What do I mean by heavy weapons? I mean weapons labelled with Power Armor that require a certain level of physique attached. Saurmorian Chaingun, Saurmorian Hammer, Chaingun, Aegis Light Machinegun, and Chainlaser. So far as I am aware these are the only weapons with a stat requirement, which is not inherently a bad thing! But there should be some touchups I feel to reflect this!
First and foremost, the physique requirement should be placed -on the weapon's stats-. Right now you walk up to Kattom, see a powerful weapon, buy it, and whoops. You can't use it for anywhere from 4-2 levels I'd guess?
You kick a Juggurnaut's butt and take his massive gun, getting ready to blast the boss with your new heavy artillery! Whoops, you can't use it until level 8 with capped physique despite the dungeon unlocking at 6.
Second, perhaps make the stat requirements more variable? It seems a bit absurd that different weapons with different capabilities and weights require the same physique. So far as I am aware Saurmorian weapons and the basic Chaingun/laser have the same physique requirements. Perhaps make the basic Chaingun 30 or 35 and nerf its damage so it's visibly weaker than the next weapon, the Aegislight which could be fine at 35-40, and since the Saurmorian Chaingun is god-awfully powerful either make it 45-50, or ABOVE the currently possible cap so that the Mercenary perk "Bigger Guns" is more useful.
That would just be a bandage on my next point though, the trait Bigger Guns is kinda pointless. By the time you -get- the perk you've had the physique cap requirement for -two levels-. Going forward in the game, I honestly cannot see it being something that helps you unless there are some very interesting weapon plans that are fuckoff massive and, again, require more than the cap in stats. Plus as soon as we get power armor, the perk entirely vanishes into being a waste of a perk point, and if you aren't a melee specialist or -really- want to hit flying enemies, there is no winning option.
What I would suggest is pushing the Bigger Guns perk backwards some levels so that it's actually relevant to the weapons available now, or reworking the trait entirely so it's similar to Low Tech Solutions, a buff when a specific weapontype is equipped. Example, if using items with the Power Armor tag, grant 10%(placeholder) fortification or something to reflect the sheer -weight-. You are not gonna get knocked back while holding one of these easily. This could also apply to Power Armor and reflect our character's mercenary training so they use power armor and related weapons with more efficiency than the other jobs. This would be my preference but meh.
Going off on a bit of a tangent here but more fortification sounds good for the Mercenary style to me as well. Tech Specialists focus on shields, smugglers evasion and finesse, mercenaries should be tanky in my mind, able to take a hit without their shields to compensate for the lower evasion and shields!
I'm open of course to suggestions and being wrong, but all the same here are my thoughts! Thank you for reading!
First and foremost, the physique requirement should be placed -on the weapon's stats-. Right now you walk up to Kattom, see a powerful weapon, buy it, and whoops. You can't use it for anywhere from 4-2 levels I'd guess?
You kick a Juggurnaut's butt and take his massive gun, getting ready to blast the boss with your new heavy artillery! Whoops, you can't use it until level 8 with capped physique despite the dungeon unlocking at 6.
Second, perhaps make the stat requirements more variable? It seems a bit absurd that different weapons with different capabilities and weights require the same physique. So far as I am aware Saurmorian weapons and the basic Chaingun/laser have the same physique requirements. Perhaps make the basic Chaingun 30 or 35 and nerf its damage so it's visibly weaker than the next weapon, the Aegislight which could be fine at 35-40, and since the Saurmorian Chaingun is god-awfully powerful either make it 45-50, or ABOVE the currently possible cap so that the Mercenary perk "Bigger Guns" is more useful.
That would just be a bandage on my next point though, the trait Bigger Guns is kinda pointless. By the time you -get- the perk you've had the physique cap requirement for -two levels-. Going forward in the game, I honestly cannot see it being something that helps you unless there are some very interesting weapon plans that are fuckoff massive and, again, require more than the cap in stats. Plus as soon as we get power armor, the perk entirely vanishes into being a waste of a perk point, and if you aren't a melee specialist or -really- want to hit flying enemies, there is no winning option.
What I would suggest is pushing the Bigger Guns perk backwards some levels so that it's actually relevant to the weapons available now, or reworking the trait entirely so it's similar to Low Tech Solutions, a buff when a specific weapontype is equipped. Example, if using items with the Power Armor tag, grant 10%(placeholder) fortification or something to reflect the sheer -weight-. You are not gonna get knocked back while holding one of these easily. This could also apply to Power Armor and reflect our character's mercenary training so they use power armor and related weapons with more efficiency than the other jobs. This would be my preference but meh.
Going off on a bit of a tangent here but more fortification sounds good for the Mercenary style to me as well. Tech Specialists focus on shields, smugglers evasion and finesse, mercenaries should be tanky in my mind, able to take a hit without their shields to compensate for the lower evasion and shields!
I'm open of course to suggestions and being wrong, but all the same here are my thoughts! Thank you for reading!
