Make Welding Tools More Effective At Damaging Structures

[Surrealistik]

Summary (a quick, 2-3 sentence summary):

Welding tools are made significantly more effective than combat knives at demolishing structures with Health, including Xeno structures (Girders, Windows, Walls, Doors, Weed Pods, Nests, Sticky Crap, etc); they would get a damage multiplier ~4-5x (with a net damage output that's twice that of the combat knife at least) vs such structures so while they're still relatively ineffective at combat, they're great at the specialized task of demolition as they should be.

Also, to give Xenos warning of a welder that's present and in use, they would make the buzzing/cutting noise they typically do when dismantling walls instead of being absolutely silent.


Benefits (How this will benefit the server and game as a whole):

Emphasizes the construction/demolition role of Engineers; makes them the go to for clearing out/stripping areas, including alien hives as they should be.

Gives marines a badly needed tool for clearing out alien defenses, albeit in the hands of a specialist, and at risk (melee range).


Details (Description of how you think this would work, the benefits, etc):

Per the Summary.


Implementation (Optional, if you have an idea how to implement it):

Minor coding changes.

[Surrealistik]

No thoughts?

[SpanishBirdman]

I like the idea of a specialist marine for breaking defences, but find the welder to be a bit piddly in that regard. Using a hand welding tool to tear down resin walls seems ridiculous. There is an accepted suggestion to add a flame specialist marine, perhaps they could have a special flamer that allows for a welder like narrow blast for rapidly incinerating wooden and organic defenses.

[Surrealistik]

Dunno man, the industrial and upgraded welding tools seem like they'd have the horse power; either way, they'd definitely be better at it than a knife.

[Releasing]

Well, as you said, maybe make it so just the Industrial/upgraded welding tools and not the normal welding tools have more power than a knife to tear down resin? That way, there's even more of a reason to get them.

[Jroinc1]

So someone actually has a reason to use the backpack welding fuel tanks?
+1

[Boltersam]

Actually, Engineers in real life are very often the ones taking down fortifications, plus Xenos absolutely hate fire. It's logical that the Engineer, the only person on the ground with a welder, would be destroying fortifications. Have a +1, good sir.

[Egorkor]

now to make xenos hate fire :^)
+1 anyway considering how it may be tied in with the possible permanesting.

[an confused rock]

what about the machete though

[jaggaaff]

The machete is that magic item that gives a buff: 95% chance of deflecting all shots including friendly fire. And is more geared towards to kill xenos than to destroy fortifications. Bayonet is just a better replacement to use because it can do the work of the machete, only taking up your barrel attachment slot.

[MauroVega]

95% chance of deflecting all shots including friendly fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdtKbq3Omkw

[KingKire]

+1 and a rebump. I think it would be a good buff to the engineers to have them be more effective at clearing the way for offenses instead of just defensive focuses. Lore wise, the welder should be the perfect tool for cutting through even the toughest resin (possibly the words " with the smell of foul burning resin, you proceed to cut")
Gameplay wise, it gives the engineers a sorely missing way to help offensive operations instead of just defensive ones, giving them more reason to be at the front of an offensive instead of at the FOB.

[Swagile]

Yeah right now being a /combat/ engineer isn't really suited to the /combat/ part of the role. It feels like your a standard boot with no way to help the battle in your own significant way right now unless you ditch your scouting group and stick to FOB to build shit.

[Crab_Spider]

You know you can achieve this with the plasma cutter right? You can make about 4 of em RnD with 2 bars of gold. The only drawback is they still have that slicing timer, but they can mine through rock too. You get no burns from using them either.

[Swagile]

You know you can achieve this with the plasma cutter right? You can make about 4 of em RnD with 2 bars of gold. The only drawback is they still have that slicing timer, but they can mine through rock too. You get no burns from using them either.

Where would you get gold though?

Is there any in the ship that isn't in a secure area?

I know on LV you can dismantle the gold wall in the middle of Nexus, but no one ever brings that up for Research.

[Crab_Spider]

Where would you get gold though?

Is there any in the ship that isn't in a secure area?

I know on LV you can dismantle the gold wall in the middle of Nexus, but no one ever brings that up for Research.

I mean, on Ice Colony, there are some in Underground RnD (xenos barely go over to there either way) and there's in the South excavation sight (again, xenos barely head over there). I would normally make a suggestion for ore crates to actually be able to contain random minerals ranging from gold to silver to diamond to uranium but then we'd have to deal Researchers making EMPs, bags of holding, or other crap you'd see on the average SS13 server.

But yeah, you can find some in several areas of the maps, but they're in xeno territory and you wouldn't have any IC reason to go there without a scouting party (see "Delta Squad")