Nerfside C75 Viper. Does it really need Nerfing

In the next patch we have yet another round of Nerfs, shocking surprise I know..

The Mana Turret, I think most would agree that certainly needed addressing, many months to late, but at last.

But once again and this is what's driving me away from PS2 and why I have cancelled my membership now, is the constant dumbing down of the game with things that really are not that big a deal.

C75 Viper, how many threads have there been that this is so OP, a few im sure but of all the topics this forum talk about, certainly recently, the Viper has not been a topic of debate and why would it?

Yes its a decent farming tool, but its not like wearing flack or moving left or right cant counter it and lets take in mind, its a TANK, it should have an advantage over infantry but that said, its easy to counter with a few rockets, certainly C4 and Mana turrets but dosnt have the armour that tanks have, so its cant sit there and pound away all day.
Reducing the damage or splash on these will, I believe create another imbalance in the game and render another weapon pointless.

Its not the greatest tank killer is it. I have never seen a Vanguard run away from a Viper, infact I have never seen a tank run away from a lightening, so its not a concern on that front is it. As for sunny's, well they can finish of a lightening with the right set up and even decent harassers will get the lightening running.

I cant see any logic in this and more so, you spend a load of certs upgrading the lightening for it to be negated for no reason and to be worthless imho. This game is really becoming a mixture of codside and battleside mixed into one, but when you add crap ingredients into a cooking pot, that's what you get in return.

So a good move or not?

Its is just too effective against armor. 1 clip does way too much damage to mbt.
Thats the op part of it. The infantry farming part is fine. Lightnings are made to skill infantry and mbt and made to kill lightnings.

I see where your going, but I really don't see the outcome. It does some damage to tanks, but you would have to be close up for all the rockets to hit, which would be kinda stupid as you would be outgunned in most cases.

When you've no reason to take HE on the lightning because the Viper does better far than HE with stronger AV capability its time to admit the Viper is a bit too good at everything.

Being versatile is not a reason to nerf something, that's why I think this game is starting to go down hill. Everything is getting to specific which then can create an imbalance or the perception of a OP product or class.

HEAT with full certed reload speed is more efficient against tank, so nerf will be mistake, I think.

My question is.. what are the official patch notes on the viper being? My fear is that blast radius will drop, damage versus all armor will drop, damage to flak armor on all levels will drop and pretty much it will become like the striker...

And for kicks, they'll nerf its "effectiveness" against all types of air...

I will agree with you, I am tired of everything getting nerfed because the many use it, or because it's new and therefore a lot of people use it, and therefore its stats get skewed and it gets nerfed thinking it's OP. Personally, I think there should be a few weapons that are OP as a top tier item. Not one that can be unlocked by the current means though.

I hope with the new ship that comes out that they don't nerf it in to the ground. i can see giving passengers a 180 degree view, but then that will be too OP so it will get dropped to 120-160, then its armor will get nerfed, then MAXes won't be allowed in the rumble seats, then lockons will not work...

Yes it does.

I started playing ~1 year ago and found the viper crappy as compared to Python HE/HEAT. After PU02 buff, I tried it and it was amazing. I put a thermal on it and started playing it intensively.
Results:
1. 17hrs to Auraxium it -> 68 KPH & 11 VKHP.
2. KDR of 22.
3. You can take air quite easily (I got a few libs from quite far away) and if you face rookies in a MBT you wreck them by turning around.

And I'm not a top player or anything. This thing has way too much pros and not enough cons. If you're not convinced just put a thermal on it and let the slaughter begin.

On a suggestion point of view, the problem IMO with the Viper as compared to HE/HEAT equivalents is that a direct hit kills, whatever the target's armor. Knowing this, if you're used to kill infantry with direct hits rather than using the splash you kill 2-3 infantry per clip -> huge KPH and huge ammo pool -> huge farming machine.

Other point: with a HE if you face another lightning/MBT you're dead most of the time. With the viper you can take them down most of the time without too much difficulties.

A fullauto tank gun that can OHK infantry and at the same time damage tanks and aircraft is pretty OP when I think about it.

Does it need a nerf? Well did it need its buff?

Remember, it recieved a pretty crazy BUFF recently. Is it really 'Nerfing' when you adjust down a buff nobody asked for and that is totally unnecessary?

Why not just tone it down to about where it actually, you know...where it was in the beginning? It was crazy-good back then also.

People always complain when something is 'nerfed' but forget that sometimes its just about finetuning/adjusting around its original performance

Thermal only works at a close range, which is easy to counter with rockets, so i see that as a fair exchange. If the air ducks so low they are at risk of this but that does not make the Viper OP, in fact you could argue without it AIR would then gain another advantage? That said, taking down AIR with a viper is not easy at all.

Well you could argue that's one of my main gripes with SOE. They make the most pointless changes ( buff or nerf ) to the game and dont deal with the main ones we talk about.

Indeed, that a point well made.

The problem is, in the days of old it was vastly inferior to HE and even HEAT for farming. But since soe has already nerfed every other type of gun, viper now stands out as overpowered. In fact, it remained roughly the same since like what, release? It's just now we have nerfed AV infantry weapons, all other tank weapons are nerfed as well and we have more people with spare certs willing to fully cert into a weapon like this, which does in fact make a difference.

You make a good and valid point and the point i made in the first post. The game is getting nerfed to hell and it dosnt help the game, it creates another imbalance. I do feel this would be the case if the viper gets nerfed.

Well I enjoyed using it.
I don't tank alot.
It was nice to not have to worry about a gunner but I wasn't very good with it 1v1 most of the time.
Was good to get somewhere fast while looking kool and killing a few things before I had to jet.
I don't see a problem with it as each faction has one right?
But oh well.
OP? I haven't felt like it was an issue. They kill me cuz im usually on foot.
Ill play the game till it isn't fun anymore and then ill move on like every other game I have played.

The C75 on a MBT would be overpowered, but on a lightning its very beatable.

A Viper lightning's AI potential is the equivalent of a lockdown Prowler that can move and is accessible to every BR1.

That is why it is too strong. The armor damage is fine.

Good point.

So... What should it be then?

If you nerf the damage to armor, it still will be better than HE.
If you nerf the damage to infantry, HE and HEAT will become more useful again
If you nerf both types of damage, it will be another squirtgun nobody likes

Might as well remove it from the game. Make HEAT the default and close the case