-AEnubis- said:
As is, both (LG) and shock are too powerful.
Nah, weapon balance in UT2k4 is the best I've seen yet. It's true they're the best guns in the game, but the disparity ain't that much.
Compare the shock and LG to rox and flak.
First of all, shock and LG get owned by the shieldgun... LG is absorbed, shock is actually reflected. Many's the time I've hoisted the shield in a spawnraping shock ho's face only to be met with visible confusion as his shots come back at him... a lot of times, the guy will actually stop shooting for a few seconds while considering what the hell to do now. Pretty funny, says I. Flak primary, however, carves right through the shield and flak secondary and rox simply go around. Against a shieldwhoring EFC, rox and flak are my choice every time.
Vehicles: air vehicles definitely want the hitscan weapons because they're so fast... and I'll admit that shock's ability to push vehicles is a little unfair. Against heavier ground vehicles, however, flak and rox will make things go much quicker for you.
When you're going mano- e- mano, it's painfully obvious: hitscan weapons have the advantage at range but the spamguns rule cqb. If flak can outthink LG for 5 seconds he can score the frag. If he can't, he's toast.
Shock combo: slower ball = closer effective range. Slower ball also = easier dodge. At midrange, throw rox at Mr. Shock Ho's feet and he'll be too busy dodging you to combo except by luck. In the meantime, you're doing damage and he's not, while at the same time you're advancing and he's retreating. Wait for him to lodge on an outcropping and finish the poor bastidge.
You can make it on hitscan weapons alone in exactly one place: DM-Asbestos' upper floor. The central corridor is a tool which anybody can use to tear spammers to shreds, and that's what makes that map crazy... gimmick 100a jump be damned.
The narrower choke on the UE2 flak gives it a surprising amount of range, let's not forget.
The shock rifle has an oft- forgot spam component: you can hurl a ton of shock balls willy- nilly at a closing opponent, and it's dangerous as all hell. But most shockwhores never do that. Why? Because it doesn't fit in with the hitscan whoring mentality... it's "lame" to those guys. Balls are for combos, and that's it. If you can remember to spam the secondary, shock is just crazy powerful... but then, it's pretty much THE Unreal Tournament signature weapon. It's the gun no other game has, and as such it's got a right to be a cut above IMO. If you think it'll be put in a wheelchair for the next UT, think again.
And then you've got the outsiders: pulse and goo. They've both got a surprisingly deadly spam component, and goo has the hilarious alt- fire that nobody in their right mind laughs at... well, they wouldn't if they could help themselves. Anyway, when you see one of those guns come out you most likely instantly think, "n00b." Alas, that's not always the case. Those guns are always discounted and therefore always dangerous.
In short, the guys at Epic seem to have the weapon- balance thing pretty well down-pat by now. I'd be full- well interested to see a hitscan- only vs. projectile- only 1v1, and no I wouldn't be placing a bet. Next UT? Who knows... I'm pretty sure it'll be good, though.
*edit* Oh yeah, then you've got the BS kill. You know the one, there's some wiseacre camping on a pillar somewhere and he cops the headshot on you when you think the coast is clear and you're not dodging. Well, fine... you've also got that #$%@ n00b who runs face- first into you around a corner and smacks you with 100% of a flak burst. The cheese all evens out as well.
