1. City of skulls. Basically any build can do this without traits if they have a double shotgun and box of shells.
2. Radar shooting. Do you really want to shoot at every possible square where an enemy is using manual targetting? A combat shotty is great for this. You can damage the enemies to lure them into your line of sight so you get the first shot.
3. Pain elementals can easily get out of control for pure rapid-fire builds. A little shotty action helps sweep those annoying souls away.
4. Ammo efficiency - although this practically does not matter, it helps to have something to kill weak mobs such as formers, demons, etc. You probably won't run completely out of ammo for your plasma, but you may use enough ammo that you force yourself to ration BFG usage. And I like to use the BFG liberally.
5. Crowd control - viles like to hide behind other creatures. You can the monster blocking your shot at the vile pretty quickly with plasma, but then the vile can resurrect the creature pretty quickly, and on and on. With a shotty, you can deal damage to the vile with each shot, in spite of the bodies in front of it.
1. City of skulls. Basically any build can do this without traits if they have a double shotgun and box of shells.
2. Radar shooting. Do you really want to shoot at every possible square where an enemy is using manual targetting? A combat shotty is great for this. You can damage the enemies to lure them into your line of sight so you get the first shot.
3. Pain elementals can easily get out of control for pure rapid-fire builds. A little shotty action helps sweep those annoying souls away.
4. Ammo efficiency - although this practically does not matter, it helps to have something to kill weak mobs such as formers, demons, etc. You probably won't run completely out of ammo for your plasma, but you may use enough ammo that you force yourself to ration BFG usage. And I like to use the BFG liberally.
5. Crowd control - viles like to hide behind other creatures. You can the monster blocking your shot at the vile pretty quickly with plasma, but then the vile can resurrect the creature pretty quickly, and on and on. With a shotty, you can deal damage to the vile with each shot, in spite of the bodies in front of it.
6
Discussion / Re: Help me decide what mods/ assemblies to build
« on: March 14, 2012, 20:47 »
I finished this game a day or two ago. I did A mod the cerb boots, they are awesome.
I think I actually got an energy vest the same day. Unfortunately the resist bonuses do not stack with cerberus assembly.
With respect to Garcia's comments comparing cerb to PTA red, I will admit that cerb is a more specialized armor. The thing is, it provides protection against everything that is really dangerous. I don't die to former captains or sergeants unless other, more dangerous enemies forced me to burn medpacks. Almost any build can dispatch these with ease. Also, by the time you can assemble cerb melee enemies should not be a problem either.
Cerb is great for wading in past several revenants or mancubi to kill the arch-vile that keeps rezzing them. I wouldn't do that with PTA red - although it might reduce the same damage against the "average" enemy, it is much more vulnerable to damage spikes. A mancubi can roll three 24 damage rocket volleys if you are unlucky - 6 flat damage mitigation isn't worth much there. But a 70% reduction is worth its weight in gold. If it were P modded cerb you would only take 12 damage.
I often find that I die to high spikes of damage caused by lucky dice rolls by enemies, rather than dying from
taking too much damage and running out of health packs. This is what happens when all six shots in a commando volley hit, or when the mancubus hits you with all three rockets. Cerb armor is the best way of protecting against spike damage.
Regin: PPON armor was very fun back when you could slap it on cybernetic armor.
I think I actually got an energy vest the same day. Unfortunately the resist bonuses do not stack with cerberus assembly.
With respect to Garcia's comments comparing cerb to PTA red, I will admit that cerb is a more specialized armor. The thing is, it provides protection against everything that is really dangerous. I don't die to former captains or sergeants unless other, more dangerous enemies forced me to burn medpacks. Almost any build can dispatch these with ease. Also, by the time you can assemble cerb melee enemies should not be a problem either.
Cerb is great for wading in past several revenants or mancubi to kill the arch-vile that keeps rezzing them. I wouldn't do that with PTA red - although it might reduce the same damage against the "average" enemy, it is much more vulnerable to damage spikes. A mancubi can roll three 24 damage rocket volleys if you are unlucky - 6 flat damage mitigation isn't worth much there. But a 70% reduction is worth its weight in gold. If it were P modded cerb you would only take 12 damage.
I often find that I die to high spikes of damage caused by lucky dice rolls by enemies, rather than dying from
taking too much damage and running out of health packs. This is what happens when all six shots in a commando volley hit, or when the mancubus hits you with all three rockets. Cerb armor is the best way of protecting against spike damage.
