LA/Infiltrators are built to surprise attack, a shield delay on HA will give HA no fighting chance!!

I do not like the HP system from Team Fortress 2. I would rather have a separate armor system that mitigates damage to HP, which would be 100 for every class.

Would you like some tin foil? I can show you how to fold it into a little hat if you like. Seriously, come out of left field more; it really aids in having meaningful conversation...

I have no problem with rockets from infantry at vehicles (or at other infantry). I have a problem with the fact that infantry that is just as well equipped to take on a tank as it is an infantry is at no significant disadvantage (compared to a loadout without that same versatility) in any given situation. I do not see a reason, as the OP is complaining, that HA should be handed a fair and level playing field in situations where they have been outplayed because of a 'class ability' when A: no other class gets that same ability, and (more importantly) B: when they already have a unique class ability (being able to engage all targets with equal potency).

The simple fact is HA -should- be at a disadvantage when it has been outplayed, just as LA, Inf, Engie or Medic is. If it is to retain a class ability that allows it to mitigate this disadvantage (as the OP stated: LA's can position easier, so HA's can defend themselves against LA's easier) it should not be given the versatility+potency is currently has as well (as this is not present in the other classes).

'The top', as judged by what? Let's not pretend either of us are stupid enough to think that there is a valid way to compare completely different weapons on performance alone and conclude any point of merit, eh? K/D, Kills, KPH, KPU etc etc are all useless comparatives in this context. The only comparative that I see any validity in is in game class usage, as this far better than any other metric demonstrates utility of classes. Now you may disagree and think it's fine to have the HA as the 'go-to' class, and that 70% HA teams are fine and you'd rather the other classes be niche classes... I don't mind if you see it this way. I just think that it makes squad strategy boring and makes conflict immensely linear, compared to having vibrant teams with more class diversity.

Oh, this again.

How many times does one need to go through this.

Light Assaults, Medics, Engineers and Infiltrators have access to fully automatic weapons with more DPS than the bloody Orion. You have the initiative and bloody 0.4 s before I even notice I'm being fired upon. My NMG won't even register on your client before I'm dead because of the latency, if - IF - you can aim a damn.

You're probably not aware of this as you're clearly a VS HA, but you are actually able to use other weapons than the Orion on your HA. These weapons are capable of more DPS than Carbines or ARs. The 'they do more DPS' argument is null and void.

I beg to differ.

Lets see a show of hands for how many of us know the details of the nerf.




Ok now that thats done, lets think up a bunch of ridiculous buffs because lets be honest heavy assault needs to be buffed.

lolololololol
Thank you OP, I needed a good laugh.
What's so darn funny (and I'm sure everyone else picked up on it instantly) was the irony of:

+

But I was having a conversation parallel to this with an Outfit mate after he Auraxiumed the only infiltrator weapon he really cared about. He wanted ideas on what class to go play next ...I warned him not to play HA next b/c it would just make him angry after having spent so much time on Infiltrator. He didn't really get the reasoning until I explained it as a Certing/Upgrade imbalance. IE: pouring more certs into either LA or Inf doesn't actually make them any tougher and verstile. It actually makes them more specialized and thus vulnerable to everything else the instant they're caught outside of their ideal niche. HA by comparison just mutates into an unstoppable rampaging beast and if you're not averaging a 2.0 KPM & 5:1 KDR then you're doing it wrong. What's funny about this whole Nanite Mesh nerf though is that none of the people who Main heavies use that shield in the first place for Infantry fights. No all the ones on top of the leaderboards all run maxed out Resist shield & Nano5 which also continues to protect them even against EMP & Flashbangs. The whole situation is just stupid and won't change anything.

The HA shield is pretty much completely balanced at the moment and anyone who thinks otherwise is playing the game wrong.

There are five actual infantry classes. Three of them have support abilities, two of them do not. Medics can heal individual allies, group heal (including themselves) revive, and have arguably the strongest class of AI weapons out of any class. Engineers can drop infinite ammo, two different kinds of incredibly powerful turrets, repair vehicles and MAX suits, and have access to some of the weakest (but still strong) infantry weapons. Infiltrators can turn invisible, shoot radar darts, drop motion sensors, hack terminals, but generally have guns that require hit and run tactics.

So you have three classes that can do things besides kill. Then you get to Light Assault, which has a jetpack, pretty often C4, and Carbines. So they don't have guns with deep magazines, but are a straight up combat class. They're actually very strong, but entirely thanks to their ability to flank and do precision kills before repositioning. In a way they're basically infiltrators that can blow up tanks, and have jet packs instead of cloaking. And they don't have darts.

HA is the only class left. The HA can blow up vehicles with C4, but so can Engineers, Medics, and Light Assaults. The HA has a ranged AV weapon, but so do MAX suits and Engineers. The HA has a gun with a deep magazine, but its 1v1 killing potential is outclassed either by SMGs, Assault Rifles, or both, depending on faction. So the HA sort of has a Rocket Launcher, and besides that it has the shield. But it can't support, all it can do is combat, and the only advantage it has in combat is having a limited pool of more health than the other classes.

I'm not really seeing the problem, here. The HA has no other ability than being tanky, but all it can do is shoot dudes. Do people pull HA more than the other classes? Sure, but not because the HA is overpowered, but because the HA is designed to be the primary combat class. The Light Assault is more limited. Medics and Engineers are squishier, and too many become redundant. Infiltrators more or less exist to pepper the area in tracer darts and call it a day. Light Assaults are good, but lack the power to stand on top of objectives, and instead need to flank and pick off targets from above.

