DUST Search - A little Heavy help.

Praetor Legatus wrote:

So I have some basic skills sitting pretty at level 3/4: Electronics, Engineering, Shield Op, Mechanics, Repair Systems, and Shield Management. I'm wondering where to go from here however; seeing as I have both HMG and Swarm at lvl 3 just so I can deal with both Anti-Personal and Anti-armour if need be.

I'm starting to find the HMG lacking though, is this because of my relatively low level in it, or is it just not quite as useful? I'm fairly good at baiting people into Swiss-cheese range - but even then I sometimes get flattened by an Assault suit/AR combo. Getting into a Heavy suit with a HMG, I had expected to trade Speed and Range for stopping power, but often times that doesn't seem to be happening. Is this due to my lack of skill, or is the HMG kinda useless?

Sorry, that was a bit long winded. Basically what I'm asking for help with is:

1) Just some skill advice for improved survivability and damage.

2) Should I go with Pistol, or SMG secondary? My Aim's pretty good with a pistol, but the lack of rounds sometimes ends me.

3) Weapon specialization advice: Should I ignore the HMG skill for now, and specialize in AR, or Should I start up'ing my Swarm launcher skills along with a secondary weapon, like Pistol or SMG?

Thank you in advance for any help you're able to provide.

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Praetor Legatus Algintal Core Gallente Federation 0	Posted - 2012.11.05 23:50:00 - [1] - Quote So I have some basic skills sitting pretty at level 3/4: Electronics, Engineering, Shield Op, Mechanics, Repair Systems, and Shield Management. I'm wondering where to go from here however; seeing as I have both HMG and Swarm at lvl 3 just so I can deal with both Anti-Personal and Anti-armour if need be. I'm starting to find the HMG lacking though, is this because of my relatively low level in it, or is it just not quite as useful? I'm fairly good at baiting people into Swiss-cheese range - but even then I sometimes get flattened by an Assault suit/AR combo. Getting into a Heavy suit with a HMG, I had expected to trade Speed and Range for stopping power, but often times that doesn't seem to be happening. Is this due to my lack of skill, or is the HMG kinda useless? Sorry, that was a bit long winded. Basically what I'm asking for help with is: 1) Just some skill advice for improved survivability and damage. 2) Should I go with Pistol, or SMG secondary? My Aim's pretty good with a pistol, but the lack of rounds sometimes ends me. 3) Weapon specialization advice: Should I ignore the HMG skill for now, and specialize in AR, or Should I start up'ing my Swarm launcher skills along with a secondary weapon, like Pistol or SMG? Thank you in advance for any help you're able to provide.
Free Healing L.O.T.I.S. Legacy Rising 234	Posted - 2012.11.05 23:57:00 - [2] - Quote Praetor. I think i could help you out with your questions but i need some details about what your current fittings are. Dropsuit (exacty name please) Weapon. (i'd like to know which HMG your using.) Modules. and lastly what kind of heavy you see yourself playing. If you tell me those i'm sure we could discuss some survivability tactics :) Keep the faith.
Praetor Legatus Algintal Core Gallente Federation 0	Posted - 2012.11.06 00:11:00 - [3] - Quote Well, right now I'm using: Dropsuit: Heavy Type-1 Weapon: MH-82 HMG / Burst HMG (When I'm feeling cheap) Modules: Basic Shield Extender, Basic Heavy Damage Mod, and Basic Armour Plates. I'd like to switch out to enhanced Mods soon, but I'm not sure If I can completely cover the ISK loss from it yet. The Kind of Heavy I had wanted to play would've definitely been a HMG/Tank variant. I'm much better when it comes to defending installations than taking them, since the trek over any sort of large terrain is likely to get me picked off fairly quickly by snipers and vehicles. I'm not in a Corp at the moment - but eventually I'd like to establish some communication with a Dropship pilot or two so I could get a ferry ride over long distances. It's kind of tough to accomplish that while just in pick-up battles, but it's on my to-do list after I get a little more experience.
