Ignis Buff: Buffing Done Right

[Vyrn]

The title says it all. I am very pleased with the Ignis buff for a multiple reasons, and I'll explain myself.

• The Ignis has received a visual overhaul and has received the following stat changes:
  • Increased fire range.    
  • Increased innate multishot effect.    
  • Added 2m punchthrough.    
  • Increased clip size and total ammo capacity.    

 

Let's start with the basics. The visual overhaul is pretty nice, and I'm a fan of it. While I'll miss the old skin, that's mostly because that's what it's always been. This point is purely subjective.

 

Increased fire range. From my brief testing (I ran a single mission with it), I can say that the 50m base range is insane. I run with Sinister Reach+Firestorm because why not, and I could hit enemies 62m away (gotta love waypoints). This range is a huge improvement and allows the gun to deal damage to enemies sooner and hit more enemies in total. Overall, very nice change, albeit potentially excessive. Please don't change it.

 

EDIT: I just did another test, and I was only hitting enemies 40m away or so. I do know that I was hitting enemies at 62m with Sinister Reach (+12m range) and Firestorm on, so maybe Firestorm was extending it a bit farther.

 

Innate multishot effect. I'm thinking this one flew under most people's radar due to its not being clarified, but my testing did reveal something. It would appear that the total firing range is split into different densities of "pellets" due to how the multishot is divided. When I was point blank, I dealt around ~2300 damage per tick to my enemy. At max range (62m), I dealt ~230, exactly 1/10th of the total damage.

 

This was a very wise decision, and it serves two main purposes. The first is that it limits some potentially ridiculous stuff that could be done with this weapon. No more hitting everything in this room and the next for full damage, allowing extra cheesy things to be done. It also makes sense considering the cone-shaped fire. The second is that it preserves the archetype of the weapon class. Full damage is dealt up close where the enemy is taking the brunt of the flames, as would be expected, and enemies farther away are taking far less due to its dissipating nature. Overall, awesome.

 

2m punch through. This seems more like a quality of life change, but one could argue that it was unnecessary. I am currently able to roast enemies through doors and thin walls, allowing enemies far away to be hurt before I can even see them. This does carry on the usual dangerous, terrifying, and destructive nature of a flamethrower, however, so I'll allow it. Overall, pretty darn nice.

 

Magazine/Ammo capacity buffs. Considering how much ammo players will use with this type of weapon (often just holding down the fire button and sweeping), this helps Ignis remain a reliable, sustainable weapon. Overall, very nice.

 

Unlisted (although potentially a result of the multishot change) status chance buff. Again, this is a very welcome improvement, and it fits the idea of a flamethrower. I mean, really. If you are spraying fire on someone, wouldn't you expect them to catch on fire? Overall, extremely nice as it also allows some more scaling to the weapon.

 

Unlisted (although definitely a result of the multishot change) damage buff  The damage has also been increased from 10 per "round" to 27 per "round." This is a rather sizable improvement, and it means quite a lot considering how easy it is to hit enemies and the fact that you can hit so many of them from so far away. Awesome.

 

I am very happy with this buff, and I can say that Ignis is overall a much more reliable and effective weapon. I'll probably test it out with different builds in a bit just to see what all it can do. Now, there is only one thing left for us...

 

Embolist buff when? These same changes would be perfect for it :p

 

Also, quoting people has gotten extremely bugging. It keeps adding extra lines and bullet points, and it starts acting wonky if I try to correct it.

Edited October 22, 2015 by Vyrnaazus

[AdunSaveMe]

How's the status? I imagine it would be improved just cus of the multishot, but still.

[taiiat]

there's only a couple problems - it instantly reaches it's maximum Range, so it's W+M1 AoE Damage.

would be more interesting to use if it spread from origin to maximum Range, IMO.

 

and Fire Status is still meh but that's not a direct fault of the Weapon, just something that makes Fire based Weapons kind've mediocre until Fire Status can stack.

 

How's the status? I imagine it would be improved just cus of the multishot, but still.

bettER.

[AdunSaveMe]

there's only a couple problems - it instantly reaches it's maximum Range, so it's W+M1 AoE Damage.

would be more interesting to use if it spread from origin to maximum Range, IMO.

So it's hitscan then. That's a bit weird.

 

But at the same time, the ''projectile'' travel time should at least be fast. Arrow travel speed at least.

[Kotsender_Quasimir]

Agreed. I also consider this another Ember buff at the same time (because Accelerant+Ignis=Nice synergy). Both are in very good spots now imo.

 

[Vyrn]

How's the status? I imagine it would be improved just cus of the multishot, but still.

25% base. I am goofing around with a status build (all 4 status+element mods, Vile Acceleration, Serration Split Chamber, Firestorm), and it's proccing Blast on everything within range pretty much the moment it hits them.

 

The CC on this thing is insane.

[AdunSaveMe]

25% base. I am goofing around with a status build (all 4 status+element mods, Vile Acceleration, Serration Split Chamber, Firestorm), and it's proccing Blast on everything within range pretty much the moment it hits them.

