Another dev AMA on Reddit, Higby Answers! - Page 2

KesTro · 2014-03-06, 11:22 AM

I love my shield as an NC MAX. The problem with it though is exactly as BITES has described. Due to client side limitations 1 in 4 bullets will still damage you through it and explosions do the damage to you around the shield. So It's a nifty little thing for a 1v1 MAX duel to mitigate some damage but it's not going to save your life too often. All we really use it for is to stack up on SCU's in Biolabs.

Also, Hereticus check your inbox.

War Barney · 2014-03-06, 02:23 PM

Even then though the zoe is better as it lets them quickly get around your shield and its a huge risk to use against infantry as they'll throw a C4 at you for the 1 shot kill =( and ofc you lose charge so you wont be hitting much

ringring · 2014-03-06, 02:40 PM

Originally Posted by War Barney

Even then though the zoe is better as it lets them quickly get around your shield and its a huge risk to use against infantry as they'll throw a C4 at you for the 1 shot kill =( and ofc you lose charge so you wont be hitting much

All I can tell you is that the other days I spawned at a base on Amerish to attempt a resecure and as I looked out of the spawn room I saw 5 NC maxes with their shields up and looking right at me and I thought "nah, I don't think I'll bother".

War Barney · 2014-03-06, 03:07 PM

all you needed to do in that situation was shoot a rocket or run up with some C4, it takes so long to get rid of the shield you'll often blow the C4 and kill all the MAXs before they can run or pull a gun and a rocket will just bypass almost all the shield. Shields might look scary but when you get use to them you realise it doesn't block the damage you want it to

ringring · 2014-03-06, 03:19 PM

Originally Posted by War Barney

all you needed to do in that situation was shoot a rocket or run up with some C4, it takes so long to get rid of the shield you'll often blow the C4 and kill all the MAXs before they can run or pull a gun and a rocket will just bypass almost all the shield. Shields might look scary but when you get use to them you realise it doesn't block the damage you want it to

Kill all the maxes? How many bricks of C4 do you think I can carry? Besides, NC maxes are more lethal than e-coli!

Still as a max user myself I never use the lock down, charge is the best thing. And I never complain about maxes, unless I get into a stupid position I hear nothing but the lamentations of my opponent's women.

Illtempered · 2014-03-06, 03:23 PM

These devs crack me up...

War Barney · 2014-03-06, 04:39 PM

Originally Posted by ringring

Kill all the maxes? How many bricks of C4 do you think I can carry? Besides, NC maxes are more lethal than e-coli!

Still as a max user myself I never use the lock down, charge is the best thing. And I never complain about maxes, unless I get into a stupid position I hear nothing but the lamentations of my opponent's women.

You can carry 2 which is enough to kill 5 if they stand close together, and a NC MAX isn't that lethal really, the shield takes ages to put away so you have plenty of time to thrown down a brick of C4, that or hover out as a LA, if you use the lift to get some height even if they spot you the range will be so long they wont be able to hit you.

Snoopy · 2014-03-06, 07:23 PM

Originally Posted by War Barney

Its funny cos all I ever see you do is ignore the arguments I make and just throw insults around, I never said lockdown is good but they can at least slot it as charge isn't essential, I see ZOE used a lot, and I explained why the shield is used by people who think it looks cool but in effect its worthless. I wont even go into inf and medics as I went into that in great detail already so I'm not going to re-explain it so you can completely ignore everything I say again (hell I expect you to ignore all of this and just throw insults again, its more just so people realise you are just a troll).

Ignore the arguments? You gave an opinion, and as some body that plays all three factions, I happen to disagree with it.

I'm not bothered by what people on here think of me.

Originally Posted by War Barney

While on the question of do we play the same game, obviously not if this is the first time you've ever heard a NC want a gun that has a range beyond 5m for our MAX, its what I hear non stop while playing NC as our MAX is nigh on useless right now, its only saving grace being charge in biolabs and other indoor style bases which, while it IS suicide, at least lets us clear rooms enough hopefully for people to follow us in and mop up (though that requires a good team work, random never think to follow MAXs).

