Best Defensive cert for max (your opinion!) in order to maximize survivability?

I'm assuming flak is best for burster and kinetic is best for biolab fights. Not sure about nanites.

what do the experiences max users think?

also, i am pretty sure flak doesn't stop c4

Hands down Nanite Regen is best for overall survival no contest. I would use Kinetic for when you have an engy friend and need to push into a cap point or clear room and need that extra protection. Flak is good for AV and AA when you have no cover IMO.

not the answer i was expecting.

It's the best IMO because as soon as you pull a MAX you are going to be the top priority target. Everyone will be taking pot shots at you. A few bullets here and there add up really quick. Unless there are competent engineers around you will find yourself screaming for repairs and the enemy will throw themselves at you until you die. With the nanite regen buffed this patch it kicks in twice as fast and repairs faster. You can easily back out of a fight and regen rather quickly then go back to business. Flak does not protect against direct rocket launcher hits I have been told and C4 is still going to leave you low enough HP where an infantry can just come mow you down.

Situational:
- In an area with few friendlies then go for Nanites regen
- Biolab go for flak since you'll have an abundance of engys wanting to repair your chassis

Almost forgot: Kinetic isnt viable unless you can spend up to lvl 4

Flak now makes a single C4 do about 51% damage.
It is amazing. I am seriously reconsidering my AI Kinetic build.

Currently:
AI: Kinetic + Charge.
AV: Flak + Charge.
AA: Flak + Ammo Storage.

We could REALLY use more loadouts.. I need a Flak AI option as sometimes it is the obvious choice.

Honestly Flak is the best hands down.

First it's not a surprise that it's the best when doing AA or AV stuff.

Now in the case of AI, armor is really about picking your poison. Personally, small arms are not a threat. Good positioning allows you to do easy 1vs1 and if not, a single engineer can keep you up trough small arms. On the other hand, some HA can pop out in an instant then finish you a rocket and worse, LAs can 1 shot you with a C4. Even if you are full, a rocket and a few small arms shot especially shotguns can really own your Max suit.

So the Flak costs less than Kinetic, helps you with 3 roles instead of 1 and still does great against infantry.

Flak only helps against rocket splash damage NOT direct hits which is frankly what most rockets are against you. For Flak it's pretty much anti c4 / laughing off nades. Kinetic is for being almost ps1 level bullet resistance at the cost of having to be really aware of c4. And Nanite is for anywhere you don't expect a decent amount of engies / lack a pet engy / repairing after using the other two armors because no one healed you.

So I always suggest Nanite first, it's always useful in some way. THEN the armor of your choice. Don't need to max nanite but getting it to atleast rank 3-4 is highly recommended no matter what.

Regen is hands down the best for "the solo MAX" who can't reliably get an engineer to keep him alive. Regen is absolutely fantastic now, and actually worth upgrading.

If you do have an engineer, flak will generally win against kinetic because C4, tanks and Zephers are all extremely lethal to an unupgraded MAX unit.

I personally wouldn't bother with Kinetic.
Even though MAX damage resistance against bullets is an absolute joke, most of the time, people will try to one shot you with C4.

My suggestion, get Flak(as much as possible), and at least 3 ranks of regen and switch between the two depending on the availability of engineers.

Nano regen.

Nano-regen FTW.

I use it mainly because I like to slink around and try to outflank my enemies. Most of the time I don't have support and I like to be able to back off and heal then go back at them. With the recent buff it truly is AMAZING for most situations IMHO. AA? Use cover wisely and heal up when you need to.

Another thing about flak armor is clearing rooms of AP mines. As a MAX unit you're usually the first in a point or gen room. So, the flak armor allows you to charge into a contested room or hallway and eat the AP mines for the softies. I find myself doing that a lot, sometimes intentionally, sometimes..not so much...heh

i only play AA max so.

If doing AA ball, flak/sprint
if Doing AA but few engi around and few lolpodders repair/ammo
if doing AA but no engi around and alot of lolpodders repair/sprint
IF doing AA with none AA max's running around and few engi, repair/ammo(/sprint)
If doing tower AA and everyone refuse to kill the LA's flak/sprint
IF doing tower AA but LA's die and you can get back and forth on the platform repair/sprint

Nano is the best for me. Kinetic in biolabs for all those bullet hosing friends or when I have a dedicated pocket engineer. Flak would be useful for AA or AV duty except for the most part a lot of derpy engineers will stand right next to me and die. So nano works best for that.

Simple Version:

Flak: AA/AI/Anti C4/Claymores/Bouncing Betty/etc

Kinetic: Hands down the best at Lv5. Trust me lol. Go in fast and wreck harvoc, makes heavies run for their life than back out. My kill streak nearly tripled with Kinetic. I am a dedicated LA 90% of the time, so I am always aware.

Nano: Great for solo'ing when no engineers around or wanting for flank behind. A squad of bullets will take your HP down so fast as well as NC Shotgun maxes. It's okay, not the best for me.

Weird how nobody took the new upcoming MAX abilities into count when suggesting which armor to get. I think for TR flak is going to be the best choise due to lockdown where C4 is propably going to be fairly big threat. For the NC... well not much has changed so pretty much any of them goes.

For the VS I think kinetic armor is going to be the best. ZOE makes you as agile as normal infantry so dodging rockets and C4 is much easier so bullets is going to be the biggest threat. And since with ZOE on you take more damage from them the kinetic is pretty much a no brainer.

Actually I find for the current values on Zoe, Kinetic or flak is a massive waste, you get such a massive armor debuff it simply isnt worth it. Nanite is an absolute must to repair all the damage you'll take. Kin armor will do so little to lessen the debuff and flak becomes far less effective and still rather crippling.

As for Lockdown, I'd agree Flak by far though still a shame it doesn't stop rocket direct hits which will probably be nailing you repeatedly in lockdown.

And for NC I'd say Flak or Kin, probably Kin since you want to be as tough as possible and the shield is all but immortality to explosives and when you take the shield down you'll probably be getting shot by tons of guns.

Its all down to playstyle. You run AA? Then you should probably go for Flak and ammo storage. However, I run anti-infantry, and not using nanite-repair would drive me insane. I play alot of small scale combat with my outfit, usually squad on squad type stuff. Not having an engie around is brutal. Also, think back to all the MAXes you have seen spamming 'repair me' right next to 3 or 4 engineers. Do you really want to be that guy?

I find flak just isn't as useful for an anti-infantry build. Rocket launchers hitting head on will still kill you, and if you are getting C4ed, then you clearly do not have Charge equipped, and are not paying attention to what your enemies are carrying. Its just not hard to see when an LA pulls out C4 and tries to hover above you. Instead of wasting bullets shooting at him, charge away.

Charge is alot more useful then people seem to realize, and coupled with Nanite repair, it SHINES.

I can't see any reason to get Kinetic. Flak should be your only other option. Kinetic isn't going to save you against a Scatmax or a shotgun, so I don't think its really got a place for the MAX. You already have a fairly decent small-arms resistance.

does flak work if the c4 is placed on the max rather than on the ground?

and this is the first cert line where i think i will be maxing all of them (no pun intended). they all seem very useful in different situations.... and i already spent 10k certs on my tank so... not spending another 1k certs on 8 more rounds.

Kinetic is best as I use my max for AI.
Flak armor doesn't block direct damage and rocket splash doesn't kill a max before you can charge away to be repaired.
Regen would be if you play solo max, and a solo max is a dead max in my book...
I don't pull a max unless I have an engineer to repair me.