[Vehicle] PPA and Saron OVER-NERFED

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by SwegJuce, Jan 1, 2015.

  1. SwegJuce

    PPA - PPA has been nerfed over and over again and it's effective range has been extremely reduced. The COF spread is awful. From mid-long ranged killer to a very close range weapon (around 30m). This nerf I believe reduced the effectiveness of the weapon by over 100%. The nerfs has been too much, it is now worse than it's counterparts. It must be buffed a bit.

    Saron - Let's face it, the Magrider already has some very noticeable disadvantages when facing both enemy armour, and infantry. The lack of turret, drift on the gun when aiming, and if you get bumped you lose target and it's really difficult to reacquire target unless the vehicle that bumped you moves away. What's supposed to help the Magrider with these problems is the secondary weapon with a full 360 traverse. The Saron however, is difficult to kill infantries with because of the super small splash and the damage nerf it received, it also seems to do very little against vehicles, especially when compared to it's counterparts... IT SUCKS.
    • Up x 1
  2. FrozenCustard

    - If the COF is so bad when going full auto, then don't and instead burst it, although the max COF does need to be reduced so that going full auto is plausible in CQC
    - Please show the math for how you came to the conclusion that the effectiveness was reduced by 100% and you weren't just lying
    - Right now it is worse than the counterparts and I would be okay with a buff
    - Yes, and the Magrider also has some noticeable advantages when facing both armor and infantry, let's not forget about that
    - Getting bumped while in a prowler also throws off your aim
    - AV is supposed to kill vehicles and AI is supposed to kill infantry, deal with it
    - Let's please not forget that "seems to" doesn't equate to "does" and that the Saron isn't all that far off from the Vulcan at close/med range
    • Up x 5
  3. SwegJuce


    -I do burst, but it still has too much bloom
    -People used to be able to farm with the PPA at ranges of 200-300m even. That was OP, but now you can't even be effective at over 30m unless enemy is barely moving or has virtually no cover.
    -Getting bumped in Magrider is really bad, because it has no turret so you have to turn the whole thing. Also having a traversable turret and hull means doubled the traverse speed than just with a hull.
    -Watch some videos on Saron VS Vulcan, and use the Saron yourself. You'll notice Saron doesn't compare against its counterparts in both anti-infantry and anti-armour.
  4. Spacelife


    We could all be making good constructive points and it most likely wouldn't change your mind anyway. Fact of the matter is that you need to l2p
    • Up x 2
  5. Rayden78

    Did you try to hit?

    As far as there havent been some patch during the holidays ... i love the Saron, my Gunners love the Saron, everyone loves the Saron.
    • Up x 7
  6. Prudentia

    the problem with going full auto with the PPA is the abhorent bloom. the problem with bursting is the atrocious reset value, it just takes way to long for the CoF to reset to make bursting viable.
    • Up x 2
  7. Towie

    PPA is pretty awful I agree but the Saron is quite good.

    Sure the Halberd has the edge in plenty of circumstances BUT the Saron has some serious advantages -

    1. Accuracy over distance when single-shot (no bullet drop)
    2. Relatively easy to use, even for a newcomer
    3. Looks good - tempts random gunners in frequently, and they can actually be of use as it is easier to use than most
    4. Good damage when spraying a nearby vehicle
    5. It can still kill infantry (OK - so not as effective since the most recent nerf)

    An FPC/Saron Magrider can be a lethal opponent to other vehicles when used sensibly (don't brawl with another MBT unless you have to).

    I was a gunner on a Saron Harasser recently and we wreaked havoc.

    Anyway, this is just my personal experience; no weapon overcomes the Magriders weaknesses so you always need to be careful with the fights you choose...
    • Up x 1
  8. Alarox

    [IMG]
    • Up x 7
  9. TriumphantJelly

    The Saron is nice. Don't dispute this.

    The PPA? Higby swung the nerf hammer so hard that the PPA was shattered. It's SO FREAKING BAD!!!!
    • Up x 3
  10. Xasapis

    I actually prefer the Halberd. It synergises by far better with a Magrider hit and hide tactics, plus it's a long range weapon. Saron is ok, but only for close quarters engagements.
  11. Xasapis

    Yea, Magriders still have a lot of gunners, it's the unfortunate reality of the low damage main cannon making the secondary the real primary of the Magrider.

