changes to gameplay

now while I do certainly enjoy this game and have been a part of it for well over three years now I find myself growing more and more frustrated at the gameplays lack of balance. I'm going to start by saying this is not simply another "vanu op please nerf" rant as they are merely a small part of the issue. rather the real issue is the player base and the weapon functions. there are many easy steps that could be taken to restoring the factions to equal footing that should be considered. just to start. a buff to the pellet count of the jackhammer....really thought that should have been seen coming. if your going to have a heavy weapon for the nc be a shotgun. the least that could be done is to make it ACT like a heavy weapon. if your going to give it a box max the size of a shoebox and only put 9 shots into it you could at least make them vary large shells. problem 2. the vanguard is a joke to the nc. its use in bullying sunderers is lightning tanks is vary obvious but against a lockdown prowler or even just against a Vulcan minigun in general the vanguard disinigrates like paper. it has no real use on the battlefield that sets it apart from the other factions vehicles. the magrider has a smaller profile size, the ability to strafe, has armor identical to the prowler tank, and a projectile speed that is far faster than the vanguards and more powerful per shot then the prowler. a good way to fix this would be to buff the vanguards shell velocity and give it a more powerful optic. if its going to act as a sniper tank then please allow it to do its job well. now we can all surely agree that with an open public server fiew to none of the players have actual military or combat training so when you see one or two factions such as the tr and vs having not only vastly superior win to loss rations with the vanu winning well over 40-50% of alerts on its own and the tr winning another 35-45% it can only be summed up to imbalance on the equipment level. so now we've looked at the tank and the heavy weapon. now lets ask a really, really obvious question....why do NC shotguns suck when they literally are the faction that worships shotguns? vs has far superior hipfire and range on their shotguns than the nc and while I can sum that up to the fact they are using energy weapons I still feel that a shotgun should have further range the a mere arms reach. I would suggest a minor buff to range on the shotguns. tr weapons are actually shockingly balanced. with only a fiew minor exception such as the Vulcan minigun. but those are fiew and far between. I feel that many of the recent changes have been not simply to the detriment of the nc but almost direct attacks to their faction by the developers. the nc's only real benefit in close quarters was their maxes. and no sooner that the other factions realize that. then the developers added the ability to annialate them with tank mines. outright crippling their primary function. tr maxes make great anti air and suppressive units. though the nerf to the mercys accuracy is certainly a low blow to their functionality as anti infantry units. and vanu maxes make great ambush units. though personally I see fiew to none of them these days in favor of c-4 light assaults and infiltrators with smgs. nerfs wise the only real nerf I would ask for is a decrease of armor to the mag rider and the harasser buggy. simple laws of armor physics states that in order to achieve mobility you must sacrifice armor and firepower. in this case we cant justify nerfing the magriders cannon without rendering its use as a main battle tank mute. so nerf its armor to change it to a ambush unit. as for the harraser buggys....who cant see this coming....no I mean it. who ever thought it was a good idea to give a scout unit the same armor as a light tank? ure it is affected by small arms fire but at the end of the day the harasser buggys high health pool and more then affective options for anti tank weapons make it a far more preferable choice to the lightning. and as such its purpose must be changed to act as what it is. an ambush and long range reconisanse vehicle. perhaps my ideas will anger many but I feel that something must be done. with NC's population at an all time low on ps4 and more and more of its playerbase leaving each day daybreak studios will quickly find its posterboy faction on planetside 2 becoming the butt of the games jokes

oh I nearly forgot. can we have more effort put into the development of the legendary guns and their use. when I see a godsaw having 35 less rounds per magazine and barely a 10% increase in range while having generally worse accuracy then even the baseline gauss saw. vs the bettlegus simply having unlimited ammo. its painfully obvious that the nc is at a disadvantage in this regard. and furthermore the ratio of auraxium soldiers or soldiers with legendary weapons in the vanu soverenty is nearly DOUBLE that of both the other factions. I would say this is do to teamwork but again. it is an open public server as such skills and teamwork are both redundant statistics at the end of the day.

