Reason NC players think NC is underpowered. A simple fix with 100 certs!

I see lots of "NC underpowered" threads all over the PS2 forums, and it has confused me quite a bit. Most people complain about NC infantry combat being underpowered, and now I finally know why. Lets break down the NC default infantry weapons.

1. Eng/LA- Gauss Carbine- this gun is actually really really good. It's what you would call an all round balanced gun, decent RoF, decent accuracy, decent damage. It doesn't excel in any area, but has no weaknesses.
2. Medic- Gauss Rifle - almost exact same characteristics as the carbine, another decent all round gun.
3. Sniper- Bolt Driver - arguably the most useful sniper starter rifle. It's bolt action, not semi auto like the other faction starter guns- so that means you need to reload each shot, but it does allow 1 hit KO headshots. The other factions VS/TR need to spend a cheap 100 certs to get their faction equivalent to the Bolt Driver
4. Heavy Assault(problem child)- Guass Saw- This gun is actually quite puzzling, stock with no attachments, it is frustrating to use, horrible recoil and mediocre CQC performance makes it feel underpowered. However after investing 430 certs into it (getting advanced grip, 2x reflex sight, compensator, and HVA) it does become a beauty. It's still mediocre CQC, but it rules at medium/long range, being able to outsnipe snipers in some cases.

It's now clear why NC infantry thinks they are underpowered. A vast majority of infantry combat is conducted by Heavy Assaults since they are the backbone of the army. Heavy Assaults have no real utility like medic or engi, and are built for infantry combat with their shields. Right now the Gauss SAW underperforms stock due to its Long Range specialized nature, however with 430 certs of attachments, it becomes one of the best mid ranged weapons out there. It's quite ironic though, since honestly the Gauss SAW performs like a "1000 cert weapon". It has the exact same characteristics as the ACX-11 carbine(NC engi/LA), and the Reaper DMR (NC medic), both long ranged specialist weapons and both 1000 certs to unlock, all with the characteristics of Hard hitting, slow firing, high recoil.

OH YEAH THERE IS A FIX, AND IT IS ONLY 100 CERTS!

Its called the GD-22S . What is the GD-22S? Well its a LMG that NC heavy assaults can unlock for only 100 certs and its GREAT for CQC, decent mid range, but horrible long range. The only downsides of this gun is its not good long range and it has a 50 ammo clip which you will chew through quick due to its quick fire rate. This gun is fast firing and surprisingly accurate hip fire making it ideal CQC and is the NC All round decent balanced gun for heavy assault. With grip, it becomes decent for mid range engagements, however if you opt for the laser sight, it becomes a monster CQC just through hip fire.


CONCLUSION! NC HEAVY ASSAULTS GETS A FREE "1000" CERT WEAPON!
If you ever wondered what a 1000 CERT WEAPON handled like, use the GAUSS SAW. There is a good reason why people have been saying infantry weapons are literally all sidegrades and tell people who want to unlock all the guns and complain about gun cert prizes that they are idiots since most 1000 cert weapons are specialized in a role. The GAUSS SAW is the NC's long ranged specialized LMG, the benefit NC heavy assaults have is that they only need to spend 100 certs to unlock the GD-22S which is their faction's version of the decent "all round" performer, whereas other factions need to spend 1000 certs to unlock their Long range specialist LMG.

Oh I thought this was going to be about buying the gun flashlight.

The GD-22 is great for mid range and longer ranges. It lacks in the close range department compared to a EM6 or Saw S. Those guns you can literally fire from the hip at 30m and just smoke people fast wjile you dance. The GD-22 is more comparable to a carbine in my mind. Low recoil and better accuracy that pays off in longer ranges and an alternate fire mode of 1 shot to make it even better at farther range than that.

The only bad thing about the gun is that it gets bad attachments and you do not need much more than a scope on the gun. The Forward grip is a waste due to the low recoil. There is no compensator for it, only suppressors. Best I have found is to use a laser pointer at times to fire from the hip easier.. but even that is mostly a waste because at close range that guy with the fast LMG is going to pretty much hammer you on the run with more bullets faster than you can hit him.

I can not express how much i agree with this.
I played NC today, trying out all the guns, and i felt incredibly powerful, i loved all the guns, but playing heavy assault felt like GARBAGE.

I wouldn't be surprised if that was what the whining was really about, as all the other guns felt better then anything i got with Vanu which is my main faction.

If i wasn't invested in my current outfit I'd go reroll, especially since SOE seems to be listening and i expect NC to be buffed into OP status :3

@Uben Qui
The GD-22S isn't the BEST at CQC, you can argue the Gauss SAW S is better, BUT the GD-22S IS alot more user friendly with its low recoil and good rate of fire. It's what I would call an "all round" gun, easy to use and effective in most situations.

EDIT: Not to mention super cheap, 100 certs for a decent all round weapon.

You are wrong OP.

You seem to think a 1000 cert weapon should be better than a free weapon.
You are wrong. It should be a balanced alternative.

All NC carbines have terrible COF (double that of TR and VS), making them near useless at range.
The only NC carbine which doesnt suffer from this, is the default one.
However, i'd like a grenade launcher on my carbine, and i dont see why NC should suffer when TR and VS don't.

