CQC List of Extant CQC/Arena Balance issues in Modules/Outfitting/Ships

Alexander the Grape

Alexander the Grape
Here is my (subjective) list of CQC balance issues in ships, modules and outfitting

SHIPS, WEAPONS AND MODULES BALANCE ISSUES

Shields and defences



  1. Overcharged shields are incredibly strong compared to other options, with their downsides being negligible in most circumstances
    • The upsides for overcharged shields (much greater shield strength) are extremely potent, while their downsides (slower regen, more heat) being mostly negligible due to the fast-paced nature of Arena combat, and the ability of Powerups such as Shields to instantly regen
  2. Shield boosters are underpowered compared to their counterparts
    • Chaff provides 5 seconds of virtual immunity from fire. SCBs give a full shield recharge. Silent running can give extended periods of being extremely hard to hit. All of these options are vastly more powerful than a 10% increase in shield strength
  3. Armour booster is underpowered compared to counterparts
    • Same issue as shield booster: +10% armour is negligible compared to immunity from fire or full recharge
  4. Shields that have a boost to recharge speed or rate are underwhelming

  • Due to fast paced nature of Arena an plethora of shield restore powerups, recharging shields is far less useful than having stronger shields in the first place: as such, the downsides of regen-focused shields such as Fast-Charge, Hyper-Charge and Lightweight far outweigh their benefits

Interior modules


  1. Imperial Fighter's ENG focused distributor is far superior to other options, on both the Imp Fighter and the Condor
    • Unlike the Condor's ENG focused distributor, the Imperial fighter sacrifices SYS recharge for ENG. Since the fast paced nature of Arena leaves little opportunity for shield recharge outside of powerups, and given that Imp Fighter has access to the powerful but slow-recharge Overcharged shields anyway, they effectively sacrifice very little, making the ENG distributor vastly better than both the Condor's ENG distributor and the stock Imp Fighter's distributor
  2. SYS focused distributors have little merit to them compared to stock
    • Due to afore-mentioned fast-paced nature of Arena, and the generous distribution of Shields powerups on most maps, and the fact that for most shields, the bottleneck for regen is not SYS capacitor, there is little point to the SYS focused distributor considering its ample downsides

Weapons



  1. Plasma repeater projectile speed too slow
    • While it does have the upside of being the game's only thermal/kinetic weapon, the high WEP draw, underwhelming damage for its situational nature and above all slow projectile speed means that the Plasma Repeater is an extremely ineffective weapon in the vast majority of circumstances
  2. Sidewinder weapons are all incredibly weak compared to Fixed Multicannons and Scattershot
    • Due to the Fixed multicannon's (possibly bugged) fire rate of 16 rounds per second, the Sidewinder's other weapons are all incredibly weak in comparison (with 1/2 the effective DPS). HOWEVER due to the Sidewinder's already extreme lack of utility in most circumstances, I would recommend the other weapons were increased in potency rather than the Multicannons or Scattershot nerfed
Ships

  1. Imperial Fighter's superior to Condor in flight model and hitbox

  • Despite having roughly the same stock HP, access to weapons and modules, the Imperial fighter has a superior flight model and almost all respects (97% as fast, better turn rate and lateral/vertical thrusters). What's more, the hitbox for the Imp Fighter (both shielded and unshielded) is far smaller than that of the Condor, meaning it is far harder to hit while stealthed/chaffing

Suggested changes


  1. Reduce additional strength from Overcharged shields by 30%
  2. Increase bonus from shield boosters to +50%
  3. Increase Armour Booster bonus to +100%
  4. Decrease shield strength penalty from fitting fast-charge, hyper charge or lightweight shields by 40%
  5. Rebalance Imp Fighter ENG distributor to be same as Condor's
  6. Reduce penalty in ENG/WEPs recharge from fitting a SYS focused capacitor by 50%
  7. Increase Plasma Repeater projectile speed to be similar to Rapid Cannons, increase damage by 15%
  8. Increase DPS of Sidewinder weapons other than Scattershot and Fixed Multicannon by 100%
  9. Reduce Imp Fighter's boost speed by 5% to 300 m/s
  10. Slightly increase volume covered by Imp Fighter's shields (increase hitbox by 15% from a topdown perspective)

Let me know if you agree or disagree with any of the points made here
 

suburbanguerilla

suburbanguerilla
Just fly an imperial fighter with overcharged shields , eng build and its all good .

Whatever the server rules and specs . we play withing them , nice suggestions but just play the game by the rules :) .

Its not that i disagree with your points though . your opinion is as valid as any other .

I witnessed Feyd Harkonan win a match in a sidewinder the other week , that made me smile big time . Even though it meant me losing the match .
 

Alexander the Grape

Alexander the Grape
suburbanguerilla said:
Just fly an imperial fighter with overcharged shields , eng build and its all good .

Whatever the server rules and specs . we play withing them , nice suggestions but just play the game by the rules :) .

Its not that i disagree with your points though . your opinion is as valid as any other .

I witnessed Feyd Harkonan win a match in a sidewinder the other week , that made me smile big time . Even though it meant me losing the match .
Click to expand...

Oh don't get me wrong, I minmax as much as the next guy, I'd just rather see more variety at high level :p#

Sidewinder can be good with MCs, I've won matches in it before. Especially good Vs Eagles
 
Last edited:

SushiCW

SushiCW
My thoughts:

* I think you've accurately identified most of the problem areas.
* I'm not necessarily sold on all of your solutions.
* Fast shield recharge actually *is* useful on the one map without shield powerups. If there were more maps without shields it'd be a factor more often.
* We should collectively get some hard numbers for Condor vs Imp flight performance. The only one I have so far is "top boost speed using regular boosters and ENG distributor" (325 Condor 315 Imp). I've got some videos recorded where I was testing turn rates, but I haven't had a chance to analyze them yet. That still leaves acceleration / top speed profiles.
* (Hard numbers on weapon / module performance would also be useful if we can figure out a controlled enough environment to obtain them).
 
Last edited:

Alexander the Grape

Alexander the Grape
SushiCW said:
My thoughts:

* I think you've accurately identified most of the problem areas.
* I'm not necessarily sold on all of your solutions.
* Fast shield recharge actually *is* useful on the one map without shield powerups. If there were more maps without shields it'd be a factor more often.
* We should collectively get some hard numbers for Condor vs Imp flight performance. The only one I have so far is "top boost speed using regular boosters and ENG distributor" (325 Condor 315 Imp). I've got some videos recorded where I was testing turn rates, but I haven't had a chance to analyze them yet. That still leaves acceleration / top speed profiles.
* (Hard numbers on weapon / module performance would also be useful if we can figure out a controlled enough environment to obtain them).
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm aware that the solutions are basically stabs in the dark without the hard figures. Hopefully Frontier would be able to make a more evidence based approach.

Really wish they'd release the stats, considering how impossible a controlled testing environment is in CQC :/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom