Since you successfully nerfed everything else into nothingness - will you finally adress the HA?

HA did get a nerf in GU07 (resist shield no longer stackign with flak armor). Anyway...good luck trying to get a meaningful nerf. Best the community can hope for is probably a larger CoF for hip firing LMGs.

You mean how resist shield got nerfed as to not make it stack with flak armour even though it's a buggy piece of **** and won't recharge until you relog?

I'll try to summarize your central question: "Should HA really be the 'most powerful' class?"

IMHO: "Yes."

But that requires some elaboration since I think you've oversimplified "powerful". HA's might well be the best (or at least easiest) class for "killing things and breaking stuff", but in my opinion that's entirely appropriate since dealing more damage essentially IS their special ability. The super-shields are exceedingly 'meh' in a game with such low TTK. It's the damage output that sets them apart.

HA's aren't mobile like LA's (in fact, not only are they ground-bound, they're slow to boot). They aren't stealthy (their uber-shields actually HIGHLIGHT them on the battlefield). They can't heal teammates. They can't repair equipment. They just deal out damage. Moreover, with the exception of beloved/loathed (depending on your faction) Phoenix, they must expose themselves to enemy fire in order to do so. No mines. No 12x scopes. No routine bypassing of gates and doors and various other choke-points. They have to slog in, on foot, often into a hail of fire.

On top of all this, the HA *still* isn't some King of the Jungle, able to stride forth brazenly about the Serengeti, unworried and quietly confident in its dominance. Because in addition to the low TTK which allows anyone who gets the drop to wipe out an HA before it can even turn around, there are also vehicles to contend with, almost all of which have vastly higher DPS than the HA can muster on its best day (piloted, it should be noted, almost exclusively by Engineers).

So, yes. HA are the damage dealers. Because they aren't the sneakers; they aren't the builders/repairers; they aren't the runners/jumpers; they aren't the healers.

If your gripe is that killing opponents seems to earn Certs at a disproportionately faster rate than other tactics and that this unfairly favors the "killing opponents" class, there might be a debate to be had.

But if your gripe is that all classes should be equally good at killing opponents, then shouldn't they all be equally good at repairing vehicles, healing others, bypassing obstacles, and sneaking about? What then would be the point of having classes at all?

In a fantasy setting does a Wizard walk up to a Warrior of some kind and try to best him in sword play? What would happen to that wizard? Evisceration.

HA's are fundamentally designed to have a numerical advantage in a head-on conflict. They aren't support like medic or engineer. They aren't designed with mobility and positioning in mind like the infiltrator or LA. They are brawlers. They fight. Nerfing that would reduce any incentive to play them. Why would anyone play something with such a narrow role if the class isn't efficient at it?

If you're approaching your battles from a head-on direct standpoint of throwing yourself headlong into the enemy and letting the numbers sort it out then perhaps Heavy suits your style more than whatever you're currently playing. And there is no shame in that!

Learn to leverage your weapon's effective range against the opponents favored killzone. Learn the strengths of your class and weapon of choice and play to those strengths!

I did answer that. You're saying to many HAs because they are all powerful (especially that wizard guy). My KB suggests otherwise. But in general, HAs are the bread and butter of all the Empires.They are meant to be.

Ever Play PS1? Yes HAs were the most common there too. (though they were called REXO). But there, it was an even larger discrepancy between # of Rexo vs # of other Classes because they could do even more (due to vastly different mechanics).

So no, HAs being the most common class are not a problem. You thinking to many HAs are pwning you tells me it's all in your head. and I don't say L2P often, but in this case...L2P.

HA is OP as I posted earlier, too good at anti Inf, and AV. It obviously messed up. Unless ofc you play HA in which case it's fine, broderline UP, right?

Here is the thread I made about it

http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/so-heavy-assault-and-engineer.116170/

You sir, won the thread.
I have the TRAC-5 S for my engineer and I use it for the grenade launcher to give some fire support. It's one of the few ways to actually suppress in the game. It's useless for shooting bullets. The COF is enormous and the damage is low.

