Decimator: - New Heavy Assault common pool rocket launcher. High-damage anti-vehicle weapon, has a slow projectile speed and no lock on, but does massive damage to vehicles and other armored targets. So discuss...... will it be the 3 shot disposable we all know and love or a Nukem RPG of some sort?
Ugh, if dumb fire rocket's didn't already do a lot of damage =/ wonder if it will be free, or another 7$ for people to spend.
I'm hoping for a BFG launcher that can one-shot a tank from the rear. So what if the effective range is terrible, at least something will be able to thin down the swarms of newbie tank drivers without needing a dozen HAs and a field littered with ammo packs to do it. Maybe even one-shot a low-alt hovering Lib? Too much to hope for, but I daresay if an aircraft gets hit by a styrofoam catapult, they oughta feel it.
that answers nothing. you do realize common pool means its just available for all 3 factions right? like the ns-11.
The NS-11 is common pool, and still costs 7$. Best guess is it will probably not be free, SC is going to ***** it up with new weapons, zero ***** given to people who already spent SC on AV weapons, upgrade or fall behind.
As someone who never plays HA and is mainly a tank driver I like the sound of this. I don't like skill-free press a button to win weapons like lock-on rockets. So something that you have to actually aim is a better option. I suggested awhile back that the upgrade to the HA standard rocket should be some kind of rail weapon. Something that shoots a unguided projectile at high speed doing high damage.
Whatever it is it will be manditory for HA to have it. All vehicles will now cert Smoke so all lock on launchers(which can only fire with lock on) are useless.
I would imagine it won't provide an excessively large increase in damage overall. Perhaps it will allow sneaky HA duos to instakill MBTs from behind, but beyond that it'll probably just do something trivial like +25% dumb fire launcher's damage. Something that won't have a huge effect beyond allowing you to kill a completely abandoned not deployed Sunderer with full blockade armor by yourself. Still, people who have been using the hawk as a general purpose rocket launcher up until now would probably be best served using it instead since they already spend a majority of their time doing dumb fires anyway. Unlike air, vehicles have a very low skill ceiling. You park your sunderer, that's about it. All but one tank works off the tread model, meaning it's difficult and in many cases completely irresponsible to be in a position to move any direction other than directly forward and backwards. Flashes are a taxi. What this means is that often you will see people in tanks with no interest in the tanks themselves, just pulling it because they were told to or because it acts as a free shell around your character with increased offensive and defensive power and you can just hop out when it's time to ditch it. None of these people will spend a single cert on their tanks, but every one can be as dangerous as dedicated tank drivers. So the Ground lock on launcher is great for killing these, and will do it even faster after the patch. As for dedicated tank drivers, dumb fire rockets will still work fine against them, or just waiting a whole six seconds + lock on time to focus them down. If you really run up against that many dedicated tank drivers in one place then you have a lot more problems on your hands than IR smoke.
My question: Why isn't the super heavy AV weapon mountable on a MAX unit instead of the already-versatile and AV-capable HA?
Tanks, especially the Mag. for VS, can avoid regular rockets fairly easily. You think one that does more damage, but moves slower will really threaten the tank community that much? Maybe sunderers that are deployed, but not tanks, IMO. The only threat would be if infantry got close enough to where the splash damage would hurt them. Suicide for a kill in that case? IMO
I suspect its going to be really only useful for killing deployed sunderers (prowlers) and fighting infantry and maxes inside biolabs - so much better than the default to justify the purchase? Not likely. There is no chance its going to 1 shot tanks (and maxes) from the rear or else it would become pretty much THE av weapon - so if it takes 2 to kill still - I feel like the damage difference is negligible. Extra damage against ESF is redundant because you 1 shot them anyway - so its at a major hit chance penalty, and firing at Gals and Libs with your now slower dumb fire will be equally fruitless. I feel the lock on launchers are infinitely better than the default - sure they do 20% less damage but do you get 20% or more hits? Easily. You probably get double or more the hits you did with the dumbfire. With that logic in mind consider that the decimator will be more damage with less hit probability - and a miss is still 0 damage. Wait and see I guess, then give it your 30 minute trial at the Crown - but I'm not excited for it.
One thing we don't know is whether it will be the 3 rocket PS1 version or a one rocket wonder weapon. I too hope it won't instakill vehicles from behind. If it instakills tanks from behind, that means it instakills all vehicles from behind (and presumably all MAXs from any direction) which would and makes defending a base a little too easy. Who cares if it's a one shot disposable weapon when you can get another for free at the nearest terminal? But yeah, LOL Prowler deploy mode. Enjoy the feeling of doom as the decimator rocket leisurely approaches your immovable deployed tank. Magrider has a speed boost and Vanguard has a freaking invulnerability shield...hahaha.
That's exactly why I'm expecting it to be a rear-one-shot weapon. Since the stock dumbfire 2-shots, another weapon that also 2-shots is of almost no value whatsoever except against Sunderers or from front/side angles where you're wasting your time anyway. And, let's face it, one-shot capability is still kind of niche considering how much the tank has to assist the HA in getting it. Effective range is a very big deal; after all, how many tanks have you lost to C4? (grand total of 1 for me, and that was in beta...) A pointblank weapon isn't a terribly scary thing when you outrange, outrun and outmaneuver the person employing it.
