(minor suggestion) Assault Gauss

[APCs r evil]

Why is assault Gauss so weak vs. light armor targets? It looks like it would do at least two times more damage to light armor than it does now, and I realize that the long range (180m) and the heavy armor damage are worth the ammo cost but it just doesn't seem to be worth it vs. light armor, especially since a Gauss Guardian only has 25 shots, (it takes 5 to destroy an ISDF scout, but I'm not sure if they have light armor or no armor) and why not give it a little splash damage along the path that it travels (like Pulse Stab but the whole path not just a few points along the path) and one more thing, why does the ground impact effect look so much like blast, personnaly I think just the little puff of smoke and a tiny area of blue discoloration would work just fine.

P.S. These are just a few thoughts I've had, no big deal.

[Jwk the Hemp Monkey]

Good points. Esp the 'ground hit affect '. I always thought it was odd as well. Looks really ugly on maps with high-clifs as well (the current effect).

With reguards to damage values? The scions are the kind of race that make weapons like that. Ion gun is their anti-scout weapon. The Gauss is ment to be anti-heavy....and light...sort of (e.g. a sabre)
Scouts have N armour...none.

[APCs r evil]

The Gauss is ment to be anti heavy....and light...sort of (e.g. a sabre)

Neither Ion or Gauss are exceptionally effective vs. light armor. I'd say it takes about ten seconds to kill a Sabre with Ion 2 or Gauss.

[Jwk the Hemp Monkey]

Thats what Arc (from spires) is for

[DarkFox]

Iongun2 does about as much as chaingun to light armour, which is a *lot*

Assault gauss is certainly nothing to be scoffed at. It might be less powerful than chaingun against buildings (66% as powerful as chaingun), but it's *miles* longer range, and travels instantly, making it an effective scion weapon against ISDF mortars, blast cannons if you're getting beaten in the tech war, turrets, and even towers.

Turrets with gauss break an unwritten 'rule' of battlezone strategy - turrets have no more than 150m range. Gauss turrets *do* have this, and that alone is often enough to surprise an enemy player into getting killed. An armour-penetrating, instant-hit, long-range weapon, that may not do as much damage to none and light armour as blast, but contains far more ammo, and is available much earlier in the tech tree...

I could rave about gauss all day. It's an incredible weapon, and needs no improvements.

[Red Devil]

I like to use an arc of 10 gauss turrets at each entrance to keep a base penned up, so I can go eat.

[APCs r evil]

Okay DF got a few things to say to ya... (1) I'm not saying Gauss NEEDS to be changed just suggesting.(2)What happened to your old avatar? (3) WTH is that thing in your new avatar?

[DarkFox]

The assault gaus is indeed ok, just a suggestiong, ya.

My old avatar will be back as soon as I get bored of this one.

My new avatar is a pkunk - a race spurted off the yehats in a great old game called star control 2.

[Zero Angel]

Gauss works good against absorb shielding too.

Combat gauss would be a good weapon if it wasnt so heavy on ammo.

[DarkFox]

Combat gauss is an incredible weapon as it is.
Yes, I said incredible - not good, not 'worth using sometimes', not 'ok'. It is *incredible*.

[BZZERKER]

Soooo, I should take that to mean that you like combat gauss?

[technoid]

Maybe DF needs some degaussing.  

[PhoeniX-FlamE]

DF is totaly right.... although its hardly being used, i mean - most people dont fight morphed with a warior

[Angstromicus]

I'd think combat gauss needs slight improvments in ammo consumption. Plasma cannon is even better than this weapon in combat. Is it good for taking out stuff at long range? Can't you just morph and use it?

[DarkFox]

This discussion has moved on to combat gauss now. Combat gauss is far superior to assault gauss. Hell, it's far superior to chaingun IMO. A bug with alternate fire weapons in 1.2 means it's hard to see just how much damage the gauss gun is putting out, but every half a second or so their energy bar will update and you'll realise how hard you're hitting them. It has naff ammo consumption, yes, but that's it's *only* weakness. Besides the ammo consumption, it's a kind of instant-hit, longer-range chaingun. It's amazing for chasing people who are running, and the instant-travel time make it *so* switch-friendly with the arc cannon that the warrior is something of a monster with arc/gauss.
As a commander I actually use sonic/emp, but I always give my thugs arc/gauss warriors, and the number of enemy tanks and scouts they take down gets silly most games.