Is Arty really that bad? Let's find out

(loonyTop) #21

I love Arty from a rifle perspective. His drop ability is a bit shit though.

(CCP115) #22

I once direct hitted a Nader with my Airstrike. Didn’t die.

I cried.

He needs an ability rework.

(avidCow) #23

Obviously it doesn’t need to be exactly the same as ET/RTCW. Just imagine 3 explosions falling randomly, with their centre point originating on the edge of current artillery splash, over the course of 4 to 5 seconds. That’s something I guess they could do. Then tweak the cooldown to suit.

(Gi.Am) #24

@ AvidCow that is pretty much what is allready happening in a shorter duration. Artystrike basically spawns 3 bombs randomly into the Artystrike AOE. Since each bomb has an AOE of its own, you get damage overlap resulting in fairly large damage. According to the official Wiki Stats one Bomb deals 100 Damage across 240 units (same as a fragger grenade). Everything in the Marker will catch enough splash to die.

If the delays gets bigger between the Bombs you would need to either ramp up damage or AOE or a combination of both to compensate (i.e. 100% more damage since every bomb needs to be able to kill on its own and to compensate that most likely 2 Bombs will miss a moving EV).

That said I could see something like that, to appease the we want ET artillery, crowd that might be more feasable in DB.

Only thing I don’t like about that is, that it most likely would have higher cooldown to balance out the strength it got in blocking out planting areas (similar to a Kira laser).

(PowerReef) #25

I think one arty strike should call in 2 or three airstrikes and work as area denial

(sagaciousHarp) #26

First post, new player but i’d like to contribute to the thread.

In my opinion some of you guys are mistakingly comparing arty directly to the other 2 support mercs. From my limited playtime and experience i can see what kind of role Arty covers, with its high accuracy rifles and very concentrated artillery; he seems to be one of the few mercs that rely a lot on precision and accuracy and this is reflected on his ability: the “arty” (which actually seems just a single cluster bomb more than an actual shell barrage) has very limited AoE but very low cooldown, pretty low downtime and he can store two at the same time, without mentioning that its activation is MUCH more discrete than Skyhammer ability or Kira’s.
What this means (to me) is that his arty needs to be used precisely, possibily on slow targets or entrenchments; hell it’s one of the best way to deal with Rhino outdoors since it comes so quickly and has such low cooldown.

So yes, i actually think Arty’s arty has a very clear place in the game. BUT

The damage inside of the AoE is too low. If the small AoE is to stay as is the damage inside of it needs to be bumped up a bit, and also it should gib just like Skyhammer bombing run or kira’s lazor. If an enemy merc is caught under arty fire he/she shouldn’t survive, just like when you land those headshots with the dreiss.

Also the targeting system needs some work… ATM it’s very unreliable and like some user said before me you’re never sure if you actually called it in or not. Best system IMO would be to remove completely the targeting time. So you pull out the targeting lazor, select the barrage zone and the click with the LMB. Done. Kaboom.

TL:DR Arty’s arty is fine as concept but needs more damage, targeting system needs rework.

non gameplay related

On a side note, i’d REALLY love a more dramatic effect to Arty’s barrage. It’s pretty disappointing to hear him say “HERE COMES THE ARTY!” and then see just a puff of smoke in the mist. It would be outstanding to hear over comms some artillery firing and then hearing the small explosion of the canister followed by the smaller bangs of the cluster bombs.

Far cry 4 mortar for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl9sEj5aCz0

(Cappe) #27

If you compare Fraggers grenade and Arty’s arty, it looks to me that if you’re 2-3 steps away from the grenade you’ll be dead for sure, with the arty you’ll have little to no damage from it.

(Gi.Am) #28

Sorry not true, I tested it more then enough, even a Rhino will 100% for sure die if he stands in the round green marked Area. Yes outside of it the damage dissipates quickly but in that circle the damage overlap is big enough to kill the highest HP Merc (and on a sidenote it will gib aswell). If someone survives he either moved out of the circle in time, or you miss aimed.

(Cappe) #29

You missunderstood what I meant, what I meant was that the blast radius of a grenade that kills is bigger than of arty. A hit by a grenade is almost always a kill but you can survive a hit by arty.

(Old Man) #30

Leave Arty alone. Yes he is more difficult to play due its single fire and burst fire weapons, but its a great fun. I constantly top score boards with him as long I don’t play with some high level pros.

(Cappe) #31

You should read the thread before posting, this is not about his weapons its about his arty ability. I really like his guns.

(Gi.Am) #32

You missunderstood what I meant, what I meant was that the blast radius of a grenade that kills is bigger than of arty. A hit by a grenade is almost always a kill but you can survive a hit by arty.[/quote]

Also not true. Grenade [url=“http://dirtybomb.gamepedia.com/Artillery_Spotter”]Artillery Both have a radius of 240 units.
Yes a single grenade deals more damage than a single artillery bomb, but keep in mind the artillery is hitting 3 times.

The difference is a trained Fragger can land his grenade very close to you. While an untrained Arty struggles to hit his target. Additional a Fragger will usually prime his grenade making it harder to avoid. The artillery, while the least noticable of the Firesupport abilities, has a delay and an audio que which allows people to avoid it.

(Cappe) #33

You missunderstood what I meant, what I meant was that the blast radius of a grenade that kills is bigger than of arty. A hit by a grenade is almost always a kill but you can survive a hit by arty.[/quote]

Also not true. Grenade [url=“http://dirtybomb.gamepedia.com/Artillery_Spotter”]Artillery Both have a radius of 240 units.
Yes a single grenade deals more damage than a single artillery bomb, but keep in mind the artillery is hitting 3 times.

The difference is a trained Fragger can land his grenade very close to you. While an untrained Arty struggles to hit his target. Additional a Fragger will usually prime his grenade making it harder to avoid. The artillery, while the least noticable of the Firesupport abilities, has a delay and an audio que which allows people to avoid it.[/quote]

Ok, you’re right but that still doesn’t explain why an arty bomb should be weaker than a grenade, 1 arty bomb hit can only do 100 damage while a grenade does 150 damage. In my opinion it needs bigger AoE or higher damage so that a hit is actually kill (as it should be).
It’s like they purposely made the damage the other way around from reality.