Weapons and Craft rebalance

[Teks]

Hey, I just downloaded openxcom. Amazing.
Now I need to replay X-com 'one more time' (I always swear it'll be the last time)

With the bug fixes with smoke, prox mines, and item restrictions I feel the need to give the weapons a little overhaul for my new gaming session. I want to see all weapons able to bring something to the table...except the heavy cannon because its ugly. I wanted to post the changes I made and hopefully get some second opinions or ideas to help balance it out.

I started with Craft Weapons
Generally I've switched the accuracy ideal on its hindlegs by taking the accuracy idea from ufo invasion. UFOs can trick most guidance systems, so 'dumb fire' is more accurate then 'smart fire'. This system also pretends that the dogfights are much closer then the game states.
Cannon- This has got to be the worst weapon ever designed, and a shame. Nothing satisfies quite like thousands of explosive bullets riddling an alien hull. Now this weapon looks like an attractive bread and butter weapon.

• Intended to deal the most continuous damage
• Damage raised to 16
• Range raised to 15
• Accuracy Raised to 60%

Stingray- While not as terrible, stingrays are still no good. These new stingrays are rapidfired at the enemy giving them little chance of evading them all. Great for hit-and-run

• Intended to deal lots of damage really fast.
• Damage lowered to 60
• Accuracy lowered to 50%
• Reload times lowered to 6/9/12

Avalanche-The Tactical Nuke. It kicks like a mule, but has hardly a prayer of scoring a hit.

• Great for putting holes in things at a distance..if you hit.
• Damage raised to 180
• Reload Speeds increased to 30/45/60
• Accuracy Lowered to 40%

Laser Cannon- This would have won worst craft weapon, but you can sell it for profit. Laser weapons are now super accurate yet weak (UFO:AI's idea really). Lasers are now Instant-fire weapons and thus nearly impossible to dodge

• Intended to give continuous reliable damage at a safe distance. The charge up time is its biggest limitation
• Damage raised to 50
• Range raised to 50
• Accuracy Raised to 90%

Plasma Cannon- Everyone's go-to weapon in x-com. I didn't want to nerf it really, but I do want to give it its own tactical flavor. Here plasma is brought back to reality. It's firing accelerated goblets of plasma. Far faster then hard munitions, but nowhere near laser-speed.

• Intended to be a super-cannon. Rapid-firing bullets that actually hurt.
• Damage lowered to 90
• Range lowered to 25
• Accuracy Raised to 75%
• Reload speed increased to 4

Fusion Ball Launcher- Fusion dud more like it. I think this piece needed more bite, and more random fun. It represents the development of successful UFO tracking systems which marks the return of self-guided projectiles.

• Intended to put craters in the moon.
• Damage raised to 320
• Accuracy Lowered to 75%
• Reload speed increased to 30/45/60
• Ammo increased to 3

Then I changed some of the X-com Strike craft a little wee bit. I haven't decided on exact numbers quite yet. Need to blow more stuff up.

Heavy fighter added to the game. Short-range slow flighter with better armor. Basically its the vanilla mod with 300 armor rather then 500.

• Ideal loadout- twin cannons

Interceptor now with more fuel. tribute to saracen idea from invasion. Fast hit-and run craft.

• Ideal loadout- Stingrays or avalanches

firestorm Hit points reduced a little. Now the fastest craft in the game. because Avenger supercraft is BS

• Ideal loadout- Lasers, or fusion- big risks at plasma range now.

Lightning Speed increased, second fastest craft. More hitpoints, more range. It's now designed to be the anvil in dogfights, though it could make a light long-range fighter as well.

• Ideal Loadout- Plasma

Avenger  Max Speed decreased to slightly above the old lightning. More hitpoints. With alien armor perfected the trend to take the hits rather then dodge them becomes the safer route.

• Ideal Loadout- any, general purpose craft

I'm still working on the infantry weapons
but the jiist of it is about making lasers light, super-accurate weapons with no auto fire and rebalancing all weapons so that the pistol/rifle/heavy classes each has a distinct purpose. I've done this, but I'm still testing the numbers.


Good/bad? Tell me what you think is out of balance or should be changed.

[Align]

Been thinking much the same. It's hard, though.
I'm not sure there's a way to get the regular cannon used without heavily buffing it or nerfing the other starter weapons; even if it is the most capable, you can't really afford the risk of losing a fighter that early on, so you're always going to pick the other two for their longer range...

[wsmithjr]

I like your ideas.  I've been working on something similar.  In regards to X-Com aircraft and weapons, I'm still trying to figure them out.  Don't like that the Plasma Cannon is an uber-weapon that can only be challenged by a battleship.  Your method is interesting ... don't know if I wanted *that* short a range, though.   I've also thought about requiring Elerium to refuel the Plasma Canons, thus balancing it's uber status with a significant cost.

Part of my issue is that I don't like that both medium UFOs have a lower range than the Small Scout.  They should be harder to take down, not easier.  Maybe I'm stuck with our Navy concept that the bigger ships carry the bigger guns.  So, I'm trying to decide on a scheme for the UFOs and then adjust the X-com armaments to balance them.

I've also wanted to make the Laser Canon a viable weapon.  I wonder if making it's range 50 so that only a battleship can touch a craft armed with it, makes it too uber of a weapon, though.  I think the Terror Ship should also be much more dangerous regardless of the weapon loadout

As far as X-com infantry weapons, I like what Xcomutil did with lasers, keeping them basically the same, but making them much more expensive to create.  I've modded mine to require 1 Elerium to build a laser rifle (and also the requirement to research Elerium first so it takes longer to get them) and then Heavy Lasers required 2 Elerium and 4 Alien Alloys (again, research required).  With the ranged accuracy option turned on, I think you need a dedicated sniper rifle and so have turned the Heavy Laser into a Sniper Rifle.  The "heavy" fits the concept to me as it's hard to slow to use, but packs quite a punch, similar to a 50-cal sniper rifle.  (Not that I've ever fired one.   I'd almost want to make the Laser weapons the automatic fast-firing weapons (except Heavy) and make the Plasmas the slower more powerful ... but don't want to nerf the alien offense in the process.  Like the other laser weapons, the Laser Canon also requires Elerium and Alien Alloy to build, those making it pointless to use them to manufacture millions of dollars for X-com.

Thanks for the post.  Would be interested to hear further ideas you come up with.