Easy and Hard ways to make Vanu on par

You'll see me say this a lot because first hand experience of playing all 3 factions supports this not just the data you could get from spreadsheets and simple VR sessions as well.

NC weapons = Lowest skill floor , Highest skill cap
TR weapons = mid skill floor, mid skill cap
VS weapons = Highest skill floor, Lowest skill cap

This would show that NC weapons need to be toned down a bit and VS weapons need to be tuned up, TR seems to be the most balanced there in the middle. VS, Using Mattheron as an example, has the most faction loyal Outfit based population and the least amount of solo PUG types that just run with the Zerg. Where as on NC it is the opposite, they have most of the 4th factioneers.

The pew pew lasers and hover tank might draw new players in as far as cool looking aesthetics but it doesn't take them long to realize that the weapons are not only sub par out of the box (1-2 exceptions only) but don't even get much better when fully upgraded. Where has a faction like NC has a weapon that is the best or very close to it in every damage category, whilst holding their own unique damage category as well.

Also, Bullet drop = / = accuracy. The issue with Vanu is the combination of the velocity, and the side to side / horizontal recoil and very poor first shot accuracy as well as damage dropoff.

Let's look at the facts:

You CANNOT make your weapon do 200 damage per shot with ANY amount of skill.
You CANNOT make your weapon have increased RoF with ANY amount of skill

You CAN adjust for bullet drop with MINIMAL skill.

80%-99% of ALL planetside 2 fights that have any meaning or effect on objectives, do NOT take place at ranges where NC and TR experience bullet drop.

How about reload speed? Unless VS weapons are made to have a reload speed that is like 3-4s faster or maybe 1/4 that of their NC and TR counterparts, there is NO situation where reload speed is better then much less even close to as valuable as more rounds per mag, or higher damage, or higher RoF, or higher round velocity.... or even high accuracy.


So lets get into the solutions....


EASY SOLUTION
This one does NOT require a faction rework.
- Give VS Bullet drop same as other 2 factions (probably just requires a single value changed in the data base for each weapon)

- Change VS's weapon to reflect a new faction trait as "Highest round velocity", This should be reflected by +150-200m/s higher then the next highest counterpart weapon of the other factions. All VS weapons should see this, including sniper rifles, Magrider main cannon, Magrider ES secondaries, and other ES vehicle weapons. This trait also synergizes better with having a *strafe* tank as the strafe is only viable at dodging long range shots, yet it has suffered with the shortest range MBT cannon....

- Either nerf NC's weapons that excel in the 143 damage range, or give TR and VS weapons that not only are in the 200 damage range, but excel as well. The reduction should be the better choice so NC can retain the faction trait.

- Buff/Rework the Phaseshift and Cerberus. As far as the Phaseshift either give it 1x-6x scope and remove sway from all scopes for the Phaseshift only, or change the functionality of the weapon completely whilst retaining the overheat mechanic. Make the weapon more of a lazer type rather then a plasma type. Ex: Cutting laser mid-range sniper rifle. Have it be a continuous stream that does X damage every fraction of a second or every second. If held on a target's head for X second(s) it does enough damage to kill. Maybe 800-1000 DPS but overheats in 3s of holding down the fire button. This would even be balanced at higher values then 1000 dps simply because it would have the biggest form of a tracer out of any weapon that would be basically saying " shoot me here"
This functionality would also make it viable to be used in short ranges just like the current semi auto mode is "supposedly" put in to create.

- Buff the Corvus so that it can contend with the SABRE and the Reaper/A-tross as a long range AR. This would probably be best as an accuracy buff.

- Buff the Ursa so that it is actually useful. This would probably be best as a RoF buff AND a buff to the speed in which the recoil recovers.

- Buff the Lasher so that it either actually lashes, OR make it so after initial impact it does its normal splash but also rebounds for a potential second splash or even direct hit.

==============================OR =======================

DIFFICULT SOLUTION
Requires Faction reworks
- Change VS into the Close Range traited faction based on the design their weapons already have "plasma".
This means give VS bullet drop like all factions, and have lowest velocity HOWEVER give VS the high damage category which also means the 200 damage bracket and take it away from NC. This makes more sense as Plasma should do more damage then the type of weapons NC and TR use not only as the scientific make-up of plasma but the effects it would have on organic material as well.

The NC weapons should be of a "Gauss" or "Railgun" design. This means high velocity and accuracy.
With those 2 traits, NC should have the LOWEST damage weapons. This means a lot of stat trading, and weapon redesign, as the Vortex and Lancer could be changed to be more like a railgun/gauss weapon, and the pheonix could be designed to be more like a....Comet? The NC MAX would probably need to lose the shotguns and the VS would need a devastating close range AI MAX weapon. The Jackhammer would no longer be a shotgun but be an ES heavy weapon version of a Battle rifle (Gauss/railgun flavor obviously)



- Change all MBTs to have a dedicated gunner and dedicated driver. All current secondary weapons on MBTs should be coaxial to the main cannon. The magrider main cannon should have its model switched with the Saron, and the current main cannon should be the new model for the saron.

this would, quite possibly destroy the game.

