Heavy Assault Rant

From last years statistics, the most played class is BY FAR the heavy assault. %26 of all the playerbase is playing HA.
I am not too suprised by this, since they're the only class who is in advantage in long range, medium range and short range combat. Every other class has a limited range. Most classes are stuck in medium to short range with their carbines not being too effective, and snipers are mostly stuck in long range combat.
But a heavy assault is effective at any range with his LMG. His shield negates the effectiveness of any CQC weapon, giving HA enough time to win close quarters combat. Also negating the 1 shot kill effect of a pump action shotgun, making it useless.
He also owns himself a launcher, which makes him the only class (except AV Grenades and AV Engi-Turrets) with the ability to damage vehicles from afar. Also acts as a semi-underbarrel shotgun which can be used to one shot enemies when running low on ammo.
His shield makes him the king of one vs one situations, letting him win any 1v1 fight if the player has decent aim.

Literally speaking, there is no downsides in playing HA. Fine you wont be cloaking or flying around, but since you're basically melting Infiltrators and obliterating anything that flies, you don't need those abilities to be effective.

And this is so frustrating, because I don't want to see glowing people all over the place when I'm taking over a base. Noone gets 1-shotted with a sniper, noone dies in the desired TTK in which they should be dead, everybody is effective at long range and everybody is mindlessly shooting at anything they see. Heavy Assault is so busted that 1/4 of all the playerbase is playing HA. You just smack on that compensator and forward grip, turn on that shield and you're golden. You don't even need to be careful to win a fight. And you're FORCING every other class to be extremely cautious when fighting against you, because otherwise they'll lose.



And I know how much of hate I'm about to get right now, since %26 of you are constantly playing HA and I'm acting against it.

At the minimum, they should have to chose between a shield and rocket launcher, and that shield shouldn't protect the head. On the plus side, Daybreak is apparently using their balance department to help crack heads get back to work.

And half of the remaining players are engineers in their vehicles.

Just speaking for myself, I generally go HA depending on the situation. If I feel that there will be MAX suits or Air, then the choice will always be HA. See, HA is used so much because they can deal with any threat to a base effectively.

If a Medic or Engi could carry just 1 RL, then you would probably see those percentages turn around dramatically. To go HA just to gain superiority in CQC honestly never factors in my decision. TBO...I deal out far more damage to troopers by LA and Medic.

That's one of my points, HA is just too versatily and he's good at everything. I just gave the CQC example to show that he's not in disadvantage in that area.

HA is fine IMO. It's the class that you use to push an objective hard, facing down infantry and vehicles with pure brute force. The balancing factor is that it has no supportive abilities; no ammo, no heals, no repairs, no terminal hacking, little to no flanking capabilities, etc..

About shotguns, you've given me an idea... I'll start another thread. It's a new ammo type.

I get your point but the problem is, you can always use that brute force and apparently people do.

See my thread here.

oh boy i wish you folks were playing back in the day, heavies have been nerfed so many times already.
if you keep on trying to get them nerfed then eventually they will be completely pointless.
also before the accusations start, i'm not a heavy main, i play one sometimes but my main class is LA.

In a game where folks can drive tanks/fly aircraft and use them to kill folks not in tanks, having an option for the infantry classes that fairs better in direct fights is to be expected. Luckily, this game isn't about one person but outfits/groups coordinating the efforts of many players. HA can't heal, can't rep vehicles, blown turrets or terms, can't snipe or take terms (and outside of sensor bolts, can't provide surveillance)....

They've traded in all other functionality for straight up combat capability. Sure this grants them an easier time versus every other class in a straight up face-fight - only a truly deluded 'HA main' would argue otherwise. Luckily, we can all choose to play HA, if we wish.

When it comes to pushing a point, yes the Heavy is designed for that... but extremely poorly. For a coordinated push, the user does not need a shield that activates instantly... they need a shield that activates on a 3-4 second delay, but has a higher capacity. This increases the role of breaching, while decreasing their effectiveness in a 1v1 combat situation or in cases where the player is flanked/caught off guard.

Maybe they don't have ammo packs, support healing(They always run medkits though), repairing, or terminal hacking... but they have a wide selection of rocket launchers at their disposal to assist them in an extraordinary amount of combat situations. It's the flagship class, and as a result, it's been pampered with far more weapons and equipment than any other in the game... hell with the NSX weapons they are getting a new rocket launcher for extreme ranges. The favouritism needs to end.

