Apison Valusgeffen
Namtar Elite
Gallente Federation
0
   |
Posted - 2013.07.25 05:30:00 -
[1] - Quote
First, I'll post the 2 descriptions for the Heavy Basic, and the Heavy Sentinel dropsuits, and then move on to my question...
The Basic:
A basic dropsuit frame hardwired with all minimum designation combat suites and protocols but without any role specific customizations.
NOTE: This basic frame does not receive any role-specific bonuses.
The Sentinel:
The Sentinel dropsuit is a second-generation solution designed to withstand concentrated small arms fire and protect the wearer from the concussive, thermal, and impact forces of low-grade explosives. Additionally, its power-assisted exoskeleton facilitates the usage of the heaviest caliber personal weapons.
Every vital area of the wearer is protected by 25mm of composite ceramic shell or high tensile steel plates, layered with impact absorbing, compressed carbon latticework. A secondary thermal dispersion membrane channels excess heat away from the point of contact, distributing it over a larger surface area and thereby lessening the potential damage. Superconductive veins of hybrid silver coat the outer layers and connect every piece of the armor to a grounding heat sink, dampening the harmful effects of direct fire electromagnetic weaponry.
Heavy frame dropsuits lack the mobility of lighter suits, but this trade-off results in a defensive system that defies standard infantry conventions. No other classification of personal armor can claim to be able to stand toe-to-toe with enemy vehicles and survive.
Now these are 2 substantially different descriptions. My question is are the Basic heavy dropsuit and the Sentinel heavy dropsuit substantially different dropsuits? Is the Sentinel tougher? Because it certainly sounds tougher. I ask this because I have skilled into the Basic prototype heavy dropsuit and have been less than impressed. Each class has identical shields, armor, CPU, and PG amounts at each level: standard, advanced, and prototype. The only differences are slot layout (Basic 2 high, 3 low @ prototype lvl, and Sentinel 1 high and 4 low @ prototype lvl). The other difference is SP/ISK cost. The Basic is lower on SP to skill into but higher on ISK to restock, while the Sentinel is quite a bit higher in SP to skill into but not as ISK expensive. As I mentioned before, I'm at Lvl 5 in the Basic heavy dropsuit, Lvl 5 in Armor Plating (Complex), Lvl 3 in Armor Repair (Enhanced) and for the sake of time and space here I'll just say no higher than a Lvl 2 in any of the other protective skill aspects. Having said all of that, I still get shredded in a matter of seconds, even in CQC situations by Duvolle, GEK, and even the occasional Militia AR. Now I've read the accusations on these foums: "You heavies just think your suits should be invincible!!!" That's not the case at all. I realize I can be killed just like anyone else on the battlefield. And if I'm surrounded, I understand that I'm slow and bulky and I'm probably not going to survive a multi-faceted attack. I get that. It's just that, with all the disadvantages I'm faced with in combat because of the so called "heavy" armor with which I'm equipped, I'm shocked at the alarming speed at which I'm killed in some cases, even with 3 Complex armor mods equipped. I'm posting my question because I'm afraid to skill into the Sentinel class (same armor and shield lvls as the Basic) if it's just going to be more of the same. Based on the description above, IS the Sentinel a better, more protective suit than the Basic, or would it just be a waste of time, effort and SP?
I'll end with this. I introduced 2 friends to this game, Ben, and Tim, neither of which really play much anymore if at all. Ben, like myself, was a novice FPS gamer. Also like me, he was interested in the heavy machine gunner role. So he began skilling into that class. I believe he made it to the advanced Basic suit, and maybe enhanced Armor and Repairers. I don't have exact specs, but suffice it to say, he put a little time and effort into trying to make his suit better. He too was amazed at how quickly he would die at times even in CQC situations where it would seem he had the AR user outgunned, He couldn't understand how it made sense that this bulky armor and huge chain gun spewing thousands of rounds in fairly close situations, could be outdone by a much smaller rifle. He eventually began skilling into a sniper role, and enjoyed that for a while, but gradually just stopped playing. I believe he was still disappointed at the ease with which he could be killed in the heavy dropsuit.
Tim on the other hand was an avid Call of Duty player. He came to Dust and immediately went into the Assault role with his Militia AR. Within a matter of days he was running and gunning and racking up kills and skilling up his weapons, eventually to the Breach AR (his favorite so far). His best K/D round to date is 30/8. (He texted both Ben and me a screen shot of it.) He too eventually drifted away from the game. I think he got bored with it. It wasn't really challenging for him and his trusty Breach AR. He says he's letting his passive skill points build up and will eventually come back and skill up some other things. Maybe he will, maybe he won't, I don't know.
I say all of that to say, if it seems that one class has an unfair advantage over the others, it can make for a game that's not fun, either by frustration, or boredom. Yes you could argue that Ben and I just need to get better, and yes that's true. You could also say that Tim just has more experience playing this sort of game, and yes that's true too. But it really feels like the Heavy class and the HMG (I can't speak on the Forge gun) is at a disadvantage right now, regardless of player skill level. I really do feel like a paper tiger sometimes, even in my Basic Heavy Proto suit. I just wonder, is the Sentinel any better, or just a more cost effective (ISK-wise) way to die? |
Apison Valusgeffen
Namtar Elite
Gallente Federation
0
|
Posted - 2013.07.25 06:53:00 -
[2] - Quote
I ran a round just now to test some things. The team I was on was getting owned so I decided to waste some ISK and pull out my Proto heavy full armor build (3 Complex Armor low slots, 825 armor 425 shields) I realize this is not maxed out, but its what I've got at the moment. A single GEK took me completely down in about 3 seconds. I didn't return fire, I just wanted to time it to see how long it took. I respawned and a scrambler rifle took me down in about the same time. I don't know, I may go the way of Ben and Tim and just find something else to do. I'm not a sore loser, and I do enjoy a challenging game, but a game should be challenging because of strategy, tactics, and design, not because it's unbalanced. This has been a fun foray into the world of FPSers for the most part but it may be a short lived one here. I said in a previous post that I would leave it up to CCP to fix things. I'm not a game developer and I'm certain they know more about what they're doing than any suggestions I could make. So I may skill up a few more things, give it a little more time and see what happens... see if anything gets better or gets fixed. At present though, this is kind of ridiculous. Tim and some other guys have been trying to get Ben and me to play Call of Duty. Maybe I'll give that a whirl... |