Magrider coming short on 6/8 Game Update

AFAIK it does not have a 2nd delay before reloading.

Good thing I did the math for both then. Prowler still has a huge advantage.

O yes, either way prowler is king of DPS, always has been.
Id be interested to see how, on a large scale, the reload time switch between mag and prowler would work out.

So far, full points for Pat22! Uses facts and reasoning to make his case and awknowledges potential problems!

The Prowler does have 2 delays of 0,5 seconds, unless this was somehow stealth-patched out some time ago. This refire rate can actually be found with any magazine weapon and delay your reload speed. Not sure about single-shot weapons but I seem to remember that weapons like the Vanguard don't have one.

As for Narkotic and Kaizure... Damn what kind of victim complex do you guys have? The Prowler is arguably the best CQC tank there is! It's two shots and higher DPS per magazine also vastly outperform other tanks. The damage potential outperforms the extra armor the Vanguard gets and it because of the usual "you have lower punishment for misses" it's better for any ranged combat including against the dodgy Magrider. And the two shots also allow for faster dialing in of proper range and shell drop to hit your target. And it might change in a future patch, but the dual-shot that can OHK infantry on both shots has been immensely powerful since the game launched. The only reason the Magrider can compete in the AI compartment is because it can get into the bases and murder infantry where other tanks can't get.

You just don't get it. Things were quite fair before. The Magrider sacrifices a LOT for its mobility and gets absolutely nothing in return for the higher mobility on the other tanks with this patch.

Also, to add more **** to the pile.... in the term mobility lies a very important key thing, speed. Logically, the mag sacrifices dps and armor for mobility, meaning it should be the fastest tank. In EVERY game I've played,and in real life, this is the normal trade off.... but planetside goes "nah, **** dat".

It had more mobility back in the day, but not a higher top speed. The devs looked at the stats only and saw the mag over performing, and never properly investigated why it was doing such. As someone that was gunning for many Mags back then I could easily see why it was over performing on the field. It was pulling such high numbers, because the Mag pilots used the Xmas Cash sale to its fullest and bought the FPC(AP gun) and the Saron(AV Secondary) as well as poured most of the certs they earned right into boosting the tanks equipment, as well as their repair guns. These Mag pilots were pretty much dedicating to their role, so on foot they were not up to all the players focusing on Infantry, or spreading their certs over multiple places. Furthermore a lot of Mag pilots were operating in groups of 2 to 4 and focusing fire on single targets thus targets were dieing quickly and far faster than most players would react; as well as most of those Mags being pulled were running 2/2. Do note back then rear armor on tanks actually increased incoming damage by 30% not reduce it by 30% as it does now.

Now that is only half of it, the other half is that Prowler, and Vanguard pilots didn't focus on their tank, nor did they use the Xmas sale to maximize their tank's effectiveness by purchasing cash to buy their AP weapons. Instead majority of the Prowlers and Vanguards were still running the default HEAT and 20mm Basil (pre Bascil buff), furthermore these tanks were not seeing many 2/2 and most were running 1/2 with near stock builds. Now how do I know this? Simple I was there, and gunning and piloting Magriders then, as well as when the NC and TR player whined on the forums about it one of the Devs respond in saying that "Magriders were the least pulled of the three MBTs, and was seeing the highest percentage of running 2/2 and of those running 2/2 most were running the Saron, with the Halberd in second. Were as Vanguards and Prowlers were seeing two to three times the pull amount and most of them were still using 20mm and were running 1/2." (Paraphrased his words) However with this the devs still choose to nerf the magrider instead of putting a sale on the AP weapons for tanks as a way of encouraging players to purchase these items.

Now Pat22 has pointed out that a Prowler with a maxed out reload is 2.0 but didn't point out that a current Prowler with maxed out lockdown as well has a reload speed of 1.1 so a ranged lockdown prowler is firing around 3x quicker while having about 25% more damage than a vanguard single shot; and that is only looking at a 1/2 Prowler. Factor in the Gatekeeper and watch what happens. Oh, and don't say but the Gatekeeper was nerfed into oblivion, as it was only nerfed from "ROFLMAO get rekted" weapon to one that requires some skill to use, just like the other long range oriented weapons.

