Weapon balance discussion: Suppression And Weapon Accuracy

[TJskillz]

Hi, since I'd love to get involved in this mod when the tools are made public, and it seems like we're getting closer and closer to that day, I'd love to start getting the ball rolling on a weapon balance discussion.

First up on the list is something that is tied into every single weapon interaction, and that's mainly Suppression. As it is in game, if I recall correctly, causes more screen blur, decreases weapon accuracy (increases the spread), and causes more weapon sway. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of the part about increasing your weapon spread. I feel that this causes more of a "who shot first" issue in the game, instead of a who is the better player. That's not to say a suppression mechanic shouldn't exist in the game. I feel that the mechanic could instead cause a larger increase in the weapon sway, as an attempt to raise the skill ceiling up higher. That way a good player could still not be the one that shoots first but still be able to turn a situation around to win.

But what do other people think? I've heard YouTubers say that the suppression mechanic was annoying cause of the weapon accuracy going out the window as your eyes seemed to have a swarm of bees attacking your face (NOT THE BEES), but that can always skew actual opinions of the game.

[Imposter]

lujara - Today at 4:07 PM
so y'all upvote that link but noone actually replies. hah

He said that on Discord so I guess I had to reply.

[kiwidog]

As it is in game, if I recall correctly, causes more screen blur, decreases weapon accuracy (increases the spread), and causes more weapon sway.

There is a general suppression multiplier, this also has per-weapon stats multiplier as well, also modified bullet deviation. Actual sway, I don't think was affected.

I'm not sure if by default this is something that's implemented, when you say weapon sway I guess you mean like Rising Storm where your actual weapon model may jump around. In BF3 it's bullet deviation which makes it feel less realistic, because you are shooting at someone point blank and because they fired one bullet past you, your bullets no longer fly straight. I believe by changing this to more of a Rising Storm's weapon sway where bullet deviation stays the same is a welcomed change, and should be possible

A work-around for something similar would be to zero out bullet deviation all together, leaving recoil, and weapon sway, which could randomly (or semi-randomly) mutate your view angles to mimic a "flinch". I'd love to see you try

[TJskillz]

Weird, could have sworn the sway worsened, all i can remember is trying to line up a shot with a sniper and my crosshairs refusing to go over a target (not that it mattered at that point). But yeah, bullet deviation is on the list of things that I'll be questioned as if I should just flat out remove it all together. My only worry is that some guns will simply become even more of a laser beam than they already are...

Overall for the weapons (which by no means i'll do this on every weapon, its mainly just an idea of what im aiming for per class)

Assault: Probably won't be nerfing the high-end ARs like the M16/AEK (if they do get a nerf it's simply because removing bullet deviation put them way to in front of everything) and buffing the not as used ones to the other's levels (since, overall, most weapons and classes, in general, should be receiving buffs. It makes no sense to nerf the issue when I'm buffing everything else, that only makes it easier to do a 180 on the situation). The only issue I honestly truly have with the Assault class does not only do they have hands down the best weapons, but they have hands down the best gadgets in the game. They're too self-reliant and that, to me, is what I need to change. Assault is frankly the slayer class which is fine, but for some reason, Dice felt the need to make them the true support as well.

Support: Will be looking towards making the support class more of a necessity than just "I NEED BULLETS" which... with how some people play the game, one mag is enough for them... But the guns will probably see a 1st shot recoil reduction, and probably not much else? The class isn't meant to be like the assault Class, they're not the front line pushing the objective. They are more about giving the team what they need or trying to suppress the enemy from a bit of distance (which i feel like they could do with some tweaks between the Magazine-fed LMGs and Belt-fed LMGs). But for what i can do to the guns while keeping that feel seems difficult. Obviously, they have the worst of hip spray and sluggish movement, but I wonder if there is anything to the ADS times i could fiddle with that could hopefully let me maybe give some of them damage/accuracy buffs.

Engineer:... Well... they're worse versions of Assault Rifles, what else am I suppose to do? In a non-competitive setting, like normal conquest and Rush, I'm sure Engineer will still get played since accuracy will be buffed across the board, but in the 4 on 4 mode? I honestly don't see the Engineers getting played over Assault... even with the planned nerf to the class, since the only reason to pick Engineer is if they have vehicles, which I'm pretty sure the competitive mode does not.

Recon: Another weird one to try to fix. With the suppression effect no longer making the bullet fly way off course anymore, Snipers should instantly see a huge buff, but even then I'm not sure if that's enough. There's also always the aggressive player with a PDW playing up and using a motion sensor to show where everyone is, speaking of which

PDWs: LOWER RECOIL. While this makes them insanely accurate, their long range damage is shit anyway Only time you're getting killed by those guys at long range is if you're being dumb. But outside of that, it seems like it's really more case by case. As PDWs are more of close-range weapons that are there as a second choice for Recons if they don't want to have a sniper. Seriously, what other classes out there would use PDWs over their primaries outside of supports, maybe? (with the changes I'm hoping for some LMGs, some LMGs will fill the role of close range support better anyway).

Shotguns: Aahahaha that's not gonna be fun to mess with. Gotta make them more reliable at close range for one. Their inconsistency is what kills their viability. The pellet spread being randomized in their cone is ridiculously and I will look to change that first and foremost before any other changes. Who knows, maybe a one-shot kill consistently at close range is op?


Oh boy do i have fun times ahead of me