[Suggestion] NC Maxes with medium range/sustained weapons

Yes, if we finally got the flamethrowers we were supposed to have since beta, we'd actually have a weapon that we could at least use to obscure ourselves as we rushed forward to get in range.

As is, we get mowed down at range.
And the Aegis shield is a joke, given that all you need to do to kill an Aegis max is shoot rockets at it's feet.


Splash damage sweeps under the Aegis shield, so shots fired at the base of the shield do a good 60% of the rocket's direct hit damage.
So while you're a sitting duck, clomping along with the shield up at a speed comparable to walking through molasses, your enemies are free to take pot shots with rockets at the target that cannot fire back and is entirely incapable of strafing the shots.

I always thought that the Aegis shield should be a dome-like half-bubble in front of you, sinking the lowermost section well into the ground so that your enemies cannot fire explosives to your sides or at your feet and entirely negate it's protection.

There needs to be something just like a basilisk for the MAX. Make both arms together slightly stronger than a single basilisk, or Maybe something like SLUG ammo for the bursters, so they just deal more infantry dmg, and can hurt tanks in exchange for no longer having bursting against aircraft, you could still hit aircraft similar to the basilisk, it would just be much harder.

I've been playing NC Max for quite a long time now, for well over a year. As such, I've been battle hardened and conditioned to the play style of NC Maxes.

Whenever I log into my VS Max and use the combat style I adapted to while playing NC Max, I almost always leave the battle with a K/D of 10-15 average. I find this is because of the simple fact that VS (and TR) Maxes have medium ranged weapons that can keep sustained fire while pushing all at the same time. This is something that I have never been able to do as a NC Max, ever.

This is the Killboard of my VS character after a session of playing as a VS Max.

falcons and ravens are both quite effective at mid-long ranges. No max is effective out in the open vs infantry... I'm not sure why you're comparing to quasar and onslaught, I'm just going to venture a guess and say you know squat about the other maxes - I can assure the mattocks are dramatically better midrange than the quasar or the onslaught. .... wait... I just noticed you're comparing to... the mattocks? My god man go play the game for awhile before you try forming opinions.

If you're under the impression that people think dual matties are the nc max weapons of choice, you've either only asked one person, or everyone you've asked is an abnormal. Hacksaws and mattocks are generally viewed to be the "best choice" by most nc.

There's almost nothing in your post that's remotely sensible, but it's not worth digging into as its clear you just lack experience here. Play some more, play to learn, not to "confirm", and you'll figure it out.

Edit: hm it seems you've actually do have some reasonably decent experience... surprising, given the experience I'd expect that the problem lies more in perceptional blocking - ie you're not acknowledging the given abilities of your loadout and are trying to make it do things it cannot.... which I suppose is kind of the point of your post, though the post is laden with various implications at a perceived inferiority with the nc max... not sure if you were aware of it or not. Though what I find really strange now, considering you've played other maxes - using short-mid range weapons... is that you think the other maxes have a significant edge in this area... I'm still going to conclude this is a problem best solved by playing the game without preconceptions and working towards a more objective position.

I will second this. I watched two players' (VS & TR) Twitch stream today for about a half hour, and he/she mostly spent it in a Max with twin Mercy's and a similar twin handed VS max weapon. Both of these factions, regardless of their innate bonuses, have great medium range Max weapons (plural!) typically netting 2-5 kills PER RELOAD. Meanwhile, a 10m effective NC max, even with engy support has to run into "effective range" and get his 1-2 kills. Then wait for a rez. Very little of what you can do with a TR of VS max - no ducking back, repairing, then farm some more kills, wash, rinse, repeat.

The solution is so simple its stupid. Since the NC forte is "Heavy hits, heavy recoil" add an EXISTING MG weapon that reflects that. Hell, just take the entire stat line of the base Heavy class LMG, and copy/paste it to a Max platform X's 2. Erase the rounded drum magazine model portion and add an ammo feed hose that hooks up into the arm somewhere. Erase the buttstock/handle and add a piece that will contour the weapon onto the arm. The Upper & lower receiver and barrel sections of the standard LMG are fine as modeled. There ya go, did all the planning work for ya SOE, now someone add this to the Roadmap.

Two standard NC heavy LMG's on our Max would work fine, still have the recoil cone increase, etc after 5-6 shots, and give us 100 rounds (200 with upgrade?) per arm to thrown around at mid range like everyone else.

I disagree. It takes 3-4 hits with the ravens to kill infantry, out of an 8 round weapon. They are slow, and require pinpoint accuracy at mid range. They have no suppressing fire capabilities, have a low ammo pool, slow rate of fire, and cannot push the front lines as a result.