Let's go wild with speculation about the april balance patch!

There are 100s of weapons that don't currently matter because they suck/hardly anyone uses them as they're extremely niche.

Major buffs and nerfs and more importantly revamps would help the infantry situation a lot.

NC just has a much wider variety of different guns to choose from due to getting an extra damage tier that comes with different strengths and weaknesses, as well as just having more balance of 167 and 143 damage weapons relative to VS and especially TR who have way too many 143 damage guns with very similar stats.

I can hop on NC and I've still got high RoF weapons for CQC, but I've also got stronger SMGs that each function more differently than the Armistice and Failstorm, the best shotgun in the game probably instead of the relatively worthless MCG, and I get entirely new play styles opened up by all the strong mid-long range NC weapons that TR simply doesn't have except for one assault rifle.

There's nothing I'd really miss from TR currently, except Pounders 'cause they're hilarious. Falcons are still really good though.

I predict that, in response to forumside QQ, MAXes and the Dalton will be nerfed into near uselessness.

You guys think that Higby is finally going to fire the person who is stopping the MANA AV turret from being nerfed?

Disagree with the major buffs and nerfs , will agree on the revamp though .. TR could do with more options to add variety within certain weapon groups .. LMG's being a big guilty party.

What I'd like to see:

Rework the Striker
Give it a Coyote mechanic, have it be a dumb fire that accelerates and deals more damage the further it travels, something. Please just remove the lockon already.

Tweak Vulcan
Increase the damage at minimum range. Go ahead and increase the damage falloff if need be since the Basilisk should cover longer ranges. Let this be a dangerous CQC weapon for melee tank combat.

Improve Lockdown Speed
MAXes need to be able to position quicker than the current Lockdown allows. Just making it around twice as fast would be much more useable.



Buff MCG
Increase bloom rate, reduce maximum bloom so bursting is less effective but full auto accuracy is better. It should be a bullet hose, but those bullets need to come close to hitting or what's the point?

Buff Canister
Restore the minor AV damage (for all ESAI, really). A weapon that's situationally better at killing infantry than the Basilisk but universally worse (read: worthless) at killing armor just isn't worth it.

Tweak Enforcer
Slightly reduce damage, increase rate of fire and reload time. This weapon should have better burst damage than the Halberd, but worse sustained DPS. The weapon should focus on hitting hard and trying to kill the target in a fell swoop, but leave the Halberd the better sustained mid-range option.

Refine Aegis
No random damage going through. Go ahead and make it slightly wider, but still keep it directional so it's a block and not a panic card.

Tweak Vanshield
Give a straight damage reduction instead of an HP pool. When the best thing you can do while fighting the thing is jump out and start repairing your own tank, something is off.

Improve ZOE
Return back to broken state, but with an ability timer than can be toggled on and off. Increase damage taken while active so going head-to-head with the ability is a bad idea, but ambushing and AV work is enhanced.

Buff Magburner
Let the Magrider climb hills better. The argument "it was getting where tanks aren't supposed to go" seem silly, since that's the whole point of the Magrider. It goes where other tanks cannot.

Tweak Saron
Return it to a sniper cannon. DPS should be below the Halberd but have great velocity, so that the weapon is more reliable to hit at longer ranges but suffers in CQC.

Buff Harasser
Keep weapons and backseat nerf, but give some base durability back at least. Give the driver XP for gunner's assists, not just kills.

Remove ADS sway
Add a bloom crosshair if you need to show inaccuracy. Bring back ADS while jumping. I'm tired of trying to lock aircraft or snipe on a hill and getting pulled out of ADS whenever I slide on a rock.

That's the first Armistice complaint I've seen. From what I understand, it's a fine SMG that performs just as well as the 2 NC variants.

And the jackhammer is not really that praiseworthy. Try it out yourself. It's a sidegrade to shotguns. It's like a semi auto with a burst fire mode which allows it to act like a pump action. It isn't significantly better than other shotguns. Personally, I prefer the GD-Claw over the Jackhammer.

Our GD-7F? It's got a tiny magazine. I'd be lucky if I got one kill and nearly killed another guy. And let's not forget that the VS has the Serpent. They are nice weapons, but nothing to be envious about.

This is really a grass is greener situation.

That said, I'd like to point out that I do agree that the chaingun is not worth the certs/SC. Also, I would be perfectly fine seeing the TR get a carbine that has a higher ROF than the GD-7F and Serpent SO LONG AS the dps/ttk remains in check and its other stats are counterbalanced.