    Now look at the VS Halberd stats and compare them to the Saron and you'll understand what is the better choice for a secondary.
  12. Schwak

    Infantry farming vehicle weapons were a mistake and high damage AV and AA for infantry was a mistake. That is my take on weapon balance. Saron is an extremely good weapon for what the Magrider is good at, flanking. If you've never run a stealth/racer flanking mag you don't even know how to use your vehicle. Front line tanking is for the BR20's that want to farm infantry, real tanking is for giving it to people right where they want it, from behind. :cool:

    The only thing that needs changing to bring all 3 ES ground AI weapons in line with each other is for the PPA to have about half the bloom per shot that it currently has.

    And just for the record, you provided nothing but the obvious info about the PPA and your Saron view is way off. The only reason to ever use a Halberd over a Saron on the Magrider is because the peak DPS is higher so strafing in and out of cover is more effective, especially against locked down prowlers.
    • Up x 1
  13. Juunro

    An anti-infantry point defense gun is only really effective at being an anti-infantry point defense gun? The horror. Come use a Canister for a while. Please.

    And you are surprised by this exactly how? Every single thing that has put in this game that was so good as to cause 4th Factioners to swarm to whatever faction has it has been nerfed into near uselessness. It happened to your ZOE. It happened to Mossies AI gun for TR and the Marauder AND the Harasser Chaingun. It happened to Hacksaw on NC.

    The really interesting thing is that it only seems to hit the VS when it gets so ridiculous that serious numbers of people start quitting. Though that could well be confirmation bias on my part.
    • Up x 1
  14. Rayden78

    I was exaggerating a bit ;)

    But Saron is great against harassers if your gunner can hit.
    • Up x 2
  15. Schwak

    ZOE was just broken. It had nothing to do with 4th factioners. It was literally just a strafe warping solo death machine. I'd rather not think about it. You're triggering me. I'm gunna report you. Reported.
    • Up x 1
  16. Xasapis

    It is confirmation bias. PPA was nerfed and population trends did not change.

    The main thing about VS it seems that the few good things that they have are overused. PPA users were six time higher than any other faction equivalents. ZOE when introduced doubled the amount of MAXes pulled for the VS. Orion is practically the only LMG used and so on.
    • Up x 1
  17. eldarfalcongravtank

    the Saron is fine. i tend to use it exclusively on my Magrider and randoms as well as pros do very well with it. also, when i man a Saron myself i find it really awesome to have pinpoint accuracy as well as high damage output when magdumping at closerange

    the PPA is another story. this gun became a bad Marauder-clone with a recent patch. it COMPLETELY lost its empire-specific Vanu trait of no-bulletdrop pinpoint-accurate sustained-fire suppression tool. instead of just severely lowering the damage/splash of this gun, they introduced a terrible CoF bloom and cut the magazine size to unreasonable levels. that way, it has become pretty useless and does nothing better than a Harasser's Fury. i may not use the PPA much but this is no VS weapon any more in my eyes. it's time they buff it a little bit even though i agree the old version was pretty much overpowered
    • Up x 2
  18. Juunro

    The Saron IS fine.

    The PPA is in a bad place; the only way to reasonably buff it is to remove the Magriders and Harassers ability to get into elevated, otherwise vehicle inaccessable places in order to bombard spawn rooms and the like. The ability for 1-2 Magriders to launch themselves up into weird places and absolutely carpet a spawn room with unavoidable death was the problem. If that weapon had been placed on a vehicle that couldn't bypass every single spawn room and base defense, it wouldn't have even slightly been a problem or needed a nerf.
    • Up x 1
  19. NinjaTurtle

    Learn to use the mag to it's strengths.

    A Magrider does not out tank a Vanguard. What a Mag can do however is use it's agility, burner and hill climbing abilities to approach from angles no other tank can. By the time the target has any idea what is going on they are dead. A mag is extremely dangerous in terrain with hills and cover and it's strengths are in it's stealth approach.

    There are some very good Mag crews on Emerald that seem to do pretty damn well.

    As an NC I would swap the Vanguard for the Mag any day. Seriously, there were 3 things I made an VS character for. The Orion, the Scythe and the Magrider

    The PPA may have been nerfed to hard. Then again I have seen people still trying to spam it from a hill 200 meters away so they aren't exactly adapting to it.

    The Saron is fine
    • Up x 1
  20. Problem Officer

    Compared to the Vulcan and Marauder they're not that nice.
    People are expecting buffs to these however, instead of nerfs to others or buffs to the low scoring gunner mounts?