[Suggestion] Pull Heavy Assaults in line with other classes.

I know this is going to be a topic that is going to get me a lot of **** because everyone that considers him or herself a great player face rolls as a heavy assault. The shortage for Heavy Assault is HA but it's also short for Huge Advantage. Coincidence? I think not.

Lets start it off:

Here is what a heavy assault needs to do when given a few certs: Cert the Nanite Mesh Generator which gives the class a 700 health boost (at full charge) whenever turned on. This shield can be turned on and off whenever the player feels like it basically increasing the heavy assaults the ability to survive a lot more punishment at will.

After a few more certs are collected NMG can be replaced with Adrenaline shield. Adrenaline shield does exactly the same as NMG but comes with these pro's:

Absorbs the same amount of damage and drains at the same rate (700 extra health and 50 HP drain per second when activated).
Adrenaline Shield(AS) regenerates 20% (at max rank) of energy whenever an enemy player is killed. (Effectively giving you back 140 health after every kill, 5 kills for max shield energy).

Basically the only 2 cons:

Regenerates from zero to full in 60 seconds not depending on rank (probably to offset the kill to recharge mechanic) while the NMG regenerates from zero to full in 45 seconds at max rank).
It costs 2250 certs to full upgrade it over the 831 for NMG.

So when the certs are there the adrenaline shield is always the better option.

Take a fire fight for example. You get a shield that literally gives you 700 more health (it actually gives you shield but health + shield = max health pool). Every kill that you make (with or without the shield active) gives you 20% energy back. This energy translates to 140 health. The only draw back being that you loose 50 HP per second when the shield is active (1 on 1 fights literally don't last longer than 3 seconds so you won't lose all that much from it).

I would like to see that changed. Changed in the way that a heavy assault is going to have to pick one or the other. For example:

Make the Resist shield the anti infantry shield. Shield that absorbs and mitigates small arms fire (and probably all other damage). This still gives the heavy assault an advantage in ground combat but does not make them the be all end all.

Turn the Nanite Mesh Generator (and Adrenaline shield) into the anti vehicle shield. Make it completely mitigate vehicle based damage (main guns, secondary guns and heavy ammo (like rockets, grenades, rocket pots and what not) but have small arms fire still damage the heavy assault directly while it's active.

According to the wiki both NMG and AS stack with Nanoweave and Flak armor which increase their effectiveness even further.

TL;DR:
Heavy assault has too much off an advantage without really trading anything in for it (wow 25% movement speed for 700 extra HP? I am pretty sure any other class would give up 25% movement speed for that at the press of a button). This will need to change and force Heavies to either go anti infantry or anti vehicle not one shield to do both.

Love how people offer nerfs for HA just because it has "HP boost" and because they feel like it should be nerfed.

Flashlight must dry out their shield energy

If you were talking about Resist Shield then that might be a good argument. With Resist, you get 45% small arms damage resistance (minus headshots) for however long the shield has charged. No performance considerations exist save for shield time alive. With NMG, however, you only get as much health padding as the percentage of the shield is recharged at the time of activation and then degrading duration and padding. Adrenaline recharges with kills as long as the shield is active at the time of the kill so you can argue that maintains a skill-based-reward metric to be considered. A person with poor aim can't benefit from it any more than they would from NMG.

I think that, if anything should be considered, it's incentivizing intentional target engagement by adjusting shield recharge rates based on target, in the case of Adrenaline. Priority targets that award good recharge, for example, could include other HAs and MAXes.

So you want Heavy Assaults to be weaker in frontal assault fights, so that people who pull classes that have abilities that give them advantages over HAs when there is not a straight up frontal assault scenario, yet choose to play those classes regardless while in a frontal assault scenario, will not lose the majority of 1v1 contests?

Seriously?

These posts just keep on coming don't they? I appreciate that the OP is a constructive suggestion but the way I see it is that specialist classes have skills and equipment to let them do various interesting and (cert) rewarding things like:

• hacking
• stalking
• sniping
• flying
• ambushing from above
• planting beacons
• repairing
• resupplying
• manning turrets
• healing
• reviving
• shielding others

It works out at about three other things they can each do in addition to killing. HAs are good for one thing only - killing - so they get

• shields
• LMGs
• Rocket launchers

Seems reasonably balanced to me. I've left out the MAX metal mickeys because no one seems to get annoyed about them mowing other classes down in F2F combat or surviving obscene amounts of damage. I play all classes and factions so I am not trying to be aggressive or defend the HA class in particular. In fact, I do think LA could do with something more, but that is another well-worn argument. Can we not move on from the HA nerf/LA buff posts? I'm sure the devs have got the message by now.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

if they nerf HA they might actually find themselves realizing they should nerf MAXes

Headshots are included. Why are you confusing people? Where'd you get that info anyway? Resist protected from headshots since day 1

Individually speaking, classes are not meant to be balanced.

They each fill thier respective role, and in the HA's case thats combat.

It's called "news to me." Thanks for the clarification.

This is not first time I hear people say it. Im just curious where you pick that info from?

... from nowhere, I guess?

He is right on that one. Resist shield does not mitigate sniper headshots or knife damage.

"Nanoweave armor increases the amount of small arms resistance the player will have to weapons such as assault rifles, pistols, shotguns, etc. At the lowest level it provides enough health to survive being hit by one more bullet within a weapon's maximum damage range. As of PU2, it no longer stacks with the Heavy Assault's Resist shield. Nanoweave armor does not protect against headshots, or explosion."

http://planetside.wikia.com/wiki/Nanoweave_Armor

... and brain fart, nm me.

you wot m9?

I should be drunk. I'd make more sense and/or know what I'm answering to.

STOP this "nerf this nerf that" threats, it is just not true!

The LA is the strongest infantry in the game, BUT all the other classes have special abilitys to compensate for that.

If a Heavy is not the strongest class in a 1 v 1 then it is totaly useless and can be removed from the game....

Whenever I play (which is nearly every day for at least an hour) 70% of the people I encounter play heavy assault with either NMG or AS. I am a fairly consistent player. After 1104 kills on the Carnage AR I am clocking in at 32% accuracy. (NC is not my main faction, playing it to mix things up a little) This is all range engagements but I try to limit myself to close/mid range because that is the weapons strength.

source: https://www.planetside2.com/players/#!/8254464143290296257/weapons (This is not my main character but the one I have been playing since the 2x EXP weekend.)

It often happens that when I get behind a group of people I always engage the heavy assaults first because from all the infantry units (besides maxes) they are the biggest threat. 90% of the time I am spraying a heavy down, it activates it's shield, turns around and starts shooting back at me and guns me down when I have to scramble for cover to reload. Death screen usually shows that the HP bar is far in the red and as any other class would not have survived the assault. Pure frustration.

Any other class I can take in CQC due to the strength of the weapon and trying to catch people off guard. Doesn't work for a heavy assault in most cases. Heavy assaults hardly get punished for their lack of situational awareness. As long as they have the 3 brain cells required to react when shot, they would get out of most cases alive and a kill richer (and most likely 20% shield charge).

I think that getting gunned down by a heavy in that kind of situation is a small price to pay for being a friggin' necromancer.

So, it's only you?

It's not just that kind of situation. It's nearly every situation I encounter a Heavy in. Be it CQC, be it ranged, be it sneaking up on an enemy group camping a passage way.

Heavy assaults are not punished nearly enough for lacking the situational awareness that most classes need to survive. When I, as a medic, make a stupid decision and walk into a room head first my AOE heals or Regeneration fields are not going to get me out of that situation because I got caught over extending. A heavy on the other hand most likely has enough time to activate the shield and high tail it out of there.