They won't nerf it anymore, Higby already said that MAX vs MAX balance is pretty much okay, they'll be only buffing the TR MAX slightly (MAX vs MAX K/D are 1.05 for VS/NC and 0.9 for TR), and in I agree with that, in MAX vs MAX TR is the worst right now, an AI TR MAX has no chance against an AI ZOE MAX. (I only hope they don't go overboard with the buff to the TR MAX, we know what the results will be if that happens)
I can tell you really haven't used it. If you had, you'd know you don't use ZOE for the damage increase. It's marginal at best. The real power in the skill is the movement boost. You say you have a good KDR because of being in the right place at the right time with the right weapons. The power of ZOE is to get you into that right place, quicker and more reliably. It does sacrifice the ability to escape quickly (charge is better for this, if you use ZOE to try and flee, you'll die) but you can use it to position yourself much better and get yourself into those high KDR positions quicker. It does make the Max easier to use... which is why more people are pulling them. Before ZOE, VS hardly pulled maxes.. now they are the flavor of the month.
Higby: "okay, just some minor ajustments Producer..." Producer:"On it sir " *click* *click* *taptaptap* *meanwhile on his PC* TR_MAX_CHAIN_RIGHT RPM 200 TR_MAX_CHAIN_RIGHT RPM Producer:"Hmm what fire rate now? OH!" TR_MAX_CHAIN_RIGHT RPM 90 Producer:"no, way too low." TR_MAX_CHAIN_RIGHT RPM 9000 Producer:"That's Better!" EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
NC maxes are fine, but I don't understand the designer team's obsession of having it fight effectively only within 50m. Makes them more into ambush units - while requiring lot's of support. Eh whatever.
50m is actually quite a sizable distance. It's the distance between one garage exit end and the other in a helipad base. The effective NC max killing distance is less than that (you can't easily kill a moving target at 50m even with the VS/TR max AI weapons. It's probably half or even less for an NC max.
I still prefer the Armor Accelerator, it gives me better staying power when under supported, which is often. I'll look into it, though.
Easy to make the claim about Higby's bias and no serious NC nerfs when you live in absolute ignorance. Only the Hacksaw got nerfed. Ah... no. All NC MAX shotguns were nerfed - twice.
Nanite auto repair on an NC MAX is great, but if you're hoping it'll let you ambush all it means is you're going to run out ammo first and fast. Getting shot isn't the reason NC MAXes need support so badly.
The speed was the real thing, the damage increase is pretty abysmal for a 30% armour decrease. and i'm not really sure what nc has to complain about, that shield is the most annoying thing since the invention of the hacksaw. That shield has no real downside and gives you just a huge defensive buff. The lockdown has its disadvantages so i'm okay witht that(less so with fractures, but thats a different topic). My real issue is that maxes in general are not worth the cost. its worth more to grab 3 c4 than it is to get yourself a max. After all, you can take down groups, maxes and vehicles with c4. Not with a max anymore.
Sure the NC max's Aegis is defensive ... but have you actually tried to walking around with the shield on in a Biolab .. in the dark There's just a peek hole as big as a lunch box in the middle of the shield .. and theres some stripes in the rest of the shield thats impossible to see through !! you can actually go out from a door 10m ahead of me .. and I think its safe ... drops the shield because I've seen someone in the distance I wanna shoot at ... booom youre shooting a deci at my face .. because I didnt see you before I dropped the shield
Nothing in this game can compare in terms of OPness with the ZOE. Maybe The Harasser. Just Maybe...(The Striker you say? Nah...)
Not being able to attack and having your movement restricted to walking is a very big disadvantage. It's not a bad ability, but I think you should try it out in action. I'm sure your assessment would be somewhat more refined
The biggest issue with ZOE, and the reason it will always continue to draw the hatred of everyone else is that it's the only ability that doesn't have the 100% debuffs the other two have. With ZOE you take a small penalty to get bonuses similar to what the other two maxes must either lose 100% ability to fire or 100% ability to move to get in return. I've outlined it before but I don't feel like it at the moment. So, either SOE needs to balance the other two abilities (Let's hear it for Aegis shields with only a 35% firing rate penalty and "lockdown" that only incurs a 35% movement penalty! Can you already imagine the QQ from the Vanu?) Or ZOE needs to get nerfed. It's going to be brought up again and again until that happens. I imagine the only reason it hasn't already is SOE is worried about how fixing ZOE will affect their revenue stream since ZOE is the most popular Vanu class right now. I know I never get out of it when playing my Vanu alt.
The penalties are higher because the benefits are higher as well, Aegis gives you invulnerability if used properly, and lets you recharge while being protected, the DPS bonuses of lockdown are also much higher than those of ZOE. And at the end of the day, even if ZOE is better than the other MAXes skills (which I agree when talking about using it individually, not so much when used as a team), it's the only thing we have that would be clearly better (and not so much in the MAX vs MAX fights anyway), nerf ZOE? Okay, nerf Fractures, Vulcan-H, Marauder-H, etc, etc and we have a deal.
The vs max using zoe can be abit over the top at times , it doesn't matter what your using .. In my case , heavy assault with nanoweave 5 and resist shield 5 I still get instantly killed .
Anchoring and the aegis shield seems to be worse than ZOE but with ZOE you get a low health max with tiny tiny increase of damage output. If you use these things properly they are better than ZOE. ZOE makes 2 things better but its like the comparision of HEAT, HE and AP. ZOE and HEAT doesnt do its job as well as HE or AP unlike the anchoring which extremly increases damage output and shield extremly increases health. Maybe they should remove the damage buff and only increase speed, jumpheight and decrease damage recived by each certification.
You are the 1st player I know who feels like that. It's good to see however that some like it that much.