Questioning the role of the Prowler after the Vangard Nimitz upgrade

Discussion in 'Test Server: Discussion' started by Kasa, Mar 20, 2023.

  1. Kasa

    What is the place of the Prowler in the armour?

    Initially its strength was its accurate and rapid fire and its good rate of fire on deployment.

    What is left?

    Accuracy is largely competed by :
    - The NSO Larrion PPC, straight shot without Anchor, effective against aerials.
    - The Vanu's Perihelion VXC, straight shot without Anchor, with a load that can be held indefinitely for a decisive advantage from the first tank engagement.

    The "Barrage" utility has become only an option since its separation from the "Anchored Mode" ability and its use is largely competed by the more efficient and versatile "Fire Suppression System" preferred by the experienced.

    The addition of the "Rampart Projector" to the defense slot, initially designed to accompany infantry, is in fact unusable. An immobile tank at less than 20m from an infantry fight is C-4 within 20 seconds.
    The 20% of armour of face is insufficient, without counting that no protections against the C-4 can be equipped.
    Use it against tanks? The 20% does not give any advantage and every shot received damages the vehicle. Mobility is much more effective at dodging shells. This does not make it an interesting option.
    In reality, most tank combat is done at medium or short range in the Duel phase (as is the case in Cobalt) with a lot of mobility. There is no point in engaging in long range combat when the enemy only has to hide, repair and with information about your position.
    The low advantages do not encourage the use of "Anchored Mode".

    The recent 'P4-120 Kingsnake' is a fun but strange addition. Its logic is to use it at short range. Its damage is only slightly better than the "P2-120 AP" if you don't miss any. Its accuracy and inability to fire shot by shot makes it actually less good than the "P2-120 AP" against an extremely mobile individual, and against insane armour it is absolutely inadequate. The time to kill is identical to the AP. It is in its state, that a beautiful toy for the amateurs of noises (go Brrrrrrr).

    The competition has :

    -Vangard :
    Its ability: 1000 hp in addition to other MBTs.
    The Forward Vanguard Shield utility that gives it overwhelming power at medium and short range.
    The recent proposal to complement the Nimitz Reactor with the 500 hp of shielding upon activation of a utility is an unnamed "Fire supression system", which makes it master of any close-range engagement whether equipped with the Forward Vanguard Shield (+500) or Fire suppression (+1000).
    The rotation of the Rival Combat Chassis prevents any duel bypassing from the flank or the rear, except for the Margrider.

    -The Magrider:
    The "Magburner" ability allows climbing in many places and is terribly effective at dodging shells or quickly exploiting weak angles of a tank in a duel, especially with "Multi-directional Exhaust".
    The Perihelion VXC which can be loaded and held indefinitely makes it easy to win a duel, especially if "Magburner" is mastered. Not to mention that the shots have no fallout.

    -The Chimera
    I won't deal with this strange team vehicle which has its own function and which I can't classify.

    With equivalent tanker skills, the Prowler is no longer a reliable competitor.

    My proposal:

    I - Modify the "P4-120 Kingsnake
    1. allow single shot shooting ?
    2.increase the accuracy ?
    3.increase the rate of fire ?

    II - Rethink the "Anchored Mode" and "Rampart Projector" capability for the future to make it a more viable defensive emplacement option.

    1. "Anchored Mode":
    a) Improve shell speed more to give an interesting counterpart to tank immobilisation? (I don't think this is necessary)

    2. "Rampart Projector": a projected shield with autonomous HP.
    1. Similar to the "Deployment Shield"? (this one takes my preference. 2000-2500 hp ?)
    or
    2. Similar to the "Bombardment Shield" of the Colossus? (Too complex I guess)

    Since short-to-medium range combat is not its strength, the idea is to allow it to accentuate its role as a fixed medium-to-long range artillery unit with a shield that allows it to hold a high position in return for its immobilisation. In this case, the "barrage" capability, without needing to be modified, would become an interesting element.
    • Up x 1
  2. Touchmaballs

    Don't forget deploy is unreliable you cant deploy anywhere or any time you like and having to reload manually if you only take one shot. Plus having to deal with double the recoil and train your brain from changes in bullet drop when deployed or using barrage. If the chimera wasn't so clunky with collisions, the prowler would defiantly take worst place of tanks.
    • Up x 1
  3. H4YW1R3

    How bout the Magrider? Will it ever see any love?

