On The Spectra And How To Fix It

[GottFaust]

The Spectra, the newest clan weapon, is a bit disappointing. It's fun to use, but it has low damage, short range, terrible ammo efficiency, and a low ammo cap. It's essentially a worse flux rifle in every way.

"But GottFaust, off-hand weapons are supposed to be worse than primary weapons. That's why they're off-hand weapons to begin with."

While this is true, I think that the Spectra is too much weaker than the closest primary in terms of functionality, the Flux Rifle. It should be shorter range and less ammo efficient, but it shouldn't have half the damage (at best) as well. I won't compare it to its contemporaries (Acrid ect...) because their functionality is just too different for a direct numerical comparison to be valid, but the Spectral operates extremely similar to the Flux, and is thus a good comparison.

As it stands these are the current stats:

Flux DPS (Raw Damage Build): 4440.87

Spectra DPS (Raw Damage Build): 1885.781

As you can see the Spectra is currently less than half of the DPS of the Flux (58% worse to be exact) as well has having half the mag size, half of the range, and less than half of the ammo cap. It's literally less than half of a Flux rifle. While it shouldn't be a powerful as the Flux, it should be closer. To manage this I suggest buffing the damage by 2x to 160.

With 2x the damage the following would be the stats:

Flux DPS (Raw Damage Build): 4440.87

Spectra DPS (Raw Damage Build): 3771.29

With this buff the damage is still worse than the Flux (by 15%), but much closer. Why doesn't it need a further buff to match the DPS? Because they both currently suffer from a bug that causes fire-rate mods to not work correctly with them.

If they fix the Fire-Rate mod bug and apply the 2x damage buff to the Spectra the following would be the stats:

Flux DPS (Raw Damage Build): 9142.968

Spectra DPS (Raw Damage Build): 8570.748

The Spectra still has lower damage than the Flux (only by 6%), but it's well within the acceptable range.

Thoughts?

Math follows:

Spectra: (Hornet Strike, Barrel Diffusion, Heated Charge, Convulsion, Deep Freeze, Ice Storm, No Return)

Raw Damage per Second: ((80*3.2)+(((80*3.2)*0.9)*2)+((80*3.2)*0.6)+((80*3.2)*0.4)+((80*3.2)*0.3))*2.2=2309.12

Rounds in a Mag: 70

Crit Chance: 0.05

Crit Damage: 2

Crit Damage per Second: (2309.12)*2=4618.24

Damage per Iteration: (6.65*2309.12)+(0.35*4618.24)=16972.032

Iteration Time: (70/10)+2=9

Damager per Minute: (60/9)*16972.032=113146.88

Adjusted Damage per Second: 1885.781

Spectra (If Gunslinger Worked):

Iteration Time: ((70/10)*(1-0.72))+2=3.96

Damager per Minute: (60/3.96)*16972.032=257152

Adjusted Damage per Second: 4285.867

Flux: (Serration, Split Chamber, Hellfire, Cryo Rounds, Stormbringer, Wildfire, Piercing Hit)

Raw Damage per Second: ((200*2.65)+(((200*2.65)*0.9)*3)+(((200*2.65)*0.6)*2))*1.9=4934.3

Rounds in a Mag: 120

Crit Chance: 0.05

Crit Damage: 2

Crit Damage per Second: (4934.3)*2=9868.6

Damage per Iteration: (11.4*4934.3)+(0.6*9868.6)=62172.18

Iteration Time: (120/10)+2=14

Damager per Minute: (60/14)*62172.18=266452.2

Adjusted Damage per Second: 4440.87

Flux (If Speed Trigger Worked):

Iteration Time: ((120/10)*(1-0.6))+2=6.8

Damager per Minute: (60/6.8)*62172.18=548578.059

Adjusted Damage per Second: 9142.968

Spectra (After 2x DPS buff): (Hornet Strike, Barrel Diffusion, Heated Charge, Convulsion, Deep Freeze, Ice Storm, No Return)

Raw Damage per Second: ((160*3.2)+(((160*3.2)*0.9)*2)+((160*3.2)*0.6)+((160*3.2)*0.4)+((160*3.2)*0.3))*2.2=4618.24

Rounds in a Mag: 70

Crit Chance: 0.05

Crit Damage: 2

Crit Damage per Second: (4618.24)*2=9236.48

Damage per Iteration: (6.65*4618.24)+(0.35*9236.48)=33940.164

Iteration Time: (70/10)+2=9

Damager per Minute: (60/9)*=226267.76

Adjusted Damage per Second: 3771.129

Spectra (After 2x DPS Buff and If Gunslinger Worked):

Iteration Time: ((70/10)*(1-0.72))+2=3.96

Damager per Minute: (60/3.96)*33940.164=514244.909

Adjusted Damage per Second: 8570.748

Edited August 1, 2013 by GottFaust

[Shion963]

I'd be happy if it wasn't such an ammo hog, or had a larger ammo reserve pool. 210 (399 with maxed Trick Mag) burns quite quickly when enemies take about half a mag to kill.

