Mass Driver......Might could do something more.....

[Edge]

I pay 350 creds for this gun with less than 30 shots with a battery, and I end up thinking it's more like something from the 200 to 250 cred range. it's ok, but there's no reason to ever touch it and plenty of reasons not to.

 Slow rate of fire, uses clips, doesn't really do much damage over time, is not unique in its accuracy over long distances (lasgun). I take this sucker out and have to be dead accurate with dretches or they eat me, and have to run away or hide from anything bigger because it just can't drop them before they get to me even with perfect accuracy. It's a nichy gun that has no niche.

 Maybe a little bit more damage; maybe some radius? Maybe a noticeable amount of knockback? That's one thing I think a lot of the weapons can use. I don't see a tyrant or dragoon getting pushed back much by man-portable weaponry, but it seems even basilisks don't get slowed by a chaingun loosing dozens of rounds in their face (though they do die). Shotgun is another one.

[rasz_pl]

- you are newbie
- no
- go play some more

[Edge]

I usually score third to second rank whenever I play, though I am a newb. I brought up one weapon in comparison with the rest, the idea being to help make something more of it. I can use it just fine, but the others do so much better a job so as to make it a worthless selection.

 If you think the mass driver is fine, then please explain why, rather than just calling me a newb (as if that does anything useful). If you actually didn't have a point, find something better to do than troll the boards, eh?

[PIE]

Mass driver should shoot out small generators!
.. personally I don't really care for the mass driver that much myself..
its not really a dretch killing weapon(gotta get that headshot).. and if you are shooting it at something big, try not to get close....
though of course some people think its to be used for everything, and love it the way it is.

[PHREAK]

While i can't kill shit with the mass driver, I've been killed plenty of times with it as an alien...(not always a dretch).
I guess it's a great weapon in the right hands.
I've heard the same story about the shotty, yet I'm very good with it.
I guess it all depends on who's using it.

It's not meant as a offensive weapon, per se, but rather a sniper or support.
I do preffer lasgun since you get the same accuracy with a fast rate of fire and no reload times, over the MD.
In my book, shotty and las are the best and most balanced weapons in the whole game, followed by the painsaw.

[Lava Croft]

Heh? The Mass Driver is one of the most underrated weapons in the game! You just vaporize (Hi Catalyc) Dretches with it, Basilisks and Granger die in 2 shots, Marauders are no match for a agile MDuser, and any fleeing Alien has bad luck when a MDuser chases them. Please learn to aim better, preferably in midair, or when the Alien has just landed and is prepapring for next jump. When airborne, Aliens lose almost all their agility, making them very easy MD targets.

[kozak6]

In the proper hands, the Mass Driver is almost too powerful.

Really, it's quite balanced as it is.

[Royale]

I agree with Lava and most others it depends on who is using it but most people don't realize MassDriver is more of a sniper like weapon and actually has a zoom function ( opps let out teh big sekret shh). But anyway complaining about weapons on the forums is very unlikely to change anything now should of done this a year or two ago. Have a nice day.

[Stakhanov]

Not sure if the mass driver is worth more than the lasgun , but it has a distinct use obviously. Lasgun is here to bag aliens who don't pay close attention to their health , inflicting damage over time. Mass driver is best used to attack aliens by surprise , either as soon as you see them (dretches and low evolutions) or when they are retreating , going through a small door which gives you a clear shot.

[Belier13]

Imho, the driver IS a good weapon against dretch;


While the assault team is attacking (assuming they stopped camping), just camp in their back, from a good distance.


Then just snipe and watch for dretch, aiming around Assault guy's foot (and shot them   ). When a dretch arrives, just Fucking AIMing, fire, and paff. One shot kill.

I once killed around 6 dretches in a round, and got kicked by some BR claiming I was using a AIM bot, another reason to IP range ban the whole south america.

[Dark Applepolisher]

A nasty tactic to use with the mass driver, and even moreso the pulse rifle is to camp the generator. You never have to reload the weapons, because using the generator instantly reloads your clips. I don't mind mass drivers using this tactic, though the pulse rifle spam at doors is bad enough as is.

