[Suggestion] Striker Revamp - No whine, no rant

Except... If TR has Air and Armor superiority... Why is it, they lose ground, even when they have equal or more population. For a 'skill-less' weapon that only requires 'monkeys' to use it... Why is it, in the times I play NC or VS, I see not nearly as many Striker hits, but Annihilator attempts as much as Strikers from TR players?

While I agree there is some tweaking, the problem is, these arguments are completely biased and foolishly incorrect. Furthermore, the TR Striker has to stand out from the NS Annihilator, which that does. A 'straight upgrade' is dependent on the situation, and again, its about 2 seconds to fire all 5 rounds, but as stated before, a smart tanker or pilot can mitigate those rounds. The major benefit besides the annoying tracking path it has, is that it will allow a user to get in some damage versus 0 damage. Again, if you wish to keep citing it is complete air and armor deniability or grants them pure superiority, please explain why all the maps are not constantly dominated by TR on a daily basis. If you cite because the 'kiddies' are busy at school and have a low population as your only excuse, explain also why in prime time they get pushed back if they have superiority.

Don't forget... With their OP striker, they should be having Armor and Air superiority regardless of how stupid the monkey is, no matter WHAT time of day it is. This means their ability to Defend should also blunt any offense while they are attacking as well. If you can't explain it beyond this or why the NC AND VS aren't warpgated even 70% of the time daily... It suggests the argument isn't exactly correct either.

Apparently no longer a part of GU15.

Cos you need infantry to capture bases still. Your TR guys must just not have strikers then, which kind of explains why you don't see as much air/armor superiority.

Yup the air/armor denial is a biased argument and should be read as such, but your one about the striker being a sidegrade is just delusional. More rounds in a skill-less lock on is not like the difference between NC and other guys weapons, the higher/lower damage per round is not balanced out by a slower fire rate or lower accuracy. Reloading inclusive it does an extra 60% damage (254 to 156dps), it is used in the same way, lock, fire, forget against the same targets. If it is a sidegrade as you claim, In what situation would a user say no to 60% extra DPS and more importantly over double damage per volley, for a weapon that only fires 1 tracking rocket instead of 5? I mean take into account the quick lock time, the Striker locks and fires two rounds (1000damage) in the time it takes the annihilator to lock and fire its one (1200 damage).
A reason for TR not dominating is that as they push, both NC and VS push back, so they are outnumbered, in addition to air/armor being not so useful inside bases, means striker superiority doesn't come through so much on territory control.

Yes... You need infantry to capture bases, but you will also note, a majority of these bases are CRAP when it comes to defense that air or tanks can also spam the crap out of the spawn room, despite some of the efforts to minimize it. The spawnrooms themselves are also not well designed to allow any faction, TR included, from breaking out from being spawncamped by mass vehicles.

In every argument about the striker was about the same when everyone had the NS Annihilator as well, where everyone complained about how 'easy' it was to use, and sadly enough, it was also the TR that got the most griping about it because, strangely enough, it was mostly the TR players employing Annihilator squads.

Furthermore, I never stated the Striker should be a sidegrade, that was Vax and the insistence that it should be. I was the one that stated that the Striker had to be a bit more to encourage TR to actually BUY the Striker, otherwise, why bother when people who had the NS Annihilator spend certs/SC on a faction specific weapon. The SAME reason I said the NS Annihilator should not be the 'defacto' lockon. It was VAX and YOU that focused that the NS weapons should be 'sidegrades' or 'better' than the faction weapon. I disagreed on that part because that is now how you want something that is empire specific to be.

Look at some of the TR players who also wanted the striker NOT TO BE LIKE THE NS ANNIHILATOR. When they first talked about this, I had my concerns about how it would be viewed... One of them was the simple fact that given the Lancer and Phoenix were NOT Lockon weapons, the Striker should be something other than a lockon, but the problem is, when you are trying to mimic something from Planetside 1 that USED LOCKON AS ITS MAIN FUNCTION... You can't really rip out the 'trademark' part of the weapon in general.

As for your comment about being outnumbered... See, here's the flaw in that argument, which the spreadsheet arguers harped, time and time again... The TR need only HALF the number of people to be effective with the Striker than with the Annihilator.

Yes VAX and Holey... One of the people in this thread and another Striker thread kept harping this fact. So even with a 2 to 1 superiority... The TR should be able to suppress the VS AND NC with their striker as they are also dealing with TWICE as many Armor and Air as well as infantry. In order for infantry to GET to those locations as well as suppress the TR, the NC and VS need to field vehicles to get people in closer and do so. However, as pointed out, TIME AND TIME again, in a live fire situation, this is not the case. As much as we like to think the TR are nothing more than monkeys with strikers, the Striker does not give the TR the 'IWIN' in the Air and ground superiority fights. The 'deny-ability' the striker gives is only fueled by people not trying other methods and also ignoring the fact that the 'monkeys' aren't doing more than just running around clicking striker fire, as, strangely enough, I have seen TR field Engineers, sunderers MAX armors and medics, and in some of their denial campaigns, get blown up, or bypassed by other players who don't entertain their escapades.

