So, after playing around with various weapons a bit, I've noticed that there seems to be a large discrepancy between the damage output of Guns vs Swords/Bombs.
I'm not talking about a small or even moderate amount either, the difference is like night and day. ~10 damage per hit with zero star gun vs 20 damage per hit for zero star sword, so about double at tier zero. Then at tier two of Alchemer vs Calibur, its ~20 vs 60 per hit, nevermind that the swords in both cases have a faster attack rate so the DPS (Damager per second) difference is larger than it seems at first glance. Sword is now over triple that of equal gun level, and I honestly can't see it getting much better unless someone who's reached the higher gear levels can vouch for it.
Now I do understand that there are advantages to staying at range (i.e. it's safer), so it is expected that the higher reward would go to the sword user for taking a higher risk, but I really cannot see why there is such a gaping difference in damage.
I'd also like to point out that guns already have some large disadvantages already, even when you ignore their damage output.
- There are many enemies (like wolves, gremlins and imps) that will matrix dodge a large number of your bullets. I've even seen some gremlins matrix dodge a bullet by sliding across the floor after they were knocked down, although that could just be lag. This further compounds their already low damage potential.
- Some guns require you to be stationary while firing. Huge disadvantage in a game like this.
- You move slower when building/holding a charge with a gun vs a sword/bomb.
- Completing your attack chain with a sword gives you a high chance of interrupt/knockback of enemies (benefit). Completing your attack chain with a gun puts you in a "reload" animation that slows your movement for 1.5 seconds (penalty) and disables use of block/items for the duration of the animation (penalty). I've had to get used to shooting max shots - 1 and letting the counter reset just so I can avoid the "reload" animation.
So, I guess the point of this post is, is the current place of guns where you want it to be or not. Do you even realise the huge discrepancy between other weapons vs guns? With such a large damage difference how do you intend on being able to balance the health of monsters for both sword AND guns without making one overpowered and the other underpowered?
Some suggestions (Using same tier swords as a basis for balancing):
- Make guns usable in the shield slot. Dual pistols for higher damage but you lose ability to block and any defensive benefits the shield had. Target DPS with this would be ~100-120% of same tier sword to counter the large loss of defensive stats and that there are many mobs who dodge bullets. Possibly requires large code changes so more expensive to implement.
- OR -
- Keep it as it currently is but increase the damage for guns across the board. Target DPS would be ~70-80% of same tier sword.
- OR -
- Replace the normal shots of guns with their "charged" attack. This would add make guns more interesting and offer unique advantages based on the type of gun used. Target DPS when used in ideal situations would be ~100-120% of same tier sword, but when used in non-ideal situations ~70-80%.
tl;dr - Guns are currently underperforming vs other weapons. I think guns need to be rebalanced or changed.
I agree, I normal like playing range characters but In spiral knights I have noticed its to underpowered and I rarely bother using guns. I use them only in certain situations where there more beneficial then the sword. In most combat the sword is more effective. I would like to use guns as a main weapon.