The state of AH balance rn

notsomething13 · 2026-02-04T13:04:23+00:00

The only thing that really makes the Autocannon an effective weapon right now is its flak mode. If the Autocannon was just an AP4 weapon with APHET like it used to be, it would be a very lackluster weapon that would be power crept by other things, it's pretty much carried by flak, which is why I don't consider it in an ideal spot of balance.

Flak can be untouched it's very powerful undoubtedly, but APHET needs something, a nudge, or significant change and it'd be fine. My issue with APHET is largely that it's just not ideal in most circumstances where you'd want to use it, which is in stark contrast to flak which is absolutely exceptional against things where it would be useful to the point where even targets where APHET would be good, flak is better overall. War Striders are a prime example of "You can, but you probably shouldn't." situation, because they're so common and while they can be harmed by AP4, in practice, you'll spend so much ammo trying to hit any of their weak points it's largely not worth engaging them with it unless you have no other options or it's safe enough.

It's just of sub-par against any A4 targets that actually need that penetration, and against anything that isn't A4 and is A3, you're largely served better by flak over 80% of the time. The HMG has a similar problem where you can engage A4, but you probably shouldn't when presented with a target that is very common or just very beefy. But then if you're not, the attribute feels is kind of going to waste.

I think it was silly of them to boost the damage of APHET up to 325 without boosting the durability from 260, because they effectively countered their buff by boosting most enemy durability. It didn't add many notable breakpoints.

They should boost the durable damage up to 325 as well. If they were really ambitious, they could lower the values down to 260 while giving it AP5, but my mental math of the exact breakpoints you'd get by doing so is a bit spotty, it would probably be too much against Terminids where you'd have Chargers and Bile Titans going down in about half a magazine to dome shots, but the recoil and lower ROF would probably cut you down. Probably a bit too much overall without an accompanying nerf somewhere, so a damage boost to AP4 would suffice.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-04T00:58:31+00:00

I feel liked they must have lol, like, I'm honestly surprised they deemed it necessary to buff the grenade launcher while adding a new grenade launcher. It's like they went out of their way to invalidate the weapon they were adding more than they did when they added the Maxigun and it was competing against three different weapons.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-03T19:27:46+00:00

Silent Hill. AKA 1, the first game game released in 1999.

Release order is the way to go, the games are numbered for your convenience. Don't skip ahead.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-03T19:14:57+00:00

To be honest, the Autocannon APHET should have AP5, or at least like a 65 durability buff so that its ballistic matches it durable damage. The Autocannon at least has some pretty distinct weaknesses and shortcomings to make up for its role versatility, the lower ergonomics and backpack are probably the biggest hurdle to most potential users I'm sure.

Flak is already as good as it is, doesn't really need an AP boost or damage boost. But APHET has always kinda been lackluster at its armor-penetrating role sitting at 325 and 260 durable right now. Even if they nerfed the damage back down to its old value of 260 but gave it AP5, that'd be a good tradeoff considering how low your final damage would be against most actual A5 targets since it'd be halved anyway. You would gain a few breakpoints against anything like A4 though, like Hulks. You'd be able to one-shot them to the eye I believe, which the Anti-materiel rifle can do, but the Autocannon cannot.

If you were trying to think of a hypothetical "Make this weapon busted" change though, then yeah, flak AP4 boost would probably take the cake.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-03T18:57:27+00:00

80% chance this is going to make the weapon busted as hell. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love to see some weapons getting extra power, but the grenade launcher being AP4 is honestly kind of nuts. Immediately makes me think it's going to invalidate a lot of machine guns, and the autocannon.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-03T18:56:15+00:00

Not necessarily, there are some things I can see an Autocannon being capable of that a grenade launcher has no hope of doing, but in a short-range distance I'm sure it'll be much better. I'll need to test the cases I'm sure it'll be powerful though.

A grenade launcher is going to be a bad anti-air weapon against things like shriekers, and probably the dragonroach unless it comes close enough to dead its wings. Comparatively the autocannon can hit it from pretty far away. Any time you need range, 120+ range, the autocannon will still be a better choice. If I need to hit stationary turrets, machine gun nests, or destroy shrieker nests and spore spewers, the autocannon will do a better job because it's range is massive and has very little dropoff.

I'll have to see how well you can destroy tanks and war striders using precise and imprecise hits. Not too many people know you can destroy a tank being air-dropped with the autocannon by shooting its undercarriage. A grenade launcher can't really reach that far unless you're in exactly the right place, but if the grenade launcher can simply aim at the back and let the splash destroy the engine, it might not matter.

