[Vehicle] Prowler Nerfed Again...

I echo this sentiment as well here.

This is the sad reality of it.. PROWLERS where never suppose to take on a VANGUARD up close solo they where the shadow tank and if you get enough people together in one spot it can destroy everything from the hills and even a solo player could do this. I seen players now using the prowler for what it was which is a support MBT... It never was suppose to be balanced with other tanks in any regards because if it was it would be the OVERPOWERED TANK.

though I have still noticed people try to take on tanks in close range with AP which is a huge mistake..

i still think prowler would win, vulcan was buffed and is now an absolute monster, 2 clipping vanguards from the front in 16 seconds.
but regardless, the sniper tank with access to 375m/s AP rounds is now a huge threat in face to face confrontations with a unit whos one and only niche is to get face to face and win in those scenarios.
there isn't a range that prowler isn't alpha predator at anymore.
historically prowler was the undisputed king of long range, magrider's mobility made it well suited for mid range and vanguards facezerging made it good for CqC tank fights,
but now prowler will absolutely devour magriders with its monstrous dps and even be able to engage vanguards in cqc.
in the past all of the "i-win shield" s%%tposts were made by people who were attempting to facetank vanguards,
but now it is entirely possible for prowler.

I really don't know why people keep throwing the Vanguard vs Prowler 1v1 scenario while neglecting all other things. Yes the Vanguard is likely to win in a CQC, full ability full health 2v2 scenario. In most other situations the Vanguard underperforms relative to the Prowler. Besides, the times I had a "fair" 1v1 encounter are slim. Using stealth, surprise, terrain, numbers, ability management, superior positioning and more you can beat any tank, which often happens. Hell, one of the first few hours a friend and I played on VS with the Magrider, so a not fully kitted one, I managed to boost over something that 2 Vanguards thought unscalable, surprising them from behind and killing noth, even though they knew I was right behind the obstacle.

You try forcing perfect scenarios, while these are rare in my book. Might be the way I play, but I really don't think most people see such scenarios. Especially if you look at how often they just throw numbers around, which will become more a sum of DPS output vs defence capabilities. And then I think the prowler will still win more often with equal numbers.

The prowler now has less sustained DPS, but it can be used more flexibly together with more strategies.

It's because tankers gauge their worth by how they fair in one on ones and this happens more often than not in close.

The reason it's always Vanguard vs Prowler in most arguments is because the Magrider is terrible in this scenario and not worth the mention against either tank (save for the rare hail mary magboost flank).

Orr you could just try putting some time into NC

Oh, I have been, but I have 120 BR and 74 ASP ranks on my TR while my highest rank NC is something like BR23 I've sunk certs into the Vanguard but I'm missing so much versatility when I play NC, when I run out Nanites I don't have much else unlocked o play around with. Nor do I know many NC players who are reliable gunners.

Prowler wasn't much before the nerf but it could somehow compete with tanks.
But after the nerf is not worth calling it a tank.
Nowadays if I have to compete with an undamaged tank i ditch the prowler after 2 or 4 shots and just take another.
Prowler is basicaaly a sniper machine. Good foor killing troopers, harrassers and mosquitos.

Tanks in general suck in this game.... No real difference anymore.

Go to Arma 3 if you want the real stuff, with thermal optics where you can hit from 2 km away and kill infantry and they won’t know what hit them.

Lol you can do that here too.
Don't need thermal optics, just the prowler.
And the 2km.. well that would be the other end of the continent here, approximately

There's also another thing to consider with the new Barrage ability. Vanguard's shield is a self centered ability solely for 1v1, but Barrage works as effectively in team fights. When you pop the shield on, you're just going to do the opposite of drawing fire to yourself and you'll just make other Vanguards prime targets. Even if all Vanguards use the shield at the same time, large portion of the shields will go to waste.

If you consider the huge Vulcan and Gatekeeper buffs, and you look at these changes, and you still think they're a nerf; you're a bot person. The Prowler is now moderately worse at doing a highly niche thing and enormously more versatile instead. I know people on these forums aren't exactly known for having any idea of what they're talking about, but this is right up there with the "0.75 makes it harder to aim, and therefore the gun is worse" crowd.

started to play prowler at release and they nerved every single good point it had.
The speed thing is a very old and just a bad excuse, same with the mosquito.
yeah both vehicles are fast but not enough to escape from anything, specially since Vs tanks have afterburner

The afterburner is a very old and just bad excuse.
yeah it is fast, but not fast enough to escape from anything, especially as it has to turn the vulnerable backside to the enemy when it already has so little health that a single shot in the back will kill it.

