I disagree with almost your entire list.

Neat. What items are overpowered/underpowered from your point-of-view?

But having said that, balance really isn't that bad right now. There is a ton of variety on the battlefield, and that's always a good sign.

Agreed. For the first time since Chromosome, honestly can't say which suit/class (if any) is OP/FOTM. That's huge.

Overpowered
* Framerate Drops
* Scrambler Rifle
* Active Scans
* Shared Squad Sight
* Armor Modules (Infantry)
* Large Blaster Turrets
* Armor Hardeners

Underpowered
* Active Scan WP
* MagSec
* Ion Pistol
* Breach Shotgun
* Sniper Rifles
* Cloak
* Pub Payouts
* AM Scout
* Dropships (?)

^ My two cents.

A. OP - Armor Modules (Infantry)
Which aspects in particular do you have issues with? I'll admit that shields still feel too weak compared to armor, but I'm not sure if that means armor is necessarily OP.

B. OP - Large Blaster Turrets
Can be pretty nasty, I like the DPS they do in a vehicle battle but the range still makes them pretty damn powerful. Do you think its the range that makes them OP?

C. UP - Active Scan WP
This is kind of a tough one, I mean the potential for WPs is very high, but the effective gain is pretty mediocre. Do you just suggest a increase to the Intel Kill Assist bonus?

D. UP- Ion Pistol
This is a tough one. The reduced overheat duration was a nice change, but the gun feels like it needs something....more. Im not sure if its even damage, but more so the mechanics of how it works. Thoughts on improving it?

E. UP - Cloak
Out of curiosity, what aspect of the cloak are you looking to improve? I think there are a number of things that could happen to improve them, but I'd like to get your specific thoughts on it first since I'm sure you use them more often than I do.

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* Additionally I'd like to see something done to make the Breach Mass Driver and the Assault Swarm Launcher actually useful. They're pretty much pointless weapons at this point, so something fundamental needs to change in the philosophy behind them.

I'd remove cloak from underpowered and add scrambler pistols and shield tanking in general. Also put repair tools and WP rewards for uplinks and repair tools in overpowered. .

o/ Vesta

Would you mind elaborating on ScP and Cloak?

* Adding Reptool WP to the list; the WP gaps these things create are pretty extreme. "As good as" is one thing. Thousands more WP than the next guy plus paycuts for everyone else on the team is another. Especially now that Logis are better able to fight back.

Cloak I think is balanced (though the delay mechanics they introduced to balance it are sort of annoying to deal with). It is meant to make movement more subtle and less easily detected, particularly when you deal with an enemy who is already being engaged. It is not meant to allow you to run up into someone's face and shotgun them the instant you decloak before they have a chance to even realize you are there, which is what some people seem to expect and what it was before a working delay mechanic was introduced.

There are still problems with it, most notably the delay mechanic as implemented is annoying since it works while putting away cloak equipment instead of turning off the cloak like it probably should, also the cloak is notoriously undependable and can be either way too effective or way too ineffective depending on lighting and the color of the terrain you are running around on. If the delay mechanic was reworked a bit and the performance evened out this would be a perfect piece of equipment.

As for the scrambler pistol, there are a number of problems with these things, but it boils down too they are too dependent on headshots (which is essentially luck in this game given the **** hit detection) to be effective sidearms. I've suggested in the past that we improve the body shot damage of these things to a reasonable amount and reduce headshot damage to keep headshots about where they are now. In addition some of the variants (the burst especially) need their performance drastically changed to make them viable (dispersion on most of these tends to jump way out and make accurate shots impossible on most of these pistols, the ADS sights are some of the most abysmal sights Ive ever seen on any firearm, real or imagined, etc). (heres a thread on this weapon line I made in the past).

Also I agree with the Ion pistol being underpowered, I think it needs a longer range (SMG + 10 meters for a start) or maybe some changes to the charge mechanic to make it more viable. Right now it is completely overlapped by the SMG and completely unable to compete with it. (and another thread for the Ion Pistol)

Agreed on all points; also read your ScP post. Adding ScP to UP list. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you and I are on the same page in that Cloak could use polish.

I think you need a third category "broken" for stuff that is essentially balanced but still annoying as **** .

Fair enough. Added Category "Wonky".

PS: Breach Rail Rifle?

Breach Rail Rifle CQC performance has been nerfed into the ground. Meanwhile its ADS performance is kind of lacking, given that the scrambler rifle outperforms it at all but the most extreme ranges, and the ADS is annoying as hell to use because of how it bounces around and how quickly recoil accumulates. It needs to be made more functional and less jumpy in ADS so its more comfy to use. I would also complain about its range issues vs. the scrambler, but I think the reality there is that we need a tactical rail and combat rifle in the game.

I run RRs on roughly 50% of my loadouts; didn't even realize that the Breach Rail Rifle existed. Not trolling; truly curious. Are you possibly talking about Breach Assault Rifle?

As for comparing another rifle's performance against the current scrambler rifle, well, do you think the ScR is an appropriate benchmark?

Relevant:
https://twitter.com/H_ARUBAS/status/621919341630455808

*Gallente LAG Facility

Good catch!

* Shared Squad Sight: fine as is.

* Active Scans
Hard to say personally. I get scanned down by passive and active scans constantly.

* Shared Squad Sight
Similar thing, Im mostly blind in my favorite suits so I dont watch the mini radar much, but i cant confirm or deny how powerful this is.

This is much more powerful than you can imagine, it changes a battle to have just 1 scanner in your team. Ridiculously OP IMO. I played many FPS before Dust, and it's the first time I see a wallhack available IG (that's what it is).

Many are of the opinion that if we could disable shared squad sight, we should. I'm curious; why is it that you feel otherwise?