Author Topic: XAL-001 and corrosive acid vials  (Read 3589 times)

Tygrende

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XAL-001 and corrosive acid vials
« on: May 23, 2017, 07:31:55 pm »
After some testing I think I figured out how the "leaking acid" mechanic of XAL-001 works.

It basically copies the attack against the enemy and applies it to you. So if it misses you are not going to suffer any damage either, if it hits you are going to suffer the exact same amount of damage as the enemy (what's more, you are even going to suffer bonus damage from feats like Opportunist if the enemy meets the conditions, even if you don't met the conditions yourself), if the acid entanglement procs you will become entangled yourself, etc.

Sadly I don't have 100% acid resistance to test with, but I think it would also apply corroded debuff to the PC even though he effectively resisted all the damage. That's really bad as corroded is going to lower said resistance.

What's funny is that the combat feed actually shows as if you are attacking the enemy twice instead of attacking yourself, so it's a bit confusing.

On top of that it also spawns an additonial layer of acid puddles all around you regardless of if you hit or miss. The trouble is, it's always a standard acid puddle. So if you shoot corrosive ammo out of it, you end up surrounded with one layer of standard green puddles and one layer of corrosive puddles. Doesn't make much sense, but from what I understand the mechanic was implement long before corrosive ammo was a thing.

Another thing is that the gun doesn't leak at all when used with special attacks such as Aimed Shot, Kneecap Shot and Point Shot, only on regular attacks.

Also, arelated question- I'm wondering why chemical pistols can't be unloaded. It's not like we are pouring pure acid/cryoliquid/incendiary directly into the gun, we are loading it with self-contained vials. Also, reloading an acid blob pistol with corrosive vials while it's loaded with standard vials (or vice versa) gives the standard vials back, so it is possible to get the vials out of a loaded gun. Bit of an inconsistency here.

Also, this one is more of a suggestion, but I can't say I'm a fan of the entire mechanic to begin with. It basically punishes you for improving your damage. There are ways to achieve +/- 95% DR against acid and immunity to immobilization with CAU armor and very high quality infused siphoner tabis, or even 100% with mutated dog leather tabis, but it still doesn't feel right. It also seems prone to many issues in general as stated above.

In my opinion static acid damage dealt to the player with no entanglement/corrosion debuff would work out much better and probably less prone to issues/bugs. The gun would still require highly dedicated gear to resist this damage while top quality crafted acid blob pistols have much bigger chance to proc acid entaglement and will deal more secondary damage, especially with Mad Chemist (44% and 110%/220% damage with 120 quality dispenser, XAL has only 30% and 100%). Not finishing the quest means less XP, too.

I think those things are a good trade-off for higher base damage and 9 AP less to shoot. Chemical pistols really could use some love.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2017, 11:27:17 pm by Tygrende »

hilf

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Re: XAL-001 and corrosive acid vials
« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2017, 06:18:42 am »

Sadly I don't have 100% acid resistance to test with, but I think it would also apply corroded debuff to the PC even though he effectively resisted all the damage. That's really bad as corroded is going to lower said resistance.

Correct.
On the bright side it allows you to destroy Arke cameras. I felt so smart when i discovered it.

I find it kinda strange XAL has same ammo cap as regular acid gun despite being faster. It does not follow design all other guns follow.

Styg

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Re: XAL-001 and corrosive acid vials
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2017, 10:17:03 am »
Fixed. The self attack is now a separate attack that does not inherit damage, crit and on hit effects of the original attack (against the enemy) and it should now work properly with all special attacks. Also it should no longer spawn extra acid.

Btw, in the next version, you will be able to unload chemical pistols.

hilf

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Re: XAL-001 and corrosive acid vials
« Reply #3 on: December 15, 2017, 08:37:22 pm »
I'm using an experimental branch and loaded my old save where i had XAL.
Acid puddles are generated properly.
However i can still entagle myself in acid. That's unacceptable after the nerf to infused siphoner boots.
I'm taking extra damage from my Opportunist.
Crit chance of this attack seems pretty high.
Crit damage is higher if i'm fully focused and enjoy extra crit damage from Sharpshooter and Critical Power.

