We all know that the best suit in DUST at the moment is a proto logi. they're superior to every suit in pretty much every way and more people are running a logi as more of an offensive suit instead of support/defensive making the assault suits redundant.
Hell my gallente proto logi fills every role i need. i can get a 9.25ms sprint speed with 590 stamina and 4 diff types of uplinks, i overtake scouts an dget more proto links out and despite having low hitpoints its still more than a scout suit.
As an assault i have a great tank at cost of movement but i deal great damage and can have equipment to benefit me, rep hives, scanner, pig sticker ect.
So my thoughts have been a few changes to the suits to get them more in balance, some of these ideas are passing thoughts i've seen on the forums and others discussed while in my corp chat/squad chats.

Firstly the logis. the skill bonus is great, it benefits the logis and helps keep them alive sure some don't fit the suits tank type but ccp have mentioned that suits will eventually get individual skill bonus to fit the role. one idea to 'force' a logi to support is removal of the light weapon slot and just have a side arm. now personally i think that is a fantastic idea, you're supposed to be at the back repping your heavy, sticking the troops and dropping ammo, not at the front guns blazing all out. but for compensation give each logi a bit more cpu/pg to fit higher grade equipment more easily, the problem with this though is finding something which would make the amarr logi stand out seeing as its sidearm is its 'speciality' perhaps a second sidearm slot or maybe even an extra grenade slot for AV/Anti infantry nades.

Now to fill in this combat logi role and to get more people running the assaults or commando.... simply add an extra equipment slot. it would open up a ton of options and help frontline troops have a bit more flexibility with what they carry. add a small amount of pg/cpu but not too much so folk are stacking allotek (R) and wiyrkomi triage hives and being awesome but enough that they can have adv hives and a pig sticker or uplinks to help stay in the fight a bit longer while the logi is attending to the rest of the squad. just help to make assault guys more self sufficient but still need that dedicated squad member to hold em together.

Also the gallente assault bonus really needs looking at. the cpu/pg to hybrid weapons is really poor. at max you'd save 22 cpu on a duvolle whereas the logi comes with around 100 extra cpu base and an extra lowslot.
maybe change it to a reduction to armor plate movement penalty or an extra 3% per level to armor plate effectiveness or hell even a 5% or 10% to stamina per level so its more mobile would be more usefull.

anyways thats my thoughts, feel free to add your own and make changes. thanks for reading

Putting the Assault back into Assault Dropsuits

As most of you know, there is always this ongoing debate about how Assault dropsuits are not as effective at frontline combat when compared to Logistics dropsuits fitted for a slayer role. While I think the gap is not as significant as it is made out to be on the Dust forums, I do recognize there is room for some improvements. Now many argue that the best way to address the perceived imbalance is to some how nerf the Logistics dropsuit. Things like reducing module slots, reducing CPU/PG, making equipment slots mandatory and limiting Logis to only sidearm weapons have all been suggested. However, I believe the best solution is to make Assault dropsuits better, by enhancing their offensive capability. This can be done by adjusting some simple game mechanics and rethinking role and race bonuses for both the Assault and Logistics classes.

Step one would be to dial back the 10% buff given to Light Weapons a few updates ago.

Step two would be to reduce the damage increase of Weapons Damage Modules. Militia/Basic to +2%, Advanced to +3% and Prototype to +5%. The stacking penalty for these modules would also be double their current rate.

Step three would be to change the current Assault bonus (+5% Shield Recharge Rate at each level) to something more fitting the slayer role. This would be a +2% Damage Increase to Light Weapons at each level. This way the Assault class become the more appealing choice for frontline combat by giving it the chance to regain that 10% damage buff at the highest level. Some adjustments to racial bonuses would also include:

• Amarr: 5% Reduction to laser weapon heat build-up (stays the same)
• Caldari: 3% Increase to max ammo (change from +2% efficacy to shield extenders)
• Gallente: 5% Reduction to weapon CPU/PG (change from -5% to hybrid weapon CPU/PG)
• Minmatar: 5% Increase to Light and Sidearm weapon clip size (change from +5% to sidearm clip size)

Step four would be to change some current Logistics racial bonuses. Logistics would keep the role bonus of +1 HP of Dropsuit Armor Repair, since there is generally no one to heal the healer and survivability is key in a support role. Changes to racial bonuses include:

• Amarr: 5% Reduction to active scanner CPU/PG (change from +5% efficacy to armor repair modules)
• Caldari: 5% Reduction to nano equipment CPU/PG (change from +5% efficacy to shield regulators)
• Gallente: 5% Reduction to repair tool CPU/PG (change from -5% to equipment CPU/PG)
• Minmatar: 5% Increase to hacking speed (stays the same)

Aside from the increase in damage output for Assault, the racial bonuses all now reflect important improvements in offensive weapon capability. Amarr remains the same with bonuses to Lasers and Scrambler Rifles; Caldari gets increased ammo, crucial for weapons like Mass Drivers and Swarm Launchers; Gallente gets significant CPU/PG savings from both weapons slots; and Minmatar gets larger magazines to offset its low HP.

The changes to Logistics don't take away from its durability with the inherent armor repair but do put more emphasis on support bonuses. The higher DPS potential of the Assault class, combined with the reduced effectiveness of Damage Modules, would make the Logistics suit a less capable platform for frontline combat.

Comments welcome

While not just patently idiotic like the sidearm only idea (I managed to convince one of the largest proponents of that idea that it was untenable in another thread, he has since stopped floating it), I think giving bonuses for specific types,of equipment is way too restrictive. For one, how do you pick the equipment? Why did you pick scanners and not uplinks for the Amarr, for example?
Do you really feel comfortable telling a logitistics player, look son, it's about time you started using equipment x all the time. Oh, you don't like it? Too bad, CCP decided that every logi from your race needs to feature that. HTFU I guess.

I mean, why not either just require all equipment slots to be filled (my preferred solution ) or give a blanket bonus to all equipment? Picking one type of equipment 100% kills the whole sandbox idea the suit fittings are built upon!

I think RydogV has it about right. Everyone wants a simple solution to a problem that is not simple. RydogV seems to have ost of the bases covered.