I don't mind people who are good with mass drivers at all, though being one shotted by a shotgun as a dretch can be very irritating.

[Teiman]

Tremulous is easy to play but hard to master.  The mass driver is overpowered in bad (good) hands.  Also the flame and painshaw is a horrible pain often.

[Rippy]

I only seem to get kills with the MD when I'm shooting aliens through long, narrow hallways, where they pretty much have nowhere to run.

It does have its uses, though. Aliens basically "know" they're safe when there's not a human close to them, because all weapons have horrible accuracy so you can just back off when you're getting pinpricks of damage. It's happened to me many times, in Tremor in particular, where you're peeking around a corner and can't see anyone, then you die all of a sudden.

And, other than maybe some kickback, it SHOULDN'T do tons of damage to big aliens. Why? Because giving a super-accurate weapon more damage when attacking unmissable targets defeats the purpose of the weapon. The MD is for players with good accuracy (unfortunately not me, I play aliens mostly ), if you can master your aim then you'll do well with it. If you can't, stick to chainguns if you like.

[phaedrus]

Heh? The Mass Driver is one of the most underrated weapons in the game! You just vaporize (Hi Catalyc) Dretches with it, Basilisks and Granger die in 2 shots, Marauders are no match for a agile MDuser, and any fleeing Alien has bad luck when a MDuser chases them. Please learn to aim better, preferably in midair, or when the Alien has just landed and is prepapring for next jump. When airborne, Aliens lose almost all their agility, making them very easy MD targets.

I'm going to have to second this Lava.  When I play as an alien, if you want to get me to back the f off, shoot at me with the MD.  I tend to bolt and regroup when I see that green splash--since it usually means a quick death.  They are a good weapon to use against Marauders.  I can't dodge them like I can any other weapon, and someone wielding one implies good aim.  I'm just glad nobody ever uses them.

Anyway, it is one of those "right tool for the job" deals.  Which as far as I'm concerned means chaingun.

Jeff

PS. I just have bad ping.  That's why I use the chaingun.  It sucks for base assaults though.

[Thorn]

I use the mass driver all the time and my average kill count is 5. No honestly i only ever get 5 frags!!!!

[Norfenstein]

All of the human weapons are useful in the right situation. The mass driver in particular is the best weapon fro killing everything below marauders, provided your aim is good enough. I'd say this guide is still accurate.

[Catalyc]

I once killed around 6 dretches in a round, and got kicked by some BR claiming I was using a AIM bot, another reason to IP range ban the whole south america.

Must be quite a challenge killing all those 6 dretches... gg banning me, basilisco, and a few others while you're at it too.

The mass driver is also an excellent support weapon if its backed up by 1 or 2 guys with faster hitscan guns (las, rifle, even shotgun in close quarters), it can help bring down most aliens quite easly, especially if they're trying to escape after taking up a lot of turret fire.

[Belier13]

I once killed around 6 dretches in a round, and got kicked by some BR claiming I was using a AIM bot, another reason to IP range ban the whole south america.

Must be quite a challenge killing all those 6 dretches

Making 6 perfects shot, meaning no lose of ammo.. Yes it is a challenge.

[Rippy]

I once killed around 6 dretches in a round, and got kicked by some BR claiming I was using a AIM bot, another reason to IP range ban the whole south america.

Must be quite a challenge killing all those 6 dretches

Making 6 perfects shot, meaning no lose all ammo.. Yes it is a challenge.

But Mass Drivers hold 5 shots, and 7 with a Battery Pack. So you had room for one miss.

[Thorn]

The mass driver in particular is the best weapon fro killing everything below marauders, provided your aim is good enough. I'd say this guide is still accurate.

Wrong  , or atleast for me. i can kill 2 or 3 goons on my own b4 i goto homebase. Of course i have been a quake 3 insta player for 5 yrs. So my aim is pretty good

[rasz_pl]

The mass driver in particular is the best weapon fro killing everything below marauders, provided your aim is good enough. I'd say this guide is still accurate.

