Skill vs Power in Dust 514

ThIs blog post might be a bit lengthy but inevitably I feel its all necessary information.

Now we all know that weapon balance is a rather finicky nuance that many game developers are amazing at and then there are some that arent. In a game like Dust 514, with so many variables and numbers, something that is considered over powered might be because of something beneath the surface simply because theres so many numbers involved from skills, suits, etc.

So, lets jump right to the chase and look at the Flaylock pistol. This has been my latest crusade as its been around for about two months now and nothing has been done to bring it in line with the other weapons. Then again, CCP hasnt made any balance passes on the weapons - save for the Tactical Assault Rifle which was annoying in its own right.

So what makes the Flaylock deadly? Well, its very forgiving as far as weapons go. A healthy 2.5m splash radius on the prototype variant from Flaylock Pistol Operation givds a lot of room for error and considering that hit-box lag is such a menace in Dust 514, that splash radius makes it a very easy weapon to use. This is a commonly brought up issue suspected of making the weapon overpowered as the Core Flaylock is the most prominently used one.

But, we have to ask ourselves. Is this because of the weapon itself, providing a 2.0m splash radius by itself, or is it from the skills? Obviously once you have the ability to use a prototype weapon the charm of using standard or advanced is only saving ISK as more firepower means youre more likely to succeed in combat. This is a side effect brought on by the skill, which in turn increases the splash radius. So its 'chicken or the egg scenario'. By all rights the Core Flaylock is powerful, but I have a theory that its something else.

Witb Proficiency level 5 and Three Complex Damage modifiers its possible to get a direct damage of approximately 450 and splash of 375 to armor. This means that the weapon, by itself, is entirely capable of one-shotting newer players who have no skills in Armor or Shield Upgrades. The issue arises when the weapon, being so forgiving in that you can aim at the targets feet and do damage within a radius, can still have killing potential.

Exrra Credits - a channel on youtube that discusses game design - explains that skill and power is a balancing act. A weapon that requires more player skill to use should be more powerful, but not so much as to cause imbalance. A good example of this is the Mass Driver, as landing shots near the target isnt intensively lethal but landing direct hits, being more skill intensive, is especially rewarding. The Flaylock throws this theory out the window, rewarding the player just for being able to fire near the target as opposed to rewarding accuracy.

The Scrambler Rifle is another good example of this as it requires a degree of focus to use due to its overheat. Being a single shot weapon with a charge up, the charged shots are especially deadly but are inherently balanced from requiring accuracy and the use to time his shots as to not overheat the weapon.

So, weve covered that the Flaylock is incredibly powerful and requires beginner level skill to use. The question is, which do we focus on more in order to balance it? Do we reduce the power and keep the skill level, or do we reduce the skill required and keep the power? Either way, theres a proper balance that needs to be realized and it will never occur so long as players defend the weapon for their own self-interest as opposed to the health of the game.

To that extent, Contact Grenades are often consided similar in the problem area as its largely the same problem. They operate much the same as a regular grenade, save that the user does not have to cook them for them to explode in the targets face. Theres little risk involved in their use as its just pulling the pin, throwing it within 6.0m kf the target and dealing damage.

Another major issue is that there is yet an ISK variant, making the Fused Contact Grenade a weapon that can only be obtained by purchasing it with real money. This goes against the philosophy thaf CCP Shanghai instated in that everything had an ISK variant and that there was no item a player could obtain, cosmetics and vanity items excluded, solely with real money.

Under the same category we could potentially put in LAVs as running players over doesnt require much skill but the rewards Are rather lucrative. LAVs are provided free to all players and a player can use a free suit. This removes all risk associated with their use as death Is meaningless and killing other players is relatively simple. Just line up the vehicle and drive forward. Even players standing ontop of the vehicle in a stopped position can be killed simply from the vehicle accelerating.

Inevitably this is all just opinionated theories from a player who may have an entirely different mentality than the developers, but Ive always maintained that if something requires extensive player skill than it should be rewarding. Quite the contrary, if it requires little skill, and is easy to use, than it should reward accordingly.