A.I. Max Weapons

The biggest problem with NC maxes is that it is bad at everything if it does not have extended mags.

Ex mags cost a fortune.

The easiest fix is to lower the Ex-mags prices to 200 certs for every max.

TR maxes are fine as is.

tho would love to see lockdown get replaced cause its completely useless besides the occasional burster use

Who cares about labels on weapon? If falcon kills armor and flash its all-around weapon, which makes NC max very viable at mid-range.
I said nothing about pounders, i was talking about NC. Yes pounders are hella strong and that's only thing which makes TR MAX life bright and fun. Too bad, VS MAX doesnt have even one such weapon. I bet most VS MAX players would gladly trade ANY their weapon for NC shotgun or TR ponder. NC have great max arsenal and still dare to complain that it is not OP enough: shotty mags are small and they cant steamroll without pauses for reloading, poor NC. Oh and suddenly 1k certs is alot, so BR1 NC max cant get 100500+ KDR, he should wait for ext mags, what a pity.

Why dont we just trade NC and VS maxes? This way NC will pown with superduper 75-rounds clips, and VS will spend their whole life making these 1k certs for extmags and being totally harmless at 10m. Pure win for NC, they should demand that with all their population.

Well it is the thread title.

If Pounders are better in the same context (which they are) then how can you complain about Falcons and NOT Pounders?

Falcons are the only decent long ranger option availible (Ravens aren't great for AI work), in TRs case they still have Mercys, Pounders and Fracture (yes they still are decent too - just not Pounder-decent AI-wise).

Unfortunately you don't seem to care a whit about balance, more you have a nerf axe to grind I think (powered by misinformation and baseless raging hyperbole it seems - 100500+ KDR indeed ), which makes any rational discussion with you fairly pointless I guess.

It would appear that way at first glance, but it's not what you think. NC max is almost entirely ineffective past 10m. Particularly max vs max.

VS max currently has the highest scores, likely due to accuracy being their faction trait and that means their max has more usable situations. A VS max outdoors is still hell, an NC max is so non-threatening outdoors that you can lift your LMG and unload an entire clip while directly in its sights and still kill it. That said, round a corner to an NC max and you're dead, TR and VS max, you've got a chance.

I'd say it's an asymmetrical balance thing and I'm ok with that. I don't think there's any big balance issue here.

Edit: By the way, if you wanted to know the server data for how well the maxes are actually doing, it's VS>TR>NC in almost every category. I think my NC brothers need to step it up, grab slugs and extended mags, and use the mattocks. It would probably fix that. That would cost a whopping 1800 certs to get to that point though.

The biggest problem with NC max is that:

VS/TR max is stronger than the NC max in CQC. (unless the NC max has extended mags)

I need a balance there, NC max should be stronger than VS/TR maxes in CQC regardless if they buy exmags or not.
Even a .5 second better TTK is good enough. At least NC will not be able to say that they are worse than the VS/TR max in CQC.

We shouldn't be comparing default MAXes since their power level vary as they are kitted out. To really compare you need to consider the full potential (ie. with significant cert expenditure). Once everyone is on an even plane the NC MAX is better in CQC than either the TR or VS MAX. A fully kitted out NC MAX can destroy and fully kitted TR or VS in CQC (Grinders and Aegis).

NC max (without exmags) should still be stronger than a TR/VS max (without exmags) in CQC.
Exmags cost a ton, why is NC max forced to pay more certs to be good at its game? (CQC)

The best solution is to reduce the exmags costs. Or give NC maxes lesser reload.

The VS/TR on the other hand, is better than the NC max regardless of if they have Exmags or not in longer ranges.

There is a imbalance right there, you can see it, you just refuse to believe it.

Try putting extended mags on a certain set of arms NC has and go around lolololing at other maxes as you one clip them.

The thing is if you do not have exmags, other maxes will lol at you, in and out of CQC. (considering its a lose-lose situation)

Have you played any other MAXes other than NC? I play all three factions, and while VS is my main I do have an NC Mattock MAX kitted with slugs and extended mags. Guess what? If you don't have extended mags on your TR or VS MAXes, and you go up against an NC MAX with extended mags, you're going to lose. Yes yes I realize that NC MAX is at bigger disadvantage without extended magazines, and would be happy as hell of they reduced the cost of the extended magazines.

Here's a pro-tip: for 250 certs you can get a second Falcon and rip enemy MAXes to shreds, and have an effective long range option for your MAX.

The NC MAX is more specialized than the VS/TR MAX. Mid to Long range or vs. MAXes/vehicles = Falcons/Ravens, Medium to Short range AI = Mattocks with slugs. Short Range = Grinders to chew through MAXes and infantry.