Free Healing L.O.T.I.S. Legacy Rising 234	Posted - 2012.11.06 05:20:00 - [4] - Quote Allright well at least that gives me an idea. If you want to be a Defender Tank there are couple ways to do that. In my opinion this is what i would reccomend for you. Type-II Heavy Suit - Trades Armor HP for Shield HP+Movement/Sprint/Turn Speed. It's well worth it since almost ALL tactics against Heavy's in CQC (Close Quarters Combat) involve outmanuvering you. If your in a Type-II and they don't know it. They're in for a nasty surprise. There arm more reasons why this suit is better that i'll explain later on. They MH-82 Heavy Machine Gun is a glorias weapon. I can't tell you how many times i've killed and been killed with it. The only weapon better you may want to look at is the "Broadside" MH-82 HMG as that recks face. Since you want to be a Defender though you may not need it. But if you find you the extra oomf i'd reccomend it. As far as Sidearms go it's really a toss up. Just use whichever you like. If you have a Toxin and can fit it i'd reccomend that since it's a good gun and doesn't cost anything. I prefer Scrambler pistols for that damage though. Plus sometimes the range can be handy. I would replace the Shield Extender with a Shield Regulator. Heavy's suffer from extremely poor Shield Regen. Normally this isn't a problem as Heavy's mainly rely on Armor. For Type-II's though you have alot more shields and if the enemy can't get past it it will regen over time much faster than your armor would. A Shield Regulator Decreases the amount of time it takes for your Shields to start Recharging. If your not going to be in the thick of things then this would be better for you since you don't have to worry about continuous fire. The Damage Mod is a Toss up between it and a Shield Extender. Honestly it's better to just see what works for you. Heck maybe you could even invest in a heavy duty Profile Dampner so enemies don't see you defending around that corner. A powerful enough mod can make it so your not visable on the Radar. The Basic Armor Plate's arn't really needed for any Heavy. At least imo. For smaller suits which have say 200 HP. That extra 66 AHP is like adding a whole 25% more HP. For Heavy's it's like adding maybe 7-8%. What you DO want. Is Armor Repairers. Normally it would take a REALLY long time for a Heavy Type-1 to repair all 900 AHP. For a Type-II though you rely on your shield mostly and it's semi-uncommon that your armor will take heavy damage. It might however take small damage here and there. Armor HP doesn't heal over time like Shield HP does so havying those Armor Repair Modules to fix you up here and there is a godsend. They also don't slow you down when you run. Also you didn't post what kind of Gernades you use. I'm just gonna tell you that my reccomendation is Anti-Vehicle Genades. They home in on Vehicles when you throw them (provided you throw them with some amount of accuracy) and can drop a LAV in 1-2 nades. Couple that with your MH-82 and you'll start wanting your enemies to bring LAV's to you for easy WP. So in short here is what i would reccomend. I can't remember exactly, but i think the Heavy Type-II has 2 High Power and 2 Low power Slots. What i'd reccomend to you would like like this: [D] Heavy Type-II Dropsuit [H] MH-82 