I regularly enter states of hibernation, or essentially a long hiatus from burnout. Last I played was probably a year ago. General question, did something happen to recoil and accuracy? I have a TR main, an NC secondary fun character, and a VS test character. It feels like TR now have the worst control of each empire's weaponry, save for the specific marksman style weapons. What happened? I thought TR was supposed to have the control. I remember when TR guns felt like you were shooting with a silk-covered grip compared to the NC recoil and the VS spread. Now it feels like all recoil has been placed at the mercy of the fire rate statistic. Feels like the gun just can't aim past 40~50 meters. Am I just experiencing something odd here or what? I've noticed the NS weapons are basically TR weapons but better in every way too save for a few.
Have not noticed a change over that time frame. NS weapons are generally about versatility and high accuracy at the cost of DPS and magazine total size. Each empire also has some NS-styled infantry weapons, with TR's being the T5-AMC and T32 Bull. TR weapons can be highly accurate and super fast firing but with lower damage models (ex. Lynx, Torq-9, Watchman). They usually are high DPS up close coming from high RoF at the expense of horizontal recoil tolerances (ex. Carv-Butcher) or strong angular recoil (Trac5-Trac-Shot). Their specialty is usually larger magazines and ammo pools at the expense of reload speeds, which holds true for carbines and assault rifles primarily. NC & VS high damage models can suffer from bloom that does not recenter very quickly between bursts. These are the opposite of certain weapons like the Promise, NSX Naginata, and surprisingly the TMG-50 despite its generally poor accuracy and poor damage at range. Examples are Gauss Saw, Reaper DMR, and to some extent Ursa. NC & VS both have many guns that are every bit as good as what should have been TR specialty of high rates of fire up close with controllable accuracy. I have no explanation of why this is. The HV-45 for example is every bit as good as the best of TR's close range assault rifles, and I'm pretty sure the NC variant is the same. VS guns have more random spread to their recoil patterns than both TR & NC. Example is the Terminus, which is high DPS and an overall top gun for medic, controllable though not as accurate or consistent as other similar profile weapons like the Torq-9. The same goes for the MAW falling behind the Anchor. Another flaw of many VS guns is their first shot 'kick' which is high and not really possible to compensate for, unlike NC & TR counterparts. They also have lower skill ceilings, specifically those with very little recoil (ex. CME), unlike many NC & TR guns that can do a lot if one is able to use them for their strengths while compensating more difficult recoil patterns and burst intervals.
Which weapons are you referring to specifically? It is true that TR have the higher concentration of bullet hoses but it is not their only option: LMGs: TMG-50, Bull, Rhino, Watchman is also fairly controllable. The CARV require solid microbursting to be accurate. The MSW-R is doable but not what I'd call an easy to control weapon compared to other LMGs in its class. ARs: The default Cycler is nearly perfect (love this weapon), SABR-13 is very accurate but burst weapons are not everyone's cup of tea, TORQ is stronk. The TRV is an angry beast but can be tamed for epic takedowns. Carbines: Kindred is life, kindred is love, kindred is dakka dakka dakka. Can't really go wrong with the Jag either. The Cougar/T5 AMC are solid mid ranges as well. The Trac-5 is a bit of as hole existing in waste disposal area of the buttocks.
TR weapons always had some considerable recoil, mainly due to how fast most the weapons fire. The recoil of one bullet may not be too much, but since they fire rapidly, it quickly stacks up to make the recoil a nightmare for new (or returning) players. Burst fire is key, or if you are having a tough time doing so, start from the chest and let the recoil carry you to the head. Recoil on most TR weapons is simply up, with very negligible angular kick(s) so it is not too bad. LMGs: the MSW-R is one of the best LMGs - especially with it's cheap price (I bought it for 100 certs, now it's 325). The CARV is a little less controllable than the MSW-R, but overall fairly similar, it just has a bigger mag/longer reload. Butcher is basically the same thing. TMG-50 has an NC feel, watchman is good, but only viable up close due to it's damage. The rhino and the bull are fairly similar. ARs: don't forget about the TAR, very good weapon. Carbines: The lynx is amazing. I always thought NC and TR had the worst recoil, and VS the most noob-friendly weapons. However, NC and TR weapons could really shine when tamed. I think you probably lost some of your skill, and are just rediscovering TR recoil. No changes on overall faction recoil have been done in years, perhaps even since a few months of the game's release.
Great post and a great question. In the LMG updates from 2013-2015, the TR suffered the worst blows to their weapons, the Butcher was changed, TMG-50 my all time favorite gun was massively nerfed and the suffering continued when NS\NSX weapons arrived as I had often said, nothing is no longer unique with TR, etc etc etc. Take the Watchman for instance, that has a high ROF but the Promise premiers a bigger magazine size with the attachment where many of the high capacity guns have the 100 round mags as status quo, yet the NC have stopping power and Vanu has better control or in some cases ammoless weapons. What have the TR really got, except Momma I run out of ammo alot? In short, magazines are way to small for such output and such high recoil, but for christ sakes if they are gonna do that give us more reserve ammo to carry.
What exactly are you complaining about? I can find literally no changes to any TR LMGs from 2013-2015 whatsoever. In fact, about the only changes to any TR LMGs were in the GU2/2 LMG minimum damage nerf to 143 LMGs, in 2017. This nerf set also affected an equal four of the VS' LMGs as well, plus the at-the-time NC's only 143 LMG. There does not seem to have been any changes to the TMG-50 ever. How was it "massively nerfed," and more importantly when? How have any NS weapons taken away from the TR? I suppose the Swarm is close to a dramatically inferior version of the Striker 1.0 but that's about it. Low damage, low RoF for accuracy and controllability doesn't really bring the TR to mind. Don't forget about the whole 857RPM thing... But sure, the Promise can have 150-round magazines. That's way larger than anything else! Like the Butcher's 150-round magazines! Or the Rhino/EM1's 200-round magazines! Also don't forget the extra 50 rounds is an attachment choice which nerfs reload times. The Watchman has a larger magazine at 125 by default while both can lower the magazine size by 25 rounds. TR got EZPZ DPS guns with high RoFs. That's the point isn't it? I don't really understand why you're complaining. Recoil values are pretty standard for TR LMGs as well, and the Butcher just got a flat DPS buff. The TR also have the largest magazines around already. Are you just being sarcastic and it went over my head?
Don't worry, I already have. My main is TR after all lol. I like it, though it seems a bit off at longer ranges (not the most damaging weapon after damage drop-off). However, thanks to ASP I no longer use carbines on my engineer, though I do wish it allowed me to equip my butcher