    Vanguard gets an "I win" button. All the player has to do is derp the shield. Even the Prowler's Kingsnake only takes the Vanguard to roughly half health in a head-to-head. Vanguard was also given the JGX. Basically a club that put it in the Prowler's DPS territory. Then it got buffed to make it easy to hit with. And now this Alpha tank is getting a buff. Also, the Vanguard may use it's "I win" shield, and still use a Stealth module or Flanker armor too.

    Prowler wins the DPS and sniper categories. It was given to Kingsnake which just tears through vehicles, taking down Magriders, lightnings, sunderers, construction, and pretty much everything else with the exception of a derped Vanguard. Also, the Prowler can use both Barrage and Lockdown, and still use a Stealth module or Flanker armor too.

    Magrider gets the lowest damage and biggest hitbox. The only thing it gets free is a forward only boost which is only good for climbing. Since it has a fixed canon, you have to turn your aim off the target in order to boost in the direction you want, pretty much telling your enemy where to aim. So not only can you not fire back like other tanks since your canon is fixed, but the boost is of little to no defensive value, especially with the Maggies large hitbox. The boost also has a longer refresh rate than the Vanguard's shield and the Prowler's Barage. You can equip Multi-Directional Thrust to lower it's refresh and let it thrust at a forward angle to help mitigate these downsides to an extent, but unlike the Vanguard and Prowler, it can't use this and use a Stealth module or Flanker armor too.

    Oh, and what did the Maggie get for new canon? The Perihelion. It's only advantage is if you drive around the map holding down your left mouse button, wearing out your finger and hardware, in hopes of getting that first shot on one of the other tanks whenever you happen upon them. But then you get torn to shreds before you can charge it again. That or start pelting them with the weak sauce the canon spews when it isn't fully charged. Your only chance is to have cover enough to charge and peek shots, which makes it very niche. If you're too far, enemy tanks and vehicles can easily just break line of sight and repair before you can cover the distance to finish. If you're close, and you don't have the favorable terrain you need in order to keep breaking line of sight long enough to charge your shots, you get shredded by the advancing tank.

    Just try driving around the map with mouse 1 held and see how fun it is. Wearing your finger out, with that constant downward pressure on your mouse, listening to that constant and repeating noise from the charged canon. See how you like it. It says a lot about the creativity of the game developers when the only thing they ever come up with for the Vanu faction is a charge-up gimmick.
  4. Kasa


    I don't know your way of playing, but your arguments about Magrider don't seem far from the reality of the field (at least on cobalt).
    I admit that the Magrider is not easy to get used to for new players because you have to change the sensitivity and understand the physics of the movement.
    See, this video is representative of an experienced player :
  5. Kasa

    I don't ask Nerf.
    I'm not asking for tanks to look the same.
    I don't mind upgrading the Nimitz, as long as it fits into the logic of the tank.
    I consider that the Vangard must have a powerful armor, that's their strength.
    I consider that Magriders must have good dodge and mobility, that's their strength.

    What should the Prowler be?
    The rate of fire without the precision that requires close combat = They have surpassed.
    The accuracy with Anchor? = They are outmatched.
    They are unable to dodge and unable to take a hit. I think we need to redefine the gameplay they would excel at.
  6. Kasa


    Correction of a wrong formulation: "Your arguments are far from reality".
  7. Pacrage

    I agree with this we get a shotgun weapon, but on a not shotgun tank because everything can kill you. I would have loved to have gotten the one shot weapon that NC has since we cant go that close to a nc tank if it pops the shield we still dont dps out that shield.
  8. H4YW1R3


    lol, any fanboi can cherry pick a video or montage where everything goes the right way or turns out the right way.

    I'm talking about two players of the same skill level facing off and the the average results of it.

    Magriders require a higher skill level. They got the short end of the stick when it comes to the new canons. And unlike the Vanguard's derp shield and the Prowler's barrage, the Magrider has to give up the stealth module or flanker armor just to get enough benefit out of their empire specific ability to make it worthwhile.
  9. OSruinedPS1

    Am I the only one that liked the old prowler lockdown? Put a spitfire near your tank, park next to an ammo tower and destroy enemy tanks a hex away with max zoom. What's not to like?

    Remember when we had 3X zoom. Yeah, can't have that can we.
  10. Kasa

    My point of view has evolved on the Prowler, it is a very good tank, but it is the deployment shield that needs to change