Tone down HA shields

I dont think you mean that lol, but you'd be singing a different tune if your jumpjets took twice as long recharge.


Shields are fine, they have already been nerfed several times in the past and right now are more balanced than they ever have been. They are powerful enough to actually save you in some situations, but the long recharge time especially for resist shield makes up for that.

Heavy Assault really is the main frontline infantry class in planetside 2, LA is the mobile version, and max being the heavily armored version. You give up that tankyness and survivabilty of HA for the mobility LA, you aren't going to be able(most of the time) to beat a Heavy with their shield up head on in a 1v1 situation. All the LA's that use that mobility and shoot at me from high angles and ambush me are the ones that kill me most often, and piss me off.

btw I guess I'm biased lol , I've always played HA mainly(since beta), and I was using the resist shield rank 5, nanoweave rank 5, 3 med kit combo with the SVA-88 long before the beutelgeuse and orion buffs. Now? I've noticed More people have figured out how to use HA as a frontline class in a firefight if a max isn't around, it's a good thing, I see better team play on every faction compared to the first few months after launch.

I agree with you that it has a role as front line solder. But there has to be balance in things. And it does not look balanced right now. I am not suggesting to remove shields, just tone them down. At least 30% would do.

c'mon guys, the NMG absorbs 700 dmg.
i'll use my GD-7F for my calculations.

is everyone really losing their minds over 0.47 seconds higher TTK?

and you all have so many stories of "spraying someone in the back"
do they really turn around and then kill you within those 0.47 seconds?
if so they have either ridiculously good reflexes and aim or they're hacking.

i'll admit 1 in 20 heavies i ambush might unexpectedly move to the side or something so i'll miss my shots and it'll turn into a 1v1,
but generally you shouldn't be spraying a heavy in the back and have him turn and kill you.

There is some validity to some of the well made points.
Maybe a couple classes could benefit with another anti heavy tool. Or maybe this is as good as it gets!
I do want to say the shoot for the head works well almost to well and here is why. Smart cheaters would play a class that could mask getting damaged and always shot for the head or so they say.
Most of the issues I notice happens early morning pacific time before the sun comes up. I like playing with the none native speaking types but for some reason I get the feeling something isn't the same as fighting other players located on our continent.

Oh come on.

I just signed up so i could reply to this.

As an infiltrator, i love HAs. They run around as if they are invisible, taking notice of nothing lol. Easy to kill with a medium range infil. Headshot headshot headshot. I mean come on, at least aim for the chest area, recoil should help you hit the head.
And if they shield up even better, they become easier to spot. If i havent killed a HA before he/she pops shield, ill just cloak and wait the shield out.

Diversity makes this game awesome. I dont mind if another class is more powerful. It makes me a better player. So please stop the hate. I love the big bright targets just the way they are.

Ps. I in no way consider myself a kick *** player, i can hold my own but thats about it lol.

so instead of doing a 2 min search of his player names which are listed in his signature you choose to make baseless assertions.
Only his VS char has HA as the most played class ca. 40%
both his main and his NC alt have 40% engineer playtime. then consider that the VS alt is only BR 30 and at this point you should get the gist...

research before you talk ****.

HA is the main fighting class, the game is designed that way.

When you play LA or INFIL you know you are at a disadvantage 1v1 head to head, that's why you have the tools to flank you know...

If you lose with a LA or SMG INFIL against a HA you just flanked....learn to aim man because you are just painfully bad.

I won't speak for EN and MED because these are support classes...sure they can fight pretty well but they are not meant to be on the frontline shooting everythin and going solo because guess what...they don't have overshields.

You want 100% fair FPS gameplay with no classes ? You go play counter strike it's amazing.
But you'll have to L2A LOL

Uhm.. hate to be a party pooper.. I play only support and yes.. I have been rekt by more HA than I can count.. but.. that's the whole point of HA.. they are the most destructive infantry.. they only lack the ammo of a MAX.. . really hate 'em but I like it when they are on my side some seem to forget and infils job is to be SNEAKY not powerful (look @ their silhouette) that's why are are "invisible" ... HA shields don't last forever .. my 2 cents... Archer seems to be pretty MAX specific.. I have only killed 1 MAX with it (close range) and was surprised how powerful it is,, but against infantry it's poor rate of fire.. reload.. not my choice doesn't work worth a crap against anything else that I have seen..^5 for the archer and no cloak AND slows the player down (weight) .. hmmm..

HA isn't supposed to be balanced with the other classes when it comes to frontline fighting.

