[Guide] Required reading for all NC !!!

When it comes to shotguns, the majority tends to hate them for a number of reasons. For PS2, shotguns are just plain bad at going from fright to fight and are only useful for exact conditions after you get yourself into an exact position. Yes shotguns are deadly for those conditions but you are not going to do **** outside of them and that is what makes shotguns bad. They are simply not flexible enough for a game like PS2.

With details as to MAXes. This limits NC MAXes as a whole from them not being able to help in pushing from one fight to the next.

Take an AMP station for example. Attacking the walls is near impossible for shotguns, going from building to building is almost as bad. Then look at Tech Plants. Good luck taking a Gen when you can't cover open ground and if you choose to go for the back doors there are MASSIVE lines of sight defenders will use to camp. Attacking or defending the majority of bases is a pain in the *** for a shotgun. Far to much open ground to cover and cross for a weapon that doesn't have that kind of range nor ammo counts for the players in them. Plus with defending bases, if you can't go out to push the enemy AMS then you will not stop the attack.

The MMGs of TR and VS MAXes though shine in those areas. This is my number 1 reason why NC looses the most alerts and why NC will very much likely never get anywhere when the construction system comes out. They are simply **** at attacking/defending bases from having a MAX that only has shotguns.

Топик Стартеру - Пошел в жопу, говно синее.

On the topic.
NC is fine, make vang shield work like a resist on HA and g2g

Two words: Ravens. Slugs.

Only LOL.
By that logic all burst fire weapons are shotguns.

Okay OP's English makes this ridiculously hard to understand she I'll just shove my own 2 cents on NC balance

Our infantry weapons, for the most part, are to die for. 200 damage small arms feels SO good, 167 with a relatively high fire rate and controllability is also awesome, and all classes still have access to 143 damage also with a good fire rate for the damage, all awesome

Though there are still some major drawbacks. First off, as I think OP said, our ES weapons just flat out suck. Jackhammer is fun but only in a range so rarely fought in. Phoenixes feel so slow and dull if you're not using them organized (more on that later), Canister has been a joke from day one and nothing has changed, and the max is only good at the one range every max is good at, hell even an AI burster MAX. And I don't just say that because I've been victim to the other ES weapons, I'm also a user of them. Vulcans, strikers, prowlers, MAX chain guns, I hop on my TR and grit my teeth with the crazy boring small arms because the ES goodies make that much of a difference

Unfortunately too for the NC, we're populated almost entirely by lone wolves. Yes the phoenix has potential to be the most deadly rocket launcher if used in a group, but that's about as easy as getting republicans and democrats to agree on something. It sucks SO much to know some of our gear is balanced on teamwork, and knowing there is no such thing in the blue army

Though I am looking forward for machine gun MAX arms for the NC (which I can't afford) if it is just another shotgun my return to PS2 might be cut really gosh darn short

I can't speak for ravens, never used em, but I can speak for MAX slugs. In theory they extend the range of MAX arms to the point of actual competitiveness, except for one major flaw: the COF stays the exact same as with normal shotgun rounds, and you actually have a worse chance at hitting anything at range and even sometimes up close

NC is the rebel without a clue faction. I find it hilariously ironic for the devs to have given the best alpha and crazy teamplay weapons to the faction that by the nature of those it attracts will hardly ever use them properly.

The GK is a perfect example. You give the TR something that works with a low skill floor (ERMAGERD DID ANYONE SEE THE FRACTURE BUFF?!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?) and suddenly we use it to great effect and without mercy, in its designed environment. To the point you all cry enough to get it "nerfed" - though it's still usable.

If you gave the TR those silly laser-grenades or TV rockets, the TR would do the exact same thing, and the rest of the people would do the exact same thing.

Strength in Unity. We don't need classic rock playing 24/7.

I know that much, being on the receiving end of a 24-48 zerg entirely of pre-nerf Strikers heavies...talk about getting rekt. I just really want the faction with my favourite weapons to get some competent leadership and competent blueshirts to follow their orders, or the chance to spray-paint my AC-X11 red

NC weapons are nerfed by our own stupidity, I like it, that's what I'm going to believe is happening

So long as NS weapons show similar performance across factions, this whole "NC weapons are the best, its just the NC players that are bad" idea rings entirely hollow.

For the record, I didn't say "bad."

Selfish, egocentric, me-first lone wolves who scoff at teamplay or helpful coordination?

I mean I don't know, who is the faction that's notorious for non-stop teamkilling without regard?

That's all anecdotal nonsense that people just keep repeating until they start to believe its real.

Any balance discussion that is predicated on believe that a whole third of the playerbase across all servers is on average1) less talented, 2) less coordinated, or 3) more malicious is absolutely nonsensical.

There's a guy with an NC MAX as his avatar who would beg to differ. BRB /POPCORNING

Ravens are the only weapons in the game (with the exception of pre-nerf GK) that I consider to be OP. I get that the NC needs a long-range AV MAX weapon, but you don't need a laser-guided missile launcher. A single MAX should not be able to take out a heavily defended cloaked Sunderer that has cover on three sides. (I consent to Phoenixes only because they require either multiple people or clueless enemies to pull off things like that.)

Really? I've never used slugs personally, but I've seen many people use ScatMAXes with slugs to great effect. Guess I'm just seeing the skilled people.

Unfortunately its the best explanation we can come up with. The NC arsenal was the most chosen one by pros doing farmers league and server smash as its well balanced. However the performance of many of the NC from my point of view and experience is the general playerbase tends to play to kill and not play to win whenever ive played NC on my server they dont bother switching up strategys if they are at a stalemate as long as they are getting kills. Theres of course exceptions to this well organized squads do exists but they seem much less common than TR and VS and they seem to never employ cheesy strategys like changing lead every time your beacon goes down so you can keep the point hold going strong.

This is me normally.

This is me on Slugs.

I guess the NC max just suits me better .

You are correct.... OP has no clue!

NC MAX shotgun topic maybe will come to an end.
At the test server a new NS machine gun for MAXes and all factions is available.

No, the best explanation we have is that the NC-specific weapons are predominantly slow firing weapons that are good 1v1 but scale poorly in a zerg. The giant zergs and subsequent lag in live play hurts the slow firing NC weapons at a disproportial degree than the bullet hoses of TR and VS.

How? wouldn't a weapon performing subpar in such a fashion show up in the statistics. NC weapons are killing plenty fine the only things that are different on NC is win rates in alerts. People want to blame their weapons but theres basically zero evidence to support this case.