Putting turn speed on the weapons and not the suit does nothing to solve the problem aside from allow ADS targets a higher success rate at escaping.

I have been thinking about some of the issues people have with sentinels and the problems Sentinel Suits present to balance. Quite frankly in my opinion Sentinels aren't being utilized in the best manner that plays to their strengths.

This is not a complaint on current balance. Period. Rattati has done phenomenally well with the cards he has been handed. This is a proposal to alter the role a Sentinel plays on the battlefield.

The objective of this proposal is twofold:

1: Bring Sentinels into line with a role that fits their size, durability and lack of mobility. This includes a re-introduction of turn speed penalties to sentinels but not to the suits directly.

2: Remove Sentinels as the go-to suit in PC for CQC operations in favor of the assault. This objective does not include completely removing Sentinel capacity in CQC.

Proposed primary role: long range point defense and support suppression and vehicle deterrent/destruction. Primary weapons: All Forge Guns, Standard HMG, Assault HMG.

Proposed Secondary Role: Suicide Breach operations. Primary weapon: Burst HMG

Tertiary role: Distraction. Primary weapon: Any People will always fixate on the largest percieved target.

The suit does not need to be altered. What would need to be altered is the Heavy Machineguns. The reason for this is simple:

The suit is not dictating the role of the weapon. The weapon is dictating the role of the suit, and this puts sentinels on the razor's edge for balance continuously and without fail. It is also a source of long-standing irritation among the playerbasse for a long time.

Proposed change to the STD Heavy Machinegun:

1: Increase range comparable to rifles.

2: reduce dispersion dramatically, possibly tone down the damage.

3: apply a turn speed penalty to the HMG, not the dropsuit.

This should bring the Sentinel into line with the role that makes sense, as open-field fire suppot.

Changes to Burst HMG: none. Do not apply turn speed.

The weapon is great for attacking and breaking lines. It is not good for sustained, long-term engagement which is needed for viable point defense. The current standard HMGs do better defensively.

Assault HMG: Light damage, long range with a higher rate of fire in between the standard and Burst in both range and output.

1: leave damage as is

2: place range between STD and burst and reduce dispersion accordingly

3: slightly increase RoF

4: apply 1/2 the standard HMG turn penalty.

These changes are proposed to provide a better differentiation of battle role.

Close combat: minimal or no turn penalty.

Long Range: turn speed penalty.

Forge guns aren't horribly viable vs. Infantry in close. At best you might get a couple lucky kills. So the penalty to turning is pointless.

But utilizing this would make lighter suits be able to deal with sentinels in CQC as they should. Given the Bursts tendency to get the operator killed it's likely this could solve a few headaches among the playerbase.

You missed the point of the whole post gaden.

Sentinels never should have been CQC monsters to begin with.

They were pinholed there because you can't strafe glitch high dispersion weapons at long range.

During beta when the "top players" were enjoying almost no CQC maps and longer ranges on the justification that range on the HMG would be unfair.

Read: "we want heavies to be neutered and easy kills."

this wouldn't be an issue if we weren't given just two weapon and told to make it work. The lack of a heavy plasma and laser weapon destroys any balance and role designation we try to make.

HMGs should have a range longer than my wang. But the hue and cry was for them to be CQC even though CCP was making strides in making them hella effective at decent ranges.

then the nerfs began. specifically nerfs to make them CQC weapons. It made no sense whatsoever.

Gallente heavy weapon as CQC?

Ok I can see it.

MINMATAR????

Last I checked Minmatar weren't knife-fighters.

Cost change could help with managing spam. Why would a player run proto assault when he can get more for the same price with proto heavy?

A medium suit with less going for it cost as much as a heavy suit. Same goes for the light suits. I always thought it was weird, and poorly planned?!

If you want the maximum damage output of the heavy dropsuit you should pay more. Before scouts were buffed to predator statistics this was my same argument. Since they would die so much more often, and had low ehp, why dI'd they cost just as much as assault suits?

The same can be said for the weapon classes. We see that sidearms, shotguns, kn's, mass drivers, and swarm launchers price tags vary from other weapons. My guess is they lack in one area of another that warrants cheaper pricing. So why doesn't the suits get the same consideration?

Clearly the assault and logi spend and loose more money than the heavy, and that's why everyone is running them. Will it stop heavy/scout spam? Probably not, but it will make some think twice before risking so much isk to run some suits. A true assault player could afford to loose the suits they do in PC.

The game has changed tremendously over time, and it's time for a price overhaul.

1. Such a bad idea, they are already slow and turn speed just makes it easier to kill them and a scout would have a field day

2. HMG has the range of an AR? Why use an assault then? The heavy has more HP and resistances to 2 types of damage and if you want more range use the assault HMG

3. Sentinals are fine as point defence, if they are in open fields they get gunned down by assaults/logi so much easier due to the main weapon having poor range and that they are the size of a small planet and move as slow as syrup

4. Commandos can use ARs and move slightly faster and can engage at longer distances

5. Sentinals seem to be the most balanced, built to be tough and take damage with mulitiple enemies, go toe to toe with vehicles with the FG or engage at distance, can be great at point defence or just jump into the thick of it to make a mess