Some of your comments about the vid are just odd. Most LA users don't really have to told about what the regular JJ are good for, they know, however we are told how bad drifters are and just except it without really trying it out. This vid showed drifters being used to great effect and it was explained what the advantages they had specifically over the JJ, and what the JJ did better. You may or may not have a point about the wall climbing being a bug or a cheat, however it's not something unique to this game so saying it's being left there to make DJ more useful than they actually are is a stretch, as far as I know SOE has never classified it as a either a cheat or a bug, it's wildly known and used by a lot people using a variety of classes (though obviously it's very nice with the DJ as shown in the vid). The whole harraser thing is just silly, the video made no comments on how many blocks it takes to kill a harraser it just shows an LA using C4 to take out one with drifters, they used two blocks to ensure the kill since there was no way to know whether the harrasser had certed into composite armor or not and it was obvious they wanted to kill the harrasser in one fly over. If the vid was about how to kill harrasers then the exact amount of C4 it takes to kill one might have been more relevant. The point of the vid was to show that DJs may not be as worthless as many think and actually can be very useful when used correctly, in my eyes the vid has at least made it so that I'm going to go out and try it for myself.
My comments aren't odd, your perspective of them is odd. And yet most posters in these forums are asking for advice on how best to play the role of LA. The biggest advantage LA has is that it can attack from an elevated position, DJs can't get you to that elevated position by themselves without exploiting a bug (and yes it is a bug, DEVs will not proclaim every bug in the game as an actual bug since they are too busy either fixing them or fixing others) or terrain/vehicles. The vid actually shows nothing new with the drifters. Everything done in the vid is exactly the same as other drifter vids that I've seen. No new insight on the matter begs the question, was it really necessary? Good video, better then the others since it adds actual explanation. But as far as demonstration goes (especially when little explanation is needed in the first place), it's more of the same. More evidence shows it to be a bug then not. As I said many times before, DEVs won't go announcing every minor bug in the game, that's bad PR. However this subject has been brought up enough that I'd expect a DEV to come in and respond whether or not it is a bug by now. Since one has not, my assumption will be that it is a bug. IE an unintended feature that may or may not impact the game negatively. Since it does not impact the game negatively, that alone is reason to leave it alone at least until more pressing issues are resolved. The fact that, without that bug, the entire list of "benefits" that the DJs have become null and void implies that they most likely will not fix it. The reason why it's a bug? JJs do the same thing when your forward moment exceeds your upwards lift while going against a slope. You slow down and start to crawl up the slope rather then overcome the obstruction and fly over it. Doesn't really matter, neither comment was exactly useful or had a reason for being made other then to be a snarky a-hole. I make such comments enough to know what snarky a-hole looks like, however I usually have a better reason for it then nothing. And my point is the Vid demonstrated nothing new, and only explained a little (mostly the obvious). It also uses a bug to exaggerate it's main point, that being that DJs aren't useless. While I don't really care whether or not that bug is fixed, I know that if it does get fixed, a lot of people are going to be extremely pissed off about it. And it's a precarious position especially since the C4 bug fix. I emphasize calling a bug a bug because it could very well get fixed. If DJs are shown to be way too effective at doing everything JJs can do and more, it's going to be remarked upon loudly. If the DEVs decide the balance of power is blown too far out of proportion by it, they will fix it. If they fix it without sufficient compensation, it's going to impact the game negatively. The more people accepting it as a bug exploit, the less negative impact comes IF it get's fixed. Not only to the game but to the various players who already accepted it and are no longer potentially surprised by it. The argument for/against DJs has been raised several times in the past. The presentation in the video lead me to believe the poster knew the arguments on both sides. He's made a video in an attempt to counter the arguments against and did not really supply new insight into said argument. It's not much different from a certain someone's repeating the same 3 sentences over and over across 6 pages of an argument, and then declaring himself the winner because it becomes impossible to argue with a brick wall that refuses to see anything.