In a straight up 1v1 HA is meant to own the other classes by design.

Why is that so hard for people to understand.

Why don't you use your C4 against the Heavies?

i dont have a problem with them being the top of the foodchain in 1v1s, i just have a problem with the way thats achieved. id much rather they just have more health altogether instead of popping a shield.

I don't know why they didn't implement the PS1 trade off with their Rexo vs Agile armor. It made perfect sense for having more armor and the ability to carry more stuff at the expense of moving slower.

If they leave it as is, then nerf HA's walk/run/sprint speed.

The sheilds are required for storming rooms, taking on armour, air farmers etc - I personally dont think you could handicap the shields and keep (certainly the TR) HA viable.

What about dropping all the LMG's to an at best TMG50 or Rhino style of gun?
These are fun to use, but can get you killed pretty quickly if you dont think about what your doing.

I would change several things about the HA class:

1) Pick either an LMG or a Rocket Launcher. HAs should be able to carry heavy weaponry, but not two types of heavy weaponry. This would split HAs into dedicated AI or dedicated AV, which makes them more manageable to counter. HAs running around with LMGs? Gun them down from the safety of a Sunderer. HAs forming into annoying AV/AA teams? Charge them with infantry and wipe them out. In exchange for this the HA would be allowed to carry a sidearm.

2) Have either a Bullet Shield or an Explosive Shield. Like the suggestion above, this would force HAs to have a weakness to either bullets or explosives, giving other infantry and option to engage. Just like how Kinetic and Flak armours work.

3) Greatly increase LMG hipfire CoF and increase the transition into ADS. Most LMGs ought to perform akin to the Gauss SAW, with horrible hipfire accuracy but nice and tight ADS accuracy. This prevents the HA from charging into rooms and spraying people down with an LMG. SMGs and shotguns should be used for room-clearing work, not an LMG. Instead, LMGs should be used for suppressive fire and overwatch.

4) Add a "charge time" to Shields. About to charge into a room or sprint across an open alley? Then pop those Shields a second or so before you run out, because now Shields need to take an extra second to charge up. This transforms the Shield into a proactive tool rather than a reactive tool. So sure the HA will excel in combat that they can predict and foresee, but HAs will be more vulnerable to ambushes and flanking. This creates room for Infiltrators and LAs. If the HA catches an LA out in the open in a head-to-head fight, then the HA should win. If the LA flanks or surprises the HA, then the LA should win.

Honestly, now that I think about it more, the best compromise (in my opinion) is to slow them down.

They get to keep their high TTK and ability to carry rockets, but as a trade off you walk, run and sprint slower than any other class.

Creating a class to be the most competitive class is stupid game design.

I'm not saying HA should be nerfed.

I'm saying other classes should have their arsenals given new life, look at how many tools HA has access to. Many different rocket launchers that specialize in many different things.

Now look at the infiltrator's 2 tools the medic and engineer's 1 and the LA's 0.

Fix that instead.

Creating a class to be the most competitive class is stupid game design.

No it isn't, frontline fighting is there job, all the classes should not be equal in all things that would be bad game design.

I'm not saying HA should be nerfed.

I'm saying other classes should have their arsenals given new life, look at how many tools HA has access to. Many different rocket launchers that specialize in many different things.

Personally, I think the rocket launcher should be on the engineer, and I would take away the C-4 from the medic and allow them to place a stationary shield sort of like the engineers anti-inf mana gun but without the gun.

Now look at the infiltrator's 2 tools the medic and engineer's 1 and the LA's 0.

Give the engineer the rocket launcher, and I agree that LA needs a tool that is uniquely them.

Fix that instead.

I think instead of nerf the heavy they should give a class a counter ability against HA.
Maybe a special ammo type for infiltrator that prevent the activation of the Ha shield when they ha get hit.

it's not hard to understand... neither is bad game design.
at some level, PS2 is a FPS, which means that HAs will go 1 on 1 with medic or engie or LA. If HA can press his instant win button and 'own' every time, the game is designed badly.

when you're playing your HA and get killed and there is no medic, or engie to put down ammo because everyone else are HAs also, maybe YOU will understand

I think the current setup is not ideal/bad design.

PS1 got it right. They made rexo (which is equivalent to HA) move slower than other suits/armor.

I mean, it made logical sense: you carry more armor, more shields, more stuff, well you should move slower, and that's how it was.

There's no trade off for having the strongest shields, carry the most stuff. None at all really.