Here’s my take on how future weapon balancing should look like.
Keep in mind that my goal is so that each weapon has a strength and weakness for different scenarios in a way that encourages players to switch it up often during the course of a PvE or PvP encounter.
Also keep in mind that players are now stuck with their load-out once they have boarded another player’s ship.
IMO, weapons that can deal better sustained damage over time are better for offence (like the cutlass and throwing knife) as they force a player who is already under the pressure of repairing their ship to flee constant incoming damage. In recent gameplay, I have found that using the blunderbuss on another players ship has mixed results as they’re able to bucket while I reload or switch weapons while a cutlass or throwing knife causes them to flee and be unable to repair.
I focus more on wielding and un-wielding animations and Aim-Down-Sights (ADS) than damage and I think the devs should look into having the guns have distinct times for each weapon.
Flintlock: (anti-board / two-tap)
Excels at ranged anti boarding and pairs well with the blunderbuss. This should be the weapon of choice for players who were once able to perform the double gun two-tap (with blunder / sniper) and who had the accuracy for it. In order to facilitate this role, it has a very quick wielding and ADS animation, as well as a quick un-wielding animation—this would allow players to shoot a boarder off their ladder with the blunderbuss and quickly switch to the pistol to finish off before they have a chance to eat. Conversely, if the defender is positioned correctly they can get a shot off with the pistol first and then quickly switch to the blunder. Slightly buffed damage but increased reload time to punish a failed shot.
Double Barrel Pistol: (boarding-offence)
Unlike the flintlock, this weapon should be slightly better suited for offence. It would have a longer wielding and ADS animation but has a higher damage output over time with decreased reload time and its current two shot capability. This firearm should have the fastest ADS movement speed of any weapon—as in the player can move fairly quickly and be evasive while aiming down sights.
Throwing Knives: (boarding-offence / defence once boarded)
Another fairly good weapon for offence or for when your ship is currently boarded by another player. Pairs well with either the blunderbuss or the cutlass but doesn’t need too much of a change with the exception of better hit detection. Obviously excels at close range and high dps. Fastest wielding and un-wielding animation in game for quick switching to blunderbuss or cutlass but has the same slow ‘ADS’ movement as it currently does. Players should be considering this weapon or the DBP when boarding an enemy ship.
Eye of Reach: (ranged offence)
Excels at ‘hit cannon’ scenarios where the opposing player is stationary on a piece of ship equipment, far away. I don’t think this weapon needs any change. Instead the buffs to the Flintlock and making the flintlock an easy ’two tap’ weapon should keep this weapon firmly placed in the ranged category. If anything, it should have the slowest wielding/un-wielding and ADS animation in game.
Blunderbuss: (anti-board)
This weapon should have the second fastest wielding, un-wielding and ADS animation for a firearm, only behind the flintlock. I wish I had a solution to its relatively poor damage output but I really think that’s a server issue and not a balancing one. If the blunderbuss just had a 'cone' of damage instead of pellets that might solve the issue. Should be the go to weapon for anti boarding as it allows the defender to make a shot (accurate or not) and switch to something else to finish off. I would shorten its reload time ever so slightly to be less punishing for missed shots. I wish Rare would give us the data on how much damage is done on average per shot of this weapon. For me it's always really low and I think it should do a minimum of 40 damage. Always. That would give a skilled player chance to follow up and outright remove an opponent with a shot of a pistol.
Cutlass: (boarding-offence / defence once boarded)
S tier boarding weapon and great if you're already boarded and need to punish your opponent for missing their shot. I don't think it needs any changes other than maybe having a look at its wielding animation times. I think it needs to be quick to swap into to allow for quick sword defence, but once the player has the cutlass out it should be a commitment and should be difficult to swap to another weapon.
Blowpipe:
Not enough gameplay information to say. I have successfully used it to fend off being spawn camped (after failing with all other weapons) once by shooting explosives onto the roof/canopy of my sloop and it does considerable damage even without charging up at close range. I think it has quite a bit of potential but I don’t know yet. It’s absolutely great for large amounts of enemies in PvE and I can see it causing a lot of havoc on galleons.
Grapple Gun: (environmental advantages / buff paired weapon)
Needs increased range. I urge the developers to place special ammo crates around the game environment that gives a buff to the OTHER weapon that the player is wielding (hitscan EOR ammo, poison flintlock ammo, one hit kill throwing knives), however these special ammo crates are stationary can only be accessed by using the grapple gun in heightened / hard to reach areas. This will add really cool synergies for players who use the grapple gun to position themselves to get special ammo and then may reposition to use said ammo.
