As Vanu or TR MAX I can cheaply get an easy to use mid-longish range AI setup. Being able to kill quickly up close is nice as an NC MAX, but with shotguns, I feel so...unFREE, chained to staying inside cramped quarters, oppressed and forbidden from venturing outside, where the phoenix fly and I can see the sun, I want to lay down suppression fire at longish-mid range, to be like a big heavy with more health. I want a basic automatic rifle option for both arms of the NC MAX, for 250certs an arm. Slow firing in comparison to VS/TR AI options, but harder hitting & high bullet velocity (does high velocity feel like an NC thing to you?). Am I asking too much? maybe. I just want to have some fun with my NC MAX in an AI role using basic mid-longish automatic weapons, and paying about 500-1000 certs total for the privilege. We'd see more NC MAXes without shotguns.
NC players that don't like shotguns and want to have a fun MAX? No worries! New NS machine guns coming soon for a total 1400SC or 2000 Certs! Now, where are those statistics on how few MAXs NC pull compared to the other factions...
sadly we don't have a weapon like that yet, if you want long/mid range AI its gonna cost you 2000 certs for dual ravens. granted i'd recommend getting dual ravens anyway, they're currently the best AV option in the game, but also very dam good AI
You aren't asking too much at all. I've often longed for some sort of machine gun option for the MAX (for the vehicles as well, actually). It shouldn't be as effective as the TR's machine guns, but it should have decent accuracy and a higher rate of fire than the shotgun or raven. Maybe something similar in nature to a Basilisk, but with slightly improved medium range accuracy to be able to engage infantry targets at medium range. I used to do extremely well with the pre-nerfed double Ravens...but now that the rocket speed has been reduced, all the enemy has to do is sidestep once at the last second and you've missed. You can go through 15-20 rockets trying to hit a HA who is closing in on you, and once he's close enough, you're dead. It happens. They can still be effective, but not NEARLY to the point they used to be (mine are both Auraxed). The shotguns USED to have selectable range - the ScatterMAX had 3 barrels which you could select with different fire modes (close range, medium, and long range). Long range had a much tighter spread. I don't know why they did away with that, other than maybe to try to get players to spend more money to get the longer range with different weapons. The NC AI MAX can be lethal in close quarters, but then...any skilled C4 fairy or HA with rockets can still kill you quite quickly and easily. I feel that we should be able to engage soft targets at medium range a little more effectively than we can now (very small clips, very small ammo pool, and not very much range). Again...I would love to see a Basilisk-style machine gun arm available for medium range combat.
Honestly, I largely run Falcons for midrange these days. No point even trying to with shotguns, and if you can aim, you can at least get kills with them
Definatly ravens for long range infantry kills, they might have changed it (currently two savlos) but still pretty good. On top of the very usefull av capabilitys, in a battlefield where around a corner a tank could appear to either kill you or be a appetizing kill you want to get, it can be used against infantry, and.... its got moderate explosive damage for spaming areas so its still a very veristile gun.
A machine gun would be nice, though slugs work almost as well to fight at longer ranges with shotguns. Falcons are hilariously effective at sniping though. Gets those cheeky LAs shooting from rooftops every time.
it cost you nothing to rearm your Max and change weapons at the infantry panel. when the indoor fights are over go and swap to your falcons or ravens. and imho thanks to the rearming mechanic NC maxes are the best for everything.
NC has hands down the BEST Max for cap point capture and defend. Outside of a room, use your AV option.
Better than that, just use Falcons from the get-go. As a ScatterMAX if you're in an indoor zerg situation you're a liability. For one, you need to stand near a door to be effective which puts you at greater risk of AV nades/C4. Two, you and the engies attached to you are now blocking line of fire from other defenders which puts you at a TK risk. And three, the limited ammo capacity means that in the event of a big push, you're going to get maybe three kills before you have to reload and inevitably die. Better suggestion, use Falcons. Stay back out of the kill zone which is the door you're defending. Falcons are OHK on infantry and 2HK on MAXes. You will actually find that you live longer and much more effective during big crashes with Falcons. Frankly, this is only true in smaller fights. NC MAXes don't scale with numbers, so in smaller fights where there may be only a handful of defenders an NC MAX can come in and do a lot of damage in a short amount of time and then safely reload. But in larger fights, the NC is only going to make a dent before the long reload comes into play and the MAX gets overwhelmed.
You should try a Dual AF-34 Mattock MAX with slug ammunitions, it can shoot at mid range correctly (not far like a LMG, but it's good !)
You want to have fun with the NC MAX? Sorry, I'm already having all of the fun, there isn't any left. I'm using dual Grinders with slugs. Now slug Grinders are significantly less accurate when moving than slug Scatterguns or slug Mattocks, but with the deeper mag I sacrifice less killing potential up close (critical vs MAX) and can still crouch to get reasonable range. Mainly it was the cheapest option. 500 certs for a pair of Grinders, 1000 for two magazine extensions, 300 for two slug upgrades...Still high barrier of entry, but Grinders perform better prior to exmags than other shotguns do. And yes, I know that a TR MAX who spends 1500 certs (Mutis+exmags) can fart out 42000 damage (both combined) before reloading while slug Grinders get like 12k, and take longer to reload, with less reserve ammo, but hey. This is the most fun I can have on an NC MAX, and it is a lot of fun. Had a good biofarm going yesterday where I was sitting near the teleport shack with a support crew and just denying the enemy from coming out. I'm sluggin' of course so any time I see an LA fly up the roof I get to do some skeet shooting, smart guys trying to run the other way and shoot me from 30 meters get their head stoved in by lead slugs for sitting still, and if it rains grenades, I just whip out the Aegis and crouch down to protect my pet engineer. It'll even stop a C4 brick if I make sure the bottom edge of the Aegis is flush with the ground or everyone behind me has their feet blown off. Attacking MAXes generally change their mind after a Grinder magdump, and if they're dumb enough to watch me reload behind my Aegis they die once the shield comes down. Do note that I was NOT inside the point building, I was fighting outside under the over-hanging rocks at ranges were buckshot barely tickles due to damage loss and spread. I prefer Charge in most situations but if you're holding a chokepoint or slowly pushing into a meatgrinder, Aegis is invaluable to me to keep my newbie pals alive so I can suck on the nanite teat and they on the max repair cert teat. It's win/win! #SLUGLYFE Edit: The guy above me is right to recommend Mattocks, since crouching they have an easy 50 meter range with slugs (and trust me, it's RARE that people make themselves moving targets. At 50, they think themselves invulnerable and settle in to dump a mag on you. Then die.) But Grinders are cheaper and if you don't wanna constantly switch guns/ammo, slug Grinders will still do right by you in a point clear or MAX fight. Scatterguns are also viable if you have those. The critical part when slugging is being aware that MAX shotguns have insane CoF bloom, for mid range work, you MUST pace your shots to let the CoF settle - the MAX crosshair offers no CoF feedback. This is a big risk when running Slugsaws - they're more accurate than Grinders (but less than Mattocks) but if you hold down the button beyond hugging range your slugs will never go where you want.
Guys, I was away for a long time, what happened to the hacksaw and falcons? I used to have a lot of funs with these weapons Do they suck now ?
Mattocks with slugs are actually great-One problem low dps(compared to other factions @ mid range) and almost require head shots.Recommend ravens over most other slug setups.
