Please, oh gods of DUST, give Heavies immunity to headshots from the front.

All would be right with the world.

Heavies need a philosophy. Right now they resemble slow, tanked assault suits with no equipment. I've heard "point defense" before, but point defense isn't a philosophy.

My view is that heavies are for controlling the flow of battle. They can be used by field commanders to create walls and chokepoints, but lack the mobility to strike. You can rout your enemies toward your heavies, or you can simply block them off and shoot them down like fish in a barrel. This is why heavies work for point defense: they create a mobile wall in front of a point. But they're not just set-and-forget point defenders, they're actually critical components of any sophisticated battlefield tactics. They're the anvil to the assault's hammer.

From that standpoint, strengthening the suit against small arms fire and headshots would be great, but you do hit the nail on the head when it comes to the gun: in order for the heavy suit to be truly balanced, it should have drawbacks that mean it's rarely used except with a heavy weapon. That means the heavy weapons have to be powerful enough to counter drawbacks in the suit. They have to be fearsome enough to keep medium suits from standing out in front of heavies and shooting them down. A heavy should be able to engage three assaults--not to kill them in a 3-on-1 engagement, but a smart heavy should be able to hold them off for a decent amount of time. I think giving some kind of disruptive abilities to the heavy weapons could go a long way toward making that happen. The assaults should take cover, maybe throw some grenades and try to flank. A smart heavy controls the terms of engagement, prevents flanking and keeps enemies in front of him. Maybe heavies only get the headshot safety in the front?

All this has to be balanced by considering how the proposed heavy combo would play outside its role. A whole team of indestructible heavies is unquestionably a bad thing. I think this is already fairly well balanced by the heavy's mobility and range (a heavy out in the open will always be easy to drop), but it's something to watch.

20% base small arms resistance and 4% per level, increase the SP and ISK requirements but also buff the HMG, the FG is fine atm...

give the HMG a damage buff inside 15m too. thats their killbox

if ur that close to a heavy ur doing it wrong.

I dunno man. Headshot Immunity (+50% damage) > 20% Small Arms resistance.

Headshots are the only reason HMG loses to AR at mid-close range. It's a simple and brilliant fix...

Gotta love the lack of care for the heavy coming from CCP. Seriously, just take the class out of the game. Like the dropships and Marauder tanks, just take it out til it's actually useful.

It's pathetic that after a year and a half the heavy class still only has 1 anti infantry weapon specific to its class. DUST is about diversity I was told... LOL! Only diversity in this game is who can spam proto nades the best.

This game is about medium suits + Assault rifles.

Everyone is a slayer. Scout is almost useless, and heavies defending is laughable because they're a proto hipster glorified camper now.

I say it again, heavies will soon become a dinosaur. Extinct and a distant memory. What a joke. From being a feared, and well respected class to being a joke in DUST

Well done.

might be too much logic here...

The problem is, while other classes get better, the tanks have continually gotten worse over time. Chromosome was an epic time for tanks, and before that tanks were the gods on the battlefield requiring 2-3 guys to team fire. Now? One guy with AV nades could take one down in a matter of seconds.

Tanks are no longer feared like they used to be, in fact a Caldari suit + AR is more feared than anything else.

Hmmm, that seems familiar (read the quote)

No, it's because it can't hit that far.

Short range, plus dispersion that can't hit the broadside of a Titan is what makes heavies useless.

Moderate range buff, tighten dispersion.

Heavy fixed.

Sad face, I have to continue to be an assault player while my heavy collects dust.

:[

some very good discussions here. linked it to the new EP and some other devs on twitter. next up is retuning the scout which is almost just as bad off. dont be a person who supports the class you use but could care less about anything else.

if ur a fan of this game at all and its balance u should be posting in the scout thread as well. no true dust fans wants to dominate with anything besides his skill. we want things balanced and operating as intended so that we can have a good experience even when the other guy wins.

some very good discussions here. linked it to the new EP and some other devs on twitter. next up is retuning the scout which is almost just as bad off. dont be a person who supports the class you use but could care less about anything else.

if ur a fan of this game at all and its balance u should be posting in the scout thread as well. no true dust fans wants to dominate with anything besides his skill. we want things balanced and operating as intended so that we can have a good experience even when the other guy wins.

pretty much... at least we'll be getting 2 new AR variations to try out

Actually Rattati, what do you do at CCP?

