Post your upcoming Sunderer overhaul ideas here

[EvilNinjadude]

Routers for all!

[Zuckerman]

I'd like a hover option to get a Sundy out of a bad spot. Sometimes they get trapped and it would be awesome to have a jump-jet style hover boost to get them out of crevasses and other tight spots. They still would be a sitting duck! No way they could fly very far! But yeah. If not that, then give Engineers the power to lift things up and put them back on the road. That would rock.

[Blynd]

An engineering sundie - drop all seat slots and weapons but has tank mines on board certable to 20 max. This allows the sundie driver to lay a minefied to protect the armour from a flanking manouver. Is allowed to have repair or ammo attachments too but no AMS module. Looks wise make it look like a pickup truck version of sundie and reduce hp by 1/3 but has smaller hitbox due to lower profile.


On a side note w have to make these suggestions something that will make people want to pull them and will provide xp/certs for the driver.

Command sundie I think would be certable via outfit points for offcers only that way those who are running outfits have a distinct tactical advantage of the lone wolf solo players.

[Rolfski]

Great ideas so far, keep 'em coming. If only a fraction of it would be implemented I already would be very happy.

[Shogun]

how about having the option to deploy a covered operations ams?

it will need a special icon on the deploy screen and maybe a "are you sure?" question if you wanna spawn there.

this ams variant will have a ps1 style cloak bubble and will only let people spawn as infiltrator. that´s why it should have the "are you sure? you will spawn as infiltrator!" confirmation.

maybe the owner should be able to lock and unlock spawnclasses at will.

also this special ams should feature a sensor diffuser that jams enemy radar.
some of this equipment should use up the weapon hardpoints of course. like the cloak generator and the sensor disruptor.

maybe give rumbleseatlike weaponslots for the passengers, so they could fire their weapons from inside.

[Zadexin]

A true TANK sundy- Drop the troop carry capacity to driver, gunner, gunner, +4 passenger.
Let it equip direct fire AV weapons similar to mana turrets or the cannons on a lightening tank. Small arms gunports for the 4 passengers and a Ram plate that does extra damage when ramming (the model is already there as a cosmetic). These can all be separate certable upgrades.

An AA weapon that is not totally balls would be nice too. Maybe make it so the walker can actually shoot stuff on the ground. I know its meant to be an AA weapon but come on, I'm just asking for a 30 degree declination. You can see a light assault running at you 10 yards off but can do exactly jack squat to stop him from toasting your fun bus as all the walker bullets go wizzing over his head.

A SPAWN JAMMER sundy - I'm going to keep requesting spawn jammers until beacons and squad spawn shenanigans are dealt with. I would like a sundy with an enemy spawn jamming bubble that stops enemy beacons, squad deploy and sunderers from working within the anti-spawn bubble. This would hopefully keep people from drop pod nuking and other annoying exploits that all the spawn stuff suffers from.

[Greenthy]

Vehicle re-equp sunderer
Transform the infantry terminals to vehicle terminals for friendly vehicles to switch load-outs.

Teleporter (hacker) sunderer
Replace the AMS ability with teleporters, teleporting players to a nearby hacked teleporter. (With a given maximum range)

[Timealude]

If it isnt too much trouble, I would love to have a towing option so we can pull vehicles that out that get stuck. Like say it would use the utility slot so it wouldnt have an AMS but it would work in line with the repair and ammo attachments.

You could also add a mobile command option that would deploy defensive guns around the sundy to help fortify your position better and this could take up the defense slot.

As for new weapons, we could give the sundy an EMP launcher that would shoot a bolt but do no damage and disable the enemy vehicle's hud for a few seconds. This would naturally be a 1 shot magazine with a long reload time I want to say about 3 to 4 seconds. The jamming effect could last about 2 seconds maybe a little longer with sidegrade but it would increase the reload time to keep it balanced.

[Rivenshield]

I just want a cloaking bubble that runs concurrently with the AMS module (and disables the guns), so I can have my long-lost AMS back.

[Baneblade]

In the event that the AMS is not divorced from the Sunderer entirely...

The AMS functionality should span all of the equip mod slots:

Utility, Defense, and Performance.

The Utility AMS equip will remain as is, but with five tiers to unlock: 100, 200, 400, 1000, 2000 point levels. The 2000 cert tier required for respawning as fast as current. 1000 would be about on par with base spawn rates. 100 tier would be comparable to redeploy (incl the 10 seconds wind up). This mod would also remove 3 passenger slots.

The Defense AMS Equip will add MANA Turret style protective walls around the deployed Sunderer that have their own HP values and repair points. Not a bubble or omnidirectional shield. 500 cert points, one tier. Removes 3 passenger slots.

The Performance AMS Equip allows the Sunderer to cloak when deployed. Removes 3 passenger slots and disables onboard weapons while deployed. 500 certs.

The end result is a purpose focused AMS without entirely mincing the Sunderer's involvement. Oh and all three are required for any of them to work. So minimum 1100 cert investment to be able to spooge your empire all over the place.

[Edfishy]

+1 to the Router!

