[Suggestion] Valkyrie Darklight Spotlight Turret

Note, this has previously been suggested as part of an omnibus suggestion, but was refined and honed down to be more workable. Of particular note is the addition of parts about using existing Valkyrie models, animations, and sounds.

I've also outlined two methods to balance it for infiltrators by playing with the de-cloaking area - its not a "I can light up 100m and see all infils!" Spotlight - rather the darklight portion is a small area inside the larger spotlight. This would require gunners to "Scan" around an area. Also, you'd have to be lit up and have someone looking at you to shoot you at the same time.



https://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/4ob3ia/suggestion_valkyrie_darklight_spotlight_turret/

There is an attachment that is fairly well formatted in the PIT, if you need an easier read.
https://dgcissuetracker.com/browse/PS-2393?filter=-2

So what is it?

Think a giant police helicopter searchlight, with a small cone inside the spotlight that can reveal infiltrators if the Valk stays below a certain height (This is to prevent people from sitting 200m up and using geometry to reveal every infiltrator in a base).

Instead, you'll have to have a gunner roam the spotlight around to reveal infiltrators. However, when combined with scout radar, this can be a powerful tool against ghost cappers, snipers, and in night combat.

Wait...so you are telling me that you want a ******* giant darklight attached to the gun of a valk?....

How is this supposed to be fair or balanced for an infiltrator?

Infils already have got
900hp
Easy to see
Many bugs

And stalker have just a pistol....

So if you have certed out the whole cloak....just to be disabled by a darklight for 100certs on a gun.... And you want a bigger one on a dump plane?!?!

Hiw about a emp light that disables the shield of a heavy or the jet pack of the LA....wouln't be fair either...

And Infils already have to deal with such light....

Conveniently forgets the opportunity cost of equipping the darklight is being unable to use a foregrip or laser sight. The opportunity cost of the OP's suggestion is the Valk itself being TOTALLY UNARMED.

Yep no problem, you can have it
If my Infil can shoot the pilot in his cockpit

Every action needs a counter action

Take some friends and let them flashlight all around from the passengers seats. Here you go: your own police helicopter with ability to counter.
Thing from your post is stupid.

just no.
A cloaker has no option to defend himself against vehicles, but to hide.
But somehow you want to atach an almost hardcounter to cloakers on a vehicle, to takeaway that option.
(btw if you read the suggestion in the pit you'll notice the plan is to atach this darklight to a kobalt)
give cloakers an option to deal with vehicles and we can talk.

While we're on stupid sugestions, how about this: emp nades now shutdown all vehicle engines for 10 seconds.
(Think about all the planes crashing in the ground)
if this is allowed, i can understand why you want a darlight on a vehicle.
but guess what, neither of this will happen.

Thing of it is - the Valkryie is still fragile enough that if you're running in teams as infils, you can hack the AA turrets and wreck it pretty hard. Hell, if you're running 5 or 6 infils (Non-stakers) and you all brought SMGs and rifles, you could force a single valkyrie off if you don't aim at the belly.

Also, if you read the post on the PIT, you'll notice that its NOT a GIANT EPIC DARKLIGHT CONE. Its a wide area spotlight, with a very small inner cone that actually de-cloaks. This cone has a colored light area that will show up when the pilot is at the appropriate altitude to decloak people. Above that altitude, and its just a shiny light. Gunners will be required to actively scan an area for targets, and if you keep moving, you can beat the search grid.

Therefore, it'd be most optimal when used in conjunction with ground forces - on its own, you have a realistic chance of evading it or ignoring it if you use cover appropriately (As the gunner wouldn't be able to hit you inside buildings).

But if you're on your own ghost-capping a point - I'm just gonna come out and say that your expectation of not being killable except by 3 dedicated infantry guys wasting 7 minutes hunting is not realistic - and it kind of annoys the hell out of people to have one infiltrator contesting a point for 15-30 minutes. Its fine if you're using it as a prelude to an squad or platoon attack, but some people do it solely to be nuisances and farm points using prox mines on terminals. This feature would enhance the ability of QRFs to engage lone-wolf ghost-cappers by increasing the efficiency at which infiltrators can be hunted.


