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Heavy Assault Vehicles - Owners Manual (Guide to HAVs)

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Tac Com Sand Mercenary Corps Inc. 41	Posted - 2013.02.06 03:11:00 - [1] - Quote Hello everyone. Some of you may have noticed I've been talking up a guide I've been working on. I've been experimenting with many differant tank fits and have been using HAVs for a long while into the Closed Beta and even into today trying to gather more information on them. I have noticed a good number of players looking for help and information on HAVs and modules related to thier use as thier seems to be a lot of people who are using tanks in specific roles and formations in thier corps. I am here simply to share my experiance with HAVs and to help others better understand vehicle modules and how they are attributed to HAV use. So, welcome to the HAV Owners Manual. TLDR - Each Chapter has a short summery outlined at the beginning. Read the summery to find out which sections are useful to you. Chapter 1 - Basic Characteristics of an HAV This section covers the general attrbutes of HAVs and how they operate. This section is intended for those new to HAVs to become more familiar and aware of HAV use. HAVs are complex and heavy machines and thier care and maintinance is of utmost importance. An HAV is designed to repel light arms fire and handle multiple rounds from heavy weapons, but keep in mind that weapons designed for anti-vehicle purposes still pose a great threat to your vehicle. Survival should be considered as your number 1 concern as a dead tank is less threatening then a tank that got away as that threat could come back later. As you become more comfortable with your HAV you will find yourself more capable of providing even more of an impact on the battlefield. There are many differant things that you must be aware of in an HAV. Aside from other combat skills such as battlefield awareness, there are some specific items you need to pay attention to in your tank. Durability (Armour or Shield) - For starters, one of the ways to help stay alive is to increase your durability. Items such as Armour Plates and Shield Extenders will give your tank more health and thus allow it to take more hits before going down. Another way to help last longer is to increase your repairing ability by using Armour Repairers and Shield Boosters or Rechargers. These will help to fix your tank of damage it has taken. And lastly adding resistance modules to your tank will reduce the incoming damage to give you that extra bit of toughness and help increase your repairers' ability to combat the damage. As a general nature, shields are more resistant to explosive weapons such as AV Grenades and Swarm Launchers but vulnerable to EM weapons such as Flux Grenades and Laser Rifles. Armour is more resistant to EM weapons such as Laser Rifles, aswell as Flux Grenades do no damage to armour, but they are more vulnerable to explosive weapons such as AV Grenades and Swarm Launchers. Hybrid Weapons such as Forge Guns, Railguns, and Blasters are equally effective against shields and armour. Speed - While adding to your durability is important, not being in the line of fire is the sure way to survive when in combat. Having enough torque and speed to get out of sticky situations is something that many new tankers overlook and something that more veteran tankers will use to thier advantage. One key thing to keep in mind is that HAVs are heavy and thus are slow to start moving, but even while turning it's easy to keep up your speed. Thus if you ever hit something or stop for any reason such as reversing direction, then is it very slow to get back up to speed (even more so with Armour based tanks). Keeping your speed up and always planning your escape route as you move will significantly increase your survivability. Turret Tracking - So far we have mostly focused on the defencive aspect of HAVs. But if we were just looking for a vehicle to joyride in from point to point you would probably already be in an LAV by now. HAVs are also known for thier big guns. But big also means heavy, and that also means they are not quick to spin that turret around. Typically longer range weapons such as the Railgun will feature slow tracking speeds and will make it very tricky to hit targets up close, likewise closer range turrets will feature higher tracking due to thier close range nature. As a tip, if someone is moving faster then your turret, you can also turn your tank in that direction to increase your tracking, just keep in mind what way your tank is facing incase you need to escape. Remember that survival is still paramount. Gunner Seats - You might have noticed aswell that your tank has more then 1 seat (3 in fact). These other 2 seats are reserved for the small guns on your tank. There is one mounted on the front and 1 mounted on the top. You are also able to change seats and sometimes your small turret may be better suited to dealing with a target that your main weapon is unsuitable for. Be aware in public matches though that friendlies can steal your tank so I would advise not to change seats when someone is around that might try and steal your vehicle as you may not get it back. We will go over what to put here in the next chapter. There are the main points to consider that are specific to HAVs but they are not the only thing. Many other skills such as being aware of the enemy and thier intentions are also used as a foot soldier but are slightly modified to take into account an HAV's strengths and limitations. For example you might be more likely to seek out dense cover as an infantry soldier but dense cover as an HAV means it will be hard to manuver should the enemy get the drop on you thus making it hard to escape. I would suggest talking with your corp to figure out how best to apply your HAV in specific scenarios as this guide does not cover them in major detail.