Did a few runs with the Prowler today, one with a fresh Vulcan and the other with a fresh Halbert.

It's an absolutely heavenly vehicle now. Easy to control, easy to deal damage, easy to keep the pressure on enemies as you don't have to anchor. I'll have to retry the Vanguard with Mjolnir and the Magrider, but so far the upgrades for the Prowler are mightily good and 100% a definite upgrade to what it was. The only thing bad about the Prowler is the Gatekeeper now.

Still disagree, but hey, you think its a buff, its your choice. I still say its a downgrade, but oh well.

So basically the gatekeeper is like it has always been; the worst top gun option of the ones that a player might actually consider.

So you were one of the people who said the Gatekeeper was rubbish at launch?

I was doing tests with the prowler as well. It's true that long range has been nerfed with a lower DPS, but I still find the thing immensely powerful with the barrage ability and improved Vulcan. Here we are out of position, blindly flanking some Magriders and sunderers without support. By the time they had a good ficlx on us, 2 sunderers and a maggy were down. We didn't even sweat. Our DPS was so high we melted any one on one we did, including 1v1 Vanguards (the trick is not just trading shots, but moving about, making them miss and taking advantage from flanking).

We'll still need to test Magriders and Vanguards, but my opiniin is that the Prowler is now much more versatile and easy to control in many situations. The damage output is insane with so much ease.

I meant in comparison to its pre change version of the gatekeeper ( what it was last patch).

Look, at this point, ill just say this. I am really used to anchored mode, and its amazing damage buff, as well as practicing certain tricks and playstyle adjustments that allow for anchored modes lack of mobility to be almost completely nullified, and its always on tap nature ( as it is a quick activating toggle ability) to be exploited. Because I'm used to basically feeling like anchored mode didn't ever have much in the way of real problems, and because I have never given much care to mobility with any tank that's not a magrider, too me, this feels like a nerf. I realize this does not apply to everyone at this point, but to me, this is what it is.

Other part is that I don't like the way abilities seem to be shifting in terms of balance. I would prefer more pro/con toggleable abilities, and meter consumption based systems, rather then simple cooldown systems. So admittedly, that is also factoring into my frustration here. I do not like the idea of fights being determined by who has an ability ready and who doesn't, and I feel that with wrel having offhandedly mentioned the idea of an upcoming magrider rework on twitter, this may become a possibility.

That's all im gonna say at this point. As someone that is used to combating anchored modes downsides such that it can be used in nearly any situation, I struggle with the idea of taking a DPS penalty, and having it on a cooldown. I also struggle with the thought of what that might mean for the future of tank combat, with cooldowns potentially being the thing that determines a victor in a tank fight.

Seriously, to the other factions, the Prowler and TR harassers have been buffed.

Prowler basically had the lock-down ability split in half.
Now you can't double all the time, but you can increase fire rate while moving.
Now lock-down makes your rounds go faster. That is huge.
Cry about that?

Don't worry, the buffed both the Gate-Keeper and the Vulcan.
The Vulcan was already OP. Now it is insane = OP+ (tm).
Why use the Gate-keeper when you can use the OP+ (tm) Vulcan?

Dude, they handed you wins on a plate, and you are whining about it?

It was not just split in half, it was split in half and one side was severely weakened by the need to recharge it.
Overall it is a NERF.

Due to the mega DROP on the projectile, The prowler needs to fire a shot or two to get range first.
The Barrage ability, does not seem to reload as fast as the old lockdown did, and it only lasts for like 2 or 3 reloads.
By the time it recharges to use it again, either the prowler or its target will likely be dead already.

The result is you MIGHT get one, maybe two, extra shots in while using it... but most of them will likely miss because of prowler drop.

I still think that, regardless of the numbers in the code, the magrider and vanguard can actually fire faster then a prowler with or without its barrage activated..

I do not see barrage as even being worth its certs cost, I don't even bother to put it on my prowler, as other upgrades are far more valuable that one extra shot...