1) Mattocks have roughly 5m more effective range, that's twice as much but still not 'insanely good'. 2) Most NC ES weaponry (apart from the gimmicky stuff) is long range, high damage, low rof. E.g.: Titan 150, SAW, Reaper DMR, Enforcer. So just because someone suddently decided that shotguns are totally badass, something most players disagree with btw, we're now the close combat faction?
NC isn't competitive with (or fun to use compared with) the other factions in a lot of ways. (E.g: MAX AI weapons outside 10m, MAX AV weapons, MAX faction ability, Harasser weapon synergies, ESF traits, ESRL...) The slow-moving, hard-hitting, damage tanking, faction 'trait' needs more emphasis. Up the damage done by weapons slightly. Up the HP of Vanguards and Reavers slighty. SLIGHTLY! That, with control and trigger discipline, the weapons are very capable. High skill = high reward. Jackhammer is in a pretty good place. Vanguard is in a pretty good place. PS: NO MORE SHOTGUNS! PLEASE! EVER! Give us Rail Guns and Auto Cannons! https://forums.station.sony.com/ps2...n-type-for-nc-faction-specific-weapon.149267/ https://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/vanguard-railgun-speculation.83698/
1. What makes you feel that NC is unbalanced? Both faction (TR and VS) have 2 powerfull empire specific weapons. They have weapons that deals good damage to enemy vehicles and infantry. We have Enforcer ML85 which is good to damage mainly enemy vehicles. And we have Enforcer C85 Modified which one no one uses because it's useless!! It's good only on infantry and only in close distance - and at close distance I would better use Fury. Why other factions has weapons that is good in many situations and we don't have any like them? Give us some nice weapon that deals damage to vehicles and infrantry, and which one would do so from better distance than 15 m instead of that Enforcer C85 Modified. Both factions has different basic weapons for MAX'es (chaingun, grenadelaunchers, "beams of death"-VS weapons). Why NC has only shotgus and there is 3 kinds of them? Can't we get sth else instead one or two of them? Sth which we could use in long distance instead of sitting in bulding and waiting for enemy to come closer because we have shotgus. 2. If you could change one thing about the NC's balance, what would it be? Phoenix >300m. Most the time Phoenix is usless. Sth need to be changed in that area. Maybe and a fuel rate and afterburner in missile, that player could controle missile speed, and fuel that left in engine, becuse all vehicles can easy escape from fired missile. Missile that can't reach target isn't a missile at all. Or make Phoenix missile don't dissapear after reaching range limit. Isn't that strange that missile dissapear after reaching range limit? After range limit player shouldn't control missile but it should still flying straight in the direction of last position. 3. What 's your favourite aspect of NC balance? Hard to say. I like playing NC, they always find some enemy. And equipment is mostly nearing to the equipment of our age
1.: Is there any evidence that those best NC players would not be overbuffed by simply joining another faction? 2.:What is worse: NC as the faction that obviously (WDS, overall K/D, blahbala...) has reasons to complain, or NC as the (only????) faction that maybe can have some "godmode players" and is maybe able to earn more XP/h than other factions (like - i guess - the other factions did for quite a while) until new pieces of the puzzle drop in? I understand that this is a difficult puzzle. And of course Higby's knowledge about all this stuff is much bigger than mine. I just really like this game as it is, playing it a lot, am fine with all gamechanges that have been made so far. Thumbs up, Mr. Higby. But still, here are my 2 cents for your difficult puzzle: - VS ZOE Max: Nerf (in progress, thx) - TR Vulcan: Should not be the only "1 weapon that eats everything" - NC Reaver: Should not be the "easiest to hit" and the "hardest to hit with" ESF at the same time. Maybe it can be puzzled into this direction: competitive for average pilots, not overbuffed for pro-pilots. "...we'll continue to address over time." Higby I really appreciate that, you obviously know what you are doing.
Maybe, but that's not what Higby is saying (or what his data is saying). In fact what he's saying is even when NC "L2P" (i.e. you only look at the top performers) they are still slightly subpar and when comparing more average players they are significantly more subpar. Not that any of that actually means that "L2P" is the answer however, as experienced players could simply be using differing tactics to make up NC weapon short-fall, as opposed to getting "good" enough with them to "almost" make up the short-fall.
