So hang on a second

https://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/386cc8/what_is_the_most_played_class/ statistics of class playtime.

Here we see HA majority. We also see high engy pop, but that is most likely largely because of tanks. This can be drawn because the pure support class (well, kind of), which is medic, is the least played class in the game. If engineers were split in two classes where one repped things and one gave ammo, the one that gave ammo would probably be in the medic boat.

Assuming this heavy assault is played about 8% more than all other classes (my old stats were wrong or have changed since i had the older link)

Now, 8% is a fairly large margin in a game like this. Now, in any game you have to wonder if there is a significant amount of more people using something over other things you should look at it. Think Halo 1 pistol, WoW death knight on release, PS2 HE/Heat canons, etc.

Im not saying nerf HA, but can infiltrators and LA get a buff of some kind to be more on par? i think medics and engies are fine as is. Or the issue might be base design, which also should be looked at.

Engi isn't just vehicles:

- Great easy XP farming from Bioloab offense rooms where the MAXes go in and out for repairs.
- AV turrets for farming armor columns from oddball spots or even just sniping infantry and whatnot
- AI turrets for camping chokepoints particular with elevation advantage such as stairs
- Spitfire to annoy and alert and occasionally kill C4 fairies

Of course, they're used a lot in vehicles but they're quite versatile and I would estimate I spend at least ~40-50% of my time as engi outside of vehicles.

___

Also it says outside of vehicles in the post you link to:

[–]PromptCriticalSOE 10 points7 hours ago

By playtime, last 90 days, not in vehicles:

• Heavy Assault: 26%
• Engineer 20.3%
• Infiltrator 18.2%
• Light Assault: 17.5%
• Medic: 13%
• MAX: 5%

____


LA and infiltrator are also fairly strong situationally, thing is HA just rules indoor areas where much of infantry gameplay happens due to cap points generally being inside. LA is also often denied their ideal territory in larger fights where elevated areas are just in too many people's crosshairs and vehicles with thermal can bombard you.

Infiltrator is actually really good but takes more finesse and you need to use EMP grenades and motion sensor wisely. I'm not great at it but I can see the potential.

There are some small tweaks that could help though. Cloak could just be a little more reliable, and Carbines could use some small buffs - as is they're kind of just bad assault rifles with the exception of maybe tower stomping style where you do lots of hip-fire(SMGs can do this too though and arguably better depending on faction).

Medic IMO is actually the class in the worst spot, if only 'cause it's just kind of dull to play. It's unsurprising to me it's the least played class. Reviving isn't really fun it's just something you occasionally do for XP while you're stuck as a really, really basic infantry class. I could be biased though, I like the more involved play-styles using JJ's, Cloak, HA's staying power and Engi versatility.

im mildly out of ability to make coherent arguments.


Its not that HA is overpowered (well, it is but its not the only issue)

Base design and walljumping ***** with LAs abilities to be worthwhile, and they need (and, kind of, are) looking at base design, walljumping is something that i dont think can be fixed, but fixing one thing can work for the other by adding ledges to block of roofs/walls.

As for infiltrator, cloak just needs to be made less visible when moving. Carbines are okay enough as they are but could be less jittery.

Just 8% difference? Really? I was assuming it was higher given the HA's more universal role.

Also, Medic is the least played class? Wow, that's just sad. Well, more revive and heal XP for me

Vast majority of players do not wall jump. Just 'cause a few hyper-competitive players who've learned where it works put it in their youtube compilations doesn't mean it's a big issue. It's also pretty finicky.

It wouldn't hurt to nerf it, but there are other ways for HAs or any class to end up on a roof or whatever, since this game has aircraft and spawn beacons and so on.

Carbines aren't weak because of jitter, they're weak because they have poor velocity and an additional damage degradation tier. This is a very, very poor trade for marginal hip-fire advantage. There are almost no situations I'd opt for a Carbine over an AR or LMG if I had the choice, and that's as the faction with the worst AR options.


As for HA, I think the shield just puts the TTK against heavies too high for this game's gunplay. With CoF, recoil, flinch, latency, etc. all exacerbating TTK the longer you have to fire it's an issue. Also higher RoF guns have a lot of downsides at this point, making the weakness of LMG TTK basically a non-factor. This leaves them with hip-fire disadvantage, but the shield gives them plenty of spare time to react to hip-fire weapons with ADS, and ADS headshots > hip-fire much of the time anyway, adds up to their limitations being negligible for a major kill per mag potential and the best durability of all classes.

<parody>

Assuming this MAX is played about 14% less than all other classes (my old stats were wrong or have changed since i had the older link)

Now, 14% is a fairly large margin in a game like this. Now, in any game you have to wonder if there is a significant amount of more people using something over other things you should look at it. Think Halo 1 pistol, WoW death knight on release, PS2 HE/Heat canons, etc.

Im not saying buff MAX, but can all other classes get a nerf of some kind of reduction on par? i think medics are fine as is. Or the issue might be resource costs, which also should be looked at.

</parody>

P.S.: 14% is the mean of the percentage differences between MAX and the other classes (21, 15.3, 13.2, 12.5, 8). The median is 13.2.

