The Great MA Debate at Planetside.com

[RogueGenesis]

The Great MA debate!

please cast your vote!


http://boards.station.sony.com/ubb/planetside/Forum8/HTML/030229.html

[Veteran]

Gauss and Pulsar could use a +5 or +10 increase to their clip size, but I wouldn't push the point.

[TheN00b]

Meh, I'd say Pulsar edges Cycler by a bit, cause of it being cooler and I think dealing more damage. Gauss isn't even close.

[00AgentDuck]

I like them all but for me punisher would be my least favorite, never was any good at using it. The cycler also for my old graphics card covered much of the screen with shooting animation, that I could hardly see where I was going, but I still liked it. My new graphics card may help with that problem.

[Rayder]

Meh, I'd say Pulsar edges Cycler by a bit, cause of it being cooler and I think dealing more damage. Gauss isn't even close.
Cycler is better at close range. Guass slaps em all at range.

[SandTrout]

Did they even change the MA weapons in the Balance pass? I don't recall reading anything about that...

[Hamma]

hmm, I dont recall.. I dont really remember anything about it either

[MuNsTeR]

gauss

[Motorhead]

MA was not touched in the balance pass.

I like the punisher. Using it outside with jammer grenades gives you great survivability when there are lots of enemy vehicles about; inside with frag grenades works good on both infantry and maxes. I don't use plasma as I consider it cheap, and all my outfit buddies hate it.

[Acaila]

They all excel at their niche situations. Sweeper = win.

[Indecisive]

Pulsar outdoors, sweeper or cycler in.

[RogueGenesis]

yeah, they didn't change MA in the Balance patch.. but that dosen't mean MA was not effected, other things in the game were changed (HA, Maxs, vehicals) and that has an effect on MA too.

Hamma, how come you didn't cast a vote? :)

[beave]

IMHO, the sweeper rules all of them at close range :) I get 50-50 against the n00bhammer with the Sweeper.

Out doors, Beamer rules/Gause (Long Range)/Cycler (Medium Range)/Sweeper (Close Range). Remember using the sweeper outdoors you will need to surge around like the NC do with the n00bhammer/Agile/Surge setting.

Indoors there is no better MA than the sweeper,

[GeistX]

Sweeper.

[TheRagingGerbil]

Created at TR arms dealer just to provide me and my NC boys with an unlimited supply of Cyclers.

If you get good with the Gauss, grab a cycler and prepare to do some ownage. The increased clip size means you can take down at least three guys without relading, compared to the two guys the gauss will drop.

[Queensidecastle]

The Cycler kicks the shit out of the Gauss for these reasons:

1)Accuracy. It is totally acurate to the recticle no other MA can do this
2)RoF and bloom. You can put more bullets onto a target in a short ammount of time and bloom is very easy to control.

The Gauss does more damage per bullet and can hold that damage for a much longer range. This is not an advantage however because of how inacurate it is. The Gauss is not even close to acurate to its Recticle. This means when zoomed in 4x you are going to miss many shots no matter how good you think that you are. The way that it pays off is that when you do hit your target, you do much more damage. However herein lies the problem: Time. The opposing trooper has much more time to counter you when being fired on by a Gauss at long range. It is rather trivial to surge from tree to tree, closing the distance eventually removing 100% of the natrual advantage of the Gauss. Once distance is removed the Pulsar and Cycler own it. Maintaining Cover from Medium Assault in Planetside is trivial to attain. Therefore Accuracy > all in reguards to MA comparisons

The bottom line however is that most people dont know how to use weapons properly in Planetside. 9 times out of 10 in the above scenario, the opposing empire of the Gauss user will stay put and attempt to counter the Gauss at long range. So it is in that respect that the Gauss remains a powerfull weapon. Also, the Gauss is the best Assault rifle to have indoors but this is moot because it doesnt compare to the Sweeper which is part of the same certification

[Vick]

The are all equal, just a matter of preference.

My favorite rifle is the pulsar, but best overall is the sweeper. A whole lot of my kills come from it.

[Queensidecastle]

The sweeper is absurdly overated.

HA ownz it, MA ownz it (rifles when not indoors) SA ownz it, MAXs ownz it. The bottom line is that if you rock with the sweeper, you would rock that much more with a better weapon. Of course I do agree that the Sweeper serves a role for those that do not want to spend the cert points on a superior weapon. The sweeper fills a niche role and is merely OK

[SandTrout]

I like the gauss just because I've learned the feal of it better than the other weapons, though I will useualy pick up cycler when fighting indoors or a pulsar when there are lots of maxes and vehicles about.

[Vick]

Rofl, I have at least 5000 kills with the sweeper, and will take on some HA newb anyday.

I used it by choice, because I think heavy assault is lame, and I did just fine with it. When I had a JH I could kill endless amounts of people, very easily, no challenge at all.

[Queensidecastle]

You agree with my point Vick. The Sweeper is a mediocre weapon. As you freely admit, if it was a Jackhammer instead, you would have tons more kills

[beave]

The sweeper is absurdly overated.

