Nerfing the Blunderbuss

shotguns one shot in every game, its only realistic. Dont put yourself in a situation where they can kill you with a blunderbuss. I mean they have to be right up in your face to kill you with it so if you allowed them to get that close in the first place then thats on you and you deserve to be one shot

xbox players have to be able to hit us somehow...

...ok, ok... just messing :)

Blunderbuss seems fine. I prefer a pistol myself, but each to their own.

@ii-axelforce-ii So, basically never leave port? When boarding or being boarded there is no possible way to avoid being in the range of a blunderbuss. Your primary weapon is a cutlass, so effectively you're saying never use your primary weapon as well.

Please, intelligent, constructive comments only here.

@ii-axelforce-ii said in Nerfing the Blunderbuss:

shotguns one shot in every game, its only realistic.....

Ah you see... Oh wait, you compare realism to videogame balance. Gotcha, your opinions are pointless.

@RavynSoul
Blunderbuss definitely need a tiny bit less damage.
However, if the blunder gets a damage nerf, the game needs the cutlass by default and two ranged weapons. Otherwise, you can simply forget about killing anyone spamming bananas.

Secondly, the sensitivity bug on PC needs to be sorted out as well, since the sniper is currently not even a weapon.

@doctor-n****e Haha, I appreciate the humor.

I prefer the pistol myself as well but find in the 2 - 3 seconds it takes to aim and line up a shot I've been charged up on and one-shot with a blunderbuss.

The problem is that I rarely ever see anyone using a pistol or eye of reach anymore, which is kind of what prompted the post. If you can run up and one-shot someone, why would you use a 2-shot gun with which you have to aim?

Kudos for using the pistol though! I love that gun.

@ravynsoul ok pull out a blunderbuss yourself if theyre stupid enough to board you, you can one shot them on the ladder... You should almost never use your cutlass for pvp its for pve mostly. always use a blunderbuss and flintlock so you can cover both short and long range... If you didnt know you can have 2 weapons at once then youre probably too new to be even talking about the subject

@ii-axelforce-ii If you read the OP, I mention that I do use it myself out of necessity. The point is not that only a select group of people can use it (which would be false), the point is that everyone using the same, one-shot no-aim, weapon makes PvP boring. Now, stop trolling and go drink your grog. :p

Blunderbuss is fine. I very rarely get one shot unless they sneak up on me while my attention is focused elsewhere. Otherwise I'll stay out of their range, which barely extends beyond the barrel. Jumping around spinning and making all the xbox players mad I guess. :P

@lenny2k3 That's why I think having a knockback effect would be a nice alternative. You can blast someone with a blunderbuss to knock them back from you, out of sword range, and switch to a pistol to finish them off, or just give yourself time to heal or sword charge yourself.

@ravynsoul cutlass/pistol here. I find the blunderbuss relies on equivalent ping to much to be effective. When I'm at 200+ it doesn't 1 shot even point blank from behind. But when I get around 60 ping, it 1 shots at 3 meters. Just my experience. Prefer pistol because people try to bring powder barrels over, and I like to shoot it when it's still in their hands, on their ship.

I honestly believe it should be adjusted somehow... it's the only weapon, even including the cannons, capable of one shotting and it reloads just as fast as any of the other weapons. Theres no tradeoff for its power what so ever besides debatable range.

Most encounters are easily within blunderbuss distance and if they're not then they're typically within cannon distance which does splash damage.

I do prefer the pistol myself. But I can't not acknowledge the blunderbuss for skeletons either.

Speaking of, can we not give skeletons blunderbuss at least? Especially shadow skeletons?

@gordon-sevencav I am usually around 80 ping so that might be the big difference. I LOVE blowing up those barrels when people are trying to be all sneaky. lol, it's such a satisfying boom.

@ravynsoul said in Nerfing the Blunderbuss:

@lenny2k3 That's why I think having a knockback effect would be a nice alternative. You can blast someone with a blunderbuss to knock them back from you, out of sword range, and switch to a pistol to finish them off, or just give yourself time to heal or sword charge yourself.

I do believe it does. That or everyone I've ever hit with it jumps back immediately ifthey didn't die.

@gordon-sevencav Hmm, maybe I just always die too soon to notice. haha

No, just no.

@nyadc85 Since this thread is looking for constructive discussion, would you care to elaborate why you are in favor of the blunderbuss as it is?

@ravynsoul idk how you think im trolling. Im simply saying the guns are fine and if you feel you the blunderbuss needs to be nerfed then thats because youre positioning yourself wrong allowing them to kill you with a blunderbuss. again its a CLOSE RANGE weapon it has its disadvantages and advantages, just like the other weapons, so its fine how it is. its not like its some god like weapon that cant be countered.

@lunar-tempest
Ok, so you're saying the correct counter to the blunderbuss is having your crew keep the enemy distracted. That's a valid point; distractions can be quite effective.

However, we seem to keep also coming back to the "If you're in its range it's your own dumb fault" argument as well. As I stated, there is nowhere on a sloop and very few places on a galleon that would be "out of range" for a blunderbuss. We're not talking about taking a casual stroll up to the enemy holding a gun in your face, we're talking about close quarters, ship boarding combat. There is no out of range in that scenario; a scenario which makes up a significant portion of this game's combat encounters.

Again, I'm not saying the blunderbuss is "cheap" or a no-skill weapon or a godmode weapon or any other sophomoric descriptor. I am stating that the blunderbuss, in its current state, seems to be chosen overwhelmingly over any other weapon and it's one-shot hip-fire combat style makes PvP dull at best and frustrating at worst.