Regin: PPON armor was very fun back when you could slap it on cybernetic armor.
7
Discussion / Re: Shotgun Build discussion.
« on: March 14, 2012, 20:25 »
Klear: Don't worry about the hyperblaster "spoiler" because it is actually incorrect. TAA won't give you a hyperblaster.
As far as reloader vs: juggler - the last version I played (9.9.6 (?)) juggler was clearly superior because shotguns had a higher base reload speed (1.5 or so)?. Thus the speed increase from reloader was not enough to keep enemies reliably knocked back. I always carried multiple shotguns around for Hell's Arena. Now, I think juggler is still probably better, but reloader is stronger as a result of the reload time decrease.
As far as reloader vs: juggler - the last version I played (9.9.6 (?)) juggler was clearly superior because shotguns had a higher base reload speed (1.5 or so)?. Thus the speed increase from reloader was not enough to keep enemies reliably knocked back. I always carried multiple shotguns around for Hell's Arena. Now, I think juggler is still probably better, but reloader is stronger as a result of the reload time decrease.
8
Discussion / Re: Shotgun Build discussion.
« on: March 12, 2012, 13:19 »
Ultimate I think a tier list is somewhat difficult because the different shotguns have very different roles. Some shotguns have more spread than others, others have more DPS, and others are more ammo-efficient. Here is a basic breakdown though:
TIER 0: Regular shotgun
TIER 1: Combat shotgun; Double shotgun; Elephant Gun
TIER 2: Tactical shotgun; Focused double shotgun;
TIER 2.5: Assault shotgun; Plasma shotgun (?)
TIER 3: Super Shotgun, Pancor Jackhammer.
I did not list the nanoshrapnel assembly because I haven't tested it. A little explanation:
Tier 0 - the regular shotgun is pretty average, no outstanding abilities or penalties.
Tier 1 - These three shotguns are better at different roles. The Double Shotgun is invaluable for fighting lost souls and pain elementals, the wider spread is invaluable. This is even usable for non shotgun-based builds now due to the shell box. However, it sucks at range and is less ammo-efficient than a regular shotgun. The combat shotgun is one of the best weapons in the game for any build, because it is extremely efficient at corner shooting and radar shooting, and uses common ammunition. It is more effective at range than the other shotguns of this tier. The elephant gun does less damage per time fired than the double, but does more damage per shell than any shotgun until the super shotgun, meaning it has a niche role to fill.
Tier2: The two assemblies offer minor but significant improvements. Your tactical shotty will not need pumping, making it even better for corner shooting, while the focused double shotty is more ammo efficient. But because the assemblies limit the number of mods that can be applied they are listed at this tier.
Tier2.5: The assault shotgun is almost identical to the tactical shotgun. It has 1 more ammo in its magazine and does 1d3 less damage per shot. The only advantage is that it can be modded. A P3 assault shotgun is a beautiful, beautiful thing. Thus it is only better for builds with levels in whizkid.
I listed the plasma shotgun here due to a lack of experience with it. I believe it uses 5 plasma rounds per shot, but is armor piercing, faster to reload, and has a larger effective magazine than either the tactical or assault shotties. Probably good for shotgun builds to have an alternative ammo to use, but for builds not so constrained the plasma rifle is probably better.
Tier3: These are the uber weapons. The Super shotgun is a significant upgrade over the double and focused double shotguns. You can even fire one shell at a time for the most damaging weapon per shell fired. The Pancor fires two shells at once like a double, but can carry a large magazine and its damage is better at range like a tactical - best of both worlds.
Ultimate the performance of the plasma depends entirely on how much armor your target has. Most regular creatures have no more than 2 base armor, which is doubled vs regular shotgun shrapnel and halved vs plasma, leading to three more damage. This isn't too important at point blank range, but lets say your target is 7 tiles away from you:
7d3 - 14 damage average. 7 tiles distance = 35% damage reduction, so roughly 10 damage at 7 tiles. After armor, this will be 6 damage for the regular combat shotgun and 9 damage for the plasma.
If you are radar shooting distant mobs at say 12 tiles, that is a 60% damage reduction. The regular combat will deal 7 damage, reduced by armor to 3, while the plasma will deal 6. As you can see, the greater the range, the more important the damage type is.
