There was a thread about an hour back about everyone getting shotguns that, I guess, got deleted. Not to break forum policy by bringing up a forbidden topic (I'm guessing it got closed for trolling, not forum-topic violations) but I did want to not let the time I spent doing this go to waste: This is (except for stock weapons where I just used offhands due to new-player drag) the average Score/Hr and gap between Kills/Hr and Deaths/Hr. Code: Name Faction Score/HR K/D Diff AF-23 Grinder 6144 - 14.18 AF-41 Hacksaw 5640 - 13.18 NCM1 Scattercannon 5027 - 13.35 AF-34 Mattock 4880 - 11.04 NC Average 5423 - 12.94 MRC3 Mercy 5026 - 10.84 M1 Heavy Cycler 4379 - 9.24 M6 Onslaught 4297 - 8.76 M2 Mutilator 4354 - 7.84 TR Average 4514 - 9.17 Cosmos VM3 5196 - 12.32 Blueshift VM5 5016 - 11.17 Quasar VM1 4752 - 11.67 Nebula VM20 4554 - 11.24 VS Average 4880 - 11.6 Now, this doesn't mean I want everyone to get shotguns but I do think it does lead to a discussion about bringing shotguns into line with the other two empires. And I apologize for the formatting. It ate my excel copy. based on https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AmUavphHXmIxdFhHUzJfN1VYalRnWS0xMnBUdTJpM1E&gid=66
Interesting reading. Grinder being top shows the magazine size is biggest factor in NC MAXes. That was the nerf that hit hardest. With K5 I'm totally confident against a NC MAX and can't remember the last time I died to one, actually - they need to reload before they can kill you. However NC having more "effective" weapons is because they are ONLY likely to be pulled in close quarters fights where enemies are more plentiful. I found in interesting the "terrible" VS MAX has higher kdr and sph than TR ones.
The K/D isn't the ratio, it's the gap between kills and deaths. My excel wizardry is way weak but I got off my butt and googled how-to. Average K/D Grinder 3.9 Mattock 2.5 Hacksaw 3.2 Scat 3.2 Blueshift 2.7 Cosmos 3.0 Nebula 2.8 Quasar 2.9 Cycler 2.5 Mutilator 2.2 Onslaught 2.2 Mercy 2.9 So, Grinder (+ammo) 3.9 vs Cosmos (+ammo) 3.0 vs Mercy (+accuracy) 2.9. 1/3rd advantage in favor of the Grinder. Now, if you remove it from the numbers, that drops to 3.2 which is a much smaller (9%) and, imo, a fully acceptable gap considering it has nearly no range play while the Cosmos and Mercy actually mean something when moving between buildings or dealing with someone in a tree.
I don't suppose there is anyway to see how often each faction pulls Max Units? I recognize how deadly NC max units can be in the right situations, but personally I'd gladly trade or open the usage of the shotgun max weapons from the NC to the other factions in order to have access to weapons like the Onslaughts/Mercy etc.
Please, tell me how this is balanced. At long range - TR MAX wins outright every time. At short range - TR MAX wins with about 10% HP, so long as they have KA5.
"bringing shotguns into line" - In other words, you want to nerf them even further. Did you ever consider that the high KDR is due to the fact that NC MAX's are pretty much exclusively pulled inside biolab or tower fights with supporting engineers close by?
With the nebula buff, I got WORSE with the nebulas. The accuracy increase is what screwed me over lol.
Er they are...I see them all the time outside of biolabs, heck I see squads of TR and VS infantry working with Max Units with AI weapons all the time, I'm not saying there are none with AA and AV weapons however I always expect to find AI Maxes from TR out in the open, only NC Max units out in the open like that is when they are providing AA and AV.
If by this you mean increasing the general usefulness/range of the shotguns and reducing CQC burst effectiveness, then I've always been on board. However, if you mean shoving the NC MAX even further back into it's niche while retaining it's power until it is no longer fun or useful but still powerful enough to generate complaints... I shouldn't need to finish this sentence.
With the shinyness having worn off of the Ravens, the only times I see NC MAXes outside of Towers and Biolabs is when a new player has pulled one because he/she thinks they'll be a One Man Army, or if its a Double Burster Max. I see TR MAXes chaingunning and Fracturing outdoors the most, followed by VS MAXes shooting those balls of hurt. Besides, when Flamethrowers come out the TR and VS will have a viable CQC option I'd imagine, so there won't be much need to bring the situational Scatter guns "in line". These threads will be replaced by "Give the NC a viable midrange AI weapon, or release an NS Railgun" threads. Edit: As a note, I forgot the relevant point which I was going to make. Sorry.
NC Maxes have the lowest SPM of all the MAXes now, they do not need any further nerfs. The fact that the grinder has a higher K is pretty self explanatory. Those 4 extra rounds means you are going to get one extra kill before dieing while you reload for 4.5 seconds. Welcome to the life of a NC MAX.
As I've already stated, NC MAX won't win a fight against a Kinetic Armor 5 TR MAX because the NC MAX will run out of ammo and be killed whilst reloading. Ridiculous. YES! THEY ARE! They fight alongside regular infantry EVERY FRICKEN DAY on Briggs. If you're on a server with terrible players who don't know how to use a MAX then that's your problem. In any given infantry push, ANYWHERE, including open fields, you will have practically EVERY class fighting alongside each other when it comes to the VS and TR. As for NC, you won't see a MAX outside a biolab unless its equipped with either Bursters or Ravens. Falcons are too damn slow to be effective at range, and fire to slow to be effective against infantry. And even our 'long range' shotguns deliver pathetic damage and have stupidly slow projectile speed. TR have the 'Zero Cone of Fire LOL FIREWORKS' Fractures which basically means ADSing will lose you 2/3 of your health instantly and Vanu have the most accurate AI weapons in the game - one of which does a flat 167 damage.
The only time I pull my ScatMAX is during Biolab fights or in towers. I get an insane K/D and KPM because I know how to play my MAX. It also has two shotguns. Shotguns are good in close fights. Shotguns suck in medium to long range fights. NC should be the only faction to have shotgun MAXs. Don't like it? Either quit or switch to NC.
Poor TR. The Mercy nerf and no other viable alternatives coupled with VS buffs have left them in the dog house. Meanwhile, shotguns rule for eva!
Relax bro's, SOE has your back. NC MAX's can currently reload while their riot shield is up on test. 99% sure it's going to go live like this and the problem will be mostly solved. Unload+Throw up shield while reloading=Profit. You'll be back to CQC god status in no time.
Don't think the shield is going to be nearly as good as you think in CQC. It will indeed by pretty good at mid range.
