New Support Weapon Idea

After you guys made the Gatling Gun I was wondering about other styles of weapons that could be useful for this game and fun at the same time. I came up with these and wanted to share them with you.
Common - EMP Pulse: Cooldown 20s / Radius 4 / Duration 3.5s / Slot Points 2
Sends out a pulse of electromagnetic energy which shuts down opponents targeting system.
Common - EMP Bolt: Cooldown 20s / Projectile Speed 35 / Radius 0.3 / Duration 5.0s / Slot Points 1
Shoot a bolt of electromagnetic energy that shuts down a single opponents targeting system.
Players are still able to fire their weapons however they can't lock on to any enemy ship for the duration of the effect,; causing them to have to skill shot their opponents. These items are Yellow based and deal no damage.

 

But this will have no effect what so ever to people who turn off auto targetting intentionally in settings, but it will negatively affect people who actually use auto targetting, so it will be unfair.

 

Sounds cool but I agree with SeaNavy, a lot of players don't use target lock to begin with so you would never know if there would actually be any effect from using these. What if instead of disabling target lock getting hit by one of these would lock your steering making you continue in the same direction you were going when hit. This could be paired with effects on the HUD such as static.

Another cool idea for a support item is a flashbang that blinds your target for a set duration. It could have the same firing properties as a grenade ( midrange, small splash circle, arc trajectory ) duration depends on distance from impact site.

 

What you suggested is actually a really cool idea!

On the other hand about what my thoughts were on posting about the EMP. I have AUTO-SELECT TARGETS off as well as many other camera options. I like to have full control over my camera however I do use the Target Lock button on the HUD. Whenever I want to make sure to keep an enemy in sight I push that button, especially if I'm hunting a Fixer. So the EMP would directly affect Target Lock causing that button to become disabled for a time making direct damage weapons harder to hit with. The attacker affected by the EMP would lose the ability to lock on and their attacks would become true skill shots. But I really do like what you said about the boat going in the same direction, that would be dope but I fear it'd be too easy to hit torps against an enemy who can't dodge it. The flashbang is a sweet idea. The player still has full control over the ship yet can't really see what's going on. You should make an example item out of it.

 

What do you mean by example item?

 

Same way I made up that Common EMP item.

 

Oh, well I was just thinking similar stats to a grenade but instead of doing damage it blinds anyone in the radius. I tend to leave the specifics to the developers because they have a better understanding of the games balance than I do.