Seriously, they are the class with the least utility (Way worse off than the LA, they at least have jetpacks and reliable weapons...). Their AI and AV weapons suck (Scatmax doesn't apply, of course. That one is fine AI wise, at least). They have horrible survivability. They have only one active ability, that has an excessively long cooldown, even when certed. And their cert upgrades SUCK. Us players have been asking for something to be done to the MAXs to make them better ever since the beta, but we've only been met with silence...
Not silence. I believe Higby has said that MAX-love is second on their list, right after Light Assault love. We'll get more details on their plan in January.
I'm waiting with bated breath to see this "love". Hopefully it'll make MAXs into something formidable and worth the CD and cost. I'm hoping for innate small arms resistance without having to spec into it, some extra HP and some empire specific abilities. Here's to hope! -Quiiliitiila
It seems MAXs already have innate damage resistances, according to peoples' tests. It sure isn't enough, though.
Cynical prediction: 5% extra health, a run-mode (same as tanks, just press = to move instead of holding key), a "new weapon" which will be a minor variant of the originals just like everything else, and a sweet looking video of a MAX owning everything with a dozen Engineers and a Medic on standby just out of camera shot.
Even VS dual AI max will decimate enemy infantry ... not to mention it's priceless when blockading spawns and suppressing enemy infantry at chokepoints. You're right about the worthless AV weapons and the lack of customization/abilities though.
Max worthless? No, they are a bit weak when it comes to taking non explosive damage, but otherwise they are ok, but that may be because I play NC Max and I (almost) never run around in big open spaces. Though if you play against a skilled HA or LA you'll lose.
The Mercy guns are quite good. My problem is that our options for AI MAX are chaingun, chaingun, and slightly different chaingun. I wish we had some real choices to make about what to bring to the table. Also, the AV weapon really, really sucks. Hope that gets looked into.
To clarify, I should've said MORE innate resistance, as of now the resistance they have sucks something fierce.
New games are coming out for the holidays and the new year. Some players won't wait until January for a class that's needed love since the beginning of beta, not to mention waiting for stability optimizations that actually work; bug fixes; balance issue fixes; et al. Personally, I allow myself to be a bit gullible when it comes to Planetside, so I'll wait.
As fas as I see it the only love Max need a strong bonus to firearms / explosive resistence for every slot of Kinetic Armor / Flak Armor. Then some weapons adjustment, remove the possibility to stabilize generators, and the rest is quite ok.
I think the answer to the max will have to lie in the certs; boosting the basic Max could lead to Max crashes becoming the be-all end-all strategy for indoors fighting. However if dedicated Max players who've spent 3000+ certs and 2000+ Smedbucks get a more noticeable performance boost, then I think it could work. I mean, the difference between a zero cert ESF and a 2000 cert ESF is ******* ridiculous, same with a certed Liberator, MBT etc. I think we should get more for our cert points, particularly at the high-end seeing as everything is so expensive for us (level 5 Kinetic Armour I'm looking at you!).
We need the VS AI Max to stop shooting popcorn and fire lasers instead. The MAX suits in PS1 were FAR more formidable.
You totally got the point. Devs don't have to boost Max statistics, they have to boost the effect of certifications. Today 2250 in Kinetic Armor just grant +25% firearms resistence: instead of dying in 2 seconds we die in 2,5.
