Heavy Assault Needs to Specialize

Discussion in 'Heavy Assault' started by YellowJacketXV, Jul 10, 2018.

  1. YellowJacketXV

    Right now in PS2 it seems there is an overbearing HA meta. HA's can mow down infantry. HA's can pop vehicles in masse. HA's can survive literal swarms of bullets and still live. It's honestly the game's easy mode even with the bare necessities. Not to mention that because it literally does EVERYTHING it leaves little room for any other class to actually shine.

    I saw an idea spouted somewhere that I would like to forward over to here. Heavy Assault needs to be either AI or AV, not both in a loadout. It shouldn't be able to chug skillsticks all day and essentially run through a full squad's gunfire. It shouldn't be able to mow down infantry than immediately switch to an AV option at the drop of the hat just by pushing "3". HA should be reworked to feel more "specialized" for an AI or AV role rather than "swiss army knife".

    HA should be unable to equip the immediate restoration kit and it's loadout should only include a complete AI setup or a complete AV setup. This means changing existing weapons in the game to fit these new roles. Certain HA primaries should be reworked to be good against vehicles with respect to weapon strength. Of course by doing so, making it essentially nerfed in infantry combat. At the same time, new HA tool slots should be introduced that are not launchers that are designed to be better against infantry combat. For example, TR Heavies have a faction LMG that's essentially a chaingun. Why not have that as the tool slot for an AI heavy? Ammo should also be reduced to one magazine and one spare magazine only on the primary and tool slots to make them less solo machines and more team-orientated firepower support machines.

    I've got about 570 hours of Planetside 2 according to steam info. I think these changes would make the game feel more team-orientated rather than just a slugfest cert grind.
    • Up x 1
  2. That_One_Kane_Guy

    Heavy Assaults do specialize. At Combat. In General.

    That is literally their only purpose. As a Heavy Assault you can spawn into any situation knowing you have the ability to engage literally anything. What you cannot do, is support your team in any way outside of that role. You cannot heal allies, you cannot repair, and you cannot provide recon. All you are good at is combat. And you're not even the best at it.

    Every class has situations where they can beat a Heavy if played to their strengths. Snipers can kill you from further away. Medics have better guns and are nearly as survivable. Light Assaults are more dangerous to vehicles. Engineers are better at laying down covering fire. A Heavy Assault sacrifices all Utility for the ability to be decent at everything and to tank a little more damage.
    • Up x 6
  3. Xebov

    I agree with you that HAs are the meta. Especially in situations with 12-12 to 24-24 its noticeable that the vast majority plays a HA and support classes are barely played. As a full time Engineer i often notice that iam the only engineer in place providing ammo and barely any Medics are present. This only changes in bigger fights when support like Ammo and Rez can yield more ore equal XP to kills made. Outside of that kills are king in terms of XP.

    Specializing Heavies the way you suggest it would yield no results at all, players would simply switch loadouts like Engineers do. What i think would help is a raise of skill requirement. Currently all Heavies have to do is push a single button to get up their shield which aids them in combat making ambushes or suprise attacks hard. I would like to see a little ramp up timer (as it was planed in teh past) for the shield so it takes a small moment to come up (0.5s or maybe 1s). This would not interrupt their assault abilities, but would allow ambushers to deal with heavies easier.
  4. Tovarisch Maxim

    The only thing I have problem is that HA can survive 3 - 4 Extra hits, which is overkill in my opinion. It's literaly impossible to kill them 1 vs 1 even if you attempt to flank them from an unexpected position. They just activate their shields and mow you down.
  5. Lord_Avatar

    All those HAs owned in 1v1s by non-HAs would disagree and believe me - there's plenty.
    • Up x 1
  6. PoopDatGame OUT!

    dunno man i play my heavy and get mowed down like nothing even with sheilds on so..who knows.
    • Up x 3
  7. Blam320

    If we reworked HA so that they were solely AI or AV, we should do the same to LA.

    Using your logic, Light Assault shouldn't have access to C4, the best tank-killer in the game, because their mobility lets them get the drop on vehicles for easy kills. In fact, C4 is one of the best killing tools there is in the game, and the Light Assault's mobility combined with C4's killing power makes it undisputed at flanking and killing huge groups of enemies.
    • Up x 1
  8. Doc Jim

    At the risk of getting flamed, I don't think the heavies' versatility in doing damage is the problem, it is the extent of their ability to absorb damage. My suggestion would be to put Resto and Medkits on a cooldown of a couple of seconds, something between 10 and 30 seconds and to tweak the various overshields to make them 15-20% less effective for starters.
    • Up x 1
  9. Corezer

    HA was always meant to be the staple for holding down the point. For whatever reason, they were given the worst guns (automatic) for close range.

