I want to like the Oppressor, I really do. But good lord it's just...not good. Is there ever going to be an actual balance to some of these weapons, specifically the Oppressor and maybe the Executioner? Don't me wrong, the Executioner is good but it feels a lot more like a slug shotgun than a "marksman" rifle. As for the Oppressor...damn, it's just bad. Between the projectile speed and the severely lacking damage, there is absolutely no reason to run it over say an Executioner/Tormentor or Karma/Aphelion combo or really any other available weapon. But where would the balance go?
I've seen some suggestions of upping projectile speed for plasma, which I can agree with. It obviously shouldn't be hauling at 2100 ft/s like kinetic ammunition, but to lazy fly through the air like a baseball is a little ridiculous. This is very much a problem when using the "marksman" rifle and wouldn't be as much of a problem for the Oppressor if it didn't notable damage which...it doesn't. I would say the plasma projectile velocity, given the visual size, should be around 800 ft/s (~245 m/s) as this is the average velocity of a modern day 40mm grenade. It would still require decent leading on targets while actually making the Executioner more viable for its described purpose. Based on what I could find, this would be about double to 2.5x the current velocity of plasma weapons. If need be, there could be a small increase to plasma weapon recoil if some feel the speed plus a damage buff to the Oppressor could be make it too strong.
Another suggestion, more so the Oppressor than anything, is a damage buff. The Tormentor and Executioner get to near 2-3 shot kills reliably at high grades and the Intimidator, while not the most consistent, can do a healthy amount of damage in CQB. The Oppressor however should, at bare minimum, do half the kinetic damage the Karma has and half the thermal damage the Aphelion does to actually make it a decent option. This, on top of a projectile speed buff, would actually make the weapon rival those of the kinetic and thermal variety. With a speed and damage buff, the Oppressor could be a perfect jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none weapon that would not dethrone the efficiency of Karma/Aphelion or CQB Intimidator/Tormentor loadouts, it would make it solid choice for someone who wants to only use one weapon with slightly longer TTK in ground combat.
I know there has been so many calls for a buff to the oppressor but I feel like it shouldn't be too much of an ask for FDev to go in a change a few number values on the manticore weapons when pushing out an update. Of course this is open to suggestions and rebuttals
I've seen some suggestions of upping projectile speed for plasma, which I can agree with. It obviously shouldn't be hauling at 2100 ft/s like kinetic ammunition, but to lazy fly through the air like a baseball is a little ridiculous. This is very much a problem when using the "marksman" rifle and wouldn't be as much of a problem for the Oppressor if it didn't notable damage which...it doesn't. I would say the plasma projectile velocity, given the visual size, should be around 800 ft/s (~245 m/s) as this is the average velocity of a modern day 40mm grenade. It would still require decent leading on targets while actually making the Executioner more viable for its described purpose. Based on what I could find, this would be about double to 2.5x the current velocity of plasma weapons. If need be, there could be a small increase to plasma weapon recoil if some feel the speed plus a damage buff to the Oppressor could be make it too strong.
Another suggestion, more so the Oppressor than anything, is a damage buff. The Tormentor and Executioner get to near 2-3 shot kills reliably at high grades and the Intimidator, while not the most consistent, can do a healthy amount of damage in CQB. The Oppressor however should, at bare minimum, do half the kinetic damage the Karma has and half the thermal damage the Aphelion does to actually make it a decent option. This, on top of a projectile speed buff, would actually make the weapon rival those of the kinetic and thermal variety. With a speed and damage buff, the Oppressor could be a perfect jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none weapon that would not dethrone the efficiency of Karma/Aphelion or CQB Intimidator/Tormentor loadouts, it would make it solid choice for someone who wants to only use one weapon with slightly longer TTK in ground combat.
I know there has been so many calls for a buff to the oppressor but I feel like it shouldn't be too much of an ask for FDev to go in a change a few number values on the manticore weapons when pushing out an update. Of course this is open to suggestions and rebuttals