C4 - too weak?

I have been trying out C4 for the last day or so, using it in as many imaginative ways as I can think of (hiding it under a generator/inside control points etc), just straight up dropping it into a crowd of enemies and detonating it, trying to take out tanks, and luring people into a trap.

What I've noticed is that the damage is barely more than that of a grenade (I've detonated one directly underneath 3 enemies before and it only killed one of them)

-it costs way too many certs to unlock and buy for the damage it is currently doing
-damage is too low and area of effect is too unpredictable, it doesn't seem to hurt someone if they aren't on the same level as it (ie standing on a small platform next to the C4)
-just using C4 puts you at a disadvantage because you have to have the detonator out rather than a weapon, if someone catches you you're dead, and that 100 infantry points was wasted
-the C4 doesn't explode fast enough when clicking to detonate, so many times I did the animation to set it off and it even made the click sound, but a split second later I get shot in the face by the guy I was trying to kill and nothing explodes (another 100 infantry points wasted)
-I still haven't ponied up the 500 certs for the 2nd stick of C4 so I can't comment on that, but I've heard you can only use one stick at a time anyway so the only difference would be taking out AFK vehicles. Because no player is going to wait around while you detonate one stick, then run over and place another one, and detonate a second time.
-they share the same problem as grenades where it will hit the corner you're peeking around even though you weren't anywhere near it, the hitboxes on those walls and pillars are huge
-sometimes the animation of throwing the C4 doesn't play/isn't very noticeable so you can't tell if you've actually thrown it or not

I can see C4 being a lot of fun if it was more like the C4 in battlefield 3, but at the moment it's just not worth the time and effort because you could get a whole lot more kills using grenades and a rifle.

It feels like C4 is still pretty buggy, especially with regards to the splash damage. Also there's very little feedback for when you throw or detonate C4, half the time I'm not even sure I've thrown it until I try to detonate it. There needs to be some kind of arming noise and a louder detonation trigger noise, even if only the person throwing it can hear these things.

Yep, I'm ashamed to say that one time I was trying to throw my C4, noticed that no animation happened, saw that I had zero C4, and assumed that I had forgotten to restock. Of course I tested this by clicking the detonator and promptly blew myself up

After 200 certs and 100 inf res, I expected to kill a lightning in one shot if i got it placed on the back. Which I did. And watched it drive away. Wtf.

BTW I just tested this today: it doesn't matter where you place the C4 it always does the same damage.

I won't lie, I did not read your entire post.
However, I obtained the C4 in the beta and agreed that the C4 is kinda weak.

Oddly enough though I kinda want to get it again as I have had numerous situations where I could of had gotten 5+ kills with a single c4. I play light assault enough and find it rather easy to ambush large groups of enemies.

Which leads me to conclude that maybe I was a little too harsh on the C4 in beta and it's more of a situational kinda thing. If, however, 2 C4's still don't kill a vehicle when attached to its back then they definitely need some readjustment.

I have just certed into the 2nd c4 and with both placed on the sunderer i got it down to 3% hp. You can have two c4's deployed at the same time. It only take a couple seconds to get both down. One rocket after that and it was dead. That is very deadly for one soldier to do it such a short period of time so it shouldn't be made any more powerful.

As it was with only one c4 I could put a squad beacon down, land on top of the sunderer throw down 1 c4 and then rocket it near to death but it took a few rockets. With two c4's it's nearly a guarantee if they get a sundy near the base I can solo it down very fast. With a coordinated heavy drop it would be laughable how fast it would go down. They should keep c4 the way it is now.

Alright, this is what I wanted to hear. I haven't tested multiple c4's simultaneously, so thanks for that information. I do agree though that they need to polish up the animations and such. Considering the rest of the game, though, I think it can probably wait for now.

True the animation is very sloppy and it can be tricky to accurately throw it if the enemy vehicle is moving.

C4 has always struggled throughout the beta of this game; it's always been slightly more expensive than people think is reasonable, it's always done slightly less damage than people think is reasonable, and it's deployment and use has always been slightly buggy and frustrating. This kind of confuses me, because it's SUCH a difficult item to use. You need to place it where the enemy will move and then detonate it on purpose.

Please make it more reasonably priced, please make it do more damage, and please squash the bugs that are interfering with its use.

~Zealot

I agree with most of OPs points. I'd like to see the price for the first stick drop to 50, maybe 150 for second. And an increase in damage as well.

Tanks have weaker armor on the back (supposedly) and most players who buy armor don't use back armor to begin with, so it should be more effective there. Even so, in beta I mostly used it on damaged tanks, ones under fire. That way they wouldn't drive away. Of course, if I was smart I'd let them drive away then detonate when they get repaired....


Hmmm....slap some C4 on an enemy tank at an enemy Bio lab...when it gets back through the screens under the lab...THEN detonate it. Probably get a bunch of kills!

Do you need the two points in C4 to place two on the ground or it also work with the UTILITY BELT of the engi. Meaning, can you place more than one C4 if you have certed 100 into C4 and 100 into utility belt?

Thanks for answering.

Also...just so you know. If you deploy C4 and you are killed before detonating it....it's still there when you re-spawn. (So long as it isn't destroyed) I can't tell you how many times I've rushed into a room full of enemies just to toss a brick of C4....die....respawn and pull the trigger and get 4-5 kills.

Oh thanks for the info, seems legit. I thought it was lost when you died.

In it's current state it's definitely too expensive. Mines are 75 inf, C4 100, 50-75 would make much more sense. The animation being imrpoved / sped up would also be a massive improvement to C4 to without any of the explosion radius / damage values having to be tweaked. Although I do remember those stats flip flopping wildly between patches in beta, one week a single block of C4 could wipe out everyone in a room, next week 2 of them wouldn't get anyone.

I think C4 should be a lot more powerful towards armor in this game in it's current state it doesn't make any sense. HA can shoot rockets down from a rooftop and blow up a tank.

But C4 users have to manage to make it all the way up to the tank plant it and then get away and detonate it. Risk vs Reward doesn't seem to add up.

Also lately I been seeing a lot more users playing tanks/planes I thought this game was more infantry based with vehicles, but I can see it really is a vehicle based game with infantry units as prey. Between Reaver/Vanguard I can stay in a vehicle almost the entire time I play.

I'd love that, so i get a nice 500 cert refund

The price is fine, it just needs a little re-tooling:

1. Fix up the animation.

2. Remove/lessen the delay between plant and activate.

3. Damage on vehicles effected by location. (if i can get C4 on the back of an MBT it should go up in one C4)

I heard that if you place C4 on a vehicle and the vehicle moves, the C4 will fall to ground. Is it true or not?

I have yet to see that happen. With the buggy animation though, sometimes it looks like you hit the vehicle but you missed and it landed on the ground.