An Idea for Another Cruiser Weapon - Mini-Mortar

[Sprolf]

I'm just shooting the breeze.

This isn't a balance issue, and I didn't think it would be received well enough to be placed in the Developer forum... again, I was just musing here.

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[SamuWarcraft]

Why!??

A mini-mortar for what???

What would be the real use of mini-mortar, since i rarely see confrontations between cruisers, and a mini-mortar would only do scratch in paint of a BS, not mention it almost impossible using a weapont like that to hit a gunboat, a fighter and bombers.

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<span style="font-family:Comic Sans Ms"> Being in NY sistem all the time, means you are a lolwutt...</span>

[Sprolf]

Think of how mortars and heavy mortars are related and used interchangeably on battleships.

Now think of that, but think of light mortars and mini-mortars and cruisers instead.



Mortars are often used in pairs... I see mini-mortars being used the same way.

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[Mounteblanc]

Well, it could be placed in the Discovery Mod General Discussion forum. No need to place it in balance.

But, hey, this is just my bothersome need to organize everything to the maximum extent of my capacity speaking. Ignore me.

But, we must always remember the dangers of a weapon like this. A light cruiser armed with these could snipe and instakill both fighters and bombers, with minimal power loss and one shot kills, if we compare it to the normal mortar and the battle razor.

[Sprolf]

It is in General Discussion.


Keep in mind that these would have the same speed as mortars.
They'd also take half the power, which is not necessarily a "minimal" power loss, at least for the not-big cruisers or battlecruisers.


Keep in mind that using lighter weapons like this on the bigger ships would really be contrary to their true role and would dumb down their firepower - because, if you're dual mounting these, you're effectively sacrificing range and one weapon slot for efficiency. Keep in mind that you have to hit with two to make one light mortar shot.

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[Montezuma/Kukulcan]

As the pilot of a ship in which a Light Mortar takes about 85% of the total power to fire (BHG Destroyer), i can say that i would love to see this in action. While heavy cruisers (Praefect for example) can fire dual Light Mortars, smaller cruisers really suffer, in that should they miss, they loose almost all of their power, putting them at a severe disadvantage energy wise. Plus, having a new weapons would be adding more diversity, which is always a very good thing IMO.

In all, i think that its a great idea, and i know that i, for one would definately make use of it should it be added.

Also, should the Mini-Mortar be made, it would deserve a unique explosion like its larger counterparts have.


Edit: @Gauss, Do you immagine that most people are capable of hitting a fighter with a 600 ms weapon from atop a cruiser? Especially one that knows you are firing at it and is strafing accordingly.

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[Mounteblanc]

Uh, I've got this in Community general Discussion... Hmm.

The minimal power loss was also in reference to the ability to snipe fighters. They will still possess enough power to insta-kill them, but with half the drain of a Light Mortar, they will be able to get twice as many shots with the potential to kill a fighter with the same power drain, as opposed to the one shot of a LM.

[Sprolf]

Ugh, my bad.
This is in Community and not Mod Discussion.
I'll see if I can't fix that, thanks.


Do you fly Cruisers, Gauss?



I doubt that you do... any Cruiser captain who would even try to take a shot at a fighter with a Light Mortar is either in command of the fight and rather bored or completely inept. Primaries are infinitely more effective against fighters. It would also take an incompetent fighter pilot to get hit by a Light Mortar as well.

The above is not including extreme, isolate cases of bizarre luck.




@Montezum: I originally came up with this idea when using the BHG Dessie and the Order Cruiser. I saw the need for something more moderate quite acutely.




EDIT: This might seem weird, but I see the Mini-Mortar turret as a sort of Mortar with six small and short barrels - similar to a revolver's cylinder or a gatlin gun, but with shorter barrels. I think having something like that on your ship would actually be rather boss and fit the weapon rather well.

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[Tenacity]

I like the idea. But there are some cruisers that can dual-fire Light Mortars (Rheinland, Corsair, Hessian, and others methinks).

Or battlecruisers, which can fire three light mortars at a time =P

But honestly, no smart battlecruiser pilot uses more than two due to power issues. If I had the option, I would equip several battle razors, if only they did more damage or had higher speed.

As is, the cruiser razor is too slow to hit all but the most incompetent bomber pilots, it even has issues hitting the smaller gunboats/gunships. Past that, it doesnt do enough damage to be worth using against the gunboats that it can hit, because you can hit those same ships with a light mortar just as easily.

The razor should either be given increased damage and efficiency (higher damage, lower energy cost) to make it a more efficient alternative to the light mortar, or it should be bumped up to 1000m/s speed from the current 800m/s to improve chances of hitting gunships and bombers.

Think of how mortars and heavy mortars are related and used interchangeably on battleships.

Now think of that, but think of light mortars and mini-mortars and cruisers instead.

In the case of battleships, razors are distinctly anti-fighter/bomber weapons, with the highest projectile speed of any weapon in the game except for solaris turrets, and the ability to instakill bombers quite easily.

The cruiser version has no such definition - it isnt fast enough to serve as the point defense weapon battleships use, and it isnt strong enough to serve as the mini mortar you're asking for.

I really dont think we need a new weapon added, the razor just needs to be improved so that it's actually worth using.

The minimal power loss was also in reference to the ability to snipe fighters. They will still possess enough power to insta-kill them, but with half the drain of a Light Mortar, they will be able to get twice as many shots with the potential to kill a fighter with the same power drain, as opposed to the one shot of a LM.

I dont believe a single person in this mod can reliably hit even the worst fighter pilots with a light mortar. In all my time flying cruisers, since 4.84 and through current, I have only hit -one- non capship with a mortar that was in a 'real' pvp fight with me, and that was only because he stupidly decided to sit still to shoot at me while he thought I was targetting his buddies... and he happened to be a bomber, not a fighter.

Even on the lightest cruisers, even the kusari destroyer, you would have to be a sniping god to claim you can regularly hit anything smaller than a gunboat with mortars.

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[Tovig]

Speaking of which, mortars should really get a better model.
Like the Razor model with a solid barrel.

They're the most powerful weapons in the game, and yet the Razors are the ones that really stand out and look imposing on a ship.

Yes ! Razors are like 3 times bigger than Mortars... It's nonsense.