In the last years the number of infiltrators has grown out of control. Can we have a proper tool to counter them that doesn't involve in picking another infiltrator ? At release infiltrators were visible to IR / NV optics and the cloak effect was more visible. Additionally they didn't have the weapons they have nowadays (smg , commissioners,etc ) nor the skills (speed was a certification for LA). Infiltrators nowadays are monsters that kill anything without effort and are the only counter to themselves (motion sensor and darts), a thing that is really bad for the gameplay . Can we have something that an engineer or a medic can drop that prevent cloak in a zone ? PS please... don't start with the "black light"... it give away your position, it is super situational and works only when and infiltrator it's too close and he is going to kill you anyway... and doesn't work at distance.
Any vehicle, a dark-light, Cover, Commissioners The Infiltrator can not fire while cloaked. The infiltrator can not invalidate your cover. It's firing a sniper rifle, that gives away their relative position, and is not the easiest thing to fire at those ranges. You can literally one-shot the Infil at close-range with a pistol. If you can literally nullify the entire class ability of it.. Which also leaves the lower-health infiltrator whom if was entering your field, no way in hell to operate against the other classes. As now, it can't cloak, Your weapons are perfectly in range, so it will die, Unless they are a hell of a CQC Bolter. When can we drop Fields that Shutdown the Heavy-Assault's Overshield, or the LA's jetpack? As even then, those classes still have higher health. Not to mention, This doesn't touch your apparent issue with a sniper rifle. it just screws any Infiltrator whom isn't sniping.
The only problem with infiltrators is snipers. The only problem with snipers is being able to load another round without un-scoping. With the fast pull bolt the sniper rifle has become a slow firing scout rifle. Otherwise infils are good, but an equally skilled heavy will win every time. Medics and engineers are support classes not designed to be running around solo. Engineers have the abominable spitfire which already prevents infiltrators from flanking.
I don't see how a vehicle can counter an infiltrator. That used to be true at release, when vehicle optics were able to see infiltrators. Infiltrators can circumvent your cover... and is exactly the problem with them. You think you are covered then suddenly a guy pop and one shot / knife / empty a clip in your back. Sniper rifle give away your position much less than any other weapon. You can one shot any class with a new pistol (commissioners etc) and an HS... this is actually something that made infiltrators stronger, not weaker. Emp grenade already remove the shield of everyone (used to drain all ablity energy also) and it is (again) an infiltrator skill. I don't really understand where you see weakness in this class even if visible. In the last years this class received so many buff ... every counter to the infiltrator is embedded inside the infiltrator itself. We can normalise health if you think is such a big disadvantage... no one care about 100. Isn't really an weak point anymore with all the new guns. Do you have problem with a field ? Fine, give me back the option to see infiltrators with nv optic... really i simply annoyed to have to deal with infiltrators everywhere in these numbers without a proper counter.
What's truly disproportionate is the number of heavy assaults, and for fairly obvious reasons. Majority of high end players don't actually use infiltrator, because: No easy access to medics, engineers or the objective. Objectives are in-doors and a cloakers are easy to spot there and they'll get caught in crossfire. HA is versatile, and all around the most reliable pick against anything you'll encounter. One mistake from an enemy infiltrator and they're likely dead if you know what you're doing. One mistake from you as a HA is more likely rectified by a medic, or even a medkit. Infiltrator tricks don't work on smart players infinitely, and cloak =/= invisibility. Snipers don't reach the most relevant places, bases aren't built that way. Engineer can be especially good against infiltrators. Engineer can resupply itself with recon darts (and throw darklight on it as a bonus), use spitfire to prevent flanks and unlock EMPs through ASP which is something I have done (not because of infils though). If even that won't help, flash and valkyrie scout radars are pretty easy to operate in most bases and they can have a large coverage. It's harder to counteract snipers, but they rarely really get you when you keep to cover and focus on reaching the objective. Sometimes I've just lobbed a quick-det flash grenade at an enemy infiltrator and just swooped in to shoot them with ambusher jets or whatever... what it comes down to is just the ability and will to fight without constantly feeling gimped instead. Only thing that is ever effortless to kill AS an infiltrator, is a player who can't stop to think for one second or is very bad at spotting cloak. I think every player has the tools for countering infiltrators built in, but it's of course easier to complain and expect devs to nerf everything to their level. I don't think that the current state of the game is bad or anything, but I rather fight against more infiltrators or light assaults rather than a meat phalanx of fully upgraded HAs with near best-in-slot items. But it's what it is, and at least I train with every session to overcome my woes of the game to best of my ability without needing anything changed or nerfed.
