Again as it only out-DPS the other AI MAXs from 0-10m how can they nerf it? They may rebalance ALL the AI MAXs, but that's a different kettle of fish, to simply nerfing the NC AI MAX so it doesn't out-DPS the other AI MAXs at any range would be plain maddness.
Realistically I would expect at last the hacksaws to receive the vulcan treatment. Aka, raise their effective rage but lower their damage. Given the history of SOE rebalances, I would definitely expect a nerf. Consider this, the magrider was the best sniper tank. The NC max is the best point controller/assaulter. One possible solution would be halving the damage, tripling the effective range and doubling or tripling the ammo capacity.
Confronted by soldiers from multiple directions all maxes go down. The main strength of the NC max is the ability to guard a point and assault a point. Basically you don't go chasing people, you wait for them to come to you. And when you need to assault, you rush into their face and melt them. The only thing that you need to consider is that NC max AI weapons shine if you invest in extra ammo, while the other factions don't have upgrades that matter. Basically, if you get used playing as infantry with a shotgun, you'll do great as max. If you try to play the NC max the way you'd play with your SAW, you'll fail miserably.
Hard choice. The obvious answer is to trial both setups, but I tend to side with the Hacksaw crowd. If you trial dual Burster, be sure to try to get into an infantry scrap as well to see if you can make them work as anti-personnel weapons.
That would be awesome but you do realize that would be a massive increase in NC max infantry killing power. So I need to fire four rounds instead of two make sure infantry is dead. But I gain triple ammo and can kill infantry past 10m with four rounds when it would have taken 20 plus rounds to do the same before. Max's would survive twice as long but I could kill them at three times the range and have 50% more total damage per reload to kill them with. I like your idea of a nerf.
That wouldn't be a nerf though, it would be making it identical to the other AI MAXs. As things stand at anything over 10m the TR and VS MAXs do more DPS....... so it is impossible to nerf that without making the NC AI totally useless. So the only option would be to reduce close up damage whilst seriously increasing longer range DPS to equal the others, this wouldn't be a nerf as it would actually seriously increase the usability of the NC AI MAXes. However I'm not even convinced they'll do that as they didn't with the PS1 NC ScatterMAX, it was always the best within 10m but always the worst above that (although it had more option to fight at range with fire-modes that reduced spread while drastically reducing maximum DPS).
Burster. Having 2-3 people able to pull DB Maxes when the need arises clears the skies almost instantly. And the exp gain is sweet (thanks to the new G2A partial damage exp) when an air zerg comes and you've got an engi to keep you repaired and stocked up, the engi will be happy as well (ammo resupply and repair). You'll have to fork out another 1k certs on the extended mags for the bursters at some point, 42 ammo in a mag makes them a beast.
I would definately go with Burster MAX. It is so much more useful than the Hacksaw MAX. When you and your sqad get Air Spammed. Spawn a burster MAX and ESF's usually fly away, screaming like a little girl, and Liberators run after you drop their armor to half in a 20 seconds or so. Even one Burster MAX can make a difference when getting pounded by air. Hacksaw MAX is really only useful in tight control point areas like the Biolabs. They die really fast in the open.
If you run around as a MAX most of the time, go with the hacksaw. If you just pull a MAX when needed, go with the Burster.
Definitely go with Bursters, you can make do with Scatter for infantry and while its fun in biolabs etc, the Hacksaw is really a very specialised weapon. Dual bursters can clear the skies, its the difference between annoying an ESF and chewing it to pieces. A dual burster can even turn a faint hearted Lib pilot away. Not to mention that you are going to have far more instances of needing to deal with air all over the map, compared to just fighting in close quarters in Biolabs.
If you can afford the dual Hacksaws they are a barrel of fun and can be insanely lethal. If your only getting one weapon though, I'd get the burster. You'll have the dual-bursters for AA, which is easily the most effective AA weapon in the game currently. You may not get as much certs playing AA (you might, if your really good and/or lucky!) but you'll do your team a great service, especially if you usually play in a squad. Just make sure that you have a sundy driver on hand, it gets very annoying to have to A) walk to the next base or B) change kits and hope your MAX cooldown is complete once you reach your destination, not to mention you'll need a terminal... Unless your part of a big infantry advance, then there is no problem =3. If your getting only 1 weapon I'd rather suggest a second scattercannon than a Hacksaw because it feels off to have two diferent shotguns equipped, that may just be me though.
I really don't think the Haxor max will get nerfed to be honest; I think that both the Scatter and Haxor are doing exactly as they're supposed to. It's more likely there'll be, maybe, a slight buff to TR and VS maxes for CqC (under 10 metres) and a nerf to max v's max damage.
While I would like to believe that SOE will see it that way, that they'll leave the NC and TR AI MAXs alone (especially since they'll be getting their special abilities) and just fix the VS MAX's weapons being subpar in comparison, I fear they'll just cave into pressure from the 'NERF OP HAXSAW' faction of players and do something ridiculous like make the Hacksaw a three-shot burst weapon so you blow a third of your ammo on a wall every time you click a button, raise the reload speed by 2 seconds for all shotguns to make NC MAXs even more vulnerable in-between magazines, raise the pellet spread and reduce bullet velocity for MAX shotguns so hacksaws shoot fine mists that dissipate after 5m, or a combination of the above. Sorry to be a negative nancy. It's just SOE has shown they aren't exactly subtle about balance tweaks, and they seem very much influenced by player opinion, so I fully expect to see them make a gratuitous change to shotguns while making their changes to TR/VS MAX weapons; a straight nerf and a nerf through buffing other faction weapons. If they don't, that'd be nice, but I don't anticipate that outcome. At any rate, I personally don't relish the thought of spending money on something only to have it become a second-rate weapon like the Jackhammer has been for so long until recently. That, and the burster can literally win battles by driving away air and letting friendly air take air superiority. Also, the litany of assists, surface-to-air XP, and the rare kill should keep certs flowing as long as there's air to shoot at, and there's almost always air to shoot at.
get the burster first, you can always switch for free at an infantry terminal once you equip as a MAX. anti-air on demand is pretty valuable.
Not to say it won't happen, but they never nerfed the PS1 ScatMAX in this way, and frankly that was much better at range than any of the PS2 NC AI MAX weapons with its three choked modes the reduced RoF for lesser spread. But I can't see how they can simply reduce the 0-10m DPS without seriously buffing the 10-maximum range DPS, as it would effectively make the NC AI MAXs useless, and doing that wouldn't be a nerf, it would be a buff in many ways. I think they'll have to buff the JH again too eventually, it is still simply sub-par to the common-pool shotguns at the moment in every situation, except at longer range (where using a LMG would be better anyway).
