Higby tweets Scattmax "rebalance" incoming for GU06..

Thoughts on what this could mean?

On a personal note.. I've been dumbing certs into every class except the MAX, waiting to see what 'adjustments' would be made. Any thoughts on what they will do?

The post claims that the "rebalancing" will be for all shotguns. But you have to wonder - what exactly can they do?

If the Nova/Sweeper/Haymaker doesn't kill in two shots, why would anyone use it over a SMG/Carbine etc, considering the range loss?

How can this translate to the NC MAX?


I honestly think the best change would have been giving TR and VS access to some king of close range weaponry, while giving NC an auto-fire long(er) range weapon. Problem solved. (Most) everyone happy.


Ah well. Thoughts?

It can't go worse than how it is now. Your suggestions gets green light for sure ...

NC Maxes are the only ones that are actually useful at close combat, right?

u know that shotgun required 3 hits in ps1 and fired almost as slow as the pump (maybe the same even) and people still used them succesfully... BUT u needed skill then!
im talking about the common pool shotgun btw, cuz the jackhammer didnt really require skill even thou it was well balanced.

ofc most weapons didnt have a near instant ttk like they do in ps2...
hey heres an idea, make infantry into maxes health wise, and maxes into lightnings

and to clarify i have no problems with scattmax as it is, except when used to cause stalemates in biolabs.
i do however hate the fact that ur almost forced to play with a shotgun to have a chance as infantry, more than 50% of my deaths r shotgun related (uppercuts mostly)

Well the Flamethrower is supposed to come out on that same patch, so the VS/TR will have a close range counterpart to the scatt, and since the scatt and most likely all its variants will be getting nerfed to uselessness much like in BETA, the NC will now be using the flamethrowers as well. Works for me, extra crispy targets is something I've long missed.

As for the shotguns, the semi-autos were already nerfed shortly after their release. Another nerf to them and likely to the pump as well is probably going to make them too inferior to be used practically, or at least put the pump where the semi-auto is now, so only the pump would be useless thanks to the much lower RoF. Unless they do something like increase the recoil, decrease RoF, or decrease the range instead of playing around with damage.

I think the shotties could do with some balancing. Tough to do, they are supposed to be devastating at CQC but pretty much useless at anything else. Presently they are maybe a touch too strong at medium range. I think only the pumps should be OHK.

As for the ScatMAX, it's not that it is too strong in CQC, more that there is no weapon option offering the same effectiveness for the TR/VS.

M1 Cycler + Onslaught = my TR version of the Hacksaw Max with the only negative being running to an an enemy NC Max when I play TR.

Then again when I trialed the M3rcy, the NC Max was not as scary outside of the insta-gib range, in fact they proved easy to kill once I tore up their supporting Engineers while having my own in tow.

As far as balance goes, I think Higby should ignore the forums and those who whine about the challenge that is the Scat max, among other things in game. We're going to get a game of clone weaponry and zergtastic moments if people don't figure out that a Scat Max is easily dealt with.

AV grenades/Rockets/AV Turrets (Set up 2 or more side by side, rename Max dead Max)Decimator, faction Max, Concussion grenade/flash grenade and a barrage of gunfire, Haymakers and other great shotguns as a surprise, keep straffing, use Laser sight,tank mines on floor, throw nades, rocket, AV turret boom!..etc etc etc- are the many ways to take down a Shottie Max.

The balance is figuring out the situation in which these apply and taking them down. Not running headlong at them and expecting them to not mince you back to a redeploy screen.

Looking forward to see/read/experience the suggested changes.
MAXes getting their flamethrowers back might bring some variety in weapon loadouts again (as currently pretty much everyone runs around with two of the same type unless it's the poor/new players who have an AI and AT/AA arm still.
Hopefully the flamethrowers don't blind the user as much this time around, and they consider creating flamethrower turrets for the MBT secondaries and maybe a longer-range flamecannon for the Lightning (hey, consider the options and think of how you can balance it before you shoot the idea down)

And not a single person was shocked. It will be interesting to see how they decide to rebalance it. I'm personally hoping for more range and mag size as a compensation for a damage nerf. Maybe emulate the jackhammer. If both arms were equal to one jackhammer between them, that might be a good start point for the balance.

A MAX damage modifier might be another way to go, but I think that is something more suited to the main MAX balance pass.

As long as we aren't pushed back to beta state I don't care about nerfs, and I'd give up the CQC burst damage for actual effective range so "rebalancing" might end up working in my favour. Fingers crossed.


[Edit: https://twitter.com/mhigby/status/317344498151727106 Officially completely okay with this.]

giving all three of the MAXes some better options for different ranges will be part of the MAX update.

nice, i never use max for cqc in biolabs, i would use max more with more mid-long range weapons.

I didn't think shotguns were that much of a problem. Sure I get killed by one when im too close to an enemy, but if I have the slightest range on him, I'll usually take him out, and that's with a Warden. Getting blasted away because he was right there as I go through a door way in CQC is expected, and I don't mind that. If it needs a rebalance, just dont make it completely ineffective to use, it's already very hard to win in any fight over 10m with a shotgun, further reducing it's only CQC niche might make it worthless.
Also I'm all for max changes, with the new flamethrowers, MAX CQC may change and the scat max change could work in it's favor

Relax, higby is NC

when he says re-balance, he means a global buff

So the Nc scatter Max is finally, getting a nerf.
We all knew it was coming. I just figured it hadn’t gotten one yet due to how “hard” it would be to nerf a shotgun.
So now I’m wondering how they are going to do this?

Though this video is not end all be all proof of the matter. It still shows that the scatt max never had a mid range issue. You just couldn't insta kill at mid range and thought that wasn't right at all.

i hope they increase the range. the damage scatmaxs throw out is just about right but their range needs to be equal with mercies.

You seem to be playing MAX wrong, considering they're supposed to be indoor tanks. You would be far more effective using a heavy assault in medium range engagements.

What? You want to them to be able to two shot infantry at 50 meters...?

Well, I figure that if the NC MAX gets nerfed people will stop complaining about it and then start on the TR MAX. I`m not sure if there are any dedicated MAX players out there. I don`t see much of an issue.

What is the problem with the TR MAX? The dual Mercy TR MAX and dual Cosmos VS MAX are pretty much clones of each other. Either one will tear you up if you stand in their LOS, but you will have time to fire back at them. I play VS and don't think the TR MAX is OP, in fact I think that if all MAXes were like the VS and TR MAX with a slight buff to their small arms resistance MAXes would be just fine.