The lancer(s)

[GenesisDX]

are both kinda OP and even tho the retro is devastating up close, it has that crazy recoil that takes skill to tame (Anyone can spray but can ya down and kill someone with the Retro from 2o feet away with half a clip). So all in all it (The Retro Lancer) is balanced.

Now on to the (read as "my") real issue, the oh so ever present over power of the chainsaw lancer, I saw this for 4 main reasons:

1) Ginormous Clip Size (It can shoot for 10 solid seconds without a reaload)
2) Active Reload Is Too Easy (Its the EASIEST gun to Active in the game)
3) OP Active (The Clip Size + Easy Active = Effortless Kills. 3-4 per active clip)
4) Stopping Power (Why is this the only gun in the game that stuns you and doesnt let you evade, that constant stream of bullets is just plain unfair)

Thats my dollars worth on the situation, you dont have to agree, but dont be an a-hole if you don't...

[The Locust Horde]

It can shoot for 6 in fact Not 10.
A smaller clip would would be fine.
Anything else would make the gun too weak .

Stopping power was put in to stop Gnasher rushers .
It was there from 2 as was the head shot multiplier
It also makes sense for a gun that shoots so fast to have it.
With out the stopping power or a head shot multiplier the gun would be weak vs the other 2 .
It was very weak in the beta with a small damage decrease

Dont forget its used by horde players too they cant tone guns down for a single game type it has to be a whole game change.

[GenesisDX]

It can shoot for 6 in fact Not 10.
A smaller clip would would be fine.
Anything else would make the gun too weak .

Stopping power was put in to stop Gnasher rushers .
It was there from 2 as was the head shot multiplier
It also makes sense for a gun that shoots so fast to have it.
They kept it in to keep the lancer on par with the other rifles.
With out the stopping power or a head shot multiplier the gun would be weak vs the other 2 .
It was very weak in the beta with a small damage decrease

Dont forget its used by horde players too they cant tone guns down for a single game type it has to be a whole game change.

The lancer in Gears or Gears 2 was nowhere near as ridiculous strong as this one, just sayin man. I think poeple are so concerned bout the sawed off the dont really see the OP lancer.

[The Locust Horde]

The lancer in Gears or Gears 2 was nowhere near as ridiculous strong as this one, just sayin man. I think poeple are so concerned bout the sawed off the dont really see the OP lancer.

They put the Gears 2 Lancer into the beta everyone was moaning it was too weak which it was.
They buffed it now its op.
They cant ever win .
My view is that the gun is fine.
Its the main rifle of the game .
Its the only one to be in all 3 games unchanged

[GenesisDX]

They put the Gears 2 Lancer into the beta everyone was moaning it was too weak which it was.
They buffed it now its op.
They cant ever win .
My view is that the gun is fine.
Its the main rifle of the game .
Its the only one to be in all 3 games unchanged

To each their own my friend, I've never beena fan of the lancer. I leaned towards the gnasher on Gears , and The Hammy B. on Gears II and III. Iono man, I just find it an annoying gun because people tend to use it from 10000 feet away and it does damage like its right on you, annoying. I doubt they nurf it, but it would be nice.

[mmm buddah23]

People wont stop whining till every gun is underpowered compared to the gnasher.....

[GenesisDX]

People wont stop whining till every gun is underpowered compared to the gnasher.....

If the guns were balanced from the get go... I've the right to complain bout whatever I want on this game I bought it with my money.

[mmm buddah23]

If the guns were balanced from the get go... I've the right to complain bout whatever I want on this game I bought it with my money.

And so did everyone else that enjoys other weapons. I agree that the HB needs a larger clip, and the lancer aybe a few less bullets, but thats it. Any weapon can be really annoying if the WHOLE team uses it. lacer, retro, gnasher, HB, and SO, doesnt matter, they all get a little ridiculous when whole teams use them.

[GenesisDX]

And so did everyone else that enjoys other weapons. I agree that the HB needs a larger clip, and the lancer aybe a few less bullets, but thats it. Any weapon can be really annoying if the WHOLE team uses it. lacer, retro, gnasher, HB, and SO, doesnt matter, they all get a little ridiculous when whole teams use them.

Ok maybe I shouldve stated myself better. I was reffering to A player using the OP lancer, if a whole team uses it and concentrates its fire on you of course you're ****ed. Teamwork dont bother me, the weapon does.

