I got this idea from the ballistic missile thread; basically, a 2 slot, 3rd tier research artillery shell, when fired, upon the downward arc, breaks into four arty shells, randomly spread out, each dealing half the damage of a small arty shell (so damage would be equal to 2 small arty shells, although dps might vary due to ROF or clip size) This is just a little random idea, I'm not sure if it's been proposed before (I searched the titles of threads for 'cluster' 'bomblet' 'spread' and 'frag/fragment' and got nothing) The idea being a substitute for HE shells, but when the spread is greater at the cost of much reduced damage and accuracy. So theoretically it would be more for suppressing fire and cover fire and less for direct, targeted bombardment. It's not really needed atm because of HE shells, but it's certainly something to think about. I'd put it on low priority, if at all. Also flak cannon shells for artillery when planes come out, but that's another topic. edit: i've changed my mind, after months of ignoring thsi thread, i think they're a terrible idea, arty tanks are already useless against rail heavies and nukes, they need MORE, and direct stopping power, to be an alternative to heavies, not a light sprinkling of tinfoil.
Ahah! I hath inspire lobsie atlast! So yea, some kinda shell that spread into crusters would be cool. Kinda like an area denial type of weapon, but also does enough damage to be use as a sufficient weapon.
This would be pointless if upgraded lasers are going to do 25 dps in the next patch. If this could be implemented but be given a radar accuracy bonus I could see it being useful.
I really like this idea! Though I'd go with 8 or 16 bomblets, each with half the damage and half the AoE of a HE shell.
sounds interresting..... maybe a super counter to turret farms Anyway if 8 bombs give the same damage as 4 HE shot I know I would get really close and shoot as low as possible to not spread it a whole lot and just destroy main areas of a base. I can just imagine aiming for the exit of the BE VF and getting all of them on target ....... unless its a far more extreme spread you are considering I think it will be a base destroyer, ofcourse I can imagine it working with just the right balancing/testing.
REX, it only begin the spread maybe when it's almost time to land. So it would only count as a normal missle or rocket when shooting up close.
yes ofcourse I just imagened myself perfectly timing the distance/hight and so on to make it detonate just above a building. Ofcourse I know that it can be avoided by somekind of balancing...... maybe a very loooong delay so it wont work if you use it under 25 degree angle or something :confused:. I could also imagene shooting almost straight up and getting some funny results, but that would all be discovered during testing :D. The test team have always been creative (evil) with whatever new stuff they were given.
this weapon would be VERY easy to make WAY too powerful. sixteen bomblets all the power of half a small arty would be massively overpowered-- 8 arty shells in one shot?! Also, that has a poetic beauty to it. (Right before everything explodes into hellfire. This would have to have some sort of counter to keep people from using it like a short range cannon of ultimate death.... so, like, the bomblets would only deploy after a certain height, or range, or distance, and until that point is reached, it's just a single medium arty shell, i guess.
I figure there would be a timer on the shell. If it hits before the timer goes off, then the shell is destroyed, no detonation. the timer would be long enough that you have to have a nice, high arc. When the shell detonates, the bomblets fire outwards at all directions 90 degrees from the angle the shell was going. this way, you won't get it overpowered and because of it's slightly difficult to use, specialist status, it can be made slightly more powerful.
Anyone play gunbound before? You know that one vehicle that shoot the missles really high upward and then it fly down onto it target? And it has a skill that make the missle spread into a whole bunch of different one? It's really hard to control though but really powerful if you master it. Basically, make it so that you have to shoot it at a high angle, powerful but hard to master.
see, that's the thing, though, it SHOULDNT be a buckshot gun (indicating to me, at least, a direct fire/close range weapon.). Anything even remotely resembling direct fire shells can and is best represented by small arty shells. This would have a specific purpose supplementary or complementing the HE shells. Like I said, it would be very easy to make this way too powerful. I like the idea that the shell only scatters after reaching a certain height but i have no idea if this would work well.
This is similar to my idea, although mine was inspired from the Bouncing Bomb thread... I think anyways. There are the MIRV's that solokiller brought up, and then there are Beehives which are indeed arty buckshot. They actually exist too. Maybe you could combine your fragmentation artillery with mHtt's bouncing bombs and my idea of bouncing artillery to make this weapon effective and easy to use. @Buttery Lobster: To limit power, you can include a hefty price and a hefty reload time, to prevent spamming.
I think hes refering to the anti-entrenchment airburst shell, i think it was fired from flak88s and on the downward approach, it would break open, releasing several bomblets that would explode on the ground. Think big frag grenade launching frag grenade. sry i couldnt scale it down.