Firstly. My argument for Drifters was 'not' based on a bug, not even close. I showed you all of the ways you can use Drifter Jump Jets effectively, and showed you a bug that allows them to be used for more. If you choose to ignore the rest of the information that's provided, just to focus on the parts you didn't like. Then that's just negativity bias at work. It's my opinion that Drifter Jump Jets are not situational, as you will find them useful in a myriad of different ways. Unlike the standard jump jets which restrict you based heavily on fuel capacity and recharge time, and thus are limited to short trips up or out. It wasn't. He was ragging on me for using two bricks of C-4 on one of the Harassers in the video, which happened to have composite armor (thus the second brick.) Was just a stupid and pointless comment to make.
Nailed it. It's obvious that you know a lot about the Light Assault Class. I see you in these forums spouting condescension all the time; the mark of a true elitist. Which is why it saddens me to see someone with your expertise only tearing people and their ideas down, opposed to building them up. There are many, many folks who found the video helpful. To them, this is "new" information. I don't serve people like you. I serve those who are interested in exploring things they have not seen yet. Or those who are interested in the opinions or advice of another experienced player.
Except this isnt true. Read this forum back through Jan. Most "nagative people say stuff like - "they are situational" or "they are fun but lack the utility of JJ." Posters saying they suck are a small minority.
Not sure I agree. It could be that the forums just spew garbage more than positive information, but the majority of who I interact with seem to think that Drifters suck. Period. Like I said, could just be forum bias. What is love? Baby, don't hurt me. Don't hurt me. No more.
Great vid man! After getting level 2 drifters months back and immediately thinking they sucked, I'm certing them out and trying em again. I have roughly 200hrs of LA under my belt so this is a welcome challenge. It definitely requires a paradigm shift in your approach to LA, but I've already scored some spectacular C4 kills!
Possibly the only thing wrong with Drifters currently is the large required cert investment and the massive leap in effectiveness on the final tier.
Very informative. But I still believe that the standard jump jets are far superior. and that is because LA are most effective in tower fights. As of now, that's where I see them dominate. Drifter jets will not allow you to use those platfo- -rms effectively as the standard jets. But for overall LA player's I guess drifters would be good. I do not think they are better. They may just be at a same level of usefulness.
Drifter Jets = Most versatility and greatest potential to get yourself into places in ways the enemy doesn't expect Jump Jets = Great for tower monkey shotgunning and around places like the archives and inside bio labs I have over 25 days playtime as a LA...over 2800 c4 kills, 2800 trac5s kills (mostly ubgl), closing in on 2000 grenade kills...and I can tell anyone here that if you do not have drifter jets MAXED OUT (don't talk to me about anything other than max rank) then you are missing out on the greatest fun you can have in the LA class. This guy's video is ok in showing basic use of drifters and I hope it inspires some of you to get them fully certed out and to experiment with them. For myself...the ONLY time I use Jump Jets as a LA is on a tower ATTACK, biolab defend\attack, and around places where I wanna be up on the buildings..aka archives, xenotech etc. For open field stuff, especially in the canyons on indar, around mountains on amerish(ascent omg) and esamir...it's drifters all the way. The stunts I've pulled off with them since december when I certed them out has had people just bewildered that it was even possible in game. My ultimate LA loadout for drifters: Max jets of course Trac5s with ubgl, nv scope, hva, suppressor grenade bandolier maxed with 3 frags 2 c4 Get this and become a flying ordnance dispenser, able to wipe out entire squads of people at once. My personal best was 37 people in a SINGLE 30 second drift flight during an attack on old auraxium mines from the canyon tops. 2 entire clusters of infantry were wiped out and they never saw it coming or knew what hit them. If you're serious about LA you need to be serious about drifters. If you think LA is all about shotgunning on a tower then you're doing it wrong..Go HA with a pump shotty or auto shotty and Adrenaline Shield for that.
