My experience going from TR to NC

SAW -> EM6

This was probably the most important step in my NC's progression. Don't get me wrong, I love the SAW. It feels like a real LMG. It has crazy damage per mag and serious kick. Not like a bad hip-fire AR which is what many of them feel like. I was always a fan of the TMG-50 on TR and this is basically the same thing just without quite as awesome of a sound effect. Of course, the stock SAW is not a practical weapon and even upgraded it's a bit niche, and I wasn't going to spend my certs on its attachments before getting the EM6.

So...the EM6. This gun is absurdly good. If it were put into TR's LMG selection it would obsolete most of their LMGs. It does the job of the TMG-50, but better, the CARV-S, but better, the Rhino, but better. 100 rounds of 167dmg ammunition, low horizontal recoil, and TTK nearly that of a CQC LMG. I am clearly on the right faction.

Phoenix

Granted, this one has been buggy/inconsistent. That said, when it works, it's just better than the Striker. It's more fun to use and gives NC a unique capability that no other faction has. It's not practical to use on your all-rounder loadout really, but when you pull a Phoenix to use a Phoenix you can get results. It also gave me something to do in many stalemate situations, there's rarely a time when you can't find something to harass with a Phoenix.

I have only trialed it though, so my experience is still limited.

Jaguar -> Mercenary / GD-7F

I love the Mercenary. It's the perfect mix of solid TTK and great accuracy. Versatile, great for rooftop/ tree camping without crippling you too much at closer ranges. That said, for more aggressive play styles, the GD-7F is also great. I know I was winning 1v1s that I wouldn't have pulled off with a Jaguar. The velocity on it is also crazy for a CQC carbine. The one big issue though was smaller mag size + high RoF + long-ish reload. I had to be less liberal with my shots.

I also actually picked up the Gauss Compact S. I was curious what it'd be like to have underbarrel smoke on a weapon that doesn't suck like the TRAC-5 S and Solstice SF. It was really nice. I fiddled with the UB shotgun too although I found it clunky due to the keybind/control scheme they have set up for it.

Gauss Rifle / Carnage

Solid weapons, Carnage was actually my preference in spite of my love for 167/600 - Gauss Rifle is good and versatile, but I find myself needing a more close-range oriented gun on medic. TR ARs might be better and certainly the TAR is better in a lot of situations, although the Carnage was more versatile than the TAR since its damage doesn't drop off an extra tier and it has a better recoil pattern. Of course it's not news that TR's strong point is ARs.

Cyclone


I have trouble even thinking about how to adequately describe how much better this is than either of TR's SMGs. It makes me kind of mad, but I don't want to go on a rant about it. I will just keep it short and say it's not fair at all. Cyclone is like Armistice TTK + PDW accuracy / control-ability. *long sigh* *deep breaths* just move on

MAX

I'm currently rocking the nub combo of scatter+grinder. It's amazing. If I wanted to pull a MAX and play like a buffed heavy assault, VS or TR is better, but NC MAX is just so much different and so much more fun. You walk into a room and you can just gib people left and right.

Yes, I die more. But I am more of an asset to my faction.

Also, dual Falcons give me that "I just want to hang back and farm cheesy kills in a skill suit" option, one shot non-flank infantry, wreck engi turrets, as well as being a lot more AV friendly than Pounders much of the time.

NC MAX overall is just easily my favorite. I can't wait until I get Mattocks. Ravens I guess are getting nerfed, so I'm in "wait and see" mode there.

Vanguard

I do not have this beast very well certed, but I had a lot of fun just screwing around with the shield. It is godawful at AI, and I can't deal with other tanks yet since I don't have AP and an AV secondary so ... my experience was limited. The main thing I'd say is that the shield is way way more fun and useful than Anchor mode for me. You can get out of a lot of situations where you'd be totally screwed as a Prowler. It's especially nice to have a "I WILL SURVIVE" button against air.

Reaver

I suck at flying plus of course can't afford to fully cert this thing out. That said, I got the Air Hammer. The Air Hammer is hilarious. I am terribad with it, and cannot comment on air balance. I mostly use it for transport, find a group of infantry, fly straight at them spam air hammer, try to bail out before crashing/getting rocket launchered and try to get kills on the ground. The sheer TTK lets me get just slightly more mileage out of it than VS or TR's.

