Weapon Levelling in Tier Mode is a Placebo! | Forums

[Virtual-Chris]

I could not find any testing info on this... so I spent most of the last couple of days leveling up my MK17 in Tier Mode to Level 30... Thats a lot of convoys. And guess what? The jokes on me! Not a stitch of difference. What a total waste of my time. Hard to believe. Ubisoft, why would you do that?

It’s just another reason not to play Tier Mode.

[GiveMeTactical]

Look at it this way... now you are considered L33t because of the hours you spent on it.

[Bone_Frog]

I could not find any testing info on this... so I spent most of the last couple of days leveling up my MK17 in Tier Mode to Level 30... Thats a lot of convoys. And guess what? The jokes on me! Not a stitch of difference. What a total waste of my time. Hard to believe. Ubisoft, why would you do that?

It’s just another reason not to play Tier Mode.

Can you explain what you mean by "not a stitch of difference"? A lot of people, including Darkdaly have tested these and found that they do make a difference. In my own experience as well leveling both an M4 and the 416 the leveled weapons definitely put out more damage. In my experience a fully leveled 416 will, at the the higher tier levels, take down targets with one shot where an unleveled BFG 50a or Tac-50 won't.

What precisely is the difference you are looking for?

[Virtual-Chris]

Can you explain what you mean by "not a stitch of difference"? A lot of people, including Darkdaly have tested these and found that they do make a difference. In my own experience as well leveling both an M4 and the 416 the leveled weapons definitely put out more damage. In my experience a fully leveled 416 will, at the the higher tier levels, take down targets with one shot where an unleveled BFG 50a or Tac-50 won't.

What precisely is the difference you are looking for?

I follow DarkDally and never came across a video of his that tested Tier Weapon level damage. I’ll have to have another look.

I also searched high and low and couldn’t find anything other than some anecdotal comments like it seems like it didn’t make much difference.

In my testing it still takes three to four shots body shots from the MK17 to take down the average Cartel dude. That’s of course, when I can get three to four shots off before being killed.

Your results are interesting... so I wonder if a leveled weapons damage goes up as the tier difficulty increases?

I’m at Tier 34, and it seems to have made zero difference to the bullets it takes to kill a guy.

[Frag_Maniac]

I'm not entirely sure, but it may be that as you increase Tiers, the enemies also slightly increase HP, which could make it seem like weapons aren't leveling.

At any rate, I've advanced all the way to Tier level 1, then replayed the whole game on that level via mission replay. I didn't notice a problem with tier weapon leveling being ineffective.

[Virtual-Chris]

I'm not entirely sure, but it may be that as you increase Tiers, the enemies also slightly increase HP, which could make it seem like weapons aren't leveling.

At any rate, I've advanced all the way to Tier level 1, then replayed the whole game on that level via mission replay. I didn't notice a problem with tier weapon leveling being ineffective.

But was it any more effective when levelled than not?

[Virtual-Chris]

So I found some quantitative testing which validates my claim. For the MK 17 with long barrel, there is absolutely no difference in number of bullets required to kill a Unidad Heavy (and therefore any other type of enemy).

According to this tester, the difference in damage is like the difference in barrel sizes which is about 10%. So if a kill normally requires 4 or 5 shots, a 10% improvement is not going to change that.

Many Non-AR weapons actually get worse, even after levelling in Tier Mode.

I wish I had looked harder for this a few days ago. What a waste of time.

Here's the results of the testing...
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

Here's the Reddit Posts...
https://www.reddit.com/r/GhostRecon/...mage_sheet_20/
https://www.reddit.com/r/GhostRecon/..._damage_sheet/

Ubisoft, you should be ashamed of yourself for this.

EDIT: Special thanks to the tester (I think I've seen you on these forums)! Thank YOU!!!

[Bone_Frog]

So I found some quantitative testing which validates my claim. For the MK 17 with long barrel, there is absolutely no difference in number of bullets required to kill a Unidad Heavy (and therefore any other type of enemy).

