MBTs need a health buff and dedicated crews.

Who said anything about a friend? There are hundreds of allied players capable of gunning online at virtually any hour of the day. I've had some great gunners and some not so great gunners but such is life in a team-based game. It helps to have people who you trust on to gun for you but if there aren't and you don't want to rely on a stranger then just grab a Lightning or ESF and have a ball!

However, if you insist on keeping MBTs as one-man vehicles with an optional crew they should remain weak and disposable as they aren't so much a vehicle as they are just another class. Teamwork is a requirement for powerful vehicles otherwise balance can go to hell in a hurry. Were you here when the game launched our during beta before tasks for much-needed nerfs?

I wasn't complaining about Liberators specifically, just the seat swapping mechanics. You built a strawman there. The game needs animations for entering and exiting all vehicles so that players can't bail out so easily our switch position at a moment's notice. You should need to fully crew a vehicle before heading out rather than going 2/3 due to stupidly designed seat swapping mechanics. Your likely to see just as many 2/3 Harassers as you are Liberators due to this short-sighted design.

Oh look, this thread again.

It's generally amusing that Liberators are tougher and last longer than tanks; when air frames should be far more fragile than their ground counter parts.

"There are hundreds of allied players capable of gunning online at virtually any hour of the day..."

Ridiculous.
When I use tanks with AP turrets, I mainly use ambush tactics, by choosing carefully a good place and then I wait.
And I'm a patient guy.
But those who think a secondary gunner will wait in his turret for many minutes, doing nothing and not knowing if the driver will move at last, those are just liars who desperately want their love ride with their caddies turret boys.

And again, if multi-crew tanks are so "top", why to ask to make the "solo" tanks much weaker ?

How are the lightnings weak?

They're pretty awesome if you employ them correctly. AI for long-range artillery, AT for Berzerker and Skyguard for anti-air. If anything, the versatility it holds against the air makes it more powerful than standard heavy tanks.

Communication. Have you tried it? Use proxy chat or type if they don't have proxy chat. I communicate with my pubbie gunners and we usually have a pretty good time. If they don't agree with your intent they can just hop out and you can find another gunner at the warpgate or a populated base.

The solo tanks (yes, plural, because MBTs are crew optional, not required) are as weak as they need to be right now. MBTs are slightly stronger than Lightnings for the 50 extra resources they cost to pull. If they are to be buffed, they need to come with a crew requirement like a Liberator otherwise we'll be right back to where we were a few months ago.

If you don't like the idea of a crewed tank or aircraft, pick the Lightning and ESF and have fun. MBTs need to be crewed in order to curb spammability and justify any buffs to damage and health they may receive, otherwise we'll permanently be in flux between overpowered and underpowered vehicles. We can't have one person becoming a massive force multiplier on their own by picking what is essentially a pre-nerf BFR that costs 250 resources.

bump

But guys, Smedley said one-man MBT's will "be more fun"
He must be right.

This. 1000x this.

Matthew Higby‏@mhigby
We're working on retuning MBT armor for GU08, goal is to make them a bit more survivable vs. ESF and infantry based AV.
Matthew Higby ‏@mhigby25 Apr
@SpaceMoose3 the goal is about 20%, it'll vary slightly tank to tank.

So the tanks are getting roughly 20% increase.... Well here is the problem, Using the scythe purely because it has easier to control rocket pod firing mechanic is easier to track..

So my prowler gets rocket podded from a scythe, 3 shots put it into a critical state at which it will burn to death. a 4 shot is over kill. giving it 20% more suvivability is still not going to prevent it dying in one pass to a scythe that still has the ability to do 90% more damage to my tank before it has to reload =/

wait... ESF's... 1 man, Preferable to a liberator cheaper then a liberator and more damage output and survivability then a liberator..

Their damage output and survivability depends entirely on the pilot and the gunner of the Liberator. ESFs are extremely fragile and certainly have far less damage potential than Liberators do. Lightnings are their ground equivalent and MBTs should be the ground equivalent of Liberators.

You've got to be kidding.

Surely you can't be serious?

People are saying that it will be roughly one more rocket from the side or the front before you're destroyed. It's better than nothing.

What I'd rather see is a variant of the current tank wherein the prowler and vanguard get 3 man crews, and the Mag either gets a much more powerful gunner cannon (more like the PS1 version) for a 2 man crew or a 3 man crew like the others. Then boost the armor by about 150%. You would have the additional power of being able to more accuratly run and gun, and the driver could focus on evasive manuvers better. But with higher crews they are more juicy targets, and the 150% armor gives them a bit more protection without making say a 3/3 prowler a straight upgrade to two 1/2 prowlers and a 3/3 prowler would probably get dumped on by two 2/2 prowlers or three 1/3 prowlers.

Alternately the 3 man crews could be 2 with the gunner swapping between the primary and secondary weapons if it seems too powerful to have both gunned full-time.

Also suggesting this as just a variant, the regular driver gunned version would still be avalible so you could still spam a dozen 1/2 vanguards or prowlers to charge your enemy. But people who prefer more teamwork, interaction, and coordination between players could pull the heavier variant but risk more in the process.

The MBTs are one of my biggest disappointments in the game. They're too squishy to be effective as a front push, unless they're pulled en masse. Alone, they're only effective when you sit back and spam. They're glass cannons, high damage, low survivability. But any changes to survivability means the pendulum will swing back the other way and MBT will be too dominant. Had it been high damage, high survivability but with seperate gunners and drivers then it would ultimately be an easier thing to balance.

The current system also blurs the difference in rolls between the MBTs and Lightning. Really, the only reason you pull a Lightning is because you want the AA or you just can't pull a MBT.

And I think the buggies are just going to be completely outclassed. Buggies are going to be absolute tank fodder. They'll have less survivability and less firepower and at least 2 if not 3 crew to work it. One dude in a tank will always be a better choice than 2 in a buggy. The only "advantage" the buggy would have is a lowered resource cost, which is pretty irrelevant under the current resource system.

This is very similar to the OP.

I think I saw the devs mentioning a CTF mechanic to take advantage of the buggies. They're also probably gonna be available on transport terminals as opposed to tanks. Still, you make very valid points. Having crewed MBTs would make buggies way more useful.

Yes it is, except I don't want the MBTs just changed to that only, I want it as an option. I also don't really want to see the crewed MBTs buffed to double the existing tanks.

I see the regular tanks as perfect for the general zerg and players that like not relying on others and the crewed ones for outfits and more organized squads so there are more options to play with.