2014/03/05

DEV BLOG - Expanding The Arsenal With Uprising 1.8

Last release saw the debut of the Combat and Rail rifles, both of which have proven to be extremely popular in DUST 514. With the release of Uprising 1.8, we go one better with not just two new weapons, but three!
This time around the Bolt Pistol (Caldari) and Ion Pistol (Gallente) will join the Flaylock Pistol (Minmatar) and Scrambler Pistol (Amarr) to round out a full set of racially aligned pistols. Meanwhile, the Magsec SMG (Caldari) doubles the submachine gun count in the game with a new alternative to Ol’ Faithful, the SMG (Minmatar) that has been making holes in your opponent since beta.

Caldari Bolt Pistol

The result of years of R&D, the bolt pistol is a high-impact handgun capable of firing kinetic projectiles with pinpoint accuracy. Building upon its copious experience with microscale rail weaponry, Kaalakiota has further refined the technology to produce what is commonly regarded as the most powerful handgun on the market.
Central to its success is a smart sensor that bleeds off a minute amount of dropsuit energy at the moment of discharge, dissipating the sharp recoil impulse through the suit’s internal membrane and greatly reducing the peak force of each shot. This seemingly minor innovation is what makes accurate fire of the weapon possible without the need for an external mounting.



 The Bolt Pistol is currently only available in a single variant: an automatic charge-shot variant. Holding the trigger will continue cycling the weapon, but each shot requires a short pre-fire charge before it fires. The Bolt Pistol features high damage per shot with great accuracy, but a small clip means you need to make every shot count.

Caldari Magsec SMG

The magsec is a semi-automatic firearm capable of sustained, accurate fire at ranges beyond what conventional sidearms can offer. A high-speed slider feeds current to a magazine of hyper-velocity projectiles that are discharged with minimal separation, maximizing energy efficiency and reducing flux shear to produce a weapon with lethal kinetic potential.
Having overcome early reliability issues, manufacturers  have since taken advantage of the weapon’s modular design; the magsec has been made available in multiple combat configurations – including optical sights and silenced operation – and is in widespread service throughout the cluster.
 

 
The Magsec SMG will initially only be available as a fully-automatic variant without a silencer. Like the Rail Rifle, it requires a short pre-fire charge. It features higher damage per round and range than the SMG, but a lower fire rate and smaller clip size.

Gallente Ion Pistol

A ruthlessly efficient close-quarters weapon, the ion pistol fires charged plasma munitions that rupture shields and scorch armor. Each discharge is enveloped in an electrostatic sheath that reduces field distortion and increases stability. The improved dispersion and stopping power is not without drawbacks though, as the higher density of each slug generates excessive heat, enough to seize the weapon if the rate of fire is not carefully controlled.
By overriding internal temperature controls, the weapon can be overcharged to produce a focused, bulk discharge of sufficient lethality to instantly neutralize most soft targets. Caution is advised however, as each overcharged shot will shut down internal systems until the excess heat can be flushed from the weapon’s core.




The single variant of the Ion Pistol currently available is capable of semi-auto and charged-shot fire. It has lower damage and range than the Scrambler pistol, but a higher rate of fire and larger clip. It also features a charged shot: Simply hold the trigger until it’s full charged, and release to fill some poor unsuspecting victim’s face with plasma. While the charged shot requires the pistol to dump excess heat after shooting, it does not consume additional ammo. This allows a clever player to maximize the efficiency of their ammo when at close range.

Stats:



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Taking the time to kill

For Uprising 1.8, we adjusted overall time-to-kill by making a number of changes. First off, we reduced the power of higher level damage modifiers. Standard damage modifiers will retain their 3% damage bonus, whereas Advanced and Complex damage modifiers were reduced to 4% and 5% respectively from 5% and 10%.
The second change we made is to the weapon proficiency skills. At the moment, they give a flat bonus to damage with a specific weapon. With Uprising 1.8 these bonuses are being changed, and will only give a bonus to attacking either shields or armor. This applies to all weapons other than the Nova Knife (which retains the damage bonus). Here’s the breakdown of the new bonuses:
  • Bonus to damage against shields: Plasma Cannon, Scrambler Pistol, Assault Rifle, Shotgun, Scrambler Rifle, Laser Rifle, Ion Pistol
  • Bonus to damage against armor: Rail Rifle, Swarm Launcher, Submachine Gun, Sniper Rifle, Magsec SMG, Heavy Machine Gun, Forge Gun, Flaylock Pistol, Combat Rifle, Bolt Pistol, Mass Driver
We also made a change to the number of spare grenades you can carry. All grenades now have their maximum ammo reduced by one. This generally means you now carry two grenades instead of three.
Lastly, we reduced the base damage on a number of weapons in this release. Weapons affected include the Rail Rifle, Combat Rifle, Assault Rifle, Scrambler Rifle and Sub Machine Gun. Here is the breakdown of all the changes (Aurum versions are omitted to save space):



                   Click the image for full size

The buffs

In Uprising 1.8, the Laser Rifle and the Mass Driver have both received buffs.
The Mass Driver received an increase in both base damage and splash damage. New numbers can be seen below:



                    Click the image for full size

The Laser Rifle received an increase to its effective range; a stronger zoom when scoped; and increased damage at short ranges. Additionally, the Advanced and Prototype Laser Rifles have both received reduced heat cost while firing.
We hope players like the new weapons, and look forward to seeing what happens when they getting their hands on them with Uprising 1.8!

-CCP Remnant

 
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