Should this fix work retroactively?


My save file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2dgvn61xf541yuq/XALtesting.zip?dl=0

destroyor

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Re: XAL-001 and corrosive acid vials
« Reply #4 on: December 16, 2017, 05:38:40 am »
*snip
However i can still entagle myself in acid. That's unacceptable after the nerf to infused siphoner boots.
*snip

Second, XAL-001 entangle yourself is unacceptable after the nerf to infused siphoner boots. You should still take acid damage + puddle but the self-entangle will not happen.

Sykar

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Re: XAL-001 and corrosive acid vials
« Reply #5 on: December 16, 2017, 06:33:25 am »
Fixed. The self attack is now a separate attack that does not inherit damage, crit and on hit effects of the original attack (against the enemy) and it should now work properly with all special attacks. Also it should no longer spawn extra acid.

Btw, in the next version, you will be able to unload chemical pistols.

It would be cool if you could fix its flaw via a short quest and a high enough skill in chemistry and/or mechanics.

Styg

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Re: XAL-001 and corrosive acid vials
« Reply #6 on: December 16, 2017, 04:55:54 pm »
I'm using an experimental branch and loaded my old save where i had XAL.
Acid puddles are generated properly.
However i can still entagle myself in acid. That's unacceptable after the nerf to infused siphoner boots.
I'm taking extra damage from my Opportunist.
Crit chance of this attack seems pretty high.
Crit damage is higher if i'm fully focused and enjoy extra crit damage from Sharpshooter and Critical Power.

Should this fix work retroactively?


My save file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2dgvn61xf541yuq/XALtesting.zip?dl=0

What I meant is that it's going to be a separate attack made with the same parameters. It will still contain all the bonuses you have and trigger additional bonuses depending on your state, it just calculates does against you (the secondary target) instead of copying those from the primary target.

However i can still entagle myself in acid. That's unacceptable after the nerf to infused siphoner boots.

I will decide what is acceptable and what is not around these parts!

hilf

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Re: XAL-001 and corrosive acid vials
« Reply #7 on: December 30, 2017, 09:02:26 am »
Ahh, all right. I thought you went with Tygrende's suggestion as well.


Also, this one is more of a suggestion, but I can't say I'm a fan of the entire mechanic to begin with. It basically punishes you for improving your damage. There are ways to achieve +/- 95% DR against acid and immunity to immobilization with CAU armor and very high quality infused siphoner tabis, or even 100% with mutated dog leather tabis, but it still doesn't feel right. It also seems prone to many issues in general as stated above.

In my opinion static acid damage dealt to the player with no entanglement/corrosion debuff would work out much better and probably less prone to issues/bugs. The gun would still require highly dedicated gear to resist this damage while top quality crafted acid blob pistols have much bigger chance to proc acid entaglement and will deal more secondary damage, especially with Mad Chemist (44% and 110%/220% damage with 120 quality dispenser, XAL has only 30% and 100%). Not finishing the quest means less XP, too.

While punishing user for improving his damage is part of XAL's charm (and a reason it can't be OP) hurting yourself more by getting better at weapon usage is really unrealistic.

I liked old XAL, it was hardcore enough but not more than neccessary. At first i was sad Styg is making it more accessible but now i know he actually made it much more hardcore.
Lack of immunity to immobilization is of course a deal breaker but it's not the only thing:
- chemguns now do more damage
- chem belts' debuff increases this damage further
- infused leather is now weaker so there's less acid DR


I have an idea on how to make XAL great again and my ego tells me it's a good one:
- keep leak damage scaling and debuffs
- remove leak chance to crit; game is already random enough
- add immunity to acid entaglement to infused mutated dog tabi (tabi are about mobility so it fits); it's only to acid entaglement, not that oh soo overpowered immunity to immobilization

And... we'll see what happens (: