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?

[MaxDamage]

Invest in Turbo.
Find a hill.
Become human self propelled cannon ball.
Supreme fun.

[KesTro]

^ Exactly what MaxDamage said. Besides I'd much rather them tune the cost back down to 45 or whatever it was and keep them as is.

That being said in skilled hands the flash can be a very devestating tool. Turbo over a battle and hop off and peopel are too distracted by the flying flash to notice the LA with C4 hovering over them.

[bpostal]

The flash fills the same role the Fury used to, to get you from point A to point B quickly and cheaply. Of course, most of the time the traction is so bad on the Flash that it's often faster to just walk but there you are.

[PredatorFour]

The cloaked flash is arguably the most devastating (to infantry) and fun vehicle to use in the game imo.

[VikingKong]

Originally Posted by PredatorFour

The cloaked flash is arguably the most devastating (to infantry) and fun vehicle to use in the game imo.

What weapon do you use for that?

[HereticusXZ]

Few things as frustrating as a Infiltrator on a Wraith Module Flash raping a Sunderer spawn w/ upgraded Fury.

Infiltrator w/ Wraith module flash taxi a LA Squad Leader behind enemy lines in a heavy siege to what I like to call the "Magic Position" to place a Squad Beacon allowing the Squad to mess some stuff up.

Flash has 100m Scout Radar, extremely useful in Amp Stations or Tech-Plants to detect a incoming MAX Crash in the Bio-Lab. Also noted that Flash has the greatest Scout Radar of any ground vehicle, all others cap out at 50m. The Flash' Scout Radar is rivled only by the ESF who maxes out at 200m

Also extremely frustrating when a Infiltrator w/ Wraith Module flash sneaks up on a anchored Prowler, Sunderer or any ground vehicle in general with a Engineer who has Tank Mines riding the rumble seat...

Lets not even get into kamikaze Wraith module Flash w/ enough C4 to bring down a Bio-Lab...

The Flash is the cheapest vehicle in the game costing you only 100 resources, even cheaper with a Esamire Continent Bonus. With maxed out acquisition timer there is absolutely no Cool Down to the Flash. Cheap + No CD = Spammable.

The flash is not a end-all beat all stand alone weapon of war as your proposing it should be with new stuff, It's the only vehicle in the game that can stealth and it doesn't have a very large engine so it's natural it's slower then a harasser. It has it's niche to weave into soft-spots and choke up the enemies ability to take to the field.

TL/DR Flash has it's role to play and it does it well. It's a high skill cap, High risk vs Reward vehicle because of how vulnerable the Flash and the Rider is to take damage but when used right it's terrifyingly frustrating to deal with. It Taxis, it Scouts, it targets soft-points within a enemy force. It doesn't need much more beyond more performance fixes because it's still flipping stupidly easy and that's been a problem sense Beta.

[PredatorFour]

Originally Posted by VikingKong

What weapon do you use for that?

I use a fury with 9 grenade rounds in a clip aka extended mag. In my eyes its really an OP unit. Whoever thought of making a cloaked vehicle with a grenade launcher wants a medal given to them !

[VikingKong]

Ah, thanks. I'll have to give it a go.

[BlaxicanX]

The naked flash (meaning, no weapons or utility upgrades) should cost 0 resources to pull and have 0 cooldown, imo. It should serve as the ultimate, most dependable of taxi's.

[Mordelicius]

Harassers have pretty much replaced cloaked farmers. Not that I like use that ability myself, but I can't remember when is the last time I've been killed by Wraith Flash.

The problem with Flashes is it cannot share the same space as other vehicles. It cannot go toe to toe (as they shouldn't). If it ever to be useful and a factor in combat again, its niche has to be in the periphery of the field.

If you know their force is coming this or that way. You can lay down mines in advance. Or if you want to risk it, you can do it in the middle of the battle at the risk of getting shot down. As it, even if you risk running around, what's the upside? Nothing, because you'll likely get destroyed more than anything. The damage is not there (as it should), but they have to have different functions.

And do note, I said 'sidegrades'. It means if you have a Minelayer equipped, Scout Radar, Wraith or the Flash Shield Ball would be inactivated. All would be sidegrades.

Scattered mines do not have to be powerful to replace the conventional mines. Say of the 6-8 mines dispersed, running over all of them would give 40% damage to tanks. Now in average, say only 50% (3-4) is run over. So that's only about 20% damage. But that's enough to stop a rush of tank(s) for repair. What's the difference with regular weapon attack and this? The Flash do no have to be exposed. Like I said, they can operate in the periphery.

That would give any Flash fans to use it again. Currently, there's not even a reason to run Flash Scout Radar thanks to the Infiltrator recon dart buff. I have the max level and all I need is ammo to keep the recon spam of the surroundings. And if I pull a Sundy, I can protect the spawn and still recon at the same time. As such I'm running Infiltrator/Sundy as opposed to the old Engineer/Flash Scout Radar combo.

[Rolfski]

I would already be happy if the Flash would be fun to drive. It's that horrible atm.

[AThreatToYou]

The biggest problem with the Flash right now is that it is hilariously unstable and lacks traction.

The biggest buff to the Flash would be improved handling and stability. Things like increasing the vehicle's weight (but don't change speed), making it completely unable to flip, and able to actually be an ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE aka dramatically improved traction would go a loooong way toward its usefulness.

Aside from that, I want to see a return of the Fury from PS1. That thing was an incredible threat to MAX units, hovering air units and all vehicles aside from MBT. It was fast, sneaky, accurate and long-ranged.