Weapon Tiers

[Fenoxo]

Some folks have griped that they don't have a good enough feel for what's rattling around in the old Fen-noggin, so I wanted to share some notes I had on what I call "item tiers". Now obviously there are exceptions to this, but this is the sort of thing I try to keep in mind when coming up with new weapons for planets (or when shitting on other people's ideas). Hopefully this will give you guys a better idea of what I'm thinking.


In general, I estimate their are three tiers of equipment types. They are as follows (I've included examples of ranged weaponry for players/ships):

• (Lv 1-8) Civilian - Modern-style firearms and ship weapons, laser weapons, and the like. Obviously we have a few outliers like the "Electrogun" but they're still generally skinned as normal civilian tech. Another example would be the short-range microwave weapon being designed for ship combat.
  
• (Lv 8ish to 15) Military - Coil(Gauss) Guns, Railguns, Plasma weapons, Gravity-based Weaponry, and other High-Tech, refined weaponry. Again, those are the broad strokes, the most common options, but other things may fall into this category.
  
• (Lv 15 to 20ish) Prototype - The crazy shit. Tachyon Energy Beams. Neutron Blasts. Teleported Munitions, Psi-Guided Shockwave Shells, etc.
  

Obviously not every type of item will have as dramatic a progression - shields will probably just be higher numbers for the most part. Power Armor could start make an appearance at the Military Tier.


Also, on the topic of teleportation technology - I do intend to have it make an appearance late-game, though I haven't got the exact method of its reveal worked out yet. I know that it won't be a U.G.C. invention.

 

[Zavos]

Why kill the mystery?


Let teleportation be psi based and have a fully functional technology that none of the core scientists fully understand.  :shibe:


I feel like Emmy would be highest tier civilian weapons, but Anno carries military marketed stuffs.  Maybe they should be dumbed down to civilian variants of military tech.  

 

[Krynh]

Micro-singularity guns for lvl 20. 

 

[Ethereal Dragon]

Fantasy Foundry when? =3

 

[MESeele]

Mhen'ga Carl's description makes it blatantly obvious (he might even outright state it) that the ZK Rifle is a railgun. A railgun available on the first planet as soon as lv1-2. It always seemed out of place to me, but more so now. If you do have tiers in mind, this might use some tweaking.


Btw, is customization still a possibility, or was it dropped? (this assuming what I read wasn't merely fan discussion on some thread...it's been awhile)

 

[The Observer]

Mhen'ga Carl's description makes it blatantly obvious (he might even outright state it) that the ZK Rifle is a railgun. A railgun available on the first planet as soon as lv1-2. It always seemed out of place to me, but more so now. If you do have tiers in mind, this might use some tweaking.


Btw, is customization still a possibility, or was it dropped? (this assuming what I read wasn't merely fan discussion on some thread...it's been awhile)

Ted had no idea of weapon tiers when he wrote Carl, hence he made the ZK what he thought was endgame tier.

 

[Couch]

Mhen'ga Carl's description makes it blatantly obvious (he might even outright state it) that the ZK Rifle is a railgun. A railgun available on the first planet as soon as lv1-2. It always seemed out of place to me, but more so now. If you do have tiers in mind, this might use some tweaking.

At the time the impression some had was that weapons would work more like CoC where you had one shop in the whole game that sold the only weapons you'd ever need, so you'd be using the ZK Rifle for the entire game.

Btw, is customization still a possibility, or was it dropped? (this assuming what I read wasn't merely fan discussion on some thread...it's been awhile)

Maybe, depending on what you're thinking of.  If you mean "can I buy a stock for my gun", then no unless it's an Accessory.  If you mean "can I make a weapon look like a different weapon"...maybe.  We'll see.

 

[K367]

*murder-boner and sadistic smirk intensifies 


What about the melee weapons though? Can we expect/submit some WH40k-shit like psychic force blades, mono-molecular edges, and matter disrupters for the higher tiers?


Also, maybe the prototype tech can have serious flaws that you have to plan around in order to add an extra level of strategy to late game combat. 

 

[Klaptrap]

So there isn't going to be any faffing about with weapon classes and masteries, right? It sounds like there won't be, but I'd like it to be clear.

 

[Ethereal Dragon]

*murder-boner and sadistic smirk intensifies 


What about the melee weapons though? Can we expect/submit some WH40k-shit like psychic force blades, mono-molecular edges, and matter disrupters for the higher tiers?


Also, maybe the prototype tech can have serious flaws that you have to plan around in order to add an extra level of strategy to late game combat. 

