The latest update brought in a whole host of new and exciting weapons and armor, including expanded upgrade trees for most of the items we know and love. In particular, the devs have a stated goal of encouraging certain weapons to be used at each star level.
Have they succeeded? Are there any weapons that feel like also-rans? In an effort to get that feedback in one central place, I thought I'd kick the discussion off and start a format going.
Weapon: Toxic vaporizer mk I
Star level: 2 stars (down from 4 previously)
Specific comments: This weapon is crippled by the small effect radius. The main damage is extremely weak and confined to a small space, and it is assumed that people will use it for the chance to poison enemies. Unfortunately, halving the blast radius reduces the area by a factor of 4; the actual cloud area is very small and easily avoided by monsters. I suspect that the Mk II and Mk III fix this problem, but this leaves the fact that the Mk I does not stand on its own as a desirable weapon.
Points of comparison: I have previously used the 4* haze bomb; the wider area covered made it more effective at its job.
How would you fix it?: This is a "haze" weapon, and needs to contact enemies to do its job. Currently, the 4* variant has a big enough area. The mk I needs to do more damage, charge much faster, or have a longer-lasting cloud. The latter especially would make it usable in tight hallways. (where enemies can be guided into the small effect area)
Other recommendations: Having 3 versions of this bomb is too long an upgrade path to be attractive; I would not want to pay 350 energy and raw materials to finish a bomb that fails to be useful in its first 2 incarnations.
Does it compare well to similarly priced items?: No. A poisonous cloud would be a fantastic support weapon, and I have high hopes for future balancing... but I would want it in a third weapon slot. The toxic vaporizer mk I is not worth 250 energy/month to use.
Does this weapon stand alone as an attractive weapon for its tier?: Tiers are balanced by HP and damage; reducing the blast radius is not in keeping with how one chooses where to use 2* vs 4* weapons.
I have no experience with the Toxic vaporizer mk I so far so I can't give any extra input on that one. I do want to bring up another weapon that still feels overpowered to me. (I'll try to stick to your way of listing!)
Weapon: Thwack Hammer
Star level: 1
Specific comments: For it being a 1 star weapon, it still feels highly overpowered. I have a lvl 10 Thwack Hammer myself and I can still reach Emberlight solo as long as I don't encounter Gremlins. This is done along with 2-3 star armor, so the runs were "legit" when talking about the star-ranking of my equipment.
How would you fix it?: Personally I think simply decreasing its damage output a little more would be good enough.