Should weapons have a minimum or "ideal" range?

[Masoz]

It's pretty clear that long range alpha strike weapons dominate, especially if they insta-hit. Any weapon with a travel time or short range has a huge disadvantage because you are losing ships during the travel time while doing no damage.

One way other games tend to balance this making these types of sniper weapons bad at short range, whether by decreased damage or hit accuracy. Adding such a feature could give weapons a bit more variety, and might even encourage mixed hull types, though it does run the risk of corvettes becoming dominant again.

I personally think this could help flesh out combat a lot if done right. What's everyone else's thoughts?

 

[Acheron]

Currently a no-no. Fleets rush towards each other and never try to increase distance during combat as far as I can tell, so a weapon with a minimum range becomes nerfed to the point of uselessness.

 

[Masoz]

Currently a no-no. Fleets rush towards each other and never try to increase distance during combat as far as I can tell, so a weapon with a minimum range becomes nerfed to the point of uselessness.

True, but they also will stop approaching once they hit the range their combat computer was set to (or are supposed to, at any rate). Of course, this would also require you to mix your fleets so you have something in front to distract an oncoming fleet from approaching too close...

I know, right? Mixed fleets. The horror.

 

[verybad]

Most weapons with longer range do lower damage over time, so they essentially have poorer short range already. Seems like it's overthinking the goal for combat in this game. Were it an RTG then I'd agree 100%, but it's not. Combat is largely a simulation not an actual player controlled game.

 

[Blurb]

Most weapons with longer range do lower damage over time

When was the last time you played Stellaris? Generally speaking, larger weapons deal more damage per second and have more range.
Here's a simple XY plot based on available weapon data.

This plot does not include strike craft (too many arbitrary considerations) X weapons (we all know where they'd be in the plot) or P slot weapons (I find their stats grossly inflated).

EDIT:
Another XY plot, using DPS per slot value instead of raw DPS.
Slot value being S=1, M=2, G=2, L=4, X=8.

This plot does not include strike craft or P weapons, but it does include X weapons.

 

[Urza1234]

When was the last time you played Stellaris? Generally speaking, larger weapons deal more damage per second and have more range.
Here's a simple XY plot based on available weapon data.
View attachment 450048
This plot does not include strike craft (too many arbitrary considerations) or X weapons (we all know where they'd be in the plot).

Now what about one where the y-axis is (DPS)/(weapon slot value)

edit: Ty, very illustrative

 

[Blurb]

Now what about one where the y-axis is (DPS)/(weapon slot value)

Excellent idea, I've added such a plot to my post.

 

[pryr]

I believe that is a thing already. "long range alpha strike weapons" are mostly X-slot weapons that pretty useless in close combat due limited angle of shooting.

 

[Arutar]

I believe that is a thing already. "long range alpha strike weapons" are mostly X-slot weapons that pretty useless in close combat due limited angle of shooting.

From my understanding "tracking" only reduces effective evasion regardless of range. So they should be equally effective on long range as on short range?

 

[beckermt]

From my understanding "tracking" only reduces effective evasion regardless of range. So they should be equally effective on long range as on short range?

Correct. Tracking does not work in Stellaris like it does in EVE Online.

 

[KingAlamar]

With as little control as we have over combat I'm not sure if it matters much or even if it's supposed to matter. At one time I'd have preferred at least some minimal control similar to what endless space does but the longer I play the less I care about it. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

 

[Acheron]

With as little control as we have over combat I'm not sure if it matters much or even if it's supposed to matter. At one time I'd have preferred at least some minimal control similar to what endless space does but the longer I play the less I care about it. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

Controlling the battles to any degree, that would have to be done VERY carefully. From my experience with Paradox Games, they tend to do better on the grand strategy than the tactical level, so I would caution against it and focus on the strategic level.

 

[verybad]

Really see no point to adding this as a concept. If it were a game like Homeworld then yes, it's not.

When was the last time you played Stellaris? Generally speaking, larger weapons deal more damage per second and have more

This past weekend, if you have the time to build graphs for weapons performance in a game then I guess I envy you...or maybe not. You win, congrats.