Behold Trump's Wall of Text...
TL:dR buff NC because he feels weak with it.

so how to fix tank mines. I honestly think tank mines do not do their task as intended. the classic use of a mine is as an area denial too primarily use to close off enemy forces from the objective they are placed around. so a good change would be to vastly nerf their damage while also vastly increasing the number of them can be put down. making them as they are intended and area denial tool. if you run over a tank mine even if it doesn't kill you. you wont move any further forward until the area is clear of them. as it stands tanks mines now don't give you a second chance. and that does not suit them well. especially considering that their primary use today isn't so much as a trap as it is used as a conventional explosive as more of them can be carried and they have a more powerfull blast.

I'm vary sorry for your opinion that I am merely trying to defend myself. especially as I just got off of the tr. but if you wish to apply a good reason as to WHY you wish to voice your opinion then please by all means give me a legitimate reason as to why I'm wrong. I am not here to start a flame war. I am here to address a vary real problem for a game that needs work done.

other possible reworks to the game could be a more open space objectives. a vary good reason why the vanu win so many fights isn't because they cheat or because they are hackers or any other unrealistic demand. it is simply put that they are built for close quarters fast paced combat. and the games map designed is sadly tailored almost exclusively for that kind of combat. with most capture points being located in small cramped rooms.

I made a forum account just so I can say, what?

Please use Enter key next time.

Thanks..

and was there ever a specific role to reavers? because while I can see them as being good heavy unit hunters such as tanks, galaxy's or even gunships. that is really not the job of an esf....that is after all why we have gunships. as a heavy fighter the concept is sound but when facing off against scythes or mosquitos it is painfully obvious how lacking the reaver really is in its performance. their large hitbox, relatively inaccurate weapons, and lack of maneuverability more than outweighs their increase in firepower and most readers fail to last more than a fiew minutes if even that in dogfights. a good possible change might be to increase the targeting reticule on the tomcat missiles as presently they are almost outright useless in air to air combat. I hear the air hammer is good but I haven't had a chance to test it out myself. but in terms of maneuverability and profile size the scythe has a distinct advantage at both....sadly I cant really see a good rework for the reaver without completely revamping its appearance and stats. so all I can say is if your going to make it a concrete fridge at least give it firepower to match.

cant really think of much else beyond that. the bruiser and mauler are okay shotguns wise though the bruiser is definitely at a disadvantage range wise to the daimios. actually there was something. why do I see so many complaints about the phoenix launcher? is it because of salvo launches? the phoenix statistically has the slowest reload of any launcher in the game. with far less damage then even the standard shrike. and its missile flies with some severe clunkyness especially when you factor in the Nat ping figuring into the entire control process. alternatively the lancer can fire twice per reload, has nearly instantaneous travel time at well over 800 meters per second. and has little to no bullet drop. i would like to take this opportunity to also point out in the vanus defense that their guns are not "self aiming" but rather have extreme hip fire accuracy. hence why many commonly refer to them as not having to aim.

perhaps i will regret saying this but please provide feedback. i am curious as to what others believe could be done to further improve this game and hopefully return balance to the three factions.

Wall of text.

No way.

ok...maybe i should be more specific can we have feedback that isn't simply about the wall of text and rather what is entailed in said wall of text?

Let me go through all this.

1. "Buff jackhammer." Why? It's already a oneshot weapon if you point it even remotely close to someone's head.

2. "Buff vanguard." Vanguard has NEVER been a sniper tank. It's a brawler, plain and simple. Vanguards have the most armor out of all the tanks, and also have the good ol' "i win shield" to immediately win any 1v1 engagement.

3. "Buff NC shotguns." All shotguns are identical to their other faction variants in stats besides directives/jackhammer and the fact that VS does not have bullet drop.

4. "Buff NC maxes." NC maxes are the greatest maxes in the game. Deploying a TR max just makes it an easy target, with little actual bonus to it, and VS maxes were a joke until the recent re-buff to Zealot Drive, and are still the worst because of their lackluster weapons.

