So as we're all well aware, bolters need a bit of love. They're pretty much useless unless you're a good shot and can consistently headshot, since they're outdamaged by the SC and the Shoota at close range. With this in mind, I had a thought. Let's put some of that asymmetrical balance in by making bolters MORE effective at range. As a lot of people know, bolters fire what are essentially miniature rockets; they pierce the target and explode inside, dealing massive damage. With this in mind, why do bolters have damage dropoff? An explosion is an explosion after all, regardless of how far the explosion-maker travels. So what if we removed or changed the dropoff on bolters? It's mentioned plenty of times in fluff that the shell needs a split second to arm itself after it leaves the barrel of the gun. So what if the bolters did more damage at longer range and less at point-blank range? It fits thematically and it gives the iconic boltgun more staying power, since that's something it severely lacks right now. Thoughts?
Since it is also a much heavier ammo type shouldnt it have heavier bullet drop effects instead of just traveling in a straight line forever?
In general all ranged guns need love. I hope to read news (either for the Bolter and the others) in the coming patch.
I love the idea, in concept. The problem is that it won't solve the Bolter's actual issue at the moment. All three mainline infantry guns are...not 'great' weapons. The Shoota is a good weapon. The ASC and the Bolter are adequate weapons, the Bolter actually superior to the ASC as a gun, imo (bear with me...). The problem is that the map design and game mechanics of EC mean that of the three broad engagement ranges, close-quarters is several times more important than long or medium (both of which are dominated by Heavy Weapons anyway). The Bolter is the weakest of the three mainline infantry guns in the only range that matters to a Capture Key class. This is also why the Shoota seems so pokey, and the ASC can keep up with the Bolter in practice despite being worse on paper - their drawbacks are irrelevant because they affect irrelevant ranges to the classes that carry those weapons.
Give it +2% damage and better handling when firing from the hip. And sample some beefier sound effects for it! It sounds very underwhelming at the moment.
The thing with bolter is that since there are regenerative armor and plenty of cover. It can't chip off enemy slowly at range. This is why one shot ranged weapons such as plasma canon is so effectively relatively. Bolter's damage either has to get buffed significantly or this game needs to rework damage types vs armor/hp. The later is not an option given the track record, so most likely in the future bolter's damage will get a buff, most likely a headshot bonus. Stalker bolter is almost useless unless the enemy for some reason stands still and let you hit him half a dozen times. Game's just not well designed.
Uhm, no, go read how much a RPG has of a drop, because thats exactly what a bolter is, a RPG assault gun An RPG has a way bigger drop than a bullet Rockets are not the same as missiles A bolt is the same diameter as the grande in the far LEFT END (20mm) ; A 40mm grenade is in the far RIGHT END Here you can see a comparrison of a 5.56 (NATO) to a Estimated bolt length (but with exact 20mm diameter) granade
I think we need to separate armor and health damage for the bolter to work well, a bolter at medium range should do a lot of armor damage due to the speed of the shot/penetration but with the shot travelling that fast i'd think there would be more chance of the mass reactive charge failing to detect mass so you'd just get a puncture wound which while bad for a genetically modified astartes isn't really that bad So higher armor with lower health damage at medium/long range and then the reverse at close range which might help with the melee/ranged balance as melee would have to break off to let armor regen or risk dying to a close range volley
