If you are going to add an activation time to the HA overshield, give us one thing in return

thread proceeds as expected-
"show me ur statz br0"
"ima rage quit rargharble"
"dont nerf my 'preferred playstyle' which just so happens to be the same as a vast number of other people that enjoy f + w +m1 to win a lot"
"your aim must be terrible man, things like DPS and ttk are clearly liberal lies spread through auraxian media"

not to mention, isnt the idea a ramp up on heavy shields, NOT a delay on activation?

I think it has been that way for a while, at least if you watch regular outfits. It is far better to have lots of medics and only a sprinkle of other infantry than it is to go lopsided with anything else.

Medic+MAX+Engineer.

There is a reason Medic comes first when they make the call out and there is a reason why it does not include HA, LA, and Infiltrator.

Unless you are trying to cap a point that ground vehicles can access then there is not much reason to concern yourself with them and pull HA.

Medic is the best assault class. Infinite health, free slot for C4, best primary, revive grenades and infinite heal/revive goo. A 12 person medic only squad will stomp a 12 person HA squad every time if they are approximately equally good players.

Why is everyone whining, ITS NOT A NERF. Its called BALANCING.

Is the shield any weaker than before? no.
Does it mean you might have to fire up your single brain cell in order to use it effectively now? yes.

The ONLY thing this changes is that when someone walks up behind you and shoots you in the back, you cant activate your shield turn around and kill them.

I play HA and I like it, yes I may get killed when I play like an idiot after this update but its worth it in order to stop those situations where you get the jump on someone and their shield saves them from their own stupidity.

Just activate your shield BEFORE you walk into a room. So many people wait until that first bullet is fired, then turn it on because they know exactly where it came from and now they know they can win. (myself included)

People are not much whining about the nerf (because call it balancing if you want, it's still a nerf of the current state) but the fact that it changes a deep gameplay mecanic, which have been like that and thought that way since forever.


I'll compare NMG and Resist currently :
Resist can give you the best resistance, but to do so, you have to activate it prior to receiving any damage. One advantage, one drawback.
NMG will give you less resistance than Resist, but you can use it after receiving a few shots, to be able to retaliate. One advantage, one drawback.

If you add the delay, then you'll have to activate NMG just like you have to activate Resist Shield, but overall, Resist will be more efficient. What purpose would NMG fill ?

IMO, they should tone the resistance numbers, and not add a delay, it completely breaks the mecanics and also dumb down the HA shield choice.

Meh stupid nerf overall but probably won't affect me to much as I'm so bad about turning the stupid thing on, throw in the number of times the shield actually gets me killed because I suddenly can't move and have drawn fire from 10 different sources and I'll probably just ignore the silly thing, a cert refund would be nice but won't hold my breath on that one.

I'll still be carrying around my bandoleer and deci and hunting max units for the most part.

Can't wait for the cries about medics being OP though, with their ARs and quick health regen.

That's already started. Nerf everyone until knives are OP.

You haven't played much of the game, have you?

Whatever people say, HA shield is nowhere near anything like an "iwin" button, especially when compared to the "iwin" button on the Vanguard.

True, it may create a new issue, which would have to be sorted as well down the track, but I think SOE is trying to add more depth and forward thinking to the game rather than a 'get out of jail free' mechanic which is what we have now in the standard NMG. And so I do think its a step in the right direction.

But then light assault should be almost just as played as HA, considering it is the other assualt class.

I think it would be cool if LA got free C4, always usable, like the rocket launcher for HA. That C4 should be weaker than the normal C4 though, because engies would be able to replenish it. Making LA always a cqc anti vehicle/infantry class, right now i can be lucky and blow up 2-3 tanks before completly running out of resources.

It is a nerf because its changing the way the shield works in a negative and unwarranted way.

Saying the Overshield was not meant to be used in a reactive way is a blatant untruth, that is how they are designed. They are NOT designed as something you pop before you storm a defensive position. The movement penalty tells you that.

