People saying NC have the "best" infantry - are they insane?

Gauss SAW becomes annoying to use at CQC very quickly. You get sick of having to go for headshots while your enemy can rely on RoF to mow you down with leg and body shots. Trust me, the thing is a breath of fresh air compared to TR and VS LMGs due to its damage and CoF, but its disadvantages are there.

It just boggles my mind that when the NC were underpowered for months and months, even TR and VS admitted that they would rather fight NC than each other because NC were easier certs. Right when the flinch mechanic gets fixed, though? Oh lordy Jesus, please! Them devil-horned NC are tapping into satanic powers from beyond the realm!

Why?

The other side are always OP, until you play as them for any length of time.

I feel comfortable atm, I die a lot but I also kill a lot. I still tend to lose CQC battles more especially against TR. I suppose that's because they shine at that range with focus on rapid fire weapons and extra ammo in the magazine.

I think the main problem, and I want to address this as objectively as possible, is the faction bonuses themselves.
People need something more tangible. If each faction had their noticeable bonus, that had a chance, even if it was heavily dependent on skill, to effect all ranges.... there would be less complaining about other factions as a whole.

For instance, you have to admit, 200 damage weapons is VERY tangible/noticeable. You may say "Well we gotz teh recoilz" but you are only fooling yourself if you think pulling down on the mouse a bit is hard. Vertical recoil is the EASIEST type to control and it can be adapted to.
Sure the TR have the RoF, and mag advantage, which is tangible, but the RoF difference between the top RoF TR weapons and the top RoF NC/VS weapons doesn't make it look tangible at all. This could be simply fixed by reducing the RoF of the TOP RoF weapons of NC/VS so they do not outshine or even come too close to them in that department.
As for VS, they get the least tangible benefit. This game was designed around an objective playstyle, capping bases, there is no denying that. Capping bases, and the fights that contribute to such, all take place in ranges where none of the 3 empires have bullet drop, and if they do it is extremely minimal. My suggestion here would be to give VS weapons bullet drop, make bullet drop equal across ALL factions, and make damage dropoff (degradation) equal across ALL factions. Then instead of *no bullet drop* give the VS *Highest round velocity* as their faction bonus, Increasing the round velocity on their weapons some, and reducing it on TR/NC weapons some. This way they will have a tangible and noticeable benefit at all ranges, without throwing off balance.

Not tangible, huh?

It isn't. Flawed graph is flawed.
DPS = / = RoF
DPS is far more then that. That graph is also only showing on paper stats. Noone in the game with the IQ required to dress yourself, would take the T9 carv over the Gauss saw at 65m, hell I wouldn't even take the T9 over a Gauss at most ranges. The TMG 50 performs better IN PRACTIVE, but would still take Gauss over it in almost all situations.

heck I wouldn't even care if the TOP RoF TR weapons were at 1000rpm, as long as their CoF bloom was nerfed to make up for it

So are you seriously going to sit there and tell me that the SAW out DPSes the CARV at normal combat ranges? Really?

Really?

Yes REALLY
Are you really going to sit there and tell me holding down the fire button on the Carv is going to magically generate zero CoF and all rounds are going to fire straight and dead on target?
Maybe if you tried playing an NC in Planetside2.exe instead of forumside2.exe youd see in game effectiveness differs from *on paper* effectiveness in a lot of situations. This being one of them

lol okay, champ.

The SAW generates more COF per shot than anything else. Up to around 35m, where the horizontal recoil of the Carv is less noticeable, it should outperform the SAW in general usage. Beyond that, a certed SAW can steadily put bursts into the enemy and begins to outshine the other weapons. (Though IMO the 167 tier weapons with 577 or 600 rpm are more practical for tracking moving targets at this range, as long as it isn't too far, but that's just my impression of using them)

Why do people even talk about the Gauss SAW? In select fire, trying to snipe, two hit markers in the head, three in the body, then they turn and OHK you with their rifle. It was my HA, so only flak armor, but still..

Do you know what soft point ammo actually does? Your post implies that perhaps you do not.

Your argument doesn't make sense. How is getting maximum performance out of your tools right off the bat not easy mode? It means your learning curve is flat, that's the definition of easy.
Just like all the VS whine about first-short recoil. If your first-short recoil is high, but your sustained recoil is low, what does that mean your weapon is best at? If you guessed spray-and-pray, you're right.
NC need to learn how to use their weapons you say, but they are rewarded for doing so. If you like that, then please do create a NC toon and start learning. Don't forget to relearn everything at 20 fps, like most people have to. If you don't want to do that, please do explain why. I think you said our guns are much better and more rewarding, so there must be something else that's holding you back.
If you'll excuse me now, I'll just go snipe people with my SAW. You see, because it's absolutely accurate, I can use my superior skill-powers to line up every single shot on a moving target and that makes me super-effective.

Because it is the most difficult to master and it makes the best pilots.

I just bought a TMG-50 for my HA because I was jealous of the NC weapons. Slap a foregrip and a compensator on there with some high velocity ammo and I have something that is a lot more deadly than my CARV. Finally, I can hit people at range and I can do some proper damage.