Blizzard Starcraft Universe psi-blades! :radcad:

 

[Noob Salad]

Goo Blades when

 

[Xeivous]

Well that is helpful.


Also is it possible for a weapon, or really any gear now that I think about it, to take up more than one equipment slot in TITS?

 

[FrankenApple]

Well that is helpful.


Also is it possible for a weapon, or really any gear now that I think about it, to take up more than one equipment slot in TITS?

A helmet that doubles as a weapon or.. what exactly?

 

[Xeivous]

A helmet that doubles as a weapon or.. what exactly?

In the context of this thread, I was thinking more along the lines of "weapon that is too big to carry a second weapon with or one that can act as both a ranged weapon and a melee weapon, like a rifle with a bayonette."

 

[FrankenApple]

In the context of this thread, I was thinking more along the lines of "weapon that is too big to carry a second weapon with or one that can act as both a ranged weapon and a melee weapon, like a rifle with a bayonette."

As much as I'd love to have gunblades, multi-slot items would limit your utility very severely. If multi-slot items do happen however... mankinis.

 

[Xeivous]

As much as I'd love to have gunblades, multi-slot items would limit your utility very severely. If multi-slot items do happen however... mankinis.

That's the point of multi slot items. It's a tradeoff.

 

[FrankenApple]

That's the point of multi slot items. It's a tradeoff.

So you're willing to sacrifice efficiency and utility for a bit of fluff and potential disadvantages? What happens if in the future we get some sort of enemies that disable one of your weapons? Can you still use the other part of your multi-weapon or are both of them disabled at once because they are one weapon?

 

[Fenoxo]

We do not currently have tech for an item occupying multiple slots. Nor does it really make sense when you can just sheath whatever it is and draw your gun (or sling your bazooka over your back and pull out a sword).

 

[Xeivous]

Fair enough. Though I was more concerned about being able to have weapons that are capable of both melee and ranged capabilities like a rifle with a bayonette. Also I'm not entirely sure that just putting away your weapon would work for weapons of pic related size.

 

[Fenoxo]

Bayonets are probably not going to make an appearance, nor Gunblades that function at range.

 

[Nik_van_Rijn]

I feel like Emmy would be highest tier civilian weapons, but Anno carries military marketed stuffs.  Maybe they should be dumbed down to civilian variants of military tech.  

I could swear that I had brought this exact issue to @Savin's attention some time ago and after that heard that it was fixed. Same as with ZK Rifle, this is a relict of dark times when there wasn't supposed to be many weapons total.

 

[Fenoxo]

Also, in regards to heavy weapons - Yup! I think the plan is to have them bring other penalties unless you have some sort of power armor. Though in that scenario, you'd probably have a sling or something for it.

 

[Zavos]

Idea: If either weapon your using is a heavy weapon, after the first attack to use the other weapon you need to spend a turn swapping weapons.  using two heavy weapons carries an accuracy debuff.   

 

[Couch]

I imagine the primary issue with using heavy weapons without appropriate armor is being able to aim them with any sort of accuracy.  Depending on how heavy is heavy, you might also institute a chance of tripping yourself due to recoil.


Switching shouldn't be an issue.  It's the future, I can imagine having a simple mechanical arm attached to the butt of your bazooka to stow the thing when you let go of it.

 

[Xeivous]

Maybe you could drop the weapon to quickly switch to your backup?

 

[Zavos]

In some fights, such as Grey Prime round three or deep queen, that would likely result in loosing said weapon.  

 

[machiavellianFictionist]

Are you saying Emmy's Lava Saber isn't endgame?


Also, I think we could use a bit more versatility and perhaps synergy in weapons. Like, something to justify that Smuggler perk that lets you switch weapons without using your turn.

 

[Couch]

Are you saying Emmy's Lava Saber isn't endgame?

We're less than halfway through the game, so no.

Also, I think we could use a bit more versatility and perhaps synergy in weapons. Like, something to justify that Smuggler perk that lets you switch weapons without using your turn.

We're starting to get that, but there's limits to how synergistic different weapons can be.

 

[machiavellianFictionist]

It just occurred to me, since Emmy is so good at modding gear, maybe we could give her higher tier weapons for upgrading, if not the same weapons she gives us? Like, we could reach a certain level and go on a quest to find specific materials then wait around for a couple days and finally receive our ultimate plasma sabre or whatever. Maybe different options depending on the gathered items?

 

[Veilwolf]

There are so many new weapons I'm gonna need bigger storage space to store them all on my ship...