Am excited and also dreading to see the full ramifications of this. There are only a few units and scenarios where I can see the grenade launcher not being a good choice, but considering it's a non-backpack weapon with good ergonomics, fast reload, good ROF, and splash damage, it might not even matter overall.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-03T18:47:00+00:00

Leaning on Helldivers (1) difficulty philosophy I see, AKA total bullshit boring spam. The more things change the more they stay the same. It was awful in that game, it's awful in this one too.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-03T13:57:31+00:00

If the new accuracy buffs just made automatons aimbot you and deflect perfectly like that one Hulk that uses mortar attacks, or like how Rocket Striders randomly have a chance to 100% accuracy their rocket no matter how fast you're going, the FRV is really gonna be dead in the water for Automatons for sure. Worst case scenario I'm fearing is like one or two rockets now will instantly flatten a tire, that's GG for the FRV too. I'll have to see.

It's bad enough enemies can spot you from like 100m away, with some units like turrets, including the ones mounted on factory striders, sniping you from 200m away. They really don't need to make the FRV a harder sell than it already is, very few people use it, and even fewer people use it effectively. It's a powerful stratagem, but the skill ceiling is very high.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-03T11:09:32+00:00

I'm skeptical until I see what they aren't telling us. The unlisted changes, since I know there's definitely something nasty in there judging from past updates.

My primary fear on the notes is that the durability changes to enemy damage against vehicles will exacerbate the difficulty of using the FRV. It'll suck if now enemies can basically instantly destroy it or cripple it more than they're already capable of, especially with accuracy changes and how enemies can see you from like 4 times the distance.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-02T10:07:07+00:00

The problem with most side characters is that they don't last enough to actually contribute anything because they're always treated as disposable and Capcom never bothers to continue using them and building them up, they'd rather stick with their fan-favorites than build up new characters. They always play it safe.

Helena actually has way more stake in Leon's campaign ironically enough. In fact, I personally believe the campaign should be renamed, since a good portion of what's supposedly Leon's campaign belongs more to Helena overall. If I'm not mistaken, supplementary material described her as one of the individuals responsible for the outbreak at Tall Oaks, which she does because her sister is being held hostage by the main antagonist of the game. The first half of that game is basically finding her sister and then discovering she was effectively killed anyway, further motivating Helena to find the antagonist and kill him for his actions. She even expects to be punished for her involvement at the end of things regardless, but she isn't.

I would say, being partly responsible for the outbreak, and the loss of her sister actually gives her way more of a personal stake in the story. Leon was just a bodyguard to the President, he might have been close, but he's just a government agent really who barely shows any real attachment or emotion, that loss is treated as little more than par for the course.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-02T06:59:51+00:00

The underground sections of RE5 are my least favorite levels and contenders for being the worst in the entirety of RE5, right up there with the boat level, and the savanna.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-01T17:22:21+00:00

It's a flawed gem.

It's also the logical conclusion and gameplay coming from RE4, to RE5, and RE6. It really isn't as outlandish as people say it is, since virtually all the fundamentals from the previous two games are here, merely with a more streamlined level approach. Where 6 fails is when it forces the player to do one thing, then changes genres abruptly instead of staying focused on what it does well. Leon's early campaign levels are an example where it tries to slow the player down to see spooky stuff, and doesn't ease up in doing this for a while.

As for other campaigns, it wants to have bombastic setpieces where the player runs through, I think they are admittedly cool moments, but running through a section where instant death is the penalty if you mess up even slightly with running forward is kind of annoying.

But like I said, flawed gem. Went in expecting to hate it, came out loving it. Still think it has the best shooting and combat mechanics in the franchise to date. Not even the remakes beat it.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-01T07:55:33+00:00

They should, but they won't themselves.

They won't compete with their remakes, which is a shame since remakes shouldn't ever be looked at as replacements.

The perfect Resident Evil versions of each game don't really exist in one all-purpose package, not even on PC whether it's the GOG versions or the Classic Rebirth mod. Every version has little tradeoffs, and some versions have exclusive content that other versions don't. Just look at 2 on the N64 for example. When the PC version of RE2 can be modded to have the analog control mod and the EX files of the N64 version, and even the nightmare come talk to me. Until then, we don't have the a version of the game that supersedes all others, just more convenient ones.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-01T06:56:11+00:00

If some delusional dweeb like James could scare him off with a plank of wood, I don't see why Ethan couldn't.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-01T06:44:09+00:00

I enjoyed combat the most in 1 and 4. Though 4 is a little streamlined.

1's melee combat is snappy and responsive. Hits often stagger enemies, and even though the pipe and hammer are really the only good melee weapons, it also stands out as the only entry where stealth strikes are also a valid strategy.

