In terms of lethality, most likely the Prowler. The Prowler AP cannon does 1,250x2 damage every 2.5 seconds with Reload 5, and that's not including Anchor, With Anchor 4 and Reload 5, that's 2,500 damage every 1.54 seconds. That's DPS of 1,000-1,623 depending on if Anchor is used. The Lightning AP cannon does 1,600 damage every 2.7 seconds with Reload 5. This means a DPS of 593, or a half or a third of the DPS of the Prowler cannons. Ballistically, the Prowler's AP cannon is superior to the Lightning's AP cannon even without Anchor. Prowler AP shells travel at 250m/s compared to the Lightning's 225m/s velocity. Throw in Anchor 4, and the Prowler's muzzle velocity leaps to 325m/s. This means less lead on the target and less drop to compensate for. The Prowler is far superior to the Lightning in terms of dishing out damage, to the point where I think even a HEAT Prowler would win against an AP Lightning. Probably why the TR pull more MBTs than Lightnings compared to the NC and VS (who pull more Lightnings than MBTs).
You mention NC pulls lightnings when TR pulls prowlers. Do you think prowler is a more effective 1/2 solo tank than say the vanguard?
Skyguard Lightning for AA. Prowler for everything else. I'll raise the stakes a bit higher: Uncerted Prowler for everything not AA over certed out Lightning. Yes, but only in some AI situations. The dual cannon is easier to kill infantry, and the HEAT on the Prowler is actually useful. But tank to tank.. they're about even. Just have to use their strengths and hide their weaknesses.
I do. As a solo tanker, you're better off flanking than getting into head-on fights, since you'll simply lose those to 2/2 MBTs. The Prowler's super-powered cannon is extremely useful for flanking, since you're a lot more likely to get the kill before the target either responds or escapes. The Vanguard shield is useless until the target starts shooting back, at which point you've already lost your advantage. On top of that, the Prowler's main cannon is drastically better against infantry, and as a solo player, you'll want or need to kill them from time to time. This advantage is less pronounced with 2/2 MBTs, since the top gunner is often better equipped to deal with infantry threats.
A fully certed Lightening is way better (especially if it is stealth with AP). There is a lot of advantages to the lower hit box and better maneuverability of the Lightening that can lead to more survivability. Coupled with the AP, which is pretty damn good, you can take on MBT no problem. Just don't take the mentality of driving straight at a target and expect to win.
hard to say it depends on battle conditions and terrain. in prowler you can just plow through enemies when properly supported at close range or sit on a hill at long range and rain fire down on the enemy from afar. i use lightnings to harrass enemy light units into chasing me and i set tank mine traps to lure in enemy MBTs even if the trap doesn't kill them and i'm at full health it skews the odds in my favor.
Depends on the fight and who you're fighting and how many blues are about and what they're driving and who is leading them.... I fully certed both with refunded certs and auraxed the lightning before the vanny just by driving each to its strengths.... And not fighting VS!
prowler. always. I just love that tank. And in a game in which tanks are made of paper in general, if you compare lightnings to prowlers, then at least the prowler would be made of cardboard while the lightning will always be a paper-tank. I took on three lightnings solo and won. Sure, I lost my prowler to the last one, but managed to kill him at the same time he killed mine. If I can take on 3 lightnings at the same time and come to a draw, that basically says everything about the lightning's viability. Granted, I have some certs put into my prowler, so that might factor into it, but still...
I have a 2x AP reload 5, anchor 4, rival 3, NAR 4 Prowler. It kills everything you can hit in a 360 radius before it has time to do anything about it. Its also extremely effective at killing AMSs at range. If you can lock down your prowler somewhere far away, and land every shot. I also have a 2x AP reload 5, suppression 4, rival 3, NAR 5 Lightning. It doesent kill half as fast as the Prowler, but i have an easier time dodging and staying alive if things get too close. I like the nimble lightning for closer range battles. But when there is a long-range open field vehicle battle, i prefer the Prowler.
Yup, if you look at faction usages of MBTs and Lightnings it looks like this: Usage time of MBT primary weapons versus Lightning weapons TR- 1.03 MBT hours : 1 Lightning hour (811.1 MBT hours/791.1 Lightning hours) NC- 0.77 MBT hours : 1 Lightning hour (664.0 MBT hours/866.2 Lightning hours) VS- 0.71 MBT hours : 1 Lightning hour (577.0 MBT hours/807.8 Lightning hours) Both the NC and the VS tend to spend more time in Lightnings than in MBTs... the TR are the only ones who play more MBTs than Lightnings. Because there really is no reason (except weak AA and a 100 nanite cost difference) to pull a Lightning instead of a Prowler. In most cases the Prowler will win. Say we have two MBTs, a maxed-out AP Prowler and a maxed-out AP Vanguard. Both use their abilities and both have certed out their front armour. The Prowler anchors and starts firing, and can do 1,250x2 damage in 1.54 seconds (2.5s stock reload time dropped by 0.5s from Reload 5, reduced to 52% by Anchor 4, and then increased by the 0.5s refire time). This 1,250 damage is in turn reduced to 381.375 damage (1,250 damage reduced to 27% from the Vanguard's reinforced frontal armour and then increased by 113% from AP-type damage). Against a shielded Vanguard with 6,000HP, it takes 8 salvos to kill, which takes the Prowler 11.28 seconds (7x full reload cycles + 1x 0.5s refire). The Vanguard flips on the shield and starts firing, and does 2,075 damage in 3.5 seconds (4s stock reload time dropped by 0.5s from Reload 5). This 2,075 damage is in turn reduced to 763.6 damage (2,075 damage reduced to 32% from the Prowler's reinforced frontal armour and then increased by 115% from AP-type damage). Against a Prowler with 4,000HP, it takes 6 shots to kill, which takes the Vanguard 17.5s (5x full reload cycles). So the Prowler will kill the Vanguard in 11.28 seconds, while the Vanguard would have killed the Prowler in 17.5 seconds. The Prowler will handily win the race. For fun, let's preempt the "but Anchor is useless" argument and see what happens if the Vanguard uses Shield but the Prowler does not use Anchor. The main difference from above is that the Prowler does 1,250x2 damage in 2.5 seconds, which bumps up TTK to 18 seconds exactly. So even if a Prowler refuses to use Anchor (not even counting the fact that it can then take Fire Suppression which is a free 12% HP bonus), it only falls behind the Vanguard's TTK by half a second. So yes, in pretty much all situations the Prowler is the more lethal tank of the two. Maybe the only place where it is weaker is in terms of AA duties, but MBTs aren't made for that really.
I run the same loadout. The ranger is so under appreciated. I love getting the random enemy esf pull up to my prowler thinking he's safe in my main gun's blindspot. Only to be torn up and blown to bits by my ranger. Lib tries to same? Np, unload into him and eject right before your prowler blows up, then release a deci into him. Gets me salty hate tells all the time, lol. Of course this means running around in your tank as a heavy with a deci already equipped and rdy to go.
I've always thought of the Prowler as a heavy Lightning - it's almost as fast, it accelerates almost as quickly and the handling isn't too dissimilar. Add the better armor, main gun, lockdown, best long and short range secondaries - and it's attractive to say the least. Sure the Lightning has the mobility edge but it's nowhere near as pronounced as the difference to the NC/VS MBTs. Kinda like - Prowler = heavy Lightning Magrider = heavy Harasser Vanguard = tank I do use a racer 3 Lightning to hunt down Harassers but as you're playing TR, you don't need to worry as much