HA ownz it, MA ownz it (rifles when not indoors) SA ownz it, MAXs ownz it. The bottom line is that if you rock with the sweeper, you would rock that much more with a better weapon. Of course I do agree that the Sweeper serves a role for those that do not want to spend the cert points on a superior weapon. The sweeper fills a niche role and is merely OK

Not really. If you like up close fighting, like the fighting used with the n00bhammer and MCG you will like the sweeper. The Lasher works well at close range as well.

n00bhammer: Requires minimum skill to use. You do not even need to aim the waepon at the nme, just fire!!!

MCG: Takes skill to keep the CoF down to make the weapon usable. You just can not go all out on it. You can be 3 t o5 meters away from the nme and you will only get 50% to 70% of the rounds hittign the nme at full on. So what you do is shoot in bursts, unless you are on top of the nme.

Lasher: The ultimate spam weapon. I use it on my VS toon on Macov. It is difficlult to hit nme mid to long range. Although, this weapons works better if used in packs of 3 or more. When firing you need to judge where the nme might be and fire, becuaseof the lash's travel rate.

Enough on Heavy Assault. I do not use it anymore myself. I traded it in for Air Calvary.

Woof!

[Everay]

i dont like the guass, its CoF blooms too fast

[Vick]

You agree with my point Vick. The Sweeper is a mediocre weapon. As you freely admit, if it was a Jackhammer instead, you would have tons more kills

Okay, I guess I do agree.

[GreyFlcn]

-First Place-
Cycler
50 clip
Even control of CoF bloom and CoF shrink
Best Indoor Killspeed
Highest RoF, making it easiest for consistant hits

Really no signifigant cons to this weapon.
Only weakness is it get slightly edged out by Gauss at range.


-Second Place-
Gauss
Smallish Clip
Big CoF Bloom, Near Instant CoF Shrink. Although Pretty inaccurate while standing
Most damage per shot, especially at range
Ammo Efficient

When you can crouch for extended periods this weapon really shines

-Niche Award-
Punisher
The rocket/grenade slot just makes this gun awesome sometimes
Reloads a lot, but for 1on1 attacks this weapon is awesome
Does the same damage per shot as a Cycler
CoF bloom is pretty huge, but the CoF shrink is decent. Rapid single fire it can do well at range.
Frag Grenades rock for quick ANTI-HA kills :)


-Last Place-
Pulsar
Best (slowest) CoF Bloom speed
Worst CoF shrink speed
Day-Glo tracers
Only 1 color tracer (Is that a TKer or TR/NC???)
Same ammo source as the Lasher
Slowest killspeed indoors
Killspeed gets pretty bad past 40m range

Can use it with Lasher, otherwise a rather mediocre weapon



-The Graphs-
]MA Damage at Range (http://www.greyfalcon.net/rifles.jpg[/url)
]Percent Killspeed Avantage over Pulsar at Range & Killspeed at Range (http://www.greyfalcon.net/ttkadv.jpg[/url)

[Rbstr]

the guass is owned by all other MA unless you are very good with it. I still love it though. The guass isn't that good at range either, though better than the pulsar, becasue its cof is big and it lacks the damage that it should have. The cycler is pwnage compered to the pulsar and guass at everything though.

[Rayder]

If your a TR would you rather spend an extra point for two weapons (one being able to be used only in certain circumstances), or for a point less, 4 (one also only avaible in certain circumstances), for the same amount of damage, with less COF bloom, but less ammo capacity. This gives the Cycler a certain edge over the other MA weapons.

I prefer the Guass however, because I usually like to hang bang and pick my kills carefully.

Pulsar is great and all, seeing as how I always have access to it, but I would *never* pick it over Guass/Cycler.

Punisher I use with one of the Empire rifles.

Sweeper has too small a clip for me.

[GreyFlcn]

-The Graphs- (UBB didn't work)
MA Damage at Range (http://www.greyfalcon.net/rifles.jpg)
Percent Killspeed Avantage over Pulsar at Range & Killspeed at Range (http://www.greyfalcon.net/ttkadv.jpg)

Oh yeh. Pulsar has an AP mode. Cool feature if Devs would consider my Lancer idea (http://boards.station.sony.com/ubb/planetside/Forum8/HTML/021962.html). Would allow you to finish off NC maxes. Not too useful right now.

[Rbstr]

yeah the pulsar needs some loving, but i thik the guass needs a reworking, it should be harder hitting more accurate and slower firing

[Professor Frink]

All three rifles are top-notch & probably the most balanced aspect of this great game. I am VS now & I love my pulsar but miss the reliability of my old gauss... :rock:

[Incompetent]

MA is the single best balanced part of the game, except possibly the sniping, every weapon is well balanced among the other MA weapons and, aside from HA monkeys, most of the other infantry weapons.

[JuSTCHiLLiN]

The spiker is really growing on me. I try and keep my locker full of them. Circle strafe any max, aside from the AI, and you'll win. I downed 3 VS AA maxes with one spiker, agile, engineering, and surge when I dropped on the roof of a tower. I think half of it is that the sound is so rare people get confused (there's no BANG BANG BANG sound like a JH or other common weapon sounds).

[Queensidecastle]

I would have the Spiker on my Infiltrator except its nigh impossible to use Core Combat weapons these days (no, I am NOT going to spend 30 minutes of my playtime trying to fill my locker with them)

[Hamma]

The spiker is quite a beast, fun to play with