Far more annoying that I have seen is Harasser squads than roving bands of Striker Squads or 'denial' parties everywhere, because again, a lot of this is basically the 'bible thumping' going on and yet... It doesn't happen like that all the time.

See that is where you are wrong. Every weapon in the game is supposed to be a sidegrade as per the F2P model SOE want to use. It's the only way faction balance can be maintained.

I've not said the striker is twice as effective. In any case, NC and VS have for the most part, learned to use mainly infantry against TR, where things are on a more level footing. At the end of the day, my outfit and many others are discouraged from going up against TR with vehicles due to the striker's imbalance. Flares only do so much, hiding behind cover only does so much, if you have ideas to help any air/armor assaults against TR I'd love to hear them.

It's a nice idea but I gotta admit a rather bland ESRL. I want something interesting, fun to use and unique like the Phoenix or usefulness and precise as the Lancer.

Learn to read....

I never stated that you said it was twice as effective. I stated others LIKE you stated this and argued this as being the point. You argued it was providing the TR Air and Armor superiority. Last night, Connery had the TR pushing both NC and VS hard on Indar Continent... But it wasn't based on Armor and Air superiority due to the Striker being used... It was based on a 47% Population versus a smaller contingent on both sides.

Add to that, being a tanker and pilot... It wasn't the striker I was seeing providing the domination against vehicles, both ground and air, but the actual vehicles, engineers and Fracture/Burster use.

As for tactics to deal with the TR striker, again, learn to read, as I pointed out some of the flaws with the basic lockon weapons that seem to be IGNORED.

• Any Mass vehicle group - Lockon weapons will be bounce between closely packed vehicles, making it harder to actually lockon to a particular target. If the TR are hitting several different targets or having a harder time locking on because they are bouncing between several lockon targets, you bought more time to push in closer.
• Massed Vehicle Group with Flares/Smoke - Yes, flares/smoke only block a lockon for about 5 seconds, however, that 5 seconds allows a vehicle to act like cover for others. Yes, this also means being coordinated, but again, Striker squads, regardless of the popular belief TR are a bunch of skill-less monkey button pushers, do require coordination to actually make the dreaded 2500 damage on a target more effective by actually calling out what to focus on, more to make sure their target is going to die horribly sooner, than piecemeal or manage to get away.
• Mindful of the engagement zone - Strangely enough, the TR are not going to have 360 degree vision. Classic examples is the South Eastern Warpgate. Many TR bother to setup their 'denial' groups there just to piss off whoever has that place, or Crater Firing Range because of hard to get to without being seeing, however, each of those locations are also bad for TR to tunnel vision on just a few directions... Crater Firing Range - You can't focus on vehicles leaving northwest or Northeast... A fair deal of the time, people focus north, Northwest and northeast of Crater Firing Range. Smarter pilots and tankers FLANK from the west and south of the base. The cliff just outside of the Southeast Warpgate - Most TR focus on trying to pick off aircraft leaving the warpgate, you can also FIRE from the warpgate at that position, pushing them away from the edge to buy time for your armor to come around and push them from behind.
• Galaxies - The most heavily armored vehicle so far acting as a shield or an expensive gunship as well as just simply dropping MAX armors onto their position. As a distraction/shield, this leeches off some of the monkey button pushers, and if they aren't making sure that Galaxy is dead, it makes one hell of a bomb.
• Really good pilots - Seen this tactic a lot with really good pilots against TR when they try to warpgate camp the Southwestern Warpgate or in places that is hard to get, but relatively flat - Ram them with an ESF. A lot of the areas the TR love to camp with the striker or burster are areas where you can get around them, and ram them with your ESF, if you are a good pilot and know how to skim ram. Until SOE puts in an impulse dropping for ramming infantry, ESFs can mow several infantry down quickly before they lock on.

Right off the bat, 5 tactics straight from actual use of the Striker/Annihilator and seeing what other people have done to deal with the TR. And yes, some of this also ignores the fact that the TR will bring air or armor, and in the case of air and armor, you are also trying to counter this as well. Thing is, their air and armor will be unable to cover everything under the sun, EVEN WITH STRIKERS.

The TR Prowler, even with lockdown, can't always hit aircraft unless they hover or fly predictable paths... TR Lightnings with Skyguards can't always cover things, as it is LOS to burst down things, which if there is several of them, they run into the problem of how much ground armor protecting them from light assaults people can bail out as or ground forces engaging them.

The 'no-skill' weapon does have limits and understanding how the 'no-skill' weapon works as well as the people involved also makes for how to deal with it. Even with the 'shorter' lockon time than the NS Annihilator, which it could also get nerfed to the Annihilator's time or shorter lockon distance, the lockon part still takes time and can be easily confused. This is why some of the denial squads don't always use Strikers 100% of the time and also why Striker Squads are not entirely invincible either. The Air and Armor Superiority people equate to the TR isn't purely because of the Striker and again, does not explain why the TR don't always dominate everything.

