Is the NC weak?

I played planetside 2 years ago and I liked it but at the time I could not play it without lag because my pc sucked. Now that I have a gaming pc I wanted to go back and start over. So I deleted all of my toons and made a NC toon. I looked at all the maps and seen that in all of them the NC was getting their *** kicked by the other 2 facitons. The TR and VS had most of the map and the NC part of the map was very close to their main base.(I forget whats it called) Does the NC always get their *** kicked? Or is the NC just having a bad day? Is their a faciton that always win or is it very balance?

To be honest, all three factions are fairly even in terms of balance. Though VS win more alerts on average according to statistics.
It could be a bit tedious if you are just starting out, but i recommend making a character on all three factions to experience it for yourself.

*Ahem*

Yes and no.

NC is all about skill ceiling. It's harder to do as well with their weapons until you've mastered them. Once mastered, they are the best faction in the game (IMO). However, NC attracts most of the new players because of their theme. Then they are rudely awakened into the world of HOLY ****BALLS BATMAN!! RECOIL!!

The Gauss Saw for example, one of my favorite weapons. A new player using it with no attachments (This was before it gets a foregrip with a new character) would get destroyed because of the spread of the weapon when moving. It was very hard to keep on target even at close range. With a compensator and an ADV. Foregrip it becomes a beast! Still hard to use for newer players though. Compared to other faction weapons at least. New players out of the gate have a much higher success chance with weapons that have less recoil and bloom. NC is just so unforgiving with their weaponry.

Like I said though, once people become adept at the game, NC would probably be the best faction for rewarding their skill.

Yes and no. We've got great hard hitting weapons, except for the whole shotgun enthusiast thing. Only problem is how long it takes for noobs to get the hang of it. On the topic of noobs, NC has an endless supply of those. Mix skill weapons+good supply of noobs+ and little coordination, and you get what you saw. Also, don't pull an anti infantry max and go outside... did not go well

As others have pointed out, our weapons aren't exactly friendly to new players. Either the recoil plus lower rate of fire punishes missed shots more, or the short range of the shotguns forces you to have to close the range across a killing field. Neither of which is very conducive to living long enough to learn something.

Of course on Emerald there is also the problem, and I'm not the only one to notice it, that the major TR and VS outfits have something of a non-aggression pact going. So the NC, who rarely enjoys more than a 4% global population advantage at best, ends up having to fight both empires at once. With the predictable results that no matter where we turn we are having to play defense.

Still won't change my side though. Because in those rare moments when the other guy gets full of himself and makes a mistake nothing quite does the job of showing him how to kiss his own rear good bye quite like my beloved "noobhammer" and its little brother. And the Phoenix is still the king of giving tanks that mistake hiding behind a rock for invincibility an unpleasant wake up call in my book. Plus there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the overall situation.

Recent a few times the VS and/ or TR zergs got fixated on each other, ignoring all the pleas to focus on the NC first. In those moments the NC were able to go on the offensive and it was a beautiful sight. Nothing quite like watching 20+ heavy tanks with all sorts of ground and air support roll from base to base and not even the best efforts of AODR, Ghosts, or AT can do more than slow the rush down until the zergs redirect back to the NC.

So when the neo-Bolshevik / Microsoft lovefest does fall apart I would hate to a VS or TR.

I'm afraid I'm gonna have to say yes and no as well.

Some people say that the NC have the highest skill ceiling, but I really disagree. They definitely have a higher skill floor, but having played them all but exclusively, I cannot determine why they are more rewarding for skilled players.

Factors like fewer headshots to kill, for example, isn't a strong benefit. One to maybe two less headshots on most weapons is mostly irrelevant as weapons with such capabilities also have lower rates of fire than their counterparts. If one was adept at getting headshots, then there are multiple bolt-action rifles that would kill in one hit, as well as a good few NS weapons that distinctly reward headshots more that other weapons.

