Yet Another Rakta Ballistica Thread

[CompanionCombine]

This started out as a reply to the "Viva Rakta Ballistica" thread, but I'd like to post it as a topic and add to it.

    So, let's be honest here, Magnetic damage on it's own isn't very good. It's a bit too situational, and it's proc doesn't do much, aside from a stun (not as good as Electric or Fire's though), to enemies who don't have any shield (AKA about 2/3 of the enemies in the game). But that's what Entropy does, so the Synoid Gammacor shouldn't be considered one of the best guns in the game, right? But it is.

    Viral on the other hand, as a damage type can be really useful (depending on what Aura each member of the squad has on) and as a proc type it's one of, if not the best in the game due to it's unlimited usefulness. As Steve said on the Devstream, that should make the weapon on the same level as the Synoid Gammacor, right? I'm sure we could all agree that's anything but true. 

     The fact that so many people consider the Synoid to be one of the best weapons in the game, while Rakta's pretty much the opposite should be enough evidence that the Syndicate effects, regardless of how "Crazy Powerful" they are, aren't enough to make or break a weapon. No one looks at the Synoid Gammacor and says "Well Entropy does Magnetic, so I won't use it". On the flip side, no one looks at the Rakta Ballistica and says "Well Blight does Viral, so I'll use it anyway.".

    A few weeks ago on the Devstream someone said something along the lines of "Whenever we add or change something, the first thing we take into consideration is 'Are we respecting the players investment?'" In the case of syndicate weapons, and the obvious imbalance between them, no. A group of weapons that could take a Mastery Rank 19 player about 10-12 days to get, plus some resources, a Forma, a Potato, a Prime Weapon part, a built Prime Warframe part, and almost 950,000 credits to get should have more priority in terms of balance than a weapon like the Panthera which, while annoying to get, takes 2 weapons, an Orokin Cell, and a 12 hour build time, with no Mastery Rank requirement. But the only Syndicate weapon to be changed is the Synoid Gammacor almost a week after it came out, and no word on any of the others getting changed yet, while the Panthera was buffed the very next day.

   The Rakta Ballistica (and to a lesser extent the Secura Dual Cestras) should be buffed. You should be able to change it's colors (seriously, that's not even a balance issue, that's just unfair. It's not an event weapon.) It should be silent (Seeing as it's a Crossbow, and has been upgraded by a league of so-called Assasins". and honestly the Synoid Gammacor should be toned down a bit.

And lastly, strawpoll time : http://strawpoll.me/3499496

Edited January 27, 2015 by CompanionCombine

[Eric1738]

so i guess this is about "blight proc too good, should rakta(and maybe other red veil weapons/mods) stay bad"?

 

imo, blight is not that good so we have to sacrifice a whole syndicate for it. why? because every weapon can have access to viral proc. and even we factor in Blight proc, rakta is way too weak. i cant remember the exact number, but i believe with optimal build rakta is about 1/3 dps of synoid. that means not even Blight can save rakta from being the worst among all syndicate weapons

[NovusNova]

He said that?

I thought he was more along the lines of "people aren't factoring in the syndicate proc to their damage calculations" and apparently, its his baby (the Rakta ballistica, lies).

Anyway Scott did say that he would have a look at it, not necessarily change anything but still take a look, so there might be hope for it yet.

[Cyborger1]

While all the other Syndicate Weapons get a boost ranging from "minor but nice" to "quite significant", the Rakta Balistica is the only one that actually gets a nerf compared to its normal version (because impact). There lies the main problem with it.

[AlphaSierraMike]

Yeah the Blight is good, but unless you get kills with it, you're not going to be using the effect at all, especially in solo games. The weapon shouldn't rely on other players to fill the affinity bar. Honestly, right now, you can basically replace the Ballistica with any other weapons that has access to the Veil weapon augment and just sit there, because the Blight effect is the only useful aspect on the Ballistica for now, I might as well buy the dark dagger augment and just equip that unranked, with stance and just the weapon augment, and sit there waiting for my teammates to fill the bar up, for all the damage that the Ballistica can dish out, in late game anyway.