Tac Com Sand Mercenary Corps Inc. 41	Posted - 2013.02.06 03:12:00 - [2] - Quote Chapter 2 - Armour, Shields, Guns, Oh My! This section is for those who are not sure about the differances or advantages between shields vs armour and the differant weapon types. The more experianced tankers may be aware of what is here but if you have mostly focused on one style you may learn something about the others. One of the most frequently asked questions within the Dust community is the question of shields vs armour. A lot of the times the questions are what is superior but often this question comes from a lack of understanding of thier differances. The other big question is what turret you should put on the tank since this will be the basis of your firepower. Hopefully to help clarify a lot of the confusion on this topic this section will be covering some general information on these systems with some basic module information to help reinforce the information. Shields - Shields are your first line of defense, on a dropsuit and on a vehicle. Shields have several properties which make them quite coveted and understanding thier strengths and weaknesses will give you an edge. Shields have a natural resistance to explosive weapons and because most AV weapons are explosive currently this can make them very powerful. Also shielding does not weigh down the vehicle so even a tank with very heavy shielding still retains a decent level of acceleration. Also shields have a natural regeneration so backing out for a minute can give your shields time to regenerate and keep on fighting. Shields though currently suffer from 2 major drawbacks. First is thier weakness to flux grenades, and while this might not seem very threatening compared to homing AV grenades and Swarms, flux grenades can do an incredable amount of damage to shielding, often doing more damage then the mighty Railgun. Second is thier ability to handle immediate damage. Shields are very good at taking some damage and then giving them time to recover, and while Shield Boosters can recover some shields back, it's a small amount compared to Armour Repairers. Thus shield tanks are more well suited to taking damage over time so taking heavy hits within a short period of time is the key to defeating shields, and combine that with flux grenades for added effect. Armour - Armour in Dust can also be described as your Hull, as it is the last line of defence before your vehicle is destroyed. Thus armour tanking has no safety net, you can't take just enough damage to break your armour but still get away safely like shields. Armour though does have several key advantages to make up for this though and understanding the strengths and weaknesses will better help you to understand how armour tanking works. Armour is very tough and strong. If you look at the modules on the market you might notice how armour plates give more armour then shield extenders and how armour repairers repair more then shield boosters. Armour is not meant to be easy to crack. And when you better understand how to use your modules in battle it can turn you from tough to nearly unstoppable. In a Soma with an 180mm plate it's very easy to get over 5k armour and more with skills and better modules. And heavy repairer will repair around 5k armour aswell over it's entire cycle. Good use and timing of your repairer is key. Armour though is not without it's weaknesses and some are more noticable then others. The first one that is apparent is armour does not regenerate by itself. You need to use some module or repair item (such as a repair gun on a dropsuit) to regain your armour. Second, is that armour plates may give you more armour but they also slow down your acceleration, very significantly. You will have to factor that into your planning to accound for the extra bulk. They are also more vulnerable to the majority of infantry AV weapons so always be on the lookout for anyone with AV grenades or Swarms. Lastly is thier reliance on active modules. While a good shield tank can get away with mostly passive modules, armour tanks can not. Hardeners are required for strong resistances and you need a repairer to keep your armour up. So careful management of your active modules will be key to your success. When facing an armour tank, it may be best to engage them to activate thier repairer then wait for it to finish before continuing the assault as anything short of overwhelming damage will take it down during it's repair cycles. Now, onto the part which more people love to see, damage, big guns, explosions. Weapons are a very key part to your vehicle and currently they come in 3 flavours: Railgun, Blaster, and Missile. Now Railguns and Blasters are both Hybrids and do equal damage to shields and armour, but Missiles do more damage to armour then shields. If you also want a good example of how the weapons handle before putting them on your HAV, use one of the installations with the turret you wish to try on it. They handle exactly the same as a basic large turret for an HAV. Railguns - Railguns are the long range weapon of choice. Thier high damage shots combined with thier range makes them excellant for dealing with large targets. They feature a decent zoom level and a small blast radius for dealing with infantry. Railguns do have a flight time though and thus will require you to lead your targets. This also makes hitting infantry very difficult unless they are not moving (in which a sniper might pick them off sooner, but Railguns also make good counter-sniping weapons). They also have a very low tracking speed so if someone manages to get up close or behind you it will take a very long time to turn that turret around to return fire, thus careful planning and distance are the keys to using this weapon effectively.
