Nov. 09, 2022 - PTS Update

Are all the changes on the previous thread in this PTS update?

Some feedback to the lockon rocket changes, it feels a bit much for the annihilator and default Air lockon launcher to 2 shot esfs. A dmg buff against esfs is very resonable, since this would also give flares some value but an increase of more than 50% is very questionable, 20%-30% more dmg against esf would be a more balanced approach imo.
The problem with flares not realy having a place is also do to the abundance of flak. changing flares to also disable flak detonations against you in exchachange for cuting the duration in half and maybe also slightly increasing the cooldown to like 30 sec would be a nice way of giving flares some value.
And more importantly why did the lancer get destroyed ? now needing 2 lvl 3 charges to kill an esf. the most effective way of using the lancer now is spam lvl 1 charges against ground vehicles within 150m, like realy thats how this weapon is suppost to be used ? the lancer requires a million times more skill to use than lockons or the striker and as it is on live the lancer is also rewarding enough in its dmg output against esfs for that matter making it a very satisfying weapon to use if you do manage to hit. with these changes the lancer will go from dealing about 2x the dmg with a lvl 3 charge within maximum dmg range than a the faction specific air lockon to only about 15% more while also dealing less dmg than a striker magazin. The skill required to hit lancer shots should also be rewarded enough to be worth trying over the easier lockon alternativ which is currently not the case on the pts. Also why is lancer even put in the lockon launcher category ? please also add a lockon/heat seeking mechanic to the lancer if you wanna put this weapon into this category thanks. jokes aside reducing the dmg drop would be a much better option to make the lancer more viable against armor and while this might hurt esfs, honestly if you do manage to hit a lancer at 400 meters against an esf you should be rewarded for that instead of punished by the harsh dmg fall off.
As a side note NSO specific rocket launcher when ? a general anti vehicle NEST launcher for air and ground heat seeking would be a cool addition for NSO heavys

Seems like they are. People still think the shotguns got nerfed too hard because of a vocal minority. Pump shotguns feel like they've lost way too much one-shot potential outside of kissing distance. One step beyond 5 meters and your TTK goes to crap. Also not sure why the auto shotguns have 112 damage minimums instead of, say, the medium capacity semi-autos. Autoshotguns are good enough for panic fire without a damage advantage.


I was just in a thread about the nerfs, and one idea that had a decent argument behind it was to remove flechettes and return shotguns to a higher damage per pellet. Slugs would inherit the damage range buffs of flechettes after removal at the expense of worse drag and/or gravity. Possibly also better rechamber speed for slugs or being able to have more slug ammo than normal ammo. Credit to Amador for this one.

I'm more of the opinion that we could revert shotguns to a 125 or 112 damage minimum and keep flechettes, but only if flechette ammunition gets a damage penalty akin to the current PTS shotgun damage tier. Maybe also a headshot damage reduction too, just to be safe.
It's that or bringing non-slug shotgun ammo into the Nanoweave Armor resistances, which... I dunno about that.



And to reiterate the point I made in that thread: the Jackhammer's burst fire nerf is harsh, but speaking for myself I'd be okay with it if it means at least one of the fire modes gets a piercing mechanic, similar to the Bishop scout rifle. That or a slug ammo option with absolutely ludicrous amounts of bloom per shot and terrible ballistics. That BDS 6x sight option for the Jackhammer must have so much dust on it after all these years.

LMG Adjustment Suggestion
Vanu Sovereignty

VX29 Polaris (LMG)

• Min damage from 112 to 125.
• Reload speed from 4.925 long / 3.925 short to 4.225 long / 3.225 short.

Flare VE6 (LMG)

• Min damage from 125 to 143.

Why is the CQC LMG getting a range buff? It makes no sense why it with it's poor starting accuracy is getting this increase to damage at range?
New Conglomerate
EM1 (LMG)

• Min damage from 112 to 125.

NC6 Gauss SAW (LMG)

• Min damage from 167 to 143.

NC6S Gauss SAW S (LMG)

• Min damage from 167 to 143.

NC6A GODSAW (LMG)

• Min damage from 167 to 143.

No bad idea, this is like taking away the Hipfire accuracy from the Orion/Betelgeuse, SAW's are the long range/high damage option of the NC.
Terran Republic
T16 Rhino (LMG)

• Min damage from 112 to 125.

For Flechette I just say have a flat -0.5 to the pellet spread would be a fair side-grade for the attachment. Also Auto's should just have a 100-67 damage range, and either nerf the NSO semi-auto damage to 91-63 or reduce the pellets to 6 from 7.

my idea to "balance" the Jackhammer in the least invasive way would be just to make it a 2 shot burst instead of a 3 shot burst, then it has a refire time and damage of a pump shotgun. Making it's burst mode an equivalent of any pump shotgun then it's own tier.

