I spend about 85% of my time in game as an engineer and the reason for this is because I love the vehicle game. When driving my vehicle of choice (usually a harasser) I have to do an awful lot of repairing due to it taking such a beating. It annoys me to no end when I see guys posting about how <insert name of vehicle which just killed the original poster> need to be nerfed because they're so very OP. The authors of these threads typically seem to take the stance that, when playing as infantry, they should have some way to defeat the aforementioned vehicle in a one-on-one situation. There are, in my estimation, two big reasons why their arguments are generally specious. The first being that an armored vehicle should absolutely pose a big, big problem for a single infantryman. (Really a single armored vehicle should pose a big problem for an entire squad of infantry but, alas, that is not the case.) The second reason is tied to the first. PS2 is not some arena game with tiny maps that severely limit the number of players. PS2 has an enormous amount of play space and has a huge player limit, anyone can pull their own tank, and all factions have access to them. If you're running around as infantry and you find yourself alone and facing an enemy tank then the imbalance is not that the tank is too powerful, the imbalance is either in your tactical decision making or your luck. As an engineer and PS2 vehicle driver I've been C-4'd, Phoenixed, MANA'd, and Dalton'd too many times to have any sympathy for some stupid ground pounder who just can't figure out what to do about an enemy tank except come to the forums and complain about it. Alright, I'm done complaining about other people complaining. -Sam
This is kind of a strawman argument. Very few infantrymen want to be able to win one-on-one against a tank in the field. What they want is to be able to participate in a battle without getting instagibbed the moment they peek outside the spawn room by an enemy they can't retaliate against. People come to different conclusions as to what the problem is; some want tanks/aircraft nerfed, some want better anti-vehicle/anti-air options, some want bases redesigned, and some doggedly claim there's not a problem here (primarily people doing the instagibbing). Personally, I think the correct answer is to redesign bad bases, but that's a lot of work and won't happen all at once. If tank weapons are to be changed, they should be more effective against infantry up close and less effective far away, so they're better for defense against c4 fairies but worse for farming. I'm not going to speculate on how to make that happen.
I don't see any problem with people getting instagibbed when leaving the spawnroom. If the enemy vehicles have a clear line of fire on your spawnroom and have nothing better to do than shelling it the base is lost - redeploy and prepare the defense at the next base or a counterattack. Seriously, NOTHING is forcing you to stay at a base you can't defend anyway. In other words: My conclusion is that the people getting instagibbed are not using the resources at their disposal right. Im almost 100% sure its the same people that would complain that their tank is standing around uselessly while the infantery is having a blast behind impassable and impenetrable walls. If I had a say in this I would make changes like this: ESFs: 70% less health, 30% more speed and ac/deceleration, 100% more firepower. Yes, they can twohitkill MBTs in the rear with hornets, and they die when a burster looks their way. MBTs: 5% more armor for Prowler and Vanguard (except rear), Magrider loses 500 HP and gains a 10s recharging 1k HP shield and a slight buff to strafing speed and acceleration instead. Resistance to C4 and tank mines adjust so the effective damage doesnt change. Also all tanks get a weakpoint in the rear that works like a HS - get hit there, take twice the damage. Turret turning speed reduced by 25%. Magriders mountain climbing ability reduced. Lockons (air only): If you have the target in the middle of your crosshair the lockon timer counts down three times as fast. If a friendly airunit touches the targeting zone the lockon gets interrupted, the FFI confuses the lock. Missiles fly 25% faster. One hit kills an ESF outright. Lockons (ground): Missiles do not fly in a straight line to the target. Instead they fly upward in about a 30 degree angle. After travelling 150m or getting above the tank the missile takes a dive and hits the tank - always hits top armor. If the user fires in a totally wrong direction the lock is lost though. I am 100% not everyone would like changes like that, but that is what I would like in the vehicles. Air hits hard and is very fragile and mobile, tanks hit hard and are sturdy and cumbersome.
