I started playing MAX for real today, and was having such a blast that I decided to unlock some weapons for it with that extra bit of Station Cash I had laying around from that big ole' sale. Bought myself dual hacksaws (woo), and a second burster (woo). I held off on the Falcon based on reports that Anti-Armor MAXes were terrible, but eventually my curiosity got the better of me. I got sick of being useless at range, and remembered that I frequently used the default Falcon to "snipe" infantry from a pretty decent range, so I figured I could at least use the second Falcon to operate as a longer range MAX, sniping out stationary enemies and plinking at armor. And I've got to say, I don't see where the hate is coming from! I found dual Falcons to be quite effective at dealing with enemy armor! A situational one, to be sure, but as least capable enough of contributing towards tank deaths in a pretty meaningful capacity. While I'd definitely agree that it's not as effective 1v1 against enemy armor as a burster MAX is against enemy air, with support from some heavy assaults friendly tanks, it definitely contributes. We were caught in a zerg vs zerg scenario in between a mountain pass around a watchtower. We already had several bursters (no shortage of them, after that sale!) protecting us from air, so I pulled double Falcons. I survived for about twenty minutes, racking up kill after kill. Falcons make quick work of Lightnings, and can seriously dent enemy MBT's. They're also incredible for stopping other MAXes in their tracks. Terran MAX units kept spawning from the watchtower and attempting to storm the hill, a short sprint across a field. The first salvo made them spin on the heels and try to run back to safety, and the second salvo dropped them. Occasionally one would sneak by to the cover of the rocks we were hiding behind, and I found the Falcons equally capable against MAXes in close range (albeit, they suck chunks at hitting regular infantry up close ). I was also able to reliably kill infantry at range, provided I could land direct hits. Killing them with the splash damage took several shots, but one direct hit was enough to kill most infantry units. I found the loadout to be very satisfying, overall! I guess I just wanted to know where the distaste for the Falcons was coming in, and what kind of changes need to be made for you to enjoy them more? I can agree that they're pretty situational, but I think they fulfil their role nicely enough. I wouldn't mind a little more damage, or at least a bit faster reload speed, but I found their overall performance pretty satisfying. Where do you stand on them?
Thanks for sharing, dude. I was wondering just that. Had a lot of success with a single Falcon yesterday in a siege defense. This put 2x Falcons definitely on my list to try. Agree with most observations.
I think it has to do with the faction. The TR AV weapons are like **** falcons, I have a set of them and they're pretty weak. I do love the NC MAX's and have been looking for a good NC server to splurge on a MAX setup there...
Planetside 2 has turned into a cert grinding game. So nobody wants weapons that require teamwork to use.
OP, thanks for your insights. I recently got the left Burster, and besides the usual dual-Burster loadout for pure AA, I've been playing around with a left Burster plus right (default) Falcon for situations where I also have enemy ground forces to deal with. May have to try dual-Falcons.
Sounds like a great setup when the majority of your fighting is done in the open and you are surrounded by a lot of allies. The only problem I have with dual falcons is when you are caught by yourself and you run into enemy infantry in close quarters-even a single one can get you while you reload. Tbh the best setup for general purpose is the default one; a single falcon is plenty good at scaring away armor and getting the occasional long-distance kill, while the scattergun is enough to keep the kills coming in close quarters.
i have had quite good success with running hacksaw and falcon... this gives me close range, and medium range, with the ability to damage armor and enemy maxes... it also insta gibs infantry if it hits direct.... actually had more kills with my falcon than hacksaw when i was camping a landing point on a jumppad at the bio lab a few weeks back...
Dual Falcon is actually a very effective loadout for AI & AV, and is moderately good at AA if you are very good with your aim. The firing arc takes a little getting used to, and finding the convergence point takes a lot of practice. But once you are at the point where it's innate you become a nigh unstoppable menace of exploding death. Keep in mind that as an AI loadout this is best at mid-long range.
This. Also, remember that a dual falcon MAX isn't there to 1v1 a prowler/magrider in a slug match. That's why we have Vanguards! The AV MAX should use the mobility of an infantryman to ambush enemy armor with side/rear shots. Yesterday, my outfit was fighting the TR at the impact site (forgot the name, the bigass crater on Indar) and I was guarding point B (the bridge) with my dual falcons. I hid and waited for prowlers to roll past me, then smacked them on the bum with my falcons while they were distracted by some vanguards. Ended up getting half a dozen prowler/sundy kills that way. Of course, then they sent a bunch of air to **** us all...
I agree - the Dual Falcon hate is a little overdone. With the right elevation and cover, you can be surprisingly effective at turning away or killing armor, and the ability to plink infantry is an added bonus. It's not a standoff platform - once you understand that, it's a load of fun. My only wish was some kind of upgrades - reload time, splash radius, bright pink explosions, something ...
Most of my hate on the Falcons is a result of not having a drop reticule on the HUD. It's an arcing weapon that doesn't have a crosshair conducive to being able to zero shots. It's an arcing grenade launcher, can we get an elevation reticule like the Bulldog and Fury get? It's not bad for close in AV or AI work where accuracy isn't absolutely necessary - 2 Falcons do a little more damage than 1 infantry rocket, reload quicker, and the MAX carries WAY more ammo than a Heavy. But it's terribly shoddy at range, where a lock-on launch or a well timed dumbfire rocket is much easier to hit with.
