My original post called for the heavies shield to have to "ramp up" so for the first second it might be up to 20% effective, On second number two it hits it ramp up time and is 100% as effective and now begins to function exactly as it did before. All this does is reduce the effectiveness of "I am casually unaware of my surroundings but I am able to hit F the moment I take damage and turn towards the damage indicator while holding M1 down". So if you make heavy assault have to plan on using his shield instead of making it a reactionary IWIN button heavy will "have nothing good at all"...Except rocket launchers and anti-vehicle capability... oh ya and C4.
While I understand he ramp up ability and your frustration with being an infiltrator for instance and sneaking up on someone, opening fire they pop their shield, turn around an mow you down. I think the problem doesn't lie in the shield itself. It is in the infiltrator class. The infiltrator class at release of planet side 2 was basically useless unless you wanted to just purely snipe. In planetside 1 there were so many more uses to for that class, they could even hack vehicles and they stayed cloaked for however long they wanted. But one on one combat they had no armor an could only use pistols. They have tried I make them more useful in combat with the use of smgs and being the only clas that can use a sniper rifle. I think you are vastly over eating the shields though and comparing them solely to one on one combat with the infiltrator. The nano only absorbs 500 damage, which is not a lot at all, and the resist shield is only really effective if you engage it before you are hit and have full health and armor. They are one of two assault classes, and as far as other classes go they really don't have a problem killing a heavy especially if the heavy was caught off guard. They shield is meant I assault, take extra damage so that they can charge and break enemy lines. That is where I understand your ramp up argument and maybe it should be implemented of the heavy was overpowered against light assault and other classes. The infiltrator however is not an assault class, it is not a front line fighter. It is a sniper or behind enemy lines class "infiltrator". They aren't supposed to be able to kill heavy assaults at close range with ease. And like I said before you have access to all classes, so if you have a problem with the infiltrator an how they are played then don't play them. There are tons of infiltrators out there that play them much differently and more effectively. Even when I play as an infiltrator I have no problem killing people with the blitz if I can flank them. If you are going to make an argument that jet packs and going invisible aren't useful then I have no idea what to tell you. It you want to make an argument that they should be able to do more, then I agree with you. But making up arbitrary numbers such as "90% of people play heavy assault" is false. Plenty of people play all of the other classes. The heavy assault is meant to have anti vehicle capability and an overshield to replace the lack of added armor, since all classes have a shield instead of a static armor. Like I pointed out in my previous post, the armor that the heavy assault is modeled after from planetside 1 used to absorb more damage, but we don't have armor now, we all have the same shield. If you think 500 damage is a lot then I don't know what to to tell you, that's like 2 or 3 bullets. People die very quickly in this game if your aim is good, even with an overshield. The key is to flank people. If as a heavy assault I can constantly flank a group and get 2-3 kills without even being shot at, then there is no reason a class that can cloak or a class that can fly over walls and buildings can't do the same.
Well, the only way to avoid the trials is to spend money and so far, I am not enjoying the game to the point where I wanna drop money in it. I dont spend money in a game to enjoy it. I enjoy the game first then spend money to further my enjoyment, as ive now done with PS2, gotten my Armor and helmet for HA. I like heavy mechs the best in that game, namely the trial dragon that had a Large Laser and Gauss Rifle on it, but even that was sorely lacking. Assaults are so painfully slow in MWO...its scary.
I thought "HA is my third most played class, but has the most kills. Is it OP?" The I thought for a moment (great advice BTW) and realized, "HA is for killing people. That is all it does. Working as intended."
HA is ment for killing. OP seems to be just porting due to the amount of times hes died to one. As HA is played the most it would make sense that hes/she is killed alot by them. Does this make them OP....no. As i'm assuming OP is a cloaker just pick your engagements better.
That's the No#1 reason why I use the shottie with L.A or just basically play HA. IMO shotties with a less armored class (L.A. Engie, Medic) makes it a fair fight against a shielded HA. Recon should stay away as they'll usually get annihilated by a HA. I wish all infantry had same armor but HA would have an even higher damage weapon. MAXes could get a buff in armor as they are basically steel plated BUT the revivability removed.
