[App Feedback] Increase accuracy of [low level] ultra strikes
Hi All. I wrote a couple of times about this issue, but when I did I made suggestions as how to fix the issue without really revealing the true issue itself. So, I'm writing about the issue, hoping that maybe a solution can be found.
So, here's my issue. I believe that ultra strikes are not very useful because they are not very accurate. This may apply more to low level ultra strikes vs higher level ultra strikes. If so then it's a problem with low level ultra strikes.
I first noticed this while attacking high level resonators with low level ultra strikes and XMP bursters. I found that my low level ultra strikes weren't doing that much damage to high level resonators. That was a completely expected result. What was unexpected was when I set off an XMP burster of the same level from the same spot as my ultra strike. To my surprise, my XMP burster did more damage to the resonator than my ultra strike did.
At first, I thought this was a case of linear XMP bursters / quadratic ultra strikes, in that ultra strikes have very little power at low level, but have higher power increases each each level than XMP bursters do. So, at first I thought that low level ultra strikes were just not very useful.
But, after some experimentation, I found out the true reason for the damage difference. It turns out that the beams of low level ultra strikes are so narrow that it's difficult to hit anything with them. So, my low level ultra strikes were missing the target, even though I thought I was right on top of it. Instead, the damage I saw was caused by "splash damage." When my ultra strike actually hit the target, it did more damage than my XMP burster did.
My guess is that higher level ultra strikes have wider beams, so this may only be an issue with the lowest level ultra strikes. But, I believe it's still an issue. Even if ultra strikes are more powerful, they aren't very useful if they miss the target completely.
And, this is made worse when one considers that ultra strikes are typically used to pop shields and other portal mods from the center of a portal. The center of the portal gives no feedback as to the strength of an attack. It only gives hit or miss feedback.
This means that if an agent attacks the center of a portal with a high level ultra strike and misses, then that agent will have no idea that their attack missed. Instead, the agent will see the shields proc, even though they hit the portal with splash damage.
So, I suggest doing something to fix this issue. It could be widening the center of the beam. It could be making the entire beam the same strength so there is no splash damage. It could be adding an "autolock" feature where the ultra strike will lock on and fire on top of a target if you're close enough. Or, it could be a solution I haven't thought of yet.
Or... this could be working as intended... that's always an option.
Comments
Ultra strikes are intended to be a low range/high damage weapon while XMPs are high range/low damage
They are working as intended.
For Ultra strikes, stand on top op resonators for maximum damage
US are intended to be short range
For maximum effect, stand on top of resonators.
They are working as intended.
I was standing on the resonator. Or, at least it appeared I was. The strike still missed. Although, I confirmed this behavior on a level 1 ultra strike, so maybe they need to be pixel (or subpixel) perfect?
To be fair, I tested this with higher level ultra strikes. Those work as intended, so it's only an issue with the lowest levels of ultra strikes.
I regularly use low level ultra-striked to remove shields from portals. So, they seem to be accurate enough for that task.