[Suggestion] I think the striker should work like coyotes!

WAIT WAIT! PUT YOUR GUNS DOWN AND YOUR PITCH-FORKS AWAY! HEAR ME OUT!

I feel like this could be properly implemented and would be interesting without being OP. Allow me to explain:

At the moment, the striker is a "meh" side-grade of the annihilator. It needs spice, to bring it up to par with other ESRLs.

The reason the striker was originally hit with the nerf bat was that it out preformed the annihilator: it could rapidly kill targets at long range with little or no "skill" and little chance for the target to escape.

My idea would take it in the other direction: it would have significantly improved close range abilities over the other launchers, at the cost of ranged performance, bringing it in line with TR traits and making it unique. (And giving it the ability to fire without a lock, something the other ESRLs have).


Basics of the change:

THINGS THAT STAY THE SAME
-Rounds posses no Area of effect (Like other ESRLs)
-Rounds do minimal damage to infantry (Suggestion: one full mag for an infantry kill, like lancer)
-Reload speed. (This may need to be nerfed if it over preforms, but hopefully the stuff listed below keeps it in line)

BUFFS
-Stryker no longer needs lock on to fire
-Rounds auto acquire a target when they pass within a certain distance.
-Rounds can be fired in "true" semi-auto: as fast as the user can pull the trigger.

NERFS (Some nerfs will be necessary to keep the new striker balanced).
-Velocity reduced (This will limit it's effectiveness at range requiring a healthy lead on moving targets and thus "Skill")
-Cone of fire increased (another change limiting ranged effectiveness, also to prevent abuse Verses infantry)
-Stealth reduces auto-lock range (I would like this to apply to coyotes as well... but that's another thread)



So the striker would become very effective at closer range engagements and "snap shots" (much more so than the other ESRLs), but less effective than the ESRLs at range, bringing it in line with TR traits, and keeping it balanced while giving it a unique edge.


Thoughts?

Make it so you have to load the rockets by hand, one at a time, and you got yourself a deal.

Like a tube fed shotgun? Interesting...

Like I said above though, the reload time could be increased if it becomes an unstoppable killer. (would also bring it in line with TR theme of long reloads).

But I like it: I could see it going both ways.

Unrelated: what is the gif in your sig from?

Kill la Kill
There is fanservice

I'm not quite sure what to think of this... It seems the new Striker would require being within hugging distance of enemy armor in order to inflict competitive damage and that's right about where most people would whip out C4 anyway.

Why not:

1. Keep the current lock-on mechanic keeping the HA exposed for extended periods of time while setting the warhead tracking mode to "intercept" instead of "predictive".

2. Add a dumbfire mode with little to no splash and a (rather generous) cap on ROF.

3. Slash the lock-on range to 300 meters.

4. Tune the AI damage so that taking down a trooper would require 2 direct hits (thus making the Striker inferior to default dumbire launchers in this regard).

5. Possibly introduce manual per-missle reloads (though the visuals for the Striker clearly show it is mag-fed).

OR:

Make it a rapid fire high velocity unguided ML.
Just ungimp it one way, or the other...

Yeah, striker being reworked into coyotes or fracture makes the most sense.

I'm not sure if that exact idea would work well but it's certainly a good start. Currently the Striker really is just an inferior annihilator.

The idea of making it a "Coyote" missile launcher is interesting if done right. Then again if you just kept it as is but gave it dumbfire it might be a good quick fix.

The semi-auto part seems a little too good at burst damage in certain close range circumstances, stepping on the toes of the Decimator and the default a bit too much. The fire rate for something like this would probably have to be capped around 150rpm or so (for reference, current Striker fire rate is 92rpm, Fracture is 80rpm), possibly a bit lower if even that proved too much. MAX's would probably have to be given enough resistance to the missiles to keep the Striker inferior as an anti-MAX weapon compared to the dumbfires.

With those limiting factors in mind, I think it'd be good for the weapon to have a bit better hipfire accuracy than the dumbfires and lock-ons. This would be to allow you to more easily step out of cover, hipfire a shot in the general direction of a besieging tank zerg that has your outpost locked down, step back in, rinse and repeat. Both the NC and the VS have an element of firing from relative safety with their ESRL's that has a lot of utility, and I think this would sort of give the TR their own version of this while also adding some versatility to make up for the lowered fire rate.

i think it could work well.

I've suggested what the OP did more than once already, always fun to see some people think alike and that the idea is getting attention.