The LA and the Inf have class abilities that allow them to get the drop on / flank an opponent. The HA has a class ability for when someone get the drop on them. To describe any of those abilities as unbalanced, suggests you only play one class and are hunting for a nerf. I've only seen one "Overshield is OP" thread and the creator of said thread was laughed off the Infiltrator forum.

Same thing should happen to this suggestion.

Knives are already OP.

Give everyone a Beamer, put it on every vehicle and problem solved, game is nicely balanced.

What was/is the problem with how the HA shield currently works? I allways found it completely fine, and 90% of the time i'm on the recieving end of Heavys in infantry combat.

The only outcome i can see from this is a boatload of complaints because now the heavy can't protect himself very good against sneaky infils, or basically anyone jumping them. Sounds like a problem in the making if you ask me.

I really liked the idea mentioned in this thread somewhere: Turn the shield completely into a "flak", anti-explosive shield.

There is a shield specifically designed for activating before you enter a room. There are also two other shields with different intended uses.

Im not going to speculate on whether or not its going to ruin the HA class yet though. They may find a way to make it work. Luckily, when I do play HA (which isnt a whole lot lately) I use resist shield.

The shield only saves you, if 1 vs 1 frontal meeting you activate it and it win. If you get a jump on a HA and shoot him from behind he is dead. If he can turn around and kill you, then your aim was crap. Period. Especially because other classes have higher DPS.

Shield delay will make it pretty much useless for NMG / Adrenalin users in CQC. Might as well pick a medic.

It is a good thing though, finally I will be able to stop PS2 addiction, because frustration is starting to pile up. Libs and cloaked infiltrators swarming everywhere, it is getting tiresome.

What bothers me more is the time it took them to think about how "OP" is the ability.
I do not think it's an instant win button but then, even if I'm wrong, changing the gameplay mechanic of a class like 2 years later ... wtf ?!
Plus they tend to turn things pretty useless after "balancing".

Look what happened to the ZoE and harrasser.
Took them 6 Months to finally decide to "balance" it and they balanced it so hard that you barely see one of those thing around any more.
You can balance stuff but then going from something reactive to something proactive totally change the way you have to use it and so the way to play the class.
I might be wrong but well, I'm not too confident.

And really that's tiring to see people whinning over and over again because they can't deal with some mechanics in the game.
"You had it coming, it was too easy, I'm better than you but you win because of your ability" ... "I have a 400K/D ration but I find that thing OP so I want it nerfed"
Really I'm sick of it, you can never be constructive with people like you around, people like you who lead to boring stupid game where everything is flat because you can't deal with something you can't / don't have.

double post please delete

Why is an "activation time" being added anyways? It makes no sense to me. The current purpose of the shield is to immediately protect you against incoming fire. It allows Heavy Assaults to serve their roles by absorbing more damage in combat than the other classes if the user reacts quickly enough. Why is that not good enough, and why does it need to be changed? When this change arrives, are Heavy Assaults supposed to constantly activate their shields ahead of time in anticipation of being attacked? I'm sorry, but that seems incredibly stupid.

Its not OP, its not OP at all, they are just adding depth to a class that currently has none.
Plus you are making alot of assumptions there buddy that I want things to be 'flat'
The way HA shield is atm is 'flat' it has no current downside or need for forward thinking, I dont know about you but that sounds oretty 'flat' to me. Same with Dalton before the nerf, its was anti-everything which was 'flat' as well yet people whined because they now actually had to choose their loadout rather than having their 'go-to' tool. They added depth to the game.
I play HA alot too, I have fully certed out my NMG and so this will hit me as hard as anyone else. But I believe its a good thing.

Its also annoying to have people like you on forumside who thinks that if anyone supports a change its just because it aids in their playstyle and are only agreeing to it for personal gain rather than just genuinely thinking its a good idea. i think its a good idea to add more depth to this very shallow game. If you lose to a HA now its because he outsmarted you and activated his shield before hand rather than: he is just a better class than you. (which is pretty 'flat')

Its quite hypocritical for you to accuse me of wanting change just because it somehow benefits me when you DONT support it because you obviously play it alot and dont want to lose your advantage.

that would be ridicules and such a bad idea.