U sir are my hero and I know you'll get some QQ on here but as a 10 year eve player, +1 +1 +1 I have been getting a lil sick of this game catering to carebears, that's what it feels like, like high sec is going out of control and the lil bears are whining they're getting ganked so ccp makes ganking not possible..............its the same in dust, oh noes a proto suit killed my free militia OP OP nerf= ccp drop the hammer Nerf, Oh noes tank killed my team when all we we're doing was trying to capture B...NERF. Dude 1 mill tanks in this game should be our vindi's of eve, not our rifters. Proto suits should be like t3 ship, militia should be a DAMN IBIS lol no rage here kthnx bye and def good post bro.

I expected a rant that really offered nothing more than "I got killed for playing stupid and that isn't fair!" but this is actually a good post. There really does need to be a larger gap between proto suits and militia and it is absurd that I can jump in a militia assault fitting and stand a reasonable chance at killing an assault specced proto suit. If you think or an EvE equivalent, it would be like a person getting into an Ibis, and being able to hold his ground against an Arazu; it makes no sense.

However, Dust is unique in that you really cannot choose your engagement, so it becomes incredibly unfair for those who do not have the SP for such fittings to be thrown against "elites" without choosing that situation. By this, i mean it makes no sense to have people hitting the quick battle option for Skirmish to be put up against those who have vastly more SP than them. So, in that sense I understand the current balancing of the suits, but it really doesn't add up when the proto suit (comparable in price to a low level tank) is being stomped by free militia gear in a balanced 1 vs 1 fight (meaning they are actively fighting back).

To fix this, I believe matchmaking needs to work better and actually scale the instant battle scenarios based on SP - at least after beta. Second, proto suits, or any higher level suit than militia for that matter, need to have either more health or a higher damage modifier - essentially anything that makes them have a legitimate advantage, because right now they are kind of pointless when doing a cost/benefit comparison.

if anyone has any low sp issues with this, i suggest starter area "training rounds" for players under 1m skill points, to give the opportunity to figure out the game and build some isk before making it with the big boys. furthermore, players could choose to enter matches with sp counts higher or lower than their own. (ex. there are servers with sp limits ranging from 1m-3m and 3m-5m, respectively. a character with 2.5m sp can enter the 3-5m matches if he/she chooses, to see their skills against more skilled players) this would allow non corp battles to be more lenient while still being preparative for the more important rounds.

YES.
I've never actually gotten round to using a prototype suit or weapon yet, but it is empirical that they get these things done properly. I LOVED the old days where you see an enemy proto and your whole team goes, "oh sh*t".

+1

Though I have a feeling this is what CCP wants as well and will unflatten the gear once we have more people so that matchmaking works properly.

... Hm. I hate to just be the contrarian all the time, but ... no. Don't think so.

Look: I play a scout over 95% of the time. Fast, quiet, and fragile is the name of the game, and there's very little I love so much as a good trap. If I'm doing my job right, you should see me in your sights somewhere between infrequently and never.

I'm at a disadvantage against absolutely everybody in a head-on fight. And you're telling me that what already takes me every grenade I'm carrying landed directly under a target's feet and most of a clip of SMG ammo burned into his freaking HEAD (albeit from 5 meters away, and missing some, but still) should be even more impossible?

(Yes, we're talking about a heavy I killed today.)

No. Just no.

Gear should be a tiebreaker, not a trump. Leaving the heavy and scout out of it for a moment, let's talk assault v. assault. If I decisively outmaneuver you, I see no reason why you should get to just shrug off the rounds from my mere AK-47 equivalent before turning around and burning me down with your scoped, laser-sighted assault rifle of godawfulness.

You should be punctured and bleeding on the floor.

"Prototype" does not mean "game-changing," it means "next generation." One expensive step up the ladder. Every step I take up that ladder with my character means that there are situations I will survive, situations I routinely encounter, that I would not have, and that is iteration enough for me.

Even in Eve, strategy and skill trump gear unless the gear is so ridiculously high-end as to transcend anything and everything we see in DUST. At the moment, Prototype = Arbalest, roughly speaking. There is no T2, and there is no Pirate Faction. Not yet.

I suspect we will, in fact, eventually see someone taking the field with an officer fit Dread Guristas heavy, and God help what stands in its way. As it is, though-- no. Prototype's proportional cost does not entitle you to rule the field like the freaking prince of darkness.

I expected a rant that really offered nothing more than "I got killed for playing stupid and that isn't fair!" but this is actually a good post. There really does need to be a larger gap between proto suits and militia and it is absurd that I can jump in a militia assault fitting and stand a reasonable chance at killing an assault specced proto suit. If you think or an EvE equivalent, it would be like a person getting into an Ibis, and being able to hold his ground against an Arazu; it makes no sense.

However, Dust is unique in that you really cannot choose your engagement, so it becomes incredibly unfair for those who do not have the SP for such fittings to be thrown against "elites" without choosing that situation. By this, i mean it makes no sense to have people hitting the quick battle option for Skirmish to be put up against those who have vastly more SP than them. So, in that sense I understand the current balancing of the suits, but it really doesn't add up when the proto suit (comparable in price to a low level tank) is being stomped by free militia gear in a balanced 1 vs 1 fight (meaning they are actively fighting back).

To fix this, I believe matchmaking needs to work better and actually scale the instant battle scenarios based on SP - at least after beta. Second, proto suits, or any higher level suit than militia for that matter, need to have either more health or a higher damage modifier - essentially anything that makes them have a legitimate advantage, because right now they are kind of pointless when doing a cost/benefit comparison.

a bit tired, both mentally and physically, so may be a bit redundant

in the system i lined out, you would have your own dps and shield increases as well, also, your running as a scout, you should know better that the scout (ie not suited for real combat) is not equipped to handle any enemies in a close to medium range fight, only as a sniper, which is why your given sniper rifles.

furthermore, as it is a CCP game, if you're in a fair fight, something's already gone wrong.

as for the ambush scenario, no, i shouldn't. it falls on you to have used a better assault kit than the militia. if you used an advanced suit, you'd have probably killed me, but you decided to skimp on isk or didn't have the skills, so your ability was nil.

your issue with labeling i also find problems with, as it shows you don't have a full grasp on the concept or comparison of eve to dust. in eve, strategy and skill may trump gear, but ships usually decide quite a lot before all three. prototype gear matches versus prototype gear is equal and fair, and therefore there is no balance issue as both sides have an equal chance. if you're wearing a militia suit instead, since you paid nothing and he paid 500k isk, you will lose, just as how a normal cruiser loses against a T3 "prototype" tengu. the cost and skillpoints spent on the suit does entitle me to "rule the field like a freaking prince of darkness" if everyone else is wearing militia gear. if they spent more and went after me with advanced suits, my chance of survival would be much less.

Sorry for double post, but dont have much choice. You also talk about weapons.
Let's take two guys. One with militia AR, the other with a duvolle.
Let's say both have AR proficiency at level 2 and weaponry level 5.
And no damager

overall, they both have +16% damage modifier compared to their AR base damage.
And we're talking about weapons with a 750 BPM rof. So 12.5 bullets per second fired.

Militia AR : 31 HP => 35.96 with skills || DPS => 449.5 HP
Duvolle AR : 34 HP => 39.44 || DPS => 493 HP

Overall, it's one more bullet damage worth for the duvolle over one second.
Then, you can add to that the raise in accuracy. Wich means less bullet spread. Which means that over those 12 bullets your gun fires in a second, more will hit than with the militia AR. And as a fight usually dont last a second, the edge gets even bigger.

Combine to your proto suits extra hp etc... losing against a full militia dude is gonna be on you.