Theoretical times to kill are often identical, regardless of a weapon's ease of use. The Gauss SAW, Orion, and T9 Carv all have identical theoretical TTKs both with and without headshots, while the SAW requires the most skill and cert investment to be viable, while also suffering from the greatest bloom per shot by far.

Some NC weapons are quite good, such as the Mercenary, which takes the "High damage, low RoF" trope and runs with it, while (in my opinion) the AC-X11 does not perform as well despite having even greater representation of these traits.

The NC's vehicles and vehicle armaments are starkly inferior to those of the VS and especially TR. And, while a highly disputed topic for reasons unknown to me, the NC's MAX is generally much weaker against infantry than the competition. While I could go on for a long time about this, I'll just sum up my thoughts on the matter.

TL : DR -- Yes, but no. Of the three factions, the NC is indeed the weakest of them all with no particular strengths to out-weight this. However, the NC are still strong enough to compete with a degree of success.

Last time I've seen NC lock a continent on memerald is 3 days ago, hossin. Plenty of people will say it's bad players, bad vehicles, bad blah blah blah. All I will say is this:

1. If NC is all new players and are always losing, that's going to dissuade new players from staying.
2. If people gang up on NC then people are not going to enjoy NC being new players.
3. If it goes that NC is out of the game at any point then that will be the start of the death of the game.


Frankly I don't feel like the NC is bad at all, but if the new playerbase is centralized in NC then something needs to be done to fix that, if all the leetfits are based in TR and VS then something should be done to distribute it better, if NC is truly the omg OP faction it is and the players are truly doing this badly then something needs to be done to fix it up.
But people say "oh that's up to the players though and we can't do anything about that", well then ps2 will be losing out on a lot of new players, it's just kinda stupid people want better cert farms over a better game.

Yes. NC is severely defeated at ALL servers. In the most severe server NC's winning percentage is approaching the 10% level.
In this game the aircraft is very strong but NC can hardly be used. A disadvantage in aircraft vs aircraft is fatal in this game where Anti-Air is too weak.

Out of curiosity, were you playing on Emerald? I ask because I've played on all the servers at some point or another (though only on Emerald and Connery any more) and I can say, with 0 doubt, that Emerald has THE WORST META of all time. TR and VS on that server routinely avoid fighting one another the vast majority of the time. Especially during off hours. Population quantities seem to make little difference. I've seen the problem get as bad as the NC having less than 20% continent pop and still getting focused down exclusively by the other two factions. It's been a problem on the server for a while due to some truly terrible Outfit leadership in the TR and VS. It's gotten so bad that I almost never pick up my Emerald TR and VS characters anymore, instead having started new ones on Connery.

i always liked the NC for there gauss saw, this is one reason i like to play NC
always looking for a good biolab fight with the gauss to farm with it
but NC has so many cool things tho play with and unique to that faction

i say NC is not weak, but the faction needs a bit more smart play from the player
it's completely different to my main TR and NC needs more attention to what weapon to bring to what fight
but if i have the right weapon in the right fight i dominate the opposed players
bring the wrong weapon and feel like you have to fight a OP enemy

if my TR main could have access to NC weapons, chances are great you see my TR with a NC weapon in big fights
my first character when i started this game was NC, i deleted it after a couple of days cause NC was to hard for me to play
and did find my way to TR cause it was more noob friendly
NC is the veteran faction, it should only be accessible after receiving a BR80 in a other faction

I have found that the best engagement range for NC infantry in open field fights or bases with large open areas tends to be a bit longer range than the other factions. You can equip higher RoF/lower DPS guns if you cert into them though.

The NC isn't weak, it's just that it needs more skill to operate and then doesn't reward you as much.

For instance the Gauss SAW is a beast when you finally learn to control it... But the Orion is a beast long before, and capable of similar feats of strength but at longer ranges. Ease-of-use, accuracy and range are the most important factors in this game. That's why the T9Carv, often hated by a lot of players, still keeps up at the Q4 skill level with the SAW and Orion, although the Orion ofcourse beats the other two still.

