Howdy Munitions Traders!
Loche and I have begun prototype work on the weaponcrafting system and I wanted to give y'all a heads up where we are steering this Update. When looking at the Top 5 from Munitions most of them really can't be handled in the current method of crafting weapons, and to be honest I really don't want to go in there and have to do some crazy conversion on weapons, crates and components. This leads me to the philosophy we are going to take with this update which is to just add the new methods of crafting weapons and let the old components/crates/looted schematics float out there. We will be removing any non cored standard schematic from your list unless it is a limited use loot schematic. If you want to use them go ahead however they will be lacking the stats of the new weaponsmith items you can craft.
On that note we are prototyping a weapons crafting system that works very similar to the armorsmith "cores". Which involves crafting subcomponents, craft a core with them that is from level 10-90(stats are determined here), place the core into any weapon appearance you have the schematic for. Since weapon appearances have no intrinsic levels in them you could place a level 90 ranged weapon core into a CDEF if you like, or if you wanted to make a level 12 Intimidator pistol you could. Class restrictions on certain weapons will remain, so in the Intimidators example it will still be limited to Officers. Small stat enhancements will be added for some weapons at the appearance level, usually for high end looted schematics.
Things like elemetal damage type will be determined at the core level as well, so craft it into your core if you want to put it into whatever appearance you want. The exception to this is heavy weapons since they need to reflect the gun. More than likely there will be melee, ranged, and heavy weapons cores so we can make these various tweaks.
Speaking of enhancements/stats on subcomponents, there will be small amount of stats on the new subcomponents however we are leaving the flat value system and basing them on percentages. This should make enhancements equally useful across the board as a 5% gain is just as useful DPSwise in a rifle as a pistol. We really don't want to touch the old components such as power handlers, so more than likely the will not get any stats, however they may still be used as a requirement at some level.
Tweaking the weapon crafting system should eliminate about 3 of the professions top 5 issues. Hopefully this will create a business again for the weaponcrafter as they can make a new weapon core every 2 levels from 10 to 90. Currently there are huge 14 level gaps between weapons they can craft on Live. Along with this we will look at the frequency of looted weapons to make sure they aren't overly abundant. High end looted schematics will transition into limited use appearance schematics that you can place any core into if you really want to.
There is an item or two we would like to look at for armorsmithing, however the bulk of our time will be spent with the weaponsmithing code.
Im not a big fan of the fact that Engineering has any weapons at all. It just so happened when the Trading professions were collapsed into 4 there was an odd number so Weaponsmith was used twice however didn't get the full value of experimentation points as Munitions. Ideally Engineering loses all ability to craft player weapons and gain the ability to craft Droid weapons, it will either happen with Update 5 or with Droid Commander update.
groetjes Blixtev.
Beter die wapens bij de Engineering slaat echt nergens 😛 dus dit is een goeie zet 🙂
ach game update takes a look at specific professions to address bug fixes and issues. (This is not a complete revamp of the profession.) Please keep in mind that this won't be in the form of a chapter dedicated to each profession, but an update between major content releases that includes addressing some of the bugs and issues for one or two specific professions.
For the fifth profession update, the development team is focusing on Munitions Trader and Beast Master.
The Top 5 issues presented by the representative senator are the basis for the update for each profession. The team will spend time on the issues in the Top 5 and address as many as possible.
Summary of Munitions Trader Top Five
These are the top five issues presented by the Munitions Trader Senator and the munitions community:
* There are no stats on weapon sub-components and statted looted enhancers for both weapons and armor no longer drop.
* Crafters are not able to craft the weapons players want due to them being locked into a certain combat level certification.
* We need ways for non-masters to create competitive low and mid-grade armor/weapons and reasons for them to do so to encourage growth in the profession.
* No new craftable armor schematics have been introduced since shortly after the Rage of the Wookiees expansion.
* High end craftable weapons are limited by an artificial hard cap and not by the limit of resources, making most schematics undesirable next to looted weapons instead of viable options.
Game Update 5
With the top five issues in mind, here is what we currently have in the works for Munitions Traders in Game Update 5:
* Create new weapon loot enhancers and sub-components that are used in a new “weapon core” crafting system.
* Allow the crafter to choose the level and look of the weapons crafted in the new core system.
* Take a look at the frequency of looted weapons to make sure they aren't overly abundant.
* Investigate the addition of new armor schematics.
This is not a complete list of what will be included in this game update, and please be aware that this plan is subject to change.
We will not be able to address all concerns or suggestions you have for your profession in this particular update, but we are focusing on the issues above. Each game update can also include updates to other professions, so if your issue is not addressed at this time, there is always a chance that it may be addressed in a later update.
Please feel free to discuss the points above in this thread. Thank you!
Meer weaponsmith info:
Just wanted to pop in and tell you how its been going for Loche and myself in this weaponsmithing overhaul. While it has been a bear to get it all to work we are pretty close to finishing 1 of each core style, 1 of each weapon style, and 1 of each component we want to use. We have crafted one of each from start to finish and are getting really excited in how the system works.
We have:
Basic Ranged Weapon Cores
Standard Ranged Weaopn Cores
Advanced Ranged Wepaon Cores
Standard Heavy Weapon Cores
Advanced Heavy Weapon Cores
Basic Melee Weapon Cores
Standard Melee Weapon Cores
Advanced Melee Weapon Cores
We kept/added the following subcomponentes:
Blaster/Projectile Barrels(Ranged Wepaons)(.5-1.5% required weapon DPS appearance subcomponent)
Vibro Units(Melee Wepaons)(.5-1.5% required weapon DPS appearance subcomponent)
Stocks(Ranged Weapons)(0-1.0% optional weapon DPS appearance subcomponent)
Scopes(Ranged Weapons)(0-1.0% optional weapon DPS appearance subcomponent)
Gas Canisters(Ranged Wepaons)(1.0-2.5% weapon DPS Core subcomponents)
Elemental Chambers(Ranged/Melee Wepaons)(Elemental Type/ Elemental DPS Core subcomponents)
Heavy Chambers(Heavy Weapons)(Elemental DPS Core subcomponent)
Weapon Power Bit(combine 1 modifier bit/1 re power bit)(Core stat subcomponent)(1 stat additive with socket stats)
We have been keeping in mind as we make these changes we don't want anything from old components/loot drops to be used, the new weapon crafting system is being writing alongside the old one, not ontop of it. This means we will not update old weapons in any way, nor convert any components etc. If you have old crates of weapon materials they will make the current weapons on live and not the new ones being placed in for Update 5.
We WILL enable folks to turn old weapons into draft schematics for the new system. Be aware we are also planning to make every single new weapon bio-link. For the crafters this should ensure you will have repeat business continuing after the update as folks can't pass around the same weapon since it never decays.
I'm not sure how many looted components we will be able to get out there in Update 5, but the goal is to get a few with the update and keep them in mind as sources for future loot.
We also have placed all the experimentation points at level 18 where the basic core is granted so the lower end folks can make weapons in their level range that are competitive/useful to them. The only portion I consider unfortunate is the lack of multiple experimentation lines, I'd like to get some in there but there isn't too many stats we have to work with.
Back to the Weaponsmith crafting station!