Hey Fox/Himiko

I never saw the problem with chromosome spread or range.

The HMG is supposed to be deadlier than the AR. It is classified as an anti-infantry weapon. And HMG's realistically have more range than an AR.

Even in EVE, projectile autocannons outrange blasters (which is what an AR is), and larger weapon classes outrange smaller weapon classes.

So this is a weird inconsistency that makes very little sense. We already have enough drawbacks to justify additional range.

Hey Fox/Himiko,

I am the global head of FP&A at CCP, currently based in Iceland, and relocating with my family to Shanghai in January to help our efforts on Dust 514, joining CCP Rouge and the team there.

Given that I am also a fanatic player, you might call me a true believer in Dust 514 and its potential.

.........So you haven't already seen the damage the heavy machine gun CAN ALREADY do then.

I have been practicing my heavy in anticipation of my Gallente heavy soontm.

I love the idea of an armored beast with an HMG so I began skilling slowly into it but it was going terribly for weeks. Going head to head with mediums at optimum (that I thought) ranges for me, had me losing half of the time, or more.

I did not like it and did not understand how to make it work, blaming my lack of specilaization or general UP of the heavy, and cursing the gods.

But then I had an eye opening moment, seing the Dark cloud come into a random pub and go 24/0 in a heavy/hmg, in the midst of the firefight the whole time, something I had just thought not possible.


So I struggled on.

And then I crouched.

And the angels sang.


It's a weird crutch (I am used to it from my old AQ2 days), and I don't think the heavy is by no means perfect as it is, but tactical crouching with the hmg literally melts faces like no other weapon I have used (except for OHK's)

Crouching might work down a corridor, but if you're trying to avoid nade spam and MD spam, you're literally a sitting duck in this situation.

I will admit crouching has a magical effect on bullet spread, but there should be a skill to reduce that.

Without a doubt. Lots of the anger toward the HMG would be solved with a sharpshooter skill.

For the vets it's strange to see people run toward heavies. In closed beta the HMG was feared. They should be a force again. It'll take another slot for a plate and a buff to the HMG for it to happen.

I wouldn't mind them having a built in armor rep as well.

Just make them more expensive like they used to be, but make them godly.

I have played as a heavy from February this year. Took a 2 week brake because of 1.5 not giving out new heavysuits or guns but I came back and this week I stopped playing as my heavy and went AR with shield base and armor base. Im going to clown on my self in this next few statements.

Heavys are a joke. Yes the huge natural EHP we have is nice and the HMG is nice but the fact is a Caldari assault can have the same amount as EHP as a heavy at base and move faster. Yes you can put more EHP on your heavy but there isnt any point. The SLOWER you are the MORE BULLETS you take.

Shoot a heavy in the head and they drop. Heavys HMG is very hard to have the bullets land on there head before the AR hits you in the face 20x with are huge head hitbox multiplier. Yes shooting at them will help after 2.3 seconds of missing bullets. You have to let the gun warm up before it starts working correctly. Then you have to worry about OVERHEATING NOW. If we crouch are HEAD IS VERY OPEN. It really doesn't help. I have died more from crouching then run,gun, and aim all at once.

In PC unless your a killer with the Six Kin Burst with Red battery's to run into there face FAST or you get the drop on them with the Boundless there isn't a place for heavys other then FG'ing up in the sky. If you have played against me in PC you know ill be running at you so my Six Kin if I want the kill before your Core hits me hopefully.

If you see a heavy moving slow at you what do you do in PC or PUB?
A) throw a CORE
B) shoot them in the face
C) both.
D) run into your team.

I see alot of C in PC and in PUBS mostly D.


I personally love being a Fat Boy and still might play as him but If someone ask's me "should I be a heavy" i will tell them no. Its a waste of SP. Limit to guns,suits, and module slots make this class VERY hard to play as. If you see a heavy in a Pub match and they are doing good. Dont bag on them. Give them props. To any heavy's that still play as your heavy Start QQ'ing!!! THINGS GET FIXED WHEN YOU QQ. I am a heavy and I do support this message.

Not goldy just fixed