[GAME OVER]

Epic never intended to make gears of war heavily focused on up close combat. They thought they would solve the problem by diminishing the overall speed in Gears2, but we all know how it turned out. The Lancer is doing its job as it was intended, even thought it might be OP and yet again we'll have to change or play style to adapt to what isn't Gears2.
No games are perfect and I really like how this one turned out to be, and you're starting a cycle of tweaks that's never gonna end... In my opinion this game reached its perfection, there might be some annoyance here and there but they ain't major, so I just deal with it. The game doesn't need to be butchered.

[Eco93]

What, you say the Retro takes skill? Lol. Maybe if you're trying to down and kill someone from mid-long range, but not in close range.

With the Hammerburst I often dominate Lancer users, personally I think the Lancer is the worst assault rifle in Gears 3.

[Locust BarmyArmy]

The Lancer isn't the only weapon with stopping power, the Hammerburst can literally stop people in their tracks, as can the Retro.

I like the Lancer as it is, and this is coming from someone with 65 percent of their kills with the Gnasher. Rifle battles can be fun like shotgun battles as well. I often tear the Lancer to shreds with the Hammerburst as well, I think they should just leave it.

Edit: One second thoughts, I wouldn't mind them shortening the clip. It IS pretty monstrous I guess. That's it though, I haven't had any problems with the damage.

[Bm3xPsychox]

The lancer brings all movement to a crawl, The number one problem I have seen is the fact I can Down someone five feet away from me with the lancer while they try to push up. Yes it is fun to get a easy kill on kids that rush up, but at the same time, It should not force them to stay in the stream of bullets, Stopping power is crap, it was not implemented in the first gears and there was never a complaint on it unless it was used by host.

P.S. Still waiting on that lag/ping bar you are going to show once you get the servers back up.

[jalee_x]

The lancer brings all movement to a crawl, The number one problem I have seen is the fact I can Down someone five feet away from me with the lancer while they try to push up. Yes it is fun to get a easy kill on kids that rush up, but at the same time, It should not force them to stay in the stream of bullets, Stopping power is crap, it was not implemented in the first gears and there was never a complaint on it unless it was used by host.

P.S. Still waiting on that lag/ping bar you are going to show once you get the servers back up.

They shouldn't push up in open stretches.

[II Fazed II]

Is this a joke thread? The Lancer is definitely the weakest of the 3. I think they are all too strong tho, and stopping power doesn't help. I really hate that they strayed away from the close quarter combat in Gears 1. That was one aspect of the game that kept it very unique and fun. People may find it fun to sit back and Lancer, but i sure don't.

[Bm3xPsychox]

They shouldn't push up in open stretches.

Its not that they push into open stretches, its if they come out of cover. Period. I had a kid push up on me and all I did was kite him with the lancer then his other friends came and I actived them down too... Its kind of sad to see a gun that powerful when I see the shotgun so weak.

[OldBones]

All three rifles are monsters in different roles. Nothing can touch the Hammy at long range - it downs far faster than the others, even more now that they tweaked it. Nothing touches the Retro up close in the same way. The Lancer, meanwhile, sits between the two. It's more effective at shorter ranges than the Hammy, better at long range than the Retro, and it's specialty is suppressive fire.

A good player can excel with any of the three given they play to the strength of each weapon. The Lancer is, by nature, the most forgiving of players who don't do that.

[Bm3xPsychox]

@DirtyPaladin Yes I understand what you are saying, but at the same time if I am graced with a gun where if I catch you outside of cover I win, is it tactic/skill or is it weapon/damage based? that is the question,

[Fart]

What, you say the Retro takes skill? Lol. Maybe if you're trying to down and kill someone from mid-long range, but not in close range.

Because recoil goes away at close range? It's still the most difficult gun to land bullets with at close range. The gnasher has zero recoil and doesn't suffer from any accuracy loss while hip firing and strafing at he same time. Not sure what your criteria for "skill" is.

[Bm3xPsychox]

Because recoil goes away at close range? It's still the most difficult gun to land bullets with at close range. The gnasher has zero recoil and doesn't suffer from any accuracy loss while hip firing and strafing at he same time. Not sure what your criteria for "skill" is.

The gnasher has inconsistent damage making it harder and pointless to use, lancer it up you can take down kids at close range with it too. trust me I just clutched 3v1 with lancer on mine

[Fart]

The gnasher has inconsistent damage making it harder and pointless to use, lancer it up you can take down kids at close range with it too. trust me I just clutched 3v1 with lancer on mine

The inconsistency of the gnasher isn't built into the gun like the recoil/excessive bloom of the retro is. Not saying the gnasher doesn't take any skill but to say the retro doesn't isn't fair either. It's literally the hardest gun to keep on target out of any of the starter weapons.