According to this tester, the difference in damage is like the difference in barrel sizes which is about 10%. So if a kill normally requires 4 or 5 shots, a 10% improvement is not going to change that.

Many Non-AR weapons actually get worse, even after levelling in Tier Mode.

I wish I had looked harder for this a few days ago. What a waste of time.

Here's the results of the testing...
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

Here's the Reddit Posts...
https://www.reddit.com/r/GhostRecon/...mage_sheet_20/
https://www.reddit.com/r/GhostRecon/..._damage_sheet/

Ubisoft, you should be ashamed of yourself for this.

EDIT: Special thanks to the tester (I think I've seen you on these forums)! Thank YOU!!!

I don't see where he is saying what you say he is saying. He says that at Tier 1 and fully engaged a fully leveled weapon is roughly the same as it is in non-Tier.

At Tier 1 if you are fully engaged you are already in a world of trouble. Fully engaged enemies at that level become bullet sponges. I'm at Tier 19 and I can pump five rounds into a SB heavy with my BFG and not drop him. I can't imagine what they are like at Tier 1(I guess I'll find out when I get there). Honestly though, in Tier mode, anything above(or below or whatever) level 30 you have to stay in stealth or break contact. Trying to actively engage an enemy at that point is pretty much suicide. Though I did just do it in one mission gone wrong, I was still under cover and essentially ambushing the enemies as they came around the corner. It isn't something you want to do.

I fully expect to need highly upgraded weapons by the time I reach Tier 1. At Tier 25 my P12 stopped one shotting unalerted enemies. Quite the surprise that was in campaign mode, and again in Ghost mode when I forgot I had to start leveling it at that point.

[MikeWeeks]

From the same Reddit linked posts:

https://www.reddit.com/r/GhostRecon/..._damage_sheet/

"ARs&SMGs: These two actually gain damage slightly (~1 barrel length), meaning it's easier to kill enemies at t1 than without tier, if your weapon is maxed."

The actual damage sheet displays info on sniper rifles. I don't believe the MK17 is a sniper rifle.

When I started down the Tier path about half-way thru on my first playthrough, I did it with "eyes wild open" - by researching this forum as well as looking over various UT videos on the subject in general. It was clear (to me) that it was going to be somewhat similar to playing on legendary in Skyrim for example.

My AR of choice was the 556xi - due to it's penetration stat. I've had no trouble, generally speaking, downing a single alerted heavy given the "right" conditions. Increasing the damage to lvl 30 isn't a "magic bullet" given the other factors which Ubisoft decided to build into the Tier system.

For me, the damage to lvl 30 isn't a placebo. I find it helps.

[Virtual-Chris]

From the same Reddit linked posts:

https://www.reddit.com/r/GhostRecon/..._damage_sheet/

"ARs&SMGs: These two actually gain damage slightly (~1 barrel length), meaning it's easier to kill enemies at t1 than without tier, if your weapon is maxed."

The actual damage sheet displays info on sniper rifles. I don't believe the MK17 is a sniper rifle.

When I started down the Tier path about half-way thru on my first playthrough, I did it with "eyes wild open" - by researching this forum as well as looking over various UT videos on the subject in general. It was clear (to me) that it was going to be somewhat similar to playing on legendary in Skyrim for example.

My AR of choice was the 556xi - due to it's penetration stat. I've had no trouble, generally speaking, downing a single alerted heavy given the "right" conditions. Increasing the damage to lvl 30 isn't a "magic bullet" given the other factors which Ubisoft decided to build into the Tier system.

For me, the damage to lvl 30 isn't a placebo. I find it helps.

There are multiple tabs on that spreadsheet. The first tab is Sniper Rifles, the second is ARs. As you mention, his conclusion is that the damage increase is equivalent to about one increase in barrel length which is about 10%. A 10% improvement on a 4-5 shot kill is not going to change anything.

Edit: When you think about how much effort it is to get all those resources (about 120K of each resource to level a weapon to level 30), it's not worth it for a 10% damage increase. Especially when as we know, you rarely get a chance to engage an alert enemy in Tier Mode and survive to get enough rounds off anyway.