after seeing the above post in another thread i quickly decided that this idea might make for an excellent new jet pack for the LA as an alternative to the other jet packs. maybe even making them more viable as a class on open ground. the idea is simple. you would trade all upward thrust for direct forward acceleration, making you sprint extremely fast. instead of using fuel when you jump you use fuel when you sprint and you run forward EXTREMELY fast. since you are sprinting you can't use any weapons until you back off the jets, but you should be able to close the gap between yourself and enemies with relative ease. again the trade off is that you are only able to perform the standard jumps that other infantry can do since your jump pack no longer provides vertical thrust. and by fast i am thinking you should be able to accelerate to around 30 - 40 kph while jet sprinting and the acceleration should be almost instant. kind of like a MAX charge but with much more control and duration. any numbers or values listed in this post should be subject to testing and balancing, all i care about is the core idea.
The problem is the speed in itself isn't valuable for direct combat any more than the ability to fly over walls. All it will do is pigeonhole us in using shotguns all the time. Shotgun is the only weapon where speed is both desirable and actually required. You don't really need speed that much when you wield any other weapon, and you don't really need speed any other time at all. Faster sprint and run speed is something that I think we should have by default, but making it our only perk will just make us a shotgun class even more than we are now.
i also agree that the base movement speed of LA should be faster than any other class. this is meant as a 3rd jet pack option to make the class more versatile. i don't really play LA much so i don't know how well it would work though. (i have been spending my spare certs upgrading my LA and i am trying to craft the rank 3 safe fall implant for my LA)
I totally support this idea, and I think it could be pretty useful if hit detection isn't too wonky. But I will suggest another kind of Jetpack, the 'Strafe pack'. I think it would be so freaking cool if the LA could trade the vertical flanking abilities for a more 1v1 oriented play style (just as different Infil and HA abilities alter play style). It could work similar to the Halo 4 Thruster pack, whichever direction key is held down (space for short vertical), the pack boosts a short 1-2 meter distance, using a large portion of the pack fuel. This would make the LA actually viable in head on fights, and just be so awesome!
^ But if you remember Halo 4... that was probably the least used next to the frontal shield you had in Halo 4... I'd prefer the speed boost over the thrust, just to give drifters something to work with. But either one would be an improvement.... that being said I still wouldn't touch drifters... unless you could ADS with drifters... then i'd use 'em.
i thought drifter jets just allowed you to hover. i was not aware of them increasing your ground movement speed significantly.
If the ground is flat, you can use Drifters to skim along the ground at sprint speed while still being able to shoot your gun. It's hilariously inaccurate though, so you pretty much never see people do it.
I think it would be a tad too niche of an ability. What I'd like to see is the Adrenaline Pump being reworked into a full cert line topping off at (let's say) +25% sprinting speed.
This idea could be implemented as a "Maneuver Jetpack". Double click your movement keys or space bar to get a short burst of speed in that direction or to jump a little higher. Think Unreal Tournament's dodge and double jumping techniques. Could consume about 1/4 or 1/3 of the fuel reserve per maneuver Watch to about 2:10. The rest is a custom game type that doesn't pertain to the original game's design.
That would be so great. I'm thinking maybe it could be the LA's first "F key" ability. Pressing F could start slowly draining pack fuel (perhaps +5% speed boost while it's on?), and whichever direction key is tapped boosts the player that direction. 2 or 3 bursts per charge would be nice. Certifications could either increase recharge rate or increase the distance traveled per burst.
Bring Icarus Jets back. Failing that; the ability to dump fuel quickly for more thrust would be delightful, as would being able to use the pack to dart with WASD and the F key.