 

Of course a damage buff would be welcome.

 

EDIT: OR do away with the continous thin beam, and turn it into a narrow charged pulse.

Dead Space Plasma Cutter style ;P

 

(Seriously, I thought from the side profile, it'll have a 'square' barrel with four coils on each side. Instead it's this narrow, vertical slit with two rails, shooting a round beam)

Edited August 1, 2013 by Shion963

[GottFaust]

I'd be happy if it wasn't such an ammo hog, or had a larger ammo reserve pool. 210 (399 with maxed Trick Mag) burns quite quickly when enemies take about half a mag to kill.

 

Of course a damage buff would be welcome.

 

EDIT: OR do away with the continous thin beam, and turn it into a narrow charged pulse.

Dead Space Plasma Cutter style ;P

 

(Seriously, I thought from the side profile, it'll have a 'square' barrel with four coils on each side. Instead it's this narrow, vertical slit with two rails, shooting a round beam)

We have too many projectile off-hand weapons already. Leaving it as a continuous beam is preferable in my opinion. I'm also fine with it being short range, having a low ammo cap, and bad ammo efficiency as most sidearms in this game do. I'm not ok with it being one of the lowest DPS weapons in the game to boot. As a clan weapon it should justify its cost in performance.

[Shion963]

We have too many projectile off-hand weapons already. Leaving it as a continuous beam is preferable in my opinion. I'm also fine with it being short range, having a low ammo cap, and bad ammo efficiency as most sidearms in this game do. I'm not ok with it being one of the lowest DPS weapons in the game to boot. As a clan weapon it should justify its cost in performance.

 

Just pointing out that it doesn't function like it appears to, is all. Thin round beam coming out of a flat projector.

And that ridiculous 'recoil' pushing the barrel up instead of back. For a linear beam projector which shoots beams in X axis to cause a reaction in the Y axis is just plain preposterous.

 

Buffing just the ammo reserve is all it needs, IMHO. The stagger already offsets the lower damage, allowing you more time to deal damage, as opposed to killing stuff quicker. But that's where the ammo reserve is needed, as you're pretty much required  to use a lot of ammo to kill anything. And I don't know about anyone else, but my sidearm ammo reserves usually lasts much longer than 20~30 seconds of use.

 

Buffing damage would allow for faster kills and better ammo economy, but from what I can see in past Spectra threads, many are saying that it SHOULD deal old-Flux amount of damage since it's a handheld/smaller version, and shouldn't rival/match the DPS of the flux, and all that jazz.

 

I personally don't mind whichever one they change, as long as they do it.

I've already supercharged mine because it's such a fun weapon, and anything thart make it better will be that much appreciated.

[Volt_Cruelerz]

Personally, I'd up the DPS to 300 and drop the mag to 30.  The result is a short-ranged nuking weapon that fills a completely different niche than the Flux.

[GottFaust]

Personally, I'd up the DPS to 300 and drop the mag to 30.  The result is a short-ranged nuking weapon that fills a completely different niche than the Flux.

This is also a pretty good idea.

Similar functionality, but fills a different roll of a more burst DPS type.

I would also increase the ammo consume rate to 15 for this method.

Spectra: (Hornet Strike, Barrel Diffusion, Heated Charge, Convulsion, Deep Freeze, Ice Storm, No Return)

Raw Damage per Second: ((300*3.2)+(((300*3.2)*0.9)*2)+((300*3.2)*0.6)+((300*3.2)*0.4)+((300*3.2)*0.3))*2.2=8659.2

Rounds in a Mag: (30*1.4)=42

Crit Chance: 0.05

Crit Damage: 2

Crit Damage per Second: (8659.2)*2=17318.4

Damage per Iteration: (2.66*8659.2)+(0.14*17318.4)=25458.048

Iteration Time: (42/15)+2=4.8

Damager per Minute: (60/4.8)*25458.048=318225.6

Adjusted Damage per Second: 5303.76

Raw Burst DPS: 9092.16

Total Fire Time: 28.8 seconds

Spectra (If Gunslinger Worked):

Iteration Time: ((42/15)*(1-0.72))+2=2.784

Damager per Minute: (60/2.784)*25458.048=548664.828

Adjusted Damage per Second: 9144.414

Raw Burst DPS: 32472

Total Fire Time: 16.704 seconds

This would give it a very high burst DPS, a decent sustained DPS, and a very fast ammo drain to offset it.

Edited August 1, 2013 by GottFaust