200 certs to unlock, 25 resources per use and you only get one unless you use grenade bandolier. Not only that but they are made redundant by the underbarrel smoke nade launcher which has no resource cost, can be resuplied by and ammo pack indefinitely and it has a longer range than the LA version. To make them at least a bit more viable SOE could increase the standard amount of smoke nades to 3 and up to 6 or 9 with ranks 1 and 2 of nade bandolier while keeping the resource cost at 25 or maybe reducing it to 20 idk. Just want SOE to consider this for the LA update (which will probably happen after they've revamped all the other classes -_-).
Sure, they're worth it! You just need to have an NV or IR scope equipped on your gun when you use them. If you have a Night Vision scope on your carbine you can toss the grenade and use the scope to see right through the smoke and shoot people. That's how they're supposed to be used anyway.
personally, i think they are worth it (even compared to the underbarrel) and have gotten plenty of kills using them. But i would really like to see it buffed a bit. Make the smoke last a little longer (by 3-5seconds more) or make it detonate a bit faster so (being a LA) i can still move around fluidly without getting caught waiting for it to detonate and then fill the room. but thats just me, im still happy with where its at now
I don't think they're worth it. Once I was defending the tele exit in a biolab and someone was spamming smoke nades (underbarrel) so their mates could get into a nearby building. I was ~10m away, I could still see their silhouettes and the game still allowed me to spot them even though they were in the thick of the smoke.
I think they are pretty good, especially when used against a MAX who is camping inside the room. Sure the cert price is bit high, but they are very cheap to use. The flashbangs on the other hand sure needs some buffing.
I had a lot of fun with SG back in the day but overall I would have to agree that they are not that great. They have made improvements on coverage and duration when used against low-graphics settings but it still is not that disorienting or long lasting. Fun, yes, but if you want to effectively disorient your enemies it is far better to use flash (even in the state they are in) because no graphics settings will prevent a good flashbang from temporarily blinding you.
Most have you completely missed the OP's point. He isn't saying Smoke is not worth it. He is saying the cost of smoke grenades compared to an underbarrel smoke launcher make the UBGL far better option. I kind of agree. Though what makes the UBGL truely better is putting it in the hands of an Engi or having an ammo pack. The grenades are good if you are lone wolf and want a good CQC weapon. Also the throwable grenade puts out more smoke indoors. The UBGL sometimes seems to get lost in the wall or something and not put out much smoke if not used correctly. They require very little infantry resources so they are still an ok option but I agree you should be able to carry more with basic cert. 3, 6, and 9 seems like to many though. Maybe 2,4, and 6.
Smoke Grenades are great when used properly. I've used them inside buildings a lot to walk right up to a Max and C4 him. Heck once smoke even let me kill two Maxes in a room wih my Piston. Used outdoors, I find it's best use is to make artilery miss or to get out of a camped spawn room. Using an underbarrel launcher leaves you with a subpar gun in most circumstances.
yeah it should detonate on impact so we can have those cool ninja escapes! *throws grenade at feet and flies off*
I was pretty disappointed with smoke grenades. In CQC (where you'd hope to use them most effectively as a light assault) there's a very low AoE and, even worse, you can still see through it fairly well without a HS/NV scope. Partly due to it not being very thick smoke, partly due to spotting still working through it so you're still running around with a bright dorito on your head.
This is what I was getting at. An engi with UBSGL is much more effective with only a 100 cert cost (for the launcher itself). I'm also noticing you lot are saying they're good for personal situations, but I'm a part of an outfit and would like to help my pl/sq in other ways than flanking by laying down a down a smoke field to let them advance for example. But the whole "being able to see through smoke with IR/NV" things needs to go as well imo. It's not like IR/NV isn't arguably the best scope for LAs and many other classes.
One thing to note is the LA is all about flanking. So if you are looking to help your outfit in a way more then flanking you are probably playing the wrong class. Jump jets are useless if you are coming at the enemy head on so they can see you go int he air. You are gimping your own aim and coming out of coverage giving the enemy a huge advantage over you. So that really leaves you with flanking and ultimately CQC which is kind of LA's bread and butter. I'm not familiar with all the factions guns but typically the Underbarrel guns suck in CQC. Vanu SF quickly gets owned by most other guns in close. So if you want to be decent in CQC and still have smoke your only option is smoke grenades. They are very nice for advancing into a room.
Infiltrators kind of get that. The EMP grenade works well as an "oh ****" button. Not because it is really hard to aim when you've been hit by it, more because people panic and react instead of just firing like they normally would so you can decide to Ninja out of there or just kill them while they panic from no hud.
