[left]As someone who was hyped for the re-release of Redeye from the moment I started playing and currently mains Redeye no matter what the map (mainly because I’m so damn awful it doesn’t matter which merc I use) I was absolutely heartbroken when the devs said that there would probably be no further changes to the Grandeur SR.
While it in itself is not a bad gun per say, it is simply outclassed by similar weapons available to Redeye, namely the PDP-70. The comparison of the SR and the PDP was that the SR was a weaker, yet faster firing weapon. However the difference in fire rate (on paper) is virtually negligible, with the SR having a fire delay of 0.3s, and the PDP having a tiny increase in fire delay, sitting at 0.333s.
On paper, the PDP is simply superior in every aspect to the SR, the slightly decreased rate of fire can be more or less ignored when you consider the damage of the two guns.
The SR, while by no means having bad damage, does 40 damage a shot. The PDP has what seems to be a small increase on paper to 45 damage, but this 5 point increase is absolutely critical when you consider effective damage to health.
Lets assume that you are having a really bad day, and are unable to hit headshots consistently, so resort to bodyshotting. While this will obviously affect the damage done in a set time frame, for the sake of this comparison lets assume that all shots land and are made as bodyshots, and both weapons are firing at their maximum ROF.[/left]
Fighting a 120 health merc:
Grandeur SR 40 Damage a shot, would take 3 shots to kill.
PDP-70 45 Damage a shot, would take 3 shots to kill.
On paper, the two weapons are evenly matched, taking the same number of shots to kill.
Fighting a 90 health merc:
Grandeur SR 40 Damage a shot, would take 3 shots to kill.
PDP-70 45 Damage a shot, would take 2 shots to kill.
In this case, the PDP has a clear edge over the SR.
[left]From this, it can be seen that the Grandeur SR takes the same number of shots to kill say, a Skyhammer, as it would to kill a Proxy. This is also true when considering headshots.
The minimum damage to kill a Proxy (90HP) that could be done by the Grandeur is 120. This could be achieved by 3 bodyshots, 1 headshot and 1 bodyshot, or 2 headshots. Either way, the lowest number of shots is two.
This also holds true against a Skyhammer(120HP). Again the minimum damage to kill is 120, which is the same as Proxy.
The point of this is to show that when using the Grandeur, a Proxy with 90 health becomes as resilient as a Skyhammer with 120 health, regardless as to where the shots land.
On the other hand, the PDP would take one less shot to kill a 90 health merc through purely bodyshotting, and also one less shot with pure headshots, while a 120 health merc is given the resilience granted by a slower, higher health merc choice, taking up to three bodyshots , or one headshot plus bodyshot to kill with PDP.
This alone would be sufficient information (in my eyes alone) that the Grandeur and PDP sorely need differentiating from one another, making the SR the weapon is deserves to be as a high risk high reward battle rifle for aggressive flankers , and the PDP the weapon of choice for a sniper who wants to remain mobile, yet still hang back from the skirmish and take opportune shots to eliminate/weaken high value targets.
Personally, I would be content to increase the damage of both rifles, the SR from 40>45, and the PDP form 45>48. This change would not make the PDP in the same class as the MOA or FELIX, as it still lacks headshot gibs and punchthrough, and would not change the mercs it is able to one shot headshot (2 damage short of a instant gibbed 100 health merc), yet it retains it’s utility as a fast firing sniper.
The Grandeur on the other hand would take over the role that the PDP is used for mainly, a fast, middling damage rifle that synergises well with Redeye’s smoke and tagger, to push a breach in defense, rather than reducing an SR Redeye to an annoyance due to misplaced smoke and an assist/spotter.
Sorry for the massive wall of text but I feel rather strongly that Redeye in general needs to be made better.[/left]
(Edited with source for fire delay/damage: http://tinyurl.com/DBweaponstats )
