Against a rancor (and other creatures with a Wound Threshold much higher than the Strain Threshold) is simply better to use weapons set to Stun instead of weapons set to Kill.

You can't even "weaken" him with physical damage, since the "kill damage" won't stack with the "strain damage".

This feels... strange to me.

Any thoughts?

This makes sense, but you can also try to look at it from the player's perspective.

Most players won't actually KNOW the stats that an enemy has (depending on the GM of course). In other words, they may not realize that it seems more feasible to try and "knockout" a Rancor by stunning than trying to slay it.

With that said, I suppose it does make sense to me - I have a better chance at knocking a Rancor out and trying to get away than actually killing it!

Stun is easier to recover than wounds through advantages. Weapons set to stun are still subject to soak. So in the end I think it equals out.

Plus:

“When weapons with a stun setting are used to deal stun damage, their range changes to short and cannot be increased.”

Plus:

“When weapons with a stun setting are used to deal stun damage, their range changes to short and cannot be increased.”

But everyone knows that's the best range to fight Rancors at. That way you can see them really well.

Yes, you can regain Strain if you continue to fight. We could say that (if you are very lucky) you will regain 3 Strain per round. At this rate a rancor would have to fight for at least 8 more rounds to "fill the gap" (between his Thresholds).

It doesn't sound very equal.

Additionally, the fact that a wounded rancor won't be brought down more quickly with stun weapons is another thing that doesn't sound right to me...

The same is true (even worse) in starship fights. Here the "stun" (ion) damage isn't restricted to Short range and all the ships have a much lower Strain Threshold than Wound Threshold. Yes, strain damage can be repaired quickly even after the Strain Threshold has been exceeded, but still it's very easy to keep even a large ship disabled.

And it doesn't make much sense mount both Ion damage weapons and Physical damage weapons on the same (silhouette 1-4) ship, since their damage won't stack.

It seems to me it's much more effective concentrate on weapons with the same damage type.

How often do you think this is going to come up in regards to blasters? You have to be at short range just to do, if you are lucky, a couple points of strain. Strain which, in all likelihood, can be recovered while the rancor is ripping you limb from limb. Unless you and 3 or 4 others are all standing at short range with blaster rifles set to stun, and you all get lucky with your hits, then you can bring him down.

And first you have an issue because a rancor can be brought down with a weapon set to stun easier than kill, but you think a wounded rancor should be easier to bring down using stun? What's up?

How often do you think this is going to come up in regards to blasters? You have to be at short range just to do, if you are lucky, a couple points of strain. Strain which, in all likelihood, can be recovered while the rancor is ripping you limb from limb. Unless you and 3 or 4 others are all standing at short range with blaster rifles set to stun, and you all get lucky with your hits, then you can bring him down.

And first you have an issue because a rancor can be brought down with a weapon set to stun easier than kill, but you think a wounded rancor should be easier to bring down using stun? What's up?

The situation was exactly what you described. Five characters armed with blaster rifles (modded with +2 damage) fell in a pit with a rancor. The rancor had just the time to start chewing one of them when (at the second volley of stun) he dropped to the ground. If they had only "kill" weapons they would all be dead.

Surely not a "normal" situation, but it can happen.

I think that a wounded creature should be more susceptible to beign incapacitated. Stll in the above example, if the rancor had already sustained 15 wounds, it wouldn't have mattered.

My concern is that since "kill" and "stun" damage don't stack, you can't expect to wound someone to "soften him" and then drop him with stun damage. You go with "kill" or "stun", but never both.

If Strain and Wounds stacked toward bringing someone down, no one would ever voluntarily suffer strain...

A PC stands at 10 wounds of 12, but otherwise has a healthy pile of strain left to work with.

I would much rather that player be able to do stuff like suffer 2 strain to activate a talent or force ability or...something else that contributes to their continued health and the encounter than shutting them down to one manuever and one action each round out of fear of collapse.

The same is true (even worse) in starship fights. Here the "stun" (ion) damage isn't restricted to Short range and all the ships have a much lower Strain Threshold than Wound Threshold. Yes, strain damage can be repaired quickly even after the Strain Threshold has been exceeded, but still it's very easy to keep even a large ship disabled.

And it doesn't make much sense mount both Ion damage weapons and Physical damage weapons on the same (silhouette 1-4) ship, since their damage won't stack.

It seems to me it's much more effective concentrate on weapons with the same damage type.

This actually seems to be the bigger issue to me, or at least the one that will come up more often. I wonder if putting Slow-Firing 1 on ion cannons would have been a way to lessen this issue?

Yes, all the ships that mount both type of weapons seems to have a "waste of resources" (expecially the silhouette 1-4 that have no space to waste).