So, I've recently started playing MAX a lot more since I unlocked a Blueshift on my VS character for a MAX, and I've been learning how to play the class and how to play effectively with it. I've started to enjoy it and the unique gameplay experience of being a MAX, and one thing I've immediately noticed is how expensive MAX certs are. Why all of the MAX certs cost so much is beyond me, since almost none of them make any difference whatsoever, besides the weapons themselves, which, let's be honest, you have to unlock to make your MAX viable at all. Is it because the MAX is so powerful? It takes 1-2 HA to destroy a MAX. A single rocket blast takes off 1/2 or more of the MAX's HP if it's a direct hit. A second will destroy the MAX. A skilled HA - and I say this from experience - can easily dispatch a MAX on their own. C4 can destroy a MAX. Tanks or other vehicles can easily destroy a MAX. A grenade can destroy a MAX. Anybody can point their guns at a MAX and destroy it - and they do, because MAX's are giant walking targets on the battlefield. So, with all that in mind: Let's look at how much it would cost to obtain, what to me, would be the optimal loadout for my anti-infantry MAX: Nano-Armor Accelerator: 150/200/400/500/1000 Charge: 50/200/400/500/1000 Acquire Time Reduction: 1/10/30/50/100/150/200/400/500/1000 Blueshift (Right): 1000 Extended Magazine: 500 Nebula (Left): 1000 Extended Magazine: 500 Total: 9841 certs And then of course you have to factor in the purchase of a secondary Burster, which every MAX user needs to grab, and it's always a good idea to grab another AV weapon or even another Nebula to make your MAX great in CQC scenarios. So that's another 2000-3000 certs. Now we compare this to my optimal loadout for Heavy Assault: Nanite Mesh Generator: 1/30/100/200/500 Advanced Shield Capacitor: 1/10/30/100/200 C-4: 200/500 Flare: 500 High-Velocity Ammunition: 100 Compensator: 100 Reflex Sight 2x: 30 Forward Grip: 100 Lasher: 1000 (situational and I never use it but let's toss it in there) Forward Grip: 100 Nemesis: 1000 (near useless, but again, let's toss it in there) Hades: 1000 Total: 5802 certs And then, though this is going a bit overboard, finally, let's compare the cost of certing a MAX to the cost of certing a vehicle. We'll use my optimal Mag build as an example: Acquire Time Reduction: 1/10/30/50/100/150/200/400/500/1000 Magburner: 100/200/500/1000 Reinforced Front Armor: 100 Rival Combat Chassis: 100/200/400 Supernova PC: Default Maximum Ammo Capacity: 1/10/30/50/100/150/200/400/500/1000 Infared Optics: 50 Reload Speed: 150/200/400/500/1000 Saron HRB: 1000 Maximum Ammo Capacity: 1/10/30/50/100/150/200/400/500/1000 Infared Optics: 50 Reload Speed: 150/200/400/500/1000 Total: 15523 So, as you can see, with every single insanely (though I feel far more justifiably so) priced cert for a Mag that I could ever possibly want, it does end up costing far more than getting everything I would want for my MAX. HOWEVER, this fully upgraded Mag will be far more effective than a single MAX unit. You will find that the cost of upgrading a Lightning with an optimal build would come out to the same price as upgrading a MAX would. So, the truth is is that they're pricing MAX's like they are vehicles. Is that fair? I don't think so. I think the cost of certing a MAX should be the same as certing an infantry is, and the prices on these MAX weapons needs to come down. Have a few of them be cheaper than 1000 certs. Let there be 250, 500, etc priced MAX weapons instead of making all of them be 1000. How does that make sense? That logic doesn't even apply to vehicles - it's insane. Why is MAX the only thing in the entire game that has all of its weaponry costing 1000 certs to unlock? You can grab a Proton II for your Mag for 250 certs - a fantastic investment. Why can't we grab a Nebula for that price? Our CQC gun? You know, 250 certs, the same price as many of the other CQC guns in the game, such as the RF-3, the LC2 Lynx, etc. So what would my ideal prices be? I'd say: Acquire Time Reduction: The same, this is fair. Ammo Storage Canister: 50, 100, 200, 400, 1000 Charge: 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 1000 Flak Armor: 50, 100, 200, 400, 1000 Kinetic Armor: 50, 100, 200, 400, 1000 Nano-Armor Accelerator: 50, 100, 200, 400, 1000 Extended Magazine: 200 Burster (Right): Default Burster (Left): 500 Quasar (Right): 100 Quasar (Left): Default Blueshift (Right): 500 Blueshift (Left): 1000 Nebula (Right): 250 Nebula (Left): 1000 Cosmos (Right): 1000 Cosmos (Left): 1000 Comet (Right): Default Comet (Left): 500 My optimal build repriced: 7866 certs. Now, this isn't a huge reduction in the total cost of certs for my build, but the clear difference is is that it's brought in line with the other certs in the game, where it only costs a lot of certs (1000) to unlock very specific things, or the ultra high ranks. For the MAX, the prices are insane on many of these things, for example the Nano-Armor Accelerator, or the Extended Mags, or Kinetic Armor, which is just a joke considering the tiny reduction in small-arms fire damage it provides vs the sheer obscene cost of it. The philosophy with the rest of the certs in the game seems to be that it should be easy to get lots of points into something, but to completely max it out it should be a sizable investment. That's not the case with the MAX, and there is really no justification for it not to be. tl;dr, MAX cert prices are too high, they need to come down. Sorry for the length. Thoughts?
I see a lot of people complaining about the max not being viable, but honestly with a good engineer it is a beast. It is much better than HA and even stock can take on many people indoors. I think it is about right for the certs, because it is more powerful than infantry and less powerful than a tank, which is about where the certs lie. I play engineer and I've kept maxes alive in heavy fighting for 10 minutes or more alone. The key is that they have to know when to back off, because I can't take the damage they can while repairing them. They also have to know that outdoors is a tough sell for me unless there is a standoff between groups of rocks or some kind of good cover without much armor in the way. I simply cannot heal a max when he is in the wide open and the bullets missing him hit me.
I would agree with you if the prices scaled accordingly. If you look at where the costs on the vehicles come from, you'll see that most of it comes from the final ranks of all the upgrades - things that barely make any difference but are just there to bump the final cost up. And, as I said, if you compare the cost of a fully certed Lightning to the cost of a MAX, they'd come out near equal to each other. Another point I'd make is that if you look - the difference is clear. You're paying a huge cost for the MAX upgrades, but they're so few in number and make such a negligible difference that they just aren't worth it. Compare the number of things I put on my Mag/HA build vs the number of things I put on my MAX build. That is the problem. That's the disconnect.
