Head shots from small arms ignoring HA shields would be a preferable solution IMO. (Vehicle mounted weapons like the Kobalt and max suit weapons shouldn't get this though, for the obvious reason of the HA class being an anti-armor class.) This rewards the better player, allows for class-to-class balance, and prevents HA's from negating infil headshots at range. (Ever shot at an HA, and got a perfect headshot, only to have him pop his shield as the bullet flys through the air ending in your hard earned kill being stolen and reduced to a crit assist? It's quite annoying!) Personally, I've always felt that the HA shield should be more of a max and vehicle defense ability to allow them to survive longer while attacking armor (as HA's are an anti-vehicle class), rather than an infantry stomping I win button when facing players of equal or higher skill.
I must disagree with part of your statement. You shouldn't have to expend grenades/mines/C-4/etc per encounter. (Though yes, just rushing dead on is a sure way to get yourself killed, but the main factor should be the element of surprise in infantry vs infantry battles. Maxes being an exception of course.) Also, I've noticed that sometimes an EMP won't lower a HA's overshield (yes, while it was active when he was EMP'd), despite the targets not having the EMP shield implant equipped. (I assume this is a bug, but it's terribly annoying when I'm playing as a stalker infiltrator!)
Please add shield delay, or add something that reduces the sheer power of a heavy. Consider this basic fact, a heavy generally has over 50% more hp than any other class in the game. That means you need to shoot him 50% longer to kill him. Yes, you can kill heavies, but you need to be much more skilled than they are to kill them. Not a little more skilled, a lot more skilled. I would rather face any other class in infantry combat, my success against every other class is far higher. When I play as a heavy, something I don't enjoy doing and don't do very often, my KDR generally increases by roughly 1.0. Heavies have some the best guns in the game, and they are the most durable by far. That isn't whining, it's imbalanced class design. I should not need to completely outplay my opponent in order to have any chance of killing him. I understand that the heavy is meant to be a bullet sponge frontline soldier. I believe that adding a ramp up time to the shield will resolve most of the imbalances. That will mean that a heavy who is caught by surprise or who doesn't predict the situation well will die like anyone else would.
A heavy does not have a jetpack for flying over things...etc. A heavy does not have a cloak. A heavy does not heal others. A heavy does not drop ammo, fix vehicles/maxes, deploy turrets, or lay/disarm mines. A heavy does not have 10 times the regular infantry's HP. Nerf the shield; and what does the heavy have? Rocket? How about buff the rockets to be perfectly accurate without ADS; so that heavies can run around one-shotting squishy classes with rockets instead of having to tank more shots? Or perhaps increasing rocket's splash damage and radius significantly for more effectiveness on rocket? To kill heavy...you can either be more skilled/lucky/both, or PLAY AS HEAVY. Every other class has something to do other than directly confronting the enemies. Heavies have nothing else; a giant glowing shield isn't going to help you fly over walls, sneak into objectives, repair stuff...etc.
Please understand that a delay will basically make the resist shield the best one as it is a shield that rewards planning ahead by its very nature (activating it early means you have more health remaining to take less damage with), so there needs to be a suitable change to the Adrenaline Shield and NMG if this is to be implemented. As for the LMGs, I would argue that the Medic's assault rifles are the best small arms in the game, the only thing that the LMGs have going for them is the magazine sizes, especially after the blanket hip-fire accuracy nerf to LMGs. Assault rifles are capable of more DPS than LMGs and are also more accurate, especially with hip-fire which is very important for your ability to quickly deal damage at short ranges barring point blank, particularly if you are going for head shots. If there is a serious shield delay implemented I would predict that only in pre-planned encounters heavy would be best in combat, otherwise medics would be best at the rest of the encounters while they are also capable of healing and (mass) ressurection, especially with their higher RPM weapons, as they could deal enough damage to quickly down a heavy before the shield even activates (compounded with lag advantage where you see an opponent on your screen before the server tells them you have rounded the corner, and the fact that the shield is also affected by lag in its activation time, this could basically remove the HA as a class for use by laggier players).
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that. Environment should be the priority, however consumables shouldn't be neglected if the former is lacking. It's simply stopped working recently, sometime before the latest update. Whether through walls, air or direct hits, at least 4/5 times the EMP visual is delayed 2-3s or doesn't appear at all, neither does the shield/energy drain. Worse than Phoenix imo.
It's my view that the proposed change to Heavy Armor, requiring it to build up charge is intended to prevent shoot and dodge behavior. As the shield would need to be activated before it comes up to full power, it would also mean that movement would slow down and in turn prevent Heavy's from ducking out from behind a rock, shooting and ducking back again with no fear of retaliation. In my view, the proposed changes impacts Heavy's insta-gibbing infantry with decimators and impacts heavy's firing and hiding from well covered locations. Put me in the camp of do it. I like the proposed change. It would not impact my use of the Heavy Assault at all and - I feel - would provide a benefit towards combined arms. It would impact a specific style of play that is - in my view - a negative impact in a combined arms game. I'll still be outside in a heavy when needed using it to propel rockets and dumb fire missiles.