I'm not sure anyone is saying the game is broken... Just that it needs to be improved. If you're not in the game of pursuing perfection, you've more or less detached yourself from the human condition...
Aren't you undermining your own point? Like, why should wins be handed to TR/VS and a challenge to overcome for the NC? You have to remember this -isn't- a singleplayer game. It's not 'I win, or I lose', it's 'I win, or they lose', which means 'I lose, they win' - when you have one side having to overcome more of a challenge than the other, yeah, they're going to appreciate their victories more, but the other side are getting wins handed to them for no challenge. I joined NC because NC was underpop and I wanted the challenge. I didn't want a challenge where the game kicks me in the shins whilst casually giving a reacharound to the opponent.
What makes you feel that NC is unbalanced? NC is harder to learn, and possibly less reliable * If you could change one thing about the NC's balance, what would it be? I don't know for sure. Maybe a subtle damage (or range ? or speed?) buff, not enought to increase TTK, but one that increase faction efficiency as a whole. ** What's your favorite aspect of NC balance? None.*** * First, Small clip and slow rate of fire mean that during his playtime, a NC shoots (down to) twice less than a TR, and can hardly use the information gathered from a first (exploratory shot) to land a second one. A NC have access to less information about his gameplay ! And it's not only a feeling ! It's quantifiable ! Second, a high rate of fire give a weapon a smoother behavior : you are likely to do average damage with this. The result of a 1v1 is either someone win, or they both lose. A low RoF weapon expose you to bad luck, such as missing those crucial shots. That results in loosing more often, instead of performing average. And because the weapon are "balanced" for high performance, you won't win more in order to compensate... ** There are situations, such as finishing a running oponent, that require fast firing weapon... Slightly higher damage overall may improve those, because the oponent would be allready more damaged.
Yeah the loyal NC wont swap empires. They will flat out quit and come back should the day come when the devs decide to make NC more accessible and competitive. The NC who spent alot of hard earned cash on their characters just got told L2P by a dev. Thats real good incentive to stick around.
I'm answering this as a noob who's only put certs into HA. That might mean my opinion doesn't hold as much weight as veterans, but I think the experience of new players should be considered as well. The GAUSS Saw is just way too difficult to use for new players - it seems to be decent at medium-range combat, but it's terrible in CQC. I pretty much know any time I run into someone within 10m I'm screwed, and while many of my CQC deaths are surely due to my lack of skill, I feel there are many times when I get the drop on someone, seem to land a lot of hits on them, and still die anyway because my gun isn't good enough. Either give us a new weapon that's better in CQC for our default HA gun, or change the SAW so it's more effective in CQC. I'm really too new and too unfamiliar with the other factions to comment on this.
What I'm getting out of this statement is: 1. Higby is saying that things are out of balance but not alot. 2. He needs to buff a few things but not so much as to cause another out of balance situation. It's definitely clear the NC needs something to make us competitive again....period.
I'm reposting my initial post after the clarification: 1) An overall lack of flexibility where many NC weapons are for specific situations where the other empire weapons are much more flexible. 2) Vehicles and MAXs have been "Normalized" to oblivion and require either a rollback of their nerfs or a complete rework of a particular weapon system to bring it up to par whereas the Infantry weapons are pretty close to where they belong. 3) I'm willing to accept slower, harder hitting and more tanky for some tradeoffs, unfortunately we're trading far to much for little return.
Sure, NC weapons are harder to learn but that is not the whole story. If NC weapons were as good, the leaderboards wouldn't be devoid of NC.
People whining like they have it the worst. The NC is vastly overpowered compared to the TR, and is much capable of competing with the godly VS. Why so much whine? For Heaven's sake, just look at what the NC has!
"As far as NC goes, I often see NC players not taking advantage of their parts of the "asymmetrical balance" that Higby mentions. You have a plethora of weapons that are quite powerful in specific situations. You know what these situations are. You know how to get into them, yet often I see NC players disregard those situations. On the flip-side, I've seen some amazingly smart NC players use their weapons in proper situations and rack up some crazy plays. Something to think about." I thought about it. And yes, it's all true. But isn't it also true for every other faction??????????????? If so: Where's the point? What makes you feel that NC is unbalanced? To mention only 1 thing: NC had no chance to win the WDS.