Tac Com Sand Mercenary Corps Inc. 41	Posted - 2013.02.06 03:12:00 - [3] - Quote Blasters - Blasters are the kings and queens of close quarters with tanks. They are short range, rapid fire, high DPS (moderate damage per shot) weapons what will shred anything it points it's gun at. Blasters feature high tracking speeds and high DPS, and the rapid fire means they are much better suited to dealing with infantry aswell. Being a high DPS weapon aswell, a blaster at close range will outdamage a railgun, but at mid range the damage falloff will reduce some of your damage so the railgun may still edge out. Careful distance management and use of cover are keys to making this weapon shine. Missiles - Currently Missiles have had thier effectiveness reduced during the stages of the closed beta. So as if right now they don't have a spot that properly contends with Blasters or Railguns in thier respective fields. One thing the large missile turret can do reasonably well is sweeping groups of infantry with it's blast damage missiles. I'd recommend the fragmentation missile turret for this role. As for small missiles currently thier accuracy goes out the window when you so much as breathe in any direction so currently they are not recommended at the moment. Chapter 3 - Module Specific Information In this section we will cover most of the modules used on HAVs and the specifics to thier use on HAVs. This will allow a better understanding on how to fit and use a tank. Due to a lack of space, I'll be keeping this brief but I'll try and cover the main points. I may try and trim back the other sections later. Hardeners Armour Hardener: Resistance = 20-25% Active = 60s Cooldown = 15s Shield Hardener: Resistance = 25-30% Active = 10s Cooldown = 30s As far as hardeners go, you will notice that while shield hardeners have more resistance, they are active only a short while so it's hard to keep it up a long while. As such for shields, passive resistance may be better. For armour, thier long durations and short cooldowns mean that you can keep 1 running at all times and a good amount of the time you'll have 2 running. This can make armour very tough. Armour and Shield Repair Heavy Armour Repairer Repair = 360/s Active = 15s (5 pulses, 3s pulse) Cooldown = 30s Heavy Shield Booster Repair = 285/s Active = 5s (5 pulses, 1s pulse) Cooldown = 30s The key point you'll notice is how much more effective armour repair is. Combine this with hardeners and armour tanking is very tough to break. One key differance though is Shield Boosters repair shield at the start of thier cycle while Armour Repairers work at the end of thier cycle. Planning is key. Offencive Modules There are several modules to increase your offencive capabilities. These fall into 3 catagories, Damage Amplifiers, Heat Sinks, and Tracking. (There is spool reduction but currently the spool time on Railguns is very short) Damage Amplfiers High/Low Damage Amplifier Note: High effects Large turrets, and Low effects Small turrets. Damage = +7-10% ROF = +2-5% Systemic Damage Amplifier Note: Effects both Large and Small turrets. Damage = +3-6% ROF = +2-5% One of the key points you'll notice is that damage amps increase not only damage but rate of fire. When in a duel with another tank having that slight edge in rate of fire can mean the differance between survival and death. Notice though that the Systemic has the same rate of fire increase but a reduced damage bonus. If you frequently roll with skilled gunners it may be worth investing but otherwise stick to the High damage amp. Heat Sinks Passive Heat Sink Heat Reduction = 10-18% Active Heat Sink Heat Reduction = 20-50% Active = 20s Cooldown = 30s Heat Sinks only effect Railguns and Blasters, but since currently they are the primary turret of choice, they play an important role. Currently I am able to go from 4 Railgun rounds without overheat to 6 with a single +18% passive heat sink. The active heat sink can make a Blaster seem like it can shoot forever. Often these turrets will overheat or have to stop firing before they can take out a tank, so heat sinks in many ways can be an effective damage booster. Tracking Enhancement Tracking Enhancer Tracking Speed = +27-34% Tracking Computer Tracking Speed = +41-49% Active = 10s Cooldown = 30s Tracking enhancement can be very key when dealing with close quarters. More so for Railguns who find themselves having to engage closer then they like. But even for Blasters it can make tracking those speedy LAVs or fighting in an urban environment that much safer by being able to spin your turret around. Personally I prefer the passive Tracking Enhancer but sometimes the low slot is not available (or already used by damage mods). It's definately worth looking into if you find you're having to spin your turret around a lot. Remember though that proper planning may help to circumvent tracking issues. Propulsion Modules Propulsion modules are modules that help with the manuverability and speed of your tank. There are 3 modules do help with this. They are: Powerplants, Nitrous, and Nanofiber Structure. Powerplant Torque = +5-25% I would recommend only using the Jovian if possible. Nitrous Active = 15s Cooldown = 30s Nanofiber Structure Speed = +10-15% Armour = -10-16% Now, torque increases acceleration and is not an increase in speed. But while that might not be the case, torque is what you need to get out of a bad spot since it will get you up to speed faster and out of danger. Torque mods save tanks. Nitrous and Nanofiber are the major speed mods between shield and armour tanks. As mentioned in Chapter 1, anything to help get up to speed is a life-saver.
