Hello PS2 community, its been a while since I played, and before i had a rather large group of friends playing with me. Logging in for the first time in a while I'm trying to figure out why all my friends demanded we play on NC? According to my math the TR have the best gun in the game (Cycler TRV 2k max to 1.57k@50+ meters) and several other highest DPS weapons of the other classes. The VS have some comparable weapons (The Orion LMG is tied with the TR's lmg for DPS for example) and no bullet drop But I'm not seeing what NC excel in? (I haven't done any math comparing vehicles, are the NC vehicles better than the other two factions? Is there something else I'm not seeing?)
There's more to the game than just DPS. In fact, most guns are not measured in its sheer damage output over time, but rather the time it takes to kill one person (1000 damage). Most LMGs share the same TTK approximately. NC has strong vertical recoil compared to horizontal. TR has strong horizontal recoil, which is unpredictable. Add that onto the high damage per hit on NC LMGs and you get accurate, hard hitting guns. Aim is a bigger factor than just DPS or TTK. As for range: the GODSAW has 167 damage out to 107m, and 3 headshot kill in CQC. It's the Gauss SAW with HVA without the recoil increase. Add instagib by Scatmax/Jackhammer and Raven spam on top of that too. VS are the "mobility" faction AFAIK. The Orion's key point is the 0.75 ADS, which makes it much stronger than the equal DPS & TTK TR LMGs. No bullet drop is negligible at normal CQC combat except for battle rifles/scout rifles. And Magriders can strafe.
DPS doesn't matter if you're not landing your shots. Flexibility and accuracy matter a lot. So does mobility which is why hip-fire weapons and/or .75 ADS are popular. NC has several things going for them - Highly accurate guns overall, with arguably the best variety of different guns - VS and TR have more "samey" and NS-style weapons The best faction-specific SMGs Best Shotgun for Heavy Assault Shotguns and Ravens for MAX Most durable tank Air Hammer You could argue the value of each individually but there are plenty of reasons a player might pick NC for any class/playstyle. Maybe some don't think the Jackhammer or Cyclone are best in their category, but there are many that do. Same for Air Hammer or Vanguard or NC MAX or Anchor/EM6/GD-7F/AC-X11 etc. etc. If I had to pick a faction based on infantry weaponry alone NC would be my choice. VS luckily has a few standouts though, since I dislike NC's colors and ideology.
Every faction has their own niches. For NC: Ravens on MAX. Best AV weapons in the game. Vanguard /w shield + Enforcer is probably the best CQC tank hunter combo in game. Jackhammer: best shotgun but heavy only Stealth ESF: Reaver /w rotary is an unique play style you can only do well with NC SAW LMG is my 2nd favorite default LMG. Orion is unarguably the best due to the 0.75 modifier. However, the SAW has 200dmg class with 100 rounds, therefore the highest damage capacity per mag and it also has the most predictable recoil pattern. It can dominate mid-range fights. As for the CARV, it's good, but the horizontal recoil makes it inferior to the SAW at mid-range and in close range, it can't beat ADAD Orion spam. I feel the MSW-R is just plain better, letting you win in hip-fire range at least.
maths is irrelevant. NC has shotguns, shotguns with underbarrel shotguns, cyclones and arnold voice pack. end thread
I don't find the faction differences in weapons noticeable outside a small handful of very specific weapons.
They all have their advantages and disadvantages. The T9 Carv for example is a great bullet hose and alright up to medium ranges but suffers after that. The Orion is similar but trades in 40% of its ammo for a 0.75 ADS movement modifier (instead of 0.50 like most) The Gauss Saw requires upgrades (forward grip, compensator) in order to really work but once it has those its easily the best of the three at long ranges. As a long time vanu player I should tell you the "No bullet drop" doesn't do anything for any weapon under a battle rifles range (So the no bullet drop on SMGs, Carbines, ARs, and LMGs is pointless). We have other beneficial traits but "No bullet drop" only helps our Battle Rifles, Scout Rifles, Semi-auto Snipers, and the Saron (Also the Phaseshift, but the Phaseshift is kind of a joke)
Discussion about faction differences tend to centre on weapons or even just classes of weapons. I realise they are a big factor but from a broader perspective I find NC to be the unsubtle brute force and close quarters characteristic, TR the massed firepower and mass assault characteristic and VR exotic and rather specialised weapons/equipment characteristic that requires more subtle and co-ordinated tactics to get the best out of them. People sometimes ask why VS are so successful and the stock answer is that they have the most experienced players (on some servers at least). Personally I think experience equates to better team play a lot of times and this gets the best out of their kit. On the flip side, I don't think VS has any particular advantage without good co-ordination and may even have some drawbacks.
With all this NS weapons spaming out of DBG factory only difference between factions will be the color only. Just wait another year.
