How to fix the AV MAX

[psijaka]

EDIT - this opening post made redundant due to GU7 changes; see post 5 for details.

We all know that people who run dual AV MAX are a rare breed, which is no surprise as some of the weapons have serious shortcomings. Let’s take a look; I’ll use the NC Falcon as the reference point as this is the weapon that I have a lot of experience with, and it is actually pretty decent. I do have some experience of dual Pounders and Comets, so am able to make a valid comparison.

Against Armour:

Falcon has high burst damage, slow reload, with a tolerable amount of projectile drop. Velocity 80m/s, gravity 1.5. The Falcon is pretty decent against armour; the high burst damage/slower reload enables you to pop in and out of cover.

Comet is medium damage, medium reload, but zero gravity. However, velocity is significantly slower (60m/s) and the projectiles are highly visible. The Comet is not too bad either; the lower burst damage/shorter reload time means that you have to expose yourself to return fire somewhat more than with the Falcon, but it is still possible to use cover effectively. Having zero drop helps a lot against stationary targets; perhaps the easiest of the AV weapons to use; but this is balanced by the slow projectile speed which makes it trickier to lead shots, and the shorter overall range (300m instead of 400m).

Pounder has low damage, fast fire rate, slightly higher DPS BUT it has slower projectile speed (70m/s) AND higher gravity (2) than the Falcon, making it tricky to use. Almost double the drop at long range. The low damage, faster fire rate with 2 rounds in the mag mean that you have to expose yourself to enemy fire for a longer time, which is a serious handicap. True, the DPS is somewhat higher, but I’m not sure that the trade off is worth it. But the biggest handicap is the stupidly high projectile drop. The combination of slower velocity AND higher gravity really gimps the weapon, IMO.

All weapons have a 5 second projectile life, which effectively sets their range, and low splash damage and radius (thankfully).


Against infantry (this is at medium range; dead zone issues make them all pretty unreliable at close range, where AI weapons rightly dominate).

Falcon damage is 750, so first of all if you are running dual you have a guaranteed one salvo kill if you can get both shots on target. The projectile suffers from drop but is hard to spot, although it does leave a smoke trail, so your intended victim often has no chance to take evasive action. I’ve “sniped” infantry off Watchtower spires with Dual Falcons countless times .

Compare this with the Comet, which has 550 damage. Whilst a dual shot will sometimes kill infantry; this is not guaranteed as they may have certed into upgraded armour to increase their health. This is somewhat compensated for by the higher fire rate and zero drop, but another problem is that your intended target can see the slow moving and highly visible projectiles coming, so they have time to duck out of the way (I’ve definitely noticed this; people dodge the shots far more than with the Falcon).

Pounder has very low damage, only 375, so no chance of a kill (takes 3-4 hits). This is supposedly compensated for by having 2 shots in the mag, but the fire time is 0.5 seconds, so the chances are, your target will have reacted to the first shot before you have a chance to land the second. Also, the smoke trail from the first salvo obscures the target; it does not fully clear before you can take the second shot half a second later, so you are firing partially blind. The DPS, and splash damage DPS, is somewhat higher, but not significantly so; high burst damage is king when tackling infantry.

There is no point in us considering duels between AV MAXes; how often does this happen?

So I would rate them in order of effectiveness: Falcon, Comet, Pounder.


Now; what to do about it.

First of all, leave the Falcon as it is. This is a pretty effective weapon against armour AND infantry.

Now the Comet. I would consider giving the Comet the same damage and reload times as the Falcon, so the only differences are in the projectile velocity, trajectory and visibility. The Comet then gets the guaranteed one salvo infantry kill and the same ability to duck in and out of cover. The lack of projectile drop is balanced by the slower speed and the high visibility of the projectiles (this could perhaps be toned down slightly).

The Pounder is more of a challenge to balance. As a first step, I would give it the same velocity and gravity as the Falcon; this will help a lot. Furthermore, I would consider buffing the damage to say 450, and increasing the reload time so that it takes the same time to fire of the 2 round mag and reload as it does to fire one Falcon round and reload. Whilst 2 x 450 damage will only kill unupgraded infiltrators, this is better than nothing, and a dual hit will leave any infantry on perilously low health, enabling the Pounder user to finish them off with a single shot, or with splash damage. Somewhat more balanced than what we have now. Higher burst damage will help against armour too, and this regime would retain the Pounder’s slight DPS advantage, which is necessary to compensate for the reduced ability to duck in and out of cover .