Is the Heavy Assault standard overshield OP?

Nanite Mesh Generator, I know.

(Please note: This has nothing to do with GU08.)

Someone has been trying to convince me that heavy assaults should not have these shields as they do, and at least shouldn't be able to get them at level 1 (i.e. she thinks that you should have to cert up their ability to absorb damage in addition to its recharge time). She says that it's OP because there is simply no defeating them in close combat, and they don't have a timer/infantry resources/other drawbacks like MAX's do. The idea being that if one of them has, say, a shotgun, and so do you, well then too bad - you're dead (if you're up close and don't spot them from further away), and that's it. They have a solid benefit from their shield, and every other tool at their disposal that you do that can be used for serious combat.

I've tried to argue the point, but I found I lost steam too early. Perhaps, somehow, she's right? I find it's nagging at me now. What are your guys' thoughts on the matter? Why exactly *is* it okay to have no chance against an equally skilled opponent that happens to have chosen a different class than you?

Hard to say now.

At first it was fine because the heavy weapons seemed weaker at hip fire which helped balance them at close range. With shot guns it's pretty hard to lose as a heavy at close range against anything.

Every other range is fine.

Most people use resist for a reason. I personally think resist shield is overpowered, while the NMG is actually reasonably balanced.

LevelCaps HA cert guide goes over this and has a decent explanation and footage demonstrating why resist is best -

Maybe your friend should just practice more.

It's not 'op' anymore than it's op that a medic can revive someone.

The answer is simple; Planetside is not a 1v1 dueling game. Heavies have greater survivability in the front ranks due to the shield, but to get that they can't flank like an LA, they can't repair or rearm like an engy, they can't heal their allies like a medic or detect ambushes like an infiltrator (use your recon darts people!). In short, they give up a lot of skills that multiply a forces effectiveness for a straight up endurance buff.

As a though experiment, consider a group of ten heavies duking it out against 4 medics, 2 LA's, and 4 engineers. The heavies will ultimately lose due to attrition. They only get 'one life', but the other team can heal, revive, rearm, and generally keep themselves in the fight as long as they can keep at least 1 of their medics alive.

Resist is awesome if you get it turned on before you take damage if you take 1 or 2 bullets before you turn it on then it's trash.

So Resist kinda= skill based. As far as HA with a shotgun I play HA 80% of my time and I would take LA with a shotgun any day.
It is much more effective to be able to choose your engagements and angles and use movement to avoid damage then to have a shield that may or may not give you 1-2 more bullets of health depending on how fast you can react.

Now I only run HA if I am needing to kill vehicles or if I am at a choke point and need the bigger magazine size.

Last patch made it so resist didn't stack with flac this patch its the MBT buff and LMG nerfs I can see a time soon that HA will be a very niche class.

Some great points here - especially with the bringing to light the fact that the game is not about 1-1 combat situations.

Still, that being said, I can't see any arguments against the idea to make the heavy assault shield require heavy certification to get to where it is now in terms of absorbtion - i.e. shouldn't it stack with the already existing NMG regeneration increase so every HA doesn't get such a boost all the time?

The only problem i have with the HA shield is the fact that they can turn them on and off any time they choose...

The fact that it lights you up like a christmas tree for everyone to spot you, and slows you down enough that you simply trade evasion for mitigation is balance enough.

wha..... i cant even process the amount of...... in that comment.

....slows you down enough? I don't think it slows you down at all, does it?

It does.

Well. That's certainly something I suppose Still would like someone to address the whole starting off with a lvl 1 heavy assault that does not have the same amount of potential absorption, thus forcing them to cert into it along with the regeneration rate.

Yeah, it does.

So maybe an Infiltrator shouldn't be able to go invisible at level 1 either? Maybe Light Assualt's should have to cert into their Jetpack? What your asking for makes no sense. In Planetside 1 Rexo armor soldiers would be the HA equivalent. They could carry more, and had more health/armor but moved slower. In comparison the HA of PS2 is actually weaker. Instead of carrying more you get a Rocket Launcher secondary weapon instead of getting to choose what you carry. And you don't get any bonus health just a shield that must be turned on before hand to work, and when you activate it you move slower, and glow brightly.

I think your friend just plays Medic, Infiltrator or Engineer, and is biased because of that not wanting to lose 1v1 fights. Fact is though every class gets something from level 1. Heavies just get a bit more durability.

Nothing is more annoying than having a shoot-out with a HA and having him flick on his shield just before he is about to die, meaning that you cannot kill him with what ammo you have left.

Guns which shoot less damaging bullets also have a hard time against the overshield because in the heat of combat not all of your shots will connect. You're essentially having to cut through one health bar and 2 shield bars. 85% of the time his gun is going to kill you before you can do that unless you're lucky and get consistent head-shots.

And while it does technically slow you down, the speed decrease is so minor you can barely even notice it. I hardly notice it when I play HA.

It can even absorb a bolt-action headshot. This is something that you normally have to spend a few hundred certs with of Nanoweave to be able to do. Nope - all HA's get it for free.

But yeah, it's pretty much an "I win!" button that you press during combat. It needs some real disadvantages.

I get annoyed when a light assault flies through a window putting some buckshot in my dome.

At least he dies when you shoot back at him.

He doesn't just magically pull some shield out of his **** that lets him take an extra half-mag to the chest.

Also the jetpack noise has been increased so you can hear him coming.

That'd mean a serious disadvantage for lower level players, which isn't particularly appreciable in my book. You don't seem to understand how much of a bummer the overshield actually already can be due to the movement penalty and the visual highlighting of the player. You've got to learn how and when to use it to actually make it become advantageous. Otherwise it is likely to become your death sentence.

What I've noticed furthermore is that the overshield seems to give a lot of players, especially new ones, a suicidal amount of self confidence. To give you an example of what I'm talking about, look at all the newbie MAX suits running around in the open trying to solo Sunderers or MBTs with the default AI/AV loadout. I see them on a daily basis. Just like low level heavies charging head on into a squad of players with the overshield activated, resulting in a quick and mortifying death.

No. I'd argue that HA's are too versatile being tied with medics for best infantry based AI while being the best infantry based AV, however.