State of Comets

I'm going to throw in a broader dynamic and remind folks that Vanu have the Lasher, which is the only really effective infantry suppression tool in the game. So in an over-arching way this kind of balances things. It does not make it equal. But then again my Comets can kill a tank at the edge of render distance without bullet drop. I just wish they had more ammo and could double-shot kill a HA. But then again even tanks can't do that anymore (and that is totally stupid).

Comets are useful-ish, but they are outperformed by every other max-mounted AV weapon. Given that the VS have other advantages, i'm fine with this, for the most part.

The only real issue I have with them is ammo capacity. Even taking along extra ammo - I still run out much faster then when I'm using my Vorticies / Charge. Another 20-30 spare rounds would go a long way, and adding one more shot per reload would be quite welcome as well (perhaps as a cert option. 500 certs per arm... that's an expensive 2 rounds.)

The no-drop aspect isn't nearly good enough when you consider the fire rate, recoil, damage, clip size, max ammo, and projectile speed. If i'm attacking at range - I'll bring a vortex. Everything combines to make comets just kind of 'meh' at range, and they are lackluster up close - they excel at nothing. Still, they are good enough that I enjoy using them. A small ammo-related tweak would be enough to make them a good choice in some circumstances.

Pounders are marginally better at killing infantry, but inferior to NC and AV weapons at range - or where the enemy is moving around a lot. VS AV MAX weaponry DECIMATES other MAXes.

Like other people you're cherry picking and thinking in a linear fashion - the weapons are supposed to be different, sidegrade style.

The pounder gets more kills overall, but kills are not everything that matters - a pounder that remains exposed to a VS MAX is a dead pounder MAX.. being able to supress and smash enemy MAXes is a tactical advantage every bit as useful (or more), than scoring empty kills for personal glory.

I would swap pounders and fractures for VS AV any day... ANY day.. I already have better AI specific guns, and Fractures post nerf are garbage.

Marginally? You must be joking, or missed the stats I posted earlier. They massively outperform the other two faction short range MAX AV weapons by 50%!

In fact, they outperform both VS MAX AV weapons combined.

15013 - M3 Pounder HEG-Left | KPH | Daily Average: 15.61
16032 - Vortex VM21-Left | KPH | Daily Average: 5.02
17013 - Comet VM2-Left | KPH | Daily Average: 9.29

Yes they're not as good as they use to be, but the question I have is if they were nerfed while ZOE was running rampant and then when ZOE was nerfed into the ground they weren't touched?

Buff comets and buff ZOE.

You are out of your mind, you have CLEARLY never faced comets as an NC or TR MAX. If they land two rounds you are basically dead..
They have better accuracy at range, they do more damage, so if you're even on the other side of a corridor, you have time to make up for the increased reload need. A pounder max is not going to chase you when he has less than half health before he can fire off a round that lands.

Comets do NOT need buffing in the slightest, they are OP against other MAX units.
The fact that pounders can score a few more kills on regular infantry isn't relevant, it's killspam, fluff - at actual ANTI-MAX play, a good Comet MAX will win near every time.

If I was a Comet MAX in this fight, I would have won based on the shots landed (or at least died immediately after killing him).

Taking into account your perception of game reality, I wouldn't take into account your opinion on what is OP and what isn't.

Here's the actual reality of things in-game right now (as in now, not 2013):

• Pounders volley damage = 285 + 125 (direct + indirect damage) * 2 (for each hand) * 4 (magazine size) = 3280
• Comets volley damage = 315 + 80(direct + indirect damage) * 2 (for each hand) * 2 (magazine size) = 1580
• MAX life = 2000hps

And this is why a Comet VS MAX will always, always lose a direct confrontation with a TR Pounders MAX. The Pounder MAX has enough damage in the magazine (aka no need to reload) to 1-clip the NC and TR MAXes (double the damage of the VS MAX). Meanwhile, the VS MAX absolutely needs to reload at least once to achieve the same level of performance. Even if both MAXes miss some rounds and both need to reload, the VS MAX will still lag behind and will probably need a second reload that increase the difference in TTK even more.