I'm predicting nothing will address the current overabundance of Fully Automatic headshots which are the main reason Vanu are way overpopped on the hardcore servers (and conversely, NC being overpop on Waterson the derpserver)

The main reason, being that none of the people who know the reasoning behind it, have Twitter to communicate this reality to the Devs. (and I don't personally CARE enough to register one). This is really a case where it falls on Radar's overburdened shoulders I guess to act as that bridge but often the issue with people from a Community Management background, is that they're more attuned to quality of life and customer "feelings" than they are to raw mechanics so they don't always seem to appreciate the full gravity of a situation like that when it's thrown out in brevity-form by those who do understand it. IT'S also part of their job description to basically downplay everything instead of raise warning flags. So, no,,,, just like everything since early DC universe beta....

this won't be addressed and most of the balance changes will focus on the wrong metrics just like the now dev-confirmed-Failure of "Lattice 2.0" -- That said, it IS actually amazing in this day and age that the Devs can be so candid about things that were either mistakes from the beginning, or "overnerfed". You don't expect that from huge studios and these days you barely even see it anymore from SMALLER ONES.

Jackhammer has the tightest spread and best effective range of all shotguns, along with the burst being able to drop people in near pump-action time in CQC. It is used dramatically more than the MCG and Lasher are because it's a CQC powerhouse and the other ES heavy weapons are niche at best.

GD-7F has no more tiny mag than any VS carbine, and the Serpent has 80 less velocity than GD-7F which is a very big reduction in mid-range effectiveness. GD-7F should probably be brought down to 460-470 velocity.

Wrel, who seems to be a fairly respected / non-biased reviewer, goes over why the TR SMGs are just not as good as the others in this video:



He doesn't directly compare to the other faction's SMGs but it's overall more negative than his reviews of NC SMGs because the TR SMGs just lacks the effective range and the Hailstorm lacks in general. You'll also see in the comments:

TheFlyingFantast

3 months ago

Cyclone versus Blitz next time?
Reply
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Wrel
3 months ago

Think I'll do the VS weapons next, and save the best for last.
This is a grass is greener situation, but the grass is actually greener.

You understand empire specific traits right? You know that's a thing right?

I hope liberators get nerfed SIGNIFICANTLY in the fact that they can fly upside-down and sideways and 1 shot fighters with the dalton.

In the first game, the liberator dropped dumb bombs with great effectiveness. They had to be DIRECTLY OVER THE TARGET.

I love getting kills in my lib, I do! But I cannot stand trying to go after a lib in my ESF only to have the pilot flip upside down, and the dalton nails me with perfect accuracy. The Liberator is an AIR to GROUND killing machine. It should not be an Anti Air superiority fighter with mega HP.

If empire specific traits were rigidly followed you wouldn't have the GD-7F in the first place.

Why would the TRAP be nerfed? It is by no means overpowered.

Nerf because its the most fun of the 3.

Its funny that the thing liberators do best is to counter tgeir counter by exploiting one of the weapons. Only the elites are capable of it though.

We love our gd-7f.

Just because NC is overpopped doesn't mean they're OP. That has got to be the most ******** statement anybody has said, ever, in forumside2...
That also doesn't mean that the factions are unbalanced, there are a few unbalanced weapons, but all factions have their own.

I'd like to see the TR get a 125/896 LMG, Carbine, and AR; and a 167/550 carbine. Preferably change the Rhino or Bull, Cycler TRV, and the Jaguar or Lynx to the 125/896 damage profile; and give the T5 AMC the 167/550 damage profile. Balance the numbers further as necessary. I'd also like to see them remove or lessen the random side-to-side recoil that plagues the majority of their weapons in favor of a different balancing mechanic. I don't think worse or better accuracy should ever be a faction trait - intended or not.

I'd like to see the VS get some changes too. With the TR having exclusive access to 125/896 tier weapons and the 200/500 weapons being the domain of the NC, it is only natural that the VS get something cool too. Maybe one weapon of each category can change damage tiers mid fight; between a 143/750 close quarters weapon or a 167/550 long range weapon with a simple button press. Just something that emphasizes VS versatility.

Memories appear to be short these days...

I am by far not an "elite" dalton gunner. But I have gotten the occasional lucky shot on an enemy aircraft that was engaging our lib. Do I know how to perfectly hit ESFs, no. But, I have before and I think that it should be much MUCH harder to do that.

The only time libs should be hitting other aircraft with the main gun, is when the aircraft is BELOW the lib. My hopes are that the mechanics of the lib flight be changed, not anything about the weapon itself. When libs turn upside down, their loss of altitude should be MUCH more severe. That thing is too big and bulky to fly like it does, its a gunship/bomber, not a fighter.

Dont get why do ppl recommend buffing the harasser. It is was just slightly nerf the blockaded armor (24% -> 8%)in the last balance patch, buffing it will just unnerf the last patch.

instead just reduce the cost to match its performance 300 -> 250