Post by Rekov on Sept 12, 2016 21:17:23 GMT -5
I have been planning on making this thread for a while now, but wanted to hold off for a variety of reasons. For one, we're all still fairly low level, so we don't have a complete picture of the game. Also, I play a dedicated gunner, so I am likely to be biased to a slight degree. All of that said, the discussion on Discord today prompted me to go ahead and write this anyways.
When I said I play a dedicated gunner, I should have said I play the dedicated gunner, since as far as I am aware, mine is the only one. This is a dramatic change from beta, where the average party had a small front line and a wall of riflemen standing behind them. Given that firearms are entirely unique to EoA, I can't help thinking that the reason for this has something to do with the rather severe nerfs to Marksmanship during beta.
Abilities
Straight Shoot (I - V)
Each of these abilities is a +1 increase to damage. This line is a must have. It obviously affects weapons with higher RPM more, though. Keep in mind that melee weapons gain additional attacks per round, while ranged weapons do not. This extra damage and the extra damage from skill ranks and weapon scaling need to bridge that gap.
Precise Shooting
This tree increases critical damage, and later on critical chance or damage depending on which branch you take. In general, these abilities provide a fairly small overall damage bonus that you aren't likely to notice without running some statistics. The larger crits will appear much more impressive, but the low frequency of crits makes this less impressive than it seems.
Steady Aim (III - V)
This is much better than it was during late beta, because your movement status updates much more quickly now. This could almost be seen as a design flaw though, as it is now very difficult to not be standing still while firing a shot. These are much better than the Precise Shooting abilities, because the crit chance increases at a much larger percentage of the base value than the crit damage.
Let's consider the case of Steady Aim (V) with a Hunting Rifle with a Mag Scope (+4% critical chance) and Compensator (+25% critical damage). The Hunting Rifle has a base critical chance of 5% with critical damage of 300%. With the mods, the ability tree brings you from 9% crit chance/325% crit damage to 12%/crit chance 425% crit damage.
(1.00 base damage)(0.91 chance not to crit) + (1.00 base damage)(0.09 crit chance)(3.25 crit multiplier) = 1.2025 avg damage output
(1.00 base damage)(0.88 chance not to crit) + (1.00 base damage)(0.12 crit chance)(4.25 crit multiplier) = 1.39 avg damage output
(1.39-1.2025)/1.2025 = 0.1556
So, overall it's about a 15.6% increase to damage. This math is obviously an oversimplification because it doesn't take into account additional crits allowing more damage to penetrate armor, so the actual number is slightly higher than 15.6%.
From the Hip (IV - V)
This provides damage instead of crit chance. I can't imagine ever taking this because it would be hell on your fingers to play.
Gunslinger (I - II)
These abilities provide +1 dodge vs. attacks of opportunity while reloading each. They are at best extremely niche. Some people have theory crafted pistol tanks, but frankly I'm not seeing it. These are the Dodge and Mobility feats of EoA. Useful only as prereqs for better things. Do not take these until you have skill 45 and can go straight to the tier 3 version.
Magic Bullet (III - V)
These abilities continue to increase the dodge bonus vs. AoOs, and also buff the damage and critical damage of the last bullet in the chamber.
Quick on the Draw (III - V)
These abilities continue to increase the dodge bonus vs. AoOs, and allow you to fire while reloading.
If you do not plan on reloading in combat, for example firing off a shotgun and then closing to melee, consider Magic Bullet. Otherwise, Magic Bullet is worse in every way than Quick on the Draw, and should never be considered under any circumstances, period. In general, over the long run, there is a 1:1 ratio of 'last bullets in chamber' and 'rounds spent reloading.' This means, that you are choosing between one slightly better bullet or an entire round of attacks. The degree to which Quick on the Draw is better than Magic Bullet only increases with the higher RPM weapons. This is not a choice at all. Take Quick on the Draw
Hail of Bullets and Crippling Shot
I haven't looked at these much tbh. The high tier abilities in the Crippling Shot tree seem good, but I don't know how they compare to high tier abilities in the melee trees. I might expand this section later.