An infiltrator can't damage a bloody vehicle, in general without being VS. A Light-Assault can flank you as well; Just the infiltrator will die faster. The sniper rifle has 1 single bullet usually, and requires actual aim. You are dead unless you fire the first bullet perfect, as any other primary will wipe out that infil. EMP grenade lost all ability to drain ability energy. As well, that was a nanite-priced grenade. You can one-shot the Infiltrator with 1 head-shot with the Commissioner. You want to be able, to see All infiltrators easily at distance, while they can't shoot, completely invaliding any ability to use their entire class ability.. That means, you basically took their ability to survive or flank, and made them unarmed & easily killed even by a blind man. Infiltrators are the easiest to kill: easiest to predict as well. Sure, they're not brain-dead run-in-straight-line, but that's since it doesn't work. Like dear lord. Can't figure how an armored vehicle, able to kill any infantry class in a hurry at a distance, counters an infiltrator casually? The fact it won't take a scratch for one. The fact, most vehicles are armed with a gun. Hell, if an Infiltrator is in range of your primary weapon, You just have to be able to aim. It has less health than you; Fire to their skull. Head-shots from Sniper-Rifle: There is a reason they engage at 200 meters distances, that way they don't get executed by the nearest LMG. The CQC Bolters, They take advantage of client-side, and do their damn-est to live. You really have a hard-on for being unable to keep an eye on your target, without a massive jarring reload & removing of sight. If that saved your life; Your opponent was a crap shot anyway. As those with good, would've hit the head: Those that couldn't.. Motion would've thrown off any 2nd shot anyway. Scout-Rifles; Are vastly different, require numerous rounds in target, operate at entirely different ranges.
Infiltrator : Just stay nearby other players or - as LA- go where an Infiltrator can't reach you. They have an handgun or a knife so need to be close to you and are unable to deal with more than one enemy at a time. Snipers: always move. That is all you need to do. From time to time (rarely) I am killed by an Infiltrator or a sniper and it always because I failed to do what described above.
rather than a abilitydeniyng tool what medics and/or engineers should get is a scout/inteloption of their own that is a bit more usefull than sensordart crossbows ... maybe even maxes .. cause intel in this game is realy lacking ... infils that use anything else but sniperrifles means they are in range were you can engage them .. a anti sniperoption could be if f.e. nightvision optics on guns or the NV implant show the sniperusers weapontrajectory .. so were he aims with his rifle .. (not my original idea)
If you are having problems with infiltrators you should get some headphones and get some practice listening for enemy cloak noises. If you go play TF2, there the Spy's Are genuinely completely invisible when they cloak and the only way to track them is through their distinct cloak sound. Plus Spy's can and will instant kill people with back stabs. Are Spy's over powered? No their a minor annoyance at best and completely useless in higher tier play. Infiltrators are just as easily tracked via sound and they can be traced even easier due to still always being visible to a degree, not to mention both scout radar showing them when cloaked, darklights showing them when their in your sights and regular radar darts ect. showing them when they aren't crouch walking when unstealthed. The only thing infiltrators have that makes them a threat is weapons that are on par or equal to other classes weapons, so if they lose the element of surprise the can if skilled enough still win a 1 to 1 engagement, but at that point I would hope you would expect a Fair fight.
LA's are a good counter. While some people think that LA's are the most vulnerable class to infiltratora because LA's take to the roofs where they are easily visible. But in practice they make hard targets as they move a lot. I do a lot of LA, and snipers are a great source of kills. They stick to one area and often dont expect enemies to get to whatever their perch is. Also snipers have never been too big a problem to begin with. They dont kill as fast as most other classes unless you make a habit of standing still without a roof over your head. SMG Infils are far more dangerous, and they can still be countered. But if you want something more like a counter, what about an ability you can fire off with X or B that makes Infils in stealth light up, shimmer and tremble for a while. I've also asked for LA's to have internal scan devices (as opposed to Infil's who use external one's). You scan in a forwards area and any enemy leaves a temporary wire-frame on their current position, even stealth one's. Wire-frames can be seen by allies within X m distance and through walls. An enemy can simply walk away from the wire-frame as it doesnt follow them, but it allows you to locate an infil and force him to move, making him more visible. It also gives LA's a team-job, giving allies an idea where enemy players are hidden before you enter a room or when they might gather for an attack, supplementing recon equipment that doesnt give any height information.
