Do sunderers need a buff?

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by SarahM, Mar 22, 2020.

  1. SarahM

    With all the OS and bastions and other stuff flying around, it seems like less sunderers get deployed and the ones that do tend to dissappear faster.

    So, do sunderers need a buff?
    If so, what kind of buff?

    I guess slightly increasing their health while deployed wouldn't hurt, but I'd like to know what other players think about this.
  2. LodeTria

    Immunity to C4 & tank mines when deployed.
    Increase resist against infantry heavy assault rockets by 50% when deployed.
    • Up x 1
  3. Johannes Kaiser

    That would make the only really viable option against them tanks. Which more often than not is not possible since the spawn pads are camped.
    Increasing the resistance of deployed Sunderers could be done. But I can tell from experience, OS can't do **** if you got a few Engies and a shield-upgrade. Hop in, weather the strike, hop out and repair.
  4. Rooklie

    You post threads like a journalist :) (by asking a question it's obvious you're emplying the answer too). ((that isn't a criticsm)).

    I 've been using sundies for years. As in, I've been playing this game for years, but also, when I play, I hardly ever go anywhere without a sundy.

    I made a similar thread in February, got zero replies, bumped it in March, had a short discussion but that was it.

    In case you're interested, here's an extract from it :

    https://forums.daybreakgames.com/ps2/index.php?threads/buff-the-shield-sundies.253422/

    _____

    I don't think slightly increasing their health will change much. The time to kill from most vehicles would hardly change. It would make it a hell of a lot harder for solo infantry to kill it though.

    EDIT -> In my experience, infantry isn't really the issue. Usually, if you're not at your sundy and someone is attacking it, you've got time to re-deploy and go defend it. Also, I've been in so many fights where we were considerably out numbered, 2 to 1, often more than that, yet because we defended the sundy well, the enemy was unable to destroy the sundy for a very long time.

    Instead, I strongly believe it needs more fire power.

    I could add a whole bunch of things but I'll mention just one : ergonomics and UI elements.

    -> if you're at A point and your sundy is under attack, it needs to be obvious!! Maybe even from when the shields are damaged (instead of how it used to be, from when it starts losing health). Also, it needs to be a lot more obvious to others who don't own the sundy, many times I rage at them not helping to defend, but many times, it's simply because they don't even know that it's damaged or under attack)


    -> Swapping classes (for example, to engineer to repair the sundy, or to heavy to fight the tank) needs to be a lot smoother. Somany times I have entered the sundy instead.

    ->Get rid of time sinks. (there are two I can think of right now; 1. the stupid 2 second rule the first time you pull it that won't let you deploy until its passed. 2. when you jump into the sundy in order to man the guns, there's a small time sink, that time, even if it's short, makes a real difference while defending.

    There are many other things of course, but I know people don't read long posts and this one is already long so I'll stop here.
  5. Rooklie



    OS will kill a stealth sundy, for example, but on a shield one, it'll kill the shields and bring the health down to (approximately) 50%.

    So engineers won't really help if it's a stealth sundy cause they'll die along with it. As to the shield sundy, it will be considerably weaker giving the opportunity for the enemy to finish it off, although that time window is short since loads of people killed by the OS will be spawning at the sundy and the first thing they'll do is repair it, and any enemy close to the sundy who might be ready to finish it off will probably die with the OS as well.

    So what more experienced players working in a team usually do, is damage the sundy first, then OS. That usually works pretty well.
  6. Pikachu

    And unfold 2 halberds.
  7. Demigan

    A sundy should basically be a resource-based miniature construction system.