[mistopportunity]

Steve said it will get looked at or something like that, so yay :D

[GSDAkatsuki]

Man, if people were as appreciative as Steve about their favorite warframes and weapons, we'd have no use for these subforums.

On serious note, the weapon's issue falls on the original being flawed to begin with and not making any updates with the changes.

[CompanionCombine]

Man, if people were as appreciative as Steve about their favorite warframes and weapons, we'd have no use for these subforums.

On serious note, the weapon's issue falls on the original being flawed to begin with and not making any updates with the changes.

Trust me, I don't like making posts like this. I appreciate everyone at DE for being one of the best game Developers out there right now. But I honestly cannot see where he's coming from in terms of the Rakta Ballistica being balanced.

Edited January 27, 2015 by CompanionCombine

[GSDAkatsuki]

Trust me, I don't like making posts like this. I appreciate everyone at DE for being of the best game Developers out there right now. But I honestly cannot see where he's coming from in terms of the Rakta Ballistica being balanced.

I think the issue is that people think too highly of DE and expect good results when actuality they are the same as every other developer. People are expecting things that aren't there. They have a product with very solid potential but they are misguided in their plans.

The weekly updates would mean something if they were constant weapon and frame tweaks instead of the 6 month wait for single nerf or buff demand on something. And I'm not saying don't do new weapons in fact do more cosmtics as well, but these weekly updates need to actually have more to it. Hell if needed have a huge patch note change on nerfs and buffs every month at least.

Edited January 27, 2015 by GSDAkatsuki

[(PSN)MrNishi]

If Viral stacking was brought back, then the Rakta would be....take a guess

The real reason I see the Rakta not on par with all the other Syndicate weapons:

Cannot recolor (But also cannot recolor Rakta Syndanna, so at least that is consistent)

But mainly from a stats point of view:

All other Syndicate Weapons received a Status and crit chance buff the her their normal variant.

Vaykor Marelok, got a larger clip (like the Rakta) in addition to increased status chance & crit chance.

Telos Akbolto have higher damage, increased crit chance, and increased status chance.

Sancti Castanas higher base damage, higher status chance and higher crit chance.

Synoid Gammacor has more damage, larger clip and ammo capacity, higher status, higher crit chance, and higher crit damage.

Secura Dual Cestra have higher base damage, higher status chance, and higher crit chance.

The Rakta Ballistica same overall base damage but primary type swapped from Puncture to Impact and a larger clip size. No status or Crit buffs like all the other Syndicate weapons.

Personally, I would like to only see crit damage and crit chance buffs. (Possibly innate Steady Hands aka reduced horizontal-recoil)

Viral stacking profs should just be brought back*

Due to the inability for Rakta anything being recolored: I have a Rakta Banshee Build with Syndana and Ballastica build...Sonar helps where Ballastica lacks with status as Crit damage on Weak spots helps build Viral proc (kestrel thrown while reloading ballistica also helps)

Also, AoE Viral proc, makes Sound Quake more efficient*

Sadly too many players do a Single best weapon load out, rather than using the Synergy team play. (Pre-coming Desecrate Nerf, being a Nekros with a Red Veil weapon mod or Rakta equipped while desecrating is a good way to assist squad by halving-enemies health. (Embolist and other Melee weapons obviously lack reach compared to Ballastica)(Having r different Syndicate procs in a group is much better than 4 Magnetic AoE profs from 4 Synoid Gammacors...)

[Salenstormwing]

The original Ballistica is pretty garbage. Updating it to Faction level didn't help it much. Fix the original Ballistica to be functional, and the Rakta will be better off, at least.

[Sannidor]

I see no point of further leveling Rakta beyond this point - 2 forma+potato

 

 

Maybe faction specific builds would work better?

 

Not sure if it needs pure damage buff or quicker charge shot to free one slot. 

