Class 9 gun analysis

[Yngen]

I've spent some time in Datastorm comparing the faction weapons in Discovery tonight. There are posts in the balance sticky that Igiss started about balancing guns and I thought it would be beneficial to look at the hard numbers on these things.

Explaination of calculations:
Sheild damage per second: Sheild damage per shot multiplied by shots per second.
Hull damage per second: Hull damage per shot multiplied by shots per second.
Power usage per second: Power used per shot multiplied by shots per second.
Hit rating: average of weapon range and projectile velocity(to describe how likely you are to score a hit.)

Obvious balance questions are bold for overpowered and underlined for underpowered
Shld dmg /sec....................Hull dam. /sec:........................Pwr usg /sec........................Hit Rating
1)Tizona El Cid-845............1)Firekiss-978........................13)Snfrnzy3-533......................1)Buckshot-750
2)Firekiss-489.................2)Samael-640.........................12)Skyblast B-525...................2)Samael-725
3)Samael-320..................3)Kraken 2-572.........................11)Vengeance V-510................3)Kraken-700
4)Vengeance V-286............4)Reaper V-526.........................10)Kraken 2-504.....................3)A splitter-700
5)Reaper V-263..................5)Fury 4-500.............................9)Buckshot-489.....................4)Fury4-675
6)Fury 4-250......................6)Salamanca-489.......................8)Adv. Splitter-480................4)SkyblastB-675
7)Salamanca-245...............7)Adv. Splitter-484.....................7)Samael-482....................4)VengeanceV-675
8)Adv. Splitter-242.............8)Disinfector 3-470.....................6)Reaper V-440.....................5)Snfrnzy3-600
9)Disinfector 3-235.............9)Buckshot-458..........................5)Firekiss-407..................6)TizonaelCid-600
10)Buckshot-229................10)Skyblast B-234......................4)Fury 4-400........................7)Salamanca-600
11)Skyblast B-217..............11)Sunfrenzy 3-206....................3)Salamanca-391..................8)ReaperV-575
12)Sunfrenzy 3-103...........12)Vengeance V-186...................2)Tizona El Cid-384................9)Disinfector3(575)
13)Kraken 2-93.................13)Tizona El Cid-44.....................1)Disinfector 3-368................10)Firekiss-550

Based on the 4 categories above I have ranked these 13 class nine guns from best to worst. The rating number is the average rank in each of the categories:

1)Samael-3.5 (Rogues)
2)Firekiss-4.25 (Reinland)
3)Adv. Splitter-4.5 (Bretonia)
4)Fury4-4.75 (Zoners)
5)Tizona El Cid-5.5 (Corsairs)
6)ReaperV-5.75 (Order)
6)Kraken2-5.75 (Outcasts)
6)Salamanca-5.75 (Salamanca)
7)Disinfector3-6.75 (Kusari)
7)Skyblast B-6.75(GMG)
8)Buckshot-7.25(BHG)
9)VengeanceV-7.75(Liberty)
10)Sunfrenzy3-10.25(Kusari)

(There are other class 9 guns I didn't include in this, basically because I couldn't remmember their names, if I have time I will go back and include the ones I missed.)

If the chart above is too much information, the rating rank after it boils the balance issues down to the basics.

There are other issues to consider before nerfing the Samael or the Firekiss and augmenting the Sunfrenzy or Vengeance. Each of these weapons was designed originally to go on a specific ship, a ship with its own balance characteristics. A companion analysis of faction ships might be beneficial to see if deficiencies in faction equipment are the same for gun and ship.

I can say with some certainty that the Kusari and Liberty VHFs are definately not the best VHFs in the game, so the corresponding deficiency in their class 9 guns should be corrected. I'm afraid that considering the Reinlanders have some of the best ships in the mod, having the best weapons in the mod is just overkill and either the ships or the weapons should be toned down. Other than those glaring problems I would need to look more closely at the ships themselves to make any other comments. And of course, all balancing techniques that look at both gun and ship at the same time assume a person is role playing sincerely and using appropriate equipment.

If you think I've overlooked an aspect of weapon performance in this analysis, please post it here.

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[AU]Anton_Blix
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