Anti-material rifle is a significant nerf to TR MAXes

If the Anti-Material rifle is introduced into the game in its current state, the lockdown on TR maxes is going to be a straight death sentence against 2 or more, or even one solo AMR sniper.

If 3 headshots kill a MAX with this gun, then even one sniper can eliminate a deployed one with laughable ease. The chamber time is anticipated to be 2.1 seconds for this new anti-material rifle, right? Cancelling the lockdown on the TR MAX takes 2 seconds. Since it is unlikely a TR player will react in 0.1 seconds to a headshot, it can be guaranteed that a semi-skilled sniper can land 2 headshots, taking away more than 2/3 hitpoints from that poor MAX.

Now it's down to one last headshot, or 2 body shots. Can someone explain to me how this is going to be fair balanced? If anything, this is not going to be a solution to Raven MAX arrays (since they can strafe while firing), more like an even bigger punishment for lockdown users (since they require lockdown for competent AV capabilities).

its also really gonna suck for TR because VS might be able to retaliate with comets/vorteks,
ravens will have it a lot easier (we've been sniping snipers for a long time now)
while pounders and fractures will be absolutely useless for trying to fight back.

As an NC engineer who is excited for the AMR, I've got to agree with this. Though, I think they just need to find something else to be the TR MAX ability. I don't know that I've ever encountered a locked-down MAX. It just seems like a mostly useless ability.

Hitting a strafing MAX isn't hard , it's all down to range and scope ..

As for TR MAX's, yeah I can see them being more impacted if they choose to use Lockdown , but in a lot of situations Lockdown has never been the wisest move to make ...

But that's more to do with how meh the ability is rather than in any weapon type used against it ..


Edit: IMO it might be NC who get the biggest shock to the system with the rifles ... As TR / VS MAX's have for a long time had to come to terms with being 2 Shot By Nix's up to 300m .. It's not something NC are used to , so I an see it coming hard to a few.

I like the ability, and I use it very frequently. With AV, it's a butchering against deployed sunderers and anything within middle range. Of course, it could use both explicit (RoF, recoil, damage) buffs, and implicit buffs (dedicated spots for lockdown).

To be fair, I think the NC MAX shield is an absurd ability. Why would I want to transform into a wall that can still be damaged from an angle, but can't shoot anything? Maybe MAX abilities just need a fresh look.

I think they changed the anchor/unanchor time from 1s/2s to 2s/1s. So it only takes 1s to unanchor now, at least on PTS.

Oh. Umm... woah. That's... acceptable. WOAH. So it's now 1s-1s both lockdown and mobilize?

EDIT: nevermind, I'm stupid. 1s-1s would be the preferable.

Just use your MAX where it should be used - in the buildings!

P.S. Do you have ANY idea how much an engie limit himself with equiping this stupid AMR? Imo this is the worst weapon ever....

To be fair, i have yet to use lockdown in a place where the AMR would be a useful counter anyway.
Who uses lockdown outside in the open with no cover...

I see your point though, but i suspect most lockdown MAXes are already experienced and careful enough avoiding C4 that countering AMRs wont be a big problem.

From the Feb 24th patch notes
https://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/hotfix-2-25.215540/#post-3113849

Two seconds is indeed unreasonable, but it appears to have been one second for the last ~4 months.

the max holocaust begins

totally not pulling max until everyone lays off the AMRs lol. its going to be the hot new toy.

They don't need to do any work at all; they already developed a mechanic in PS1.

If the MAX was moving when the ability was activated it went into an "overcharge" mode, that worked on a capacitor like a heavy assault shield, and gave 50% of the benefits of 100% lockdown for the duration while reducing movement speed somewhere between 25 and 50%. If the MAX was stationary when the ability was activated, it locked down and got 100% of the lockdown benefits. No duration or capacitor.

Why wouldn't this work in Planetside 2?

Besides the fact that ZoE is garbage and Vanu should have just gotten their jumpjets from PS1 (since this would step on the toes of what ZoE does). They aren't unbalanced; Max's in PS2 are less tanky than PS1, and jumpjetting away from your support was a death sentence for PS1 Vanu Max's. So it would be more-so for PS2 Max's.

The ability just lets them attack from unexpected locations, or gain advantageous positions. Which synergizes perfectly with the Vanu motif of flexibility and adaptability.

Not sure we need to multiply all the things that can kill a max. There won't just be one rifle aiming at them and it's added to the rocket, grenade, C4, bullet spam a max already attracts. I did like maxes setting off tank mines. The only useful thing it will do gamewise is maybe promote more teamwork in that maxes will need an engineer all the time.

Well I guess you will just need to make a choice when using your special ability, and if you start taking hits then you will need to disengage and dodge back and forth like every other max that is coming under fire....

Honestly this is no different then if you would take a rocket in the face, because you are locked down and a stationary target, it is not a nerf or a buff, its pretty much the same as before. There is just a new Anti-Max weapon, you are at the same disadvantage as any MAX in this game, that has to contend with damage coming from a new source.

Such is life in the TR, we soldier on regardless.

Here is the false mentality that makes people somehow believe that Lockdown is to be used in OPEN GROUND, WITH NO COVER.
Lockdown was meant for HALLWAYS, areas where your allies are so close, THEY CAN SMELL YOU EXHALING. Not in some random field where a rain of SCREEEEE rockets can eliminate you or a mass of... well, whatever the VS will have after the next nerf update.

Yeah it's going to nearly kill lockdown as a viable ability but I'll accept it just because it will make it open season on skillsuits of all factions.

Now tankers that can't aim and hit your max suit peeking over a hill will simply get out of their vehicle and use their AMR.

Engies will use the commissioner or underboss as primary and deal with it. No squad is going to give up the massive alpha damage on a max suit or the ability to snipe maxes from render range just to have another carbine or two.