Umm, what video did you watch? 0:00-0:17 Drifters win. Can stay in air longer, and can move faster horizontally to get to the right position afterwards. 0:17-0:36 Drifters win. Jumpjets can't support that full manuever. At best you could break over the elevators and drop down, but that would make you easier to spot and you would have real fuel problems. 0:36-0:42 Drifters win. Jumpjets would simply not have any fuel left by now. 0:42-0:54 Drifters win. Faster horizontal movement. 0:54-1:04 Drifters win. Faster horizontal movement.. 1:20-1:40 Neither works as he want accuracy to fire his gun. Although, he could have used drifters to catch up after reaching the top platform instead of running after. 1:40-2:00 Drifters win. Jumpjets would be nearly out after the landing. Also, faster horizontal movement. 2:05-2:20 Just a demonstration, but drifters win as you can stay in air longer and again, faster horizontal movement. 2:20-2:35 Drifters win. Faster horizontal movement. 2:35-2:55 Drifters win. Not only would you be long out of fuel with jump jets, but horizontal movement strikes again. 2:55-3:15 Just a demonstration, but drifters obviously wins as it is a test of horizontal travel speed. 3:20-5:00 Drifters win. Good luck repeating that with jump jets. 5:15-6:00 Just a demonstrations. Jump jetting between those two towers would leave you out of fuel if you even actually make it. 6:20-6:30 Drifters win. Faster horizontal movement. 6:45-6:55 Drifters win. Better fuel and stability. 7:15-7:45 Drifters win. Faster horizontal movement and fuel by far wins over the couple of seconds he could have saved getting up high in the first place. 7:50-8:05 Drifters win. Fuel constraints with jumpjets again. 8:10-8:30 Jumpjets win. If they didn't they would be useless. 8:35-8:50 Drifters win. Fuel constraints. (and faster horizontal movement) 9:05-9:15 Drifters win. Fuel constraints, Stability, Faster horizontal movement 9:35-9:45 Drifters win. Ok, getting tired of repeating the same factors over and over again. 10:05-10:15 Drifters win. 11:35-11:50 Drifters win. Good luck doing that manuever with jumpjets. 12:15-14:25 Drifters win. Jumpjets suck for ground play. You would have to sit in the tree and move onto the pillar and roof later on instead (Which isn'y a bad choice mind you. I personally prefer jumpjets at TI Alloys). 14:35-14:55 Drifters win. Good luck doing that manuever with a jump jet. (you can get up on top of the biolab without landing on the ordinary platform with a maxed jumped jet, but it takes much more time as you'll have to recharge fuel several times.) 15:05-15:15 Drifters win. Jumpjets would require you to land on the ground due to fuel constraints. 15:15-15:30 Drifters win. Faster horizontal movement
Excellent vid, Wrel. Though it hurt to see my hapless TR brethren slaughtered, it was inspiring to see it done with such grace. Keep up the good work!
the point I'm sold on is the 20% extra speed than standard sprint speed. I had no idea it did that. It's will be hugely useful when trying to C4 a moving tank that always get out of range if they see you. Also chasing max will be easier. or outrunning infantry. I wouldn't say one is better than the other. I would agree that it's a very different playstyle. However, I think you have to have the last level unlocked to make the best use of them whereas the jump jets are good at level 1 to start with and the additional levels barely make any difference. For drifter jets though, the last level makes all the difference. Basically if you are going to use drifter jets, you should be a high level player with lots of certs so that you can unlock the last level to start with, have good situational awareness, know when to switch between JJ and DJ, and know your way around terrains and outposts and facilities. Drifter jets is not for noobs. This is where they would be more useful than JJ: they are OP at the amp stations. If you have 2 C4's no tank can escape you anywhere in the vicinity of amp stations. Outside the bio lab. In more open fields Where they will be less useful than JJ: inside towers inside bio labs. small rooms One question though: do they provide more accuracy while flying than the Jump Jets? If yes, then I'm unlocking all levels now.
LMAO I have 15 days playtime on the LA class. I said the EXACT same thing you did about where drifters are useful as opposed to JJ and that they are only useful over JJ at the last level. Then I went up to read all the comments and realized you already said the exact same things. WOW.
Really great video - informative and you didn't make me want to go to sleep. I've always known the advantages of drifters, but the video's made me want to actually cert them up to full (the only level at which they're useful really.). Think I've got them at level 3 atm. Long way to go. Looks like it requires a good reaction time though so I hope my performance gets better soon! Can't react at 15fps :/
First-Love drifters. they are awsome and add a whole new playstyle to LA, However your review imo is a little bit exagerated.
