143/652 = EM1, Bull, Rhino 143/698 = SVA-88, Pulsar LSW, CARV S. The Ballast is exceptionally accurate even without attachments. The 143/698 damage model is very strong because it has high enough DPS yet also retain accuracy. The Ballast feature is sustained fire as well so you can remain accurate basically forget bursting. With a laser sight it is even a competent CQC option and since the forward grip is total overkill you can easily get away with using it. It is a lovely weapon. Should try it out before making hasty assumptions.
I have tried it, it seems decent, much like I find the EM1 decent. But certainly not exceptional. You can't tell me that this is going to be markedly better than the EM1: So much red for so little green. But the Ballast is completely beside my point. VS, on the other hand, were just given NC's best LMG. With a damage model that was previously NC exclusive. That is exceptional. Surely you can see my real point of contention here. NC didn't get an Orion. And that's fine, because of faction diversity. So WTF is up with VS casually getting all of NC's best faction-specific perks? My intention is to point out that these new weapons both spit in the face of faction diversity (other than the TR one) and pander irrationally to VS (not that we should be surprised, after the abomination that was the VE-S Canis), not to hate on the Ballast.
When I looked at the new LMG's, I am both excited and terrified. From what I have tested on the test server, the Ballast is a monstrously controllable weapon. Moderate damage with a decent rate of fire already would make it controllable, but its recoil is definitely lower then I expected. With the forward grip, this gun had no meaningful horizontal recoil during testing, and a low vertical recoil that made even 3.4X and 4X optics a breeze to use with sustained fire. The TR Watchmen is definitely interesting. For all intensive purposes, its a statistical cousin to the TORQ 9 assault rifle, with equal damage, fire rate, and range. Its biggest difference is trading a fast reload for a large capacity. Its worth noting that the Impact ammo makes the damage fall off laughable, as you will need one more shot to kill in any fight beyond 10m. That said, it will still take at least 9 hits at those ranges, which is a bit unfortunate. Its reload is also really slow, which can be a deal breaker. The VS MAW is admittedly the weapon the terrifies me. Given that unstable ammo is slated for a buff in the near future, the idea of a Canis cousin that trades a little bit of close range performance for a massive buff in long range performance does have me paying close attention. From my time on the test server, I have found this weapon to currently be the strongest of the upcoming additions. Obviously, this is only my personal opinions, being voiced here.
It's worth noting that the Watchman, with the "Hard-hitting" ammo, has the highest long-range DPS of all automatic weapons in the game. And while it isn't pinpoint-accurate, in my testing, I didn't have much trouble consistently hitting targets at very long range, and dropping them surprisingly quickly, thanks to the insane damage output (15% more DPS at max.range than the Gauss SAW, which is the foremost 'long range' LMG). This is in addition to the fact that the Watchman will no doubt be one of, if not the best CQC LMG in the game, with that fire rate, hipfire, and close-range DPS.
Past performance predicts future performance. Given, that, here is what will happen: 1. VS will get a super-let's-give-them-a-purchaseable-hack weapon 2. NC will get a useful weapon offering something new to them 3. TR will get a neutered version of existing LMGs with a "gimmick" thrown in, this gun will be easily surpassed by NS LMGs purchasable by all factions. DBG will then rebalance the VS weapon and will say they will rework the TR weapon, but never will.
TR get a 125 round SMG with almost no damage fall off. VS get an EM6 with a couple of lame gimmicks. NC get a super high velocity SVA-88. Awesome.
The TR gets a 125-round Lynx that can be modded to have next to no damage dropoff at the cost of 25 bullets. The VS get what is basically a flat upgrade to the ever-popular LA1 Anchor but with optional auto-aim ammunition. The NC gets an easy-recoil downgrade to the SVA-88, featuring less accuracy and worse hipfire, and longer reloads. And here's the kicker: The highest possible projectile velocity the Ballast can achieve with the SPRW ammo is 625m/s. 5m/s less than the SVA-88. Yeah, real fnckin' awesome.
The SVA has a recoil closer to what we see on 167dmg weapons. This is significant since it also have a higher ROF than 167dmg weapons resulting in quite the kick. The Ballast is more forgiving and will remain more accurate over longer periods of firing. In most ways it works like a Pulsar LSW. It is nice to see NC players actually admit VS weapons are just decent rather than easy mode though. Guess it took you guys actually using one from the right perspective, i.e. not letting your bias that VS is easy mode influence your opinion. That said, still looking forwards to getting my hands on the Ballast. Dat 143/698 damage model <3
Easy fix to that. Nerf the SVA-88's velocity by a good... 25 m/s? After all, high velocity is the NC's thing along with higher damage. So its only fair. Oh and when that happens please set out buckets so we can collect the tears of VS crying about getting nerfed.
Honestly wouldn't surprise me. SVA-88 is such a shadow of its former glory might as well nail the coffin lid shut and just make it a worse LSW in every way. ...
The Ballast has worse accuracy and worse reload speed than both the SVA and Pulsar. With its fancy "SPRW" faction-exclusive ammo, its muzzle velocity merely becomes comparable (620m/s vs 625m/s vs 630m/s) to the VS defaults. The flavor text indicates that the gun will be "accurate over sustained fire", but this is true for all of the sub-750RPM 143-damage weapons. It remains to be seen if Ballast is more accurate over time, but I have a feeling any differences will be marginal. Lol, u wot m8? VS and TR are receiving some game-changing weapons. VS is being handed NC's bread-'n-butter 167/600 damage model (you know, the one all the Begelgeuse HA's have cried was OP for years?). With 10 extra rounds in the mag, a quick-reload attachment, and optional Aimbot Ammo to top it off. TR is getting an awesome DAKKA-tastic CQC LMG with insane RoF and DPS, and a special ammo giving it almost no damage drop off (meaning it will likely be pretty frighteningly effective at range, too). NC is getting what is, at best, a slightly inferior version of one of the 'status quo' VS support LMGs that have existed since launch. Oh, and you have to buy the "special ammo" just to bring it up to that status quo. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see that NC is not only getting the short end of the stick, spec wise, but also the most horrendously boring of the three options.
"SMG" would imply terrible damage at range. The Watchman, with the special ammo, has the highest DPS at range of all automatic weapons in the game. Not very SMG like..
Nope. Sub-machine-gun. SMG's generally have very fast rate of fire using small caliber pistol ammunition and are generally compact. Planetside2 smg's generally have poor range accuracy but it's not necessarily a requirement to be considered an SMG.
So what, you're saying that the Watchman is like an SMG because... it uses pistol-caliber ammunition? By what method did you come to that conclusion? It certainly seems not to be the case, judging by the width of its magazine model and by the fact that it's in the 'LMG' category. Or are you simply being pedantic, bringing up real-life weapons when the discussion is clearly about a video game?
One thing I figure I should bring up regarding the watchmen regarding its long range time to kill. Keep in mind that its rapid long range time to kill requires the impact ammo attachment, which takes a sizable chunk out of its drum capacity, on an already ammo hungry weapon with a long reload. This is likely a large part of its balancing scheme, as while it is lethal, gaps in that fire power are both frequent for an LMG, and lengthy. Plus, while I have found the recoil manageable with a foregrip, I by no means claim it to be overly accurate.
