You cannot keep giving a faction weapons that the other factions have no answer or equivalent to. Camera guided rockets should never have been introduced into the game and especially not if only one faction was going to have access to them. Instant gib shotguns should've been on all MAXes or none. The SAW being the only LMG with pinpoint accuracy and 200 damage/shot. Where are the other factions genuinely different and superior weapons? They don't exist. My server (Helios) is overrun by NC, outdoors is a Pheonix and SAW playground while indoors it's a nightmare of NC MAXes around the corners. This update what do they do? Give NC MAXes another overpowered weapon, nerf TR's carbines, give VS another "it doesn't do much damage but it's accurate!" weapon. How do you put an accuracy value on a GUIDED missile, you'd think it'd have to deal less damage to be balanced right? Now, with the Carbine nerfs the one area TR really excelled in is gone. I played TR mainly to use the Jaguar and while it and the Lynx might've been the best Carbines they weren't that far ahead. VS has better carbines now, and the Mercenary might be the new king of mid range carbines now that the Jaguar is a nerfed Carv-lite. Last update they nerfed TR's best MAX weapon too. The Prowler is a good tank at least, especially for infantry farming, and the TAR might be one of the best medic weapons. But in more areas than not VS is superior, and even more so NC.
TR got a pretty subtantial buff to the SABR AR this time around, so TR now has some pretty effective ranged prowess that I think is the TR equivalent of the NC 200dmg guns. Try it out, you can burst away and the thing has basically no recoil. I haven't tried some of the other TR ranged guns, but I will soon. Seems like a good patch. The carbine nerf was not really a nerf, you just don't understand how to use a carbine is all if you think it's a nerf.
You can actually give a faction equipment that the other factions can't use. See Starcraft for an example.
Yes, when the other factions have something unique and equally powerful. This isn't currently the case.
I don't agree that empires shouldn't have their own faction specific "super weapons" for lack of a better term. The NC having the Phoenix or Shotgun MAX units is fine. What needs to happen though is all factions need equivalent super weapons in various areas... not the same areas otherwisw they're just carbon copies of each other. For the NC MAX to dominate CQC is fine because that can be an NC MAX strength. What needs to happen though is to make sure that all empires have specific strengths in areas the other 2 don't match them in. Maybe VS infiltrators have a perfect cloak for example... They are supposed to be technologically advanced. I don't see why all factions have to have all the same strengths and weaknesses to each other.
So how come the Zerg don't have a Battlecruiser equivalent starship? Oh right cause big powerful units isn't their bag. How come Zealots get shields when no other starting unit does? DEV FAVORITISM AT ITS FINEST! BOYCOTT THIS GAME! ALL BLIZZARD EMPLOYEES PLAY PROTOSS!
What is asymmetrical balance? What is Planetside? Don't play this game if you want Battlefield style gameplay where each faction is a carbon copy of the other. I know the game kind of started out that way but that was not the original intent and they keep moving the factions apart through new weaponry. That is a good thing. You want your faction to have different strengths and weaknesses. Three identical factions would be boring.
Your vanu tears are delicious. ALL THE TEARS IN THESE POSTS ARE DELICIOUS! I'd take your hitscan sniper rifle explosive dubstep cannon any day.
The entire ethos of the balance in the game is asyemtric. For a basic model see, rock paper sissors. And its not like TR and VS were left out in the cold this go-around. So chill brethern.
Yup, people are freaking out over the raw numbers, but once you put the foregrip on the horizontal recoil should be even less than what it was before. The truth is that the Lynx and Jaguar were never really that good. They have awesome hip fire accuracy, but they lose to the other faction carbines in raw stopping power.
There are more important things to complain about rather crying that this faction has this and we don't have that. VS forget that they do not have Zoe for their fuken vortex so grab a tissue and put it over you're eyes until the patch comes.
The same can be applied to the Magrider as it once was. The problem was never with the Mag itself, it was that while the other factions got generic tanks, VS got a floating tank that did generic tank-stuff almost as well while still being a spooky floating and strafing vehicle. If, at launch, the Vanguard were a nigh-indestructible behemoth, and the Prowler were a speedy little box that carried overwhelming firepower, I don't think the Mag nerfs would have been necessary.
Going to have to quote myself for emphasis here. Answer meaning some equally powerful and unique. The Striker for example is basically an annihilator with better damage and worse tracking. The Lancer is a dumb fire with better projectile speed and drop. There's nothing remotely comparable to the Pheonix. Same goes for AI MAX weapons, shotguns on a MAX are unique(and also overpowered/cheesy) while TR/VS have watered down LMGs that are very similar to eachother. Same goes for the SAW. TR and VS infantry weapons are in most cases relatively similar, while NC gets superior variation with a weapon that's unmatched for a particular role.