5. "Nerf magrider and harasser." Magriders are already the squishiest tank, and harassers die if you BLINK at them too hard.

6. "GODSAW is worse than the betelgeuse." GODSAW is SIGNIFICANTLY better than the betelgeuse. Betelgeuse's only benefit is the fact that it can operate indefinitely without support, whereas the GODSAW can wipe out entire platoons of people in single reloads.

7. "Tank mines are too strong." Tank mines are working as intended. They're already very easy to spot and dodge, and the only thing your proposed buff would do is lag servers down.

8. "VS are best at close quarters combat." This is not true in the slightest. the TR are significantly better than the other factions at close range, whereas the VS are more of the middleman, a balance between the short TR and the long NC.

9. "Reavers are bad." Honestly I dont know enough about them to say anything, but i will say that all missile weapons for ESFs are identical to their other-faction siblings. Also Airhammer is pretty solid.

Ladies and Gentlemen, small translation of the OP below. I must warn you however that it's still a nutcase, claiming things like that the Magrider has higher velocity than the Vanguard and that Harassers have the same armor as Lightnings.


now while I do certainly enjoy this game and have been a part of it for well over three years now I find myself growing more and more frustrated at the gameplays lack of balance. I'm going to start by saying this is not simply another "vanu op please nerf" rant as they are merely a small part of the issue. rather the real issue is the player base and the weapon functions. there are many easy steps that could be taken to restoring the factions to equal footing that should be considered.
just to start. a buff to the pellet count of the jackhammer....really thought that should have been seen coming. if your going to have a heavy weapon for the nc be a shotgun. the least that could be done is to make it ACT like a heavy weapon. if your going to give it a box max the size of a shoebox and only put 9 shots into it you could at least make them vary large shells.

problem 2. the vanguard is a joke to the nc. its use in bullying sunderers is lightning tanks is vary obvious but against a lockdown prowler or even just against a Vulcan minigun in general the vanguard disinigrates like paper. it has no real use on the battlefield that sets it apart from the other factions vehicles. the magrider has a smaller profile size, the ability to strafe, has armor identical to the prowler tank, and a projectile speed that is far faster than the vanguards and more powerful per shot then the prowler. a good way to fix this would be to buff the vanguards shell velocity and give it a more powerful optic. if its going to act as a sniper tank then please allow it to do its job well.

now we can all surely agree that with an open public server few to none of the players have actual military or combat training so when you see one or two factions such as the tr and vs having not only vastly superior win to loss rations with the vanu winning well over 40-50% of alerts on its own and the tr winning another 35-45% it can only be summed up to imbalance on the equipment level. so now we've looked at the tank and the heavy weapon. now lets ask a really, really obvious question....why do NC shotguns suck when they literally are the faction that worships shotguns? vs has far superior hipfire and range on their shotguns than the nc and while I can sum that up to the fact they are using energy weapons I still feel that a shotgun should have further range the a mere arms reach. I would suggest a minor buff to range on the shotguns. tr weapons are actually shockingly balanced. with only a few minor exception such as the Vulcan minigun. but those are few and far between.
I feel that many of the recent changes have been not simply to the detriment of the nc but almost direct attacks to their faction by the developers. the nc's only real benefit in close quarters was their maxes. and no sooner that the other factions realize that. then the developers added the ability to annialate them with tank mines. outright crippling their primary function. tr maxes make great anti air and suppressive units. though the nerf to the mercys accuracy is certainly a low blow to their functionality as anti infantry units. and vanu maxes make great ambush units. though personally I see few to none of them these days in favor of c-4 light assaults and infiltrators with smgs.
nerf wise the only real nerf I would ask for is a decrease of armor to the mag rider and the harasser buggy. simple laws of armor physics states that in order to achieve mobility you must sacrifice armor and firepower. in this case we cant justify nerfing the magriders cannon without rendering its use as a main battle tank mute. so nerf its armor to change it to a ambush unit. as for the harraser buggys....who cant see this coming....no I mean it. who ever thought it was a good idea to give a scout unit the same armor as a light tank? Sure it is affected by small arms fire but at the end of the day the harasser buggys high health pool and more then affective options for anti tank weapons make it a far more preferable choice to the lightning. and as such its purpose must be changed to act as what it is. an ambush and long range reconisanse vehicle. perhaps my ideas will anger many but I feel that something must be done. with NC's population at an all time low on ps4 and more and more of its playerbase leaving each day daybreak studios will quickly find its posterboy faction on planetside 2 becoming the butt of the games jokes

Big wall of text TLR version?

