News: Balance Pass Post 1: Vehicle Weapons and the Harasser

[ChipMHazard]

https://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/...rasser.156160/

"I’m going to be writing a series of posts that go over the balance adjustments that we’re implementing based on collected data and player feedback. These changes will start rolling out in the updates following the optimization patch. This first post will cover the vehicle weapons and heavy vehicle vs. light vehicle combat.


Secondary Weapon Damage Adjustments

• Anti-vehicle secondary weapons will remain the same against vehicles, but will see a slight drop in damage against infantry.
• This corrects the cases where certain anti-vehicle weapons are outperforming anti-infantry weapons at the latter’s intended role.
• Anti-personnel weapons will receive a damage increase at very close range against infantry and light armor (Harasser).
• This gives coordinated tank drivers and gunners the tools to deal with approaching Harassers and infantry with C-4. The key word here is coordinated. We’re not giving tanks a free pass, just better tools and options.
• More noticeable damage falloff is being added to vehicle secondary weapons, similar to infantry but with the range extended much further out.

More information on the damage falloff
Vehicle damage falloff will not be extreme. It will be just enough to better define the roles for the different weapon types. We won’t be changing any weapon roles, just getting them closer to where they should be.

For example, the G30 Vulcan will perform better at close-to-medium AV combat when compared to the E540 Halberd, but the Halberd will be able to reach out and perform better at longer ranges. Players can equip either to match where they’re fighting or how they like to fight.

The bigger change here is that the range of Harasser weapons is being reduced in comparison to the other ground vehicle secondary weapons. This means that the Harasser will have to put itself at more risk in order to output its full damage, which better fits its hit-and-run style. On the other side, the larger optimal range of the main battle tank and Sunderer secondary gunners will overlap with the Harasser's sweet spot, allowing those gunners to better protect their vehicles.


Proximity Radar Change

• Proximity Radar is being moved to the defense slot
• Proximity Radar is intended to be the defensive warning against approaching infantry with C-4, but it’s become obvious that the other options are vastly preferred in the Utility slot.
• We feel that moving it to the Defense slot makes more sense for the cert line and that this move gives players clearer defensive options to choose from.

General Vehicle Weapons Balance Pass
In addition to everything listed above, we’re taking a pass at all vehicle weapons in order to even out the performance and the various tradeoffs between the different faction weapons.


Harasser Changes

• Harassers currently have too much freedom in infantry areas because their high speed and acceleration allows them to recover and repair quickly. We’re going to increase C-4 and tank mine damage against this vehicle so that infantry can punish Harasser drivers who get too careless.
• Harasser composite armor’s max resistance is being reduced. Not by much, just enough so that it will not out-tank a tank. The C-4 resistance buff on Harasser composite armor is also being removed.

Upcoming Posts

• Nanoweave and related features, like sniper rifles
• Rocket launchers, underbarrel grenade launchers, and engineer turrets
• MAX anti-vehicle and ability adjustments
• And more to come

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