NEW ES VEHICLE WEAPONS!! They are here.

The damage on the Gatekeeper feels a little low at range compared to Saron or Enforcer. I'm grateful that the accuracy seems to have remained high priority. It definitely needs a couple more damage points per round. I like the 167 that Stormsinger and a few others have mentioned. Given that it is a rocket launcher though, I don't think it should have a damage falloff... it just doesn't make sense. A rocket that explodes does just as much damage if it explodes 10 feet from the launcher or 500 feet from the launcher.

I like the Mjolnir and Aphelion. I'm still trying to figure out though why the VS version seems to do more damage than the NC version, but has no accuracy bloom or drop. You all should remember that the Vulcan has no bloom, but it does have slow projectiles and bullet drop.

Edit: I know that according to faction traits NC should hit the hardest and VS should be the most accurate - all these things considered, the DPS of the Gatekeeper is a little low.

The TR one does feel a little underwhelming. That's comparing it to the Enforcer. It needs to have pinpoint accuracy or it will fail at its role (meaning the Halberd will continue to be the main AV option for Prowlers).

As for the new NC and VS ones. They seem a bit too effective at range when compared to the Vulcan. Though they do seem to have less dps to make up for this fact but again, it kinda defeats the purpose of what people wanted. Either they will continue to get shredded by Vulcans or the dps difference isn't enough and the Vulcan will get outgunned from them at range.

Overall the NC one actually looks to be the more powerful one.

Agreed I dont have any issues with the weapons so far they all look fine but how a weapon seems and how it actually preforms are never the same thing. Just looking at the weapons the TR one doesnt look like itl be as effective as the Enforcer/Saron and the other 2 might not be as effective as the Vulcan but i dont think any of the weapons will take the top performance spot for harasser weapons from the Enforcer.

Indeed, although while the Enforcer is indeed doing the best in terms of VKPH (slightly), both the Vulcan and the Marauder occupy the #1 and #2 spots, at the moment - TR reigns supreme overall for harassers.

Yeah its one of the few areas where our weapons function well and you can pull a harasser from every base which is usually a more effective and cheaper option than pulling fractures? i mean you can really tell by the sheer volume of Harassers we pull.
The thing that actually suprises me is how much better the weapon feels the first time i used the weapon i actually didnt like it and didnt do to well with it but when they changed its reload mechanic i had the option to strategically reload while fighting say im in a fight against a tank and we lose sight for a second or 2 i can start reloading but fire as soon as i see my target again instead of having to sit through a full reload which gives a nice skill ceiling boost and makes the weapon more fun to use and slightly more effective because of it.

Woo. Starfire, Sparrow, and, er... I guess Flak Cannon is already taken. Yeah, they're MAX weapons, but why not have MBT variants?

Here is some simple TTK data gathering I did on PST. It is only TTK so is not an accurate account of how the weapon will perform when used. But it gives you a base idea.

NC AV Weapon: 4 rounds per shot, 40 round clip.
TTK on max at 10m range : 4.21 secs (4 bursts/shots)
TTK on Vanguard, Rear armor, 10m range: 6.76 seconds (28 rounds, 7 bursts/shots)
TTK Harasser, Rear armor, 10m range: 4.56 seconds (12 rounds, 4 bursts/shots)
TTK on Infantry, 10m range: 1.78 seconds vs unshielded heavy (8 rounds, 2 shots/bursts)

VS Close Range AV weapon: 50 round magazine, full auto
TTK on max, 10m range: 3.4 seconds ( approximately 14 rounds/shots)
TTK on vanguard, rear armor, 10m range: 6.2 seconds (approximately 35 rounds/shots)
TTK on Harasser, rear armor, 10m range: 5.09 seconds (approximately 30 rounds/shots)
TTK on Infantry, 10m range: 1.5 seconds (approximately 6 rounds/shots)

TR Vulcan AV Weapon: 1 round per shot, 90 round magazine, full auto
TTK on Max, 10m Range: 3.6 seconds ( Approximately 40 rounds/shots)
TTK on Vanguard, Rear Armor, 10m range: 5.76 seconds (approximately 75 rounds/shots)
TTK on Harasser, Rear Armor, 10m range: 4.6 seconds ( approximately 50 rounds/shots)
TTK on Infantry, 10m range: 1.5 seconds (approximately 7 shots, much more at full auto though, roughly 20, due to cof)

Now, the ES "long range" options.

VS Saron-H: 6 round clip.
TTK on Max, 10m range: 4.83 seconds (7 shots)
TTK on Vanguard, Rear Armor, 10m range: 20.29 seconds (18 shots)
TTK on Harasser, Rear Armor, 10m range: 5.7 seconds (10 Shots)
TTK on Infantry, 10m range: 1.15 seconds (3 shots)


NC Enforcer-H: 8 round Magazine
TTK on Max, 10m range: 4.2 seconds (4 Shots)
TTK on Vanguard, Rear Armor, 10m Range: 9.38 seconds (9 shots)
TTK on Harasser, Rear Armor, 10m range: 5.46 seconds (6 shots)
TTK on Infantry, 10m range: 1.6 seconds (2 shots)

TR AV Weapon ; 1 round per shot, 20 round clip
TTK on Max at 10m range: 6.6 seconds (17 rounds/shots)
TTK on Vanguard, Rear Armor, 10m Range: 11.4 seconds (25 rounds/shots)
TTK on Harasser, Rear Armor, 10m range: 6.5 seconds (17 rounds/shots)
TTK on Infantry. 10m range 3.3 seconds (7 rounds/shots)

The only thing I'd like to see changed is remove damage drop off from the tr one. It's a rocket, the explosion is the same size regardless of how far it travels.... And maybe up the damage and lower the fire rate a bit? 17 hits on a max seems a lot.

