Played LA For 2 Hours: Already Know Why It's Unpopular

Discussion in 'Light Assault' started by Alarox, May 13, 2013.

  1. Alarox

    Yeah, but if we're talking about pure popularity then we need to take into account % of players using it, and % of time all players are using it. That statistic combines both in a weird way, so it would be better for a split %.
  2. Khyrin

    Pretty much this, im not a LA player, it's my least played class, but per large fight you see maybe 6-10 LAs out of the 50 Heavies und 20 Engies und 10 medics. And driving a Vanguard and getting blown up out of the nowhere while you focus on other armor or HAs you often don't have the additional sensory capacity to check the sky for small hovering blibs that can instakill you^^

    Also it's annoying to run out of the spawnroom of a tower and get greeted by a shotgun to the face.
    If they where more of you i would expect more of you sitting in the corners one usually doesn't triple check for enemies.
  3. Hagestol

    Thats what you have a gunner for. And you can't really complain about a non-stealthing class managing to get to your tanks position alive, throw slow C4 at you and detonate before you can react.

    Is your theory that LA are overpowered but underplayed, as in they'd be competely overpowered and overwhelming if more people played them? I'd say that is a paradox, especially considering the FOTM : POWER rule all MMOs live by.

    As for the shotgun: I'm an avid fan of having all pumps removed.
  4. Ripshaft

    I cant say for certain, but you seem to be judging their effectiveness by simply "how well they move forward" (for lack of better term) in general combat.... if you're thinking that way, then yes, ha and engineer hands down win there, it would be absurd to argue that much.

    But ultimately you dont just have to move forward, you can move around, you can avoid, you can go over, under... whatever it takes to get to your objective. Ultimately if your objective is something *other* than simply moving forward and dealing with any threat that can present itself, then the other classes suddenly gain a hell of alot more appeal. If I want to sabotage a gen in a tech plant, and we've got a sundy a bit out from the wall, who's a better pick; the heavy or engie that will have to fight their way through the main enemy forces via the entry points, or the la who can just hop the wall.... once those shields are down am I going to want to switch to heavy to assault the main vehicle bay or am I going to fly up the building walls and come in behind them on the point? The bad players will always push the most direct path and provide you a distraction, if you're a skilled player you'll almost always choose the path less travelled, which a LA is the master of. In situations where this doesn't apply, then you've always got the other classes.
  5. RogueComet

    LOL yeah I figured someone would see if the % adds up. I took the average across all 3 empires for each of those numbers, hence the "about." Not much I can do about that other than to say each empire separately which I didn't feel like doing. Still, definitely shows that it is NOT a popular class to play.

    IMO it also shows that they are not the least bit OP. We all know people in games will generally gravitate towrads the OP choices, simply because they are easier. Overall sure there may be a few who choose the underdogs, but overall it is fact that the majority of the people will choose to play what is easier for them, not LA.
  6. Posse

    Just telling you why it doesn't add 100% :p
  7. Alarox

    Oh, my bad.
  8. Hagestol


    Well, if that were true then we'd score higher with our guns as it is our main way of getting xp (C4 is fun and gives large numbers, but only once pr resupply so not really that often.

    Score BR 70-80:

    Default LMG: 9800 - 10200 score/hr
    Best Carb: 7000-7100 score/hr

    Okay, not that. How about kills/hr? Surely we must excel there:
    LMG: 31-32
    Carbs: 14-15

    Okay, not kills or score/hour. What are we best at?

    How about class score/hour?
    HA: 16800-17500
    LA: 15800 - 16700

    Given, the class score/hour is including C4 and launchers. We've all heard C4 is OP and launchers aren't. But why do we consistently underperform compared to HA?




    To support his argument: We don't have utility other than the jetpack (if you count C4 as utility, then what is launcher + C4?). And the jetpack isn't bringing in the score that people seem to think it brings in.

    As for a serious answer: I'd rather have two engineers use AV turret than send two LA out against a protected sundy during an assault. The sundy kill is most likely suicide, and add to that both LA has to survive now for it to have any chance at being destroyed.
  9. Ripshaft

    uhh... I think you might have severely missed my point... I'm saying there's MORE to the game that just shooting people and bombing things... the reason we shoot and bomb stuff is because that stuff is standing in the way of the objective. The LA is often adept at achieving this objective by bypassing a large portion of the resistance. My argument supports what you're saying, I very clearly said so in my post.

    "Performance" is how well you perform at whatever it is you're trying to perform. If you're not trying to take objectives, then sure HA or engie is the way to go, if you're actually trying to perform the intended game tasks of conquest then... well you can read my previous post again I think I made it quite clear. SPM, K/D, and whatever other metric you can pull dont accurately measure if you're worth a damn.
  10. Hagestol

    Every objective in this game yields kills and additional experience. IF our class was as effective as you make it out to be we'd have the same score, just a lower kill count and higher cap count. We're low in all departments. Thats my point.

