TR chaingun is only 400rpm at 143 dmg 2 guns equal 800rpm, same dps as some carbines, but not even close to the accuracy. Scatmax have dps of 2 shotguns at the same time. You do the math.
The NC MAX is terri-bad. I literally was 25m away from one, and he dumped an entire mag into me while I fired at him with my LMG. Result: Me at full health. NC MAX at 65%. He then ran away. If it was a TR MAX I would've been dead on the spot. The NC MAX desperately needs a LARGE buff.
It's a yes and no, VS and TR maxes are good for Solo play and most ranges the NC max is good for teamplay and CQC. Oh and the Ravens are freaking amazing. ^_^
I give a challenge to all TR and VS players. I challenge you to use the NC Max in ALL situations where you can use a TR and VS max and also show the areas where the NC max shotguns would be effective. NC max is good in a few situations. A TR and VS Max is good in every situation that a heavy assault would be useful in. The only saving grace AI weapon for the NC max is the Ravens and they are AV weapons, which are not that great versus vehicles. I just hope they come out with a mid-range NS max weapon so the NC can have something to use other than our lack-luster shotguns.
Most NC players that I know prefer charge over Shield since it lets you get close up with shotguns or the ability to run away. Aegis shield may look scary coming at you but honestly throw C4 at its path and wait for it to cross or it will undo the shield and you can dps it down. Also the Shield doesn't even cover the whole front only most of it. Also the side are so exposed with the shield that using it outside of a hallway is dumb.
Funny thing, during Biolabs fights, I have to nearly empty both clips (extended clips btw) on my Scattercannons if I want to kill someone further than 10m, which believe it or not happens a lot in a Biolab. Try hitting those LAs who are shooting you from the roofs, a TR or VS MAX would have no problem swatting them down, while I empty 20 rounds at one and still don't kill him. I don't know of any place where all the fighting happens between 0-10m distance, but according to people like you that's 99% of the fighting in the game since you are still complaining about NC Maxes after two nerfs. Oh what's this "Maxes by nature are not used at long ranges by any faction?" have you been playing with your eyes closed for the last month? have you not seen all these ZOE Maxes running around all over the place? I take pretty heavy fire from them at over 30m distance, so much that if I don't break off and get out of LoS I die. I have never eeeeeever, seen an NC Max do that with AI weapons. They went overboard with this shotgun nerf, and gave us nothing as alternative to use but this crappy shield you apparently think is good but have obviously never used in a combat situation.
And if you did the Math, the TTK difference would be insubstantial, while the situational differences are massive.
I have - and when I use my TR/VS MAX, I feel naked without it. Just finished an alert, was on one of the towers of an Amp Station. Support killed around me, I went to the top of the tower chased by an LA and a ZOE MAX. LA flies up while I'm in a reload, throws a brick of C4, up goes my shield. Take a few bars of damage. Get a shot into him, he throws another brick of C4, up goes my shield. Take a few bars of damage and he takes down the ZOE MAX. I start laughing my *** off. Couple of his squad comes to join him and I get knocked over. I wish I finished that LA off so I knew who it was to laugh at him over chat. Shield has been invaluable and much prefer it over charge most of the time. Even just for the ability to absorb lots of damage while I reload in a crowded area and provide a bullet sponge to support behind me. Sure, it has some bugs and I'd prefer that it cover more but I'd never swap back to charge, ever.
General consensus of who? The misinformed, complainers, noobs? Performance wise, NC max is averaging 2nd highest KDR amongst the maxes. The only drawback you cannot escape is ammo capacity before reload and overall capacity, permanently relegating you to dependency on engineer/terminals/sundies and Aegis to shield those exceedingly long reload times. This is partially why Dual Grinders have gained in popularity.
The shield is completely useless. Maybe give them a machine gun option, a slow firing one with good damage to keep the NC trait?
Luckly I rarely play with max. I spend all the infantry resources on C4 and grenades. Some MAXs are so stupid that they keep following you. Just throw a C4 on the ground and wait for him to get close to it if he's following you.
Compared to my VS and TR Maxes I play my NC Max very seldom with the AI weapons. The shotguns reduce my range. That's why I play the NC Max with dual Raven mostly - for me the best long range Max "AI" weapon in the game. So my NC Max is my best Max at long range and in very short range (Scats). In Midrange the VS and TR Maxes are better for me (comparable).
You quote the fact that the NC max has a high KDR without even understanding the stats. The NC Max should have the highest KDR since it is only used in certain situations. TR and VS maxes should have lower KDR since it is useful in more situations. I will never pull my max unless I am holding a point in a building that I can't get C4ed by a light assault. Think about the KDR for a minute and you will realize that it has nothing to do with the overall performance of the NC max.
This would indicate that the NC max is the worst. The NC max is middle of the road in terms of score yet far less versatile than TR and VS counterparts. To compensate for the NC max's niche role, it would require the highest score for it to be balanced, rather than being balanced against the scores of maxes that are much more useful in a variety of situations. Imagine an RPG where a sword and a bow do they same amount of damage and attack at the same rate. Why would anyone pick the close range option? That's essentially the problem with the NC max. In listening to complainers, they balanced the NC max's short range against VS and TR longer range without then compensating the NC max with additional versatility or mobility. This is compounded by an indirect nerf with the existence of the aegis shield, which is the only ability that doesn't give additional offensive ability, movement, or almost any practical use in general. It's a defensive item that renders you slow and defenseless, its sacrifices are too extreme for what little benefit you get, a running theme with the NC max. It always sacrifices too much for seemingly no benefit. Average damage for no range, long reload for small clip size, slow rate of fire for bad spread, the NC max receives disadvantages stacked upon more disadvantages, all for the ability to kill infantry at very close range .3 seconds faster than VS and TR counterparts.
