EMP grenades have been steadily improved upon over the course of PS2. As of now, they have AOE impact on all infantry shields, visual distortion, and sapping of HA overshield, medic regen aura and LA jetpack fuel. They additionally destroy all deployables in the area, and disable engineer turrets temporarily. This cumulatively makes EMP's the most powerful grenade in the game. While it does not give you kills as an individual (most of the time), it becomes the ultimate team-play utility as a few EMP's can allow a squad to breach a defended point and wipe it clean while the targets are huddled up chugging medkits and waiting for their vision to return. Personally, despite this, I tend to not run grenade bandolier. I am perhaps a creature of habit, and have a hard time giving up other suit slots such as ASC, flak or ammo belt, in order to carry 3 extra grenades. That being said, I also try to make sure that I throw my one EMP every single life I have and if I die with an EMP in my inventory, I probably failed. My biggest concern is that EMP's will be considered overpowered and eventually get nerfed. If a delay is added (similar to concussion grenades) that will really weaken the impact of EMP's. So far, DBG seems content and no one in the community is causing a ruckus so it doesn't look like any nerfs are on the horizon. I hope it stays that way. So how do EMP's in their current state affect your gameplay? Do you run bandolier now? Are you finding yourself more helpful in a squad, or more effective in solo play? I'd love to hear your experiences/feedback! M
I've actually started to like EMP grenades, but not for the reason you say. I use them for suicide runs. Dash into a crowded room, drop two mines then trigger them with the EMP grenade. Considering how many people run flak, it's the only way to get a guaranteed kill with proxy mines. But they are only so-so on deployables. They are great for killing that hard to find infiltrator radar, but the medic just pops a fresh regeneration field within about 5 seconds. The EMP assist XP is also a window of like 2 seconds. It needs to be 10 seconds like spotting. Then again, I absolutely loathe frag grenades. While one bounce can be useful to get them through a well-defended doorway, they take FAR too long to detonate. Would Sticky Nades really be OP for infiltrators?
I typically run grenade bandoleer when I'm not sniping, and when I switch suit options, I usually find myself trying to throw EMPs I don't have. I think EMPs will probably escape the nerf hammer for a while since you get so little feedback on whether they actually did anything, and the average player is way too cautious/oblivious to take advantage of the moment when you toss an EMP.
Being a more long-range player, I don't often run into situations where I wish I had more EMPs. However, of the times that I do run a SMG or Scout loadout, I often wish my Bandolier could hold more than 4. They seem to be absolutely devastating when used in tandem with good positioning, and are an amazing way to escape if you get caught in a less-good position. I'm not normally much of a close-range skirmisher. Rapid-fire and bumping elbows is just uncomfortable to me. I spend a large amount of real-world time handling and firing long-arms, so naturally, long-arms in video games feel 'right' to me. However, with the recent EMP changes, running with an SMG or Autoscout actually feels refreshing. Using EMPs as a solo player is wonderful for jumping a group of HAs, or using the blast to flee from a larger group of HAs. As a team player, they work amazingly well for softening up large groups of enemies for your allies to then mow down with their LMGs. The turret-overheat feature is one that I wasn't expecting to be all that big of a deal, but when an engi is sitting on a stairway where my primary just can't reach, and is suppressing a door, tossing in an EMP allows you to casually saunter in as the engi sits there confused, blurred, and shieldless. Overall, I have nothing but positive things to say about the changes that were made, and I hope they aren't reverted. -Stay Fr0sty
Can you reconcile these two views? Shouldn't grenades perform equally else one option is either OP or the other is UP? Personally I wouldn't be surprised if EMPs got nerfed. Given the frag grenades deal damage while other grenades tend to focus on applying effects I wonder if the overlap in reducing shields is a bit superfluous. The instant shield recharge isn't quite so bad, so maybe just reduce it to that. The large radius makes sense given the other benefits are all minor. The only other thing that might be safe to change is to give it a delay.
I prefer my ASC in CQC and Ammo belt on long ranges, too. EMPs are more noticeable now against heavies. My favorite thing is blowing enemy tank mines when enemy vehicles go past them. Blowing people up with their AI mines is super fun too. I dont mind if they add delay on them. The nerf that will really disappoint me is the reduction of radius.
let's be honest though, making the screen fuzzy doesn't do much against an experienced player. The only advantage of that would be having a harder time seeing the cloak. But in those situations, you'd probably want to be out with the guns blazing anyways. If they removed the shield loss or made it instant recharge, I'd probably switch back to frag. Those at least can kill, and otherwise wound or force players out of position.
