The next smallest class is the OPistol class. Unfortunately they are a mess because some have weights higher than AR's (?), some are in oddball places stat wise, MP changes to a couple have made them sniper rifles in disguise, and some are just probably overpowered. Place your bets for which category each are in...
PredatorWt 0.5-0.2
Dmg 58.8-73.5 semiauto
Clip 15
Cap 90-112
Burst dps 490-612
MC RC dps 403-503
I think this isn't too bad honestly. The issue is to get the stat numbers you have to click like a madman. It is a basic, light weapon that can be ok against armor with the correct upgrades.
PhalanxWt 0.6-0.25
Dmg 114.8-143.5 semiauto
Clip 12
Cap 72-90
Burst dps 478-598
MC RC dps 370-463
This is the start of a trend towards more damage per shot, but worse paper DPS than the Predator. Unfortunately Phalanx is the biggest loser since it is in a no man's land between good paper DPS and good single shot damage. In a way this is more ME2 Carnifex than ME2 Phalanx, but nevermid that. It is acquired earlier than Carnifex, but several missions later than you can get Paladin. Personally I am sort of at a loss of what to do with it... the main issue being that most of the pistols function similarly anyway so if you manipulate one with just higer stats, you end up making it a copy of another one. There is the good old headshot modifier, which could be induced to make this a better mook gun than Carni/Paladin.
Arc PistolWt 1.1-0.6
Dmg 77.2-96.5, charge mechanic (694.8-868.5 max - ie base x9)
Clip 18
Cap 72-90
Burst dps 708-884
MC RC dps 496-620
I think this weapon is overpowered. To be honest I would have to mess with math to figure out what is the best way to charge to get the higest burst, but in reality the best way to fire it is full 1s charge each time for burst dps of 867... this has the highest ammo efficiency and will one-shot a variety of units. This is a prime example of a weapon with odd mechanics that was underused and therefore got MP buffs, despite being pretty good with a "Thor multiplier" of just 2. I find it a bit trickier to use than some weapons (bc it is harder for me to precision aim holding left mouse), but once you get it... Heavy Barrel and Extended map w/ weaking or piercing can "one-clip" any target, although it will take a while to fire the clip of 32.
CarnifexWt 1.2-0.7
Dmg 276.1-345.1 semiauto
Clip 6
Cap 30-40
Burst dps 460-575
MC RC dps 495-620
I can't remember the last time I used this in SP, and the only reason to use it in MP is the challenge points. It is outclassed by the buffed Arc Pistol and Paladin, and also the Talon. Granted that's tough competition.
This is supposed to follow the "magnum" archetype from any shooter ever made. The biggest problem is that you get it after Citadel Coup at which point you could have used the Paladin for an entire story arc.
PaladinWt 1.0-0.7
Dmg 424.9-531.1
Clip 3
Cap 21-33
Burst dps 708-885
MC RC dps 483-604
Basically you can get this before any other pistol outside the Predator. I really think turning it into a mini-Black Widow was the wrong move to make it different than the Carnifex, but that is what they did to it. It has a narrower weight range due to UR status in MP. Fortunately Black Widow got a major buff subsequently, but Paladin is still a force.
I think 3 shot capacity is goofy on a pistol. In SP it is worthwhile to throw on capacity mod to get 5. Pretty good weapon with Marksman...
ScorpionWt 1.1-0.6
Dmg 375.2-469 semiauto
Clip 4
Cap 20-30
Burst dps 500-625
MC RC dps 391-488
Really a pocket CC should not do this much damage. Especially considering that SP is basically mainly mook tier enemies that can all get stagger locked hard by this weapon if used correctly. Also available relatively early (Sur'Kesh), the only pistols available earlier are Predator and Paladin.
TalonWt 0.9-0.6
Dmg 93.7-117.1, semiauto pellet based (562-703 max per shot)
Clip 4
Cap 24-36
Burst dps 703-878
MC RC dps 557-696
1.5x innate shield / barrier multiplier*
This gun is overpowered. Especially on classes that can cheese CQB (Vanguard, Sentinel), damage (Soldier, Infiltrator), or need protection stripping damage with fast cooldowns (Adept, Engineer). So everyone basically.
***
The big trick is making the pistol class relevant, differentiating them from each other, while not watering them down so far as to become irrelevant.
History lesson: In ME1 you got best weapon dps via Marksman, and interestingly enough every class could spec into it in some form or another. In ME2, pistols mainly were good for armor stripping, while being somewhat average against mooks.
One way you could move them relative to SMG's into anti-armor, mediocre v mook is raising base damage and lowering HS multiplier. That would of course have the side effect of making them "easier" to use than SMG's vs mooks, and you could argue that punishes "skill," or at least does not reward.
Personally I think the feel is mainly a mess for this class anyway, so I do not think that modifying some weapons to feel different is necessarily a bad thing as long as in the end they are balanced and each has some sort of niche.
Modifié par capn233, 27 juillet 2013 - 05:01 .