Commandos lack a predefined role. Before any balance can be achieved a role MUST be defined. Suppression is bullsh*t because suppression is deterring enemis from acting. Unfortunately it requires range. Its why the HMG is not a suppression weapon. The ranges it operates at are so short that "advance and kill" is always the most efficient answer.

I use the commando as a substitute for bothering skilling into assault suits, because I have heavy frames already. Overall assaults work better because as "heavy attack" the commandos do not actually have any advantage over, say a gallente or amarr dropsuit. The damage outputs are similar even with stacking penalties because commando suits have less slots.

Adding a grenade is a bandaid. Adding another slot is a bandaid. It's not a bandaid when the commando role is defined and the suits reworked for that purpose. Right now they function as assaults except slower, easier to hit, with crappier scanning and the tightest pg/cpu in the game that I have seen.

It's in many ways more generic than the assault. It matches assaults for HP with no fittings, but usually fitting for tank on a commando is not an awesome idea.

Now the +damage feature of the commando is kinda neat, but in the case of the amarr commando the DPS output is anemic compared to the amarr assault because of overheat mechanics. The AK.0 COMMANDO TRADES 25% MORE FIRE TIME, or potentially 25% more rounds on target for 10% damage. The outputs of both laser weapons is terrible by comparison. My pre-buff A/1 assault suit was a better killer than my commando A/1 currently because of laser overheat.

Honestly I think commandos could make excellent door kickers and heavy attack if they had more slots, were bonused for biotics and sensors and could be spiked for "crash & smash" style play. But to be a shocktrooper they need to be able to compensate for slow speed, huge hitbox and anemic damage output on the amarr suits.

Now if we want to make commandos into suppression/support they need tank and they need RANGE. To be suppression units we would need to bonus them for range instead of damage, set them up for fast regen and shower them with ammo capacity and minimize the reload downtime.

Or we can make them infiltration and destruction, bonusing them for cloaks and demolitions gear.

But we need to pick a role. Nothing can be done except bandaid fixes until a role is chosen.

this is not true. amarr commando is the most efficient because it takes less rounds to kill with its scrambler rifle.

i agree with you though that the suppression role without a range bonus is flawed

Let's go with the shocktrooper with a side of sustained "workhorse" support.

If we change the layout to 3/2 for min and cal, and put 2/3 for amarr and gallente we can make them a bit more balanced and keep them from locking in sentinel level HP.

Change the universal role bonus to 3% damage to racial weapon type per level.

Galmando: built for sustained combat and "shock"
+5% per level to base and sprint speed (offensive bonus)
+5% per level to armor repair modules. (Defensive bonus)

Ammando: optimized for shock and fire support.
-10% per level from speed penalty from reactive and standard plates.(defensive Bonus)
-3% per level reduction to heat buildup on laser weapons (offensive bonus), to keep amarr assaults as the bsst laser platform.

Minmando: built for shock, and skirmish combat.

+10% per level to efficacy of biotics. (Defensive bonus)
+3% increase to ammo capacity and magazine capacity. (Offensive bonus)

Calmando: built for long range suppression and counter sniper.

+5% per level to shield rechargers and energizer efficacy. (Defensive bonus)
-5% to recoil per level (offensive bonus)

Build them to be able to either hammer the crap out of things by mobility and give them the recovery to sustain the combat.

Do NOT give them more EHP.

why not shield modules in general?

better ewar. vastly increase scan range and precision would make up for their lower HP and mobility.

and those scans would allow for effective use of indirect fire support. mass drivers, plasma cannons,

and better cqc using shotguns and passive scans.

detecting flanking troops.


i think everyone here can agree that being able have passive scan is more valuable than another slot or increased HP. you simply become more effective at everything and actually meets conditions of each role youve mentioned


i would go for eithe the same base scans as scouts, or better because commandos dont have scout mobility.

so id honestly would like to see commando base scan range at 50m and precision at 28dB

As I see it.

Commando have and always were been the Shocktroopers of Dust.

Designed to spit lead down range and be the Ultimate Suppression Fighters CCP intended them to be.

As I see it.

Commando have and always were been the Shocktroopers of Dust.

Designed to spit laz0rs down range and be the Ultimate Suppression Fighters CCP intended them to be.

Pending, somewhat delayed in light of possible native regen changes as they would have some impact on the question.

Primary outline at this point however is a focus on improved fitting ability as a first pass followed by a deeper look at the applied skill buffs if/as needed.

Let's table the great nomenclature debate for the moment and refocus on the suit

How significant in the scheme of things do you mercs feel the recent native rep changes are for the various racial commandos?

No Cross, the commando damage bonusing needs another pass.

The DPS benefit over a similar assault is right around 2% given similar damage mods setups.

The Amarr Commando is of particular note in that it cannot compete with the assault AT ALL due to tge assault heat reduction.

People fixate on the commando damage bonus but all it does is allow offensive parity with assaults, not offensive superiority.

You see the most egregious example of this when people talk about the minmatar commando utilizing swarms.

A minmatar commando with two damage mods kills with explosives at the EXACT SAME number of shots as a triple modded assault suit. The damage bar seems to move faster, TTK does not change.

The amarr commando is particularly obnoxious in that it gets only one damage mod slot where the assault gets 3. The assault also gets up to 25% heat reduction. This means the commando has lower potential DPS per shot as well as suffering lower sustained fire time.

The damage bonus currently provides only a placebo effect, not an actual advantage. Until this is addressed in one form or another, or the commandos have a clear operational advantage that cannot be negated by a standard assault fit then the class will not be balanced.