My last rambling-wall-of-text-vaguely-resembling-a-suggestion-thread went fairly well, so I've decided to throw out an idea I had while running away from a small army of Vanguards on the plains of Indar: The Raptor Pack It seems that, oddly enough, many Light Assaults are tired of playing clay pigeon; we want a jetpack that gives us higher speed to more quickly approach targets. Many people have suggested a return of the Icarus Jump Jets (an old, beta jetpack that allowed short bursts of high speed movement). However, these ideas are often shot down due to net-code issues. So, in order to provide a high-speed jetpack that wouldn't warp players halfway across Auraxis, I propose the Raptor Pack. The Raptor would be, in essence, a Drifter pack taken to the extreme; it would lack any form of lift, and attempting to use it after leaping from a cliff would result in a sizable mess. Instead, the Raptor Pack would function much like a MAX's charge. When sprinting, the Light Assault could use their ability key to activate the Raptor Pack, quickly accelerating forward. However, like charging, using the Raptor Pack would prevent firing and make turning very difficult. Furthermore, the Raptor would need a second or two to accelerate and decelerate (but would stop fuel consumption while slowing down). This makes it useful for rapidly closing a distance or making a quick escape, but less effective in a direct fight. The Raptor would be best in open-ground fights, where Light Assaults are greatly weakened. Because it trades the ability to climb or glide, the Raptor would favor aggressive, rush-oriented play-styles, allowing the Light Assault to trade ambush potential and maneuverability for the ability to dictate engagement range. However, it would still require careful use and positioning, as a Light Assault charging directly at enemy troops is likely to die a quick death. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That's my idea for a warping-free, high-mobility jetpack. By trading our signature vertical advantage for speed, the Raptor Pack would allow a Light Assault to fight more effectively on open ground and to rapidly close on an enemy position. As always, I look forward to your questions, comments, and derision of my mental capabilities. Happy hunting!
I like the concept but... a straight rocket charge to the enemy lines would probably leave you perforated beyond all recognition. Rapid infantry flanking seems like the first tactic for this new breed of LA. Raptors/Assault Marines from Warhammer 40,000 come to my mind and I love it (granted they have epic armour to compensate for the reckless charge). Though I would like the technical details too.
Minus the drifting around being a super obvious target for anyone, this kinda feels like where they tried to shoehorn the drifters towards. I've tried using the drifters as they are to rush enemy positions, but conservation of momentum and velocity are APPALLING and even coughing near a small bump will drag you down to walking speed, and turning at anything more than a galaxy turning circle ends up bringing you to a near standstill, making lots of noise, in the air obvious as hell. I miss the pre nerf drifters that you could skate around on, skiing full pelt out of a corridor backwards firing wildly was awesome, and now there's no scoping while jetting which would have likely been a good push towards balancing them. Instead I can sort of move forwards slightly faster than running, and glide across gaps. Without being high up, why would I want to glide anywhere? Also, I've been beaten across distances by heavys on foot. That said, shotgun wielding LAs suddenly turboing across the gap between the base and my squad is something that shall likely give me nightmares, and I remember shotgun wielding infiltrators.
