update thoughts

Put your thoughts on the update here, good or bad. Then explain them.

Personally, I feel the dps stripped from the shredder is a bit much. Taking all its blast damage without compensation will destroy its killing capabilities, particularly against harassers and esfs. But I haven't been on yet, so what do you all have to say about it? Did they compensate?


Post your thoughts on this and other topics below.

The Vanguard should not be able to go faster in reverse than the magrider can forwards. Mag got screwed over hard.

The update is not adding the reverse speed increases. That being said, it isn't just a problem with the Vanguard. None of the tanks should have reverse speeds this high IMO.

I'm just going to have a hell of a blast poking liberators and draining their ammo reserve. If theyve been farming for two minutes it'll just be a matter of seconds before they run out of belly ammo with ~70% capacity nerf.

Well.
Magrider got screwed over hard (or "relatively buffed" as Higby calls it) -- of course they ignored all the feedback, exactly as expected. I already have no tank driver anymore.
Getting Shredder Auraxium will be a pain. Doing any libbing will be a pain with having to rearm every 90 seconds (to be prepared for an incoming esf that can easily take 1/3 to 1/2 of your ammo reserve to destroy).
Good thing I'm solid at playing InfantrySide.

These are the ONLY tank changes:

Tank Changes

• Tank primary turrets are now stabilized. (Their elevation will not move with chassis elevation changes, unless it hits the upper or lower constraint)
• Vanguard acceleration is being brought closer to the other tanks.
  • It is still the slowest tank to accelerate; it was just too low.

The other changes aren't going through just yet because of our feedback. Also, during the PTS event there was an almost unanimous agreement that the Magrider will be completely shafted if all the changes were implemented.

Thanks, I read it myself multiple times
They already gave away an advantage of the magrider (altho they argue the one of the mag is "different") without compensation. It's just the beginning.
Unless the decision makers at soe were involved in that "unanimous agreement", I won't get my hopes up. But if you were there, enlighten me.

Okay, here is my humble opinion, as an infantryman and frequent victim of Liberator killing sprees.


The Liberator Gunship was a very tough nut to crack. For instance, one Liberator with at least two competent crewmen (and perhaps supported by one or two ESF’s) could keep the entire garrison of a small base occupied for a long time. The Liberator would hover irritatingly around up there and blast away at us poor foot-sluggers with irritating cheerful impunity.

If the Liberator was damaged enough by our ground fire, it would simply dally away for repairs, then return later, as good as new and with more ammo.

And yes, it truly was unbelievably irritating to be impotently fighting such an invincible killing machine. It made you feel frustrated and angry. You’d really start to hate the name of that Dalton gunner who’d blow you away for the umpteenth time


So did the Liberator possess an unfair advantage? No, it did not


I don’t know why some people think that the Liberator is OP. It was our own fault that we kept running outside, one by one, in a hopeless attempt to singlehandedly fight a flying fortress.

But perhaps that happened because we became obsessed with revenge (and lazy). We didn’t stop to think that perhaps we should team up, or that we should redeploy elsewhere and spawn ESF’s (a true deterrent versus Liberators). No, we kept respawning in the hope that one lucky shot would turn that irritating Liberator into beautiful burning bits. I know I became obsessed with firing that last kill shot, and seeing those purple names at the bottom of the screen. I never did. Even if it was immensely satisfying to finally track that Liberator to its lair, seeing it touch down for repairs, and then blast away at the surprised crew, I never bagged any of them. In the end, it was a friendly ESF that showed up and shot the Liberator out of the sky.


Anyway, frustrating as it may be for us footmen, I think that taking down a Liberator should (almost) never be a realistic prospect for a lone infantryman. You’ll lose all feeling of having meaningful Air Superiority in the game. Planetside is about teamplay, right? So if your team is utterly unable to provide adequate air cover, and the opposite team is, why is that unfair? A Liberator or a tank with a good crew IS good teamplay. If you can’t fight it on your own, then hide, team up with allies, or spawn an ESF.

For me, vehicles are merely spice for infantry combat. It’s fun to fight around those dueling tanks, or running from cover to cover when enemy aircraft are swarming all over your base. But I don’t expect to be able to fight a fully crewed tank or Liberator on my own. Or a MAX for that matter.



I am therefore sad to see the Great Destroyer nerfed.

I fully agree. The idea may have seemed interesting, but in practice it just didn't work out very well (from a balance perspective).

The idea behind the change was (according to Kevmo) to make tank battles more fun.
Well, it wasn't, and this was conveyed (politely I might add) to him after the PTS tank brawl (all the tankers who were there unanimously agreed that it was a bad change). So I doubt we'll see it anytime soon.

It also made it painfully obvious that the magrider is in need of some attention from the devs, although just how much remains to be seen.

this is bad enough already. why dont you people understand that giving one of the only advantages of the Magrider (a stabilized gun) to other MBTs is a clear gamebreaker for VS. it's like giving the Vanguard shield to every other faction, literally. it shifts balance in tank-vs-tank fights in favor to the TR/NC even more.

this is bad and SOE should feel bad. but completely the other way around, Higby even makes fun of us

Bug fixes are always a good thing. Glad a lot of bugs are going to be fixed, hopefully.
Medic and Engineer changes look pretty great as well. I have my shield regeneration field maxed out, I can imagine my giant green bubble engulfing the spawn room

Actually, it would be like giving the higher base durability, shell damage and velocity to the mag.

Anyway, most (or all) of the respectable tankers actually agree with you, though at some varying levels.
The situation on live post patch won't be as bad as it was on the PTS, but yeah, the magrider does need some love.

Good.

This "advantage" should never have been one in the first place.
It was a bad idea to forget turret stabilization from the beginning for all tanks.

Now though, I do agree Magriders need tweakings to get on par with the improved performance the improved accuracy stabilized turrets will give. Better Dodging? As not necessarly in top strafing speed but with better responsiveness (torque?), more like I tap right and I strafe right (not a build up slowly to top speed), or something like a light shielding (like infantry has)? Holographic decoys? Mirage camouflage? Cookies?

Why not elevate it from being the defacto bottom of any ground vehicle on speed to not being the worst?
Or buff it's weaponry so instead of being dead last, it will fall squarely in the middle (yes I know this one has it's own problems)?

There are many options. Got to find one, and stick to it, the whiners be damned.

So the cookies it is!

Oreos or Fudgeos? Or a half of each so you get double cream?

Mag-cloak engage

While the full PTS changes thankfully aren't going in I'm not exactly looking froward to fighting Vanguards and Prowlers with stabilized turrets (yes, the stabilization isn't perfect but it is definitely noticeable) with the Mag's current strafe speed.

I do think some Mag improvements could have gone in even with this patch but at least the devs apparently acknowledged on the PTS test that the Mag will need a buff so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

By which I mean they took a good chunk right out of the dps.

Wraith mag. Imagine the tears.

I am realy glad that only that little changed... maybe the stabilized gun is a nerf for the magrider but i can life with this.
Most of my death in tanks are from:
1# Air Air Air... hope this changes
2# Flipping or Bumping on the ground
3# I failed or made a mistake