It's about time the Striker gets Nerfed!

I shot down a few Reavers and Mosquitoes yesterday with A2AM that impressively flew through the mountains of Amerish. The only explanation I can give is that I am Vanu and so science and nanites.

Examining the Striker however.... as far as I'm aware, the silly Terran Republic does not have science, but they do possess nanites.

Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that nanites are to blame for missiles new found ability to warp through terrain.

Sounds about right. And with SOEs balancing, it will probably become cannon, so they can ignore this bug and move on to other things.

Sorry dude... they will not change the Striker anymore.

Deal with it.

By the way... there is a ton of Striker topics on this forum... you dont need to make another one.
How about you sugest a fixed topic just for Striker whine?

I've yet to see a video posted of a TR using the Striker that even came close to rivaling this video of the Saron.

So if you want to wear your whining McCryBaby purplely panties, wear it for this:

2.5 sec to lock + around 3 sec to fire all its rockets>>3.55s.

Furthermore that Striker's rocket are "fire and forget" just during 3 sec => can just hit immobile target to 0 to 300m if you don't keep your crosshair at your target.
For mobile targets or target farther than 300m: you have to keep aiming at least until the 2nd rocket hits.

-Annhi's cycles: lock-instant fire-reload: time exposed= 3 sec
-Striker's cycles: lock-fire-keep aiming until the second or third missile hits-reload: time exposed= 2.5+3+X (X depends of mobility and distance).
But i agree that annhi is a total crap (low damage & long lock-on timer) and certainly need a shorter lock-on timer or slight more damages.

If people stay immobile, Rockets will hit, with or without flares (it break the guidance, don't destroy the missile and don't have drop contrairely to G2A/G2G launchers)
But there is definitely a bug while missiles goes trough environnment. That really need to be fixed indeed.
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Hi battle brothers and sisters.

Will you look at that.We have our own "Scatter Canoon / Saron" now, and they cry as always.But hey they are the underdogs ,and we TR are the mean OP troopers.Uuraa.

No to striker nerf, it's fine as is.

Flairs completely shut down the weapon.

Then change it so it's not a lock on anymore. Everyone wins.

Rolling with Them Fools! Cant nerf dat skill.

Yes, oh please make the Striker a dumbfire weapon. It will be completly balanced, I swear it.

Actually, that would be worth trying out. A version of the Devastator, only no time to lock, and fires 5 rounds. I'd hit that. But I want the damage 1:1 with a Devastator

But that renders the Devastator into a waste of SC.

I think the main issue with strikers (aside from flares not stopping all missiles which I really hope is a bug that will be fixed) is that their use by almost every TR heavy who's above BR 10, combined with their insane lock-on range, completely necessitates flares or smoke on every vehicle when facing the TR. That is, 2/3 of the players of this game are not viably able to use vehicles without equipping a particular utility item. I can't be the only one to find that incredibly restrictive and boring.

In addition, its versatility is just completely unmatched compared with the other empire-specific rocket launchers. The NC's is good against slow or stationary ground vehicles (or unaware aircraft), can fire from safety and does high damage - but it can't effectively engage fast-moving vehicles, vehicles far away, or any aircraft with a few brain cells. The VS's is effective at a distance and has a very fast projectile speed, allowing it to engage faster targets on the ground from a greater distance (and even liberators/unevasive ESFs), however it requires a significant charge up time to be effective leaving the user exposed to their target, and it doesn't do a great amount of damage. In addition, the trail reveals the heavy's position, making them a priority target to enemies.

However, what's the down side of the striker? It completely suppresses air in the area, has absolutely no problem hitting fast-moving ground or air targets, and can only be countered by a serious cert investment in flares - and even then, there's still plenty of time between flare/smoke deployments for more lock-ons. The NC's launcher is balanced because it is only effective at relatively close range, the VS's launcher is balanced because its accuracy and travel time benefits are mitigated by charge time, damage dealt and revealing of your position - what trade-off exists between existing launchers and the striker? To say that it is anything but a straight-up upgrade of the annihilator would be a lie.

Edit: Also, yes, there are other things that are unbalanced in this game, but that doesn't mean this doesn't need addressing as well. The Saron IS incredibly, incredibly effective against infantry in its current form, and I would understand the need for a rebalance. However, bringing it up here is nothing but an attempt to steer the topic away from another issue.

I've fired plenty of Striker rounds at aircraft, and I see all rounds flying straight when he pops flares for the duration the flare gives lock immunity. I haven't see what you're talking about, from the Striker perspective. Additionally, I am unable to get a lock for the duration afterwards. 9/10 times, this gives pilot, even mediocre ones, plenty of time to get out of range or behind the mountain to further avoid a lock.

Really, I should not be allowed to continue firing rounds once flares are popped, because I've LOST the lock. Since I can't fire until I GET THE LOCK, why am I allowed to keep firing, wasting rounds, after the flares are popped? It shouldn't work that way.