No, it's not the first time I've heard that the NC want a ranged weapon and I have no problem with that, provided the other two factions get a shotgun for CQC in return.

Riot shield definitely isn't useless, though as I said, it isn't an offensive mechanism like the other two.

Originally Posted by War Barney

How anybody could try to compare a skill which lets your MAX move very quickly and one which slows you right down and only protects against small arms fire from right in front of you is a complete joke. One is useful in a lot of situations the other will only get you killed, and I can already see you trying to say *ye zoe does hur hur* but we all know zoe saves lives and makes MAX rushes a lot more effective, shields only serve to make you a sitting duck.

Again, we clearly have very different takes on the various abilities, but I don't think the shield makes you a sitting duck. If anything, that goes to the TR's lockdown maxes. I don't agree that Zoe 'saves lives', because they fall incredibly quickly if they're stupid enough to charge at a room full of people while in overdrive...

As I've said, there's a way to combat everything on this game, despite the factional differences. If you're after a perfectly balanced game - you have the wrong one.

In all honesty, if I had my way, Maxes wouldn't even be in the game. I don't enjoy being killed by any of them.

War Barney · 2014-03-06, 07:51 PM

Well I can agree with you that MAXs would be better out of the game.. but then again I also think the game would be better without revives and stealth for me they are all things which might be fun to play with but playing against them is no fun at all.

I don't get how you've never heard people complain about our MAX, theres a ton of threads on this forum about it, hell I even made a thread asking about slugs which ended up turning into a discussion on how awful our MAX is, hell we've ALL said we would be happy to give the other factions shotguns if we get a long range option, hell I'd be happy to lose ALL our shotguns, they are far to restrictive for such a slow lumbering unit.

And I didn't say the shield is useless but its uses are few and far between, to few and far between to use instead of charge considering we also have shotguns which require us to get up close. Hell it would have made more sense to give US the ZOE so we could get in close to use our shotguns, unless we get a long range weapon I don't actually see any skill which could be better than charge, that huge burst of speed is just to useful to get into range for them and its great for escaping which in my opinion makes it superior in every way to the shield

The ZOE definitely saves them a lot, sure if they rush into a room full of enemies alone like idiots they'll die, but so would anybody, the extra speed lets them quickly get out of a fight though while also being able to avoid shots while in a fight thanks to the extra agility it gives.

Falcon_br · 2014-03-06, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by War Barney

You want shield? have it we'll take lockdown =) sure lockdown isn't great but you can use it to become a AA monster, the shield just gives you the ability to be a sitting duck, so its kind of like lockdown except it doesn't give us more damage. I really don't get what your on about with bursters, perhaps lockdown makes it go insane but iv never had a issue with hitting with the bursters

Lol, you can have lockdown with a shotgun max anytime you want, it will be fun to see that.

As I said and you didn't understand, the buster has received a cof recoil nerf.
the nerf is not a great thing, but if you are using lockdown they are insane!
The truth is, checking the oracle data, if you want a plane down, you last resource should be the buster, they are the less effective AA weapon in the game.
Other the using lock down with buster for anti air, I don't see any other use for it on the game! Also you even if you don't have lockdown you need ammo to use it, and with lockdown, you get out of ammo really fast!
Defending a room? A scat max will still kill you faster and he can even get close to you with the shield to kill you easily!

Snoopy · 2014-03-06, 10:50 PM

Originally Posted by War Barney

I don't get how you've never heard people complain about our MAX, theres a ton of threads on this forum about it, hell I even made a thread asking about slugs which ended up turning into a discussion on how awful our MAX is, hell we've ALL said we would be happy to give the other factions shotguns if we get a long range option, hell I'd be happy to lose ALL our shotguns, they are far to restrictive for such a slow lumbering unit.

I have, as I said, but I tend to hear more complaints about NC Maxes and their ability to instagib people than the other way around. NC Maxes excel in close quarters, where they absolutely dominate.