There is no counter against smart infiltrators - even nude, visible and both hands tied to the back, we would kill people!
I'm not a big fan of gameplay scenarios where the skill of one player cannot affect the outcome. This arises a LOT in planetside. Shotguns, Instant decloak bolters, A2G weapons, HESH, etc.. The outcome is dependent only on the skill of the attacker. No skill from the victim can alter the outcome of the engagement once it begins. If they added a tad more delay to the bolter's decloak I wouldn't complain. But.. all said and done, infiltrators CAN be countered. You already know how, you just find it a hassle to do so. Heck I run infra vision implant all the time and no darklight and I kill infils all the time. Learn your empire specific cloak sounds and keep moving. Play dumb sometimes...give them a reason to decloak then smack em. They are soft and die easy.
[modified quote for ease of answer] 1- yes the can be, but it doesnt mean that it is effective in any way, even an esf can be countered with a granade if it has low health in the air with luck 2- you can kill them all the time, doesnt mean they are easily countered 3- if the infiltrator has slight ping or you have some ping then this is completely useless in close quarters 4- smart infiltrators will completely ignore this or will just get a headshot on ya 5- take carapace + 20% more shield and they are the same as medics/la/engineers and tankier than regular infiltrators these points really are just blank talk sadly, no real points raised as to what can counter them nor help to counter them beside intuition the point remains, they are hard countered only by vehicles/emp granades/other infil's
I think the revolvers are a bit OP, but infiltrators themselves are mostly just annoying. They will get a good k/d ratio, and its hard to stop them from doing *some* damage, but their max effectiveness is so low in a massive push situation that they are not a real balance concern. What defines power level in a game like this is how much you can actually meaningfully alter the course of events in a battle. If we want to talk about them being healthy for the game, I think its complicated. They are hard to interact with as a player trying to fight them, and they dont actually accomplish that much. I believe that infiltrators would be more healthy for the game if they were forced to engage in more high risk high reward behaviors that help the overall fight more. Being able to deploy temporary jammers that blocked off a generators function for 10 seconds or so, rather than just killing it outright. More... infiltratorish based gameplay. As they are now, they are a bit munchkiny, more a chassis for stat padding that for accomplishing real change - and that is a bit of a shame.
Ad Nauseam. Infiltrator is the only Class with those Counters: -Darklight for just 100Certs that is bucged and can go trough walls. -Inf has just 900HP (100HP less as standart) -bugged cloak -bugged weapons while in cloak Give me a Bugged Flashlight that can negate the whole ability of a Heavy Assault and can go trough walls for just 100Certs. Besides all that, Infiltrator is the third most played class...behind Engineer and Heavy.
I would say that stat is slightly miss-leading. I believe the stat for when you are playing as an infantry is heavy, infi, engy. Because 9/10 times if you plan on pulling a vehicle you probably are an engy. As such, while the most played stats show otherwise I think there are more infils in a base fight then engies. I could be wrong, maybe the meta has changed in my hiatus.
If any class overperforms as far as combat goes, its certainly heavy assault. (I play one myself, they're amazing, but lets be honest they do way too much and LMGs are honestly way too good , too accurate, too effective, Or maybe its the carbines and smgs that suck. Probably the latter.) That being said the problem with infiltrators is the fact that they are low risk&high reward. OHK potential over extremely long distances, and the tools to do it without even risking yourself, cause the only thing that can outgun an infil at long range is another infil. They are not neccessarily gamebreaking or anything, but they are not healthy for the game either. Sniper rifles and cloak is a broken combination that leads to a very safe playstyle that rewards cowardice.
Best counters to infiltrators is a head on a swivel. If you have armor, great. If you have spotters, great. If you have a big gun, great. But the whole point to infils is to get that ambush, take that away, they're useless. Well unless you're getting snipped from over 400 meters. In which case you get a medic.
