Miner Equipment Damage Overhaul

[Captain_Bravo]

I made a long post about this on SA, but figured I'd talk about it in here, too. I think miner equipment needs to be updated in terms of damage/effects, so it is no longer as completely useless in melee as it is now. There's a lot of specific reasons why, but there's basically three main points: As it stands, miner gear is horrifically weak, some items actually dealing zero damage. Mining gear takes actual effort to get, since you have to mine the ores that you use to create it. All mining gear is melee, and even with a boost it won't suddenly create superhuman miners able to wade through a sea of C-sabers without a scratch.

Bringing the damage and abilities of mining gear up to decent and/or good levels would reward players who actually do their job, give miners some small means of self-defense against changelings/wizards/syndicates/greyshirt hordes, and would add a bit more variety to the robusting options available in the game. I made some specific suggestions here, but I think it might be a bit much to just repost them here. What do you guys think about buffing the mining tools a bit?

[Dachshundofdoom]

Yeah, mining gear really needs some damage boosts. It's really strange that gear meant to shatter rocks isn't even close to a fire extinguisher in damage. I mean, whenever I wake up a rockworm, I tend to pull off my jetpack and use that as a weapon because it's so much faster than agonizingly clubbing it to death with my pick or something.

Deep down though I really just want punches with concussive gloves to knock people backwards a few tiles, possibly into other people.

[atomic1fire]

Perhaps miner spacesuits should absorb some brute damage from attacks as well, because you would think if they can not get destroyed in a rock explosion, they should be pretty tough. Perhaps it could lead to people stealing mining suits for space kevlar, but perhaps not.

[Hard Boiled]

Honestly, there is no reason why mining should be so weak. I mean, the suits alone should be so much more robust than the ones in EVA for the exact reason that they are for MINING. Mining equipment should have no reason to be inferior to anything on the station and should in fact be slightly more robust, if not drastically so. I mean, there jetpacks would have to stand up to more than the ones in EVA because of the rocks and explosions. Not to mention any tool suited for the job. Realistically, mining should just be buffed.

[Embolism]

If Mining is buffed, I think Engineers should lose access to Mining to restrict the number of people that have easy access to (slightly) more powerful equipment.

It should be done anyway IMO as currently I don't think Miners can go anywhere Engineers cannot.

[ISaidNo]

I actually did this intentionally when making mining, because Miners had a tendency to grab their gear (at the time a RIG suit and plasma cutter to start off with) and then just fuck off into space to raid the station and torch the shit out of people. It could be overhauled since I figure that we can just ban anyone abusing it for shits and giggles.

[Captain_Bravo]

Right, right, that's why I suggested that the power pick still be relatively weak. Maybe as effective as a Fire Extinguisher, when powered. Make the good stuff require mining, so it's a reward for performance. There has to be a way to boost the abilities of middle-to-higher end mining gear while still preventing start-of-round thieves from packing their bag full of powerful loot and skedaddling off to the station.

[FrontlineAcrobat4]

I would honestly prefer if the mining tools were still weak so the miners don't start off with s gigantic arsenal of weapons AND space suits too.

[Captain_Bravo]

Which is why I keep reiterating that the pick shouldn't be too good? Because miners don't start off with power hammers, laser drills, or concussion gauntlets? All of those things require time-intensive mining to get?

[Embolism]

No one's saying that Miners should start off with super-robust equipment, but a fully-upgraded industrial miner should be a force to be reckoned with in battle.

[Preid]

I would honestly prefer if the mining tools were still weak so the miners don't start off with s gigantic arsenal of weapons AND space suits too.

Anyone with a bit of skill can get a spacesuit from engineering or EVA without any trouble, it does not strike me as that big of an advantage either.

[Weavel]

As long as the tools never get any stronger than an Oxygen Tank or an Extinguisher, I think it'd be fine.

[Cogwerks]

I don't see any problem with making the mining tools all a bit stronger, even having the top-end stuff significantly outclass fire extinguishers.

[Hard Boiled]

The way I see it, the only problem here is the humane part. It makes sense to make mining equipment more powerful, and that would work, but the problem of dealing with any Dick and Jane getting their grubby griefing on better stuff is what makes it an iffy issue. Honestly, it is not incredibly hard for someone to break in and steal shit, or to get access, but people are now a lot easier to deal with thanks to admins paying attention to someone yelling about how a non traitor is killing peeps with picks and running around in a better-than-average space suit. That's the real deal, and it's hardly as much of a problem as it used to be.

[Captain_Bravo]

I still stand by my original point: Anyone who wants to grief that badly probably won't have the patience to mine ore for a long time just to do it slightly more effectively.