TIER 0: Regular shotgun
TIER 1: Combat shotgun; Double shotgun; Elephant Gun
TIER 2: Tactical shotgun; Focused double shotgun;
TIER 2.5: Assault shotgun; Plasma shotgun (?)
TIER 3: Super Shotgun, Pancor Jackhammer.
I did not list the nanoshrapnel assembly because I haven't tested it. A little explanation:
Tier 0 - the regular shotgun is pretty average, no outstanding abilities or penalties.
Tier 1 - These three shotguns are better at different roles. The Double Shotgun is invaluable for fighting lost souls and pain elementals, the wider spread is invaluable. This is even usable for non shotgun-based builds now due to the shell box. However, it sucks at range and is less ammo-efficient than a regular shotgun. The combat shotgun is one of the best weapons in the game for any build, because it is extremely efficient at corner shooting and radar shooting, and uses common ammunition. It is more effective at range than the other shotguns of this tier. The elephant gun does less damage per time fired than the double, but does more damage per shell than any shotgun until the super shotgun, meaning it has a niche role to fill.
Tier2: The two assemblies offer minor but significant improvements. Your tactical shotty will not need pumping, making it even better for corner shooting, while the focused double shotty is more ammo efficient. But because the assemblies limit the number of mods that can be applied they are listed at this tier.
Tier2.5: The assault shotgun is almost identical to the tactical shotgun. It has 1 more ammo in its magazine and does 1d3 less damage per shot. The only advantage is that it can be modded. A P3 assault shotgun is a beautiful, beautiful thing. Thus it is only better for builds with levels in whizkid.
I listed the plasma shotgun here due to a lack of experience with it. I believe it uses 5 plasma rounds per shot, but is armor piercing, faster to reload, and has a larger effective magazine than either the tactical or assault shotties. Probably good for shotgun builds to have an alternative ammo to use, but for builds not so constrained the plasma rifle is probably better.
Tier3: These are the uber weapons. The Super shotgun is a significant upgrade over the double and focused double shotguns. You can even fire one shell at a time for the most damaging weapon per shell fired. The Pancor fires two shells at once like a double, but can carry a large magazine and its damage is better at range like a tactical - best of both worlds.
Ultimate the performance of the plasma depends entirely on how much armor your target has. Most regular creatures have no more than 2 base armor, which is doubled vs regular shotgun shrapnel and halved vs plasma, leading to three more damage. This isn't too important at point blank range, but lets say your target is 7 tiles away from you:
7d3 - 14 damage average. 7 tiles distance = 35% damage reduction, so roughly 10 damage at 7 tiles. After armor, this will be 6 damage for the regular combat shotgun and 9 damage for the plasma.
If you are radar shooting distant mobs at say 12 tiles, that is a 60% damage reduction. The regular combat will deal 7 damage, reduced by armor to 3, while the plasma will deal 6. As you can see, the greater the range, the more important the damage type is.
9
Discussion / Re: Help me decide what mods/ assemblies to build
« on: March 12, 2012, 13:00 »
So if anyone is curious, I went for applying some mods to my A modded steel boots to eventually turn them into cerberus boots, a gatling gun, a nano rocket launcher, and I saved the rest of my mods for cerb armor. The VERY NEXT LEVEL I found the A mod that I had been waiting for. I kept the nano rocket launcher for a few levels but then disassembled it to repair my cerb armor.
Cerb armor is ludicrous... 70% fire resist is soo good. All those mancubi volleys that destroy you barely tickle. Later on I finished the cerb boots, and despite the -60% move speed of the two pieces, three levels of hellrunner gave me a reasonable move speed. I ended the game with a P3TB assault shotgun, a P2T2S nuclear plasma rifle, a F hyperblaster, a B2TP2 napalm launcher, and Malek's armor plus agility boots for normal light concentrations of enemies, which are swapped to cerb for heavy clusters of dudes.
Cerb armor is ludicrous... 70% fire resist is soo good. All those mancubi volleys that destroy you barely tickle. Later on I finished the cerb boots, and despite the -60% move speed of the two pieces, three levels of hellrunner gave me a reasonable move speed. I ended the game with a P3TB assault shotgun, a P2T2S nuclear plasma rifle, a F hyperblaster, a B2TP2 napalm launcher, and Malek's armor plus agility boots for normal light concentrations of enemies, which are swapped to cerb for heavy clusters of dudes.
