Don't get me wrong, i love building bases and other stuff in PS2, but there are 2 things that really bothers me in it. The first one, most likely the most discussed already, is the massive grindwall to get the buildings/turrets you need to make a decent base, the AA turret (1000 certz) + AV Turret (1000 certz) + Structure Shield Module (1000 certz) + Repair Module (1000 certz) + Turret AI Module (1000 Certz) + Skywallshield module (1500 Certz) + Vehicle gate (1000 Certz), make up to 7500 certz. The worse is that this is only to get a reasonable base. Players unlock the HIVE at BR 15, tell me, how a player with BR 15 will be able to have 7500 certz? So they have only two options, don't build bases or build really incomplete bases. I can only see two ways to fix this, reduce the prices to unlock the blueprints OR increase the BR you need to build HIVES. This way you will prevent poorly built bases from using HIVE's. The second one is about how punishing guarding a HIVE can be. I'm not talking about defending it, but guarding it. If your base gets attacked or you're resupplying/gathering cortium, you will recieve XP and certz, but once your silo is full, you (or someone else) will set up a HIVE and stay there to protect it, however if no one attacks your base you will not recieve any XP or certz, but you (or someone else) can't leave the base because it will be a easy target. So you may spend a long time in that base guarding a HIVE, sometimes even hours and no one attacks it and neither does you recieve XP or certz, even though you are making sure VP's are generated for your faction, being a really punishing experience. I think that granting passive XP/Certz overtime by standing near a active HIVE should fix this issue, once the HIVE/base starts to get attacked, the passive XP/Certz will end and only after a certain amount of time out of combat, it should grant XP and certz passively again.
I like the overall idea of the construction update but you bring up very valid points. I also feel an honorable mention would have been having a buffer no deploy zone around the outer edge of the map. Though strategically it makes sense to put a base up against the out of bounds area it's no fun trying to take these bases down.
I feel like, as with most every thing else in this game, the construction system is ruined by poor communication support, or at least low interest in it. I feel the ideal for gameplay here would be the ability to leave rear HIVE's completely unguarded, but scouts and frontline forces could paint large enemy movements through their lines, as well as air forces that are passing through. This would give people at least 30 seconds to redeploy as necessary, or attempt to intercept with aircraft. The communication tools in this game are depressingly lacking.
I feel the constructionsystem is too separate from the main game. When attacking a base you know there's players going to be there, both attackers and defenders. With a HIVE you just don't know. The constructed base is 100% build as a farming tool: Tough to get in, takes several lives to finally get some kills on the defenders, and then it's still going to be a long uphill battle. And that's assuming people actually support you, rather than the regular notion of "let someone else beat their head against the wall there, I'll be over here getting kills and enjoying myself". The construction system needs to be integrated in normal play. Some bases should require construction to function, other places could offer bonusses to the faction who owns it if you place a Silo there. Bonusses such as a bunch of pre-build turrets, a vehicle/aircraft spawner+ammo resupply, a small directional shield to protect forces, radar that detects nearby aircraft and/or vehicles etc. Because the developers have more control over these spaces the fights can be better balanced and fun, assuming it's done right. HIVE's... Maybe they should just power up towards a temporary Faction bonus. This makes them less useful for capturing a continent by sitting on your butt in an impenetrable fortress in the middle of nowhere and more useful for the overall gameplay. Better yet would be if players have to collect whatever the HIVE generated and bring it to their own faction. To prevent trolls having an easy time, whatever the HIVE generated will be divided in say 10 pieces, if 6/10 pieces arrive at the warpgate it counts as a full point towards the faction bonus.
I think we simply need real frigging artillery. Theres nothing wrong with a base stopping an onslaught being outnumbered 4vs1. But there should also be a way to overcome it without resorting to (even more) riddiculous overpop. Artillery that can get shells over those walls to hit those engineers who basically just stand around hodlding down LMB could and should be that way. The glaive is a nice step in that way, but those shields were never the true problem - also it has too many problems/drawbacks to be truly useful. Also - the infiltrator should get a deco grenade (or the deco grenade an upgrade) that makes ALL automatic turrets spray the grenade and ist surroundings with as much firepower as possible. Imagine the outrage when 30 afk-engis repairing a wall get killed by their own turrets on the other side of the base....
Ok, you are mentioning 2 things: 1) Cert cost to get in construction 2) What to do during the break... For 1) Yes, it is expensive, and i think no building should go over 1k certs, but thats life. They have to make money in the end somehow... For 2) There is something great new for you: The alarmmodule (just 1k certs!!- Upgrade NOW), the spawntube with matrix option (only 1k or 1.5k Upgrade NOW) and the reinforcemodule in combination with a sundi (very not cheap as well-Upgrade NOW). With these modules you can leave your base and have fun somewhere else, still beeing able to redeploy home when needed. The cert barrier is killing the construction for not sitting on certs verterans or rich ppl, jet you can see it as a long term goal, and 1k certs is not as much as you may think: normaly i can get 100c in 1h, no boosts no 2x XP.
massive suggestion, display ANT cortium levels in 3rd person. everyone drives the ant in 3rd person, it would be a nice QoL change to not have to switch to 1st person to see your cortium levels.
This isn't really a solution. I spent real money on everything construction has to offer, so I'm fully aware of everything's capabilities, and without a team sitting on the hive 24/7, there's no chance in defending against even a single Valk Drop. It takes an entire squad to be waiting in place to have a chance against a Gal drop. It's cake for a solo infiltrator to fly an ESF in, overload the generator, and guard the spawn tube with mines and a knife. Just stay out of sight of the single turret that can hurt you. If you take 2 or 3 Hornet ESFs, you can easily kill a hive before the AA turret can kill you all. They're just weak. The hive should be able to fend for itself for a reasonable length of time to get reinforcements there. One thing I think is crucial is for all turrets to always shoot at everything. It's dumb the AI or AA turrets will just sit there as a Harasser picks apart the base, just out of sight of the AT turret. I actually think all turrets should be something more like a Walker or Basilisk that can out DPS a single tank at range, as it's too easy to keep out of sight of the single turret that can hurt you. I also agree with Demigan that they need to be incorporated in to the main game, so they're more focal in fights. Maybe add a radar module, real artillery, mortars, a SAM site, cool stuff like that that the enemy can't afford to ignore. Maybe only allow a single powerful piece per tile, so a SAM site would be very susceptible to tanks. To keep this all from being OP, they could spread out the area in which you can place skyshields maybe, and make the ion canon more powerful. But as it is, I agree completely with OP.
Well, you're sorta right, about the alarm and spawntube, however when you're at your (squad/platoon) HIVE, you're prepared, and most likely with a vehicle ready for combat and if you're outside your HIVE, organized Platoons or Squads can wipe out bases extremely fast, also both of them also increase the total Cert value. The spawntube being (1500 certz) and the alarm being (1000 certz), it will make up to (10000 Certz), that makes 100 hours to get enough certz for this base. You will need to play 5 days non-stop or 6 hours everyday for 17 days. Considering you will always make 100 certz every hour. Remember that different from a upgrade or weapon purchase, you're not recieving the full thing with 1000 certz, but one of the many things you need to make the base complete.
