Tone down HA shields

You're not One to talk game balance until you can understand the basics of good competitive play. PS2's HA class broke those basics. Blatantly. No developer worth their salt creating a PvP focused FPS game of any genre develops a game where one class/setup is designed to dominate every other class/setup in combat. The assumption that support players are fine with being completely outmatched in health and firepower and matched everywhere else by some defacto "killer" class should have resulted in the lead developer's immediate termination from his job. Forget MLG, this game wasn't even properly designed for non-tournament play. Even Rexo in PS1 wasn't so blatantly more powerful than the agile armor. In PS2... the gap is just disgusting.

And before anyone mentions "shoot at the head," THE HA CAN TOO. There is literally no advice that can be given to non-HA that the HA can't employ themselves if not counter completely with some awareness. In the end, every class that engages a heavy assault, plays the heavy assault's game, and THAT is why the class is breaking the FPS balance of Planetside 2.

The only saving grace right now is that Nanoweave seems bugged to flatly reduce incoming small arms damage for both health and shielding (instead of just health as I recall as intended,) or it's just placebo since I certed it out fully on this suspicion and I've just been getting really lucky. NW doesn't isn't supposed to stack with resist (which most HA run) so the extra 2-3 life expectancy on a medic is colossal in evening the odds assuming that NW doesn't stack with RS.

^^^^ This guy gets it.

That's why Firefall failed. A very promising FPS I was a beta tester for. Until they introduced their version of a Heavy Assault that pretty much became the go-to class.

That kind of crap doesn't work when you're trying to bill your game as an E-Sport. Giving players innate advantages based purely on class choice is not how you do competitive gaming.

he said it better than me

actually PS2 is a one v one game many times.
all FPS comes down to one on one encounters.
And as server populations drop, PS2 is more and more of a small stupidly unbalanced FPS.

if medics, LA and engies (like me) will lose 90% of the encounters with HA, PS2 is a bad FPS.

Let me break this down for you then.... Why should I have to choose engineer if I want to play a vehicle to the fullest? Driving a tank as a medic provides no benefit compared to the engie class. The engineer class is pretty much the no-brainer choice for when you want to play a vehicle. If you want to charge head first against infantry it's a no-brainer to play HA. Drive a tank as a medic? You are at a disadvantage because you picked the wrong class for the situation. Play a support class for direct combat? You are a disadvantage because you picked the wrong class.

There are combat roles, the HA's role is direct combat. The LA is to assist by flanking and can place spawn beacons where other classes can't even touch them. The medic to support the other infantry units by providing heals and revives (revives being the 2nd most powerful thing in the game behind spawn points).

Yet TF2 (one of if not the most successful FPS of all time) has classes that that are better at direct combat than the others. You do not go headlong against a Heavy as any other class because he will kill you 99% of the time. As a Medic in that game you try to avoid direct combat at all cost as you will likely die.

Also you are not an engie, you are just someone who prefers to play engie... probably even at times when the situation dictates that you shouldn't.

If HA shield would be removed probably 30% of players would leave the game.. But on the other hand, more than 30% of new players would be here to stay..

I'm trying to think of a way for HA to keep their bloated HP and medkit-tanking ways but give them a drawback or limitation that other classes are burdened with.

I think adding a drawback is better than outright nerfing that over shield.

Gun access limitations are meaningless. In any case LMGs are beasts especially with the recent accuracy boosts.

No other class can use LMGs or rockets, yet burdened with no over shield.

Again:

1. Speed nerf.
2. Long, long cool down on over shield.

Any other suggestions that allows this overpowered mechanic to remain? I'm talking a drawback type change.

This is a long-overdue compromise imo.

Every class has cost/benefits associated with them, the HA has too much benefit for little cost.

Cool down would not make much difference. Delay would.

So yeah, nuff said. I mean, have you even played TF2??? The weapon TTk's are so short, that no, WRONG. Any class can gib a heavy in a split second. Hell the scout can zoom up and ONE SHOT him. So why even bring that game up here?

Notice something else about the Heavy in TF2 that isn't analogous to Planetside? He's heavy, so he's SLOW. He's slow as s#$$%$#. That's called "BALANCE". Something we don't have here. Moving on...

Oh and I'm so pleased with the "roll" that you've assigned other classes. Hear that my fellow LA's? We get to place beacons!!! WOOO! Oh and we "assist" with flanking..uhh whatever that means. We aren't for killing, nope, we "assist". Only HA's are for "direct" combat!! The rest of you guys just sorta...heal, and flank and ummm, generally screw off. Am I right?

Medics are for healing! Hey never-mind those "ASSAULT RIFLES" you carry. Clearly FPS combat is not for you!

And your engineer shpeal get's dumber the more you try and explain it. It's embarrassing. You're like the white guy at a party trying to explain away why he thought the "N" word would be funny. Please just stop, drop it, and walk away.