Overall

For me NC is more fun, less frustrating, and more effective. I made the right choice, I'm sticking with NC for now. Goodbye red and grey, hello ugly blue and yellow.

Yes, NC stuff is better, no, this isn't a reason to switch, so i put on my commisar's hat and eagerly await your return, traitor!

Watch behind you

There is ALWAYS a "friendly" Jackhammer hero that is a little too much trigger happy.

Except that, welcome. I did the opposite (NC -> TR)

Worse burst firing, worse rounds per mag, worse handling. In order.

Feeling like you're doing things doesn't mean the weapon is effective.

Sounds like the spray and pray faction has its advantages then, in spite of all the complaints.

Yeah..."might be", riiiiiiiight.

With less rounds, no extended damage range, and way less RoF = big penalty for missed shots.

Not sure your faction would agree.

More people need to spam Phoenix like back in the day

Phoenix tickles stuff expect ESFs and Liberators. Use it in squads, it give you a satisfying feeling doesn't mean you're actually doing something

Well I actually found the Vanguard competitive with NO upgrades whatsoever - I setup an NC alt when I was very fed up with their supremacy against Magriders (pre shield nerf). On my first outing, I killed 2 Prowlers - later I had a newbie Magrider shooting me and I just drove up to him and carried on shooting until he too was dead (I did feel sorry for him though).

I also created a TR alt to try out the Prowler and in fairness, that wasn't quite so successful with zero certs ! GREAT at AI though.

Since then I've continued to play all factions, it is always something I recommend people do - the grass isn't always greener...

Anyway you should try VS next - but probably best have very low expectations of an un-certed Magrider ! It gets better though.

Stock prowler > stock vanguard easily. You got lucky/advantageous circumstances and/or bad opponents

Coming from TR I'm quite interested in your opinion of the Cyclone. I've yet to use any of the NC's SMGs but the risk-vs-reward play style it seems to facilitate is quite appealing. Though that max damage range could be better.

I really liked the (F)Armistice, but the Failstorm is the most painful SMG I've used so far.

It's the best SMG in the game, easily.

Only sort-of contest/side-grade is the NS ones just because they have a unique advantage of not sounding faction-specific, and MKV has its super suppressor.

You will get more kills per mag with a Cyclone than an Armistice - Armistice spits out its low damage bullets extremely fast with lots of jitter and bloom and it's just not very effective past shotgun ranges. You will have much more flexibility in engagement distance with the Cyclone, you can actually ADS the Cyclone effectively out to decent range. And if you can aim fairly well, within its max damage range you can 3 headshot kill which is amazing vs. Heavy Assaults in particular.

There's no situation in which I'd ever want to use the Armistice over the Cyclone.

EM6 is crap, got auraxium medal yesterday thank good, now that i have my cert refound for it i can happy get back to the almighty saw that cut thru overshield and nano heavys like if they were maded of paper, also most ppl will say the oposite but saw s is a very decent lmg way better tan the em6, give it a try and you will not regret it.

You don't know what tickling is until you've used the striker.

The extended damage range of the NS ones are pretty good. The Vanu's Eridani is one of my favourites - higher damage profile, lower RoF, much less jittery than Sirius, and longer max damage range (10m if I recall). I'm quite keen to try the Cyclone now though; time for LarrytheLegume to saddle up once again.

Out of interest what attachments do you run on yours?

Laser, Soft Point, and sometimes I use a suppressor - depends on situation. I'd use MKV over suppressed Cyclone in some situations though, but I don't have it on my NC.

Enjoy losing out on BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT



Waiting until the account wide boost and rewards are fixed for the bundle so I can leave VS and go TR.

NC is the best faction with the best gear and the funnest mechanics.

Those poor TR/VS peasants don't know what they're missing out.

My care cup is empty.

nc have the most variety

Also what is the Jackhammer supposed to be? A Riot Gun? "Heavy Gun" doesn't really describe it well.

It's the best shotgun for heavy assault.