Do you consider the Jackhammer overpowered? (Balance whiners keep out)

[EarlyDawn]

This was posted to the official forums and provoked an interesting debate, so as much as I hate balance arguments, I think this would be fun to discuss. The main topic is jackhammer, but vote your mind on all of the above.

[Note, poll is public]

[Spee]

Yes, I believe it's balanced. Mainly because The only time you can take out someone who's outside, which is 90% of where I fight, is if you catch them off guard, or come behind them.


Also, if the enemy is stupid, it's absoloutly decimating. I took out 5 Rexo's in a stairwell, simply because they wouldnt turn the corner to kill me, in my standard armor.

[1024]

kill HA.

[ZionsFire]

xmodum voted in each one

[SandTrout]

As an infiltrator, I fear the Lasher the most, but as a gauss user, I'd say the MCG is the most powerful only b/c of it's range.

[slytiger]

I say they are fine as they are. I dont use any of them and i dont fear any of them in combat either. I try to avoid them if possible and let my partners with HA weapons take them or find a point of opportunity and kill them with either my amp or punisher/plasma grenades.

[Katanaboy]

Are we talking about balanced in regards to one another, or just in general?

If in general, then i suppose they're alright, since they cost a hefty 4 points.

In regards to one another, I believe the JH is more powerful than the other HA. While lasher has a faster TTK (and a very fast RoF), and can kill in 3-4 shots, its projectiles move pretty slow, so misses are plentiful (has a BIG CoF, but not as big as MCG), unless the enemy runs straight for you. However, its lashing ability ensures that no shot is wasted, although the lash does very minor damage. Also, its cone of fire is painfully large and it has very strong recoil. This is the best one of the bunch to use against infiltrators when you dont have DL (spray and pray).

MCG, i believe, has the fastest TTK, along with a neverending clip, but its spread is very wide (I believe the worst CoF), even when crouched. Even so, MCG theoretically has the best range, as it can almost hold its own in the MA ranges. Its CoF bloom is better than it used to be.

JH's CoF is smaller than the others' even though it does not use the traditional CoF system. Crouching, standing, walking, jumping, flying, or what have you now, its pellet spread remains the same, the way it should be. The only problem, a JH user can bunny hop and still hit you every time. However, its spread worsens as distance increases, eventually leading to near zero damage at ranges of over 30m or so. Counter-however, anything within those 30m is easy game for a Jack. The jack (and all other shotgun weapons) have projectiles that have instantaneous velocity, so no leading is required. Point at the enemy, click while they're still in the reticule, and enjoy the little amber circle. So while more shots may be necessary, as long as one can aim, the opponent is going down. Also, the jackhammer has the worst RoF of the three, but even so it's not that bad when compared to a sweeper, and to top it off, it has a secondary mode that fires three shots in quick succession, potentially downing a foe with a single click.

So to sum it up, all the HA have their pros and their cons, but JH has best mix of damage and ease to use.

[SandTrout]

Common missconception= Shotgun weapons are insta-hit.

The pellets do have velocity, but this is not visible because they do lack tracers(something of an advangage). The main reason that they apear to have intsa-hit is because if you shoot at someone in the crosshair, the chances are that they won't be moveing fast enough to miss the entire spread of pellets(the basis of the combat shotgun). This results in a hit, damage registered, and a pretty amber circle. At the ranges a shotgun is used, most weapons are near-insta hit.

Note: The above stated is based primaraly on knowledge on the general workings of the game. All other weapons have travel time, and there seems little reason for shotguns to be an exception. The only reason I assume for shotguns not haveing tracers is because shotguns dont fire tracer rounds and that grafic would be another thing for your computer to draw. I will repeal the above statement if I hear differently from a developer.

[EVILoHOMER]

whats ha?

[Eldanesh]

Also, the CoF on the JH does not effectivly remain the same no matter what, the center of the pellet spread is dictated by the cof, so it is entirely possible to totally miss somone wiht a shot while moving/jumping. (JH also happens to have a massive CoF bloom, takes up a large part of the screen at times, you really have to be at point-blank for it to work well.)

I like the MCG, thus I keep a locker full of 18 of them. break them out whenever I have a tower -> base fight, because JH blows at mid-range.

[Skullhead]

I do agree that the jackhammer is overpowered But I can't tell if its a little bit or a lot. I'm mainly VS on emerald and sometimes its just crazy to go into a Tower when you know there are people inside with jackhammers. its like the VS should create Giant atomic Monkeys that are purple and sing the I Love you song and hug them to death to counter the Jackhammer.

I don't have a problem with the jackhammer itself its just the sheer volume of people that use it also the secondary fire is a factor that should have a much longer delay and shouldn't be used in conjuction with the primary fire (firing in primary once and then switching to secondary Immideatly afterwords and finishing off the person).

Other than the secondary fire and the Giant atomic monkeys I have no other problems with the jackhammer well except it should have an Icee dispenser on it.

[Incompetent]

Ah, great post to come back to

HA is balanced among itself, no HA weapon is much more powerful then any other. HA is not balanced with any other cert in the game though, all three weapons need to be beaten to death by the nerf bat or axed completely.

[Liquidtide]

I voted that they each are overpowered.

JH is overpowered under 30M
MCG is overpowered 30M-100M
Lash is overpowered becasue you can't hide.

You decide...

If you have a JH you better stay alive till they get within 30m
If you have a MCG you better kill them before you get under 30m
If you have a Lash you better keep them running and keep the orbs on them.

'Nuff Said

[kerosene31]

The jackhammer is for sure the best HA weapon. The issue of balance comes down to whether each weapon class should be balanced out against each other, or just overall empire balance. Now I fall into the latter category, and say that just the overall empires need to be balanced.

With that said, I don't think the jh needs a nerf. It is only effective from point-blank range. Combine it with surge and you have yourself a very good tactic, but I've never cried about it being unfair. I just sit back and wait for those surging JH users to bounce off my Quasar armor...

[Queensidecastle]

What makes me ROFL are the 2 people that voted the Jackhammer is underpowered. I mean, what kind of alternate reality world do you have to be living in to think that?

EDIT: its up to 5 now. WTF are these people? Must be the same people that think the Matrix is real and shit like that