Make energy weapons require tools to remove their cells

[Trustworthy]

Title. What I propose is you use a screwdriver on an energy weapon, progress bar, and it should remove the cell. Instead of the current system which literally makes them miles better than kinetics, as you can steal a secoffs pouch, fill it with custom matsci cells, and spam an egun with 7 quick swap 339PU cells. Kinetics and energy weapons should be as mechanically different as possible, the current method instead combines the simplicity of recharging with the oppressiveness of kinetic weaponry.

[Tarmunora]

I agree that this would be a way to give energy weapons and kinetics more distinct identities - with energy weapons letting you shoot a little, forever, and kinetics letting you shoot a lot, but with a limited maximum ammo (typically). +1 from me

[Frank_Stein]

So, worse than it was before?

[Trustworthy]

Yes, it will be worse than before, currently energy weapons are better than kinetics in nearly every situation, this would even the playing field a bit.

[GORE]

All for it.

One hundred percent. This will also make artcells a hell of a lot more valuable in comparison to carrying several energy cells or even several tasers or whatnot.

[Frank_Stein]

Hard no from me.

The idea that someone would need to carry around a screwdriver and wait for a progress bar to swap out a battery is such a hard nerf to point of making energy weapons useless in comparison.

What was wrong with the previous method of requiring an in hand swap? What is wrong with the current system? That someone can carry multiple batteries? You're also capable of carrying multiple rounds of ammunition, and a spent battery still takes time to recharge.

I think, if you want to differentiate between the two kinds of guns, another method should be explored.

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Personally, I'd look into the rate of fire. Make energy weapons less spam friendly and introduce a battery overheat mechanic where too many shots too quickly causes the gun to enter a cool down phase

[Drago156]

Yea I'm also pretty hard against this, it seems redundant to nerf this that hard so that for security to even simply change out the cell they start with they have to scavenge for said tool and wait, hoping to not get bumped into or pushed around in the mean time. I would greatly suggest exploring another avenue like what Frank suggested. And in my experience, energy weapons mostly don't beat out kinetics simply already because kinetics run the same overall projectile capacity as an e-gun with 2 or 3 batteries depending on the gun, and pump out lead about 2-3 times as fast as an energy weapon.

As much as I don't like energy weapons, they definitely serve their place in ss13 and have already undergone a pretty major nerf with the blob reflective nuclei, so perhaps nerfing energy weapons directly isn't the answer, but instead nerfing the availability/production of cells or lowering the number of rechargers around station would be a better idea, also, maybe we could make the e-gun syndie scanner only for mechanic production while we're at it.

[GORE]

Yea I'm also pretty hard against this, it seems redundant to nerf this that hard so that for security to even simply change out the cell they start with they have to scavenge for said tool and wait, hoping to not get bumped into or pushed around in the mean time. I would greatly suggest exploring another avenue like what Frank suggested. And in my experience, energy weapons mostly don't beat out kinetics simply already because kinetics run the same overall projectile capacity as an e-gun with 2 or 3 batteries depending on the gun, and pump out lead about 2-3 times as fast as an energy weapon.

As much as I don't like energy weapons, they definitely serve their place in ss13 and have already undergone a pretty major nerf with the blob reflective nuclei, so perhaps nerfing energy weapons directly isn't the answer, but instead nerfing the availability/production of cells or lowering the number of rechargers around station would be a better idea, also, maybe we could make the e-gun syndie scanner only for mechanic production while we're at it.

Scavenge for tools? There should be one tool crate in sec and some more lying around in maintenance next to it at least on the most played map Cog1.

The numbers of rechargers is already pretty low. Like...Cog1 has two in security and one in QM-Security. I think RD office also has one so if I am not mistaken there are four rechargers and with the new wall rechargers being around the same places not really that many more.

Increasing the difference between kinetic and energy weapons sounds like fun.

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Also....calling the blob reflective nuclei a major nerf is somewhat of a stretch. This is only applicable to blob rounds and there is nothing holding you back making a hellmix of chems in two minutes.

Start out as a blob and die within the first three minutes due to a hellmix and you think nerfing E-Guns caused the Blob being killed too quickly to go away? No. That nerf sure as hell didn't fix blob and didn't nerf E-guns for the most rounds for the most part.