What makes you feel that NC is unbalanced? If you could change one thing about the NC's balance, what would it be? What's your favorite aspect of NC balance? As a quick disclaimer, I am a tanker 100% so while I run around as an infantry at times, my focus is on ground vehicles. TLDR version: 1) Shotguns should not be the NC "calling card" 2) Shift to hard-hitting, high-health/armor, low ROF, lower movement speed for both infantry (can it be done?) and vehicles (Vanguard = perfect example) 3) Vanguard. That hard-hitting mentality with good staying power but poor maneuverability = balanced vehicle. The full version 1) There are two primary issues I have with NC balance. First, is that the Enforcer-Modified is terrible because, ignoring its poor performance, if you're using a shotgun on a Vanguard/Harasser and actually causing damage, you are suicidally close to your enemies, which usually means you'll get C4'd. The second issue is that our infantry is not balanced in the same manner as the vehicles. Just like how the Vanguard is slow, slow-firing, heavy-hitting, and heavily armored, so too should our infantry. Given the situational usage of most of our MAX weapons and the relatively unforgiving low ROF and bullet drop of other guns, I feel like NC infantry needs a slight health buff such that TTK evens out. It is incredibly frustrating to be facing down a Vanu of the same class, get the first few shots off, then die to 4 no-bullet-drop headshots. A final, but less important point, the Phoenix is relatively useless unless en-mass. While the argument can be made that organized groups can take enemies down quickly, I counter that a weapon that is not fun when used individually will not be bought by many people, and thus you will never have a critical mass to ensure effectiveness. Either a DPS buff or a range buff would be very helpful. I am never a fan of AT weapons out-ranging infantry render distance so that main solution is to either increase the damage, increase the missile speed (maybe a boost ability?), or allow for reloads while the missile is in flight. 2) The biggest change I would like to see is for the ESV weapons to be adjusted. My gunners preferred the original Enforcer to both the new Enforcer and the current Halberd. Playing off the NC strengths, I would like to see these two weapons perhaps be one which has massive splash damage (like a HE shell) and another which has high damage but low splash (like an AP round). Making them three-shot or lower means that you have the hard-hitting, low ROF the NC is known for, which provides two useful, situational weapons. As a result you'll have the new Enforcer (AP), the Enforcer-M (HE), and the Halberd (HEAT) to use depending on your mood. Rather than the current Enforcer (kinda-AP), the Enforcer-M (useless), and the Halberd (the old Enforcer). If you are engaging enemy infantry at close range, then you're using a Vanguard wrong and/or you just equip a Kobalt. 3) As I said before, I love the Vanguard. This tank is possibly my favorite vehicle I have ever driven in a video game (certainly my favorite ground one). The correct mix of firepower and staying power, along with the requisite cost of lower speed and poor handling means that you can control the battlefield unless you make a terrible mistake. And that's the balance I like. If you're smart you're fine, but you need to have the ability to assess and position yourself intelligently. The reason why many Max users are angry (I think) is that because most of our weapons are close-range, the NC MAX is useless outside of bases, which is approximately 75% of the map. Situational weapons and balance is a fantastic approach, however, guns need to be flexible enough to ensure they are fun enough to use, worth your money/certs to buy, and that you'll have the chance to actually use them before being farmed and laughed at.
What makes you feel that NC is unbalanced? TTK slower in general compared to equivalent TR & VS weapons If you could change one thing about the NC's balance, what would it be? Same TTK & recoil, which is kinda the same between TR & VS What's your favorite aspect of NC balance? MAX AA. Perfect balance.
What makes you feel that NC is unbalanced? If you could change one thing about the NC's balance, what would it be? What's your favorite aspect of NC balance? 1. NC starter weapons are great range options, terrible close option leading NC majority of player to play it safe and not take points and ground. 2. Switch starter weapons to closer to mid range variants or improve close range damage, hip fire and moving ADS of the starting weapons. 3. The hard hitting weapons.