All in all, I'm going to continue playing a gunner regardless, because it's what I want to do. I just thought I would pontificate on the reasons nobody else has gone this route, when during beta it was by far the most popular one. I also plan on writing a similar section on ranged weapons themselves, many of which are useful under very niche circumstances, and many of which are useful under no circumstances.
When I said I play a dedicated gunner, I should have said I play the dedicated gunner, since as far as I am aware, mine is the only one. This is a dramatic change from beta, where the average party had a small front line and a wall of riflemen standing behind them. Given that firearms are entirely unique to EoA, I can't help thinking that the reason for this has something to do with the rather severe nerfs to Marksmanship during beta.
Abilities
Straight Shoot (I - V)
Each of these abilities is a +1 increase to damage. This line is a must have. It obviously affects weapons with higher RPM more, though. Keep in mind that melee weapons gain additional attacks per round, while ranged weapons do not. This extra damage and the extra damage from skill ranks and weapon scaling need to bridge that gap.
Precise Shooting
This tree increases critical damage, and later on critical chance or damage depending on which branch you take. In general, these abilities provide a fairly small overall damage bonus that you aren't likely to notice without running some statistics. The larger crits will appear much more impressive, but the low frequency of crits makes this less impressive than it seems.
Steady Aim (III - V)
This is much better than it was during late beta, because your movement status updates much more quickly now. This could almost be seen as a design flaw though, as it is now very difficult to not be standing still while firing a shot. These are much better than the Precise Shooting abilities, because the crit chance increases at a much larger percentage of the base value than the crit damage.
Let's consider the case of Steady Aim (V) with a Hunting Rifle with a Mag Scope (+4% critical chance) and Compensator (+25% critical damage). The Hunting Rifle has a base critical chance of 5% with critical damage of 300%. With the mods, the ability tree brings you from 9% crit chance/325% crit damage to 12%/crit chance 425% crit damage.
(1.00 base damage)(0.91 chance not to crit) + (1.00 base damage)(0.09 crit chance)(3.25 crit multiplier) = 1.2025 avg damage output
(1.00 base damage)(0.88 chance not to crit) + (1.00 base damage)(0.12 crit chance)(4.25 crit multiplier) = 1.39 avg damage output
(1.39-1.2025)/1.2025 = 0.1556
So, overall it's about a 15.6% increase to damage. This math is obviously an oversimplification because it doesn't take into account additional crits allowing more damage to penetrate armor, so the actual number is slightly higher than 15.6%.
From the Hip (IV - V)
This provides damage instead of crit chance. I can't imagine ever taking this because it would be hell on your fingers to play.
Gunslinger (I - II)
These abilities provide +1 dodge vs. attacks of opportunity while reloading each. They are at best extremely niche. Some people have theory crafted pistol tanks, but frankly I'm not seeing it. These are the Dodge and Mobility feats of EoA. Useful only as prereqs for better things. Do not take these until you have skill 45 and can go straight to the tier 3 version.
Magic Bullet (III - V)
These abilities continue to increase the dodge bonus vs. AoOs, and also buff the damage and critical damage of the last bullet in the chamber.
Quick on the Draw (III - V)
These abilities continue to increase the dodge bonus vs. AoOs, and allow you to fire while reloading.
If you do not plan on reloading in combat, for example firing off a shotgun and then closing to melee, consider Magic Bullet. Otherwise, Magic Bullet is worse in every way than Quick on the Draw, and should never be considered under any circumstances, period. In general, over the long run, there is a 1:1 ratio of 'last bullets in chamber' and 'rounds spent reloading.' This means, that you are choosing between one slightly better bullet or an entire round of attacks. The degree to which Quick on the Draw is better than Magic Bullet only increases with the higher RPM weapons. This is not a choice at all. Take Quick on the Draw
Hail of Bullets and Crippling Shot
I haven't looked at these much tbh. The high tier abilities in the Crippling Shot tree seem good, but I don't know how they compare to high tier abilities in the melee trees. I might expand this section later.
All in all, I'm going to continue playing a gunner regardless, because it's what I want to do. I just thought I would pontificate on the reasons nobody else has gone this route, when during beta it was by far the most popular one. I also plan on writing a similar section on ranged weapons themselves, many of which are useful under very niche circumstances, and many of which are useful under no circumstances.
