Ammo Synthesis Rebalance

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

It seems to be widely regarded on the forms, that the +30% damage ammo synthesis is simply an "I Win" button, especially amongst the PvP community.
(Jump in if I'm wrong!)

So, I've come up with a solution that so far, has gone down well.
(Of course, the ones that love the upper hand at all times will complain!)

Flip Ammo Synthesis on its head.
This could be done in two ways, the "nice" way, or the "harsh" way.
A Basic Ammo Reload would now be -15%, (or -30% if you want to be harsh) of base damage.
However, the costs for this would be reduced greatly, for multicannons as an example, instead of 2x Iron 1x Nickel 2x Sulphur, it'd simply be 1x Iron and 1x Sulphur, or something.
This would constitute an emergency reload, which isn't as effective as restocking at a dock, but is highly convenient due to being incredibly easy to do.

A Standard Ammo reload would now be Equal to base damage, or -15% damage, if you wanted to use the harsh method.
The costs for this wouldn't actually change too much, unless using the harsh method, then the costs could decrease quite a bit.

A Premium Ammo Reload would then be +15% damage, or just base damage for the harsh method (+/-0%).
The costs would reflect which version you picked.

I personally prefer the harsh method, as it removes any magical advantage. And it also makes little sense how you can synthesise ammo that is better than any you can buy.


Thoughts?

Numbers are just made up as a guide.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

 

[andrewg_oz]

I have no problem with the +30% bonus, and I truly don't understand why the PvP crowd would be against it. It's equally available to everyone! If you can't be bothered to collect the materials, then you miss out on the advantages. Just like if you can't be bothered getting the credits to fit out your Fer-de-Lance, then you have to stick with your Vulture or Viper.

On the other hand, your suggestion that on-the-fly-synthesized ammo would be less effective than station-bought ammo does make sense.

Slightly related, I have to say that missiles (or torpedoes or mines) are IMO much too complex things to synthesize and make no sense to me.

 

[V'larr]

It would be a compromise between where it is now and what I think would be best, which is to just remove any synthesis buffs altogether....

 

[V'larr]

I have no problem with the +30% bonus, and I truly don't understand why the PvP crowd would be against it. It's equally available to everyone!

That doesn't make it O.K. Something being broken and OP isn't balanced just because it's "equally available".

It's not just the PvP crowd, as ammo synthesis buffs is just one of the reasons that I won't venture into Open in the current game.

If you can't be bothered to collect the materials, then you miss out on the advantages. Just like if you can't be bothered getting the credits to fit out your Fer-de-Lance, then you have to stick with your Vulture or Viper.

Except that getting credits is a one-time deal. Getting materials + synthesis has to be done before *every single fight* or else be at a *severe* disadvantage. That's not fun - that's a royal pain in the rear, an unecessary time sink, and serves to widen the already-vast power gap between players, which is the *worst* possible thing you can do for anything regarding PvP.

On the other hand, your suggestion that on-the-fly-synthesized ammo would be less effective than station-bought ammo does make sense.

How doesn't it make sense? Surely a station's ammo production facilities are bigger and more advanced than cooking something up from your magic bag of holding full of random bits of space dust?

Slightly related, I have to say that missiles (or torpedoes or mines) are IMO much too complex things to synthesize and make no sense to me.

What? Those are the weapons that demand use of ammo synthesis most, in order to be useful at all in PvP, especially with the currently overinflated hitpoints. I think you've got an agenda here for a particular engineered all-multicannon ship of yours....

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

I can't agree with this while the limit on mats is only 1,000. That's not enough for engineering, so basic synthesis having a penalty is not a good idea.

 

[Gorr]

I would remove all bonuses and just leave synthesis option as convenience and reason to further gather materials.

That "bonus damage" doesn't have place in this game imho, this is not Unreal Tournament. PvP is already hard to balance, it just become mess with introducing more variables.