[Guide] How to not be a C4 victim as a tanker

Say what you will about the rest of the post, this was comedy gold.

Right now I think making C4 cost more is enough, they can one shot MAXs (350 resources) and if combined with a rocket they one shot MBTs(450 little tank pictures), this cost change would just be a band aid fix for the real problem.


The real problem that needs to be resolved is the current resource system, it's horrible in it's current state.

The system in place adds a downtime between lives as a tank that don't mesh with the game's TTK. Everything else on the road map should be pushed back to let the resource revamp take priority since it effects everyone in the game.

Yeah option (A) is fine in and of itself with C4 having a higher cost.

I just thought "Well, MBT's have this utterly useless directional armor that could be put to some good use"

Hence the blockade idea.


And yeah, I'm waiting on Resource Revamp and Outfit progression / Specialization. Those two are game changers for my long term interest in PS2

How to avoid C-4

Pretend you're no invincible.

Blockade could be a nice touch for armor down the road, but the stupid resource system is ruining the game for everyone who wants to fight in vehicles, not just tank drivers. (The tanks are getting shafted the hardest though.)

Can you please not start with this, the toxic "NOU" C4 vs MBT discussions aren't helping anyone.

meh, stop trying making my c4 life harder than it is

what?

This made me smile much since I run a prox radar on my Vanguard and have played peekaboo with LA's trying to take me out XD

Hey look! A tanker who doesn't die to C4 over and over again! GET HIM HE'S DOING IT WRONG!

I still die to c4 but that's because They place it where I must exit or where I go forward and then they et me, some c4ers are really clever >_>

Lapersa (Or however she spells her user name) commented on the C4 vs MBT thread hinting at a change.

Tank:
450 resources to spawn.
Long respawn timer.
Once destroyed thats it.
Attracts a lot of attention.
Endless reloads for free.
Hard to kill on foot.
Easier to kill in a vehicle.
Easy to kill from air.
Repaired for free.

Infantry:
No resources to spawn.
Very short respawn timer.
Once destroyed can be revived.
Attracts less attention.
Endless main weapon reloads for free.
Grenades/Charges cost resources which are only depleted when the charge is laid or grenade thrown.
Easy to kill on foot.
Easier to kill in a vehicle.
Harder to kill from air.
Repaired for free.
Revived for free.

The issue for most is not how to avoid c4, but why does c4 cost so little but do so much damage to MBT's such that a solo player can kill a MBT quicker than a decently certed 2/2 AP MBT.

#2 is completely useless

vehicle stealth will only prevent you from appearing on the minimap based on radar detection or proximity

you'll appear on the minimap every single time you fire, making vehicle stealth completely worthless for camping purposes

good advice on #1 and #3 though

Except what you suggest is for the tank driver to never actually use his weapon. Which is an interesting problem.* Firing on the move at a safe operating range in a MBT is damn hard, if not impossible. There's too much AV spam to get up close most of the time, so you have to hang back where your target is only a distant speck. Controlling vehicle orientation, speed, and trajectory (remember this is PS2 so the physics engine is terrible and unpredictable) while adjusting aim for accuracy, trajectory, and shell drop isn't just a thing that you do naturally or ever at all.

So, by your "guide" you can just load up a certain tank kit and basically be some kind of ninny decoy, puttering around the map ineffectively spamming shots that never hit anything, or you can park somewhere that actually allows you to aim and then get C4d, but that's the tank's fault because he dared to park and try to line up a shot while some footzerger lemming pushed a couple buttons for a no-skill kill.

*I'm going to make a concession here: If tanks were properly crewed vehicles that had a separate driver and then a gunner that operated both guns (or even had 2 dedicated gunners) then I'd be fine with the current damage potential of C4. If you can delegate the duties of a tank so that the tank can be both reliably mobile and fully combat-ready at the same, then I'd be fine with your OP. Problem is, for better or for worse, SOE gave us Battlefield tanks instead of Planetside tanks. Moving and gunning at the same time just can't be done very often.

This all goes back to PS2's core problem with tanks: They aren't tanks. They're artillery. They're too easily destroyed, they don't work well in CQC, they barely function while moving. If we had actual tanks (perhaps in addition to the artillery we currently have) then there might be some semblance of balance.

The problem with tanks isn't that they are destroyed too quickly it is how heavily you are punished for being destroyed. Everything in the game dies fast, vehicles are just punished too much for it. (Tanks get the shortest end of the stick because of the new resource costs.)

Also, while you park and line up shots you should probably look around every once in a while or stick with team mates so you don't get destroyed by a sapper.

While assaulting a tower, I watched a 2/2 Magrider let someone run up untouched and C4 them. They were too busy shooting a spawn room door. I'm sure these two immediately started complaining about resource costs. smh

C4 is just one of many threats to a MBT. It's just another element in rock/paper/scissors. There is no great skill in dropping c4 and instagibbing tanks. All the skill is in stopping it. And as someone who likes blowing up tanks as well, your proxy radar won't really help you. There is proxy radar all over the battlefield already and yours is redundant. You do need to look at the map but I assume you are. So yes, if you want to protect against lolc4 then there are loadouts suited for that. But then you don't have the ideal loadout for some other threat. So LA benefit mostly from all the other dangers the tank is looking for. they can just respawn and keep trying. Easy mode tank busting.

Interesting, I never said any of that, but still. You seem to have an insight into every word I say that I dont actually say..... Thats a fun skill you have there. We run an gun constantly an have no issues, I would hazard a guess you are trying to farm your kd an get too close. if you cant learn how to stay away from the quake spammers, an keep things between u an your targets well.... Complain maybe SOE will remove structures deemed to "OP"...
But for me I have zero issues with C4 since when I die form it, I killed me not him... It was 110% my fault every single time it has ever happened.

I disagree when you add movement into the equation. The point being, if you're not showing up as a stable point on my minimap, I'm not going after you because the risk vs reward is too high. I know where you were, but in tracking you, I become vulnerable if you move. Not to mention there are plenty (and by plenty, I mean most) of tanks sitting around with tunnel vision to satisfy my every C4 urge. I might make a character that does nothing but C4s tanks.

Then guy made it on hes legs, flanked me and C4'ed me - I'm little disappointed because it was my fault, but it just rare. If my Vanguard die from ESF, tank shelling, rocket launchers, AV MAX'es and turrets, hell, just from anything, I just take it as my fault. Then my Vanguard die from C4 I count it as accident death coming from bad game design. It something I can't change. This guy just droppod on my roof and C4 me in 2-3 seconds.

I avoid 9 of 10 C4 kamikaze attempts coming to my tank, but since this guys have endless tries, my Vanguard death just matter of time. Anyway, my K/D with Vanguard 20:1 or better, plus my dedicated gunner have the same, if SOE remove this C4 kamikaze my Vanguard will live forever.

Prox Radar not an option for Vanguard, it good only for spawn room shelling, last thing I want to do on my tank.