This suggestion would help counter that behavior.

For those of you worried about being sniper, it can be used to hunt you, but consider that given the places you're likely to go, it would still expose itself to ground fire from your allies rather handily, and at an altitude and range that doesn't offer much chance for evasion. Therefore it'd be a risk for the Valk, not an "IWIN" button.

Also, infiltrators are getting distraction grenades back, you know, specifically to help you throw off searchs.

Given the structure of the request, a single coder, working a few hours a days, could easily create a concept test of this feature in under a week. It does so by heavily re-using existing resources in the game. The models, animations, and sounds are already present, as it uses the VLG Missile launcher, with no model modifications. The VLG has no animations beyond muzzle flashes, and the Kobalt HMG sounds can be re-used.

In short, its almost entirely code work - it can be completed with minimal or no artistic resources. Valkyrie pilots are and will continue to seek new feature and balance changes to increase the viability of our airframe.

Given the current distribution of roles and assets in this game, we will eventually become the go-to reconnaissance and support platform in the air, either by continually asking for boosted scout radar range to 250m-300m at Max, getting deployables or repair/ammo, or getting additional exotic turrets. You'll have to deal with the "dump" plane eventually.

As for your concerns over the light.... are you arguing that infils should be totally undetectable while cloaked?

And for the "No counter" arguments I've been seeing - I'm just gonna come out and ask if you've considered not loitering on the same base for 10-15 minutes? I mean, it does take people time to notice that you're ghost-capping, but if you're just 1 person running through and hacking terminals, no ones going to send a QRF or a searchlight Valk after you unless you give them a reason, like farming with prox mines or sniping vehicle pads on back-lattices.

Screw the spotlight on a plane just put some player controlled ones on the outside and inside of bases then for the inside you have the flashlights

I like the idea but a major flaw arises from the current bug that allows Darklight Flashlight to illuminate Infils on the other side of walls and other solid objects. This means that a Darklight Valk can hover over obvious targets like Points, Terminals, Generators, and Chokepoints all day to effectively eliminate the use of Cloaking.

The size of the revealed area would still requiring active scanning. Furthermore, you have to consider the opportunity cost - You're tieing up 2 people to hunt an inflitrator. To make it work, you'd have to bring along some ground troops to actually help you hunt the infil or flush it into the open.

Only if I can have a anti-heavy shield light attachment for my valk gun.

Come to think about it, I would like to get one for my sidearm as well for 75 certs.

I fully support this as long as it replaces the valk gun and isnt on the gun, sounds like a really cool feature

Why though? Infils are hardly a force multiplier that needs to be countered. The far majority are a hindrance to their faction.

... This is how I imagine Forumside

OOOH SHINY! MUST GET SHINY THING! DEVS PLS IT'S SO SHINY MUST HAVE SHINY THING!

It won't make the Valk really viable since highlighting infils like that won't actually get you xp.
But I kind of like the idea.
I was also thinking of suggesting a darklight floodlight building for the construction system. Doesn't move, area of effect clearly shown. But limits enemy infils from freely moving around a base.

A counter to a class that has no AV capability.

How much sense does this make?

Infil's just aren't a big enough problem to necessitate this, and the times when they are a problem, people just use other methods to find them.

Now, minus the DL, how about just having the spotlight? It could either be a new 'gun' mount that only holds a spotlight, or it could take up a slot.

Even then, it has the potential to be extremely annoying at night, swinging and jittering all over the place, so I would either make it a fixed mount, requiring the pilot to move the craft to move the light, or, if manually triggered, make the actual motion automated. So, make it a slow and smooth, long stroke beam, i.e., you press left, and it automatically moves all the way to the left before you can pick a new direction.

You can get that, but only in the devs also bring back darker nights, so it's actually dark and would mandate a flashlight of some sort.

Its not just about Infils, mind you. Its also about proper lighting. Not all guns have NV scopes. Its also a good way to direct fire. And blind people on the enemy team using NVs. Or just blind people in general.

I thought about putting fixed mount in the request. I settled for asking for pilot toggle on/off for when you don't have a gunner. I agree that the way the turret ergonomics are set up, the turret motion's effect on the spotlight would be substantial.