    As for yours: Being worth a damn is based on the player behind the keyboard. The LA class is a poor investment given the yield of other classes when it comes to objectives AND killing power. That has to change. Metrics are perfectly valid when evaluating if a class is usable or not. A better skillset will give better results, double so if you're worth a damn.
  11. iller

    I never implied you did 'bad' with it. And I've never said that HA or Eng are "OP" either. So there's no need to get defensive.
    All I've said all along is that they're TOO versatile. HA/Eng are the ground versions of the ESF. Their hardcounters are far and few between and when players of said class actually run up against something they can't just Rambo their way through (usually a group of players heavily coordinated together with softcounters that turn into a Hard-counter when used in groups)... they just call THAT stuff "OP".

    I'm not saying the game needs to be Rock Paper Scissors. All I'm saying is that us lighter classes are used to less utility and versatility. We accept our limitations, especially when we're facing 2 or more people at a time soft-countering our vulnerabilities.


    NOR, am I condoning any direct nerfs to the firepower of HA / or ENG. I want to be clear about that. The only changes I've ever suggested for either one, is that ENG's repair 3x slower when ADADAD'ing, and HA's just get a larger Hitbox in general. That would immediately allow new L.A. players more niches to fill, especially those L.A. players who want to take advantage of their flanking & Sniping potential...
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  12. Cincara

    I admit I mistook this thread for QQ in my previous posts and not the constructive conversation it is or can be.

    I dont know if i like the idea of removing utility from other classes to balance this one. Adding to the LA class seems like the way to go but as with the LA thread in the roadmap, I dont have any good ideas.

    The jump pad is interesting but it almost removes my personal usefulness. I would drop my pad, then go switch to HA since the building / wall in my way has a ladder now. And thats not going to improve popularity of the class, it may even reduce it. Since now I just need one LA to get my team into a sneak attack position.

    Bad idea 1: Let them carry two utilities, or the utilities of another class. I know personally when I play LA I end up in places cut off from the main force and either out of ammo or low on HP after multiple encounters. So maybe let them carry C4 and a medkit or a medkit and the ammo pack like an engi. How about a remote sensor thing like the one infiltrators have except more hand deployable and less launcher.
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  13. Cincara

    I guess the question is this: in what way do we want LA to be used?

    My previous suggestion compliments solo play, turning the LA into a one man behind enemy lines threat. Thats how I play the class, maybe there is another way? I just feel like that style takes most advantage of my mobility and yields the highest rewards. Is the LA a lone wolf class by design? How can you make a "light and highly mobile" class work in the context of squad combat without putting them on the roof to shoot down at enemy positions?
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  14. Cincara

    Bad idea 2: (this one is kinda crazy and seems like it could be OP) Provide some method by which i can use my jetpack to dash forward instead of using it for flight. Give the action a cool down, and have it drain a set amount of jetpack fuel. It adds a different kind of mobility to the class. Gives us more use in outdoor engagements since flying up when in a field just makes you a big elevated target.
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  15. Kronic

    What I normally do when that happens is this: get on the ledge on the tower that's on the opposite side of the A point, throw a flashbang onto the area just where the defenders camp (just by the stairs that lead up to the 3rd floor). Wait until the flashbang is about a second away from detonation to jump over the railing thing and run towards the guys. If you place the flashbang right, it'll detonate and everybody in that area will be blinded perfectly for you to drop C4 on their faces (remember there are usually MAXes camped there). Nearly always get at least 5 kills if I do that right :). There are loads of other places you can this too, just gotta use you imagination.
  16. Kronic

    LA is definately niche, but it's a niche we LA love (considering a lot of us here play mainly LA). If we do get more utility, I just hope what roles we fill currently aren't taken away. SOE can be funny sometimes...
  17. Ghoest

    You have failed at using words.
  18. BadLlama

    Oh yeah? Care to elaborate? Ghoest.
  19. Dalzaar¤

    I would like to say as a tank driver and MAX user there is nothing I hate more than LA because they are the only ones that pose an instant kill threat as such I try to keep a long distance between myself and any C-4 tossing LA....and I take special delight when I shoot them down while they are in the air(with said C-4 in hand).

    LA is fun to play but it demands that you know how to "read" the enviroment and the flow of battle so you know when and where to strike.
  20. jak

    I play mainly LA because it's the most fun class in the world to me. I'm not as effective at killing as HA or MAX. I can't heal anyone else or give them ammo. I can't even spot enemies without giving up my position, which counters the entire purpose of me finding a place where I'm not in obvious view. But, I can usually get behind enemy lines and blow up their sunderers or rack up a few cheap kills.

    Regarding squad abilities, LA offers few. Sunderer hunting is great for squads as you can generally find a path to get to the enemy's sunderer, but it's often a suicide run that costs you resources, time and KDR while accomplishing little. I can find a perch and observe the enemy movements, but that's not really fun in a FPS.

    In my view, LA utility should be providing my squad with a way to get to behind the enemy. If anyone played PS1, they would remember a router - maybe a modified form of this that only your squad could use - basically a teleporter. That's really the only utility I can think of that provides a squad oriented reason for LAs to be needed on the battlefield over other classes...