[Guide] MAX Review - Comparison of all 3 Empires

Expensive gear should be about specializing and convenience, otherwise the game becomes near unplayable for newbies in the long run. Skilled players should be a big threat, regardless of gear.

I played mainly infantery earlier on, now im playing tank/MAX mostly, nowadays my k/d is rarely under 4... (and yes as sniper i had very long killing sprees)

Well VS MAX weapons ARE very specialised, either AI or AV (not like Fractures that kills all) If you go up against AI-Zoe then he cant even hurt you in a lightning, if you go up against an AV-MAX you can easily take him out with infantery... (if you go up against a Fracture MAX he chews your Lightning up in seconds and spits out the driver)

Which game were you playing?? Pounder is the worst weapon of all the game. More than a half proiectiles you shot to infantry miss the target. If the target is too close you miss it at all. Sometimes when you are flanking a wall you might hit your self.
Yesterday I started firing with dual pounder against a parked sunderer. There was an engineer repairing it: 80 shots haven't been enough to destroy it!! 80!!!
The pounder is rubbish.

Doubtful, looking at your recent killboard. But since you play mostly Max now, I can see why you're defending the ZOE.

The op did make some mistakes (infiltrators don't carry C4, medics do etc.) and some of what he said is a subjective take on the matter due to his PS1 background, but overall he's not off the mark.

• I think the reload time for VS and TR maxes is pretty much irrelevant, since at the regular distances maxes kill infantry, the maxes need very few bullets to do the job. Things won't change at all even if they increased reload time three times for VS and TR. The difference however is very noticeable for NC.
• True, most of the weapons listed are near kills, which is why the op probably made those mistakes.
• You are wrong on this one. The difference between infantry and zoe max walking speed was adjusted with the recent hotfix.
• Engineer support is something NC are accustomed to, because they were conditioned from the launch of the game to consider their maxes valuable assets, and thus worth spending time repairing them when needed. The situation was quite different for VS however. It was very common to run around the whole outpost trying to find somebody to repair you, ending up waiting in the spawn room for repairs. And even then you'd get people ignoring you and taking off. Best armor upgrade for VS after flak was nano-repair, not kinetic.
• Comets are as good a choice against infantry as bursters. In other words, they are adequate against single targets, you're not totally helpless against infantry like you are with vortexes, but there are nowhere near as good as fractures and especially nothing like a dedicated anti-infantry weapon. It is a slow firing weapon and you are unlikely to hit moving infantry at more than 25m (or as likely to hit infantry with dumpfire missiles over that distance, if you like).
• With zoe the max becomes a less versatile and with weaker weapons HA, but with more durability than the actual HA.
• Hit detection is an issue irrelevant of max specials. I often melee people when in comets. The nebulas that I use are less prone to hit detection issues due to the fire rate.

For me, zoe is a nice mini travel mode, but that's where the novelty ends. It is great to put your max into a superior position and it's really strong if you play your max as you'd play your HA. If however your squad requires of you to play your max as an actual max, then zoe is usually better turned off.

You're doing it wrong. Slugs "register" just fine. The problem is that you're not aware of the COF changes when moving and using slugs. I fight at mid range using slugs just fine, and hit extremely consistently. The main difference is that I'm crouched and still when I'm firing, and I fire "semi-auto" to ensure that my COF doesn't bloom out of control. Again, you're doing it wrong.

I thought I'd never see the day when someone else appreciates the pounders strengths.

More people should know that the arc is the advantage, not the problem.

Again, it's highly specialized. Using lockdown and Pounders can be quite effective to put indirect fire on Sunderers and farm infantry kills from quite far away with little to no chance of the infantry returning fire directly due to terrain in between. The only other option one has to perform similarly is to use a Flash or Harasser with a Fury AGL. While the Fury is far more effective than the Pounder for AI use, you also have to attach it to a vehicle which may or may not be able to get into the position you want. Maxes are much more versatile when it comes to gaining an optimal firing position.

