Down with the Disruptor Pistol!

[Star Dust]

The disruptor pistol is awful, is is a energy based weapon that has all the downsides of a energy weapon by being weak to EMP, while having all the downsides of a ballistic pistol, by not being able to fire through glass. It's stun capability is honestly just not great, its lethal capabilities are equally not that great, and when shit hits the fan, most of security gets rid of it in favor of the 45. Now, why on gods green Earth would the company invest into a energy pistol that is weak, has the downsides of ballistic and energy, with neither of its upsides. Seriously this is just not a smart weapon, it does not feel like a good weapon to have, so my suggestion is that the energy pistol needs a buff, or a change, make it a proper laser pistol so at least it keeps the upside of being energy, or swap us back to the LEGENDARY 45 ACP TWO WORLD WARS handgun with rubber ammo.

The disruptor is bad, and almost universally disliked my sec characters from what I've gathered, it's weak, has massive downsides, and has almost no redeeming qualities to it, why the SCC would give these absolutely bottom tier weapons to its security force that is going to be going out into the dangers of space is baffling.

Edited December 23, 2023 by Star Dust

[Susan]

An unarmored EMT with a knife took every single shot in my mini-disruptor to down, after he had already stabbed me, and like three of them missed.

I don't know there is a good solution to this problem. I preferred the 45s over the disruptors, but the mini-disruptor is even worse. I hate it so much.

[CourierBravo]

I like disruptors as a weapon, but I do think they need some kind of buff. Maybe making their stun far better, since that's their main intended use, while keeping lethal damage the same? Something like that. I think having them be a worse pistol all around is a good thing. But they still need to be usable as more than a prop for an RP threat.

[Fyni]

I always assumed they are underpowered basically on purpose - any antag with some prep isn't going to have to panic over them, and even those without have a fairly decent chance of not been shut down immediately. The disruptor been buffed would make antag play more difficult, on a server where we sometimes struggle to get antags doing their thing. And as someone who plays sec most of the time, I'm all for giving them a chance to flourish.

The moment a (serious) threat is confirmed, the armoury is opened and officers are arming up with other gear anyway. The disruptor's role is to give Officers a chance at range, some on the fly power which can be easily changed to leathal, while not shutting down antags in the early stages of their round - the only time the disruptor will be used anyway, if the antag is been enough of a threat.

[CourierBravo]

52 minutes ago, Fyni said:

I always assumed they are underpowered basically on purpose

Absolutely true. Disruptors should still suck against any antag worth their salt. That cannot change, in my opinion. That being said, they suck against even unarmored people. Which I dont think should be the case. I think your average greytider should be manageable to take down with a disruptor, but struggle against anyone with even a bit of prep. In its current state, it really struggles to do that.

The idea I'm getting at, is that disruptors should be decently good at taking down unarmored coworkers. A la, a taser. But should just be awful at anything else. That's the direction I'd like to see it go. As it is, I only use disruptors as a backup or a last resort when playing sec. I exclusively use the stun baton, because it does the job infinitely better. And its pretty easy to close the gap between myself and anyone who needs to take a dirtnap lmfao.

Edited December 23, 2023 by Bejewledpot

[Evandorf]

I've personally never had an issue with the disruptor against unarmored opponents but I also don't use it with the assumption that it should be able to bring down an enemy on its own. Pepper them with a handful of shots and the pain makes them easier to manage for the remainder of the encounter. It's a good option for doing the least amount of harm to a crew member who is escalating to physical violence and looks less severe than using the baton. I'd never recommend using it against a more serious threat, and I don't think that's its intended use.

It's also worthwhile to remember to always call for backup, even for small escalations. Two officers with disruptors will put an unarmored assailant down pretty quick.

[Butterrobber202]

the disruptor is awful on purpose for the reasons above, antags getting a “second chance” if they fuck up on green and sec isn’t armed. Gives them wiggle room to escape. However, we should absolutely make disruptors more effective on unarmored targets. When I play Officer, I usually will just pepperspray someone over using the silly weak gun.

[Carver]

I’m alright with the normal disruptor, but I think the mini disruptor just doesn’t really need to exist. It doesn’t much do anything, and if the intent is discouraging Detectives and Command from participating in early fights where they shouldn’t be involved then it’d be better to just leave them with their flash.

[Star Dust]

On 23/12/2023 at 21:56, Butterrobber202 said:

the disruptor is awful on purpose for the reasons above, antags getting a “second chance” if they fuck up on green and sec isn’t armed. Gives them wiggle room to escape. However, we should absolutely make disruptors more effective on unarmored targets. When I play Officer, I usually will just pepperspray someone over using the silly weak gun.

 

On 23/12/2023 at 12:37, Fyni said:

I always assumed they are underpowered basically on purpose - any antag with some prep isn't going to have to panic over them, and even those without have a fairly decent chance of not been shut down immediately. The disruptor been buffed would make antag play more difficult, on a server where we sometimes struggle to get antags doing their thing. And as someone who plays sec most of the time, I'm all for giving them a chance to flourish.

The moment a (serious) threat is confirmed, the armoury is opened and officers are arming up with other gear anyway. The disruptor's role is to give Officers a chance at range, some on the fly power which can be easily changed to leathal, while not shutting down antags in the early stages of their round - the only time the disruptor will be used anyway, if the antag is been enough of a threat.

We already give antags enough breaks as it is, they literally don't need more. With the recent buff to them by basically removing suit sensors as a thing, we need to at least buff security since now if they're ambushed they need to be able to defend themselves.