    They should switch with engineer. Both classes would become more specialized in their roles, and because both have roles so imperative to the game it isn't like they wont still be the 2 most common classes...
  10. SupaFlea

    You are right that HA does make it a lot easier, I have always played CQB LA or Aggressive Infil going toe to toe with HA. After you play for so long without the "Panic Button" and you try HA you feel godly lol. HA has its purpose which is front line assault but I do agree the HA quickly became the starter class for most people after you keep getting squished in every 1vs1 when you try other classes when you first start the game.

    Sadly no major changes in classes will be implemented now I think, It took us LA over 2 years to get our "Tool" which turned out to be another gun :(
  11. NinjaJinn

    Im gonna say this: players like you ruin the game for players who shut up and enjoy the game.
    If you get rekt by heavies why not play as a heavy ? OR alternatively switch to some overwatch or call of duty and don't post ****e posts like this one? ty.
  12. TR5L4Y3R



    yupp that is super helpful to a discussion .. NOT AT ALL ...


    the easiest fix to that is to allow any overshield to protect the HA only from the front area ( maybe from the side as well at a lower rate than the front ) and allow other classes to flank it ... definetly get into their back ..
    i don´t have a problem with the HA being a jack of all trades master of non class however ..
    it is afterall the maincombatclass and the cannonfodderclass .. it being the mainfrontlineunit is what the overshield is there for .. but it needs to have a bit weakness to allow other classes to combat it that is not purely about a nummerical advantage ..
    it is however not strong enough to combat vehicles unless in numbers to quickly deal with such ..
  13. TR5L4Y3R


    me engineer 1v1 vs HA .. flank him with standart carbine no aim for head (because i am a bad shot)
    he activates shield while i throw sticky at him and roughly manage to get couple more shots from a reload
    he still managed to kill me and this happaned like 3 to 4 times in a sitting .. like what the heck am i doing wrong or does he besides the shield that i can´t gun him down?instaheal? restokit? surely his shield didn´t just fully refill in time (he had no carapace)
    or how much did his resistences help him? did he wear nanoweave or flak to his choice of overshield? .. it´s a bit tough to see that .. and it wasn´t like he outplayed me, it was a generic scramble
  14. Skretcher153


    I'm playing HA, that's my favourite class and i do specialize by picking other type of weapons.
    I do not agree that HA is overpowered in 1vs1 battle. It's slow, big and our guns are not so good. My tip for You - if You see an enemy HA press Q first then distract him and aim in the head from behind. Use covers and staff, there's little chance for You to win in frontal assault. But anyway this game is about to be played in teams, not solely, i think that's the main point.
  15. WinterAero

    Heavy assault has already been nerfed, and even prior to that it was easy enough to drop them using the tools available. Now its so easy I almost feel embarrassed for the class and people who listen to habitual cry babies like you.

    Leave the classes and game alone. It's already dying out and now look at the state of the flash for heavens sakes! Again, all down to moronic imbeciles like you who can't handle losing.

    In reality good players will continue to kill you effortlessly on any class. Ruin HA and they will move to infil. At which point you will cry about that as well.

    Your opinions aren't welcome and will do nothing but finish off the game (considering the amount of heavy players with cosmetics in outfits like Trid and Hydra) all the faster. Max players have mostly quit due to cost vs c4 cheese. Vehicle players are gone - thanks to Cai. And now you want another laughable excuse to break infantry play too? Riiiight. Do piss off. I'm 99% medic and if you make HA anymore useless, you might as well delete them. They aren't any challenge anymore as it is.
  16. Zizoubaba

    There is (kinda) already a specialisation; C4 or self healing.

    It may not sound like much, but it does make a big difference on how the HA plays.
  17. PYROxSYCO

    I want a long range vehicle engagement missile launcher.... for aircraft.
  18. TR5L4Y3R

    give ANT/lightning or sunderers a coyote and/or hornetstyle launcher ...


    neither is yours ...
  19. YellowJacketXV

    As much as I absolutely love the idea of having an AV primary for HA, a completely spec'd AI HA would be absolutely mindbogglingly hard to balance. An AV HA right now is basically someone that just has lots of AV nades or a really good launcher. An AI HA with an AI launcher of some kind? Oh good lord. Like concussion grenades alone aren't good enough.

    An AI/AV HA would essentially just be a nanites-free MAX with less health and resistances. Hell it might even make the role of MAX completely obsolete. Why would you spend 450 nanites on a max when your AI HA has not only the awesomeness that is LMG's but also an AI launcher that is probably a splash-damage monster? Why put out 450 nanites when you have an AV HA that has a "just as obnoxious" AV primary AND a heavy hitting AV launcher?
  20. Nenarch

    It's good as it is.

    Player pop is going downwards, so if u specialize vehicles will rule the day completely with good drivers not to mention maxes.
    CBA to explain or point out what other classes like infiltrator or full health build medic with knife can do with right implants.
    Not to mention Original Poster is too new charachter to have enough experience in the game, play 6months and other classes at high lvl first before writing stuff about balance.