My only complaint is that Strikers seem a biiiiiiiit OP. Seriously, a rapid fire lock-on missile launcher? What the fresh hell?
A rapid fire low scoring low killing 12th in a line of 14 in game rocket launcher.. you must be bad if you are actually complaining about it.
I rarely play as Heavy Assault, but when I do the whole game feels like an easymode for me, so no wonder why majority of people use it and attacks against everyone who suggests nerfing them. The core problem of HA is that everyone is using them, no matter where you go fighting there will be always Heavy Assaults against you. Its no wonder, HA has the most firepower and survivability of all infantry units, its basically suitable choice for every situation. That is perfectly fine, since that is what the class was made for, but the problem is that whenever you face HA as some other infantry class, your choices are: 1. Fight and hope he is a bad player 2. Get killed because he was a good player 3. Back off and let other HAs deal with him or be killed while trying to do so. The third choice is the problem, since Heavy Assault can move the exact same speed as every other infantry unit, so there is no running away from them, good players go after you and kill you. There will always be more HAs than support classes, so thats why they should have better changes to get away from HAs, because they cant win them in equal fire fights. So here is the question: Why the most powerful infantry unit for every situation have the same movement speed as every other class? They they are carrying the most powerful weaponry in the terms of firepower and a shield, which even further increases their powerfulness, so its the most reasonable change to make them a bit slower than every other class.(or buff the movement speed of other classes) Its just a bad game design that someone with powerful ability like a shield + LMG and RL can keep up with the movement speed of every other class. The more powerful you are, the more slower you become, its a very basic system used in majority of online shooters and even in single player games. Everyone can agree that HA is without a doubt the most powerful all around infantry unit in the game, so change like this is good way to balance them. Anyone who disagrees with this doesnt just have any idea what balance in online shooters mean.
same argument could be said for MAX units. That being said, I'll take a squad of all medics over a squad of all HA. The HA is the rifleman class. He's your bread and butter of the army. Any Squad should be roughly 50% HA. 2 medics, 2 engineers, 1 infil, and a MAX. You can swap HAs for MAX or LA depending on the situation. But IMO the HA's advantage is heavily balanced by the fact that they basically can't do anything by themselves. There's no way a team of all HAs is going to take a base against an even number of defenders. They can't hack out an AMS, they can't revive each other, they'll all run out of Ammo, and they'll still get murdered by MAX units.
Hmm, I've killed heavies before with the infiltrator both by sneaking up on them and in single combat, but I get what you mean. The problem, I think, is that most of them have a shotgun, but that's not a problem with the class, it's a problem with the gun. If a heavy turns around when you sneak up behind them, so long as you're at full health you should theoretically be able to knife them and kill them instantly if their shields are broken by your pistol/smg - you'll live with a sliver of health left in most cases. The exception is when they have a shotgun...then you just die, pretty much instantly. I'm afraid this seems to be becoming the rule rather than the exception. Le sigh. - Braddigan
I didnt read through all the responses - but based on the title of the post I had to do a quick reply. I am CONSTANTLY killed in a firefight by light infantry so you will never convince me heavy is overpowered. I expect to live much longer than I do as a heavy.
I think the shield is just fine the way it is. Perhaps I'm a **** player but I get killed plenty when playing HA. I do think the class is a bit to versatile & splitting it into an anti vehicle & an anti vehicle class could be a good idea. That said its not the only versatile class. Look at the engi he can kill infantry, lay mines, kill vehicles, repair vehicles & base objects, drop ammo for others. Much more versatility than the HA. Only reason engi isn't complained about as much is that not all of their skills are combat based.
Cyclone dese fuggers to death! I feel like having a 50% win-ratio against HA as LA. No problem there (Only the guys using a rocket-launcher as a shotgun are getting on my nerves)
You're an infiltrator and you expect to be able to take out a HA 1v1? The TTK in PS2 is, probably, around 1 second; I'm sorry but your tales of taking on a HA from behind and him turning on his shield and doing a 180 to take you down is pure fantasy without any other factors being taken into account. You're either not a very good shot or he heard you decloak and was already turning towards you.
This. Heavy Assault is all kill no utility. Sure they are more powerful in a gun fight than a medic or engineer but the latter has a much bigger impact on the fight than a HA.
