Viability of a Driver/Pilot Class

[Bravix]

I'm not here to say, "OMFG WE NEED A SEPERATE CLASS FOR PILOTS AND DRIVERS!!!" I haven't played the beta yet, and even if I was in it, there needs to be enough players participating to determine whether this is necessary.

However, I would like to discuss the viability of such a class based on what we have been shown.

The why, is that it would prevent abuse of the pop in/out of vehicle mechanics...well, at least limit the abuse. It would also prevent people from, for example, hopping into 100 scythe's with their heavy assault class and drop over the enemy base. Sure, you can do this with Galaxies, but it's easier to take out a handful of galaxies and expect and drop.

How I would have the class set up (feel free to list your own ideas or say that my idea sucks ) :

Pilot/Driver Class
Weapons: Carbine and pistol, maybe light shotguns? No grenades except maybe smoke.
Armor: The same amount as light assault/engineer/medic (Don't know armor values at this time, hard to say).
Abilities: Only class able to pilot/drive vehicles. On top of this, they could have a minor skill from one of the other support classes.

It would be important to keep the class viable in combat. Otherwise the complaints would flow. But of course you wouldn't want them overpowered. That is why my idea would be to allow them to have a skill from one of the other classes. The pilot/driver would be able to select which one they want.

For example, a pilot could choose to have the standard medical applicator (unable to use advanced versions though as pilot). Or they could take an engineer skill and be able to repair their aircraft, though at a reduced rate compared to an full fledged engineer. This would of course need balancing.

Just my idea. Would prevent some abuse of the vehicle boarding system. It would make it so that you can't just drive up to a base, blow people to hell with your tank, and then hop out last minute as a heavy assault and soak up even more damage.

It would also make playing both vehicles and infantry a more dedicated class, instead of something you switch on a whim. It'd still be very easy to switch roles, all you'd have to do is die or go to an equipment term. But as things currently are, all you have to do is hop out of a vehicle or hop in it.

I'd like to point out that the driver/pilot class would be combat capable, just not quite as versatile and heavily armed as their dedicated infantry counterparts.