New ZOE - whats the deal ?

Discussion in 'MAX' started by Aeroloulou, Dec 18, 2013.

  1. Aeroloulou

    Tried the new ZOE at the test server, and could not find any positive effects at all. You need exactly the same number of shots to killl a soldier and blow up a tank with or without it. What am I missing here ? It must be more to it than a glowing effect and slightly higher walking speed ?
  2. Tenebrae Aeterna

    Slight boon to speed, trivial damage boost at close range.

    Get Charge.
  3. non7top

    Justdeal with it. Vanoob ZoeOverPowered maxes were dominating auraxis for more then 6 months. And this got fixed now. Also consider that fact that TR LockDeath is still much more worse then ZoeNotSoOp. But I agree that SOE(/ZOE ???) are bad at balancing. What they do is not balancing, but more like nerfhammering things to crap.
  4. Predatorv2

    It would be nice to get some "numbers".

    How high is the close damage bonus and is it actually working?
    What is the damage penalty (supposed to be lower on rank 4/5 than prepatch).
  5. BuzKild

    Did anyone read the changes? See the red below

    VS MAX Zealot Overdrive Engine
    • This ability has proven to be an all-around upgrade compared to the baseline MAX. It is receiving an overhaul to make it more of a situational ability compared to before. In addition, both the speed and damage increases are being reduced so that the ability better fits into the MAX vs. infantry balance.
      • The MAX’s movement speed increases by the below amounts when AOE is active
        • Forward walk speed increases by 50%
        • Strafe and back walk speeds increase by 43%
        • Sprint does not get a speed increase, though the MAX will reach top speed faster
      • The weapon damage increase is now the same across all cert levels
        • Only close range damage is increased
        • Far range damage and blast damage are no longer increased
      • The ability lasts for 15 seconds and it cannot be turned off after activation. This does not change when ranking the ability up
      • A reuse timer has been added. Each cert rank will reduce this timer
      • Each cert rank now reduces the damage taken
        • Rank 3 is equivalent to the previous amount of damage taken
        • Ranks 1 and 2 will take slightly more damage
        • Ranks 4 and 5 will take less damage compared to the previous amount of damage taken
      • All Zealot Overdrive Engine certs have been refunded
  6. Tenebrae Aeterna

    No, don't get me wrong...

    I'm not saying that the original incarnation of ZOE wasn't overpowered, but the only reason that it was worth a damn was the same reason that it was overpowered...the mobility. Within its new incarnation, it banks off the belief that you'll become a god in close quarters combat oriented situations through the use of that minute damage buff and the movement boost provided within the short duration of time.

    However, that damage debuff also takes effect at short range and you're glowing atop of it... MAX units are focus fired as is, let alone when they're glowing, take additional damage from all sources, AND in a close quarters situation where everyone can get a beat on you. It's a suicide suit, the minute damage boost and mobility aren't going to help you when you're taken apart as though you were wearing tissue paper.

    It's just not worth it. It's beyond situational right now, it's more of a handicap than anything else...the boon isn't worth the risk, making it a suicide suit. You're much better off taking Charge over the new variant of ZOE, because Charge is a sure fire escape...and you retain all your armor while running. With ZOE, you're not going to move as fast AND you'll take more damage...sure...you can attack back, but by wasting time you're likely to be taken down. For a MAX, which costs resources and time until you can pull again, a suicide suit isn't worth the it. Now, were they to implement some sort of suicide oriented infantry unit, that could be great for mechanics such as this...but not a MAX.

    I imagine you'll see most VS rolling with Charge.

    Those of us who used it before did just fine, ZOE was simply better because it was a watered down variant of Charge that could be maintained indefinitely. That's the only reason we used it, the mobility......................and that's no longer there. Now, Charge beats out the mobility of ZOE, and that ensures that it's far more lucrative than ZOE ever will be.

    I think that we're all aware of this...we just don't care. The damage boost provided wasn't anything we cared about BEFORE they weakened it...the only thing we cared about was the mobility provided by the ability. So, why would we chose this when the mobility isn't there anymore AND the damage we didn't care about was weakened atop of it and brought to the center of the ability?