[Bm3xPsychox]

The retro is effectively used as a close ranger AR, it does take skill however very minimal, as for a gnasher the inconsistency and range are put into it as a variable, such skill is needed to be succesful as a gnasher wielder aka through wall bouncing or the old school roll out tactic which was removed from this game due to sensitivity. Either way you look at it, gnasher takes more skill to get kills with.

[Gnash]

Stopping power was put in to stop Gnasher rushers.

By far the dumbest idea Epic has ever put into one of their games.

[Bm3xPsychox]

By far the dumbest idea Epic has ever put into one of their games.

Dumb however I believe the dumbest idea was the update that allowed both players to die, it shows that no matter, if a person gets close to you, you can't clutch.

[SiMBiiOTE]

If the lancer had a smaller clip it would be useless without an active. Anyone could rush at a lancer user and pull off a one shot right before they get downed. You shouldn't always need an active to down someone no matter what gun ur using. The gnasher pops heads or bodies without an active with one shot but I guess that's ok right?

I guess that's the point though right, nerf the lancer just enough to claim it doesn't make a big deal and then the Gnasher can dominate again. Smh.

The lancer is the weakest of the three assault rifles therefore it has th most ammo per clip its not rocket science. Stop trying to ruin the game with this bull.... please.

[The Necromancer]

I'm a lancer enthusiast back from Gears 1 and 2 and I'm happy that it is finally a very relevant weapon here in 3 unlike in the past. So what I'm saying is in my opinion, I think you're wrong(to op) and lancer is fine.

[The Locust Horde]

By far the dumbest idea Epic has ever put into one of their games.

Gears two had no Cqc rifles so the Lancer had this added .
Because of the huge lag it was just less useful.

[T0PP HATT]

None of you crybabies was crying bout the Lancer being OP'd "before" the Alpha playlist come out and now that's all you cry about!!! Jesus Christ, why don't you get off the tit and start playing the game!!!!
Whine, Whine, Whine... bunch of babies...

Nothing's wrong with the lancer...

[ObservationSlave]

I have never been a fan of the lancer, and the only time I have ever used it was in the Alpha playlist. Man I thought the sawed-off was easy to use. The lancer is the easiest weapon to use in this game. As long as you have semi-good aiming skills you will do perfectly fine with it. I can down and kill 3 people without taking my finger off the trigger. I would use in normal play but I enjoy putting some effort into getting kills. I'm not going to call it overpowered, because I destroy lancer noobs with my hammerburst, but it is extremely easy to use.

[JuanTheDinosaur]

Damn you say the lancer is easy to use? And it's a noob gun? The hammerburst
Is easy to use I hit my preactives all the time that gun is so easy tu use it takes no skill! Way too easy man

[ObservationSlave]

Damn you say the lancer is easy to use? And it's a noob gun? The hammerburst
Is easy to use I hit my preactives all the time that gun is so easy tu use it takes no skill! Way too easy man

The lancer shoots perfectly straight, so once you find your target you have no need to move. It requires no moving of the trigger finger because you just have to hold it down. With the hammerburst, you have to move the aimer constantly to stay on target because of the recoil, meanwhile shooting as quickly as you can. The lancer's clip is much much larger and can allow for more missed bullets. Trust me, its much easier to use. I use my hammerburst all the time and going to a lancer makes everything seem so much easier. I barely even have to concentrate on firing.

[OldBones]

@DirtyPaladin Yes I understand what you are saying, but at the same time if I am graced with a gun where if I catch you outside of cover I win, is it tactic/skill or is it weapon/damage based? that is the question,

Lancer doesn't guarantee out of cover kills any more than the Hammerburst guarantees long range kills and the Retro guarantees short range kills. Again, you use the right tool for the job.

A good Gnasher will take down a Lancer in CQB. Any 1v3 won by using only a Lancer says a lot more about the skill of the opposition than it does the player with the Lancer.

[Gnash]

Basically the Lancer is the ACR of Gears 3. It requires no skill to aim, and that's why you see multiple players Lancering down one player all the time. It's basically retard proof, if you didn't suck, the rifles worked perfectly in Gears 1 and 2. They buffed them not because they needed it but because Epic just seems to discourage players who use the gnasher. They slowed down the character movement speed in Gears 2 and added that stupid stopping power to make the game the way THEY wanted it instead of embracing what the fans wanted. Now we have Gears 3 and it's a rifle fest.