Heavy Machine Gun [S] Readers Choice. [G] Anti-Vehicle Gernades [I] Militia Armor Repair [I] Militia Armor Repair [--] Shield Regulator. [--] Variable. . General Strategy: -Don't Stand out in the Open. -Use corners to your advantage. -Don't jump when an LAV charges you. Instead Sprint to either Cover or an upward incline. Then turn around and throw an AV gernade. -If an enemy sees you and moves to flank you don't run after him. Look for where he's going to pop out and head (walking) there. If your lucky he won't know your in a Type-II suit and you'll catch him before he puts his weapon up. -If the enemy is far away and you have to reload. Don't let him SEE you reload. If he's fast enough to get to you while you reload your in trouble. instead back away and let him cautiously sneak up on you and them fire at him when he turns a corner. -Always try to keep your gun at Max Ammo. -When you reload make sure you have teammates nearby or you are alone and hidden well to avoid Snipers/Shorguns. -When you join a corp you may find it helpful to your Corp. to invest in Forge Gun skills to take out dropships. Trust me, you'll be an asset to your team. That's all i have at the moment and i hope it helps. If you Can't afford or don't want a Type-II fit. Then i'll see what else i can come up with :) Keep the faith.
Guinevere Bravo SVER True Blood Unclaimed. 140	Posted - 2012.11.06 12:12:00 - [5] - Quote Great reply Free healing +1 from me. The only thing you kinda missed is skills regarding heavy weaponary, There not critical by any means but if your using a HMG then i'd recommend grabbing the "Heavy weapon Sharpshooter skill" to increase your effective gun range. You gain the suprise factor that comes with you being able to lay fire down from further away. With regards to other skills id reccomend then definately Weaponary to level 5 (it's a 1X skill so its not that painful to level up) as the extra 10% will help out and you can gain a high slot by not having to use Weapon upgrade.
Free Healing L.O.T.I.S. Legacy Rising 234	Posted - 2012.11.06 18:03:00 - [6] - Quote lol i was going to put skills in but i wasn't sure which skills were more important to have first. All of the Weapon Skills a Heavy has access to (HMG Capacity, Rapid Reload, Sharpshooter, and Upgrade) are extremely helpful. Other than that you just have core skills which there is already a post for explaining.
Praetor Legatus Algintal Core Gallente Federation 0	Posted - 2012.11.07 08:01:00 - [7] - Quote Thank you both, this was exactly the kind of advice I needed. Once I get home I'll average out my ISK gain per match, and see if I can afford to upgrade to the Type II suit asap. I'm still purchasing skill books as well at the moment, so I'm trying to be as frugal as possible with my loadouts. Thanks again for the helpful posts.
Free Healing L.O.T.I.S. Legacy Rising 234	Posted - 2012.11.07 08:35:00 - [8] - Quote It's no trouble Legatus ^_^ and if you need any more advice you can always send me a mail in game.
Sytonis Auran Valor Coalition RISE of LEGION 52	Posted - 2012.11.19 00:46:00 - [9] - Quote Good advice here by Free Healing et al. I would add that regularly teaming up with the same person is a great way of improving your heavy without changing your suit. The obvious one would be logi, but pairing with an assault with nanohives and range such as the reliable assault rifle or laser rifle works great too. Both can guard objectives and with good positioning need numbers to take out.
Ghost-33 ShootBreakStab 108	Posted - 2012.11.19 19:23:00 - [10] - Quote One tip I found by trial and error, Try to reload with around 100 rounds left and if you get caught with your "belt" around your ankles, do a quick melee to cancel the reload and open fire!