10
Discussion / Re: Help me decide what mods/ assemblies to build
« on: March 11, 2012, 17:15 »
Matt: A nano rocket launcher sounds great as a short term use of the nano mod. I have juggler so I can switch to other weapons while the ammo regens - I believe ammo regens in the prepared slot as well.
The nanoshrapnel assembly seems like it would go better with a double shotgun - if it were not for the spread. Of course, a nanoshrapnel super shotgun would be a beautiful, beautiful thing. Basically 10d4 damage even after the nerf.
Prickly: Actually I have 2x power mods, and I already have PT modded red armor, so I can do both burst cannon and cerebrus armor. Not nearly enough cells to make a burst cannon plasma rifle worthwhile, but I can do a burst chaingun. However - a burst chaingun is almost completely outclassed by a P gatling chaingun - both do 6d8 damage but the latter has higher accuracy.
Another question - do cerebrus boots take damage from walking through lava? I want to build the cerebrus armor first but... this would one way to use my extra mod packs and I can assemble it immediately.
The nanoshrapnel assembly seems like it would go better with a double shotgun - if it were not for the spread. Of course, a nanoshrapnel super shotgun would be a beautiful, beautiful thing. Basically 10d4 damage even after the nerf.
Prickly: Actually I have 2x power mods, and I already have PT modded red armor, so I can do both burst cannon and cerebrus armor. Not nearly enough cells to make a burst cannon plasma rifle worthwhile, but I can do a burst chaingun. However - a burst chaingun is almost completely outclassed by a P gatling chaingun - both do 6d8 damage but the latter has higher accuracy.
Another question - do cerebrus boots take damage from walking through lava? I want to build the cerebrus armor first but... this would one way to use my extra mod packs and I can assemble it immediately.
11
Discussion / Help me decide what mods/ assemblies to build
« on: March 11, 2012, 16:12 »
Hi all, running a HMP Ao100 run with a scavenger technician.
Currently I am on level 32, with two power mods, two bulk mods, a tech mod and a nano mod. I need to use them and stop carrying them around but I can't decide what to build.
The original plan was to go for a nano-modded cerebrus armor, but I have gone maybe 15 levels without seeing any agility packs, and have disassembled 3 assemblies without getting any agility packs. I didn't know how scavenger works and it is weaker than I thought... you only get ONE mod pack from any disassembled item, no matter how many mod packs you spent on it.
A little more context:
My build: Fin3, Jug, Whz2, EE2, Int2, MScv, Iro, SoB, TaN (can't decide which of the last three to prioritize).
Weapons available: hyperblaster (assembled before Whz2 so can't mod it), unmodded plasma rifle, 2x unmodded rocket launcher, unmodded chain gun, B1 chain gun, P1 assault shotgun
Armor available: Fireproof red armor (pre Whz2 so I can't mod it), Duelist armor (T) (hoped to make a ballistic armor, but no A mods), PT red armor, plasma shield, green armor, A1 steel boots, unmodded plasteel boots.
Huge amounts of 10mm ammo sitting on ground. About 120 each of plasma cells and shotgun shells. 23 rockets. 1x small medpack, 3x large medpacks, 1x homing phase.
Of course I couldn't carry this much at once, I dropped a lot of it on the ground.
My ideas: (MIGHT BE SPOILERS HERE)
Nanoshrapnel assault shotgun - according to the wiki this would deal only 4d3 damage, but would never run out of ammo and be armor piercing. I find assault / tactical shotguns plenty useful all game long. However, I have enough ammo that I am not desperate for this upgrade.
Cerebrus armor (not sure whether to pick red or blue) - can't build this yet, but I have been hoarding mods for this beauty. Need an agility mod, then I can slap a nano on it to make it self-repairing.
Nanomanufacture plasma - I could build this right away if I disassemble the chain gun. Free, infinite ammo is a good thing. However, this weapon is still not too terribly exciting.
Slap a nano mod on my plasma gun or rocket launcher - I believe with the way scavenger works, I can do this and then disassemble it, as long as there are no other mods I should have a 100% chance to get my nano pack back. just realized I can do this and disassemble it later when I want that nano mod back. I feel like an idiot.
