Suggested Modifications to Vehicle Patch to Improve Vehicle META

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by BeyondNInja, Jun 13, 2014.

  1. BeyondNInja

    I'd really appreciate if SOE could take these suggestions into account, when tweaking the implementation of the vehicle changes documented in the 6/13 patchnotes.

    First off, I've always wanted the biggest positive change in this patch: turret stabilisation. I think it will benefit tank gameplay as a whole, by making it more dynamic, and rewarding risk taking etc.
    However I will concede that these changes do impinge somewhat on the magrider's niche, even with it benefiting from the TR and NC velocity nerfs (ie it gets smallest velocity nerf and will more easily dodge slower projectiles.)

    The other major issue with these changes is the velocity nerfs. There is some merit to reducing velocities to reduce engagement ranges but this isn't always viable due to existing terrain. I believe we should have options.


    My Suggested Tweaks
    First off chassis and turret stabilisation. If racer is changed to improve both forward and reverse top speed and acceleration, it seems to me like the only tank that will have any reason to equip the rival chassis will be the magrider. As it stands people only really equip rival on the vanguard for reverse speed and there is already no real reason to use it on the prowler as the manoeuvrability on the prowler is already the best.

    This suggested solution may be contentious but I believe it is the best solution, for overall balance:
    Restrict turret stabilisation to the rival chassis.
    This will make the rival chassis for prowlers, lightnings and vanguards the agility chassis - fire on the move, better turning and better brakes. The rival magrider will still keep its improved agility as I believe this is already a valid tradeoff against the racer magrider (if frustrating due to its poor stock speed).
    Racer chassis is already being buffed through improved reverse speed so I believe this will achieve a balance between having meaningful choice between the chassis types, and retaining faction uniqueness. (ie not all tanks will have magrider-like firing mobility, only ones that trade increased speed)


    The 2nd issue I want to address is velocity nerfs. Unlike many players, I actually admit that there are some merits to reducing engagement ranges, fights at 500m+ can get a bit stale and sniping sunderers from several hundred meters away could be considered a bit lame.
    However instead of blanket nerfing velocities why not give tankers options?

    Let the low-velocity AP cannons be the standard all-around anti-tank weapons, and add additional HVAP cannons for each faction. They should trade improved velocity for longer reloads/lower DPS.

    Give them all velocities between say, 260-280m/s, and reloads 0.5s longer than the HEAT/AP variants.
    For flavour, ideally the vanguard HVAP should be a railgun, the magrider HVAP a beam-style weapon and the prowler HVAP a modern armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding-sabot shell, with a single cannon.

    I recognise that the standard response to this will be "F*** that, I don't want my toy nerfed only to have an improved new weapon added for SC". However side-grades and options are good for the game - they keep things interesting.

    Between the tweaked chassis characteristics I suggested and the choice between AP and HVAP cannons tankers will have more choice in how they cert their tank to suit their playstyle, instead of 90% of tanks running Racer, Nanites and AP.

    These changes will work better when/if vehicle loadout switching is added to the game, but they should still help to improve choice and general gameplay for tanks.


    Additionally, the vanguard shield and Vulcan still need tweaks, but they're outside the scope of this post.

    As a bonus I'd also really like to see the markings on vehicle sights standardised between all zoom levels. ie 2 ticks on no zoom represents the same distance as 2 ticks on 1.25, 1.5, 1.75 and 2x zoom.
  2. Alarox

    I don't like any of these ideas except for the last one.

    - While Rival will become unpopular if the current changes go through, putting stabilization only on Rival will force everyone into using it.
    - I don't like the idea of low-velocity AP cannons plus high-velocity AP cannons. The current system is fine and works.
    - I personally like the current tick marks for all the MBT weapons, but changing them to scale with the drop isn't a bad idea.
  3. BeyondNInja


    So what's your response to the VS players complaining that turret stabilisation is their faction trait and giving it to everyone makes the Magrider useless? (exagerating somewhat because someone else will take it there at some point)
  4. Alarox

    The only change they suggested that should be in the game is stabilization. Not the reverse speed increases nor the range reductions. Additionally, the Magrider should receive strafe speed increases of 5-10KPH to compensate for the stabilization.