DescentBB

...and I've been able to produce consistent results.

L6 Quads in D2: 9 salvos to kill a Fusion Hulk
L4 Quads in D1: 8 salvos
L6 Quads in D1,5: 7 salvos

The Super Lasers modified for D1,5 build off the D1 laser power progression, and gain power in the same increments as the regular ones. So while a level 4 quad salvo does 52 damage, level 5 will do 56, and level 6 will do 60.

So my question to you is: do you think this power increase is a good idea? I personally thought that the lasers getting beaten by the nerf stick in D2 was not a good idea at all, and Super 6s can still take annoyingly long to destroy some robots. The weakness of lasers in D2 made some low-tier enemies such as the PIG feel much tougher than they logically should, and the progression of the Super Lasers compared to regular ones was unimpressive to say the least. Hell, on Insane there isn't even any increase in power from level 5 to 6, literally nothing changes between the two levels. In D1,5, Super Lasers will obviously be much harder to get and come much later in the mission, so you'll be stuck with lasers up to level 4 for at least the whole Solar System portion if not later. (And I do think the levels that first introduce them may not have quads, that's a "nod" towards cold starters) But once you do get Super Lasers that fire faster, stronger bolts than ever before, you'll definitely feel they are powerful enough for being so far upgraded, which I think is a rewarding feeling.

Do you think this rate of damage and speed increase is unfair? Will it make the game too easy? Keep in mind that this is regarding single player only - using a HAM file with modified values in multiplayer would be cheating, (unless all parties involved agree to using it in their match).

It certainly is a good question.
But in theory is only in theory. There's really only one way to find this out for good and I think you know that...

Alter-Fox wrote:It certainly is a good question.
But in theory is only in theory. There's really only one way to find this out for good and I think you know that...

Since I haven't prepared a DXA addon yet (that requires a ready mission), I'm using a separate Rebirth folder to test the modified HAM file. I did do some playtesting with Counterstrike, and in my feeling the Super Lasers at level 6 feel strong, but justifiably so. Everything just about dies in one less salvo than it used to, though with enemies having health above 60 but below 100 it's still two salvos of fully upgraded quads, obviously. One pretty important thing is that Class 1 Drillers have 50 hp, so a perfectly aimed salvo of all 4 laser beams would be required to destroy one in vanilla D2, sometimes leaving them precisely at 0 shields and therefore leaving them alive. I think that's what happens with the Fusion Hulks too - 5x8 is exactly 400, so it would seem robots are just like the player in that they can survive with 0 shields if they're hurt just enough. The 2 additional damage for D1 L4 lasers does solve this problem, and we all know that even half a second under fire by a class 1 driller can mean lots of shields lost. For example