The Flash needs a niche/revamp

[Mordelicius]

The Flash has lost all its roles, to the point that pretty much noone else uses it other than to get from point a to point b.

Some background. The Flash had basically two combat roles: Recon with scout radar and stealth infantry farm. At this time, the Flash is redundant for both.

I like Scouts/Recon (http://www.planetside-universe.com/s...ad.php?t=54996). That's why I've always wanted a separate class in PS2 for it since Infiltrators nor Light Assaults does not adequately fulfill that role. When they did announced they will buff the Infiltrator role, I noticed they are basically giving Infiltrator a recon role (something that is lacking in the PS2 infantry spectrum). That's why I know they would be nerfing the Flash Scout Radar since it's built-in and the new recon abilities they announced is resource and time limited/linked. And sure enough, it got nerfed weeks later.

Now, that alone is not a problem at all. Flash Scout is still useable especially during attacks. There are several other developments however that made Flashes just plain useless:

NDZ- Vehicle Resource Nerf - Tanks are prime choice for drivers. These two made the Sunderer a target and a premium in-demand for attacking bases. There has to be a backup. And having a Spawn is more important than riding around a Flash.

Harassers - Harassers affected the Flash is 3 ways:
1) Harassers are more stable, efficient and powerful in farming. And the farming is not limited to just infantry, but extends to vehicle destruction.

2) Harassers are predators for Flashes. In the same combat space, the Flash is toast and have no chance whatsoever in escaping, much less fighting.

3) Flashes used to be important in infantry rushes. With the Harassers around, one can no longer rely on Flashes to lead infantry charges. Instead, Sunderers are more apt to the task since once they deploy, deal damage to Harassers and not only stop thinning infantry pushes but also act as a spawn to those dying.

Infiltrator recon darts buff - Now with the recon dart range buff, there's literally no more reason to ride these things for scouting. One can simply drop the Sundy and spam with recon darts.

Hence, with practially no role left to it, the Flash has to be revamped.

The primary weapons of the Flash is not a problem at all. It's really meant to be just for infantry and that's ok. The Flash's main shortcoming is survivability. It's relatively slow, flips alot, easy to dispatch (just shoot the driver if you're infantry or shoot anything if you're in a vehicle). The following are some suggestions that will give the Flash a new role in the battlefield.

Speed/Stability upgrade - The Flash should be faster and more stable than the Harassers. There's no reason not to be. Even at the cost of doubling the resource cost to 200, the Flash's weak armor, driver exposure and weak weaponries are more than downsides to justify these buffs. Harassers can literally just ram Flashes like they are toys, not to mention the weapons can obliterate it much faster. That's how imbalanced things are.

Special Flash Abilites - The Flash need more special abilities.

Sidegrade: Flash Shield Ball - Using the F key
- covers the Flash in a ball of shield that can absorb a fixed amount of damage for 5 seconds.
- The Flash cannot shoot while in this state and cannot roadkill players (just pushes them with no damage)
- The Flash cannot shoot for 5 seconds after the shield wears off (to prevent it from being abused).
- This would act as an escape mechanism, nothing more.

Sidegrade: Scatter Mini-Mine Field (damage) - Again using the F key scatters tiny mines (6-8) around the Flash
- Can be activated at any time.
- The mines would be invisible to enemies.
- 1 minefield active per Flash. Has 3 charges (can be reloaded) with 3-5 minute cooldown per use (so it's not spammable).
- The damages will be small but enough to injure Tanks/Harassers/Sundies
- Activated only by vehicles and will not hurt infantry, just their shields.
- Perfect for laying traps on advancing vehicle columns and eluding vehicles in pursuits
- Dropping them behind tanks is also good if they try to back away.

Sidegrade: Scatter Mini-Mine Field (disable)
- Similar to above but the mines will disable/slow the vehicle for 5-10 seconds
- Will not damage the vehicle.
- The more times it has been hit, the slower it becomes.
- Again, a different means for trapping attacking vehicles, making them vulnerable to allies.
- Also good for escaping.

Sidegrade: Tank/Harasser Jammer
- Weapon will be mounted in the Primary weapon slot
- Maintain lock on target vehicle up to 10 seconds
- Cooldown 1-1:30 minutes.
- Vehicle cannot fire when being jammed
- Not applicable to deployed Sunderers.

That's currently is my suggestions for now (I've thought other stuff such as convertible artillery. But that will probably require whole body rebuild with animations, so likely not feasible).

If one looks at the vehicle spectrum. The Flash has no spot whatsover. It's just a basic, cheap, throwaway transportation. Its roles are already filled much better by other vehicles and infantries. So, it needs more abilities so it can actually be used it combat again. Now, given any significant improvements to the Flash, I doubt 200 resource cost wouldn't be a problem at all.

Comments are welcome. What's everyone's suggestions for the Flash?