It begins, im going to abandon this thread for the most part now. the op wasnt meant to be the argument it was meant to cause it etcetcetc although i agree with your parody. the real goal is to get a discusssion on a slight change in ttk when fighting ha shields and base design being shoddy along with walljump being bs.

for the most part i agree, i think carbines should get a unique 0.66 ADS modifier across the board, with the jag bandit(?) zenith and ns11c keeping 0.75. if the HA shield was reduced to 500 from 700 it would be verystrong but in my mind, probably very balanced as well. that amounts to i think one less headshot to kill, lowing it from 8 143 shots to 7 which is a noticeable change but not overly nerfing

Half of all Infiltrators are snipers, and at least a quarter of Medics are HAs.

8% are you kiddin?

yeah that is only a minor thing.. specially because HA is the frontline soldier afterall
op? nah every class has its role and HA is doing it fine same goes for Infiltrator Medic ( needs more attention) engi and LA

what i've read in other threads i thought at least HAs are pulled more over 30% but come on ... 8% ? thats nothing.

Which class deals with MAX's & vehicles/aircraft?

The HA.


Which class pushes the fronts or holds the lines?

The HA.

If it's HAs holding and pushing fronts, what's the problem? It's overshield vs overshield.

Am I the only one who has gotten to the point they just facepalm whenever they see yet another HA thread?

Even for a lurker it gets old.......

And considering the nature of this game......what did you expect here? Ofc HA is gonna be highest when it's the frontline fighting class.

thats exactly what the HA is for.

HA has no other purpose .

/disagree, no one class does it all.

Medics and Engies both carry demo for AV. Even Infill's take out tanks and aircraft. Your interpretation of an 80% dominant class is wrong. Examine each situation there is always another way. Some will even benefit the faction and yourself to a greater degree.

Look at that guys history:

http://www.reddit.com/user/gnome08/submitted/


in less then 16 HOURS hes made 3 threads, each one of them building off eachother.

Add class limits to SMGs, at the very least no SMG heavy.

HA already has the largest arsenal and is clearly the most used class so a change like this really wouldn't hurt Infantry balance; a change like this could help to add class diversity to the battlefield.

Surprised to see medic as the least used non max class with light assault just above it.

But see this stats don't say anything about battle situations or squad comps.

Also they say nothing about whats been happening in PS2 over the past 90 days on the server level, battle rank level, development level & balance level.

I'm sorry... yeah? And?

Actually no. Those % breakdowns were TIME PLAYED AS INFANTRY. Being in a vehicle wouldn't count that engy time. Hopping out to repair would, but that's seconds at a time.


In any case, NO.

The game is SUPPOSED to have more HA than anything else. Their role is the one that is needed in the highest numbers for a properly balanced force.

If ANYTHING those numbers only proved that the class balance is actually RIGHT ON PAR and exactly where it should be and NOT the "Heavy AssaultSide" all you naysayers are claiming it is.

The deviation in % usage is actually quite small (and MAXes are only 5%??? HAHAHAHA KEEP WHINING ABOUT MAXES YOU SAD BLOKES).

HA is front line troop and carries the standard AV weapon which you need EN MASSE duie to # of vehicles in this game.

TLDR; you're looking at the numbers all wrong. You're looking at class balance wrong.

Go away. You;re bad at forumside

An HA arguing HA are balanced is like tankers arguing HE was balanced back in the day.

Anyhoo...

Medics need help. The numbers reflect that much. They follow mostly the same combat tactics as the HA... just without a shield, rocket launcher, or bottomless magazines. For support, Rezzing dudes and a slow self-collateral heal aren't reasons to pick up this class when it's so dull to play otherwise. It's tactical options are garbage. It's combat prowess is garbage. It's under appreciated and unsupported by the rest of the player base. It's the "save me from scoring another death on my stat sheet" class. It's also the only class whose ability actually punishes other players for accepting a revive from any medic without a level 6 tool. As if the slow rez and heal rate of a low level tool weren't punishment enough.

The shield bubble and player healing really should work off a similar selectable object like the engineer's ACE tool does for creating turrets. Hell, giving them access to tossed down healing packs instead of requiring them to drop their weapon and devote time to restoring health with a tool equipped or relying on their ability would go a long way. Does the situation call for some small arms resistance, or healing?

Change the revive mechanic to a cooldown based one, so that other useful and powerful techniques (or as suggested, support weapons) can be justified on a class that is feared (or once was with changes) for bringing back dead armies. Pressing and holding the "use" key on the dead can bring them back in place of whipping out a tool and making One self vulnerable.

The tool slot can be refitted into a support weapon slot: rocklet rifle, thumper grenade launcher, shoulder mounted flak cannon, the anti-material rifle, etc.

Perhaps extend the magazine size of all AR's by 20-50%? NC = 36 rounds (28-30 for Reaper), TR = 48-50 rounds. VS = 40-45 rounds.

Faster natural shield regen might be in order as well. OR a stock higher shield (like 600 shield, 500 health?) Yeah, that sort of steps on HA territory, but not really. Not sure how big an impact the magazine and shield change would make however.

Remember how people claimed that the game is/was HAside 2 and that 90% of people played Heavies?


Funny when you actually see how fights REALLY go down and you see all of the classes in action.