    Just not worth it, it's a suicide suit.
    • Up x 1
  7. BuzKild

    Tenegrae, you're right, I use it for mobility to get into a fight quicker and retreat quicker. I would get irritated trying to run with it turned off. I developed a good habit of shutting it off when taking fire.
  8. Predatorv2

    Actually they nerfed the damage pretty hard. On rank 5 ZOE gave you enough dmg bonus to reduce your bullets to kill from 7 to 6. Now you still need 7 bullets even with ZOE maxed out and on 1 m distance. There might be a small insignificant improvement on damage range, but generally the damage bonus is pretty much useless now. How about instead of giving a useless damage boost, you could increase firerate by a small amount?

    We'd also like to have some NUMBERS on the "damage penalty/rank" .
  9. Aeroloulou

    Yes, I read the changes, but as Predatorv2 says, in VR you need 7 shots with ZOE and 7 shots without to nail someone, so I just wonder in what situations you will notice the gain. Same thing with Comet against tanks. I was standing very close, so distance should not be an issue. I never liked the original ZOE - except for moving around pretty fast - so Its no big deal for me personally, but right now I feel VS MAX only speciality is a pink glow.
  10. Akashar

    Best use to new ZOE? Don't use it.
  11. Badname0192


    ZOE is now useful for glowing and killing, it's just now those people who were easier to kill while they were MAX stat padding are finding out that having the ability turned off once in a while was actually the way to go.

    At least with ZOE I can still move around and use the ability to kill with where as Lockdown when I play TR if I ever even bother using the ability, will have me not moving and hoping someone stumbles into my line of fire long enough to die.

    Both abilities suck though, Charge is first and best ability.
  12. Alox

    The new ZOE is useful for letting the enemy know that you are currently in a mode where it pays of to focus fire you.
  13. Akashar

    ZOE was funny, but now people will understand that VS maxes were cool from the beginning, so for all Vanu here:
    [IMG]
    • Up x 1
  14. Xasapis

    The new ZOE is an awesome Christmas ornament. Just don't move it outside the warpgate.
    • Up x 1
  15. HighestDefinition

    new ZOE is fine. i actually recerted it after recert. i think that it is good as you can put it on just before u rush a room, charge in and rip stuff up. u dont actrually need it on 24/7
    also i like how they havnt messed up the speed too much
  16. BuzKild

    I started using 'Charge' last night, it's great for 1-on-1 with Heavy's, we do our dance, then I charge around an obstacle and smash their face in while they are looking the other way.
  17. gagle

    The MAX is now completely useless. Refund the entire class, pls.
  18. Myka

    What's the deal? It's useless.

    The timer doesn't display properly counting down, and doesn't count up at all.
    There is no 'close range' damage boost (tested @ 10 metres) on AI weapons with falloff (flat profile weapons like the blueshift don't get a boost iirc), so the tooltip is outright lying.
    Higher re-use timers at lower levels are incredibly punishing for low level users.
    The mobility 'boost', despite what the numbers say, is barely noticeable in practical use.

    VS faction traits are supposed to be agility and no bullet drop. We lost bullet drop on a weapon this patch, and we lost the mobility from ZOE. What the hell is the point of faction traits anymore? All three factions are becoming clones of the other with only the most minor differences.

    ZOE needed a nerf, sure. It did not need to be neutered into worthlessness. And just so the jobsworth mods can't moan at me for not being 'constructive', if it has TWO timers (one for use, one for re-use), it should at the very least retain the mobility it had before. SOE can keep the damage bonus for all I care.

    While we're at it, give us some damn NUMBERS on the damage boost - if it still exists at all.
  19. Togashi

    1- shotty isn't the first/only vs infantry weapon w/ drop and prolly won't be the last they introduce w/ drop.
    2- ZOE still more mobile than other 2 faction MAX's
    3- sorry if you though MAX god mode was a vs trait.
    • Up x 2
  20. Synister


    Or you could learn to use the class properly, instead of thinking "Oh, this is really OP, I'm going to spend all my certs on it. SOE will never nerf it"
    • Up x 2