The ANT outside of construction is a troll vehicle. Choosing the ANT over a Sunderer or Harasser is just trolling BUT it does suit the combat role visually. It's is a very cool looking vehicle, large and intimidating but it's just terrible in combat. I'm not asking for the ANT to receive the advanced anti-tank guns and basically be a large, up-armored Harasser. I want it to be more unique in something other vehicles cannot do in the battle. Giving the TR ANT a flame thrower top gun would be very interesting and it would also help in making the factions more unique.
The Kobalt ANT is a pretty powerful anti-infantry tool. Its got a solid combination of health&armor, its very zippy across the battlefield, the proximity radar still works when you are in the gunseat and is you would be able to control it as the driver it would have been OP as all hell. Adding topguns like the Pillager would be useful, assuming that the Pillager gets some more range so it can actually clear the roof of the vehicle. But why stop there? I've always said that PS2 is lacking teamwork. One way to get it would be to add Mechanized infantry (MI), which is basically infantry that moves along tanks so they can support each other. The ANT would be perfect for the job to be modified to a solid infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) and fullfill the mechanized part of MI. To get people to actually use it in that fashion we need some encouragements. For example the ANT could have some AOE buffs for nearby infantry that it can activate. Such an ability would simply go onto a cooldown after use, but using cortium lets you reset the cooldown instantly. That way you arent required to get cortium but it is a nice bonus. Besides AOE buffs to nearby infantry the ANT could equip other tools to support the infantry. A shield like the Prowler has (but without the need to deploy), deploying large smokescreens with ECM to protect allied infantry from spots and confuse enemy scouting equipment, various mortar tools to nerf enemies or buff allies etc. The infantry still need more reasons to stick around the ANT, so they are able to buy weapons and gadgets at the ANT for free. These weapons and gadgets only function in close proximity to the ANT (lets say 30m) and the ANT can only provide 3 at a time. Each weapon and gadget can overheat after which it needs to cool down, but if the ANT has cortium this cooldown can be bypassed. This would encourage players to stick together as a group, and would help fulfill the Mechanized infantry role perfectly as both the vehicle and infantry need to rely on each other to do something. One moment your team of 4 can play a repaircrew using a repair tool provided by the ANT and deploying a short duration shield as cover for their allied vehicles. The next moment they are zooming across the battlefield to provide G2A support for some allies. Then they switch it up and provide some AV support. It would actually be very teamplay intensive compared to manning a turret for example. To swap out weapons you need to deploy and have everyone swap to the desired items. You could have everyone pick the same item for the best effect, but to prevent getting caught with the wrong items or because of strategy you might have everyone pick a different item. When moving up somewhere with infantry dismounted the gunner and passengers will carry the items powered by the ANT and when stationary its better to let the driver grab an item so the gunner can stay in his seat. It would be even nicer if infantry could somehow interact with all vehicles this way. Allowing infantry to grab something from the nearest MBT, Lightning, Sunderer etc they are supporting would greatly enhance the teamplay between vehicles and infantry.
Now, if you'd want to make the ANT a mix between Chimera and Hellhound, oh boy, I'd be up for that. Dibs for NC on a chemical thrower for Doom Wolf!
The flame thrower has indirect damage, lights enemies on fire, can hunt out infiltrators and would make TR more unique. I noticed TR is suffering. Also the ANT is a joke. Pretty small chance to get someone to gun even if the Kobalt is good. Oh yeah the ANT would be perfect for that role but I noticed that would be hard to do cause of how fast battles end and also due to most bases being too small and clustered, it's really hard to move often. Getting a change like that is pretty necessary IMO for PS2. I see the devs instead choose to add more content to the game and I don't think it's a good idea, like it baits new to players to come and join but I don't think it will last long. There is a big difference between a player who does something 10 times and another player which does it 500 times. It won't be easy for the new player to settle in and it will end in him leaving. Changing the gameplay would refresh it for everyone, keep the game new.
A friend of mine likes to pull radar-Kobalt-ANTs and I think his record so far was ~150 kills and 0 deaths in an hour, as well as tons of support for spotting. Get a turbo, drive it in places it doesn't belong and profit. Combine the constant 80 m spotting with this insane killing potential and you got yourself an effective scout-turret that's also mobile. You can even do that alone by gunning yourself, even though obviously it's more dangerous.
No it's not a faster Sunderer cause it cannot spawn allies, it cannot hold MAX units, which is pretty dumb when they can enter the Harasser, it cannot hold as many infantry and compared to the Sunderer, the ANT is extremely weak in combat. Fire suppression is better than C-Barrier 1. Cloak is good for running away, its standard for base building. Turbo is good for getting into locations no other vehicle can but it's a bit of a problem. The bases are usually super clustered and it's really not worth it: blocking your allies, maybe hitting them just to later die cause all the enemy has to do is poke out, shoot and hide to take you down. Yes I know Kobalt is good.
I meant it has basically the same hp as a sunderer, with far less downsides. With the turbo you can basically ram anything in the game and kill it, or/and outrun them. The cloak allows to escape or get rams/roadkills. It's really good against infantry, and it's its also great against armor because it can kill things by ramming, something a sunderer can't always do. Besides, the pillager is a meme, it wouldn't do anything against vehicles, and the kobalt would just be better against infantry.
Sunderer Blockade Armor: 20% health increase (6000 total HP), 40% C-4 reduced damage. ANT Reinforced Armor: 10% health increase (4400 total HP). Not even close to same HP. With turbo you can ram but that's very dumb, like I don't buy an Armored vehicle to ram other armor, I don't purchase it to play football. The reason why I really want the Flame Thrower is because I noticed it's a great short range suppressor. The ANT Pillager should get more range than the flash weapon but the short range is enough in the objective. When the Kobalt or Bulldog ANT gets into the objective I always get decimated. All the enemy has to do is poke out shoot and hide and I got countered. The Kobalt cannot stop that and the Bulldog has trouble cause of how hard it is to aim the weapon on some areas like windows. The Pillager is a mix of both, that also lights enemies on fire. That's definitely not a joke weapon and will make the ANT a much more respected vehicle which won't get me kicked anymore from a Platoon for taking it out lol.
In summary... the ANT sucks compared to the sunderer in terms of hp the ANT weapons suck because they are hard to aim Why not just pull a sunderer then, a get 2 of your platoon members to gun? You say the ant is too squishy, but think adding a flamethrower on it is going to make a difference? The kobalt is far better at suppressing infantry, and as I said the flamethrower doesn't do anything against tanks. Besides, you say the problem you have is people poking in and out to shoot rockets at you. Either position yourself better, or just pre-aim/fire where they are going to be. It will be way easier for them to avoid a flamethrower than a kobalt. And I know this is cliche, but practice your aim. The bulldog can 1clip MBTs and do massive damage to infantry, and the kobalt is one of the simplest infantry farming weapons ever - it even has a headshot multiplier. Ants should just have defense weapons anyways, they shouldn't be meant to attack stuff, yet some do quite successfully. If you have trouble with the ANT, just pull a sunderer. The pillager would be more suitable on something like the harasser.
No, I'm talking about the ANT in the objective, like inside...turbo over the barrier that encloses tanks from being inside. The only useful thing the vehicle can do. Why would I be talking about using the ANT outside?