KripnawtiQ Prime L.O.T.I.S. Legacy Rising 206	Posted - 2012.11.21 10:22:00 - [11] - Quote Guinevere Bravo wrote: Great reply Free healing +1 from me. The only thing you kinda missed is skills regarding heavy weaponary, There not critical by any means but if your using a HMG then i'd recommend grabbing the "Heavy weapon Sharpshooter skill" to increase your effective gun range. You gain the suprise factor that comes with you being able to lay fire down from further away. With regards to other skills id reccomend then definately Weaponary to level 5 (it's a 1X skill so its not that painful to level up) as the extra 10% will help out and you can gain a high slot by not having to use Weapon upgrade. This. Effective range is by far the greatest weakness of the HMG. Sharpshooter not only gives you greater killing range but it helps a great deal with suppression tactics. Most players will rethink their movement if they are taking HMG damage from unexpected ranges. This helps with squad flanking in particular but also helps with area control.
Free Healing L.O.T.I.S. Legacy Rising 234	Posted - 2012.11.27 19:35:00 - [12] - Quote KripnawtiQ Prime wrote: Guinevere Bravo wrote: Great reply Free healing +1 from me. The only thing you kinda missed is skills regarding heavy weaponary, There not critical by any means but if your using a HMG then i'd recommend grabbing the "Heavy weapon Sharpshooter skill" to increase your effective gun range. You gain the suprise factor that comes with you being able to lay fire down from further away. With regards to other skills id reccomend then definately Weaponary to level 5 (it's a 1X skill so its not that painful to level up) as the extra 10% will help out and you can gain a high slot by not having to use Weapon upgrade. This. Effective range is by far the greatest weakness of the HMG. Sharpshooter not only gives you greater killing range but it helps a great deal with suppression tactics. Most players will rethink their movement if they are taking HMG damage from unexpected ranges. This helps with squad flanking in particular but also helps with area control. Ah right i keep forgetting that the Base Range for the HMG was increased after the E3 build. Back then, Sharpshooter didn't make as huge a difference as it does now. At least it seemed that way. It's been a long time since my heavy days. Keep the faith.
Jak Teston Osmon Surveillance Caldari State 99	Posted - 2012.11.27 21:21:00 - [13] - Quote Guinevere Bravo wrote: Great reply Free healing +1 from me. The only thing you kinda missed is skills regarding heavy weaponary, There not critical by any means but if your using a HMG then i'd recommend grabbing the "Heavy weapon Sharpshooter skill" to increase your effective gun range. You gain the suprise factor that comes with you being able to lay fire down from further away. With regards to other skills id reccomend then definately Weaponary to level 5 (it's a 1X skill so its not that painful to level up) as the extra 10% will help out and you can gain a high slot by not having to use Weapon upgrade. Friendly advice from HMG-fodder: As a non-heavy you get used to other heavies having the sharp-shooter skill, so at least I try to stay out of their improved range. That means it is unlikely for me to get caught in standard range (situational factors not counted). ... I used to hate heavies, then I started using lasers. Lasers solve everything.
Free Healing L.O.T.I.S. Legacy Rising 234	Posted - 2012.11.28 05:54:00 - [14] - Quote Yes Type II heavies watch out for Laser Rifles. When your walking across an open field you should be more worried about Lasers than Snipers. Lasers will eat your shield very quickly and by the time your down to armor you will be suffering from the lasers full burn. If you know there is a Laser Rifle user on the field avoid open spaces. Laser Rifles are extremely ineffective at close range though and an HMG will tear them up. Keep the faith.
The Polish Hammer Doomheim 373	Posted - 2012.12.01 17:33:00 - [15] - Quote +1 for everyone in this thread. Awesome feedback. One little thing I like to do is pack some Flux Grenades with me at all times. Since most if not all people are shield tanking, it only made sense to start using them and it gets the job all sorts of done. The one thing i'd say though is that using militia modules is going to consume more CPU/PG, so if you get the chance at least up grade to baseline/standard modules to keep that in check. It'll allow for more powerful modules like higher tier damage mods or better weapons to be used. It may not make that much of difference...up until you're trying to put the Boundless on your Type-II
Average Joe81 Circle of Huskarl Minmatar Republic 21	Posted - 2012.12.02 06:28:00 - [16] - Quote Praetor Legatus wrote: So I have some basic skills sitting pretty at level 3/4: Electronics, Engineering, Shield Op, Mechanics, Repair Systems, and Shield Management. I'm wondering where to go from here however; seeing as I have both HMG and Swarm at lvl 3 just so I can deal with both Anti-Personal and Anti-armour if need be. I'm starting to find the HMG lacking though, is this because of my relatively low level in it, or is it just not quite as useful? I'm fairly good at baiting people into Swiss-cheese range - but even then I sometimes get flattened by an Assault suit/AR combo. Getting into a Heavy suit with a HMG, I had expected to trade Speed and Range for stopping power, but often times that doesn't seem to be happening. Is this due to my lack of skill, or is the HMG kinda useless? Sorry, that was a bit long winded. Basically what I'm asking for help with is: 1) Just some skill advice for improved survivability and damage. 2) Should I go with Pistol, or SMG secondary? My Aim's pretty good with a pistol, but the lack of rounds sometimes ends me. 3) Weapon specialization advice: Should I ignore the HMG skill for now, and specialize in AR, or Should I start up'ing my Swarm launcher skills along with a secondary weapon, like Pistol or SMG? Thank you in advance for any help you're able to provide. My advise is to abuse the gigantic amount of health and the unbalanced vehicle vs AV ordeal


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