Give the heavy shield a 0.5 spool up time. If the heavy did not receive any damage during that spool up, the shield works as it does currently. If the heavy takes damage though before the 0.5 spool up is complete, the mesh generator overloads and it acts like a hit from an EMP grenade ( distorted vision, energy and shield drained )

Heavy who activates his shield before charging = still viable

Heavy who runs around and pops shield as soon he gets hit = dead man walking

This way the ability would have to be used with caution and foresight, just like a cloak or jetpack that leaves you defenseless when used incorrectly.

Another idea is prevent movement while over shield is active.

They are statues so long as it is active.

They can rotate but cannot walk, run, jump or strafe.

I'd rather 90% indirectly nerf the HA than to directly hamper their shield. At this point in the game, we can't risk changes that drive away players, and any amount of shielding is still superior to none at all. Also, perception is everything - nerf the shield, and now all classes suck. Buff the other classes combat capabilities, and now all the classes rock. Yes, the general public IS that easy to fool. History shows the presentation of mechanics in video games makes the difference between players loving or hating a feature. Gotta make it seem like they're gaining, not losing, mostly.

To start, I'd just flatly grant every carbine and assault rifle .75x ads. The .75x ads carbines, rifles, and by extension SMGs will now be buffed up to .875x ads. This will represent the added speed the other classes should gain from carrying lighter weaponry and armor.

Second, non-heavies will carry an additional magazine more than they do now by default. Further, carbines and rifles should have an extended magazine cert. Just 20% more ammo per reload, but 5-10% slower reloads. Make this either a magazine or underbarrel attachment. Preferably magazine. This would help grant softies more breathing room in their aim while pummeling away at HA, MAXes, or just taking on groups of hostiles. Killing two birds with one stone here, DGC could even use the extra long banana magazines of already existing LMGs for the models. If they were to even go as far as an advanced extended mag cert, LMG drums (+40% magazine size.)

Thirdly, I would totally ensure that nanoweave flatly reduces small arms damage by 20% for both health and shields (if it isn't intended to already.) This makes it a bit of a gap closer between HA and the rest of the classes. HA can still get use out of nanoweave, but the most they'll see from it is with NMG and adrenaline shield, since it won't stack with resist. And I'd argue NMG is the fairest of shields, because it has a long recharge period - generally only good for soaking one dude's ammunition in a high intensity battle.

I feel like at this point in PS2's life, directly nerfing the HA - as opposed to making the other classes more competitive in exchanges of fire - would do more harm than good to the game. Plus, making the other classes more fun and fluid to play is like killing two birds with one stone.

I don't think SMGs having only a 0.125x ADS speed advantage over carbines and ARs is Enough to render it a CQC specialised weapon.
Now about the heavies...
CQB is about sitting at a doorway and watching it, not about 80s action movie-ing your way through a room. Unfortunately, HAs excel at both. I would like to suggest making NMG similar to lockdowns and nerfing LMG ADS accuracy. The new NMG would give you 1.5x the current health boost NMG gives you, increased ADS accuracy, increased RoF to chew through ammo quicker, but limit mobility to 0.25℅ and make turning much slower.

Either that or have a 2 sec delay for the shield to turn on to allow time for someone to kill the heavy before it shields.

To be fair, Firefall failed for a number of reasons. It was supposed to be Borderlands with jetpacks, but it didn't have the story or spirit that drove Borderlands. It also tried to make what was essentially a single-player game into a MMO, which is always difficult because you lose so much of the story.

At least in Borderlands when you have to run fetch quests, the terrain and the enemies are varied enough, with interesting dialogue along the way. Firefall "missions" were interesting the first... 3 times but then got very repetitive. Only the instanced missions drew you in, but those should have been the entire game, not just isolated episodes.

As for class balance, so long as you weren't PVP most classes were okay. I played as the "medic" most of the time and it went well enough.

Yeah, I'm just sick seeing so many heavy assaults.

They're everywhere, especially higher BR players that almost exclusively play it.

The only time I actually see some variety is when there are some newbies around because they don't know better, but it's just a matter of time before they learn that the reason they are dying to HA is because they just have more HPs than you, or they quit.

That's why that class needs some drawbacks IMO.

I can't remember seeing or shooting at or dying to a BR100 that wasn't a heavy. It's kind of pathetic.

You're not One to talk game balance

I talk about whatever I want and there is nothing you can do about it, you *****.

until you can understand the basics of good competitive play.

Which, of course, you do, and those, who disagree with you, do not. Nice "argument" there.

PS2's HA class broke those basics. Blatantly.

Says who? I sure don´t.

No developer worth their salt creating a PvP focused FPS game of any genre develops a game where one class/setup is designed to dominate every other class/setup in combat.

Yep, the pure combat class without any support features should not be better in direct combat than a support/hybrid class with additional support/hybrid features. That´s "balance", lol.

The assumption that support players are fine with being completely outmatched in health and firepower

I am fine with losing as a support class in a direct firefight to the primary combat class HA. No biggie, that´s how this game works.

and matched everywhere else by some defacto "killer" class

The HA does not match everywhere else. For example, he cannot repair or give ammo. He cannot heal/revive. He cannot fly. He cannot become invisible. He doesn´t even have access to the best weapon class (Assault Rifles).

should have resulted in the lead developer's immediate termination from his job.