I was in a tank zerg the other day. Despite there being 20 tanks rolling down to the choke point, most people still rolled out with LA (no C4, mind you), and a whole lot of sniper Infils. There were also a decent amount of MAXes. So as soon as I spawned into the base and realized the situation, I grabbed my trusty Phoenix and started plinking away. I couldn't even get a friendly Engy to drop an ammo box for me. After about 15 minutes, a few more Heavies started grabbing the Phoenix, and we started pushing back the line. The enemies never sent a sniper after me for some reason. The enemy ESF never once flew over to try to shoot at the line of undefended HA. No one on my team pulled a plane (Libby or pod ESF). No one attempted a Flash/tank mines/C4 or any sort of tactics. When the enemies started sending infantries to backdoor our Sunderer, I went Infil and started sniping the approaching foot soldiers. Again, I was a lone infil protecting the whole convoy. Vehicles right now are in a good place. I don't feel very powerful in them, but they are quite spammable, and I think the balance is about right. I'm not saying having tougher vehicles but more scarcity wouldn't work--but I'm saying what they have here works fine. People just need to adapt to the situation sometimes.
I liked the OP because on principle I agree. I have no problem with being taken out by infantry, I have a problem with whiners and unreasonable nerfs. In a world where tank mines, C4, and AV launchers frequently reap tanks and vehicles, infantrysiders have nothing to complain about. Oddly enough most of the big nerf whines were from infantrysiders sitting in spawns of lost bases and getting camped by tanks. Yeah spawn-camping was a major issue in the beginning, but the tool of the campers was never the problem, it was the terrible base layouts. I don't remember anyone crying about OP tanks in Planetside 1 camping the spawns. Because they couldn't.
I am a 70% Infantry/ 30% Tanker & think tanks are in a good place right now. I don't think the primaries needed the nerf, but I never really relied on spash damage for kills so that nerf meant nothing to me other than suitability as infantry. I like the changes to AI secondaries. I am all for anything that increases dependency on people working together. I have noticed that with the resource revamp, more people are pulling tanks now which gives me more things to shoot at & despite the extra Tech, not getting constantly farmed as infantry. As a weird side affect, I have been participating in more battles between bases ever since the recent patch. I guess my feelings are, at least they didn't do to tanks, what they did to liberators. ** The next time you find yourself getting raged-up by spawn campers & zergs with superior TECH or numbers, shoot a couple darts from the safety of your spawn room, zoom out your map & really take a look at what is around you. ***** whether you have any chance of defending the base & if not, pull back to the next Lattice & set up a defense.
I don't feel the majority of vehicles need to be nerfed, what I feel needs adjustment is spawn room location or editing the map around the spawn room to minimize the amount of tanks that could potentially be aiming at it. That may not even be the best solution, as part of me feels that if we let those tanks get there, then we kind of deserve to have shells exploding at our doors. I think it could come down to play style. This might not be an issue if large groups of people didn't leave a base at the first sign of any difficulty, in favor of easier farming grounds.
The thing about vehicles is that they can't win battles by themselves. They can certainly influence them of course, but it's always going to be the infantry that captures or defends the points. This is why I constantly harp for base defenders to either make a concerted effort to destroy the suppressing enemy vehicles, or to avoid them, and make their way to the capture points. Too often i'll see 10 to 15 people trying to engage enemy vehicles supported by infantry, while a handful of the attackers take over the control points. In any case, I've always thought ground vehicle gameplay was pretty balanced, if a little unforgiving. A tank can kill you in one shot, but they're a big target, costly, and are usually forced to the perimeter of a base. On the other hand, infantry can kill a tank just as fast in some cases, they can dodge in and out of cover, and are pretty cheap to spawn. A single LA can neutralize a tank, even if they don't destroy it in most cases that tank is forced out of position to deal with the LA before he can c4 them. The only type of vehicle combat that I don't like is Ground vs Air, simply for the fact that anti aircraft ground weapons are meant to deter, not destroy enemy aircraft. So even if you get the drop on an ESF, they're most likely going to survive, unless they get caught up in some sort of AA crossfire. Or crash or something. On the other hand, an ESF can pretty much gib any infantry unit, especially with the AI noseguns. Not to mention liberators completely demolishing vehicles with the tankbuster/ gunner combo. I can spawn a lightning and maybe drive the liberator off, while they can spawn the lib, and have a very good chance at destroying me in one pass, unless I completely out play them. One thing's for certain, don't ever run from a strafing lib, instead try to drive towards them.
Well, i think (as vehicle player ^^) vehicles need to be strong! Because if they are just some big certbox planetside 2 lost its fascination....
