Sick of Instant Death from C4 Faeries?

Sitting in your tank watching all around, trying to flank targets. Keeping a distance. Picking your shots. BOOM...........

Out of nowhere an LA just obliterates your tank. No warning just yet another instakill from the world of Planetside 2. What would this change effect? Not much as I see it. The LA would still be able to finish you off, it would just give you that slim chance of survival.They'd still be able to OHK Maxes and light vehicles. It would give Lightnings and MBTs say half a second to respond and it would mean Sunderers were less vulnerable to instant destruction from one guy with 75 resources worth of explosive.

It's instakill weapons that really frustrate in this game and I think a small change llke this could alleviate some of that frustration. For those tempted to say L2P, situational awareness or scout radar let me just say

How often do infantry instantly die from seemingly out of nowhere to some tank hiding out at a distance farming easy targets?

There are always going to be C4 complaints as long as it does its job. Without C4 tanks would just be way too comfortable sitting and camping/farming at many bases.

What exactly is your suggestion here? I just woke up, and my reading comprehension isn't too hot right now.

I'm just suggesting that you have to place a C4 then detonate it. That you cannot throw all your C4 and then detonate them at once. What I would expect would happen is that harder targets would be aware that they are under threat and would have a very small window of opportunity in which to take action.

It probably would make little difference to effectiveness if done properly but it would remove another instagib from the game. Even if your outlook is the same you would feel like you could have survived if you had reacted faster. Rather than the current situation where you go from seemingly no threat to instantly dead.

edit : I should also say that this is a mere suggestion. See what the consensus view is. There may be unforeseen outcomes I haven't though of.

I think we have different definitions of "instant death".

So what you're saying is: Place one C4, arm it, detonate, place second C4, arm it, detonate it?

What, exactly is the benefit of C4 then? You couldn't kill anything with it.

Proximity radar? I'm not sure of the huge downside to running this.

http://gfycat.com/AmazingLastingIberianmidwifetoad

C4 is clearly OP at the moment guys....

As is consistent with all aspects of this game, sit still for long enough/go to the wrong places and you deserve to die.

People like to forget about the power of getting noticed by increasingly more people; forgetting how very negatively drawing too much attention to yourself can affect you is extremely dangerous. One enemy that spots you might not necessarily go out of it's way to hunt you down, let alone get close enough to one of your metal bawkses to destroy it before getting noticed. Sure, you get some people that are hell-bent on taking down that one tank, but they aren't the norm. If you are causing a big fuss, or goddamn telegraphing your activities to all nearby, more buggers are going to try and sneak up on you; you might catch a few, but it only takes the smartest one to ruin your paintjob.

It's all about being smart with your engagements and controlling how "visible" you are to the enemy. Not only that, but how close you are to your support and how far individuals have to go out of their way (and away from their OWN support) to get to you, and through what sort of terrain. Throwing yourself into the heart of an enemy position might garner a few kills, but it's likely rather obvious that getting out of there just as promptly is vital to your survival. Extend that mentality to all areas where you cannot guarantee your own safety. Keep mobile. Don't ever get comfortable. When too many eyes are on you, get up and go. It's the same mentality that a good sniper has because, as we all know, a camper gon' get caught sooner or later. If you just HAVE to get into that one spot to farm bigtime, never forget how out in the open you might be, miles away from anyone that might shoot down an incoming LA before it catches you off-guard. More often than not, when your tank gets turned to dust by C4, it's kinda your fault.

Tl;dr - Keep hitting that beehive and you're getting stung. When the heat gets too hot, back up and let it settle down.

iirc they SOE added a delay on placing c4 and also trigger.
It is quite frustrating to place 2 bricks and detonate esp while trying to survive (if your not kamikaze)

I was on late lastnight as I couldn't sleep. 2am'ish
On Emerald.
We had just pushed out a base and began trekking to the next base on foot mostly.
I see Lightning just sitting there in the snow taking shots at the base.
Its VS so I am reluctant as they never sit still, because he is out in the open.
I didn't hesitate.
I ran 80 meters in the open and about 10meters to him im saying to myself.
"this fkr is gonna move last secand and kill my ***"
Nope.
He didn't move one inch.

Then after he is blown up he sends me a tell discussing how harassers and stealth flashes ruin it for MBT etc.
Im like ..ok
"well I wasn't invisible but I was stealthy lol"
"I don't blame ya if it works, but stealth is bad for the game."
"well I was on foot" (also I was medic)
"you ran all the way from the base? that was a long way"

At this point, its obvious.
Clearly he hasn't played Primetime Emerald.
I mean you have to be on your game to get anything done.
Also you cant sit there as a VS in a tank and not expect to feel 'brainwaves of hate'.
Granted it is a bit easier to c4 lightnings but the mags are constantly in motion.

So in short, your warning is inherent.
If you are in a tank trying to kill tanks/infantry.
C4 is surely on the menu.

it's been like this since the game was put online, and yet players keep crying about it.
http://www.twitch.tv/yuukikunvs/c/5213589

A blockade Sundy is more than 2x cheaper and doesn't suffer from C4 fairy death.
The Bulldog has excellent HE characteristics, all that's required is knowing how to aim it at a target 200 meters away.

Who still uses tanks anyways?

Look Up, Keep Moving

Sure, but no tank could ever 1 shot an infantry player from a mile away, ever. Your sick of people like me c4ing you, I'm sick of people like you sitting on hills ohking me. You take the good with the bad..enjoy my c4.

The Bulldog truly puts the tank cannons to shame as far as splash damage is concerned. Every time I use one, I'm reminded of how PS2 used to be, back when tanks were feared.

Explosive radius definitely needed to be toned down a little bit, but now that base design is better and provides much more cover for infantry, tank farming isn't as big of an issue as it was in the past. Hopefully the HE and HEAT cannons will get a little splash-radius back, so that they can be a viable choice when compared to the AP rounds.

It was less of an issue when Proxy was in the Utility slot. Gave Lightnings a viable Utility option, especially for those running Skyguard and camping a prime location for aircraft.

I sense a strange irony in a tank user complaining about getting insta-gibbed by a single infantryman (if that sounds spiteful it's not my intention). I am unashamedly one of the C4 fairies of which you speak, and I can tell you that a switched-on, cautious, and well-equipped tank driver is a complete pain in the @ss to plant C4 on, sometimes to the point that it's not even worth trying.

Hear hear.

A stock Sunderer doesn't suffer from C4 fairy death either, as long as you keep the thing repaired and not parking on the frontline while emitting smoke.

I've lost count of the times that I laughed off a fairy's wasted resources, withdrawn and repaired what would have been fatal to tanks.

A quick check gives the 150 mm gun the Vanguard uses a 3 meter larger splash damage radius than the 60 mm Bulldog has (8 m vs 5). The max damage radius is a whole 1 meter larger in case of the tank gun (2 m vs 1).
Comparing the size of the guns and the fact one is a tank main gun and the other is a heavy grenade launcher on a remote control mount, the difference in firepower is not much. It should be way bigger.

Then there's the Bulldog's magazine feed, which makes its DPS way higher than what a Vanguard's cannon could muster.