I have the recon tool nearly maxed out, but one thing that bothers me is that its really hard to see enemy movements on your minimap, when: A) your squad/platoon numbers are blocking the map B) The zerg is blocking your map (ie bottom floor of biolab is covered by tanks and troops) C) the minimap is bugged, and wont update. What i would like to see, is that with either: A) Higher cert levels would upgrade it to show enemies on your 3-d map (your hud) at the scan intervals and would show enemies as a static triangle, at the last known position. (only for yourself) OR B) A new utility item - such as a tactical relay adaptor, that transmits enemy locations via your helm to other squad memebers, and updates their 3-d map/hud with enemy locations. As of now the recon device is fairly limited but usefull as it is, im just suggesting that it becomes a more sought after cert on the cert tree. TLDR; Make the recon tool update enemy positions as static figgures on your 3-d hud, instead of the minimap , And with additional certifications, allow it to transmit locations to your squad.
I like this idea alot. It would help infiltrators support their squad by 'spotting' enemy units for them. Maybe an ability to mark enemies so your squad has them highlighted-useful for hunting sunderers and AA max suits.
Agreed. Lately when I have been rolling with the platoon and trying to make use of the recon device I find it nearly impossible because of all the other stuff going on on the mini map. Makes certing it a bit of a waste.
I second this idea!! and would like to see the Recon Device given some love so it can be used more effectively in combat situations.
It would be cool to have two minimaps. One left, one right. One for enemies, one for friendlies. Even better, configurable to show what we want to see on each minimap. Like EVE overview settings.
I really like the idea of an outline for the enemy coming up on your HUD as well. Kind of like being able to see through the wall but only in the area the pulse is. It would make sense the info is relayed back to you. At least for the VS since they are technologically superior
Very true. I wonder though. I'm a big fan of having a 'power user' setting for the UI. Could try and go for best of both worlds.
I like this concept, as an aside, I have not put extra certs into the recon device, have you found it of benefit to do so? I tend to use it mainly when capping and I'm standing on some ammunition.
I certed up to the 500 cert cost. You get 2 more darts, and they last for 1.5 mins each roughly and can cover most of a biolab.
We shouldn't have to dump a ton of certs in it just to see little red Dorritos moving in real time in our 1st person view. Look at every other Classes #3 tool Slots. HA's blows up TANKS and Planes. Medic's brings people back from the Dead. And the Engies..... maaaan..... it drains huge amounts of XP out of the zergy AIR ITSELF like some kind of wizard staff. I'm sure if the LA gets a Tool slot eventually here, it'll be a lot more awesome than our POS light-bright shooter.
While I agree the original Recon Tool needs some love I propose an alternative choice item in that slot called the Tracer Dart Gun. Now if any of you have played BF: Bad Company you're probably already know what I'm going to say, if not I'll blab on a bit, for those who want the TLDR option here's the wiki link: http://battlefield.wikia.com/wiki/Tracer_Dart_Gun For those who haven't seen it before it's effectively a gun that fires a slow moving dart that when it hits a vehicle paints that vehicle for all nearby friendlies. This means that it is constantly spotted until the dart expires (say a minute or so) even if it moves out of line of sight. More importantly it also allows normally dumb-fire rockets to home in on the target and in the case of guided missiles allows instant homing lock, the upside is obviously very strong but is counterbalanced by how difficult some shots can be due to the slow speed of the dart especially when trying to hit aerial targets. So I propose something like: - Replaces Recon Tool in the 3rd slot when used, change via loudout as usual - 3 Rounds to begin with, amount carried possibly increased via certs - Fires the dart roughly half as slow as the recon tool(could be tweaked as needed) but with minimal drop - Vehicles tagged are painted for 1 Minute, again possibly increased via certs - All dumb-fire single-shot rockets (including HA default launcher, Decimator and the MBT's Halberd but NOT rocketpods) are able to lock onto the target after 5 Secs in the sights, guided missile systems (HA G2A, G2G and ESF's A2A) have instant lock-on against targets - Vehicles painted are flagged to both sides as such and friendly Infiltrators can disarm the Dart in a similar fashion to hacking a console, takes 15 seconds to disarm(tweak as needed, possibly decrease time through certs) - When a vehicle is destroyed after being marked you gain the standard spotting bonus xp(including squad spotting) as well as Tracer Assist for 35 xp(tweak as needed) This then gives the Infiltrator a much needed teamwork ability that will make people very happy (especially HAs) to have them around in infantry rushes rather than them wishing you could be doing something useful like giving them ammo instead. It also complements the idea of having an infiltrator as a forward spotter, allowing you to target armour threats to help out your own tank column further down the road.
I dont even want to think about the rage on the forum if that were to exist. so many people would cry for nerf (Just like the crow during beta when organized outfits/squads were focus firing tanks.
While it's obviously a strong bonus it is balanced by the extremely slow flight speed of the dart itself. Unless you are an amazing shot trying to hit moving targets at anything other than extreme close range is going to be very tricky, especially for aircraft. The main targets for this would be sniper tanks who don't bother to move but are hard to dig out normally, deployed sunderers, liberators who hover in the exact same place while bombing and rocket-pod nublets who hover in place for 10 seconds while they get their spam out of the way. Any small amount of movement on part of the driver/pilot is going to make them a much harder target, also the dart itself is effectively a big red slow-moving flare, if you see that coming towards you and don't move out of the way you only have yourself to blame. See the below footage for a better idea of what I mean, look at how long it takes from when the shot is fired until the Tracer Plant message appears, he almost has time to reload in between. In this video the class with the tracer also had a rocket launcher, which obviously makes it much more powerful. With the Infiltrator being the one with the device it means that ultimately an Infiltrator with one on his own is effectively useless but as part of a team becomes extremely useful.