 

The CC on this thing is insane.

That sounds hilarious.

 

I like these buff reworks. They make things powerful but not too OP. I have high hopes for the sniper buffs.

[-InV-igo95862]

Gonna forma it.

[AandOE]

Finally, Ignis comes into the light. The light! :D So very wonderful... I hope this means it'll be a good choice for the Halloween event.

[Chroia]

Increased fire range. <snip>

I consistently get ~46m in the Simulacrum, FWIW. (But the Simulacrum's not level, no idea if that affects anything.)

Also, Firestorm doesn't affect range. And I'm not certain how consistently it affects spread.

Maybe better graphics settings make its spread more obvious, but eyeballing it... It's odd.

That said, I now realize I had a maxed Heavy Caliber on it.

Combined with the 'Innate multishot effect', that may explain it, if it's no longer purely volumetic.

Anyway, +1.

Need to put my (4 forma) Ignis through its new paces :D

[Kolos1001]

The CC on this thing is insane.

As a flamethrower I think that's pretty reasonable. 

[LisRestall]

I already 5 forma'd mine before the patch. Currently loving it. DPS isn't special but the way the gun works is amazing.

 

*cough* Combus- *cough* tion *cough* Beam *cough*

[RealPandemonium]

Slotting Firestorm should now give a noticeable damage buff at longer ranges.

[Vyrn]

I consistently get ~46m in the Simulacrum, FWIW. (But the Simulacrum's not level, no idea if that affects anything.)

I just checked it. Even at various angles in the Simulacrum, I could hit from 64m away. Again, this is Sinister Reach+Firestorm.

 

 

Edit: Actually, the range as a whole seems buggy. From some angles, I could hit at 64m. At others, I could hit from around 52 at most, but it would only hit for the initial tick. Even if I had Ignis pointed directly at the Ancient, it would deal no damage past that initial hit.

Edited October 22, 2015 by Vyrnaazus

[shut]

there's only a couple problems - it instantly reaches it's maximum Range

 

It doesn't.

I tested it out a couple hours ago; the "beam" actually takes a small amount of time to reach the maximum range, and if you release M1 before it reaches its full range, the flames will instantly stop spreading out (as opposed to most other games, where the existing flame particles will continue to travel forward until they expire).

 

It's not too noticeable when you're W+M1ing, but if you're rapidly tap-firing to work around the stupid "only ticks three times per second regardless of Fire Rate" mechanic that continuous weapons have, you're going to have a rough time because your effective range will be cut down by quite a lot. (Although to be fair, it's a bit hard to tap-fire with this weapon anyway. It recoils slightly every time you begin firing, meaning that rapid tapping will cause a hilarious but frustrating earthquake effect on your screen.)

 

 

I noticed the really low damage at long range, and I think it's really nice that the devs set the weapon to behave this way. The "can reach stupid ranges but deals most of its damage close-up" behaviour means that it's still a close- to mid-ranged weapon at its core (as expected of a flamethrower), but with a teensy bit of utility that can be used against weakened enemies that backpedaled out of your range or something. Even with the gross Status/Sec mechanic, it's still a great way to deliver procs at a range if need be.

[taiiat]

It doesn't.

nearly instantaneous and instantaneous in this situation are basically identical.

[shut]

nearly instantaneous and instantaneous in this situation are basically identical.

 

The difference in "instantaneous" and "nearly instantaneous" is enough to make ranged tapfire attacks impossible. You have to hold M1 in order to hit enemies at a range, and this combined with the gross "3 ticks per second regardless of fire rate" mechanic means that you're going to be unnecessarily spending extra bucketfuls of ammo to pick off 1HP guys at a range.

 

If the difference is enough to forcibly change a player's playstyle from usual beam weapon gameplay, then that's pretty significant, if you ask me.

Edited October 22, 2015 by SortaRandom

[Mak_Gohae]

Most of the stuff added could be achieved with modding previously.

Which means that now people have space to min\max and end up with the same mods all other weapons use.

 

Find it weird when DE buff stuff it just ends up people creating that one min/max build that other people complain about when discussing variety. Then DE goes on to mess around with game mechanics to create variety to solve a problem they created.

[ogbone]

Split Chamber has no effect on status, however. Dunno wether intended or not. Maybe a bug.

[Hatzeputt]

A flame thrower should set things on fire not feel like a heat wave projector. Just like the Sonicor has the 100% impact rag doll proc the Ignis should have a 100% ignite proc (for fire only).  That is what I was hoping for the most, sadly I was left disappointed.

 

Right now the Ignis does not feel like a flamethrower but more like a bigger Atomos.  

[RealPandemonium]

Split Chamber has no effect on status, however. Dunno wether intended or not. Maybe a bug.

Has been this way for a while with continuous weapons, but as a trade-off fire rate affects status chance per second (though they can still only proc once per second, so get to 100% and then pump damage/utility.)