And that's the biggest problem. NC's high damage is constantly balanced out with low ROF, big recoils and large COF's. If you look at NC's history, the weapons that were/are OP all have the same characteristics: Ease of use, accurate, good range. The Anchor had it, the Ravens still have it, the Orion still has it etc.
Most weapons of the TR and VS are much more user friendly and allow for newbies to reach high power levels faster than the NC guys, and when the NC guys finally catch up they still don't dominate or aren't rewarded with better weapons overall after mastering them.

There's also the Vanguard. While it is often the premier MBT killer, it also trades this status with the Prowler. In everything else the Vanguard just lags behind, giving the VS and TR easier vehicle superiority.

Looking at a map at any given time won't tell you about the strengths and weaknesses of a faction.

Play what appeals to you.

Yes, that is something I forgot to mention. NC does have the highest skill floor by FAR. That's why the newbies who flock to the NC because 'murica have such a hard time. Also most of the reason for the TK's.

I must disagree with the highest skill ceiling though. They do have the highest skill ceiling IMO. For example, once you master the Gauss Saw/ God Saw, it can easily outperform the Anchor or Orion at any ranges. (Orion is still way overperforming though).

Weak, no no were not weak, just we have more than the majority of frigging stupid morons more like. I parked a sunderer(NC) up and walk away from it. Next thing i know we have a NC noob blowing up our sunderer. I spawned at another sunderer and he's there doing it again!

I got another sunderer from behind the enemy lines and it took me 7 mins to get it behind the enemy base, then a few spawn an the next thing i know their firing at a Liberator with rockets which didnt do much damage, then they go running back to the sunderer(which is cloaked by the way). Now I'm looking at them from a safe distance thinking "why me", and their stood there thinking their safe cos their cloaked, I am sure the Liberators turret looked in my direction to say "I feel sorry for you", then destroyed the lot.

So, weak is not the answer as you can see, just an over majority of frigging stupid moronic idiots that have less than 2 braincells to run together!

I feel that one major contributor to NC losing fights is their preference for infantry gameplay. I regualary see TR and VS pull back and return with armor and air. NC tend to just stay fighting on foot and get farmed by the vehicles because they did not pull back and draw a counter vehicle response.

People claim NC win a fair share of alerts but alot of those wins are at very low pop times.

Perhaps. Once one learns to fire in controlled bursts, handles the recoil, stutter-steps and develops good aim the SAW can just absolutely dominate, I must admit. However, one could do the same with a "recoilless" bolt-action and be rewarded with instant kills instead, without potentially suffering from a poor CoF bloom. (I don't think it could out-perform an Orion in short range though.)

I guess the point that I'm trying to make is that while some weapons like the SAW do reward skilled use, other NS and carbon copy weapons are more rewarding still, and in some cases with less overall input.

I've been NC most of the time. The thing I noticed playing TR and VS is they seem to have it together more than NC. That doesn't include outfits like Phonenix or a few others who roll over bases like a machine.

Here's the truth. Forget all that crap about yes and no. It's all true but it doesn't matter.

NC noobs are much easier to farm. TR and VS know this. They would rather double team the easy farm than fight each other most of the time. A BR18 with a SAW is easy pickings when compared to a BR18 Carv or BR18 Orion.

That's why NC gets their **** pushed in all day every day.

in some regards yes, in others no. NC has the best infantry weapons in the game for high aim players, and until recently had what was easily the best MAX, although the removal of charge has taken it down a couple of notches. They have the only real MBT in the game, and the AH. What they lack, is a good long range infantry based AV like the Striker or Lancer, and good AA (once again, like the striker or lancer). Unlike TR and VS where vehicles are a suggestion, on NC they're a requirement, because thats the only way you're going to effectively counter force mutliplier spam on NC.