The least versatile, most hated class/vehicle in the game. The only addons for weapons we can get are EX mag. We have 1 AA option, 2 AV and 4 (5?) slightly different variants of the same AI. Only 2 viable suit slots, 1 viable ability for most (Charge, the rest are fun but nowhere near as useful). What is the max? What is its purpose? On a smaller scale it's just a bigger, stronger version of infantry that can be pulled anywhere, but is also quite vulnerable to its counters, especially alone. As single max in a group of infantry, it can give them a a good anchor for defense or speartip for assault, which is where things are relatively balanced. But more often they are only used for MAX crashes by the majority and otherwise sit and gather dust, MAX crashes themselves are extremely difficult to counter aside from another max crash, and generally not very fun to fight against.
What I would love to see: Vision modes- So we have a powered exosuit capable of carrying a freaking rocket launcher on both arms, but the best we can put on the head is a pair of plastic goggles I guess. Dafauq. You're a dude in a giant robot. You should feel like robocop, the terminator. A sphess marine. Being able to swap through vision modes unlike a normal human and more like a vehicle would drive this home. Thermals, motion detector, a zoom. Etc Just slap it to secondary weapon function and allow you to add a vision mode to each weapon (linked to your helmet) bam, feel like a badass, using mechanics already in the game. More diverse weapon options- Something other than shotguns for NC FFS. Lockon AA like coyoties? What would you TR and VS guys like to see for your AI? Improved ES abilities, one more universal ability- Running with AEGIS and blocking explosives, maybe higher jumping strafing AND sprinting with Zealot mode, Lockdown does...something....better...idk. Things carl, things. Another universal ability we might all enjoy. What about a high powered jump? Goomba stomp some fools? And no, it's not stepping on the LA's toes. They can get into all kinds of places unnoticed, the max could jump ONCE and be quite easily noticed as a giant flying robot. More defined role- The trickiest of the bunch. You throw on a resource cost and a timer and it's suddenly a vehicle. But you make it able to walk indoors and vulnerable to infantry small arms and it's infantry. Maybe it needs the restriction on spawning modified?
The MAX revamp was done in GU8, may 2013. It was the 2nd thing to get revamped. The list of revamps isnt even halfway through so dont expect the 2nd MAX revamp to happen anytime soon. They are planned to get flamers as new weapon and possibly frag cannons. I dont think the game will last long enough to see the revamp circle completed.
I would actually want all weapons on the max removed and just use the max like a meat shield for infantry to rally behind and the only weapon it would have would be the punch.
Return our friggin AA bursters. I don't know SOE's intent (maybe they all fly Libs and ESFs?) but it is ridiculous how worthless we are against air now. Give us back our accuracy. It looks comical the way the shots spew out every which way now. Air Burster Corp. must have changed all their factories to third world countries to increase profits. The usefulness of them sure feels like it these days. 350 resources for a Max. How much does an ESF cost?
Bursters are 100% accurate .... the "tracers" show it as spraying however its easy to pip targets at max render once you understand the tracer animation is not representative of actual bullets fired.
Be sure guys, if some of you dislike NC MAC scattercannons, you're just use it wrong way. IMO our MAX is far superior AI mech than TR or VS. The point is to use it NOT like other faction MAXes which need to keep sustained fire. Scattercannons give you an ability to jump in, [almost] insta-kill 1-2 guys with 3-4 shots, move, kill again. Oftenly I'm running around biolab or tower - same as LA - and trashing all the lonely enemies. They have simply no chance to counter double scatter. Ofc FLAK Armor, Charge and some attention to environment is a must to keep yourself alive when you meet a C4 kamikaze, but even they aren't a problem at all. My today's loadout is double Mattock + extended mags with slugs in one of them. "Little" difference makes this "the same" scattercannon able to kill enemies at typical carbine distance with few more shots. So just left suite as it is. If someone wants more weapons to choose, thats OK, but please dont cry if you cant use what we have now cause it's only your problem.
It's flak, the COF isn't supposed to be as tight as a walker. It's 100% AOE damage. Bursters are fine. Look at the Aspis turret, that thing's COF is even bigger, and you can hit stuff from 1000 meters away. same with bursters.
Yes, I know how Bursters and AA turrets work. No, they don't even approach the '100% accurate' claim made in the post I quoted. As for getting hit markers over long distances, that's just it - hit markers. Actually killing anyone with any kind of reliability at that distance doesn't happen in real combat situations. ("Spooking people into ramming the landscape" and "killstealing already burning targets" are not what I'd call 'reliable'.)
Make MAXes slower, make them more more expensive (415) and add these new weapons: _NC7 RailLaunch: A slow-firing heavy launcher that fires amazingly fast and high damaging magnetic projectiles, the RailLaunch is famous for its ability to drop enemy infantry at ranges beyond a shotgun's capabilities. Damage: 375. Velocity: 800. RoF: 120. Reload speed: 4.5 seconds/5.1 seconds. _TR14 Brighton: With the fastest fire rate of any MAX weapon on the surface of Auraxis, the Terran Republic's TR14 Brighton can tear through flesh and shields alike, at the cost of damage and below-average velocity. Damage: 112. Velocity: 305. RoF: 600. Reload speed: 4 seconds/4.65 seconds. _Archaeus VG-20: Unlike any other MAX armament in the war's history, the Archaeus only becomes more accurate the longer it is fired, and high velocity synergizes with this fascinating characteristic. Damage: 155. Velocity: 635. RoF: 302. Reload speed: 2.4 seconds/2.9 seconds.
Max update was one of the first if not the first class update - The max's main purpose is to be a unit that can advance where others can not. The max's design, along with most of the game's initial design was built on the idea that people would act intelligently and tactically, and that even low level players would abuse simple tactics to gain maximum advantage... things like holding down a limited entry location were likely expected to be trivially simple for even a small group of competent players.... but of course this isnt how it worked out, the average player has the combat intelligence of a jar of mayo and does not even make an attempt at working as part of a coherent whole, so much of the game was drastically reworked to make it more friendly to the surprisingly poor play. In the early design it was likely thought that the max would fulfil the ability of being able to lay down damage where regular infantry would not be able to - ie the focus fire that would nullify any attempts to lay damage by infantry could be soaked up by a max, allowing advance. But this obviously depended on the expectation of people working together, with some modicum of intelligence and as a result they changed the design quite dramatically once again. The initial balance plans had plans for max-specific counterplay (anti-max ammunition was expected), as they once again would expect people to exploit the maxes in certain situations - they didnt have a resource cost and were expected to be tactically necessary at times. But once again, people showed their level of fail rather proudly, and with the resource cost and largely psychologically driven player concept of balance, there really hasn't been a need to change them much since. This is true of many many things in the game, not just maxes. Also a max crash can often be utterly decimated by a single heavy with vehicle nades and a grenade bandolier. Max crash has to go somewhere, when it stops it's just a pile of xp. It also helps that max crashes are never performed by competent players - it's more just a fun gimmick for people who think it's cool. Anyways - I wouldn't expect much of a max update anytime soon - they're in a pretty decent place right now. I expect we'll see a new max weapon before the next major max update, and perhaps another armour, but I wouldn't expect much more. And playing as a dedicated max is quite viable, but it does require a reasonably high level of ability on the part of the pilot.
They already are useless.... if we got a gun that can shoot things beyond a range of 10m I would be very happy. Hell I would be even happier if the other factions got a shotgun for their MAX so I could laugh at them trying to use it.