I'm also all for a return of the cloak-field bubbles, in some fashion or another (It wasn't broke... why fix it?).

C4/Tank Mines

It is really *really* easy to blow up a Sunderer with a C4/Tank Mine suicide charge. Make shooting Tank mines with small arms fire do only like 10% of the damage it currently does. If it were possible interface-wise, I'd have some sort of equipable C4 jammer that puts a 10 second delay before someone can detonate C4 on (or under) the vehicle (time enough for an Engineer to remove it).

Another option might be separating the "SCU" module on the Sunderer so it can be busted without blowing the Sunderer itself. This way if you're able to push back the suicide charges, you can repair the SCU module (after a sufficiently lengthy repair time). It might also open up small arms fire (LMG's, most likely) to being an AMS repellant.

In Planetside 1 multiple mines and spitfires were a pretty good deterrent. Atm it's too hit and miss to put out just a couple of mines that can be flown over. =\

Edit:

Radar Jamming

As a support role, it'd be great to be able to provide infantry/vehicle radar stealth to nearby friendlies (even at a height above you) so they do not appear on radar. As aircav, I'd love to be able to juke and dodge around a rock to suddenly vanish without a trace for a pursuing foe. Little does he know we setup a support Sundy behind some rocks that's now masking my whereabouts. Could also be handy if it acted as a flare and scatters incoming missiles.

[MrMak]

Here is an aidea on how a Router utility would function.


Sunderer would deploy similar to an AMS.

One side would reveal an unfolding teleporter entrance while the other would have a small nanite construction unit, like a mini vehicle pad.

Once deployed the diver can press F to construct a remote controlled tracked drone, kind of like an EOD bot about the size of a Flash. This little sucker can be deployed to form the exit from the sunderer's teleporter. The drone would of course have limited operating range. While it would remain where it is if the sunderer undeploysm it will activate a deconstruction timer if it moves out of range (shoudl the sunderer be destroyed that is technicaly being out of range).

[isilyan]

Could we get a marker(Red cross) on the Sundy, if it has a Triage medic in?

[EvilNinjadude]

Originally Posted by isilyan

Could we get a marker(Red cross) on the Sundy, if it has a Triage medic in?

Heck effing yes.

[OctavianAXFive]

I’d rather see a new vehicle.

The Sunderer is already a really versatile support vehicle. I’d rather not add a ton of new features to just this one vehicle. It’s possibly the most boring looking vehicle in the game. I have some suggestions as to what can be added to it but I’d rather see more time and energy put into new vehicles, either NS or ES. The Sunderer is a battle bus but it’s not really a combat vehicle. I don’t want to really make it one by adding a ton of fancy new weapons. Instead I’d prefer if they keep the emphasis on support roles.

Some things I would like to see a vehicle (not necessarily the Sunderer) be able to do.

Utility Slot Ideas:

Deployable Gravity Lifts: One for up and one for down. Certification increases height. A benefit of this upgrade would be that the designers could close off some of the base walls, forcing players to deploy a siege vehicle.

Man Cannon: Deploys man cannons that will launch allies over base walls without fall damage. This is a popular idea but mine comes with a caveat. Base defenses are too porous as it is and giving outfits the power to max crash over a wall and right onto a generator just seems unfair. The vehicle will deploy two cannons that have very limited distance at fist and grow conservatively with certs. Additionally, there is a small delay built into the manapult; meaning you can only fire one person every 5,4,3,2 seconds.

Jammer: Creates a no-deploy radius for enemy spawn beacons and Sunderers.

ES Ideas:

TR:
Spread Propaganda: The TR is piping propaganda over the airwaves. In a temporary bout of confusion, all enemies of the TR become confused and find it hard to tell friend from foe. All empire colors turn to a faded grey. 3D spotting and minimap colors are all set to grey no matter the faction. This is done within a set radius of the vehicle piping out the "truth." TR players will still see enemies and allies as they normally would.

Alternative if that’s not viable:

PSA: The vehicle sends out a friendly PSA to all TR troops that failure is punishable by death. But since TR don't fail, that shouldn't be a problem...right? Any TR who die within the radius of the vehicle have a chance of being revived with 5% health and full shields.

VS:
AVSR (Advanced Vanu Shield Regenerator): Vanu within X radius receive a bonus to shield regeneration rate. I’m thinking -2.5 seconds. This would stack with the Advanced Shield Capacitor armor certification for a possible total -5 seconds to the shield regeneration time.

NC:
Get Up Close and Personal: Music is piped out into the NC ranks to get the troops fired up and ready for battle. NC troops move 10% faster in X radius of the vehicle (it would be rather large).

Alternative:
Rally Around the Flag: The sight of the NC banner gives strength and hope to the soldiers. NC troops receive an extra 125 HP while near the vehicle. (this radius would be relatively small as this is almost an extra max damage bullet from most guns and with nanoweave would make for some pretty meaty NC troops).

I’d like to see a more combat oriented APC added, or maybe some cool specialty siege vehicle. The Sunderer is a pretty versatile vehicle for what it does. Let’s see some more ES vehicles!