Get back in your vanguard, and stop pretending like you know whats going on.

The hard stats prove that NC is underpowered.
Their TTK is higher for every weapon type, at every range.

reading comprehension fail?

Reason most of the "NC needs a buff" crowd seems to consist of people who:

Get on their fresh HA
Pulls out stock gun with no upgrades
Dies
Cant figure out why they are not able to run into a room full of people and drop everyone
Consistently loses 1vs1 encounters
Ignores all other aspects of the game, all other play styles.
Are on a server either with derpy NC or nearly no NC pop
Doesnt know what a "headshot" is
Often totes easily manipulated data as proof, when said data doesnt specify the range,targets, use, upgrades, ect.


Bottom line is that most if not all NC complaints are focused around the starting HA weapon. They want a faction wide buff yet ignore vehicles, air support, all the other classes and guns available in game.

NC does just as well as all the other factions when they are organized and know how to play into their advantages....all advantages are slight.

So OP it is our imagination that weapon accuracy is poor regardless of range ? Recoil perhaps ? Clip sizes ?
I mean what is NOT underpowered when it comes to NC weapons ?
On i sidenote i do love my vanguard for example but our shell has so much drop over distance that you need to fire a couple of shots before you can actually hit something far away and with the reload times the canon has you could be dead by then. I thought about getting the faster reload upgrade but its ridiculous....You need to spend 500+ cert points for a 2% speed increase. Is SOE serious ???

I cannot go with that assessment. For CQC there are better LMGs. EM1, EM6, SAW S. None of those can hit the ranges that GD-22 can though, as accurately. The EM1 is actually built totally for CQC. We watched them buff that gun in beta with a better accuracy while firing from the hip, better accuracy while moving.. it is also the fastest firing LMG a NC can get. So it is more forgiving as it puts the most lead you can in the air. The GD-22 can do CQC... it is not the best at it out of the options we have is all I am saying.

EVERY gun in the game has recoil and cone of fire. Underpowered and overpowered needs reference point.

If you're reference point is Cowadooty ZERO recoil ZERO bullet drop ZERO cone of fire gunplay, then EVERY SINGLE GUN ON EVERY FACTION IN THIS GAME IS SUPER UNDERPOWERED... compared to cowadooty.

Have you ever played with any of the other factions ? Are you seriously comparing our "default" weapons with the default weapons of the TR and VS in terms of accuracy and recoil ?

Narutobieber "The GD-22S isn't the BEST at CQC"

I said the GD-22S isn't the best at CQC... and then you agree its not the best of CQC, then you say the GD-22 can do CQC, just not the best... which is exactly what I said, yet you say you can't agree with my assessment...

SERIOUSLY DOES ANYONE ON MY FACTION DO READING COMPREHENSION?!?!?

CARV is UP because higher recoil and bloom QQ.

I think you just listed the reason for the excessive whining.

TBH i think the GD-22S sucks ***, all in outfit said its amazing weapon.. oh well bought and spended few hundred certs for the for the gun and it still suck, i find my self performing ALOT more better with the EM1 lmg than on GD-22S.

But yeah, generally VS/TR weapons are alot better in every way

I know Ganelon, i am just listing everything that's wrong with NC weapons. I was shooting at an TR spawn beacon the other day from around 10m distance. I was on an elevated position, engineer class, had to empty 12 full clips on that beacon just to land 5 shots on it. So when i see people saying "hey all is well with NC weapons" well it drives me nuts .

This OP is having a laugh.
We have 3 guns worth certings into. The GR22, The Warden, and the Reaper DMR. The GD-22S if you've got all of the above. Why? Because there's no reason to use HA except to use Rockets and die. That's the extent of NC use. Our Medics and Engis are FAR better Assault classes than the HA, because all of the weapons out-class the HA primaries by a lonnnnnnnnng shot.

The TTK on NC is inferior.
Having played TR and Vanu extensively, the Orion being the best stock weapon in the damn game(No need to control, just look at the target, ADS, and shoot. Almost an insta kill with no effort), and then we bring in other beasts like the Solstice, and then look at the T9 Carv and the fact that most TR weaponry is like a fully Auto Sniper rifle, then go back and look at how even when controling the recoil quite well we have to empty a full clip into anyone past medium range(And that's with controled burst fire) and you see why we're all pissed off. NC is good with medium range weaponry. That's it. TR outclasses us hugely at range, and VS just dominates us in every field, but especially CQC. The only time we reign supreme in CQC is when we have a MAX rolling Dual Hacksaws.

Thats because the EM1 IS our faction specialty CQC weapon. It will outperform the GD-22S, however the GD-22S will do little better than EM1 mid range. Also EM1 is 1000 certs for being our close range LMG specialist.

The reason why your outfit thinks the GD-22S is amazing, is because they are comparing its performance in CQC to the GAUSS SAW, not the EM1.

I'll just give Pax Empyrean some more attention for his hard work:
http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/...balance-nc-infantry.59940/page-22#post-782243
http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/...balance-nc-infantry.59940/page-23#post-782342

Yeah is total BS that SAW has compensator and advanced grip....really?


VS and TR doesn't have that.


If saw gets a buff......Im gonna complain to take away your compensator and advanced grip or give to TR and VS too.