Tac Com Sand Mercenary Corps Inc. 41	Posted - 2013.02.06 03:35:00 - [4] - Quote Tactical Modules Tactical modules is a multi-purpose catagory for anything that will help give you an edge over your opponants that isn't directly related to combat. You might find a module here which you might have glossed over for more defence or offence, but these modules used properly can provide a great benefit. Active Scanner Active = 20s Cooldown = 5s Radius = 80-100m Precision = 45-40db Active Scanners are used to spot enemies and to mark them on both your screen and on your radar. Knowing how scan precision and profile works and how it is applied to the battle is for another topic but things like spotting enemies on radar and how long they stay as a red dot when spotted are related to that. As a comparison, the Scout suit which features the best scan precision has a base precision of 45db so the lowest module will give you a precision equal to that of a Scout. A great module to fit. Mobile CRU Provides Spawn Point on your HAV The CRU is not a module I'd recommend as something to improve your performance in pub matches. Often blueberries will spawn in, and then stick to your turrets like glue and never get out to capture points or fight nearby enemies on foot. In corp battles or something with a more co-ordinated team, you can use it as a great spawning point to dump men into unlikely locations. It also gives you access to gunners on demand which is nice if you don't need them very often. For most armour tanks you can usually fit this module in without much fuss, shield tanks tough might not want to give up that mid slot but it still could be handy. Remote Repair Systems Remote repair systems come in both shield and armour based flavours. These modules do not repair your vehicle but instead repair someone else's. While it might seem tedious to do so, these remote repair systems are more potent then thier individual counterparts (especially for shield). Heavy Remote Armour Repairer Repair = 410-497/s Active = 50s Cooldown = 60s Light Remote Armour Repairer Repair = 154-186/s Active = 50s Cooldown = 30s Heavy Remote Shield Transporter Repair = 325-393/s Active = 15s Cooldown = 15s Light Remote Shield Transporter Repair = 125-152/s Active = 15s Cooldown = 15s If you look back to the Armour Repairer and Shield Booster, you'll see these modules are quite a long stronger and have much longer durations. Especially for shields where the Shield Booster is pitiful and having a remote solution like this could go a long way to making shields a lot tougher. But the problem with spider tanking (several vehicles repping each other instead of just themselves) is the co-ordination that goes with it. In EVE you have controls and shortcuts to help manage it, in Dust it's a lot more complex and difficult. Chapter 4: Skills In this chapter, we will explore the many skills which help with HAV use. These will help with skill planning. Skills play an important role in being able to use and fit modules onto your HAV (or even use the HAV itself). There have been many questions surrounding what skills are important to HAVs, so with brief list of these skills and thier uses are listed here. I still would encourage exploring the skills window and seeing the options available. Circuitry 5% to Dropsuit and Vehicle CPU per lvl Combat Engineering 5% to Dropsuit and Vehicle Powergrid (PG) per lvl These skills are also called the fitting skills, because they provide you with more fitting resources (PG and CPU) which in turn allow you to fit more and better modules. On Dropsuits, you can get away with lower levels, but on HAVs, you need these at LVL 5. Your various fittings will stretch these resources rather thin very quickly. Field Mechanics 5% to Dropsuit and Vehicle Armour amount per lvl Shield Control 5% to Dropsuit and Vehicle Shield amount per lvl These skills increase your vehicles health, and thus can't be bad for you. Shield Control does help to get Shield Regulators for Dropsuits but on HAVs it's more shields... But more health never hurts. Turret Operation 2% to turret damage per lvl "Insert type here" Turret Operation 3% to "Insert type here" turret damage per lvl "Insert type here" Turret Proficiency 2% to "Insert type here" turret damage per lvl These skills will increase your damage output. And since you need to do damage to your enemies to kill them, skilling into these will likely give you an edge. Chapter 5: Sample Fittings More content to come.