The solution to a brokenly powerful aspect of the game isn't "we can all use it." When it comes to Heavy Assaults though, there is barely a need for coordination or team-play, there are simply masses of solo-minded players trying to obtain a single goal. It's simply way too easy to play, for how much it offers in the game. The class needs to be toned down drastically and given a tangible role in the game outside of being the primary combat class.

I like the chirstmas tree class.
They light up making them easier to see, and they slow down whilst being easier to see.

Makes poppin their heads all the easier, meanwhile i dart around like an out of control firework.

Ah I see. You're assuming that HA are actually, 'brokenly powerful'.

How exactly is a HA 'brokenly powerful'? What metric for performance are you using to justify this assumption? They excel at the role they are designed for, fighting infantry face-to-face, pressuring vehicles and lasting longer than other classes in certain scenarios. Does this make them 'brokenly powerful'?

Powerful - sure. Within certain scenarios. But that is by design. Which to me at least, suggests they are working - at the very least - aok. Certainly not 'broken.'

Not borkenly powerful, but more powerful than other classes. The whole purpose of this game is to push and capture bases, without a doubt HA is the best one for the job, hence quarter of the players are playing the class.
They are hard to kill and needs flanking and even when you do flank them, their shield may save them and result in your death.

"Within certain scenarios": The few scenarios i can think of when a Heavy Assault will NOT win a confrontation is when it turns a corner into a group of 5 or more players(because a HA can in fact, take on groups if hes competent). Another MIGHT be against a vehicle in close quarters, but chances are the HA can escape. Suggesting that being powerful in most situations is BALANCED is a joke, Heavy Assault SHOULD be good against other infantry, but not when that infantry plays his cards right(flanking, ambushing, and or simply aiming better).

I do think delaying the activation time of an HA's shield is an excellent way to balance them out, in fact i think its the only thing that needs to be done to perfectly balance them. The only other thing that should be done to balance the Heavy Assault is extending the swap time to rocket launchers, the fact that rocket launchers can essentially be used as a panicked reaction when you are dry on a mag is hilariously broken. Try pulling a massive steel beam out and see how long it takes.

Sure, in certain situations HA are more powerful than others classes.

And I can honestly say I'm thankful for my buddies who play them. As I am to our combat medics, who are more powerful than other classes at keeping the squad alive, our engineers who are more powerful than other classes at supplying ammo and reps, our Infils who are more powerful than other classes when it comes to providing intel/sensors and sharp shooting, the LA that are more powerful than other classes when we need someone to place/take out the beacon atop the tower and C4 fairiy the sundie in seconds - and yes, even the guy in the MAX who is more powerful at drawing fire, threatening air and scaring the bjesus out of infantry.

This game has, contrary to what some might believe, a fair bit of depth. If we insist on focusing on a specific scenario where the HA shines then, unsurprisingly, we're going to find ourselves convincing ourselves that HA are more powerful than other classes in said scenario.

Best we widen our perpsectives to encompass the game as a whole - or, heck, if we want to do really well in a specific scenario where the HA shines.. perhaps play a HA. That'd make me smile - I need slow moving lummoxes to shoot in the head!

lol more nerf for HA

Here is the problem, again, that all the scenarios you listed for other classes are just minor situational things. Supplying ammo, reviving, hacking terminals, taking out beacons... These are all stuff that may or may not be necessary. You may not need medics because your sunderer is in such a good spot. You may not need ammo because you die before you empty all of your mag. You may not need to remove a beacon or place one, simply because enemy doesn't have a beacon or any other class can place a beacon for you.
On the other hand, what HA excels at is killing people and capturing bases. This is not situational. You will ALWAYS be killing people and capturing bases. All the things you listed above are supporting what a heavy assault does. Which suggests that this game revolves around Heavy Assault, which brings us back to my point.
You don't want 20 Light Assaults, you don't want 20 infiltrators or enginners... You don't even want 20 medics. But 20 Heavy Assaults is completely fine and it is actually a pretty strong team to push bases with. This is why in a big fight, the diversity of classes is just too low. We see 50 HAs, 6-7 Medics, 3-4 MAXes and 10-15 engineers to repair them. Maybe a 5 LAs and Infiltrators.

Minor? My friend, without all of them working together, we'd never kick so much VS/NC ***

If you insist on focusing on the role the HA has an advantage as - was designed for - so be it.