A few more things to note:

• Reload speeds are practically identical (1.75secs for Comet, 2secs for Pounders)
• Comets have a slower projectile speed (90m/s as opposed to 100m/s for the Pounders). For reference, a dumpfire missile speed is 115m/s, Decimator is 60m/s.
• Comets are highly visible, while Pounders are practically invisible.

There is a reason why Pounders massively overperform right now. Part of the reason is because they are extremely effective against infantry, but also part of the reason is because they are even more effective against enemy MAXes. A Pounder MAX has such a heavy advantage, that needs to be seriously outplayed to lose (as that video above demonstrated).

Personally I don't think that Comets need a buff. Pounders on the other hand need some hefty downgrade, to bring them in line with every other AV MAX weapon in the game.

(As for ZOE, the silly people that still use it effectively remove 30% of their MAX's life for no advantage. But this is a thread about Comets, so I'll drop this here)

Restore their velocity. The PU2 nerf added stupid acceleration.

lets stay with facts....

Not sure what exactly you tried to correct.

• The damage? Pounders got double the output no matter how you want to see it?
• Calling the people who die from Pounders peasants? Does it make a difference how you call them, when one weapon is more effective than the other?
• Fractures underperforming? Does it matter when your cheaper variant perform better than the Comets and Vortexes combined?

ZOE does nothing really. You glow, you take a health debuff for 15 seconds that you can't disable and you gain nothing in terms of damage (less than one bullet's worth in less than 10m and that's on max tier), every other weapon practically unaffected. You're better off with charge.

the damage is doubled but the time in which it is deliverd is also much longer. as seen in the vid rly.

most ppl who die from pounders are either running into THAT doorway or stand around for lenghy times. also, please consider that pounders are exessively used for AI. i believe that this behaviour would give a healthy boost to comet or falcon KPH as well, it's just that they are not used for it that much.

fractures are on terms with falcons in their AV role while barely outperforming comets. at the same time, raven and vortex massively outperform them in AV. its a case of asymetrical balance considering the pounders.

don't ask me why SOE decided to do it this way instead of buffing pounders in their AV role while keeping their 2 shot mags and giving TR actually useful 2nd gen AV guns.

last thing i've read about ZOE was that it goes up to 30m. and the (dodgy) ability description says that the debuff reduces in effect with higher levels. and lets not forget that they move significantly faster... ok i think i can count the times when i saw one, and that only cuz they look like a christmas tree. but same with the comets, make-believe might be strong here. or the airhammer, or, or,.... often things are made much worse than they really are

They aren't that great at range sure they have no bullet drop, but they travel painfully slow and outside of the lasher it is one of the slowest projectiles in the game ravens and frac maxs are both more effective at the intended role. They do not do more damage. I wish if I landed 2 shots that could kill a max, but it usually takes 4-8 to kill regular infantry.

Never understood why they had to double the magazine size while cutting the damage in half.
I have to land 4 shot with them to kill infantry but oh noez NC MAX can still one hit with falcon.
Only thing usefull of them is the no bullet drop imo.
If the situation doens´t force me to get near the enemy, i stick to my double vortex and stay as far away as i can.

That MAX did nothing, they killed themselves....
Also, Charge is not VS.

Making them different from falcons obviously.

I'd like to live in the state of comets.
Comets were 4 Shot in Beta. They were also rather useless, but I guess that's what you pay for, uhm.... ah crap. Less shots apparently means better.

Yeah change everything for sake of change.

I know what they need to give to the comets, SOE needs to add a PPA component to them along with the annoying sound they always do, but also do damage to vehicles, this way I always have to bring the same weapon combo without worrying about complicated weaknesses just like Raven users.

Personally - I'd rather have more projectile velocity to improve its AV effectiveness. VS MAX AI guns are the best in the business, if you're using Comets to do the same work then you're just doing it wrong. The VS MAX needs some improvement AV-wise.