Here are my thoughts on Control the Conduit.

It CANNOT be used on tower bases, amp stations, or smaller bases. It just doesn't work!

Tower bases: They far too heavily favor the defenders. Attackers can't get into towers, defenders don't need to leave them, simple as that. On live play, attackers seldom go for the tower control points without overwhelming numbers, they take the outdoor points, then wait for the base to flip before pushing the defenders. In the CtC playstyle, there's no way for anything short of a zerg to win that. Even at the end of the playtest, at Matthersons, VS couldn't get in because the spawnroom broke. NC took the flag tower, TR took the capture tower, and NO ONE could actually score.

Amp stations: Same thing, favors defenders too much. A faction needs to get past the walls, take the capture bases, take out the gens, get INTO the main building, get the conduit OUT, and then do it again, SIX times. All while defenders have LOTS of places to get out and stop the one holding the flag, not to mention that pocket orbital strikes will break any footholds attackers will have. It's too much risk, time, and effort in a capture the flag type of playstyle, and not enough reward.

Small Bases: Better, but not ideal. Either the attackers overwhelm, the defenders do, or it turns into a stalemate. CAN work, but you have better options. SUCH AS...

Construction Bases: Bases like Spiral Oasis ROCK for this! Natural cover, OS can be used at benefit to both sides, factions need to work to build their footholds, and there's no shortage of ways for attacks to get at the flag! This would bring greater purpose to a LOT of construction bases that are otherwise just rolled over and abandoned! Main issue I'd see is people not wanting to build there, like now, so attacks go uncontested, but with a new playstyle to it, I can see more builders happily building at these bases for it.

Overall, it's a fun and interesting playstyle, but it needs to be tested in other bases first. I'ma say right now though: Please don't try this in bio labs. Or those towers at sea in Oshur. Defenders can just keep attackers on the landing pads, or attackers will keep defenders spawn camped. There is no 3rd option.

I'm really worried about what a -0.5 spread ammunition type would do with a smart-choked Baron shotgun. That thing already has ludicrous legs compared to other shotguns because it behaves more like a real shotgun than the others. The Jackhammer idea I can get behind, though its mag size is based around the three round burst so that would need tweaking too.

I've been saying for a while now: there needs to be a different way to get into the Trident facilities. I'd kill for some grav lifts from the seafloor/surface... oh, and grav lifts to either end of the tall bridges on Oshur, like the one at Mirror Bay Checkpoint, or the ones between the islands north of Pommel Gardens. Trying to get back into the fight after falling from one of those is only really feasible by hitting the U key and waiting fifteen seconds. Having a way back up might even encourage some underwater skirmishing. Plop some cover and grav lifts down there, I beg you.


Back to the conduit capture ideas. Just going by the list of conduit-based facilities we got in the last patch notes, it seems like they're mostly going for mid-size bases to convert to this system. Baldur Amp Station and J908 seem like the major exceptions to this in terms of size. I can see J908 and The Traverse being a fun one for this because they have definite routes for running the "flag." Baldur might be a bit too labyrinthine, unless there's some kind of marker that shows where the conduit carrier is for the defenders.

Elli tower is probably too small and exposed for this capture type. Forest Pass might be better.

I wish we had good player numbers on the PTS to actually test this, but... IDK, I guess progression is more important than trying out all the directive weapons and exotic loadouts for free. Maybe there should be a reward or some other incentive for main accounts for playing on the test server.

my ping on PTS is A S S ... i can´t test scrap on it without getting a slideshow

All the more reason to toss a 12 hour XP booster or something to the folks who spend time on it.

Regarding the SAWs, I feel like one of the issues they had was that you could 3-tap someone in the head at any range. That's a potential 33 kills per reload. Couple that with a 6x scope and you have a very dumb but surprisingly effective meme build. (seriously, I've gotten about 3 kills at 250 meters with the compensator + foregrip + 6x + HVA loadout. It's stupid but it sort of works)

I think some alternatives to the current nerf would be either to

1. Reduce the headshot multiplier to keep a 6-shot bodyshot model at long distance but discourage people from using it as a high-capacity scout rifle. Something like 1.8x or 1.75x should be enough to get it to the point where it's usually a 4 shot kill for headshots only. 1.8x of 167 would still give a 300 damage headshot, so infiltrators would need auxiliary shield if they intend to stand still and politely receive three headshots and live.
2. Change the proposed drop-off to a 200-150dmg model. Same effect as above, but now it's a 7 shot bodyshot to all classes except infiltrator.

Interior Lighting: there is a minor issue with this and shadows as the conflicting systems produce a strobing effect if the setting is changed whil in game mode. i request the same treatment for resetting cliant for it to take effect to change this setting or a investagation into the strobing effect.