You finally realized that nerfing isn't the way to go. I would support the buff but frankly put devs ain't got resources and time from a very small team. They don't really read the threads because they know how their boss would act to such a non conventional idea. Once you release a product, you only want to pad it which means adding new content. Tweaking takes more resources and time from that and usually you only appeal certain amounts of people and isn't beneficial to business.

What's wrong with the Corvus? Its a hard hitting, long range AR. I do well with it - WHEN I don't think I'm John Rambo and try to solo a whole room with it.

Vikarius I played vanu yesterday and had a blast. Got so many killstreaks and enjoyed the game. Either your not suited for fast paced shooters or you simply don't want to learn.

I play all 3 factions, and VS are the easiest by far. I usually avoid playing VS since it makes the game too easy. There are no changes to the game mechanics needed.

TL;DR this thread ain't going to last long.

I detect no bias in this post...
Also, if he wasn't suited for this game, he wouldn't have been playing it for over 2 years. https://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?members/vikarius.106023/

As for his post, I agree, but the other factions should not be nerfed. Vanu is supposed to be the long range, accurate faction, but it suffers from horrendous bullet velocity and first shot recoil multiplier which actually makes Vanu worse at range. Not to mention that its recoil is still similar to the other factions.

LOL brilliant deduction there Watson.
Especially since I play ALL 3 factions and find NC weapons the easiest hands down, no contest. Even to the point of "trial and dominate".

I play all 3 factions and my experiences are supported by the facts. Even the facts show NC weapons are the easiest.

Have any evidence to contest that?

Now use the SABRE and REAPER/A-tross. The corvus is weak in comparison in just about every way.

As a level 60 VS and 45 NC and 15 TR, I totally disagree with this entire thread. I think all the factions are balanced well. I prefer VS over all the others.

Personal preference is no basis for buffs or nerfs though .. Personally I feel TR have the easiest to control weapons but that's personal opinion ..

Tis always best to post the fact's you claim to have when you use them as a basis for an argument ..

That's not denying there isn't any facts .. but they need posting rather than just being mentioned ..

What facts do you have? I haven't seen you post any yet. You've posted a lot of personal opinion and a lot of one sided information but no solid all inclusive non-biased facts.

Don't mistake what I'm saying, if the facts do support what you are saying, and there is an unbalance I want it fixed too.

Where's the thumbs-down button?

+150-200m/s higher? Are you joking? That would make nearly all vanu weapons hitscan.

Vanu already got some of the best infantry weapons in the game, thats their niche: being the best in 1vs1 situations with their high RoF, low recoil and small mags.

Yes and i do play both vanu(BR 76) and TR(BR 86) and the only thing vanu lacks is a proper main battle tank.

To me this was always the odd thing, I really like how unique the Magrider is (don't use it though) but thought it should have been some sort of medium tankish vehicle (between lighting and MBT like a heavy duty harraser) and then a true MBT for the VS (and of course some sort of medium vehicle for TR and NC).

I do not see any evidence that supports this- go pour through all the myriad of in-game performance-based data posted on this forum. There is no evidence I am aware of that supports the notion there is systematic faction imbalance. This post just comes across as purely anecdotal.

Only on LMGs

Are we trying to say that VS is weak?

I don't think there are too many infantry buffs I could ask for in good conscience. While it would be nice to have a few more options (a 167@600 LMG ) what we have is pretty solid as is.

My perspective is that of someone with a BR100 + VS, 94 TR and 40 something NC. (Plus more alts of each with more playtime)

I'd love to hear exactly how VS has "some of the best" infantry weapons in the game. I will give you a minute to retract that simply by looking at the data yourself. (Hint: VS has worst first shot accuracy, and now take look at horizontal which is the hardest to control)

You clearly don't know what hitscan means. If you think that would make weapons hitscan then the highest velocity BASRs are hitscan too right? lol.... what a joke A weapon in PS2 would have to be 1,100-1,200m/s + to even seem like hitscan, and its still based on range. So +150-200 isn't that much, besides it is replacing no bullet drop.

As for everyone else. I have provided the facts in multiple threads as have others. They are also so obvious and available to everyone in forms of VR, making a alt in F2P game AS WELL AS the spreadsheets.

But I will indulge a little none-the-less.

NC weapons = Best first shot accuracy. 200 damage category weapons. Easiest to control/controllable recoil pattern (Most vertical least horizontal) and the slower RoF weapons make this even easier to control. Has weapons that excel or are the best in every damage category, are you really gonna deny this lol? and SAW= self explanatory. Best SMG... . I can go on all day

Hell I'd think it would be a pretty easy argument that NC has the best ES sniper rifle as well.