Buff the UFO Boss Maybe? Also Guns Need to be Looked at

Good to know that there's some overflow from the call of duty kiddies community into starbound... sigh

 

It happens. But this is a great debate so far. Everyone is in a nice orderly fashion providing their points and counterpoint. Only one overly obnoxious guy ATM. Let's keep it that way people.

Stay classy!

 

I dunno, I found a badass skullcrusher axe (the one that spits out bones) and it pretty much made me untouchable. That being said, boss 1 was easy, but I had also prepped with the best armor I could at the time and hurled a few plasma nades. I have not tried the robot since the latest patch, but I suspect it will be fairly easy due to the awesome armor I was able to craft. Found enough matter blocks for a makeshift chest piece. Very little hurts me any more.

First boss is fine though. It should be easy. If I had not looked online or been playing the beta for a week I would have not been prepared and gotten destroyed.

 

All ranged weapons are glitchy and unreliable. They are also underpowered (in T1 and T2 anyway, haven't found any in T3+). The only way they could nerf them more is to have them shoot backwards.

 

Or simply increase the sniper's energy cost to fit the costs of other weapons. Or find a balance between energy and power, buffing the other guns' damage while ever slightly increasing the sniper energy cost per shot.

 

Yes, I agree the guns should have more balanced energy cost. I mean, that's supposed to be the downside to using them, right? You're using energy that could be used for your techs.

 

If the developers really want to break your balls about the topic of my OP, they can outright forbid access to guns well until T5 or something too. I mean as it stands, guns are pretty high up in terms of techological advancement (not to mention power) and you started the game having to revert back to using primitive technology and slowly working up from tier to tier. Move from a bow to a crossbow, then finally allow access to guns.

 

The energy costs for sniper rifles seems fine (their attack rate is so slow that I don't run out of energy)
It's their glitches (or is it a feature?) that make me avoid them.
All ranged weapons have the same problem: minimum range. If an enemy gets too close, you cant shoot them. The sniper rifle in particular is obnoxious with it's extra long barrel.
Add to that the fact that the hit box on a procedurally generated opponent is all messed up on upright bipedal enemies, and this slow firing weapon is a recipe for death.
Having said all that, the sniper rifle isn't a bad weapon against the penguin saucer or the bone dragon. But since you are suggesting a buff to the penguin saucer, then the sniper rifle is (probably?) fine as it is.

 

I'm still waiting for my OP catapult so I can 1-shot the UFO when he shows up with a medeival sneakattack. Trebuchets at the ready!!!

 

Why are you trying to use a sniper rifle in close combat? I don't see that working in anything but over-hyped FPS games.

 

No class! I would've went with a ballista.

 

No, but the way they're balanced they may as well be. Look, you're judging the encounter by having the bleeding edge gear available to the tier. That's not what most bosses should be balanced around except maybe towards the end of the progression chain. Asking people to planet hop potentially hundreds of times or look up the coordinates to a high grade seller of weapons isn't going to foster a healthy game play habit in Starbound. When people have to look to outside sources to beat "level 1" the game is asking for too much to get past the tutorial stage. Further, people will learn to cheese the encounter out of necessity if it demands too much. No, you can't attack through walls anymore. It also isn't going to fit through a 3 block tall gap.

 

A ballista? THINK QUANTITY BOY!
Lets stop this off topicness now.

 

Then the answer is simple: Nerf the sniper rifle! Don't lower the damage or its knockback power, but increase the energy it takes to fire. Make it to the point that it consumes more energy per shot than you can regenerate, like the rest of the guns. This will keep you from simply strafing and holding the button down till the target is dead, as you also need to make sure you still have energy to use tech for those 'oh shit' moments.

 

^This
Though I think it should only be that way up until mid to late game. At that point you should only be worried about energy if you're spamming a tech at the same time.

 

Okay, while the sniper rifle DOES need a nerf, two questions...

1. Why can't you gimp yourself or just NOT approach a boss 100% pimped out?

2. How does someone else's ease of success effect you?

 

1. Same reason why people don't put a little more effort into pimping themselves out: Don't want to, or simply don't feel they should have to.
2. Because their ease of success is forced upon others who feel the ease of success should have its bar raised. People with minimal gear can take on a boss and win. Meanwhile, people who thrive for the best continue to discover their efforts were worthless when they learn they don't need to get the best stuff to progress which only winds up becoming obsolete the next tier up anyway.

 

I highly doubt the devs even looked at guns yet, though I think they're going to start balancing them out in the next patch, so I'll just give my two cents here.

• Right now, Snipers deal WAY too much damage for their energy cost (which is the equivalent of a pistol). Their cost has to be ramped up considerably.

• Slower pistols are fine as is. Maybe their energy cost should be raised as another trade-off for power.

• All automatic weapons are fairly lackluster due to their damage:energy cost ratio. This could be helped by lowering the rate at which they consume energy, which means either lowering the cost per shot or creating a sort of "burst fire" mechanic where energy is only consumed after firing off several shots.

• Shotguns are just flat out terrible and need a bit of an overhaul. Their energy per shot is ridiculously high and their damage output is terrible. I don't want to waste 80+ energy on something that might deal 24 damage if EVERY pellet hits (old damage system numbers). The damage per pellet needs to be increased and the energy cost needs to be reduced.

 

This logic is fubared. Get over it. It's the early game. People shouldn't have to pimp themselves out to get through the earliest content. That's like telling people they should have to grind out their home planet until they've obtained a diamond pick axe and farmed up plutonium before they can even think of leaving. If YOU feel cheated, this is an issue with YOU. You're seeking to qualify where others will fail for your own deluded sense of accomplishment. Stop. No one gives a $#!%, and you are far from being the bar everyone should have to meet.

This isn't a game entirely about racing to the final tier and then going "now what." We can build $#!% if we want to, and unfortunately a lot of non-armor/weapon recipes and planet types are locked behind this tiered progression (big ****ing mistake IMO.) No, you do not get to dictate that this game should require hardcore commitment or coordinate lookup (read: akin to cheating to some people) to get past stage one. Or even the next few stages for that matter. This thread's suggestion is just not good for the game, period. If you want a challenge, go f***ing hardmode. If you want it easy, bust your butt (or coordinate look up) to get all the OP stuff in the tier. However, don't come complaining when you do the latter expecting the former. No one cares to acknowledge your commitment to finding the best stuff, nor your skill in beating anything. This game isn't built for the 1%. No game is.

 

Here's my opinion, imagine like a book, it needs to have a good easy to follow into in order for people to get hooked. This goes the same for a game. It needs to have a solid beginning for noobs and a very hard end for the people looking for a challenge. I think the UFO is ok as it is. Just my opinion.