I agree that different variations of tanks should have role specific bonuses. I like the increased range idea (won't happen because CCP rendering fiasco). However, as usual, this thread comes down to making tanks no different then dropsuits with more health and active modules. I have never understood why players believe tanks should function like giant, rolling dropsuits. The tanks of 1.6 should be given choices and role bonuses. They should complement what mercs/squads are doing. They should REQUIRE squad support to perform to the max of their abilities.

Tanks are support vehicles that should function as a force multiplier when paired with a squad. They should not be squads in and of themselves. A concentrated effort of Proto AV should always be theoretically capable of downing a tank. Skill should then determine if the tanker loses his toy or not.

Tanks should not function as squads. They should not be worth 2,3,4,5,6 "boots on the ground" mercs. They should be costly force multipliers that carry a large amount of risk in fielding (One thing I think CCP has right with tanks atm).

There is a reason the US army's primary heavy armored platform is the Bradley fighting vehicle. Hand held AV equipment allows a poorly trained soldier to destroy millions of dollars worth of Abrams tank. This is the way it works in real life, and one of the few real life examples that should hold true in Dust.

You can't fart around in a Titan in Eve online. You are vulnerable to smaller ships. You shouldn't be able to fart around in a Tank in Dust. You will, and should, be vulnerable to smaller ships...er...mercs. You want to solo in tanks? Fine, there is the redline... or, develop the skill necessary to MAKE it work in the thick of things.

TLDR: Tanks are not super heavy dropsuits.

PS. Nothing I am saying is meant as an insult to the OP's skill. I can only assume, based on his pedigree, that he is an excellent player.

Buffing base stats as you progress through tiers is a very bad Idea.

1. It would further widen the rift between vets and noobs.

2. It would make running lower tier items/vehicles completely nonviable.

3. It would push pay to win, because boosters = faster SP gain = less time to progress through tiers.

Maybe they could have a little bit of a speed boost in their base stats? I don't know if you put that in the OP or not, I'm lazy so I didn't read the whole thing :P

Where is this built in damage reduction stated in the descriptions?

then dont comment! i already said that

Ty sir :) i agree that they should be support, tanks shouldent run battlefeilds only contribute to the team in a way that infaintry can not: surpress and destroy infaintry. I dont think the listed ideas are made to superpower the tanks, thats what increased slots do. But at the same time i dont think there is a way to make a tank better at supporting infantry than making the tank over all better. Is there? What skill could a tank have that exclusively helps infaintry? I dont think there is one. So make the tank better so it can help the squads its with, but not to the point to were it can roll over teams by itself

So? Getting SP is what this game is about! Yes, noobs should get smashed and utterly destroyed by ppl with 10x their SP count unless they have the skill and smarts to win dispite their disadvantage, and tanks are no different.

So? Getting SP is what this game is about! Yes, noobs should get smashed and utterly destroyed by ppl with 10x their SP count unless they have the skill and smarts to win dispite their disadvantage, and tanks are no different. Boosters support that, no one cares if their p2w or not. If anything, boosters help Noobs get SP so they can have better fits to compete. And its how teirs work, no one would ever run a basic scout, heavy, logi, assualt suit if they have a proto suit unless their trying to save money. Yes, proto should be better than tiers below it. Its how this game is intended

They should create a logistics tank with the ability to support tanks better than a logistics LAV it would have built in resist the same PG but one or two less slots, that or one or two slots that could only be fitted with a heavy Transporter/Remote repper to prevent people from abusing it like the logistics LAV's.

Give back the PG and CPU so decent tanking mods can actually be fit, balance from there.

I can tell you, that's one of the main issues with tanking. Can't fit ****.

Buffing base stats as you progress through tiers is a very bad Idea.

1. It would further widen the rift between vets and noobs.

2. It would make running lower tier items/vehicles completely nonviable.

3. It would push pay to win, because boosters = faster SP gain = less time to progress through tiers.

Why no special abilities, surya some anchor ability with highly increased armor resist and sagaris gets invisibility for some sec, breaking locked on swarms and stuff, making it mobile. mad and gunnlogi get lesser skills of those

You can't push for tiercide on tanks if you don't want it with drop suits.

I have to put 120mm plates on my HAV so I can fit most of the stuff. Like really........

Maybe the tank can give a small resistance to dropsuits (5% maybe) and the skill would increase the distance so that your team doesn't have to hug your tank to benefit from it.

The bonuses you've suggested make the SP gap ludicrously huge. A vet Caldari tank has over twice the shield regeneration with these bonuses that a noob Caldari tank does. 40% faster Minmatar tanks are insane, as are 40% tougher Gallente tanks, etc. These already very significant gaps are only widened by the passive effect of skills - at that rate, a vet Caldari tank could well have almost three times the shield regen of a noob one.

As a comparison, these numbers can be attained by proto dropsuits over standard dropsuits. That would be reasonable - except with this suggestion, these numbers can be attained by standard over standard. That's a huge problem.

The only base stats increased on Dropsuits as you move up tiers are Slots and CPU/PG which is required to fill the slots. HP, Movement/Sprint Speed, Scan precision, Scan Profile, Scan Range, Shield recharge, Armor Regen all stay the same at base level. The racial/role bonuses of some suits may modify some suits, but this is a skill, not a base stat increase and is not even close to the extent the OP is suggesting for vehicles.

Why no special abilities, surya some anchor ability with highly increased armor resist and sagaris gets invisibility for some sec, breaking locked on swarms and stuff, making it mobile. mad and gunnlogi get lesser skills of those