Ballistica Feedback

[BlueIstari]

Alright, so I realized I've been much more vocal in giving feedback regarding things I don't like as opposed to that which I feel neutral or positive towards. But I aim to change that today by giving DE a thumbs-up, wink, and nod of approval over the latest weapon to exacerbate my loadout indecisiveness, the Ballistica!

 

I'm one of the many who have been clamoring for some type of crossbow weapon, and therefore was pleased to see the new weapon that came with the last patch. But of course releasing a much-anticipated weapon wasn't enough. Oh no, DE, you also had to make it one of the most unique and interesting to date. Instead of having shots just vary in damage with charging like other bow weapons do, you gave the Ballistica the option of firing a four-bolt volley uncharged, and a powerful single shot when charged. This kind of variation in weaponry is exactly the kind of thing that Warframe needs to make picking a gun about more than damage per second, and I'd love to see more unique charge mechanics and quirks for weapons in the future.

 

As far as the hard statistics go, I haven't had a chance to level the Ballistica fully and test it out for high-level performance, but the damage is definitely very nice at low rank, and I don't see it getting any worse as I begin throwing multishot and damage upgrades on it. So as of this moment I find the base damage, fire rate, reload speed and everything to be very good, but the one thing I would switch around if it were up to me is the critical hit rate.

 

This is just personal opinion and I doubt I'll get much support on it, but I'd have liked to see the uncharged volleys given a higher crit chance as opposed to the charged shot. Giving the uncharged shots that particular statistical advantage over a full charge would open up a few more options regarding how players mod and use their Ballistica. One player who prefers uncharged shots would use critical mods for erratic but potentially very high damage at the expense of ammo efficiency, while another player who favors the long-range charged shots would stack pure damage mods for consistent damage and ammo efficiency. Anyways, just something potentially worth considering.

 

Good work DE, and thanks for the great new weapon! I'm looking forward to the next addition to Warframe's armory, and I hope it proves to be as compelling as the Ballistica.

[OptimumBow0]

I agree, but......

 

The Kestrel and Glaive are offended.

[Maou]

I'm looking forward on that whip thing, like how it attacks and how execution animation plays out.

[Austerity]

After playing with the Ballistica, I was rather surprised it has no rank requirement. 

[Drifter11]

I think a wrist-mounted crossbow might have been a sleeker, more appropriate design. This thing looks incredibly bulky.

[BlueIstari]

I'm looking forward on that whip thing, like how it attacks and how execution animation plays out.

 

Same. Though I'm slightly worried it'll end up being just another melee weapon but with fancy animations. Melee weapons seriously need some mechanical variety. Hopefully DE will defy expectations.

 

After playing with the Ballistica, I was rather surprised it has no rank requirement. 

 

You know, that's something I completely forgot to comment on. Thanks for bringing it up. Ballistica, while not necessarily power-creeping, is definitely a step up compared to several sidearms. It really should require some level of mastery, though I can't really make a suggestion of how high because DE hasn't established a concrete rationale for what goes where and why.

 

I think a wrist-mounted crossbow might have been a sleeker, more appropriate design. This thing looks incredibly bulky.

 

I agree, it is really bulky, but I like the overall design. A wrist-mounted crossbow wouldn't have the aesthetic appeal, at least to me, but to each their own.

Edited October 18, 2013 by BlueIstari

[Drifter11]

A wrist-mounted crossbow wouldn't have the aesthetic appeal

 

How so?

[weirdee]

at the moment, the feel and sound makes it seem like it's just a pistol with a bunch of doohickeys glued to it, so i can't really support the design choice, but otherwise it's just fun to fire it at things

[MalCrescent]

This thing looks incredibly bulky.

Bulky makes rhino happy.

[Leuca]

Horizontal recoil that is unaffected by reduction mods makes me sad. I don't feel like being limited to charge shots on medium / long-range targets.

[lautalocos]

well, it has been on development from quite some time ago. it doesn´t surprise me how unique it is.

 

oh, and i think DE should hire peter molydeux for weapon development:

 

"a torso-mounted cannon that makes enemies reconsider their life-choices"

Edited October 19, 2013 by lautalocos

[BlueIstari]

How so?

 

The core design of the Ballistica isn't something I think would feasibly translate to a wrist-mounted version. Chances are the 'X' shape would be lost in transition, something which I think, aside from just being a cool shape, is an essential design element as far as the weapon's functionality (or justification for functionality) is concerned. It would also probably have to be scaled down significantly to fit on the wrist without looking like it would interfere with arm movement, and while I agree the thing is a bit larger than it needs to be, going too small wouldn't be good either. Something designed from scratch as a wrist-mounted crossbow would be another story naturally.

 

at the moment, the feel and sound makes it seem like it's just a pistol with a bunch of doohickeys glued to it, so i can't really support the design choice, but otherwise it's just fun to fire it at things

 

I think the sounds are fine personally, but for the rest of your description, that's pretty much a crossbow in a nutshell seeing as it's merely a projectile weapon with a primitive firing method that shoots bolts instead of bullets.

 

Horizontal recoil that is unaffected by reduction mods makes me sad. I don't feel like being limited to charge shots on medium / long-range targets.

 

I think it's a fair balance for a weapon having two firing modes, that each should be better at one range than the other, but good point about the recoil mods not affecting it. They really should, and I'll chalk it up to an oversight. I'mma test it real quick to confirm and throw it in the original post, maybe DE will see it if there isn't another thread about it already.

 

EDIT: Just checked and the horizontal recoil IS affected by recoil reduction mods. Maybe you're observing the effects of the natural bolt spread?

Edited October 19, 2013 by BlueIstari

[ValhaHazred]

I approve of positive feedback threads in general and this one in particular, since I love the Ballistica. It's currently my favorite pistol.

[theangelbelow88]

The weapons seems a bit too big to count as a "sidearm"... 

[Helljack84]

I love it.

Performs surprisingly well with some basic mods.

It gives me a spray and pray cc weapon and a hard hitting single target weapon at the same time.

Last but not least it doesn't fire snot or makes my arms twitch like crazy.

[From_Orion]

Don't like that weapon at all, it feels delayed, "laggy", as though you had a bad connection because of its non responsiveness  and slowness.

Actually it feels like a laggy Bolto, nothing more, which is pretty bad.

[luanle21]

give me a twin and ill be happier as well as allow thunderbolt to work on the weapon

[Batalo1Priesto]

Thunderbolt and less delay. Do fire rate mods work on this?

[BlueIstari]

Thunderbolt and less delay. Do fire rate mods work on this?

 

I know for sure the fire rate works for the charge attack. For the volley, if it does, it's not a significant change.

[SirDraco]

I absolutely love the Ballistica but does anyone else think it should be a primary weapon? I really think it should be, it just does not fit the secondary weapon class. I would much rather have this as a primary rather than one of the bows.