It also removes the minimap and drains abilities, which is especially useful against HAs. There's plenty of other changes that could be experimented with - like shields recharging instantly but slowly, temporarily stopping all revives and healing, or impacting vehicles. All I'm saying is we shouldn't be surprised if an instant detonation, large AoE grenade gets continued balance passes.
To be fair, the only 'new' abilities that EMPs were given are as follows: -Able to affect enemy turrets -Able to destroy enemy ammo packs -Able to drain ability energy (it already had the ability to drain cloak energy) Everything else has been the same for quite some time, so I don't think that they will be hit hard with the 'balance' hammer, if at all, especially any time soon. -Stay Fr0sty!
If I remove my infiltrator bias, I would say EMP's in their current form are overpowered. They are so powerful for a single grenade, especially compared to other grenades out there. I would love to see a vehicle based EMP grenade that affects maxes/vehicles but is separate from the current "infantry" EMP. The balance issue is that DBG has continued to add and add to the existing EMP. It now does everything. The concern I have is that attempts at balance will make it worse than where we started (if they get rid of detonate on impact AOE mechanic like they did with concs). It's the liberator all over again - buff it too much, then instead of reverting buffs, they go and nerf the lib plus all the guns (rip shredder). It's probably just paranoia but someone remember this thread if they do end up nerfing EMP's. You saw it here first.
The shield removal and instant detonation has made them extremely powerful for a long time. Ontop of that their ability to kill deployables (Particularly spawn beacons) has given them a fair bit of utility. I can't remember the last time I carried anything but EMP grenades on a Infil that had them certed. They're definitely powerful, and if nerfed I really hope they go in and remove features like turrets overheating, explosives being detonated, the distortion effect etc. instead of doing something like adding a delay. So long as they weaken targets slightly and destroy spawn beacons I think they'll have a use. Go past that and I may resort back to frags. I haven't played a whole lot since the most recent changes, but I don't use bandolier on a regular basis since despite their power they're still a tool that requires precognition to use. Other suit slots like nanoweave are valuable even when you're surprised and it's the surprises that usually get me killed. Usually if I know someone is coming they're going to be dead whether or not I have an EMP grenade. Also unlike other classes which I typically have a "Nades" loadout, infil is the one class where I don't have that because it's somewhat rare for me to actually want to spam EMPs.
I run EMPs with a grenade bandolier on every one of my infiltrator loadouts except sniper (ammo belt). I also equip the max EMP shield implant on all of those loadouts. I usually run out of EMPs before I die. I use them. A lot. Apparently 2,285 times on just my NC main. That said, I can count on literally one single hand the number of times I've been EMP'd by another player (twice since the revamp, three times before that). I love the utility they provide, and the fact that they let me at least think I can do something that actually affects a battle's outcome - room breaches, beacon destruction, mine clearing... as well as let me beat HAs consistently when I get the jump on them. (Losing to a HA even after getting the jump on them is infuriating.) But for an item to be so maligned that people call for a nerf, I'd expect a lot more players to be using it. The fact that I so rarely ever see them in use tells me that either players are not aware of how powerful they are, or that they don't see them to be the big threat that some people in this thread seem to think that they are. I personally don't see them as any sort of major upgrade - just as another option for those who want to focus more on acting as support rather than solo Rambos (though they can certainly help with that as well). EMPs in their current state are not a major game changer for the game as a whole, though they can be an individual game changer for an infiltrator who works it into his or her playstyle. And in fact I think that in their current form they synergize well with a true "infiltrator" role. Sneaking behind enemy lines to take out their spawn beacons, sneaking around the back of a point building to toss them through windows as your team breaches the front door, lying in wait next to a road filled with enemy mines and throwing one as their tanks roll over them, throwing one at a gaggle of enemies waiting at a vehicle terminal and then running in and knifing them to death.......and then hacking it and speeding off in a cloaked flash... bwahahahaha! (this has been done and it was glorious!) Is that overpowered? Screaming for a nerf? Again, I think the lack of people doing it speaks volumes. I see them as similar to the stalker cloak, or even a sniper rifle. There are those who adapt and love the niche play style, and do well with their chosen tools. EMPs have their downsides as much as anything else. Throwing delay, anyone? Try throwing one at an enemy who sees you just as you start to throw. You'll be dead before your arm finishes the animation.
