I have a tank and can't decide at the moment. I haven't used them in a while and mostly used to just be a gunner until a sudden interest appeared. Anyway, I went into the test range, and it appeared as if both had changed. The NV made the screen look somewhat white, while thermal seemed nice with a decent range, but couldn't spot infantry unless I noticed them in all the blue and spotted them myself.
Thermals don't work right in VR. They actually make infantry glow bright yellow. They're honestly a bit overpowered for AI weaponry. Thermals do have limited range, though, so you might prefer NV if you really want to see better in the dark but you need to hit things past the Thermal range limit. That makes more sense for AA weapons than AI or AV, IMO.
I am using armor piercing. I don't care too much for anti infantry. I can somewhat easily snipe someone who is standing still or is moving relatively close by, so that's no issue.
Just use Thermal for now, NV got nerfed some time ago, blah blah blah. Thermal highlights everything bright orange for you not to miss,, blah blah blah. I think you get my drift, the only flaw is Thermal has a really limited range, but you get so used to it.
You don't want either. Go with a 1.5x+ scope for most purposes. If you really, really need it, NV is better because you need to see beyond 180m to effectively shoot enemy vehicles. But I can't stress how much better the high magnification scopes are for AP tanks.
avoid scopes on the halberd the standard sights are good enough for adjusting for drop over range, i suggest thermal that will make it easier for lower skilled gunners to hit things at close range through smoke if they haven't learned that smoke is meaningless if the target is spotted.
I disagree. I have been using thermal on my Magrider for a long time when Iam hunting enemy tanks. Zoom is obviously meant for long distance sniping which both gets boring after a while and you wont be getting that much kills since enemy vehicles can more easily get behind a cover to repair. Thermal makes the infantry much easier to see on higher graphic settings and also you wont get blinded by explosives. NV is pretty much useless as it doesn't highlight anything and just basically changes the color.
Your preference is probably rooted in the fact that you're VS and thus drive a Magrider. Supernovas have slow projectile speed, which alongside the ability to strafe encourages close-range fighting. On the other hand, all other tanks are practically stationary when firing. Lightnings, Vanguards and Prowlers are more likely to fight at greater distances because mobility and target size do not favor shorter distances. Moreover, the higher projectile velocity (10-38% higher than Magrider) also makes long distance fighting much more viable. This distance is big enough that it easily surpasses the 180m limit of the thermal sights. Another disadvantage of the thermal sight is the fact that the entire sky is blurred out. You can't see incoming aircraft that might easily destroy you (i.e. Lib) or drop at the base behind you. You will be unable to see MAXes firing at near-render distance (i.e. Ravens and Vortexes). Thermals give you a significant disadvantage in situational awareness, one big enough that I do not advise you to use it. 1.5x and higher magnification sights allow you to be extremely precise. Small targets (i.e. longer distance) will appear larger and although you will observe a little more drop, you will be able to make much finer adjustments to aim than you can with 1x magnification. Night vision is superior to thermals at night, but at night only. The upcoming night vision revamp is going to completely fix NV and probably change your opinion about it. NV has a 1 km range and no blur, allowing you to remain fully aware and able to see targets in extremely dark environments.
I saw that video and NV still seems kinda useless ever since it stopped outlining infantry. I don't have a problem with low light situations. I might grab thermal, though I'm still deciding. I haven't been setting up from draw distance yet since I just haven't been able to get into one of those fights, and I've been having to resupply often. I noticed I don't have a problem really with sniping infantry that stand still at a distance though, and occasionally, I have sniped someone sprinting. Funny story, yesterday, I had trouble hitting a guy, then I saw what I thought was an enemy harasser (ended up being friendly) I snapped and fired, hit the engi I was aiming at before and he was sprinting.
NV is only really good for AA weapons since zoom hurts your leading unless you only fire with zoom toggled on.
I can snipe vehicles at render range with thermal equipped (as an AP vanny), easily. It is abit harder, but I like thermal for close-range engagements. IMO, go for thermal.
2x scope for AP and Halberd. There is no alternative. Maybe thermals for AI weapons, I would only ever use it on HE cannon and canister. The only situation that I equip NV is on my Skyguard.
I'm starting to get pissed off about not being able to spawn a magrider on a terminal that has a picture of it, period. If it has the picture, I should be able to spawn it, no questions asked. No "do you own this base?". Picture, spawn. I'm tempted to just use a Lightning. I don't always roll with a gunner unless someone decides to hop in, and I noticed the Lightning AP does slightly more damage than the Magrider.
Always just check to see if your faction owns a tech plant. Otherwise, pull from warpgate. As a Mag driver, it shouldn't be rough. Try pulling a Vanguard and crawling halfway across the map at slightly-fast-than-running speed.
It's just a pain in the *** that I can't spawn a vehicle from a terminal that has the picture on there. There shouldn't be a catch. That's like if I couldn't spawn an ESF or a Sundy from a terminal that had its picture on the screen. I guess from now on, I will just have to check for a tech plant or hope there's a fight not too far from the warpgate, because it's equally a pain to drive cross country to a 40-96 vs a 20-40 and get nuked because there's a ton of deadbeat campers (I'm not even referencing Infiltrators) and nobody trying to take out vehicles or paying attention to spots. But now that's out of the way, I guess the debate comes down to Thermal, 1.5x, or 2x. At this point, it seems personal preference, and an issue I often run into is, I get forced into situations opposite of what I'm geared for, no matter what game I'm playing it seems. I don't have a problem with some distance shooting in this game (as proven by headshotting an engi off a turret at max draw distance with a suppressed Parallax), and after spending minimal time in a tank (outside of being someone's gunner), I've noticed, I'm rarely ever going to just pick off someone from full hp. I'll get lucky like I did today while on my way from warpgate to a point and a smoking galaxy landed in front of me. I got a good 2-3 shots before it took off and an extra 1-2 before a hill blocked my view, and I got an assist 10 seconds later. Maybe I'm better off with thermal. I saw the video of the NV update, but that doesn't look like an improvement on the old one, when it comes to spotting enemy infantry.
