[Suggestion] Sundie Bus. To AMS or Not To AMS. Wait, is that even a Question?

There are some nice equipment options in the Sundie Bus "AMS" slot. But what kind of squad would be willing to bet 400 mechanized + 11 non-respawning infantry that they can make a dent in a tech plant takeover by bypassing the vehicle shields?

The AMS slot is not even a choice. You have to AMS.

Maybe AMS should be in it's own slot?

Then you could equip interesting options on top of that.

Discuss

It's worthwhile to point out that you only need ONE AMS sunderer at an objective if its well protected, or one backup if its not.

I view shield diffuser as the job as the second sunderer to location.

You don't have to AMS. I have no idea how many times I've seen multiple AMS Sunderers with their stock everything else wandering around like confused puppies. Unless you're operating in a very small group, it's absurdly likely that there are already several other AMSs there.

Instead, turn your Sunderer into a rolling Fun Bus o' Death. Dual M60 NV Bulldogs, maxed out Smoke Screen or Prox Radar, max Blockade Armor/Mineguard (your choice) or even Vehicle Stealth if you feel like being a sneaky bugger, and Rival Chassis. Stick a few engies and MAXs inside with medics manning the guns for emergency revives and maybe a HA or two for fire support, and roll around unleashing ungodly unexpected hell on things. The Sunderer alone can take out MBTs - people inside pop out and turns into a Murder Party.

Granted, you have to actually work with other people to do this, but it's hilariously effective. Nobody really expects a Sunderer to be a threat, they just run/drive towards it chanting SPAWN CAMP.

lol only one?

Fully certed radar kicks *** for patroling around bases.

The breach generator was a very useful piece of kit, back when the Tech Plant shield generators were in the main building.

But the "Tech plants are too hard to take!!!!eleven11!!one!" whiners had that nerfed, so it's back to being a largely pointless option, and we're back to AMS and only AMS. It's the flashlight of vehicle attachments.

Battles of any meaning are decided by the attrition of AMS buses vs. the defending team. If the last bus is destroyed, then the defending team wins.

In Super Mario terminology each "AMS" == equals 1 "life" for the Squad.

Who wants to gamble less respawns on the lawls of driving around in a giant mobile coffin with "shoot me smoke" pouring out of it?

an AMS with shield burst would be way op, no its fine how it is, you just have to know how to work together with other people and every single item in the slot works great. AMS is priority and everyone should cert into it, but sheild burst, stealth, radar all have their puropose, try not farming xp for once and you will see how well these things can work.

The giant mobile coffin that's more durable and more mobile than an MBT (except the Mag, of course)? Smart people. That's who.

There are usually far more AMSs hanging around than can be deployed. Of course, that does require you actually taking a second to look at your faction's disposition in the battle and make sure that they DO have enough AMSs just hanging around, but assuming they do there's literally no reason to add one more to the mix when you can do something far more effective.

Sunderers without AMS would be useful if there was a greater area around other Sunderers and also around "normal" spawn points were you can't deploy the Sunderer. Then the ways you have to walk would be longer and people would consider using a Sunderer to get directly to their goal.

But currently people just spawn 5 metres away of their goal. Troop movement isn't a problem at all.

The kind of squad that has more than one Sunderer.

Here we have a demonstration of the awesome Not power of the Shield Bypass Cert for Sundie.

http://beta.xfire.com/video/5bfd1a

Basically, trashed 400 mechanized in ~2 minutes. GG.

When the AMS option is added to the Sunderer all the guns/seats should be removed sans the drivers spot. Then there will be a compelling reason to not use it all the time.

Yup. As long as a group of attackers are willing to guard and repair the AMS sunderer, one is all you really need for a platoon. When you have the AMS in a solid location, its primary threats are mines and C4 drops which are easily enough suppressed with one or two infantry to back up the sundie and any collateral damage can be fixed up by an engineer. That leaves a platoon with up to three more personnel carriers they can kit out to actually provide fire support. The sunderer has a jaw-dropping amount of versatility, and it's a real shame that's not exploited by more players in favor of the AMS deployment zerg race that leads to sundie spawn camps and infantry farms.

1. Gate crash into a tech plant or amp station center with your squad
2. Hack enemy vehicle terminals
3. Spawn AMS Sundy
4. ????
5. Profit

As long as you do this before the enemies are backed into the center of their base, you can really catch them off guard and nearly guarantee a win. This especially hurts with the main spawn rooms not connected to base centers at the moment. It'll take a bit more effort to control next patch. I really think that people heavily undervalue the role of a Sundy without the AMS. The problem is that it takes coordination, which is something that the majority of the population doesn't have.

wow you are really really bad with that shield burst sundy, if you pop it right before you hit the first av sheild you can get inside the sheilds in the amp station (ive done this multiple times). Secondly you never use sheild burst unless your sundy is FULL. It is useless to run 5 guys into an amp station, now ~9 maxes with 2 engies and 1 infil and you will hose their defense.

Plus it's actually the only ground vehicle that can provide indirect fire support, which is why I love Bulldogs over Furies. I wish we got actually artillery, or at least some proper mortars, but the Bulldogs work well enough.

But you see there was this mentality amoung nearly everyone that the Sundy is only for AMS... Shield Breaker??? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS!?!?!?!

Before the Tech Change there would be times where the Zerg and many Outfits on the NC side would just mindlessly charge into that back door while the TR LOLed it up inside killing them in droves... I would load a Sundy with Maxes, Engies and Medics with HA and LA standing near the Front Shield on standby, roll into the Shield all sneaky like with the shield breaker with my **** sticking out of the shield for those outside to slip in and then capture the Tech Plant in seconds...
I announced into Yell about our success, took at least until the Tech Change before any of the other outfits actually "apologized" for acting like dicks and not giving the credit due for our work. (One still sits on the belief that we are snobs though)

Since the Change though... I have yet to change from AMS... It is sad...