Okay everyone, I wanted to have advice on what is better to do with a Magrider. I'm going to cert that badboy but I have to make a choice because I will pretty much be able to do only one loadout to start. When having a Magrider or any MBT really, should we always go for a specialized AI/AV setup or is a hybrid combination good ? Would it be good for me to unlock the PPA for the gunner and having the AP main cannon ? Or maybe the HE main cannon with a Halberd ? Is this a good idea or will it only make me mediocre at best at dealing with both infantry and vehicles threats ? Instead, should I focus on two AV weapons (AP + Halberd) or two AI weapons (HE + PPA) and be really effective against one target, even if it means I have to flee if I see a real threat ? In other words, what most of the dedicated tank drivers are doing ? At the end of the day, my goal is to be able to unlock both AP and HE main cannons, and both AI and AV weapons for the gunner (I said PPA and Halbert as example, it could be anything really). But even when having those four weapons, is making a AV/AI loadout a good idea ?
AV/AV or AI/AI as anything else will not deliver the performance required (i.e. a Lightening will eat you in hybrid setting if half decent). Halberd is good but ugly as sin on a Magrider; it will keep you competitive on AV and give you better AI over Saron (but it requires a ton of certs for that) As for the tank itself, Vehicle invisibility & Magburn (not competitive vs. Fire extinguisher but very fun) with racer rig (always racer rig) for going tank hunting is your best bet and never pull one unless you're sure you can get a gunner.
Depends on what you like to play. But when you want to hunt enemy vehicles anything but AV/AV will only nerf you in that regard. And using HE lately to get the directive for the Magrider i can say it is useless crap (imo). If you dont do a direct hit or land it right in front of their feet you still need two or more hits to kill infanty. I dont have the PPA so i dont know its perfomance but i would wait with getting it as it is in for some more nerfs as SOE posted somewhere back when they nerfed it with the big patch.
Head over to the vehicle subforum OP, theres a great amount of useful guides and tips specifically related to MBTs ... ... ... Oh wait
Honest advice: Don't do it. MBTs suck at the moment and the magrider is the worst of them. This is coming from a player with over 4,000 kills in the magrider — I haven't even pulled one since the tank nerf. If you really must put some certs into a tank, I'd recommend a skyguard.
personally run 2 specialized setups with 2 akward and situational setups next to it. a specialized setup is a must have for a mag. simply because going hybrid will render you way sub par against anything, even harassers, sunderrers or large groups of infantry. an AV/AV setup with AP cannon and saron. (thermal vission AP cannon, zoom Saron) max vehicle stealth and rival chassis with max magburner. best play style for this setup is flanking. vehicle stealth works wonders even in relative open area's and i've found rival chassis allows for easyer traversing of bumpy terain. (and getting up hills) and getting the drop on enemy's. make sure to abuse cover and your strafing. don't pop out on the same side of cover consistantly. use your vehicle stealth to move around them constantly and never stay in 1 spot longer then 3 consecutive shots, or risk being C-4d. also, NEVER engage multiple enemy tanks head on unless they're all smoking/burning. and even then it's very suicidal. as for AI/AI, VPC with a PPA. both with thermal vision. again max vehicle stealth, rival chassis and mag burner. the playstyle is pretty much the same as the AV/AV setup. only difference is you're hunting infantry instead of tanks. abuse your maneuverability to get to places they don't expect you to be. high up mountains, on walls/rooftops etc. bypass vehicle gates compleetly even if they're still active/hostile. vehicle stealth allows you to get the drop on uncespecting infantry but a lack of a scout radar will force you to never sit around 1 spot for to long. YOU WILL BE C-4D. as for this to work both you and the gunner need to be on the same page. don't go unnecessarily shooting at enemy air, it will just give away your possition.
While I agree with max burn, I would have to say that I prefer Rival over Racer, though I have both maxed out. I was a long time Rival user before getting Racer though, so I'm probably biased. The extra speed and forward hill climbing is nice in Racer, but you have to look out for ditches and holes, as the strafe is next to useless for staying out of those. In Rival, if you see yourself slipping, the huge strafe acceleration allows you to simply strafe out of it, while in Racer you have to turn the entire tank or risk falling in. I have also had better luck in climbing extremely steep hills with grooves etc with Rival over Racer. Also, get stealth. NAR is also pretty good in certain situations, but if you are doing anything other than front line work, stealth is the only way to go. As for weapons, the FPC is a must basically. I'd recommend going to the VR to try out the Saron vs Halberd. The Halberd might give you another advantage when running with stealth, as it is an NS weapon, and it might not attract as much attention as the Saron when fired.