In addition; How about firing all the rockets at once or in rapid succession when you (Dump)fire? Fire select basically.
Another interesting mode would be to have to keep the LMB pressed(Which will fire all rockets rapidly) and pointed at a target to "Lock" it, a cross between AV MANA and regular Lock-On. No warning of Lock though, or at least flares should not work, because the moment LOS is broken the target is 100% safe. Should lock on all target types. Balance based on velocity and how easy it is to evade the rockets using terrain ETC.

Rapid Dump Fire, manual Lock(As described above), Coyote style Lock. I like all 3 and really think the Striker should have different firing modes. If SOE wasn't lazy they could balance this just right, but as things are I'm worried about how they would implement anything we might suggest.

anything to keep the missiles from terrorising trees and rocks instead of the intended target would be a huge start

The speed of a lock on is ridiculously slower than a dumb fire.
So its current velocity would be fine if this was implemented.

Even if you do this it would still not be anywhere near as good as the Phoenix.

I'd personally prefer a Fracture launcher, but I would fine with this too. So many great rework ideas have been posted for the Striker over the past year or so, yet we still have an extremely niche version of the Anni. I believe the only buff the Striker got in the last couple of months was 25 more velocity on the rockets. That's it.

I wonder how many more threads it will take for the Striker, in it's current terrible shape, to be noticed by SOE.

Ooh... I didn't think of making it a fracture type gun... but I think having the auto-lock would make it more uniuqe/better.

...At long range.

For dumping shots into tanks at point blank range, or tracking a moving harasser at short range, it would be second to none.

I picked the gif because I feel it's an accurate representation of what it's like to play a Skyguard.

Just freaking make it a shoulder-mounted 5-round fracture with comparable damage in those 5 missiles to a full fracture magazine. that way it would A) not suck completely anymore B) retain faction flavor C) be the TR answer to the Lancer and the VS MAX-AT weapons that charge up like the Lancer does, and the NC's remote controlled missile and Raven launchers.

That's all that's needed really, make it a mag-fed rapid fire dumb-fire launcher unable to lock onto anything, and it will actually have a use, and be unique, like it's VS/NC counterparts.

Historical:
In PS1, the common pool Decimator came in stacks of three one-shot launchers; once fired, the launcher is silently discarded. Decimators had an alt-fire mode that allowed use of a camera, but did not allow for control. The PS1 Phoenix behaved most like the PS1 Decimator, but it has a much better refire rate when dumbfired and, of course, the camera-mode was controllable. Also, many more reloads possible. In PS2, of course, the Decimator and the Phoenix are nothing alike. (Decimators could also be detonated in mid-flight by the user but nothing else in either game acts like that.)

The PS1 Lancer was like the Heavy Sniper Rifle against Vehicles instead of Infantry and borrowed the magazine size of the Rocket Rifle. It had no alternate fire mode. Asides from having a scope, and firing six times on holding down the button, there's not much different between how the PS1 and PS2 Lancers behaved.

The PS1 Striker was actually more closely related to the Rocket Rifle, a Special Assault anti-Infantry weapon, than the Decimator. The Striker's dumbfire-mode was definitely Rocket Rifle-esque, while its lock-on mode was something shared only by the VS Starfire and the NC Sparrow AA MAXes and the common pool Wasp (think: Tomcatson an ESF). It did, however, lock onto to almost everything that could kill you short of Infantry itself - aircraft, ground vehicles, base turrets, and MAXes. I have to check but it may have also been able to lock onto One-Man Field Turrets (equivalent to MANA turrets) and Spitfire turrets. In other words, while other lock-on weapons in PS1 did AA work, the Striker was much more general use. It did require constant painting of the target.

Suggestion:
In the early days of its release, the PS2 Striker used to be able to lock onto base turrets, but that was since removed. It never could lock onto MAXes. I think that it is possible to restore to the Striker its ability of locking onto base turrets and even onto MAXes if we cut back on the weapon's lock-on range severely. Say 50-100m. Current lock-on rules dictate that proximity reduces lock time and I think that would allow its constant target painting and requirement that it locks onto a target to not be something that holds it back from being useful. The short range dictates that it can't harass distant targets and retaining the lack of dumbfire means it can not be spammed against Infantry.

no, if you can get all five hits, the striker is the one, more damage.
I try using the others, and always come back to the striker.

Personally, I would prefer a rocket launcher that would allow me to lob dumbfire rockets at good speed - for better range you see - but seeing how effective range for all guns gets closer and closer with time, I doubt that will happen.

Not a horrible idea..

But I would add a 300m restriction

And the issue of them being spammed through doorways may be an issue to consider since they would be effectively dumb fire as well...