Every faction bitches and whinges about every other faction. Every faction thinks they're the 'hard-done-by' faction and believe they constantly draw the short straw.

Originally Posted by War Barney

And I didn't say the shield is useless but its uses are few and far between, to few and far between to use instead of charge considering we also have shotguns which require us to get up close. Hell it would have made more sense to give US the ZOE so we could get in close to use our shotguns, unless we get a long range weapon I don't actually see any skill which could be better than charge, that huge burst of speed is just to useful to get into range for them and its great for escaping which in my opinion makes it superior in every way to the shield

More sense to give the NC the Zoe mechanic in what respect? People don't use Zoe to charge the enemy though, they use it to increase their damage. If you wanted to charge the enemy you would use... charge, and in doing so, you're not lowering your defenses.

I still think that charge is the best ability for each and every faction, whether you use it to propel yourself into a firefight, or to flee.

Originally Posted by War Barney

The ZOE definitely saves them a lot, sure if they rush into a room full of enemies alone like idiots they'll die, but so would anybody, the extra speed lets them quickly get out of a fight though while also being able to avoid shots while in a fight thanks to the extra agility it gives.

I have to ask whether you've ever even used a Zoe max? If you're able to strafe to avoid shots, the problem is your enemy are a terrible shot. Especially after the nerf.

Blynd · 2014-03-07, 02:16 AM

Hey barney get a grip zoe is a pos outside of a biofarm. Because you have slot of medics to revive you everything you die.

The riot shield is decent as many have pointed out and you have ignored it DEFENCIVE ffs.
I have seen themselves offensively by outfits using a meatshield of maxes with riot shield up and 2squads behind them pushing to the gen then scu in biolabs. Maybe you just such at the game cause you do nothing but complain.

KesTro · 2014-03-07, 03:47 AM

Gimme some MAX-V2's, fast mech like vehicles instead of suits.

Not to be confused with BFR's of course.

ringring · 2014-03-07, 04:11 AM

Originally Posted by War Barney

You can carry 2 which is enough to kill 5 if they stand close together, and a NC MAX isn't that lethal really, the shield takes ages to put away so you have plenty of time to thrown down a brick of C4, that or hover out as a LA, if you use the lift to get some height even if they spot you the range will be so long they wont be able to hit you.

Well, I could ask them to arrange themselves nicely, like we're taking a group photograph with the tall ones at the back.

And I reckon I'll take that 'NC Max isn't that lethal anyway' remark under advisement.

HereticusXZ · 2014-03-07, 04:27 AM

Concerning the AMA thoughts on the MAX ability things, I think the problem is inherit in the abilities themselves...

The Riot Shield is unique because it's just that, a Riot-Shield that is only directionally-protective over the generic vanguard or heavy shields.

It's flaw is that it can reload while the shield is active (unless it's been fixed yet?) and the fact that the occasional bullet or splash damage get by it so you become frustrated about chip-damage. Patch and fix that problem and we're good...

I don't even think it should be a cert-line with a damage-limit considering you can just flank the thing.... Give them unlimited damage mitigation with the shield. Fix the reload w/ shield out and this is good to go...

TR Lock-down is frustrating because they can't move and can only fire 180 degrees infront of them.... Rule of thumb in any FPS, mmo or not, is you need to stay moving to win so you have a clash in ideology. Buff the TR max damage resistance ONLY while in lock-down and you won't have so much frustration, that or buff the lock-down speed to deploy/undeploy....

VS... Right out of the gate ZOE was OP, for quite a long time... so your going to have that mindset that it should always be as powerful as it once was... I don't want to say special-snowflake but maybe ZOE should be recalled back to R&D and come out with a brand new ability for VS MAX...

I really don't have a problem with VS MAX having the option to jet-pack.... It's still a big, slow easy target just like any other MAX, just cut it's jump-time in half from what a LA default can do, limiting it's jump ability to small fences and obstacles....

Where's the problem in that?