What is HARDER to kill.

Depends on the situation.

Hart to Hart Max

Played properly* an NC Max is near unkillable 1v1.

*and by properly I mean hiding in a building

Nc max

harder to kill with, harder to kill.

A certed out harasser with a decent crew is harder to kill than anything else! It's bad. That a vehicle designated 'transport' is the most badass vehicle on the field, be it air or land!

The VS Max is the winner by a mile and anyone to say otherwise hasn't played in the Maxes enough! Being a Max enthusiast, having used both VS Maxes and TR Maxes in outfit scrims, and just using the TR Max a lot on my primary character has showed me the VS Max is the king of Maxes and that is due to ZOE. The VS Max is more potent than the TR Max outside, Blue Shifts for the win, more devastating than the TR Max inside with Onslaughts (Pull Nebulas for the win), and is really only outdone in one area which is extreme CQC by the fully certed NC Max.

The speed of the ZOE Max makes it so much easier to avoid C4 and rockets, because you're able to react and evade much better than you normally could. You can catch infantry trying to outrun you and blow them away when they try, probably one of the best parts of being in a ZOE VS Max is knowing that infantry can never escape the impending doom you're bringing to them, not to mention if you manage to flank a group of infantry by yourself (Very high risk high reward) you can move through 4-6 of them so fast and kill them that they won't even have a chance to properly react.

Another big plus of the ZOE is it acts like a constant mini charge ability that can get you out of bad situations faster than a normal Max. Seriously with Kinetic 5 Armor and ZOE makes me feel like I'm playing on easy mode compared to the TR Max I've come to know and love, and I could only imagine how much it would blow the minds of NC Max users if they ever took a ZOE MAX outside with Blue Shifts.

Then you have the AV ZOE Comet Max, equip Flak armor 5, find a decent source of cover or elevation, and you'll eat Prowlers and unshielded Vanguards for breakfast. Even for an experience Prowler Tanker like myself I despise fighting the Comet ZOE Max with a passion, and if he has an engineer and Flak armor 5 it's normally not even worth engaging unless I'm running AP and the Max user is bad at strafing or leaves his cover or elevation. Now don't get me wrong when I see the every day noob use a ZOE Max it's not quite as intimidating, but when you put high BR or someone who is an experienced Max player into a ZOE Max they become a true force to be reckoned with on a scale that the TR and NC Max couldn't hold a candle to in terms of infantry killing potential. (unless maybe you're an NC Max in the doorway of a bio lab. )

I find Maxes on my own side really easy to kill.. they simply don't expect you to attach C4 to them when they are calling for a repair

All the max will kill you almost instantly as infantry if they get a shot at you close range but one has long range weapons and can dodge better than regular infantry.

ZOE>TR>NC, unless forced to be within 5m of the NC MAX. Which you're never going to be, if you aren't terrible.

As an NC (in infantry role) I find VS maxes are scarier to come across than TR maxes.

Flash grenade + C4 = everything dead. No matter what fancy colour they are wearing or how many disco lights they got going on.

How much is enough? I have about 10% more time in Maxes on our sig characters and noticeably higher unboosted SPM.

All the good things you mentioned about the VS Max are true, I'd agree that it is the best all around Max. None of it will save you when you run around the corner into an NC Max.

The NC max is tough to kill because:

1. Pops are generally low and the crowd has been distilled down to very competent players.

2. In very close combat, the NC max is still the best in my opinion.

The TR max is tough to kill because:

1. There are a lot of TR players and almost always have engis around to keep them going.

2. Outside of CQB, the TR max have great weapon systems. Able to do a lot of stand-off damage.

The VS max is tough to kill because:

1. People believe the ZOE max is OP so you see a lot of them around. Double and tripled up alot of the time. You hardly EVER see the other factions operating consistently in large groups. A pack of ZOE maxes is a sight to see, causes the enemy to cry to momma (or, the forums) for reasons totally unknown to me.

2. The maxes with ZOE move fast and you can spam attacks which is how MANY people like to play. People think the TR weapons are out of balance for this same exact reason. The ponderousness of the other factions give the illusion that they aren't as effective since they don't match the ADD of the player base.

Of the three, I'd say I prefer the NC max. The max shines in close quarters where MOST good fights take place, you can't run around much so speed isn't an issue and they still have a decent stand-off weapon if the fight gets taken outside.

Well you obviously played enough to agree with me, but unless your hopelessly biased it shouldn't even be up for question which is the hardest Max to kill or the best all around Max. In terms of surviving literally bumping into a NC Max is why I stated the ZOE Max is only outdone in one area which is at extreme CQC by the fully certed NC MAX. In both my TR and VS Max I find the NC Max the easiest to kill since it was over nerfed (The first nerf balanced it, then all Maxes were balanced and they nerfed it a second time a week later which was uncalled for) If the NC Max had one of its 2 nerfs taken away and the VS got jump jets instead of ZOE the game would be way more balanced.

The Problem when you compare NC vs VS/TR is that Nc fill their entire COF with bullets, so they have a much easier time hitting single infantry Units who try to fight against them, this makes more maxes dangerous, because lower skilled Players can still kill single infantry without having perfect aim, while the other maxes Need some decent aim to kill infantry who are just around the Corner dropping C4.
in MAXvsMAX tough it is nearly the opposite, as the NC has a lower sutainability with their small mags

In a MAX vs MAX duel

As VS, TR is much harder to kill especially a skilled fracture MAX.
As TR, NC is harder to kill. (Can't backpedal / circle the NC as fast as a ZOE MAX)
As NC, neither are difficult especially with Aegis shield. Most intelligent ones run away.

As infantry vs. MAX (This is versus people I deem as reasonably intelligent opponents, not your BR3 stock max shooting at you from 50 M)

NC > VS > TR

NC played intelligently is instant death with zero time to react. If they are caught at a distance, charge or aegis shield gives them a lot of leeway.

Next would be VS, in CQC dual nebulas might as well be instant death. Same with dual cosmos, there is *sometimes* a chance to deci them and pray they took a little damage before hand to 1 shot.

TR is by far the easiest

how to kill NC max:
pop your head around the corner and then quickly hop back into cover.
*BANG*
ok he's out of ammo you now have half a year to C4 him while he reloads.

in all seriousness though, i'd say ZoE,
they instagib like NC without the need to be in your face
and they're able to dodge rockets and prance away from c4 the two main max kryptonites,
also their pink prancing mode makes them able to skip back to their engineers if they hurt their ankles wearing those heels!

OP's question is a little vague

Harder to kill as max vs max? infantry vs max? is the max aggressive or camping? is he using flak or kinetic?

too many variables

Depends, but overall I think the ZOE MAX is hardest to kill for me personally. I rely on Deci shots and AV nades to kill MAXes, and ZOE users are much harder to Deci and usually can just backpedal away from an AV nade.

With the NC MAX, it's turning a corner and getting basically instagibbed, so there's no question of actually killing them. But at least they can't chase you. With ZOE it depends on their aim and whether or not they're kill hungry enough to chase you and run you down with their Skillshifts (they usually are). ZOE is disgustingly overpowered and while I honestly think the devs who thought of it should be ashamed of themselves, I have to give them props for having the balls to push the FPS genre foward and introduce such a mind-bogglingly broken ability.

TR MAXes are how MAXes should be, with the ability for fast reacting infantrymen to run away and engage the MAX on their own terms if the MAX user is stupid enough to give chase with their slow armored suits.

They all have identical base stats and upgrade paths, excluding the faction specific ability. The ease of destroying them is thus proportional to their hitbox, meaning VS are marginally harder to hit and NC are slightly easier.