What amused me was the note on the title of the thread about balance whiners keeping out. It�s been my experience that the people who don�t want game balance, and who complain about people who bring it up for discussion, are those who are enjoying the benefit of an imbalance. So imagine my shock to see the thread poster wears blue.
Statistically the NC get 10% more kills per player on average than any other empire. That alone defines a problem. For the NC it comes in 2 flavors: The Jackhammer and the Vanguard.
IMHO the Jackhammer is over powered only because of its secondary fire mode. This is fairly obvious. The Vanguard�s advantages are a little more subtle, well besides the not-so-subtle main gun power. But, they are enough to make a difference. My biggest killing sprees in the game have been with Agile/Jackhammer and gunning in a Vanguard with a good driver. The other HA and Tanks just don�t compare. And the stats, i.e. the facts, not opinion back this up.