The Lancer performs well at ALL RANGES and that's why people don't see a reason to use the Gnasher as much as before.

[KC Anthony]

Don't mess with the rifle strength in the game, that is my overall stance. Yes they are powerful but so are the shotguns. The game is well balanced as it stands and needs to stay that way.

[KakashiiX2]

I'll say it again.

Take out the 10 bullets that it got added.
Remove the multiplier if you like!
And bring the recoil of gears 1 or 2.

NEWS FLASH:
IT'S STILL GOING TO BE A NUISANCE FOR MOST OF YOU.


Your problem is cover + stopping power. Those are there to stay.. because the game finally has dedicated servers, this weapon finally shows it's true colors.

[breaking kneecaps]

People wont stop whining till every gun is underpowered compared to the gnasher.....

This is a very true statement, unfortunately. But I think it's just only one segment from the collective group of primary Gnasher users who feels that way. I'm a Gnasher user who doesn't see a problem with the Lancer at all.

The vocal minority complaining about "guns being unbalanced" is clearly attempting to get an unbalanced game. Are we on that road to one gun domination so far? Only time will tell through Epic's future decisions.

I personally love the variety in strategies the game that the 5 selectable primary weapons provide. It's variety in selection AND variety in the style of opposition you face. That is so much more entertaining. Everything weapon should be capable of being kept "in check" by another weapon, when 'skilled players' play the game.

[breaking kneecaps]

All three rifles are monsters in different roles. Nothing can touch the Hammy at long range - it downs far faster than the others, even more now that they tweaked it. Nothing touches the Retro up close in the same way. The Lancer, meanwhile, sits between the two. It's more effective at shorter ranges than the Hammy, better at long range than the Retro, and it's specialty is suppressive fire.

A good player can excel with any of the three given they play to the strength of each weapon. The Lancer is, by nature, the most forgiving of players who don't do that.

Excellent breakdown. Very accurate assessment.

[breaking kneecaps]

If the lancer had a smaller clip it would be useless without an active. Anyone could rush at a lancer user and pull off a one shot right before they get downed. You shouldn't always need an active to down someone no matter what gun ur using. The gnasher pops heads or bodies without an active with one shot but I guess that's ok right?

I guess that's the point though right, nerf the lancer just enough to claim it doesn't make a big deal and then the Gnasher can dominate again. Smh.

The lancer is the weakest of the three assault rifles therefore it has th most ammo per clip its not rocket science. Stop trying to ruin the game with this bull.... please.

Another correct assessment based on what WILL happen if certain changes are made to the Lancer's clip. Once that clip is reduced, then Epic will need to go back to the drawing board with the Lancer. This is like a scale, where every slight .001% of difference can cause a myriad of chaos in the grand scheme of things. As it stands now, the Lancer is capable of doing what it was intended to do. The Gnasher would completely dominate the Lancer with very small changes made to the latter weapon's strengths.


Right now, the Lancer is the assault rifle resting in the middle between an rifle that beats it at Long Range (Hammerburst) and a rifle that beats in at Close Range (Retro Lancer). The Alpha Playlist removes the only other rifle that can keep a careless Gnasher rusher in check from the rotation (Retro is made a pickup). Now the complaining is all about "stopping power sucks" this and "the Lancer is overpowered" that. The Lancer is most effectively used by a TEAM who knows what they're doing. THAT is what Gears of War is supposed to be about -- whoever employs the best teamwork wins. What's even more appropriate is the fact that the Lancer (Gears of War's trademark weapon) is actually formidable for the first time in the hands of a skilled player. Spraying and praying is not effective and rushing a player lone wolf style works with a Gnasher vs the Lancer in that case.


I think Epic should be mindful of the pattern here. Please don't throttle this game into the trash can by making it one dimensional and focused on one gun's dominance.

[The Locust Horde]

I'll say it again.

Take out the 10 bullets that it got added.
Remove the multiplier if you like!
And bring the recoil of gears 1 or 2.

NEWS FLASH:
IT'S STILL GOING TO BE A NUISANCE FOR MOST OF YOU.


Your problem is cover + stopping power. Those are there to stay.. because the game finally has dedicated servers, this weapon finally shows it's true colors.

Removing the multiplier would make the gun useless .
It was added for a VERY good reason.

[Brendy Boy]

Just remove some ammo from the mag, less accurate hip fire, and a little less stopping power. It's easily the best starting weapon. I use it every game no matter what map.