    Imagine if instead of making the Sundy more powerful you get more tools to prepare the surrounding area of a Sundy. A deployable directional shield for example. An orbital distortion unit so OS's cant be fired nearby. A miniature radar station that warns of incoming enemies. An item that reduces explosive damage nearby forcing any would-be C4/tank mine player to first destroy it (assuming the owner hasnt just equipped a sundy shield or blockade armor which basically invalidates C4 anyway). Automated defenses that debuff enemies, like a concussion turret or a mine-laying device that drops flash-bang mines or something. A mine-laying device as area-denial and slowing enemies would also work if it dealt very low damage per mine but drops enough mines that recklessly running through without manually detonating them is discouraged.
    Or what about a teleporter pad? If you access it you can buy a tracker that takes up your utility slot. When you notice your Sunderer/whatever being under attack you can switch to this tracker and instantly teleport back to the teleport pad (the tracker allows the teleporter to track you for teleportations).

    The best part would be allowing many of such tools to be used for base defense as well, allowing players to prepare sections of a base.

    Even better would be making buildings in a (non-PMB) base generate certain items that can be used for both attack and defense. It creates secondary objectives that you want to secure so you have access to whatever it generates which in turn can help protect or breach something. It would help sunderer defenders as they have something to do (get in the base and collect certain items) and dont have to hang around a Sunderer for something that might never happen. You can set up early-warning systems, protection and things to slow down your enemy.
    • Up x 1
  8. The Shady Engineer

    Built in deployment shield that works with blockade armor but doesn't work with cloak (to prevent frustration). Ever since light assaults got their rocklets, it'd been more than difficult to keep sunderers alive. They'll still be vulnerable in transit but have a bit of a tougher shell to crack once deployed.

    Also a mechanic that rewards defending Sundies akin to the extra points you get when sitting on a capture point. "Sunderer defense bonus +X experience."
    • Up x 3
  9. ican'taim

    The Galaxy should be the primary AMS again. Advantages:
    • Much more HP than a sundy, so a c4 fairy can't plop a couple bricks and kill the fight.
    • Much more defensible due to the deployment side shelds
    • The big air pads will finally have their intended use; Biolabs and Tech Plants will be much easier to attack.
    • Can equip Rocket pods on the sides, so even a bigger threat to a loser who wants to kill the fight.
    Disadvantages:
    • Much larger and more noticeable than a sundy
    • Cannot fit in sunderer garages
    • Must pull from a Tech Plant or a Warpgate, although this could increase the importance of guarding and using the Galaxy.

    Also let's be real here, what looks better, spawning right by a dingy truck or massive aircraft?
  10. Rooklie


    You forget one (major) disadvantage :

    Only squad / platoon members can spawn at the galaxy.

    Anyone, including not only people from outside the squad / platoon, including not only people from the fight itself, but anyone on the map, potentially, can spawn at that sundy.
  11. ican'taim


    G-AMSes would be what sunderers are now, this means anyone can spawn from it regardless of squad/platoon or not.
    • Up x 1
  12. Rooklie



    Ah ok :)

    yeah that would definitely be cool ! :D
    • Up x 1
  13. Demigan

    You know they had G-AMS's early in the development but they scrapped them because they were far superior to Sunderers and no one took them anymore. Galaxies would just land somewhere inside the base, capture it, then fly up and beeline for the next with practically nothing there to stop it.

    I do think that Galaxies as deployable spawnpoints is a good idea but they should not be used close to bases, they should function as pocket bases in the field to launch attacks from. You deploy it somewhere in the field, then you can spawn there and with cortium you can spawn light vehicles. This gives players a better method of getting a vehicle fight going and liberating a base from an attack.
  14. TRspy007



    I'd say revert the combined arms and give sunderers an added 1000hp.
  15. LodeTria

    You can pull from the base behind, which you should be doing anyway, and it would take less than 1 minute to get to the sunderer.
  16. Liewec123

    disable OS in No Construction Zones (like it used to be)

    and remove the stupid right click nonsense from the bastion driver (keep all of the manned guns)
    (enough of the 400-500 kill streak BS for sitting back and right clicking the map.)

    tadaa!

    no more unkilled BS nuking sunderers or ruining base fights!
    • Up x 3
  17. SarahM

    Problems with OS currently is that when it rains, it pours.
    More resilience while deployed would help sunderers weather the storm.