Wrong  , or atleast for me. i can kill 2 or 3 goons on my own b4 i goto homebase. Of course i have been a quake 3 insta player for 5 yrs. So my aim is pretty good

2-3 goons you say, and yet you disconnected after i dretched, and then "marauded" you

[Edge]

I AM accurate with the mass driver. But I can do more damage with a lasgun that does more damage, better firing rate (thus easier to use), doesn't use a clip, is just as accurate at range, and costs about half as much.

 You may not realize it, but not caring about the mass driver is a detriment to the game. It only adds to the game to have more weapons with unique uses.

 By the way, zoom is useless against fast moving aliens, as they jump out of your narrow field of view in no time. I can snipe them better unzoomed from just about any range I see them at anyway (I'm a railgun fan, btw).

 Getting killed by the mass driver happens. But so does getting killed by rifles as a tyrant. Was it the mass driver alone? My experience as alien is that it doesn't do crap. I may be wrong, but I've played corner tag with no fear of mass drivers, and never recall getting much health dropped by them. I tend to be much more afraid of rifle spam.

 Anyway, I do know that incredible damage gains on the mass driver would be a massive unbalancing. I know so much more about game balance than to suggest that. What I would call for is maybe a 15%-25% gain in rate of damage versus the lasgun (provided I'm actually right that it doesn't have this already). Rate of fire * damage dealt. If the lasgun fires five times for every single mass driver shot, the mass driver should do 15% - 25% more damage in one shot than the lasgun does in five. Simple as that.

 Knockback would be another option that would put the mass driver on the list for people who are actually more than base dwelling spamtards, as it could disorient/slow down advancing aliens if used well. On the downside, it could boost them in their retreat, but even that would add some more color.

[SLAVE|Mietz]

The massdriver does not do less damage than the lasgun...

[Edge]

Actually, it does. From the source(Tremulous.h):

#define LASGUN_PRICE                250
#define LASGUN_AMMO                 200
#define LASGUN_REPEAT               200
#define LASGUN_RELOAD               2000
#define LASGUN_DAMAGE               HDM(9)

#define MDRIVER_PRICE               350
#define MDRIVER_CLIPSIZE            5
#define MDRIVER_MAXCLIPS            4
#define MDRIVER_DMG                 HDM(38 ) //added space to fix bbcode -Me
#define MDRIVER_REPEAT              1000
#define MDRIVER_RELOAD              2000

 Mass driver takes 5 times as long to fire as lasgun (repeat 1000 vs. 200). Lasgun damage * 5 = 45, 7 more than mass driver.

[Thorn]

maybe . but with a lasgun you have to get everyone of those shots correct....i dont care what you say , me and my md will be friends forever :wink:

[Neo]

Coming from a guy who has trouble hitting stationary targets lol.

[Desp.]

The MD is a scalpel which lets you remove aliens from anywhere in your sight if you handle it well. It shines in stages 1 and 2 and even has a use (or two) in s3 - increasing the dmg even marginally would be nonsensical. Some people would be able to go toe to toe with tyrants with a MD then, just imagine the whining. Anyway, the MD is not the lasgun and the lasgun is not the MD - they have different uses.

That said, don't assume something is underpowered simply because you don't feel comfortable using it (and vice versa) - just watch others play, there WILL be someone who handles it (weapon, alien, whatever) really well.

[Neo]

Also being the only S1 weapon that can kill 2 dretches ata distance with 1 shot if they're close enough.

[Hippocrates]

I like it a lot actually. I pick it up and can usually hit 2, maybe 3 dretches per clip, especially from down a narrow hallway like someone already said. With that said, it's not good for much else. It's not going to give the big aliens a problem, and it wont hit marauders easily, much less several times, as required to kill one.

[0z]

Mass driver has sniper mode.. I killed a basilisk to day with it. The poor alien didn't even know that I had spotted it... It was trying to hide in ceiling, but unfortunately its tail was visible.