Tactical rocket launcher - I barely use rockets because I hate exploding lava barrels and destroying valuable items. Still, I could really use some form of crowd control, it is unlikely I will get a BFG.
Other options that are less attractive: Nanofiber skin armor, burst cannon,environmental boots, cerebrus boots.
Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. I can't continue to carry so many mods around.
Currently I am on level 32, with two power mods, two bulk mods, a tech mod and a nano mod. I need to use them and stop carrying them around but I can't decide what to build.
The original plan was to go for a nano-modded cerebrus armor, but I have gone maybe 15 levels without seeing any agility packs, and have disassembled 3 assemblies without getting any agility packs. I didn't know how scavenger works and it is weaker than I thought... you only get ONE mod pack from any disassembled item, no matter how many mod packs you spent on it.
A little more context:
My build: Fin3, Jug, Whz2, EE2, Int2, MScv, Iro, SoB, TaN (can't decide which of the last three to prioritize).
Weapons available: hyperblaster (assembled before Whz2 so can't mod it), unmodded plasma rifle, 2x unmodded rocket launcher, unmodded chain gun, B1 chain gun, P1 assault shotgun
Armor available: Fireproof red armor (pre Whz2 so I can't mod it), Duelist armor (T) (hoped to make a ballistic armor, but no A mods), PT red armor, plasma shield, green armor, A1 steel boots, unmodded plasteel boots.
Huge amounts of 10mm ammo sitting on ground. About 120 each of plasma cells and shotgun shells. 23 rockets. 1x small medpack, 3x large medpacks, 1x homing phase.
Of course I couldn't carry this much at once, I dropped a lot of it on the ground.
My ideas: (MIGHT BE SPOILERS HERE)
Nanoshrapnel assault shotgun - according to the wiki this would deal only 4d3 damage, but would never run out of ammo and be armor piercing. I find assault / tactical shotguns plenty useful all game long. However, I have enough ammo that I am not desperate for this upgrade.
Cerebrus armor (not sure whether to pick red or blue) - can't build this yet, but I have been hoarding mods for this beauty. Need an agility mod, then I can slap a nano on it to make it self-repairing.
Nanomanufacture plasma - I could build this right away if I disassemble the chain gun. Free, infinite ammo is a good thing. However, this weapon is still not too terribly exciting.
Slap a nano mod on my plasma gun or rocket launcher - I believe with the way scavenger works, I can do this and then disassemble it, as long as there are no other mods I should have a 100% chance to get my nano pack back. just realized I can do this and disassemble it later when I want that nano mod back. I feel like an idiot.
Tactical rocket launcher - I barely use rockets because I hate exploding lava barrels and destroying valuable items. Still, I could really use some form of crowd control, it is unlikely I will get a BFG.
Other options that are less attractive: Nanofiber skin armor, burst cannon,environmental boots, cerebrus boots.
Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. I can't continue to carry so many mods around.
12
Discussion / Re: A few mechanics questions and build discussion
« on: March 11, 2012, 09:54 »
Ok another question - SoB and shotguns. Is the +1 damage applied before, or after, the percentage-based reduction in damage? E.g. combat shotgun at 5 squares distance -(7d3 + 1) * 65% or (7d3 * 65%) +1?
Based on experience it seems like the for but I would like to know for sure.
Based on experience it seems like the for but I would like to know for sure.
13
Discussion / Re: Bad habits
« on: March 11, 2012, 09:49 »
1. Clear all levels to 100% when not on challenges. I can, with great difficulty, bring myself to stop attackign a pack of 4 former sergeants on AoB.
2. Hoard medkits and any powerup greater than a small health globe. I always like to save them until the end of the level. After all, I can *probably* survive with 36% health, right? I am somewhat reasonable when it comes to using small medkits but I am terrible with large medkits, which I generally don't use unless I hit 20% health or less. This has led to many mancubus deaths.
3. Hoarding plasma cells. After I figured out how to clear city of skulls with rocket jump (after you pull lever and after the agony elemental spawns), I found the BFG wasn't really necessary. But I still carry around 5 stacks of cells with almost any build, just in case.
4. Hoarding rockets. I like to save a lot of rockets as insurance for the Wall. But post-wall there is no reason whatsoever to hoard so many. I will typically carry 2-3 stacks around until I end up discarding them for something more useful.
5. Avoiding radar shooting in hell. The thing is, I *hate* blowing up items/powerups as a result of barrel explosions. But I need to do this more, especially to detect Mancubi.