A lot of people claim the MAX AV weapons are bloody awful. All I can say is, slap them in the face, because they are wrong. The AV Max weapons are very effective. Not amazing though, it's not as good as their AA ability or AI abilities. However I have dual comets and I use them when I can. Don't listen to people who can't use them.
I just want to add my voice to the chorus that the Falcon may seem underwhelming at first...until you start rocking it out with two of them and using them in situations where they excel. If you're expecting to be fighting outdoors at ranges around medium or so and may possibly face vehicles in addition to infantry, this is really a good weapon of choice. Especially with two of them. Does the arc take some getting used to? Yes it does. But it's nothing that can't be dealt with after a bit of practice under your belt. The blast radius is small, but once your aim is good these things are devastating to infantry with near misses. A direct hit from both Falcons will insta-kill too. Hits to frontal armor on tanks may not seem like much but they fire decently quickly enough to make up for this. Rear armor hits are still very effective even with just one volley. Also unlike Heavy Assault rockets, enemies also can't really see the projectiles coming and thus can't dodge them as easily. Time and again I've seen side-slipping Magriders remain untouched by a swarm of rockets, only to go down in flames when a pair of Dual Falcon MAXes started working it over. And lastly, arrogant Liberators that are hovering at low altitude overhead get a VERY painful surprise if you slam a couple of these shells into them. Hitting moving aircraft is more an issue of timing and luck, but an immobile Liberator that thinks he's safe and farming away is an easy target.
I kinda second that. Though if you are a seasoned user and, like the man above^^, you wager shooting Liberators with it, you've probably gone past the stage of needing one. I've just ground my 1000 certs for a second Falcon and as I suspected... it's one dirty player. I racked up as many Magrider/Lightning kills in one life a as I do infantry on a good run (~5 K/D against Magriders!). Sadly, we didn't win the tower attack as even more Mags came, but that was just ONE dual falcon max. I imagine a big part of it's success is the fact that it doesn't leave a glaring fire trace from the shooter, like the launcher does. It makes it (coupled with the artfully useless reticle) really annoying to aim but on the other hand Mag drivers don't see a Falcon volley coming that well and don't strafe-dance around it... and then 'Plonk!, Plonk!' get double-hit from nowhere. You also have a trajectory advantage if they're behind a low hillock.
The MAX suit gets lots of press about it's weapons' pros and cons, but the suit itself finds skill difference through positioning more than anything. The Falcons are AMAZING anti-armor guns. Having shot at sunderers with anti-armor vanguard cannons and double falcons, I consider the falcons to actually out-dps the tank, but I have no numbers to back that up, just experience seeing red bars go left in a hurry. The trouble is the MAX is much easier to kill than the Vanguard obviously. If you know ahead of time where a sunderer is, grab your double falcons and take a round-about way to get there, ending up on a hill or cliff or even well below it if you can see up and hit it. Get some kind of angle on it. Then shoot it to bits before anyone realizes what's going on. People do this ALL THE TIME with the heavy assault class and it's rocket launchers that can't touch the damage of double falcons, but for some reason MAX suits always want to walk straight into the fray like Terminator and never get to shoot the Falcon much before they get wiped out either by infantry or by a tank they lose to in a straight fight.
Double falcons are also primo shooting out of spawn rooms. A lot of times tank drivers will get reckless and igve you line of sight, thinking the situation is controlled and they can just go repair if they take a rocket or two... but a lot of times people don't expect the anti-armor max weapons to do as much damage as they do, and the double falcon can just obliterate them before they realize how much damage it's doing. Did this to a prowler and two lightnings all in a row the other night.
I agree falcons can be effective. As a frequent infiltrator player I mostly enjoy sniping infantry with them. They are surprisingly accurate. I do think dual falcons is a bit of a stretch though. It's usefulness is even more limited than the AA Burster MAX. I'd prefer to keep a shotgun on at least one arm to make sure I'm not a guaranteed kill when enemy infantry get close. You can shoot a long way off without needing to arc at all. On top of that this isn't really a long range weapon and arguably you will be shooting down often, so that reduces the need for elevation reticule even more.
I guess it takes practice. I can hit armor at a decent distance and even lead targets and hit with a reasonable success rate. As stated, elevation is key and it's not difficult to find an area where you have height on your enemy in many cases. I love my Falcons and I've killed a lot of dopey Infiltrators with them.
Dual falcon has a terrible bug right now where ammo capacity goes down over time and you can't refill from engineer ammo packs. I was fighting at the crown yesterday and capacity went from 44/44 to 40/41 after just 5 minutes and was 13/15 after 30 minutes of fighting. You can reset capacity to 44/44 by resupplying at a terminal but it's a real bug.
I've one-shot infantry with Falcons though. If you're careful with your shots and don't get swarmed, I can see dual-Falcons not being bad against infantry. Scatter cannon is infinitely easier to use, but the Falcon's not bad against other footsloggers. I want it for ranges greater than 100m, which I have encountered a lot. Over flat from Ceres Hydroponics out to the dunes towards Galaxy Solar, I've been shelled by Lightings while not being able to hit back with any effective accuracy. Shooting down from a bio-lab rim onto incoming armor. Granted, after a few shots, you can get a feel for it, but it's not the same as ease of use of the elevation marker on a AT turret, Bulldog, or Fury. I'll admit, I haven't bought my second Falcon, and I don't have a ton of practice with it. I was mostly using it for backup AI work before I picked up my Hacksaw. I was considering it, just because I like to play a MAX, but I think I'll pick it up the next time I login - I figure it must be much easier to zero your shots if you can lob them out faster and get more chances to make adjustments.