ALL TESTING WAS DONE ON PTS SERVER IN VR ZONE WITH/AGAINST STOCK AND UNMANNED TARGETS AND WITH 100% ACCURACY

Thanks for collecting the pile 'o data, much appreciated. As far as the TR weapon goes - I see no issue with applying damage dropoff for gameplay reasons (The Saron has oooodles of damage dropoff) For the Gatekeeper, my guess is that the spent fuel detracts from the explosive force at longer range --- I agree on giving it less drop overall. Assuming reduced damage, it should really be able to plink away at things in the distance a bit more easily, as the Saron can, even if all it's good for is a potential assist / area denial tactic. As it stands, it's damage feels slightly low - Moving it from 150 damage to 167 feels like an appropriate buff. That, paired with slightly less drop might be a good plan for this item.

The new NC weapon feels similar to the prenerf Proton II PPA that had the community frothing, I foresee problems with half a single firing cycle being able to down an infantry. Even if half the shots connect, thats a kill at ideal range. I adore it's AV potential though, it's a Sunderer obliterator, but due to it's resistance class, it's not quite as good against MBTs. As it stands, however, it sends NC AI / AV potential through the roof - the Canister is in a fairly good state right now, but I wouldn't be surprised if this surpasses it for AI work at mid to long range, and it's TTK vs sunderers is 8.77 seconds (as described here, not my testing https://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/3ihbxj/comparison_of_harasser_esav_weapons/ ) As far as Infantry is concerned, I believe we may need to wait and see how it performs on live before judging it one way or another - it may not be nearly as effective vs moving targets as it is just dinking around in the VR.

As far as the VS weapon goes - I'm happy with it as is, although i'd like to see perhaps 1-2 more reloads worth of stock maximum ammo, and potentially up to ~50 more RPM once fully spun up, and perhaps .25s faster reload speed. I really want the info on the resist type that the chargeup mechanic shot is on, and how much damage it actually does, whether or not there are multi charge levels that the firing cycle isn't indicating, etc. The base weapon as it currently exists, however, is quite good without feeling overpowered. Like the NC weapon, this is something I think we'll need to see performance on live servers before being able to say one way or another, and the charge-shot mechanic actually appears to be lowering TTK when facing tanks / sunderers, compared to firing in full-auto mode, and only releasing the charge shot once you're ready to reload.

i just checked on pts, the Gatekeeper does a flat 150 damage per direct hit, no drop off according to its stats, which is as it should be. the saron fires a projectile, given an initial velocity the moment it is fired from the barrel, that velocity can do nothing but decrease as it travels over distance.

The Gatekeeper fires a rocket, that is self propelled and maintains its own velocity over distance, this, combined with the explosive payload it carries is reason to have no damage drop off over range.

For reference,


I never said that it did have damage dropoff, I said that I had no problems with applying damage dropoff in exchange for higher damage up close. As an example, the current version does 150 damage and maintains it out to a minimum of 100 meters. If you were to say, increase damage to 200 at 40 meters and below, then reduce it sharply back down to 150 damage at 50 meters - the only thing that's occured is a close-quarters buff.

As for rockets maintaining damage at range - a real rocket will require fuel to fly, this fuel is flammable, and very likely explosive. The properties of the warhead will not change. If a rocket starts off with 1000 liters of fuel, if it detonates after spending 200 liters, the explosive force will be somewhat greater then if it detonates after flying further, having spending 900 liters. That said, it has no bearing on a gameplay mechanic designed around a balance goal.

The Saron has no damage drop off. Each round will do the same damage from 10m to 1000m. It's DPS at range is hurt by the cone of fire if you don't let it settle, but each round will always do the same damage no matter the range.

fractures are terrible, i would never use these for my tank

Yep! I'm intimately familiar with the CoF bloom mechanic.

As for the damage dropoff
Interesting, I haven't tested this in about two years, after doing a few tests in the VR out to 320 meters, you appear to be correct (17 shots for a sunderer front armor at 1 meter and 320 meters) - I suppose i've been using it for so long that i haven't bothered to check on the actual numbers even though i've been collecting them for everything else.


Thanks for the correction

I don't really want to be "that guy," but the NC Mjolinr, according to these stats, is worse than the alternatives at almost everything, when against static targets.

Against moving targets and/or while moving itself, it is/will/would be undoubtedly worse due to its less forgiving, inaccurate slow rate of fire bursts and large cone of fire, over an easy to use automatic AV heavy machine gun.

The Mjolinr has the shortest effective range of all the ES AV weapons, due to its inaccurate bursts and projectile drop. Even when compared to the Aphelion's and --to a lesser extent-- the Vulcan's cone of fire, its DPS is much too low to compete.

The Mjolinr is worse in almost everyway when compared to the NC's "long range" Enforcer.

The only area that the Mjolinr really stands out in is with the highest realistic AI potential. A factor that is likely subject to nerfing.