I erm...well. Id like to suggest in the future breaking up large walls of text with some spaces in between, it makes it far easier to read...but. You also may want to stop replying to your own thread in a rather spam-y manner and instead edit your main post. I will attempt to answer quite a few of your suggestions

Shotguns - As far as I know, all shotguns perform similarly between each faction, the only exception is that NC gets the jackhammer and magscatter, weapons that act in the vein of shotguns even if they are categorized as a Heavy-gun and Sidearm respectively. Additionally you seem to have posted that the deimos performs better then the bruiser...the only real difference I can think of is maybe the vanu faction trait where their bullets fly slower/have worse range(Former in this situation) and have no bullet drop. Having no bullet drop wont give you any real advantages when it comes to a shotgun due to limited combat ranges and slow projectile velocity in the first place.

Close quarters combat - Vanu is not a close quarters focused faction, they instead get weapons that favor midrange combat with options for close or long range weaponry. Terran republic favor high firerate/magazine guns that typically favor closer quarters engagements while New conglomerate favors slower firing guns with higher accuracy and damage that does better in longer range engagements. This does not mean that a faction simply cannot do well in shorter ranges as you can often get a high firerate weapon to be used in those situations.

MBTs - While sure, a prowler does do double DPS even without lockdown compared to other tanks, you suggested that the vanguard has no real role and the magrider seems to have a good deal of things going for it? I do wish to point out that the magrider ends up with a weird front-mounted low height tank-cannon with what feels to be harder projectile drop then other tanks and its main thing is to use its mobility to counteract its downsides, the vanguard instead can take more damage then the other tanks as well as having a high alpha-damage cannon. Something to consider is that you can equip the vanguard with the community-named "I-win Shield", which will give you a shield that can absorb quite a bit of damage, I heavily recommend this to you if you feel like vanguards are currently having issues in combat.

Esfs - The Reavers, while they do have a chunkier hitbox compared to other fighters, their main thing is that they boast heavy afterburners/vertical thrusters, letting you maneuver quite well with them where the mosquito has a long/thin profile and a high speed and the scythe has better handling statistics but has a short/wide profile. Each one kind of handles slightly differently and if you currently are having issues maneuvering with a reaver, I recommend you try out the valkyrie to get a hang of using your thrusters to maneuver around and potentially trying out hover stability which makes good use of the reavers thrusters.

Maxes - Currently, all three maxes have been becoming less and less relevant due to weapons being added to be a straight-counter to them, that said. VS AI maxes often end up performing not that well when compared to a faster firing(More changes to hit) TR max. A NC max can use dual-shotguns to instantly gib a player and can equip slugs to get somewhat of a similar range to the other two factions anti infantry weapons

VS Hipfire - What? I mean..the differences between stats of similar-role weaponry is that the vanu weapons tend to be slightly more accurate while moving and aiming. Could I kindly see what you mean by this because I am completely confused by what you mean, unless you are comparing your default weapon to a hipfire-focused one.

Tank mines - These are kind of a good counter to vehicles and lets players get rid of vehicles that they normally would be defenseless against, keeping in mind the main way to use these is to either sneak up on a vehicle, place them down and self detonate or lay them on a well traveled area and hope they don't get seen. There are counters to this, being mine-guard and the ability of looking down as you travel, potentially even pressing Q. They aren't the end all anti vehicle weapon but they help against players who manage to get into bases or aren't paying attention or the sort.

