Pre-emptive nerf strike! How do you think?

[Kriegson]

How do you think some things in the game, which are likely to end up needing a nerf in some regard, should be handled?

Please try to leave faction hate at the door. And yes, I know these are best left to beta...but hey, why not?


Scythe maneuverability-
Being able to move in all directions freely and literally turn on a dime is a pretty massive advantage. With the kind of agility this thing has, I could see it getting into some pretty stupid places (like inside the tower we've seen with a skilled enough pilot).

That being said, how do you think we could nerf it, without removing the key feature that makes it so unique, and without reducing its killing potential to the degree that it can't win in a relatively stand up fight? (ie can't win even half the time unless it exploits the hell out of it's maneuverability).

Jackhammer-
With auto-shotguns, there are usually two ways they end up in a game. Horrendously overpowered and virtually no skill weapon that "You enter X range and you are dead" or a largely useless or incredibly niche weapon that is only effective in spitting distance that people can literally backpedal away from and kill you with a pistol.

Shotguns are often the only weapon in games that can do extremely little to literally no damage beyond a modest range, where the majority of weapons are still effective.

So how do you think it could be balanced to remain somewhat versatile (hits further than spitting distance), but without being an "Iwin" button in its effective range?

Maybe more as I think of them or they are suggested.

[TheInferno]

Oh god, this won't end well.

We don't actually know how overpowered these things are. The Scythe? They're already working on that. The Jackhammer? It isn't even in the game yet because the animations aren't done (or at least it isn't in as far as we know, it might be well into testing in studio alpha).

There's no possible way to say "We need to reduce/increase X and add/remove Y to balance this!" if we haven't had hands-on experience with what "this" is.

I'm not saying it's not a good question, I'm just saying we don't have the knowledge to do this right now. One of the major complaints I saw earlier about Planetside 1 was over-nerfing, and now we're going to nerf on video footage of people with no experience of the game?

We can say what we'd like to see (That scythe was ridiculously maneuverable, so I hope that what I heard is true and that it's actually the slowest of the three) or what we want to avoid (We don't want an auto shotgun that will instantly murder 3 Heavy Assaults before they can react). That's the best we can do, I think.

[Bazilx]

And yes, I know these are best left to beta...but hey, why not?

Because it's best left for beta.

[WNxThentar]

I think these things will be ironed out in beta for the most part and if they are an issue after SOE and players have the tools and data to analyse the issue and introduce a fix.

HA isn't supposed to be long range. They all have issues. In PS1 the Jack hammer is the most deadly close up. The Lasher is deadly if you get your target caught in a hall where they have no where to go. The chain gun is ... well my preferred HA even tho I'm VS because while the Lasher can do some dmg to targets around a corner it isn't anything that tapping med kits or moving 5 more feet away from the corner doesn't fix.

I'm not sure how many NC would give up their Jack hammer for a lasher even though its range is shorter.

[Kriegson]

Because it's best left for beta.

But we're not in beta. And many people want to talk about planetside2. So why not discuss it?

@TheInferno
It's not like you have to create a perfectly viable solution to "possible" problems, just discuss some theoretical solutions to theoretical problems :P
That being said, the scythe having the slowest speed doesn't really make sense to me but what if for instance, it responded more sluggishly than the others?
It can ultimately turn tighter than the reaver, but the pilot should be using the ability to strafe in order to turn most effectively.

As for the jackhammer...well I could see them taking a couple different routes to avoid that[killing 3 rexos in a row];
Triple shot is the only way to fire it-
Sure, you can damn near kill a rexo instantly (or do so if you hit in the head with enough pellets) but a near miss leaves you quite vulnerable, and a complete miss is a massive loss due to the long cycle time.

High recoil-
It fires automatically and with a modest effective range (9 meters?) but the recoil from each shot is enough to push it off target with relative ease. We're talking going from staring at the floor to staring at the ceiling halfway through a mag if you don't control it.
This would make treating it like a semi automatic shotgun, or firing in bursts more effective than spraying and praying, thus rewarding intelligent use.

[MrMorton]

ok so the only thing I have any educated opinion on is the scythe, and as for it I really don't see it overpowered in the current scheme of things.


From watching the e3 demo and seeing how long it took for aircraft to kill one another, it seems to me that the scythe is the most fragile aircraft in the game, followed by the mosquito. That is combined with the fact that it is the slowest fighter in the game, so imo it will be very vulnerable to anti ground fire, and more of a defensive/escort type dog-fighter.