Tac Com Sand Mercenary Corps Inc. 41	Posted - 2013.02.06 03:43:00 - [5] - Quote Void Echo wrote: This is a thread to steal mine away isn't it No, I've been writing this for about a couple weeks now slowly but surely (hour here, hour there). I still think your thread is better suited to sharing HAV tips but this is simply supposted to be a consolodated guide for someone to read rather then sort through several posts. I will update the guide as more information comes in though. EDIT: I would also like to add that I will most likely be watching and adding to your thread for that very reason, it's a good place to discuss things between tankers.
Tac Com Sand Mercenary Corps Inc. 41	Posted - 2013.02.06 04:22:00 - [6] - Quote Void Echo wrote: Excellent point, as I said in my thread, I welcome and invite any and all assistance from other tank drivers and I hope that you allow the same for this thread. Who knows, maybe we'll learn many things from each others threads. I would welcome any input to better help create this guide. I look forward to seeing what your thread has and what I can pull from it. I'll be adding to the discussion when I can.
Tac Com Sand Mercenary Corps Inc. 41	Posted - 2013.02.06 04:29:00 - [7] - Quote KalOfTheRathi wrote: Tac Com wrote: Void Echo wrote: This is a thread to steal mine away isn't it No, I've been writing this for about a couple weeks now slowly but surely (hour here, hour there). I still think your thread is better suited to sharing HAV tips but this is simply supposted to be a consolodated guide for someone to read rather then sort through several posts. I will update the guide as more information comes in though. EDIT: I would also like to add that I will most likely be watching and adding to your thread for that very reason, it's a good place to discuss things between tankers. Where is your link? I need all the information I can get. https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=56114&find=unread Here is the link to Void Echo's thread. I'm currently writing the next section so check back soon :)
Tac Com Sand Mercenary Corps Inc. 41	Posted - 2013.02.07 05:33:00 - [8] - Quote Jackof All-Trades wrote: Finally, the HAV version of the Dropship Flight School is out. That is what I was aiming for. Hope you enjoy the read. Note: Next group of modules has been written. If there are any requests for modules to be looked at please post here. After the modules I'll be looking at sample fits and HAV tips.
Tac Com Sand Mercenary Corps Inc. 41	Posted - 2013.02.08 01:03:00 - [9] - Quote Delanus Turgias wrote: Tac Com wrote: Jackof All-Trades wrote: Finally, the HAV version of the Dropship Flight School is out. That is what I was aiming for. Hope you enjoy the read. Note: Next group of modules has been written. If there are any requests for modules to be looked at please post here. After the modules I'll be looking at sample fits and HAV tips. I'd definitely recommend mentioning Active Scanners and Torque Modules, since these can be some of the most useful modules on vehicles, even more so than tanking/ganking modules. Also, I have several starter fits that you can share, message me if you want to know more. Thank you for the input Delanus. I'm working on adding more modules and speed and tactical mods being next up. If you wish to share some starter tank fits, please feel free to post them here and I'll most likely add them.
Tac Com Sand Mercenary Corps Inc. 41	Posted - 2013.02.10 08:33:00 - [10] - Quote Neb Khonak wrote: This guide is excellent. Your time is much appreciated. Thank you very much Neb. I appreciate the support. I hope that this guide will help many understand the nature of HAVs Note: Chapter 3 has been expanded, Chapter 4 has been added. Chapter 5 (sample fittings) to come

Tac Com Sand Mercenary Corps Inc. 41	Posted - 2013.02.15 15:35:00 - [11] - Quote G Torq wrote: Excellent post! Will take it into consideration next time I spec a HAV (don't have the ISK flow it just now) Dropped a link, and partial copy, on the G+ forum: https://plus.google.com/106639317314065291577/posts/Yv3PZnjhku1 Thanks for the link. I really appreciate everyone's support so far for this thread. I've been a bit busy with my GF over the past week but I'm looking to get the sample fittings and tips section done soon.

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