There are a large number of blatantly underpowered weapons in the game at the moment. This is especially unfortunate with the recent rework of Powerplay, and the upcoming Vanguards update. These are competitive updates, which means players do not have as much freedom to choose sub-optimal builds to challenge themselves IF they want to be competitive in Powerplay or Vanguards.
As such, this would be a really good time to buff them all. I've played this game for upwards of 10000 hours, and I've tried more or less every single weapon in the game. Here are my suggestions for fixes.
Missiles and Torpedoes
Problem: Missiles and Torps struggle from ammo problems. This is understandable, as missiles are actually very powerful - but in the current state of affairs, with massive enemy hp pools and massive amounts of work needed to compete, this ammo has become an unacceptable problem.
Solution: Reload Speed.
Right now, a class 3 Torpedo Rack has 4 ammo, giving it a total of 480 damage. This can be compared with a class 3 multicannon, which has 6000. A class 1 seeker missile rack has 12 total ammo, for a total of 480 damage. This can be compared to a class 1 multicannon, which has 1700.
The answer here is to dramatically increase ammo RESERVES, but also increase the reload time significantly. For example, a class 3 Torpedo Rack could have 4 ammo per clip, 36 ammo as backup, but a 120 second reload time. This means that the player has 4800 total damage available, but only 480 damage available PER FIGHT. After depleting their current clip, they'll need to wait a substantial time before they can fire more. This retains the high impact and value given to each individual torpedo, while also allowing for a needed amount of sustain.
The same exact approach can be applied to Seeker Missiles, giving them perhaps 12 missiles in the first clip, another 12 missiles as backup, and a 60 second reload time. This gives a class 1 seeker missile rack 960 damage total - but of course, that is further enhanced by the explosive damage and high AP.
Shock Cannons
Problem: Insufficient Ammo
While a very fun weapon, the fact these weapons can be fully depleted in a matter of seconds also makes them broadly useless for serious purposes. A class 3 Overcharged Multicannon has 10,000 total damage, while a Class 3 Shock Cannon has 3,806.
Solution: Auto-Loaded Ammo is generated from fuel.
The big problem with balancing Shock Cannons is that, much like Missiles, they're actually quite powerful, kept in check by their limited ammo. The answer is a conditional way to increase their ammo reserves. This can be accomplished by making their auto loader effect draw from fuel at a reasonable rate. If the player fires too much, they will instead do a full reload from ammo reserves, but if the player fires more conservatively, it will instead draw from their fuel supply. This is still not completely unlimited, but far more accessible overall, making this a much more valid weapon choice.
Mines
Problem: Friendly Fire
Mines are impossible to use, because they can and will hit not only the enemy, but also the player and the player's allies. This makes using them suicidal, as you'll inevitably agro an enemy and get fines and bounties constantly.
Solution: Smart Munitions + Heat Seeking
All Mines should have an automatic Smart Munitions experimental. This means if a friendly hits them, they simply self-destruct harmlessly. In honesty, they should also probably intentionally move towards enemy ships too, because otherwise space is just too big to use them effectively.
Enzyme Missile
The Enzyme Missile was only ever really useful for pvp, thanks to the bug where a player hit by one would make the effect permanent if they logged off. That bug has, as far as I can tell, since been fixed, making this weapon completely useless.
Solution: Corrosive Shell
The answer is really pretty simple. When someone has the Enzyme Missile's caustic damage on them, they should have the effects of Corrosive Shell as well. This makes this a nice prolonged source of the experimental effect, giving these weapons a niche use.
Powerplay Weapons
Lastly, there are the Powerplay weapons. While some are undisputedly great(like Cytoscramblers and Concord Cannons), others are profoundly bad for one reason or another.
Retributor
Problem: Bad Damage + Poor Effect
While in theory the built-in effect of Thermal Shock could be good here, in reality(per my personal testing), the experimental is less powerful than a rapid-fire thermal shock pulse laser, while also taking more distributor power and dealing less damage. At the core of it, it's just not a very interesting concept, as you can already get thermal shock, and having that effect extra is not particularly useful when you still need to double engineer it with thermal shock again just to get the same impact as a normal weapon.
Solution: First, buff its stats to the same as a normal small fixed beam laser. Next, give it ALL the Thermal Effects - Thermal Vent, Thermal Shock, and Thermal Conduit.
This makes this actually a much more interesting weapon, especially since you could then double up on any of them. None of them on their own is valuable enough to justify using one, but for example, an AX player might really welcome a weapon with doubled-up thermal vent. A small fixed beam laser is still not a great weapon overall, but the sheer versatility could make it an intriguing option.
Mining Lance
Problem: The worst weapon in the game.
I'm not joking. Since the addition of the Pre-Engineered Class 1 Mining Lasers, Mining Lances are functionally useless. They have worse mining capacity, are less efficient, do pathetic damage...they're just bad.
Solution: Make them class 2.
