Since PD2's getting updates again, can we talk about improving the bot weapon system?
I get that Sidetrack isn't a big team, so there's only so much they can realistically do. But since we're getting PD2 updates again, and Sidetrack recently added new bot abilities, I think it would be nice if the bot weapons system would be revisited again.
What do I mean? Here are some of the issues I can think off my head:
- Clearer indicators/stat screens showing how each bot weapon will perform. Show how much damage per shot each bot weapon deals, magazine sizes, rate of fire, reload times, etc. on the Bot Management/Weapon Selection screen.
- Include a tip that warns players that weapon attachments/exclusive kits DO NOT affect bot weapon stats and behaviour. Seriously, it's been nine years since the first Henchmen update came out and people still spread this bullshit ""tip"" around whenever the topic of bot weapon builds come up. Why is this myth still a thing?
Some bot weapons' stats could use some buffs, or rebalancing.
The Grom and Kang Arms X1 deals far less damage than other sniper rifles, dealing only 200 damage/shot versus the 1500/1800 damage/shot meta bot snipers like the Rattlesnake, R93, etc do. The Grom in particular has been bugged even before the post-White House updates, meaning it's been the worst bot weapon in the entire game for 7+ years and counting.
There's no reason to use certain weapons types or weapons. There's no reason to give bots assault rifles when LMGs have larger magazine capacities than ARs, and sniper rifles deal more damage per shot. There's no reason to give bots the semi-auto shotguns (Predator/M1014) over literally any other shotgun because they have the worst damage/shot out of any bot shotgun, since pump-actions have better damage and auto-shottys have better rate of fire. There's no reason to use any of the faster-firing snipers (Lebensauger, Repeater, etc) as they deal less damage/shot in exchange for only marginally better rates of fire. There's probably more examples out there, but there are off the top of my head.
Granted, not all bot weapons necessarily need to be as powerful as the R93 or Brenner, but it would be nice if at the very least, the really-underpowered weapons could receive small buffs so that they are more useful.
- This is less of an 'improvement' and more of a silly 'while we're at it' suggestion, but why not: allow bots to use akimbo weapons and miniguns. Obviously they'll need some stat overhauls since most of them right now have placeholder stats, but otherwise there doesn't seem to be obvious reasons why they shouldn't be available.
All of my bot weapon stat arguments are based on the following sources:
The original Long Guide (semi-outdated as of post-White House update, but most of it's explanations on hidden game mechanics including bot weapon stats remain valid even to this day)
More Weapon Stats mod (mod broke as of a recent update, but it was useful in seeing bot weapon stats in-game back when it worked)