 

I look for synergy with Rakta, so far Mesa's shooting gallery seems decent as I go for headshots and strafe to line enemies.

 

What else can I do to make it more efficient? Assuming Ceres and T4 25 minute survivals with decent team are a top goal?

Edited January 27, 2015 by Sannidor

[JerechoNC]

The synoid is utterly broken. its annoying, not fun, and its @(*()$ EVERYWHERE. every mission, all the time. noone needs anything else. it slaughters everything, never ever runs out of ammo, has 100% accuracy and is better for everything in every situation aside from the very niche 1 hour + mark in survivals. 

 

it so desperately needs to be nerfed. synoidframe isnt the greatest fun lately. 

[Adorable_Ookami_Momiji]

The synoid is utterly broken. its annoying, not fun, and its @(*()$ EVERYWHERE. every mission, all the time. noone needs anything else. it slaughters everything, never ever runs out of ammo, has 100% accuracy and is better for everything in every situation aside from the very niche 1 hour + mark in survivals. 

 

it so desperately needs to be nerfed. synoidframe isnt the greatest fun lately. 

 

The effect also needs to not restore energy. That would help to cut down (just very slightly ~_~) the amount of people using it.

[(PSN)MrNishi]

I see no point of further leveling Rakta beyond this point - 2 forma+potato

Maybe faction specific builds would work better?

Not sure if it needs pure damage buff or quicker charge shot to free one slot.

I look for synergy with Rakta, so far Mesa's shooting gallery seems decent as I go for headshots and strafe to line enemies.

What else can I do to make it more efficient? Assuming Ceres and T4 25 minute survivals with decent team are a top goal?

I'm doing my Rakta build for in preparation of Impact event mods.

I decided since the Status is not a shining point, I would just go pure damage and increase crit chance.

(On PS4 so anticipating a Primed Heated Charge at a Tenno Relay in the near future..)

Hornet Strike, Barrel Diffusion, Lethal Torrent, Pistol Gambit, Heated Charge (place holder for Primed Chamber), Convulsion Rounds, Infected Clip, and Concussion Rounds/placeholder for 120% Impact mod

Oops meant Pathogen Rounds not Infected clip and just Convulsion*

In regards to the Synoid Gammacor, it was worse than the Rakta Ballastica on initial release, and then DE overbuffed the weapon. - I understand Magnetic Damage with Maganetic AoE proc seems redundant, but they chose Gammacor for Cephalon, not us.

So they buff damage, but did not slow fire rate enough, in my opinion.

-Fire rate should have been 1.0 (would have had base DPS of 210 instead of 420)

-Ammo Magazine size and max ammo capacity SHOULD NOT have been higher than the Spectra

-Also Status Chance should have been 10 or 15%

Would have been better than Gammacor but not 'Power Overwhelming'

Edited January 28, 2015 by (PS4)MrNishi

[Sannidor]

The synoid is utterly broken. its annoying, not fun, and its @(*()$ EVERYWHERE. every mission, all the time. noone needs anything else. it slaughters everything, never ever runs out of ammo, has 100% accuracy and is better for everything in every situation aside from the very niche 1 hour + mark in survivals. 

 

it so desperately needs to be nerfed. synoidframe isnt the greatest fun lately. 

 

In case anyone missed, best humorous SG video I've seen so far :)

 

youtube

 

/watch?v=1m-NODaGicM

Edited January 27, 2015 by Sannidor

[Holeypaladin]

Four of the syndicate weapons are buffs to GOOD weapons.  One of the syndicate weapons is a buff to a fairly good weapon, if you can deal with the recoil and flight speed.

 

And then there's the ballistica, which is a TERRIBLE weapon.

 

Rakta ballistica is the only syndicated terrible weapon, and it's actually made worse, stats-wise.

[Archistopheles]

I'm really not sure about this anymore. Normally DE_Steve would've responded by now. They must be preoccupied with something really important.

Edited January 27, 2015 by Archistopheles