What do you think of the new "charged" magic weapons?

[ManaUser]

I find them a little disappointing. I'm not including Last Prism in this because A) I haven't got one yet, and B) I hear the unfocused stage is still pretty epic. But so far the only one I've really found useful was the Medusa Head. The two from the Martians (Charged Blaster Cannon and Laser Machine Gun) seem cool, but I just didn't find them practical. When some goon is rushing at you, you want to hit it NOW, not three seconds later. The extreme mana drain is also a problem, and in the case of the Charged Blaster Cannon, the fact that you can neither aim the beam once activated nor hold it indefinitely feel like unnecessary limitations for something that by its nature is already trickier to use effectively.

 

[Terrasyn]

Although the Last Prism is unbelievably strong, it's that unfocused charge up time that really turns me off about it. Which is odd, considering I've never had any qualms about them in any other game (in fact I rather enjoy them). But the ease of getting put in a rough spot so quickly turned me away from charge based weaponry in Terraria. Not to mention, holding a steady damage output hasn't always been simple - having to move your focused beam to another target tends to be slow or impossible (Blaster Cannon).

 

[Juno Brier]

Once Laser Machine Gun gets going, it's pretty awesome, especially if you can keep the momentum going with collected mana stars.
Same would apply to Last Prism, but that kills things dead before too long, so yeah.

Not really a fan of the Charged Blaster since you can't change its angle on the laser once it fires.

 

[ManaUser]

Yeah, it's how quickly you can get in a tight spot that I have a problem with too. They may do heavy damage, but basically anything you'd need that kind of damage for is too quick to use them on safely. Medusa Head is only usable because you get it pre-hardmode where things don't rush at you with insane speed. I had actually hoped it might be viable as a "bridge" weapon for early hardmode, but the delay made it totally unsuitable.

 

[VaeVictis]

I think they're cool because it's a new weapon mechanic...maybe now "charged" guns are not so cool as you thought they would be, but they're the first ones,maybe in the future there will be more and better

but I would also like Charged weapons in Melee maybe a new Blunt weapon, that charges to do massive AoE damage and causing confusion and range maybe a bow that after charging throws an arrow with increased damage that can pierce through several enemies

and I think it's fun killing wyverns with one shot from the charged blaster cannon, make him follow you and try to guess from where he's coming from, I don't like when weapons are to OP with homming effects that kill everything with one click

 

[Deceus]

Although the Last Prism is unbelievably strong, it's that unfocused charge up time that really turns me off about it. Which is odd, considering I've never had any qualms about them in any other game (in fact I rather enjoy them).

The difference is that in most games with charging mechanics, nothing happens until you release the attack button, and therefore you can go into combat with it pre-charged and release it when you want. In Terraria, that obviously doesn't work since they are automatically used once the charge finishes.

I'm okay with them in this game, but I find them to be somewhat impractical a lot of the time - your other weapons would often kill the enemies before you finish charging, especially with swarms of smaller enemies. And if you get surprised by an enemy, they lose a lot of their usefulness.

If they used traditional charging mechanics - which would probably work with everything but the martian machine gun - where you can store the charge as long as you want, they'd be a lot more useable. As it is, I feel like they're mostly viable for niche uses, while other non-charging weapons will remain your go-to weapons. (That said, I've never owned a medusa head or last prism, though I know how they work, so take my thoughts regarding those with a grain of salt.

 

[Tardis]

Last prism is great for strafing runs. I found that if I was doing the pillars while using the pilars, i could strafe the enemies while dealing massive amounts of damage and taking less than before. but the trick is to keep it so that it isnt a combined beam. its ok to use it this way while on the ground also, but it isnt as effective.

 

[ManaUser]

The difference is that in most games with charging mechanics, nothing happens until you release the attack button, and therefore you can go into combat with it pre-charged and release it when you want. In Terraria, that obviously doesn't work since they are automatically used once the charge finishes.

That's a good point. Even if you could only hold it for a short time, it would be more helpful than just having it automatically go off. All these little limitations add up to make these weapons just slightly more trouble than they're worth in my opinion.

 

[ψeud]

The difference is that in most games with charging mechanics, nothing happens until you release the attack button, and therefore you can go into combat with it pre-charged and release it when you want. In Terraria, that obviously doesn't work since they are automatically used once the charge finishes.

If you happen you play TF2 and are proficient with the Beggar's Bazooka, the charging mechanics in Terraria won't feel so bad.

But then, in Terraria you have a plethora of other approaches and weapons, so some of the charge weapons become useless by comparison.

Medusa Head and Last Prism both have relatively exceptional damage, so the charge seems worth it. But for the Laser Machinegun and the Blaster Cannon, I feel like you'd be able to do better Ranger weapons in the same tier.

 

[Hax4Ever]

--Finally charges up weapon--

--Runs out of mana the second it fires--

That's not fun.

 

[ψeud]

--Finally charges up weapon--

--Runs out of mana the second it fires--

That's not fun.

I generally use the Cuffs to keep my mana up; It's easy if you look for some relatively low damage sources. (Or, keep a random spike in your hotbar for exactly that purpose)

 

[Juno Brier]

I generally use the Cuffs to keep my mana up; It's easy if you look for some relatively low damage sources. (Or, keep a random spike in your hotbar for exactly that purpose)

I don't even use the Cuffs.
I find I can usually keep the momentum going with just mana stars, and getting hit tends to run against my survival philosophy of "don't get hit", so I opt for the Celestal Emblem instead.

 

[chuckeroo777]

Am I the only one surprised they haven't used this for ranged weapons? A longbow that does like, 1000 base damage with a three second draw could be pretty nifty.

 

[Juno Brier]

Am I the only one surprised they haven't used this for ranged weapons? A longbow that does like, 1000 base damage with a three second draw could be pretty nifty.

Phantasm does have the slowly-accelerating fire rate that the Laser Machine Gun has.
It's not quite the same as the Medusa Head and Charged Blaster Cannon, of course.

 

[ManaUser]

Am I the only one surprised they haven't used this for ranged weapons? A longbow that does like, 1000 base damage with a three second draw could be pretty nifty.

Hadn't specifically thought of it, but yeah. Something like that seems like it would have fit in nicely.

 

[aceofscarabs]

Am I the only one surprised they haven't used this for ranged weapons? A longbow that does like, 1000 base damage with a three second draw could be pretty nifty.

Maybe it could be the upgrade for the Sniper Rifle, a CHARGEABLE Sniper Rifle.