Beetlejuice - I do want to point out this does not really have 'infinite' ammo but instead use a heat-bar mechanic, capable of firing 49 shots before it overheats, the infinite ammo mechanic really just means you can wait a while to let it cool-down without going through a reload animation, unless you overheat which you are forced to sit through an eight second reload. Otherwise..they are going to be tweaking the other factions auraxium rewards anyways.

NC as a faction, in general - NC is in a interesting spot right now. They have weapons that can reach into a higher damage and slower firerate then the other factions can reach while still being able to access weapons that can often match other factions high-firerate weaponry. This is to say that their guns are often seen as the most unforgiving. Particularly if you are a newer player, you will have difficulties using their weapons. Often their defaults are similar in performance to other factions long range/high damage versions while facing with usually higher vertical recoil. At the same time, if you get more experienced with the new conglomerate, they can be pinpoint laser weaponry that can kind of be considered similar to battle rifles, as they will often sometimes get no vertical recoil angles...barring their assault rifles...on their guns, making their guns take less work to maintain steady on a target. Infantry combat-wise, the factions are pretty balanced even with asymmetrical differences, such as NC rewarding players who stay in slightly longer ranges or TR rewarding closer-range engagements...

Faction balance in general - ...Saying to buff or nerf a specific faction is a difficult thing to pull off but easy to say. For example, vanu weapons often under-perform in terms of raw damage output but do well with minor benefits such as lower recoil, no bullet drop and fast reloads in addition to their interesting damage-model categories. This kind of brings them in level with the other two as well. I couldn't really say one faction is worse/better then another by this alone and instead would probably suggest to look at them at a case-by-case basis, such as for sidearms and specific weapons that have equivalents across all three factions. The reason why vanu often wins alerts is, keeping in mind this is at best hearsay..is that we probably have the best outfits? Often ive seen new conglomerate or terran republic zerg in an alert while quite a few vanu players will break off and ghost-cap around the area and cut off the zerged territory, at some points even winning an alert by simply doing that. I would assume this would have to do with the fact that there are major zerg-fits, outfits that focus on recruiting a vast number of players and in play, throwing them into a specific point to rush through, not that vanu has a lack of them but I do believe we managed to inherit some major outfits from server merges.


Source: 785 hours on planetside 2.

I cant say I'm surprised at how quickly someone is trying to shoot down this post. but to be clear i do not agree. on an open field perhaps you would be right about the godsaw. in actual gameplay this is far from the truth the godsaw is a long range weapon or rather is designed with range in mind on battlefields tailored to close range combat.

as for tr having better close quarters. tr certainly have been cqc with vehicles but the vs out maneuver them easily with their smaller profile size faster movement speed and high hip fire accuracy weapons. I will admit also though that tr lmgs do suck at range perhaps even worse than the Orion does. speaking of which we go back to the bettlegus where unlimited ammo and independent functionality as you would consider a LITTLE benefit it a huge benefit that far outpaces the god saws. a godsaw acts vary similar in nature to an assault rifle but its accuracy is lacking at best when compared to the gauss saw with for grip far outpaces it at long range.

as for tank mines yes they would lag servers down. and maybe they are easy to spot if you have eod visor implant. but on ps4 they remain a major nuisance. they are NOT easy to spot. and they do far to much damage. perhaps then if we cannot simply increase their numbers we could have a proximity setting on them. making it so you have to have a limited range between mines so we don't have three or four of them piled on top of each other. in either case something needs to be done in that area.

as for the daimios. it has a tighter pellet spread attributed to it being an energy weapon. I'm not asking for it to be nerfed. but i am asking for NC shotguns to be buffed enough to be on par.

and you are most certainly correct in saying that each faction is unique in its functionality and its damage model outputs. tr are large magazines with low damage but high fire rate. vs are high hip fire with little bullet drop and mid sized magazines and nc are large magazines high damage and slow fire rate. but ultimately the map designs are built to cater to close quarters combat where the nc are at a distinct disadvantage to the other 2 factions.