When anyone cites superiority and then backtracks saying it is because infantry 'trumps' it. If the TR have the Air and Armor superiority, it would be 90% of the time and you would see the TR dominating all continents, regardless of 2 to 1 odds because if the Striker is providing the support on the Air and Armor superiority, it also makes it infantry superiority as well since they have both air and armor superiority to back them up on this. Or are you telling me that because the bases can only be taken by infantry, that the TR are so infantry inept in holding it or not using vehicles to suppress that infantry pushing forward as well? Or TR aren't going to use vehicles to help in a defense to take out infantry. From my own experience, this is not the case. I have also seen the TR PUSHED back into the buildings at Crater Firing Range, BY VEHICLES and infantry, needing outside Air support to help free it up and reclaim the base. Again, that was the time when even the guy leading the situation ORDERED strikers to be used, but they have been pushed back a few times back into the buildings and spawn room and even kicked out.

I want you to LOOK at Crater Firing Range and explain if the TR from either the SW or SE warpgate, who pushed to get there, can't hold it indefinitely... Cause I know, at times when it does happen, and I play VS or NC, we can weed them out and not get 'stuck' completely in the warpgate.

Learn to read....

I never stated that you stated that I said it was twice as effective.

The rest of your reasons are highly situational, and actually don't address the points I made anyway. Sure there are times when TR don't have air armor superiority, but that doesn't exclude the striker from being hugely useful in that role.

No, they are not highly situational... They are facts.

Case in point, Esamir, forget which base we were hitting, as a Striker Squad, we were picking off VS vehicles, but then several attempts by 2 harassers, 1 Magrider, several ESFs and some infantry kicked us out. 1 striker squad with 2 medics, 1 max and 1 engineer... That's 8 striker users. By all technicality, the ease of use Striker should have easily downed ESFs trying same with harassers or even a magrider for sure, but again... The 'superiority' of a striker, in the hands of 8 'monkeys' and 1 MAX using fractures and it is getting attacked by more than just 'infantry' to deal with it, from a high ground position against the VS... The Faction that says they have the weakest weapons.

Note, the people who claim the striker does 2500 consistently for each user is also situational. Even I as an NC or VS get downed more by Skyguards, Air, Burster MAX, or non-Striker weapons against the friggin TR than I do the Striker. Each situation of 'dominance' is also 'highly situational' for the TR, which is why I harp on this. Not cause I play TR, but simply getting tired of people throwing up their hands dealing with the TR under the assumption that the Striker is going to f them up so badly, and yet, others who actually DO something about it, actually SUCCEED.

Again, the above situation I outlined, it didn't take an f-in platoon or even 2 squads of people to take out a striker squad. 1 squad that focused fire on vehicles, and even then, got taken out by... VEHICLES... That isn't 'highly situational'... It's the fact that there are limitations, regardless of the number of striker users, on the 'superiority' applied.

Highly situational facts at best. We could trade anecdotes all day, but the bottom line is striker users hold off disproportionate number of enemies through general play with very little skill involved.

And this is why, you are no longer worth bothering explaining anything. You only justify your stance as 'it's all highly situational'... Just like the DAMAGE YOU GET FROM THE STRIKER IS HIGHLY SITUATIONAL. Yet you and others want to insist "We get hit with 2500 damage ALL THE TIME from every striker!" Yes... I always get hit with a full 2500 damage ALL THE TIME from ALL the TR Heavies out there every time I am in a tank/ESF/other vehicle... Oh wait, how did I die on my NC character the times I was in a vehicle versus the TR... AV Turret, Vulcan Harasser, Prowler, even being near just PURELY infantry, very few Strikers, even though there were HAs there.

Yes... Highly situational... And yet, every time I am on my TR when we do this, I watched these 'HIGHLY SITUATIONAL', 'ANECDOTAL' things I point out happen as well... Yes... They don't happen at all... OH WAIT... THEY DO...

Sorry, you literally, don't understand the difference between 'highly situational' and what some players actually do on a rather regular basis.

What some player do on a regular basis is not pull air/armor against TR, and fight NC instead. What some players do on a regular basis is get blown to smithereens when they do try and pull air/armor against TR. What some players do on a regular basis is get farmed by prowlers and mossies because their side lacks the armor to deal with them.

You see how we can trade anecdotes all day yet?

The striker is easy, but not skill-less

There are also a lot of noob ESF around

I have suggested that aircraft flares be slightly buffed (reduced cooldown, longer no-lock effect) as opposed to nerfing the Striker. I drive a Lightning a LOT and max IR smoke is a very good Striker deterrant. I cant linger and spamfarm, but I do have enough time when positioned properly to evade. If Im caught in a bad spot, flares/smoke wont save me twice in a row.

I view the balance of my IR smoke and Strikers as a pretty fair. There is still the issue of not being able to equip other items in the slot and one weapon doing both AA and AT pretty well as opposed to VS and NC ESRLs, but a slight buff in Striker countermeasures would be a good start. Nerfs are not always the answer