I play both HA and Engineer and I do get killed a lot as a HA. There are LA getting the jump on me with a shotgun. Infiltrators that snipe me or show up behind me with an SMG. BTW, the SMG is a real killer up close. I consistently lose to SMG users when I run with my TMG-50 if the fight is indoors.

If anything HA should have slower movement speed compared to other classes and not only when using their ability. They have powerful shield and are carrying heavy weaponry(LMG + RL) so its a reasonable change. The more powerful you are, the more slower you become, which a very basic system used in online shooters and single player games. Everyone can agree that HA is without a doubt most powerful all around infantry unit in the game, so change like this is good way to start without a need to touch their weaponry nor ability.

I can only wonder why they didn't introduce this on the PS2 in the first place, since its used in so many games.

Heavy assault is the main front line unit and should comprise the bulk of the platoon.
I think that rocket launcher should go to engineer though.

I would have thought that the Heavy Assault class should be the best class in straight combat. Because that's what they were designed to do.

If you're a Light Assault, don't whine if you get beaten in a straight 1v1 against an HA. If you're an LA and end up facing an HA head on you're supposed to lose. Your class is about flanking, disrupting and avoiding head-on fights. The HA is about taking punishment and dishing it out against things head on. You're not supposed to be able to outlast them. Your job is to flank them and whack them when they're not looking. If you can't do that, then that's not the fault of the game.

Don't whine about it if you can't play classes as they're designed to be played.

HA are the most played class in the game. Nothing else to see here. Move along.

He's trying to take on enemys with a trac-5 S. No wonder he's losing

Go buy a shotgun then tell us how OP the heavy is LOL

Oh God another "nerf" thread; for heavens sake some players are going to kill you in this game, that does not mean they're OP!! Got it?

In that screen you got killed by non HA's 10 times (not even counting the max and the unknowns) and HAs 10 times, seems balanced to me. Maybe you just suck. Anyway, its HEAVY assault for a reason.

If you can't kill a HA while he is firing a rocket, and totally situationally blind by the way, then you really do need to learn to play.

Your argumentation is flawn. You're using the killed-by-HA/killed-total ration to show how OP HA is and to justify a HA nerf yet you state in the same sentence that HS is the most played class.

Of course you will see that most kills were done by HA. If everyone would play HA than only HA kills wold show up in the kill board, but that is not showing HA is OP - it just reflects the class distributions.

However, HA is the easiest class in terms of pull, play, perform and have fun. Its kinda the base plain soldier. Every other class fits a more specific role (albeit all classes and vehicles are lacking precise definition and distinction generally and through different loadouts). So it's not very surprising. I also play mainly HA and switch only to others for specific purposes.

HA isn't OP, if at all HA is to versatile. And thats a general game design issue rather a balancing issue. So please stop these nerf calls. Rather suggest proper game mechanics which fit to specific infantry/vehicle roles and other classes will get an improved right to exist.

Maybe you just suck at reading.

EDIT: And the answers here don't surprise me at all. The majority of people defend the most played class. Fits.
I just want SOE to recognize this as a major design flaw. Making one class the #1 at everything is just bogus.

None of the HA players will admit their over-shield is the most unbalanced thing in the game. It's simple human nature. No class should have more effective health than another in a competitive FPS. I'm just waiting for the MLG stuff to get off the ground so SOE can start to balance stuff accordingly.

No, it's human nature to rush to the forums when you die to cry nerf without RESEARCHING what your crying nerf about in the first place.

Resist shield adds 1 bullets worth of damage to the enemy's time to kill. Default shield adds 3 bullets to the enemys time to kill. While a heavy shield is on he can't dodge your bullets so you can AIM for the HEAD and do DOUBLE damage. This makes the shield worthless or a liability against ANY player who knows how to aim.

The best time to kill weapons against infantry don't belong to the heavy. Anyone can buy a pump action shotgun (other then infiltrator) but for medium range or longer a heavy can't buy the best time to kill infantry weapons in the game.

Do the research and learn the strengths of each class before coming here. BTW Holding a base point requires MEDICS and at least 1 engy. Heavys are not useful enough inside base's capping points.

You obviously have no idea what you're talking about. I remember you as one of the big earners of the cert giveaway, so maybe you should do a little research next time you max out a class from the get-go.