2. Hoard medkits and any powerup greater than a small health globe. I always like to save them until the end of the level. After all, I can *probably* survive with 36% health, right? I am somewhat reasonable when it comes to using small medkits but I am terrible with large medkits, which I generally don't use unless I hit 20% health or less. This has led to many mancubus deaths.
3. Hoarding plasma cells. After I figured out how to clear city of skulls with rocket jump (after you pull lever and after the agony elemental spawns), I found the BFG wasn't really necessary. But I still carry around 5 stacks of cells with almost any build, just in case.
4. Hoarding rockets. I like to save a lot of rockets as insurance for the Wall. But post-wall there is no reason whatsoever to hoard so many. I will typically carry 2-3 stacks around until I end up discarding them for something more useful.
5. Avoiding radar shooting in hell. The thing is, I *hate* blowing up items/powerups as a result of barrel explosions. But I need to do this more, especially to detect Mancubi.
14
Discussion / Re: Let's take on the Mortuary!
« on: March 11, 2012, 09:32 »
I had a MMB run where I used every consumable I had to survive the mortuary. For some reason I did not use the BFG to blast corpses, I can be OCD about saving ammo sometimes. I never fired the BFG 9k that game even though I was carrying like 5 stacks of cells. If you are sufficiently patient though it seems like a sure-fire method is just to grab the supercharge and armor, fire a BFG blast to the left and right, run to the right and get the nuclear BFG, and then just slowly use the nuke BFG to blast all the corpses. This is how I survived after using up all my health consumables. My MMB character was nearly invulnerable to small numbers of enemies, but my nanofiber skin blue armor would lose its durability and protection and I would take a lot of damage from all the enemies when I tried to clear them in melee.
I almost never get more items out of the mortuary than I put into it, I usually already have a tactical or assault shotgun, bulk and power mods are not too uncommon, and the multiple red armors on the map usually get equipped by enemies. But I go YAAM for any non-challenge game so I cleared it always.
I almost never get more items out of the mortuary than I put into it, I usually already have a tactical or assault shotgun, bulk and power mods are not too uncommon, and the multiple red armors on the map usually get equipped by enemies. But I go YAAM for any non-challenge game so I cleared it always.
15
Discussion / Re: Help me understand guns that are not shotguns
« on: March 11, 2012, 09:22 »
Even with rapid fire builds I don't usually use rapid fire weapons until later in the game. They are very trait-intensive. Also it is a good idea to switch weapons depending on what enemies are in the area - keep your ears open. If you are going around a corner or opening a door to a large room it is usually a good idea to have a shotgun equipped.
I can't really say that there is a typical rapid-fire build either. Cateye gives you usually two rounds to shoot at enemies before they can see you in wide open spaces. Entrenchment, combined with properly modded armor and the TaN levels that the trait requires, increases your survivability. And yes, with MAc it is entirely possible to blindly shoot once you know roughly where the enemies are.
Pistol builds generally stick with pistols as their primary weapon throughout the game, same with shotgun builds. But this is not the case with rapid fire builds. EE levels are extremely important, but since this is forbidden by MAc it is not uncommon for me to use the combat shotgun over the chaingun or even plasma if I do not have sufficient agility mods for my weapon. So just be prepared to use them differently. It is true that GCB makes pistol builds ludicrously strong, but without that I think rapid fire builds have the easiest time killing everything in the lower levels of the game. You are giving up some early game power for late game power.
I can't really say that there is a typical rapid-fire build either. Cateye gives you usually two rounds to shoot at enemies before they can see you in wide open spaces. Entrenchment, combined with properly modded armor and the TaN levels that the trait requires, increases your survivability. And yes, with MAc it is entirely possible to blindly shoot once you know roughly where the enemies are.
Pistol builds generally stick with pistols as their primary weapon throughout the game, same with shotgun builds. But this is not the case with rapid fire builds. EE levels are extremely important, but since this is forbidden by MAc it is not uncommon for me to use the combat shotgun over the chaingun or even plasma if I do not have sufficient agility mods for my weapon. So just be prepared to use them differently. It is true that GCB makes pistol builds ludicrously strong, but without that I think rapid fire builds have the easiest time killing everything in the lower levels of the game. You are giving up some early game power for late game power.
Pages: [1] 2