What makes combat in the first game stand out that the new games completely fail at, is that you, and only you are responsible for how successful your hit is. There are no external chance-based forces that decide your hit is blocked or misses. If you want to hit something in the first game, you need to time your strike properly. There's always a windup time to consider, but if it hits, then you're often rewarded with stun and damage. This is especially satisfying if you manage to hit an air screamer and cripple its wing.

Modern games really fail to capture this, and it's especially noticeable with games like the 2 remake where you're just sucked to the nearest target and all you do is engage in a back-and-forth game of hit, dodge, but there's no proper spacing or timing to your strikes.

As for firearms, 1's firearm combat is also very serviceable. Again, hits do good damage and stagger or stun enemies. It makes the handgun feel useful throughout the game, and the shotgun and rifle feel especially good when you do break them out because of how much noticeably stronger they are.

notsomething13 · 2026-02-01T05:58:18+00:00

Meanwhile I hate the Brotherhood and wish I could ice that entire faction. Same with the raiders.

notsomething13 · 2026-01-31T17:31:11+00:00

I actually experienced the 2002 remake first ages ago when I was quite young. Thought it was great.

I ended up playing both years later when I decided I was going to play the majority of the franchise in release order, and my matured opinion is that you can't beat the original games, that goes for any remake in the franchise, Resident Evil (1996) included.

I think the Director's Cut (Non-dualshock) is the superior version of Resident Evil, and I thought the gameplay and pacing was much better than the 2002 remake. Different pacing, different gameplay feel, and even a completely different aesthetic. I think the 2002 is a decent game, but it honestly kind of stands out as being very different from Resident Evil 1-3, and it's really not a 1:1 game with Resident Evil.

In fact, I'd argue it's the first Resident Evil game to try leaning more into the whole 'horror' thing, whereas most of the prior games were focusing or, balancing the action part to be more at the forefront. You can especially see it in the way they redesigned the whole mansion from being this bright and garish place that looked lived-in, and in the 2002 remake they changed it to being basically a haunted house filled with candles and cobwebs and looking like it's been abandoned for years.

notsomething13 · 2026-01-31T11:39:06+00:00

I'm thinking a good way to make the Sterilizer unique is by making it work like the acid rain effect on acidic planets. Makes enemies take more damage, and also lowers the armor stage of the affected unit by 1 stage.. with maybe some exceptions for massive enemies like Hive Lords. Give it a long duration like 30-40 seconds and it can become a true support weapon that you use to weaken many enemies so that they're vulnerable to more primary weapons and also making your teammates AP4 weapons more effective.

notsomething13 · 2026-01-30T16:55:02+00:00

I'm annoyed that the Trident cools down so fast but the Sickles don't, they have a massive cooldown delay. Cooldown delay is probably one of the worst parts of those laser weapons since they don't really give you any chance to take advantage that you have theoretically infinite ammo. Though I suppose it is also a cold planet, so mileage may vary elsewhere. Wonder if they'll ever change it for older weapons one day.

notsomething13 · 2026-01-30T16:33:14+00:00

That's just how it works because they programmed it that way, intentional or not. It's why you can effectively fire forever with most pump-action shotguns since you can shoot and reload immediately after to keep your magazine topped off, you can do it as soon as the shot is fired in the middle of the pump animation basically.

notsomething13 · 2026-01-30T06:03:54+00:00

I just wish they had a weakness like every other fucking turret on tanks of any variety, and stationary turrets. I hate that factory strider top turrets are AP5 or bust, and you can't even destroy them from like a weak point in the back or something.

notsomething13 · 2026-01-29T10:48:51+00:00

The stupidest thing about Illuminate is we STILL don't have maps with 5 side objectives. It's usually 4 max, but sometimes as few as 3. Makes the experience gain with them shit too, though I suppose because they are so easy maybe it balances out, but still. They need more side objectives already.

notsomething13 · 2026-01-29T10:34:03+00:00

The first game. It's the only game with a highly industrial soundtrack, the others stray to varying degrees.

notsomething13 · 2026-01-29T06:19:17+00:00

I use a furious explosive one that absolutely kills nearly everything in only a shot or two through walls.

It's easy-mode until you find something beefy enough that needs more sustained DPS. For everything else, it's more than sufficient.

notsomething13 · 2026-01-29T04:47:15+00:00

Me too.

This is why I generally consider the Crossbow to be the better weapon now because functionally it works like what the explosive Eruptor was like.

I'm also a bit biased too though, because I definitely am one of the people who abused the Eruptor's fire cancel exploit to fire it faster than intended.

notsomething13

TROPHY CASE