Volgair
Tritan-Industries Legacy Rising
200
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Posted - 2012.08.06 14:05:00 -
[1] - Quote
I have played a Heavy for both builds. in the first build i used a heavy suit fitted with HMG, damage mod's, armor rep/s, scrambler pistol and AV grenades for 90% of the matches. using this build I averaged 20-30 kills on smaller maps, per match with few deaths. i will be the first to admit it was OP but that was what i invested in, and i did so out of it being the role i wanted to play not because day one of closed beta i knew it would be mind blowing, overpowered and over played. That combined with the fact people, for the most part only wanted to play ambush and the HMG shines in confined spaces the trend was garnishing a lot of hate for the weapon. i'm glad that trend died out, and for the last week of the first build i got a chance to run and gun at range for this i used a Forge and SMG combo.
for the second build i started with the same, as i did with the previous build. Merc Gear to start then HMG all the way. only this time the weapon scattered more on the first rounds, then it heated and jammed by the time it was accurate enough to do any thing, not that it would because a breach weapon of any flavor could out class it in damage and the turn speed of my suit against the run speed of a scout or assault meant that by the time he messed up and i got some rounds on his flank it was too little too late (the dead mans hand being taken out was also a loss in this instance.) a heavy was nothing more then K/D padding for quality scouts and assaults. assuming you didn't find your self near his RE before the engagement got a chance to start. as a low skill heavy weekend 1 of this build my K/D was about .3...
the second weekend of this build i switched my focus to the forge. vehicles were becoming a HUGE part of a winning strategy and the forge loves big targets. but to forge is to bring a liability upon yourself at close range... against infantry all together really. that is not to say i cant kill a scout from 10-700 yds with forge splash but that does not have as high a success rate as i would like. instead i opted and recommend to others that a forge gunner should be using that time to switch to the heart of the matter the SMG. After about 3 days of this Forge/ SMG combo i had superior field control. i could even out gun at close range other Heavys using an HMG against me... that was a travesty. my K/D that weekend climbed back up to a .7.
the third weekend with about 5mil SP invested between Heavy suits, Heavy weapons, Forge, HMG, SMG, mechanic, electronics, and engineering. i could fill the roll of a heavy again... granted its not the suppression fire and point defense roll i was hoping for, instead it was to harass the living sh*t out of tanks and drop ships. for this reason i was happy they gave me a faster suit too choose from, as it helped tremendously in allowing me to fill that roll more efficiently. my K/D was climbing again, in this case to around .9 however, it was at this point i was noticing a disturbing trend with folks using an AR with off hand SP/SMG on their heavy. from the people i spoke with in team comms it was a varied response from "im using the AR until i get better skills with the HMG," to "im using it while i make the transition to a scout suit with RE."
from the fourth week to the present i have used the forge as my primary roll, not primary weapon. the SMG has become my most common implement of death and defense, which in some ways has contributed to idea that all heavy's use SMG's. my K/D improved to 1.1. HMG's on the other hand even after tremendous investment, while powerful, can still be out gunned by a scout (or assault/heavy) with appropriate and equal investment of skills with the AR or SMG.
things that can be done to fix this and validate investment in a weapon to create a currently non-existing roll
A) increase the CPU and PG of heavy drop suits to allow us to fit larger shield boosters or armor plates at the expense of greater mobility loss. a buffer tank HMG heavy supported by a logistics teammate would allow for better point defense, with the substandard mobility it would keep lone wolfs from abusing the extra stay power to an unfair advantage. A1) with the large shield extenders you could cut the rate of re-gen and/or increase the hit box on the ctr model for the validation of a logi support A1.1) implement low slot turn speed adrenal mod to compensate for lack of high slot damage enhancements. A1.2) increase signature so swarm can lock on heavy with these mods. A2) with the Large armor enhancement you would need a logi to be useful because the extension of armor would take the low slots that reps would normally consume, plus even if those slots had been used by a localized rep they are woefully under powered for that kind of task... or any task really A2.1) increase signature so swarm can lock on with these mods. A3) ignore all of this and allow us use of a Heavy drop suit with roll bonuses that would allow us to fill this roll (honestly i would prefer this to be done with mods, or a combination of roll bonuses and mods, because it makes the suits and builds of said suits to seem more dynamic and tailored to play style)
B) 1.7 to 3 damage more per round with the HMG to compensate us for damage and reduced turning speed. B2) more invest-able SP in reducing over heat of weapon... perhaps a pseudo unrelated skill in engineering, thermodynamic's for example. (No one should WANT to close range on a HMG Heavy EVER.)
C) More low slots on a Heavy to allow for a modification of resistance types and modules to compensate. C1) add resistance types to suits and the mods for said suits
D) Make suits inherently damage resistant, With greater HP/Shields and sharply increase isk and SP expense to compensate. this game is about strategy and nothing says strategy like balancing act between risk and reward. |