I've always had my eye on this, but never had the certs or time to get it. Now with all the new MAX stuff and the fact that I've rolled a new character on the Vanu for the lady means that I have a new chance to look at stuff. Too bad there are no good new Youtube videos about this that I could find. So. With the buffs from GU08, has anyone been able to see if this cert 'line' is worth it now? (PS-They say in the patch notes that you can get up to 87% resistance from light arms fire now. What did this use to be?)
Kinetic was of more value *PRE* GU08. It is more effective now and noticably, however, the buffs to Flak make it a less obvious choice for AI. Previously our explosive resistance with or without Flak armour was pretty poor.
It used to be up to 85% resistance. Before this patch, I had it maxed out, and loved it. After the patch, I decided to give the auto repair a spin and after playing a couple days with it nearly maxed, spent the final 1000 certs to get it to top level. I still use Kinetic Armor on my AI loadout, but more and more what kills me is direct hits from rockets, which KA doesn't help with, and flak armor only reduces the splash element. If we're ever offered the ability to refund our spent certs, I'll likely drop KA forever.
I take it that there really is no one left that would really stand behind Kinetic Armor, huh? Especially with a mere 2% small arms resistance increase after MAXing out certs?
Sorry, I should have been clearer. You're gaining a 7.5% extra resistance, which is actually a big deal. The basic resist is 80%; Before this patch, you could raise it to 85%. In practical terms, that meant that you took 25% less damage from every bullet. "Regular" shots, or bullets that deal 143 points of damage, would deal 28 points to a basic MAX suit, and 21 to a KA5 suit. Now that's down to just 18, out of a health pool of 2000 points. It is very worth it if you are dealing with a lot of bullets. Another way to look at it- a basic max suit takes 71 shots from a regular weapon to be killed, unless they score headshots. With KA5, that's raised to 111 shots, so even a large magazine LMG will need to reload once before you die unless they hit your head some. I just prefer trading some of this passive tanking in exchange for an increased ability to remain alive without an engineer near me. I may keep KA5 for biolabs, but more and more I just like the ability to sit in cover for 30 seconds and regain a third of my HP.
I like the nanite auto repair, it keeps me in battles for much longer. Though I feel that I die more and more often from rockets and c4, then from small arms.
I use flak armor and I find it most useful of all because I hate getting 1 shot by c4. I also have the auto repair but I only use it when I cant find an engineer, so I run back to the spawn room and repair there, then switch back to flak and head out. This is what ive been able to accomplish so far:
1.5% is ALOT when you start at 80% Effective health vs small arms with new values 10,000 (stock) 10,811 (rank 1) +811 11765 (rank 2) +954 12903 (rank 3) +1139 14286 (rank 4) +1382 16000 (rank 5) +1714 Now I personaly run around with rank 1 of nano repair. why? Because its cert cheap, and I am a generalist and as such spread my certs around alot. And that first rank of nano is enouph to create a large functional increase, wereas with both kinetic and flack need to be several levels in before it starts making a big difference.
KA is still very amazing. You will take far more overrall damage from small arms than you will explosive's (Unless you are just camping a door and they know you are there, then say hello to decimators) and if you pay attention you can stop most LA C4's before they get you. KA is also the superior choice when performing anti MAX duties in your MAX as they will generally be running AI weapons. Flak armor is pretty awesome these days now as well so there isn't a clear cut winner like there used to be. I would say if you running AA duty on your MAX then take Flak over KA hands down.
If you can play tank and healer with a friendly engineer, KA is awesome. As Frosty pointed out, at max rank it takes you to 160% effective HP (small arms) compared to stock. It is also one of the few certifications where each rank gives a bigger benefit than the previous rank, mitigating the escalating cost. You may still die to a C4 in big battles where it is ideal, but in those situations there is usually a medic around to bring you back anyway. Being able to stand there for seconds at a time ADDADADDing rockets is a big advantage. Nanite auto repair is probably the best default item for the slot. It works well in smaller fights where engineers with the best will in the world are often needed for an extra pair of eyes and firepower too much to be glued to a MAX. I also like it for AA duty. If you are back-seating a harasser it is likely the best option also. I am not persuaded by flak armour over the other two options personally, although it seems a perfectly valid choice.