@ravynsoul said in Nerfing the Blunderbuss:

As I stated, there is nowhere on a sloop and very few places on a galleon that would be "out of range" for a blunderbuss. We're not talking about taking a casual stroll up to the enemy holding a gun in your face, we're talking about close quarters, ship boarding combat. There is no out of range in that scenario; a scenario which makes up a significant portion of this game's combat encounters.

Ladders. Turn up the volume listen to people swimming and which side theyre coming up on, you instantly have your close combat blunderbuss counter for enemies boarding your ship. Now if you ram another ship resulting in cqc which you shouldnt even do unless youre confident enough that youll win. If youre solo slooping you should never even board, you should sink them first then watch your ladders till theyre all dead or pull out a flintlock and get in the water and finish them off since theyll most likely not be using a flintlock so youll have range advantage

It's only good if you get like within 10ft of someone.

@lunar-tempest said in Nerfing the Blunderbuss:

@ravynsoul said in Nerfing the Blunderbuss:

@lunar-tempest
Ok, so you're saying the correct counter to the blunderbuss is having your crew keep the enemy distracted. That's a valid point; distractions can be quite effective.

However, we seem to keep also coming back to the "If you're in its range it's your own dumb fault" argument as well. As I stated, there is nowhere on a sloop and very few places on a galleon that would be "out of range" for a blunderbuss. We're not talking about taking a casual stroll up to the enemy holding a gun in your face, we're talking about close quarters, ship boarding combat. There is no out of range in that scenario; a scenario which makes up a significant portion of this game's combat encounters.

Again, I'm not saying the blunderbuss is "cheap" or a no-skill weapon or a godmode weapon or any other sophomoric descriptor. I am stating that the blunderbuss, in its current state, seems to be chosen overwhelmingly over any other weapon and it's one-shot hip-fire combat style makes PvP dull at best and frustrating at worst.

You keep mentioning the close quarters combat on deck scenario. The thing is, you shouldn't let opponents board your ship in the first place to prevent this scenario altogether. Always scout the nearby waters and shore, check the ladders, don't keep sailing the same route over and over so that swimming enemies cannot intercept you, and always keep an eye on enemies launching themselves from cannons. If you make situational awareness one of your crew's top priorities, you will greatly reduce shotgun fights on deck. In case a blunderbuss toting enemy does manage to board your ship, then keep your distance as the blunderbuss damage falls off rapidly. In case the enemy enters the interior of your ship, then don't just blindly charge in after them; team up and flush them out while moving erratically.

"Don't let them board in the first place", is the equivalent of "don't walk into sniper field of vision" when playing a game such as Tf2. It's such a ridiculous copout and lacks any critical thinking to it, because everyone that plays at a somewhat decent level, realizes that this is not going to happen. You can create a better "argument" than this. Please.

The main problem with pvp, is the fact that the blunderbuss is more or less required to kill someone, because you don't have the burst to kill anyone otherwise, and the sword is s**t against anyone that is not a complete potato.

Lowering the damage on the blunder, would indirectly make the sword better as well, but also open up the possiblity of having two weapons, which honestly, is a g******n miracle they haven't implemented.

@lunar-tempest I completely understand the concept of what you're trying to say. We are not going to agree on this issue so repeating ourselves at each other is not going to be constructive. Suffice it to say, you think the blunderbuss is fine the way it is and you've offered some strategies to use in dealing with blunderbuss users, which is great. If this thread were solely about the blunderbuss being overpowered or it being something incapable of being countered that would be a great point, but the core of this thread is that the blunderbuss makes close quarters PvP (such as when boarding/being boarded on ships) really boring. The argument is not that the gun one-shots no matter what, the argument is that there shouldn't be a one-shot gun at all.

Thank you, however, for your willingness to discuss and for offering your thoughts.

But the pistol actually counter the blunderbuss if you're good. If you sprint, they have to sprint too, you can easily do a 180, shoot them and start sprinting again. That way they can't really oneshot you, and they have to be really close to you to actually deal that much damage. And if you're on a Fortress (where most of my PvP happens) and have a pistol against a guy with a blunderbuss, it's gg for you, they can't do anything if you know what you're doing because of how much room you have to run.

So I don't really understand your complaints, the weapon is good of course but doesn't need any nerfing. The sniper on the other hand definetly need a buff, and more weapons too.

@ravynsoul said in Nerfing the Blunderbuss:

but the core of this thread is that the blunderbuss makes close quarters PvP (such as when boarding/being boarded on ships) really boring.

So does the flintlock make mid/long range pvp (such as finishing off enemies/controlling the battlefield from a distance) make pvp really boring too? I understand you may never agree with us, but youre only looking at the negative of the blunderbuss itself and not making smart decision to counter it, the flintlock is the blunderbuss nerf its that simple. I think people use it more because they look for that one shot wonder, but those players can be easily countered.

https://streamable.com/gutjh
https://streamable.com/9l8a2
feel free to watch these theyre not long. Just me taking out 2 galleons solo, using the weapons depending on the situation

@ii-axelforce-ii With mid to long range PvP you have the pistol and sniper. You have options and neither is a one-shot kill unless you're really good with it. Even when you are good it takes time to line the shot up, giving the opponent time to move to cover, shoot back, etc.

For close range you have the blunderbuss and the sword. The blunderbuss requires no aiming, just run up, hip-fire, rinse and repeat. The sword takes 3+ swings or a well timed charge, which takes longer to prep than reloading a blunderbuss.

So, mid-long range we have two viable options which require skill and strategy to use. Close-range we have a shotgun with little to no skill required and a toy sword with a high skill-cap and even then is still ineffective. I'm pretty sure most people are going to choose the shotgun every time which makes combat boring and the one-shot no-aim aspect makes it frustrating.