So, the HA shield already sucks when used reactively, because it slows down, and 2/3 drain quickly and are designed to be used reactively. That would leave us with resist, which still slows HAs down if they toggle the shield on anyways, making using it reactively a pain in the *** anyways. At the same time, the shield is already pretty dicey. The lag in this game means that flipping it on after initially being shot means you've already lost a ton of health anyways, and more often than not the person shooting you is also an HA, or an LA, and there's not a lot you can do.

So basically, people who don't like the HA shield should stop expecting support classes to be able to go toe to toe with the primary combat class 100% of the time. The HA should win 1v1s on equal footing more often than not, because that's the entire point of HA.

Nobody at the top of the leaderboard does this.

We don't go head to head with the Heavy Assault...

When we try to engage the Heavy Assault, we do so from a flanking position...which is where both our classes are supposed to excel. As it stands right now, the instantaneous shield removes the reward for proper flanking of the enemy Heavy Assault by giving them an instant win.

With that said, they may lengthen the duration of the shield...possibly remove the speed reduction...who knows. If they lengthen the shield duration, this gives Heavy Assault classes the ability to use it when they choose...but they need to activate it before the attack takes place rather than when they have already been caught with their pants down.

I'm not saying that the ability shouldn't gain any sort of perks to compensate for the rev up period...but it's silly to say that this is giving us the advantage in a head on fight when we don't fight head on to begin with.

You apparently didn't read the thread, and you didn't read my whole post. Read the thread title at least, then some of the thread, then my post in full. Then come back.

You're going off on a tangent that has nothing to do with the thread or my post.

"vanguard shield lasts 10 seconds and recharges in 45 at max rank, plz nerf into the ground OMG SKILL"
"HA shield that recharges rapidly and can be toggled for 45% dmg reduction is fine, as are reactionary shields for moar hp, WTF WHY U NARF ME?!"

lordy be, youd think half the thread would have broken legs the way they try to sustain this. BUT MOMMM MUH CRUTCHES isnt an argument. id also wager that half the 'we gotta win 1v1' arguments were from classic WoW rogues too

OMG you people are so bad
All that I see hear is nerf calls from guys that can't kill flanked HA.
If you can't kill HA that has his back turned to you than something is very wrong with your aim.

I honestly wouldn't know, the second I start to fire from behind...the shield turns on and they just turn around and rail me.

Than something is wrong with your gameplay if you can't kill flanked HA.

I'm not an elite player by any stretch of the imagination, I don't play enough to be even moderately decent... When I've actually fired off a few rounds and miss...I expect to die, that's just poor gameplay on my part. When I hit with the first round and the shield instantly comes up...kind of a different story.

With that said, the ramp up period is a new weakness being introduced into the ability...so it should be modified accordingly. The removal of the speed debuff might be a way to bring it up to par...maybe even an increased duration or effectiveness.

Hopefully they actually do something with it to compensate for the new weakness being applied...because as much as I agree with everyone who says it's an "I win" button, it's going to need a little love after this tweak to the mechanic in order to provide an ability that lets the Heavy Assault perform tactically with their shield. If they make it longer, for example, they'll be able to prematurely activate it when they are about to rush into a situation or are entering into a hot zone...but they won't be able to instantly activate it when someone catches them with their pants down and chuckle about showing the enemy a full moon and living to tell the tale without a margin of difficulty.

Long thread, not gonna read right now.

But I will say one thing, and I may well be mistaken so I welcome correction if I'm wrong.

As it is, as HA if you pop your shield there can be a latency issue with this data reaching the LA/Infil that is shooting you. There have been several occasions where I have popped my shield but STILL died exceptionally quickly to enemies because, I believe, on their Client-side you have not yet enabled your shield. So they appear to slice right through it.

Maybe something else is going on (Such as my own client not registering Shield activation before death?), but if the circumstances of these moments are true then it's already effectively tried and tested.

A delay could be monumentally horribly bad.

I understand you, I personaly don't have anything against shield nerf, don't care about it I only regreting that i joust started to cert Adrenalin shiled on my HA and that thing isn't cheap, but with shield delay it will be useles for me and my playstyle.
My post is for players that crying that they can't kill flanked HA because of shield.

Actually,

This could fix the problem if they, as I've expressed previously, increase the duration/effectiveness of the shield in combination to the ramp up period. As it stands, it's used as a panic button when the Heavy Assault is caught with their pants down instead of a tactical tool...but after this change, you're going to see a lot more Heavy Assaults activating their shields before they charge into a hot and sticky situation.

If they actually increase the duration or effectiveness and remove that speed debuff, you'll make up for the time wasted during the ramp up period and won't have the issue you stated because you're activating it before you get yourself into the situation in question. Simultaneously, it's no longer an "I win" when you're caught with your pants down.

As long as they give the ability a little love in combination with the tweaked new weakness...it should be fine.

Well, truth be told...I have problems in that area.

I don't know if it's lag or what, but the moment I lay into the trigger and start opening fire with my SMG...that shield is instantly up. Even if I was aiming down the sights and railing them...it goes up before I've even bypassed the shields, which might be due to the fact that I'm not good with my aim and not railing their head.

Either way, as I've expressed previously within the last few posts...the shields all need a little love to compensate for the ramp up period, or this is going to be very bad. Hopefully they work in some sort of buffs to the entire slew of shields to compensate for the new mechanic and ensure that the ability can be used tactically.

That sounds like ping and delay issue to me. I have never been killed by HA that I'm flanked, aim for head and they will have no time to react.