This alone will solve their problems. It will make them a reasonable thermal weapon against NPCs, it will make them reasonable for mining...it will make them reasonable.
---
That's it. Go forth.
As such, this would be a really good time to buff them all. I've played this game for upwards of 10000 hours, and I've tried more or less every single weapon in the game. Here are my suggestions for fixes.
Missiles and Torpedoes
Problem: Missiles and Torps struggle from ammo problems. This is understandable, as missiles are actually very powerful - but in the current state of affairs, with massive enemy hp pools and massive amounts of work needed to compete, this ammo has become an unacceptable problem.
Solution: Reload Speed.
Right now, a class 3 Torpedo Rack has 4 ammo, giving it a total of 480 damage. This can be compared with a class 3 multicannon, which has 6000. A class 1 seeker missile rack has 12 total ammo, for a total of 480 damage. This can be compared to a class 1 multicannon, which has 1700.
The answer here is to dramatically increase ammo RESERVES, but also increase the reload time significantly. For example, a class 3 Torpedo Rack could have 4 ammo per clip, 36 ammo as backup, but a 120 second reload time. This means that the player has 4800 total damage available, but only 480 damage available PER FIGHT. After depleting their current clip, they'll need to wait a substantial time before they can fire more. This retains the high impact and value given to each individual torpedo, while also allowing for a needed amount of sustain.
The same exact approach can be applied to Seeker Missiles, giving them perhaps 12 missiles in the first clip, another 12 missiles as backup, and a 60 second reload time. This gives a class 1 seeker missile rack 960 damage total - but of course, that is further enhanced by the explosive damage and high AP.
Shock Cannons
Problem: Insufficient Ammo
While a very fun weapon, the fact these weapons can be fully depleted in a matter of seconds also makes them broadly useless for serious purposes. A class 3 Overcharged Multicannon has 10,000 total damage, while a Class 3 Shock Cannon has 3,806.
Solution: Auto-Loaded Ammo is generated from fuel.
The big problem with balancing Shock Cannons is that, much like Missiles, they're actually quite powerful, kept in check by their limited ammo. The answer is a conditional way to increase their ammo reserves. This can be accomplished by making their auto loader effect draw from fuel at a reasonable rate. If the player fires too much, they will instead do a full reload from ammo reserves, but if the player fires more conservatively, it will instead draw from their fuel supply. This is still not completely unlimited, but far more accessible overall, making this a much more valid weapon choice.
Mines
Problem: Friendly Fire
Mines are impossible to use, because they can and will hit not only the enemy, but also the player and the player's allies. This makes using them suicidal, as you'll inevitably agro an enemy and get fines and bounties constantly.
Solution: Smart Munitions + Heat Seeking
All Mines should have an automatic Smart Munitions experimental. This means if a friendly hits them, they simply self-destruct harmlessly. In honesty, they should also probably intentionally move towards enemy ships too, because otherwise space is just too big to use them effectively.
Enzyme Missile
The Enzyme Missile was only ever really useful for pvp, thanks to the bug where a player hit by one would make the effect permanent if they logged off. That bug has, as far as I can tell, since been fixed, making this weapon completely useless.
Solution: Corrosive Shell
The answer is really pretty simple. When someone has the Enzyme Missile's caustic damage on them, they should have the effects of Corrosive Shell as well. This makes this a nice prolonged source of the experimental effect, giving these weapons a niche use.
Powerplay Weapons
Lastly, there are the Powerplay weapons. While some are undisputedly great(like Cytoscramblers and Concord Cannons), others are profoundly bad for one reason or another.
Retributor
Problem: Bad Damage + Poor Effect
While in theory the built-in effect of Thermal Shock could be good here, in reality(per my personal testing), the experimental is less powerful than a rapid-fire thermal shock pulse laser, while also taking more distributor power and dealing less damage. At the core of it, it's just not a very interesting concept, as you can already get thermal shock, and having that effect extra is not particularly useful when you still need to double engineer it with thermal shock again just to get the same impact as a normal weapon.
Solution: First, buff its stats to the same as a normal small fixed beam laser. Next, give it ALL the Thermal Effects - Thermal Vent, Thermal Shock, and Thermal Conduit.
This makes this actually a much more interesting weapon, especially since you could then double up on any of them. None of them on their own is valuable enough to justify using one, but for example, an AX player might really welcome a weapon with doubled-up thermal vent. A small fixed beam laser is still not a great weapon overall, but the sheer versatility could make it an intriguing option.
Mining Lance
Problem: The worst weapon in the game.
I'm not joking. Since the addition of the Pre-Engineered Class 1 Mining Lasers, Mining Lances are functionally useless. They have worse mining capacity, are less efficient, do pathetic damage...they're just bad.
Solution: Make them class 2.
This alone will solve their problems. It will make them a reasonable thermal weapon against NPCs, it will make them reasonable for mining...it will make them reasonable.
---
That's it. Go forth.