Hybrid loadouts: Right now, I would say the only Hybrid that is viable is the FPC/PPA hybrid. You can take care of 1/2 tanks, lightnings and whittle down sunderers, while your gunner takes care of any infantry threats. This loadout is mainly for running with the herd, using allies to protect yourself from AV/AV mbts and other serious threats, while being able to still poach or do major damage to vehicles. Therefore, I found it has a good synergy with Rival and a more conservative playstyle. Personally, If I don't have an outfit gunner on, I roll with the FPC/PPA as its pretty easy to pick up a marginal random PPA gunner and be relatively successful while using the Mag like an AP lightning. I've actually been flipping back and forth between stealth and side armor for this one. (I know front armor makes more sense, but being able to turn and burn to cover while tanking a shot or two to your side works... especially when you are dealing with infantry flowing around you and probably getting hit from the sides as much as getting hit from the front) HE: HE maingun is pretty bad.. its the equivalent of the PC before the nerfs.... but limits you so much against vehicles that you'll have to rely on allies way to much. Also, infantry farming isn't as XP profitable as a good AV hunter loadout. If you are running HE... you'll have to be careful of Lightnings... you'll have to rely on your top gunner to get the kill as even a HEAT lightning will out-DPS your maingun. AV/AV loadout: Right now FPC/Saron is an extremely profitable loadout. A LOT of people are spamming lightnings, sunderers, and MBTs. The Saron is much better against sunderers and can burn them down so much faster than the halberd due to the clip-dump at closer ranges that I prefer running that right now. It requires getting a bit closer, but if your driving style lies on the aggressive side of things, the Saron will help you more than hurt you. Also, its better against Harassers as its much easier to land 2-3 shots of a Saron on a harasser than 1 single shot of halberd.... and on Emerald... harassers are being pulled quite frequently nowadays (very cheap cost, etc) Stealth: I'd still recommend going towards Stealth AV/AV as the final end-goal... but while you are certing up your FPC... grabbing PPA and running with that at minimal cert levels would probably be a good stepping stone. Just be careful engaging hard targets and a bit more conservative. While you are saving up certs for high level stealth... the cheaper side or front armor isn't bad... and NAR is useless at lower levels (might as well sink into your engy tool and just hop out and repair as NAR is too slow to help while in battle)
So yeah, specialization it is. I'll probably start with the PPA + Default HEAT since it's cheap, and I'll cert the performance/defense/utility stlots before going into AV oriented weapons with the FPC and the Saron in the end. Everyone seem to agree on stealth as the defense slot ? What about reinforced front armor ? I actually already unlocked this because it made a lot of sense to me : The Maggie has no turret, so you're obviously in front of your target when shooting at it. But I think I can get the idea, I'm not really supposed to go face to face with my targets... Also, if I'm running an AI oriented setup, couldn't proximity radar be a good idea too ?
If you've already purchased front armor... go ahead and roll with it until you save up enough for stealth 3. Don't start trying for long flanks until you get high-end stealth... Getting and certing FPC will gain you more than certing stealth right away...stick with the pack and face-tank for awhile to gain certs. Even while running with the pack, you can short-flank and hit from the sides. Let the zerg move forward and just stick to the sides and push to gain side-shots while using cover effectively and you will be effective. It's a matter of planning your certs and playstyles with a goal in mind. Flanking with AV/AV is your long goal.... but effectively gaining certs in the meantime is your short-term goal. Therefore, running with FPC/PPA and a cheaper armor will enable you to gain certs decently and build up your reload/ammo on a FPC, chassis and then purchase the expensive AV secondary, and cert it out as well.
All of this, MAG is pretty useless without a gunner. A good one at that, a bad gunner will get you rekt m8
Thanks again for the advice. So yeah, that is going to be the plan. Also, I don't plan to drive it alone, a friend of mine is willing to come back to the game, that's also why I want to cert out the Magrider. I don't think I'll have trouble finding a gunner anyway, maybe not a good one, but hey, I'll see how it turns out.