My guess is that SOE considers MAXes to be toys for more seasoned players (much like vehicles) that require a large investment in certs to be fully effective. It's extremely hard to balance anything across a broad range of power, which is why SOE has to balance the power of MAXes and vehicles at the upper end of their power. Because of this, the NC MAX will never see shorter reload times or larger default magazines for their shot guns, as they were far to good at killing other MAXes. We don't want to regress to Hackmaxes running up to VS and TR MAXes and holding down RMB/LMB for the win.

I play the VS and the NC.

Mate you arent posting a fair fight.

NC max (with mags) vs VS max (without mags) IS NOT A FAIR FIGHT!

NC max (without mags) vs VS max (without mags) NOW THIS IS A FAIR FIGHT!, guess what? THE VS MAX WINS!


The main problem is that NC max is forced to buy extended mags, to be good at something that is considered to be its game. (CQC)

This problem balances if you buy the ex mags. But guess what? EX MAGS COST 500 CERTS per ARM. (1000 certs)
1000 certs is not a giveaway. The best thing is to reduce it to like 200 certs per arm (for all maxes)

As for the next part of your reply:

Situations in planetside 2 change every second. Dual falcons are good at killing Maxes, but i can not even kill 3-4 infantry before dying. (i would pull out at half health, just saying what happens if i dont do so)

NC max is not a moving infantry terminal, I can not switch to mattocks with slugs, just to finish off an infantry that has gone past 12m.

TR and VS maxes benefit from much more versatility. Maybe that is why see more hybrid TR/VS maxes than hybrid NC maxes.

Falcons do not work very well with an AI arm.
Cuz NC shotties are mostly semi auto, and its dumb to see a reload speed screen popping every second.

Now if you are going to tell me to buy hacksaws for this situation. Then guess what?
Most NC players can NOT afford to buy the whole max arsenal with extended mags and slugs.

I use the comet and blueshift combo on my VS, and i can do decent in any situation concerning the ground.
NC hybrid load outs just do not have chemistry like other max hybrid loadouts.

I'm just asking, how is it an imbalanced idea to make exmags 200 certs? (let alone everything else)

Not if it has KA5 it can't (well it can with Grinders, but not with Scattercannons, Hacksaws or Mattocks). But losing with 3 out of 4 weapons isn't really destroying.

Dude did you bother to even read my post?

I agreed extended mags are probably too expensive.

You can't balance the game across all power levels, so therefore who gives a crap whether an uncerted weapons system is good or crap. Is it effective and balanced when fully certed?

For everything else, this is a team game, specialization and team work is good. Mixing AI/AV/AA arms on your MAX makes you less effective at not more versatile.

Lastly, MAXes and vehicles are giant cert sinks to be effective. If you are not willing to invest the certs, then don't complain that they are not effective. I don't expect that my alt's zero cert Vanguard can take on and beat a Prowler that someone has spent even a modest amount of certs on.

I believe that I did specify Grinders and Aegis. Just like the VS and TR most of AI are less useful. At the moment for the NC MAX, Mattocks and Grinders are all you really need to cover your AI needs. All other options are inferior. The VS and TR are in the same boat, for the VS it's the Blueshift and Nebula, and for TR Mercy and Onslaught.

I think you will find that NC Max's have the worst DPS. I believe you mean "Alpha damage".

I do not have a very certified VS max, but i can easily go on killstreaks as long as my certed out NC max.

My only problem is that:

NC max is supposed to be better at CQC, and the VS/TR max can kill me even though they are supposed to be worse in CQC.
Giving the NC max TTK (in CQC) slightly better will not ruin the game, only balance it. Maybe like 0.5 seconds.

I expect a uncertified NC max to take out a uncertified VS max in CQC.

To TR / VS players, NC maxes are allowed to reload their weapons with their shield up, I'm not joking on this, see for yourself, if there is anything that need changed is cancelling reload while your extra health bar is up.

Indeed, but the lowest TTK weapons for TR/VS are pretty much the same as the lowerst TTK NC AI weapons infantry-wise, but the best TR/VS AI weapons for range are way ahead of the "ranged" NC AI MAX weapons in TTK and sustained DPS.

The problem with the Grinder being the only viable MAX vs MAX weapon is that really speaking the Mattock (with slugs) is the only viable general NC AI weapon (the other being Falcons for longer range).

Which piegeon-holes the NC AI MAX into win or lose situations with skill (or even luck) having very little to say or do about it.

Well you can bug it.

But really if you're close just poke your weapons through it and fire, and if you're not close...... well you shouldn't be losing to a NC AI MAX in the first place reload or no reload at that range.