There's a damn lot of threads shouting about ZOE and there's a reason for it. For that reason I'm giving you my vision of ZOE and I would be happy to hear opinion of both VS MAXes and their opponents. At first - Let's forget about what ZOE was before nerf because my suggestion isn't about mobility and weapon damage, not at all. Instead I'd like you to think about the word "zealot" - what does that truly mean? I think a zealot is someone who is more than likely to sacrifice his own life for his cause. And that's why my suggestion is: ZOE should make MAXes more vulnerable (as it does now) but in the end if MAX is killed by the enemy when ZOE is on, he'd blow up, causing heavy damage around. Sounds either OP or UP (depends on perspective) but I think it would be useful sometimes and such ability isn't suppose to be useful in *every* situation. - TR MAX has a "kill better/faster" button. - NC MAX has a "soak more dmg" button. - VS MAX (with "my" ZOE) would have a "oh **** button". There could be, however, a restriction that would both force MAXes to think when to use ZOE and prevent suicide-spam-MAXes. Just apply the rule "MAX killed under the influence of ZOE cannot be revived by any means". When you gather all the facts, suicidal ZOE doesn't look bad: - You can take whole group of enemies with you if surrounded. - Enemies still can prevent the explosion by not killing MAX with ZOE on (remember - ZOE would still have a timer and a cooldown [if switched on but not killed] and teamkills/fall-damage don't trigger bombing [so MAXes can't abuse ZOE]). - MAX will still be huge glowing-*** loud machine so it would be rather obvious for enemies to **** and change the target so they can outwait zoe. - Blown up MAX can't be revived on the spot and has to respawn. - If above point isn't enough, you may extend the time required to respawn (+50% or double?) so even if the player has resources for another MAX and his spawn is relatively close, he'd still be out of the field longer. That being said, suicidal ZOE looks balanced (depending on the explosion power, ofc, but I'm leaving that to the Devs if they ever catch my idea) utility that can sometimes give you some kills, sometimes can save you (if enemies decide to run away from glowing danger and not to kill it) and sometimes doesn't work (enemies run and kill you from afar or outwait your zoe and then kill you). How does it looks like for you, guys?
Did you not get the memo any thing that is VS and is remotely viable or useful is either not released or nerfed after. IE Orion, every pistol, our tanks, ESF, sniper rifles, Saron, PPA, Main gun, etc. Heck our faction trait is bad pistols.
Our faction trait is to getting nerfed. About your ZOE, I don't like the concept of "die to use the ability". Why not just change the ability to "reflect x% damage taken while active" ?
It is different... "Resist shield" I said, similar to the "resist shield" of HA that is a activate-able damage resistance buff or the sunderer shield which absorb partial damage until the damage is too much. The NC max shield is a damage blocker that nothing penetrates.
lol...seems our purple friends lost one of their OP toys so they want another...funny isnt it? Yeah...a button that comes with a few BIGBIGBIGBIG downsides. a.) lockdown comes with a delay aka when you push the button you have to wait till you fire with the higher RoF BUT your are still not able to move or turn more then 90 degree to left and right and you cant break up the lockdown. Same goes for unlocking. b.) the whole ability makes you a a big target with sign above your head "place C4 an rockets here!!!". In the most cases you wont be finished with unlocking before the second rocket will blow your *** up. I ve got every TR MAX weapon in game and there only 2 setups where Lockdown is usefull..1. with dual Bursters (and a engi behind you who drops ammo packs like no tomorrow) and 2. Dual Pounder in Biolabs (I wish Pounders would be useful where they should be...aka AV and not the "it is not really good for AV and also not really good for AI but it can do both at the same time" we have now) There was a time were lockdown was also ok for Fractures but since the nerf, Fractures are a joke and so is the combination of fractures and lockdown (most time you will be dead from a tankcanon after you fired your first clip before you had reloaded or unlocked and the nmy tank will drive away with still 70% health). Lockdown didnt work in Planetside 1 after the Pounder change there (was the reason overdrive was introduced as new special ability of TR MAXes...well..it only took them 5 years to find out) and it also dont work in Planetside 2. Simply because 1 fact. Mobility means protection in the most FPS games...more armor is nice because it reduces the damage a shot does BUT a shot i avoided does 0 damage so a ability that let me give up all my mobility is better be worth it...lockdown in its current form isnt it in the most cases. Same here...big downsides. You suck damage BUT a.) you cant fire your weapon b.) to cover the whole MAX you need to crouch aka movment is slower. c.) shield can be outsmarted by using splash or aiming for the view window and feets Now lets look at the suggestions Suizide MAX - With the current ressources system it is no problem to spam MAXes even when you cant revive them - "Oh look...a ZOE MAX...dont kill it...let it go rampage for 30 secs and after he slaughtered his way thru our troops we can kill it...maybe"...well...sounds really like a system the game needs...NOT! Resist shield - Where exactly is the downside of your resist shield. Btw...the Sunderer shield works like the NC shield...the NC MAX shield also will be gone after it sucked x amount of damage...so what you suggest is a NC shield for your VS MAX that goes arround the whole MAX and has none of the downsides of the NC MAX shield.
The closest thing to nerf hammer that either of the other factions have had is the striker, which recently got another revamp so that it is at least okayish. Meanwhile our pistols, ZOE, the mag, and the PPA are all useless.
Just give us limited jump jets back. Enough to get onto a wall, and more of a burst jet that is uncontrolled. Also Disable weapons firing during and 1-2 seconds after landing. This would bring back mobility without a direct buff to damage or resistance. Now. I'm not talking LA style Jumpjets. I'm talking a activate, it bursts you 15-20m in the air with a slight forward thrust + current momentum. If you don't time it right you faceplant into a wall and have to go the long way around as you wait 45 seconds to a minute to recharge.
That's something I'd give up any form of ZOE for, actually ;D I'd love to see VS MAXes scaling some lower buildings and possibly flanking the enemy Roofs would still be guarded by MAXes' nemesis - C4 fairies - so technically it wouldn't be much of an issue, however I can already hear TR/NC wanting to take the jets away from VS MAXes. And honestly? They'd have a point in that crying
Unfortunatly as it stands if we get anything that is anything but absolutlly useless the TR and NC will complain. At least this would match with out empire uniquness of mobility over Power or quantity
