varriable phaser or similar weapons

[DanSeale]

This idea came about in the middel of another thread .. Thought i'd throw this out.

Phasers, pulse cannons and disrupters (other similar weapons) .. Should you be able to vary the intensity or strength of the weapon? If so ... should the said weapon be able to recharge faster if it is not at full strength when it is fired?

Just a thougth .. might not be worth messing with.

[STO-Stucco]

Yes and No. Different settings of phaser strength should allow phasers to perform different functions. Low power phasers use less energy, doing little damage but allowing multiple phaser shots to target multiple functions of the enemy ship. High power phasers use more energy, doing moderate to high damage but having fewer phaser shots. I think the recharge rate should be the same for both settings and leave recharge rate up to class of ship and/or the modifications you might be able to make to your ship.

A good example of this is the Enterprise vs Scimitar battle in Nemesis. They most likely used weak phaser bursts to find the Scimitar in order to minimize phaser recharge time until they had a definite target to fire upon.

[LordDave]

And even hand phasers:
Stun vs Kill. Add in for unknown species that may not be stunable at the same setting as others so you have to change it based on the alien your shooting.

[DanSeale]

I was thinking that you could also use that same theory as a matter of tatics to someone who might be a bit gung ho .. Fire a round of phasers at a reduced level or strength .. they woud (or at least SHOULD) recharge faster .. This MIGHT bait the unsuspecting foe to making an approach at a bad time. Weapons would actually be charged ... Well you get the idea.


Again .. just a thought !

[Cathbadh]

That's the thinking I'd like to see - but nobody knows how anonymous your capabilities will be to opponents. If I see ships with mysterious "Rank Ensign" over them I might actually cry!

[DanSeale]

These seem like viable options that I would LOVE to see in the game. It could be used affetively ... especially with the consideration of adding a varriable to the recharge time to those types of weapons.

[seventodark]

I love to have that
the variable weapons is all good

[auutumn]

I agree that hand and ship weapons should have variable settings. The player is responsible for the setting in an encounter, for example, if I want to capture someone, I better not have my phaser set to Kill. On a ship, to disable an enemy ship requires knowing were to target your weapons and how much force/yield to use.

I would say that the player gets more experience and such the better they are at performing their objectives, not just killing everything in sight.

[Trekkie]

I definitely would like to see the ability to change settings on a number of different weapons, because I believe it would add depth to the game, which is obviously a good thing.

[Allardyn]

I think they will go with something similar to increasing power to weapons/shields/engines which would drain your main battery faster unless you decrase power elsewhere. This seems to follow canon the best as has been seen in ST games before.

[DanSeale]

Being able to increase is good (I'm guessing you're suggesting 100%+) .. and yes I've seen that done .. pushing the ship for either shields or weapons ... BUT I would also like to seem being able to reduce the strength as well. That "should" allow a faster recharge (or coold down) time as well. It only stand to reason that if you need the extra power from somewhere to keep it going (or perhaps to increase recharge or cool-down time) that if you were able to REDUCE weapons strength) that it should take LESS power or recharge (or cool down) time.

I hope this makes sense.

[Allardyn]

I see what your saying,

So if I got my phaser banks charged to 100% with phasers at 100% power I could get like 2 shots off then have to wait for the phaser banks to recharge a few seconds before firing again. Where as if you had your phasers at 50% you would get 4 shots off and only have to wait a second to recharge for another shot.

Sounds simple enough though I think we would really have to consider DPS of each scenario, could make for some interesting battles though.

[DanSeale]

I see what your saying,

So if I got my phaser banks charged to 100% with phasers at 100% power I could get like 2 shots off then have to wait for the phaser banks to recharge a few seconds before firing again. Where as if you had your phasers at 50% you would get 4 shots off and only have to wait a second to recharge for another shot.

Sounds simple enough though I think we would really have to consider DPS of each scenario, could make for some interesting battles though.

Now you're on it ! BINGO ! and yes .. the lower charges would DEFINATELY have lower DPS values !

Thanks ..