[Hamlet Piglet]

Wat up S5leaguers, Pig here just finishing what Reiki Started!

Since I've downloaded the game again after almost a year, I'm trying out all the weapons from scratch!

Anyways this week we have the Gauss Rifle up for evaluation. An accurate weapon with a simple spread, with a slower than average firing rate. There was very little feedback on the weapon up until recently as it used to lag players in the past; but this seems to of have been fixed in the recent patches. The weapon has very high critical damage and a very low reload time, but there is a noticeable downtime coming out of firing mode to switch weapons without canceling the animation manually.

Would this weapon be a competent choice for the competitive scene, or would you want to see it buff or nerfed or deleted?
Leave your responses below and I hope everyone will take their time post their thoughts or give some feedback!



Personally: I think the Gauss is lacking something. Maybe it's in the way it fires but in my opinion it feels like something is missing when I'm firing the thing.

[Chauy]

I think the gauss is a great weapon personally
It's a little wonky to aim, but it has the second highest damage (I believe) out of any automatic weapon (with first going to HMG)

I think it has 25 ammo? which is the biggest practical drawback imo
If it was changed to 30 ammo it would be an amazing weapon

The BIGGEST drawback overall I would say is that it's just such an ugly looking weapon
I honestly feel that people don't use it because of how ugly looking it is

I'm not even kidding here
-edit-
Going back to that ugly-looking weapon thing
It also does not sound good at all when it fires

It sounds pretty nice when it makes impact with someone but when it's just firing.......

Like seriously
I think the biggest reason people don't use it is because of how uncool it is

This post has been edited by Chauy: 29 September 2011 - 03:42 AM

[StyxNStones]

Chauy, on 29 September 2011 - 03:41 AM, said:

it's just such an ugly looking weapon
.....
It also does not sound good at all when it fires

Compared to what? The smash rifle?

If I recall correctly, there was a bug once where the AP version was much stronger and people were not at all hesitant to go out and buy it and use it to roll over others. It always struck me as an awkward weapon. I don't think any other rapid fire gun makes you want to click then release then click again. Awkward is the word that sits in my mind.

Edit: On the other hand, there's this

This post has been edited by StyxNStones: 29 September 2011 - 03:51 AM

[i2K]

I own an FP Gauss (Dracula Rifle).
I think it's balanced enough. Pretty easy to figure out the spray on it. Sometimes I like to do the manual click-pause-click-pause-repeat, from afar just for the fact that the first shot goes directly in the middle of the cross hair. In a sense, I make it act as if I'm sniping. Easy to 2-4 shot (depending on HP/AP user) in the head/critical for instant death from full health, if you're lucky enough or able to get someone walking slow or staying still.

This post has been edited by i2K: 29 September 2011 - 04:14 AM

[Chauy]

StyxNStones, on 29 September 2011 - 03:48 AM, said:

Compared to what? The smash rifle?

If I recall correctly, there was a bug once where the AP version was much stronger and people were not at all hesitant to go out and buy it and use it to roll over others. It always struck me as an awkward weapon. I don't think any other rapid fire gun makes you want to click then release then click again. Awkward is the word that sits in my mind.

I'm well aware that what I said sounds ridiculous
But let's take a look at the stats

Gauss rifle is the third strongest automatic gun, under HMG and Turret
We'll use the popular SMG as a comparison

It has 5 bullets less than SMG does but deals much higher damage than SMG
So maybe it is the shot pattern? Or reload time?

Let's take a look.
The first clip will be the rate of fire. The second clip will be the Gauss Rifle's rate of fire.
The third and fourth clips will be a comparison of reload times, and the final two clips will be the shot patterns.


What can be seen from the video:
1. The reload speeds are the same (2 seconds each)
2. The SMG fires at a higher rate, which is 7.5 bullets per second (30 shots/4 seconds)
2A. The Gauss fires at a rate of 5 bullets per second (25 shots/5 seconds)
3. SMG has an inverted Y spread pattern
4. Gauss shots follow a mostly vertical line going up

So when we take that information and combine it with what we already knew (gauss damage being higher and having 5 less bullets), what can we infer?
I would say it comes down to how much damage you can pump out over time.
Since that is harder to measure let's be not-as-exact and look at how many bullets can be pumped out.
The SMG can pump out 75 bullets in 15 seconds with non-stop firing and 2 second reloads (10 seconds of actual firing).
The Gauss can pump out 50 bullets in 14 seconds with non-stop firing and 2 second reloads (10 seconds of actual firing).

25 more bullets and 1 extra second will far outweigh any damage advantage that the Gauss has, and even if they fired only one clip the SMG's higher rate of fire will scale better with aim against a Gauss.

This nulls any advantage a Gauss user may have because of an easier shot spread and higher damage.

Hmm
Well after analyzing my video it's hard for me to say whether Gauss needs 5 extra bullets or SMG's fire rate. Gauss already runs out of bullets rather quickly but if we gave Gauss both 5 extra bullets and SMG's fire rate then there would be absolutely no reason to use the SMG except for the fact that Gauss looks and sounds like crap

I STAND BY MY PREVIOUS STATEMENT

-edit-
I spent so much time on this (and by that I mean I actually thought a little bit) and no one is even online in the forums to marvel at my flawed logic
sad faise

This post has been edited by Chauy: 29 September 2011 - 05:01 AM

[Reiki]

I think in this current meta, it's a relic. It needs an overhaul buff to be relevant really.

[PieExplosion]

Current meta caters heavily to mid-range aim casuals. Assault Rifle, Spark Rifle, and Homing Rifle all pushed Gauss rifle off the list.

[Sanzo]

Gauss is decent but out-classed by the "current weapons" and as creamPIE mentioned ontop for me^
Needs a buff in ammo imo
It is fun to see "sum" players who utilize dat pingas gun being sprayed all over enemies bodies tho and the rapeage and laggage dat ensues rite after

[JinNJuice]

Personally, I love the gauss rifle. If you have aim like I do (and well... everyone here in these forums, actually) the gauss is actually a good weapon. It's fire rate and spread may seem odd and distraught people away from it, but using its mechanics to its advantage can make it powerful. In close range, I usually go full auto, since each hit can do a considerable amount of damage, and the way it spreads may give you more headshots. Also, with its super accurate single (if not burst fire) shots, it's good to pinpoint and poke at your opponent, rather than spray and pray with other weapons.

But, given its mechanics, it's not as versatile as some weapons. At nearly point blank, the gun is practically useless, since it does nothing but chip off damage with its shots, if you can even land shots at that close of a range. At a very long range, probably only its first out of the 5 shots that spread will hit, and even that is a difficult and unnecessary task.Also, when you do stop firing, there is that noticeable delay (I do realize that it's for balance purposes).

Overall, I'd say it's a weapon for those who don't want to get too close, but also are not distant.

[PsychoWolfen]

I'm with Pie and Reiki on this one, its one of those relics that have the problem of being outdone by the spray rifle and such, I've used it before during missions and its a weapon if i didn't have the HMG or SMGs, i would totally use it. I believe it has a quick reload time of about 1.5 seconds but it needs some form of a vamp with either the spread shot or the ammo, because if you hold that trigger down you will burn though that 25 rounds fast.