[Suggestion] Lock-on redesign

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by Demigan, Jul 14, 2020.

  1. Demigan

    Lock-ons are badly designed right now. Because they are literally "look at target, press fire" weapons it would be unfair for these weapons to actually kill the aircraft with any effectiveness. But as deterrents they just expose the player and aren't very fun either.

    Let's change that with several Lock-on variants:

    Variant 1:
    • Retains the lock-on method, but is no longer fire-and-forget. The player has to maintain the lock after firing or the missile will miss.
    • The lock-on angle is reduced, so you need to aim closer to the center of the aircraft to lock on. This gives aircraft a chance to shake the lock.
    • The lock-on time is reduced, so it takes less time to lock-on
    • The lock-on missile can be fired without a lock
    • The lock-on missile can lock on mid-flight. This allows it to be fired and locked on the aircraft quickly with less exposure. If the lock-on is broken the player can re-acquire the lock (on a different aircraft if you want)
    • The missile has a limited steering capability so it won't be doing a 180 and hit a target it's already passed.
    • the missile has several options:
      • Fast and highly maneuverable. Low damage per missile
      • Fast and slow at maneuvering. Medium damage per missile
      • Slow and highly maneuverable. Medium damage per missile
      • Slow and slow at maneuvering. High damage per missile.
    Variant 2:
    • Laser-guided like the Engineer AV turret
    • An invisible lock-on angle is present similar to the current existing one. This tips aircraft that they are being locked on. If they use flares the laser-guidance of the missiles will stop for the duration the lock-on is scrambled.
    • The missile can be equipped with various warheads.
      • A coyote-style warhead.
      • A Flak warhead with 8m AOE like now but a smaller flak detection range, meaning you have to aim closer to the aircraft for it to go off.
      • A Flak type 2 warhead. When it comes into the 8m detection range it goes off and sprays a shotgun pattern of pellets forwards dealing immense damage to the target. The closer to the center you aim the more damage you'll do as more pellets hit, the more to the edge you'll aim the less pellets hit, eventually even no pellets will hit despite the shell going off simply because it's too off-target.
    • The missile has a limited steering capability so you still need to lead it as you fire.
    • the missile has several options:
      • Fast and highly maneuverable. Low damage per missile
      • Fast and slow at maneuvering. Medium damage per missile
      • Slow and highly maneuverable. Medium damage per missile
      • Slow and slow at maneuvering. High damage per missile.
    End result: Lock-ons can be dodged or avoided by aircraft. Lock-ons can be fired faster with less exposure. The harder it is to hit with your missile the more damage you'll do.
    • Up x 2
  2. DarkStarAnubis

    Currently lock-on launchers are just like the Phoenix, 99% spawn-room weapons.

    They require too much time to lock and the damage they do is marginal so those are low reward weapons (hence automatically used in low risk situations).

    The only exception is the Striker (arguably the most flexible one) : fast missiles, no lock on (no warning), can lock in flight.
    • Up x 1
  3. adamts01

    I mained TR for years. I took a break to Aurax the Reaver and am a couple hundred Hornet kills away from Auraxing the Scythe. It's night and day different/harder doing A2G against TR, from big fights to small fights. The Striker is the only launcher that works at its intended role, but it's honestly too good.

    Your proposal of a shorter lock on time while maintaining target lock is good. I can see it working. Another idea I had is to give more AA launchers the Striker mechanic, only let it have the Striker mechanic when aiming down sights, give aircraft within range a warning when a launcher is being aimed in their direction, and give the missile a 1 second spool up time before it can be fired when aiming down sights. This lets you pre-charge a missile for aircraft that are hopping up and down behind cover, while also giving aircraft a short window to evade fire, something that can't be done against the Striker, which I think needs a slower fire rate, some drop, slower velocity.... something. But any type of lock on timer can't deal with dedicated A2G planes that only expose themselves as much as that lock on window allows them to.

    And then there's my other solution of buffing small arms against everything in the game, so no launchers needed against ESF, in exchange for the removal of spawnroom AA.
    • Up x 3
  4. Blam320

    Simply giving all small-arms weapons an armor-piercing option similar to their PS1 counterparts would suffice; as a trade-off Vehicles could get extra C4 resistance and protection against chip damage, like reactive armor.
    • Up x 1