Like the original problem with the Annihilator, the problem wasn't so much about the weapon itself, its because so many opponents are clustering and using it simultaneously that is more the issue. Devs may be creating stuff in a relative vacuum and not with the knowledge of what happens when the weapon goes from nickle and dime to 20 people on a hill firing it.

What I don't like, is the weapon of choice morphing into useless junk (Annihilator) because devs nerf the clustered use of the weapon by killing the weapon itself. They're not addressing the dynamic, they're just quieting the whines of nerfing. An easy problem to solve? Well, no, I admit that, but we're paying SOE to figure these things out while not reducing the stuff we paid for into crap. It's a reasonable demand, and one they should meet.

SOE needs to be careful, because if they screw too much with stuff that has cost me actual dollars to get, they will lose my trust and I will not buy from them again.

A couple of noteworthy quotes from your chosen video

Hmm, I think your video is more relevant than you give it credit for

The future of Planetside 2 infantry combat.

Meaning you're agreeing or disagreeing with my point? It seems like your straddling the fence, but that may just be my interpretation.

I would be ok with the Saron continuing to be this effective, if the Vulcan matched it. And it might be ok because Infantry typically outnumber Armor on the field as us drivers need a way to make them work a little harder for those kills; drivers often face a flood of AV weapons. The Vulcan, with all the certs I've spent upgrading it even, does NOT. I can't do this to Infantry as the Saron does in the video, that much is crystal clear. And not even with an accomplished "Vulcaneer" riding shotgun with me.

Now, you did notice the fire rate of the Saron? That alone is pretty suspect when the question of sniping comes up. Not only does it one shot infantry, the reload rate is pretty ridiculous. When you include what it does to armor, the lack of perceptible drop and speed of rounds, makes this a weapon that either needs toned down, or its rivals brought up to par.

As far as "effectiveness of the user" operating the weapon, I agree with you. But again, the Saron allows the guy behind the gun spray rounds until the infantry is dead. When it takes just one round, how "effective" a gunner do you need to be? LOL. Almost no leading is necessary. Just keep clicking the button with a little aim pretty much. I'd argue the Vulcan requires FAR more perfect aim to down infantry, and depending on the range the target is at, to fire anywhere close to this effective. The guns don't appear to be equals at all.

You make a good point about balancing stuff that has been paid for. I've thought about this and I think it's a pretty reasonable policy to refund station cash to people who purchased a given money with real money after a major rebalancing. If they want to keep using it, no problem, they can just repurchase it.

Yeah I think it has to be a bug with the flares issue though, it doesn't happen every time. Seems totally random when it does happen.

A single weapon shouldn't prevent any vehicle at all from coming within 500 metres of direct sight in my view, it is just far too versatile for a weapon which can be used without any real degree of player ability. In comparison, the lancer may attempt to engage at a similar range, but it requires a seriously good combination of precision and prediction skills on the part of the user. If you get hit by that thing while moving at 400 metres you know it was either lucky or fired by someone who knows what they're doing. Meanwhile, anyone who can put their mouse in the general area of a vehicle of any kind can do just as much damage by a striker. You don't feel like you've been outmatched in any way; you just feel like the other person bought their way to blowing you up.

I was agreeing with those quotes because they apply to the striker as much as they do to the Saron. I agree that the thing is really powerful at the moment - it doesn't feel like you're in the secondary seat when you're using it at all. I used it for the first time in a passenger seat recently and got 15+ kills. I agree with the video that splash damage toning is probably the best way to deal with it, as I feel it's reasonable against vehicles in its current state, and even without splash it would still be reasonably effective against infantry. However it should fit the niche as an accuracy-rewarding precision weapon in my opinion.

I'm not really straddling the fence as much as agreeing that both weapons need balancing for the same reason - they're both too versatile with little down side.

The striker needs to maintain LOS lock, just like PS1. Let it lock onto MAXes like PS1 too to compensate. That's the only way you can justify the damage and the ability to hit both air and ground. As has been pointed out, it's a straight upgrade from the annihilator with no downsides at all. A ridiculously high damage (and bugged) weapon should not be fire and forget.

My biggest beef in that in the air, if you flare and stay in the area, the striker rounds will re-lock onto you after the flare duration and hit you almost instantly. Very annoying. I don't think the striker user sees this happening as I think it's a bug. When I repair my plane after such an occurrence, I don't get repair XP, as if it's friendly fire, but that's not the case.

Try explaining that refund policy to SOE.
On a more serious note regarding the flares. There is a bug that might cause the lock-ons to ignore flares. However people forget or maybe don't know that, if you use flares/smoke too late when the rocket is very close, it will not work on it. I've seen a ESF use its flares after the 1st rocket hit it and the 2nd was close enough, so it did hit, but the other 3 rockets didn't and got their trajectory off.