THIS!

TBH, I've always been a fan of indirect fire AOE weapons for anti-infantry work. Quite frankly, we need an analogue of a 60mm light mortar for mid/long range field use.

Ah right- infils have mines, medics have C4. Can't keep that stuff straight, I don't use 'em enough to worry about it. Bottom line: mines and C4 are extremely effective, and indeed, more effective vs. ZOE than regular Maxes due to the default reduced HP. Also: anti-personnel mines might not be a one hit kill, but combined with an AV mine and hoooo boy....

What is doubtful? That i used to play infiltrator alot with sniper? That i play mostly Tank or MAX now? Or that my k/d is way higher than 1.0 now?

As long as the pounder stays as-is, I fully support this

I think the main point I would raise about the OP's thread is that he/she is comparing the ZOE max to other maxes, whereas the speed boost makes it more like an infantry class with bigger guns and more armour than a "tank" based max. Note for comparison that for most non-level5 armour infantry classes, one decimator/C4/mine/etc. is also an instant death.

That said, I'm not convinced the VS max is all that fearsome. I die far more often to TR fracture maxes. I can see how pilots despise them though.

Old Falcon was kinda like that. Long range lob shots. Using it like a mortar and killing infantry or vehicles far away was fist pump worthy.

But... SOE detected fun and killed it in favor of another basic boring turd rocket launcher.

If they turned the Falcon into an analog of the Fury, that would rock. And by that I mean an 8-10 round AI automatic grenade launcher with a high trajectory, low(ish) velocity, 600m+ range and a 10m+ minimum arming range so we don't get spam in the hallways. Actually, that sounds really good as an NS common pool weapon available to all Maxes. I think the 10m minimum range would be quite a big drawback if not taken into account.

Also, Maxes need proper HUDs and aiming reticles for each individual weapon, just like we have for tanks and small arms. Particularly for any indirect weapon like the Pounder where a ladder style reticle would be beneficial for ranging and angle of sight.

Well zoe Dualburster is nothing compared to a lockdown TR burster either so... (try it in VR insta-melts aircraft, even libs go down in seconds) Anchored tanks that hit air easy with maingun, DB lockdown, Strikers... If anything pilots hate TR...

I wouldn't call 1.04 "way higher than 1.0 now".

Earlier in this thread, I was talking about having success with an un-certed ZOE with one Cosmo unlocked, and scoring 40 easy kills. You proceed to barge in claiming you get better kill streaks sniping and that my kill streak was nothing special, trying to deflate my stance that ZOE might indeed be OP. If you're going to participate in a conversation, at least be genuine with your opinions and don't lie. I initially thought, "Oh, someone that's played the max longer, might know what he's talking about". But after glancing at your stats, I find someone with a SPM half of mine, and a kd one third of mine, who most likely desperately needs an OP max to boost his stats back up to something respectable.





Look, you want to give us your opinion, by all means do. But please, root it somewhat in reality and be honest.

I started playing more with my ZOE Max (mostly stick to NC and TR). Level 1 of the ZOE adds an additional 40% more damage taken by every source. Level 5 reduces that damage intake to 20%.

Players should only use ZOE when fighting aircraft and fighting a couple of infantry you know do not have explosives. Beyond that it is mainly an escape tool or a tool used to travel from one base to another because no one will pick you up.

Think of 5 infantry firing on your bright pink glowing max that now only moves as fast as a normal infantry unit. What does that do when you are taking 20% to 40% more damage from every source. That adds up quickly. Toss in a rocket and the ZOE dies instantly.

Only an idiot uses ZOE 100% of the time. You do not want to jump into the middle of a fight against half a squad with ZOE on. Even with a cadre of engineers repairing the ZOE, they can not out repair the additional 20% to 40% damage. If a single rocket where to be shot at the max and hit anywhere close, that ZOE will die instantly along with a few of the engineers.

BTW, ever see what an Anti-Vehicle grenade does to a ZOE? It's messy.