There is very good reason it is not you deciding about anyone getting "terminated" or not.

Forget MLG, this game wasn't even properly designed for non-tournament play. Even Rexo in PS1 wasn't so blatantly more powerful than the agile armor.

The issue with failing on the MLG thing was not class balance.

In PS2... the gap is just disgusting.

Says who again? I don´t feel that "disgusting gap", and I don´t main HA, far from it.

And before anyone mentions "shoot at the head," THE HA CAN TOO. There is literally no advice that can be given to non-HA that the HA can't employ themselves if not counter completely with some awareness.

How come I am able to combat HA´s just fine while playing other classes?
Must be magic, because obviously being able to fly, becoming invisible or even healing/ressing teammates to kill the HA for me cannot be the reason.
Oh, and fortunatly there are also HAs on my side.

In the end, every class that engages a heavy assault, plays the heavy assault's game,

Says who again? Maybe you do, I don´t.

If I combat HA´s and don´t play a HA myself, I will not play the HA´s game and frontally assault him That would be suicidal.

If I do and die, I blame it on me not playing my class right, not the HA. Maybe you should try that for a change, too.

Instead, I, for example, try to snipe his head or EMP/SMGun him down. Both things the HA cannot do much about.

Or I just pull HA and frontally assault him. Hard to grasp, I know.

and THAT is why the class is breaking the FPS balance of Planetside 2.

Says who again? Surely again not me, so stop posting as if you were speaking for the whole or even the majority of the player base, because you are not.

Also, breaking what balance? Every player in every empire can pull HA at every moment he/she wishes to.

1vs1? Again, this is no 1vs1 game, find some other game if you seek that.

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One little question:

Who would win in an even team deathmatch: 20 HAs against 20 Medics?

Short answer: The Medic team would easily, because of chain revives via tool and grenades. They could do that until the HAs run out of ammo, ffs.


So, why the crying for HA nerfs and not Medic nerfs?

Let´s see, a single Medic (Support Class) is easier to kill 1vs1 than a single HA (Pure Combat Class), isn´t it?

Could it be you actually do not care about game balance in this ->MMO<-FPS at all, but only about 1vs1 and your precious "******" because you as (in your view atleast) a "highly skilled LA" player cannot stand losing to the "OP" overshield?

Because if it would not be in this "OP" state, your "skill" would of course prevail, would it not?

(FYI, shooting at people as a LA from angles where they don´t expect you is not in any way, shape or form more "skillful" than the overshield, even if you desperatly want it to be.)


The HA overshield will stay. It´s been here for 3 years now, so obviously the devs of this game do not agree with you.

You can deal with it and adapt or continue crying.

Adapting will help, crying will not.

It´s your choice.

Farewell.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside..._played_classes_ha_26_eng_20_infla_18_med_13/

Just did a quick google search, HA gets pulled 26% of the time.

Looks quite ok´ish for the primary combat class in a combat oriented game, doesn´t it?

Please post your mains profile so that we can take a look at his killboard.

Because, for good reason, I call total BS on that statement.

Can we please get a new storing house, the salt is getting too much!!!

Seriously,you guys just cry cause you engage heavies in a 1v1 cause you start shooting at the same time.
Yes, there he has an insane advantage and will kill you with a 90% chance but that is YOUR fault.
And because ppl probably cried too much about heavies going in a room and killing 8 ppl.
I do the same thing. Without getting shot once. People just get scared and dont shoot back like they do when seeing a max unit.
The only reason why i really take the heavy assault is cause 150 bullets in one magazine.

And as a light assault, i assault a HA from a spot where i am above him (i shoot his head easily, he does it harder.
As a Infi with a cloaker i assault a HA from behind with a short range weapon (or when he is running + headshots).
As a medic i go around a corner where i expect an enemy in ADS mode (while going for the "maybe there" head)
Assault Rifles on TR have an insanely good accuracy so headshots.
As an engineer... Why the heck are you playing an engineer in a infantry fight... DONT COMPLAIN THAN.

But i NEVER EVER go for a heavy where i dont have the drop on him (unless he is a noobie)

Seriously, all of your whining about us whining is JUST AS "SALTY," and IRONIC.

The more defensive everyone gets, the more believable it becomes.

Thank you, it is the most played class, considering those percentages are pulled and compared to seven total. Considering the average should be 14%, that's big and just confirms what everyone knows. You narrow that down to BR100s and I'm sure that 26% would skyrocket past 50%.

14%, so we have 7 classes? 7x14= 98?

I thought it was 6 (Infil, LA, Medic, Engi, HA, MAX) if you include MAXes, so ~17% per class.

But MAXes cost 450 ressource to pull so they don´t really count into the equasion, they are more like vehicles technically.

That makes it five Infantry classes -> 20% per class on average. No idea how you get to seven classes, but that must be your genius.

Yes, the primary combat class gets pulled more than support classes in this combat focused game called Planetside 2.
No other game saw that player behaviour before.

So all in all, you still spout your uneducated, biased opinions and call people actually having arguments salty.

You are pathetic and not worth my time, sorry.