Now for a non-lockdown Prowler that wants to fight in cqc their likely using the Vulcan which will rip through just about every vehicle like it was butter.

Yesterday I played more time, can't say if it's my impression caused by new bullets graphical effects.
The point is that now I have serious difficulty to aim and hit target and can't evaluate the real speed...
Now I'm going to make some tests.

Ya.. My victim complex causes warped reality perception. In reality, numbers (and mostly DPS) dictate that I will chew through Vanguards and Magriders alike. Just use AP+Vulcan+Lockdown and it does not matter anymore if Win-Shield is used or Mag floats around the battlefield. I just need to anchor and hold mouse button. Hell, After this patch my Prowler is so fast and mobile that nothing can get away.
/sarcasm

I just tried to tell you my point of view regarding OP
Mag did not receive any buff with this patch but the change is pretty minimal and nearly has no effect on Tank Meta.
Reading your posts it seems to me that you did not much Prowler (MBT)
My advice is to actually stop looking at some stupid numbers. Get a Prowler and anchor yourself across the continent

The Vanguard and Magrider have their own advantages, but the Prowler's is the most straight-up powerful compared to the other two.
And trying to sell the double shot as a disadvantage... Seriously that's shameful.
Here's a thing: The numbers say that the Prowler is arguably the best MBT in performance. Always ending either first or second in each category. Be it infantry killing power or tank killing power (both in CQC and long-range, the Prowler is a powerhouse). Also yes I did use the Prowler, and it's undeniably powerful. Is it the best? Depends on how you look at it, the Magrider has many many advantages and powerful usages as well. But the Prowler isn't in any way, shape or form weak.

I can solo a Magrider in a Harrasser (that is only me in the 'rasser no gunners etc.) with a Vulcan on top with over a 50% success rate by simply driving up 5m from their behind and open up on them (the failure comes from when their friends are alert enough to jump in to assist them). If you can't manage it with a Prowler then sorry you as a player seriously need to take a long hard look at how you play because the problem is not the weapons or the vehicle...

Didn´t say that it is a disadvantage at all. I know that Prowler can be very powerful. I looked it up on dasanfall and these are my personal Prowler stats:
Kills: 4,513
Deaths: 573
KDR: 7.876
VKDR: 3.805
Vehicle Kills: 2,180
Playtime: 130.632 hours
My AP destroyed 1 vehicle every 3 minutes for 130 hours straight. But... this is because I am pretty dedicated to my Prowler. Every experienced Tanker will get these results (if not even better). There are just so many unexperienced drivers around..
Good Magrider drivers are fearsome enemies. In my book the weakest MBT overall is the Vanguard. But even the Vanguard has some roles and situations where it shine
Again, this is not me whining about the Prowler being weak. I just stated (regarding OP) that my personal experience is that tank meta feels pretty balanced overall. If you have a different opinion on that, that is fine as well.. Forum threads are for exchanging opinions mainly, right?

Well, your playstyle seems to be going for a 50/50 suicide chance to get 1 MBT kill ^
Vanguard would be hard to engage like that with its shield btw
You should try just to load your Harasser (or Flash) with C4. Will yield better ration I guess..

If you estimate that 5-10% (or even 30%) of the player base are really dedicated tankers, your 50/50 scenario would mean that even the plebs often manage to prevail in such a (really off the board) situation. How many of the really good Magrider drivers have you taken out that way? Probably not that many..?

It's simply a question of resources; I kill a 1/2 man Magrider (note I'd not try it on a Vanguard for all the reasons you already stated at least until they change the shield to not cover their behind as on PTR) worth 450 resources and possibly a long pull away while working away on the directives and having fun. The most effective way would be to go Lib/ESF hunting them instead but this way is more fun and relaxing (love driving the 'rasser).

You supported someone who did claim that, so I assumed you agreed that the Prowler was weak in CQC and all the other stuff the guy said. Apparently I misjudged you on that account.

isn't the mag the statistically best performing tank or something?

It's not really needed in this regard, as the Magrider is vastly superior where the new improved handling would actually start to matter (those nasty off-road locations). These improvements only have an effect for off-road fights between Lightning-Prowler-Vanguard in practice.