If you are back seating in a harasser then yeah nano is pretty much the only option unless you got a medic with triage with you in the harasser. Few people realize Medic Triage heals Maxes.
i think it depends where you fighting, the problem is that you cant switch back and forth there are situations where there is no way in hell the enemy can reach you with C4, and rockets are not very likely over distance (they dont count anyhow as direct hit flak wont help you, nor kinetic i think) then there are places like the biolab when its still not locked to the spawn room, where you will get tons of rockets, grenades and C4 as every one just running around aimlessly so i think i prefer kinetic as most of the time i play max i'm in a rain of steady bullets and no explosives ... and for the other scenario i guess i just dont play MAX for the 1st few minutes taking the biolab or tower, and by then the claymores are cleared as well, OR i just dont go first , i wait a few minutes till my team clears the worst of the chaos if you running in to a nest of enemies, chances are you will get C4't, if you like to do that then flak is for you
Flak armor is great now, but kinetic is still strong as hell. Kinetic used to be 85%, now its 87.5%. That doesn't sound like much, but going from 80% to 87.5% reduces infantry damage by 37.5% compared to a non-kinetic MAX. I would have both if I had infinite certs and use them in different situations. They're both excellent options.
Sounds great, thanks folks I think I will aim to get all three, but start with kinetic (and a bit of nano repair) before getting the flak armor.
You might want to start with flak and farm the other two with it. Flak keeps you from getting one shot by C4 and lets you go toe-to-toe with enemy air when you're in bursters. Its only gotten better since the patch.
the problem is with buying everything that you will have to play a lot longer to get the most important upgrades i made my self a priority list what to cert in to, and i cross them of 1 by 1, i dont mark anything under 50 certs, but i also not just waste my certs on every cheap upgrade, i only buy what i need, at 1st so right now my list has upgrades for 8900 certs, and i have 900 saved up there are some conflicting upgrades as well , you have to watch out not to cert in to something eventually you will never use i nearly buyed the top 2 levels of utility pouch when i realized that i do not need that, and will probably never use that (especially the last level), that alone saved me 2000 certs right there, it would only give me 1 extra mine and 1 extra clay, but that would not make much of a difference as i already have 4 mines, 4 C4 and 2 clays... also i would have to sacrifice 2 grenades (i have 3 now) to get 1 extra clay < its a real bad deal so will you be really using all 3 armors ? because i doubt that flak is 900 kinetic 2250 repair 2250 that is a lot of certs you could spend on something you use all the time, before you reach like level 70 and have plenty of certs to spend on stuff you only use occasionally a lot of people also prefer to buy a little of this and a little of that, i think that is a bad idea, see what you like and specialize your self to be the best you can with your upgrade i also focus on few classes, in my case i ignore infiltrator and LA, started with engineer (done now), HA and medic, then max this way i had a kicka*s engineer even when i was low level (53now) and scored faster, to be able to unlock the next chosen class to focus/specialize on even faster
It really depends on how you play as the MAX. If you play as a rusher, you are better of taking Flak or Kinetic (Depends on whether the enemy you're fighting likes to use bullets or explosives). If you are playing as a tank and taking in all the damage, Kinetic is the way to go, since most of your damage will be bullets. If you play in a more of a defensive MAX, playing it safe and not just trying to be Leeroy Jenkins(like me), you should take Auto Repair. However, if you work in a small outfit/squad, or people that you know, you should take Kinetic as you can ask your small outfit/squad for an engi. Overall though, it's based on your gameplay and preference.
I used kinetic armor in open area engagements and against NC MAX crashes. I use flak armor in close quarters. Areas like the octagon are ideal for kinetic armor as it allowed me to tank multiple NC shots while holding the hallways, or tank a full magazine of an NC max suit.
