New player? Share your experience.

[Figment]

Oh btw, what was your first reaction to Voice Macros? *Press V*

Asking, cause I've seen some PS2 players basically go "OMG, what is... why isn't thi... THIS IS AWESOME!!!".

[Sheppe]

Last night I saw 1 gen get killed total, and that was by dirty VS at a biolab

Less max users than before, but still enough around that it's best to carry deci's

[Whiteagle]

Originally Posted by Figment

No the two black repair and resupply silo's in the courtyard.

Ah, well I haven't gotten much Vehicle Repairing done...

Problem is I've been playing at odd hours, and since I'm one of the very few strategic players who realises the importance of re-opening our Home Continents I've been stuck trying to lone wolf bases instead of playing Cyssorside.

Hopefully my actions have made an impact on Solsar, but I haven't logged in to check yet.

Speaking of Ghost Hacks, how does NTU work?
I know the Silo is a pool from which the base draws it from to somehow powers the Generator and repairs Base faculties, but is it tapped for creating supplies or Spawning?

I ask because I have a devious idea to bring them back into Planetside 2, revamping Resources from an individual basis to a base dependant one.

Originally Posted by Figment

Oh btw, white eagle, the battle rank leveling slows exponentially, it'll feel more and more like a feat of leveling. Should be around 15-18 by the end of the week.

Yeah, but like I said I've been lone wolfing on our Home Continents, so I've just been getting BXP in ticks of 20 for nursing a freshly exhausted NTU Silo.

Originally Posted by Figment

Oh btw, what was your first reaction to Voice Macros? *Press V*

Asking, cause I've seen some PS2 players basically go "OMG, what is... why isn't thi... THIS IS AWESOME!!!".

Indeed it is, bit of a learning curve to get acquainted with, but the fact that the pop-up menu bolds the next necessity letter helps.
Probably going to need a V### or other such combination system though for Planetside 2, just because it would still allow for twitch shooting while giving call outs.

[Crator]

Originally Posted by Whiteagle

Speaking of Ghost Hacks, how does NTU work?
I know the Silo is a pool from which the base draws it from to somehow powers the Generator and repairs Base faculties, but is it tapped for creating supplies or Spawning?

NTUs used to get drained from people using spawns but they had to remove it cause it was draining too fast during large battles. NTUs are currently drained by having damage on anything on a base (turrets, equipment/vehicle/repair terms, and gens). Also, an advanced hacker can put a NTU draining virus on a base. Oh, almost forgot, BFRs can drain the NTUs right out of the silo, store them just like an ANT, and bring them to an friendly owned base and fill it.

[zeropositivo]

It's kinda weird how there is a direct hard counter to the infiltration suit. I now understand what this darklight thing is, and the fact that those using it have a special icon on them... but still, that's kinda weird they have something that has no drawback at all... I foresee infiltrators getting progressively less useful the more people start getting that implant

[Logit]

Originally Posted by zeropositivo

It's kinda weird how there is a direct hard counter to the infiltration suit. I now understand what this darklight thing is, and the fact that those using it have a special icon on them... but still, that's kinda weird they have something that has no drawback at all... I foresee infiltrators getting progressively less useful the more people start getting that implant

Thing is, there are a few better options than darklight. Especially if you don't have all of the implant slots.

Most people don't carry it.

[Wahooo]

Originally Posted by zeropositivo

It's kinda weird how there is a direct hard counter to the infiltration suit. I now understand what this darklight thing is, and the fact that those using it have a special icon on them... but still, that's kinda weird they have something that has no drawback at all... I foresee infiltrators getting progressively less useful the more people start getting that implant

DL drains stamina while active, at a pretty good clip AND it limits the distance you can see, not a big deal indoors but even in a CY it is limiting.

Also you only get 3 implant spots. So there is the balancing act. Some people believe DL is a must have others not so much. I personally use plasma if I think a cloaker might be around as I like sniping and i'm so used to the info I can't really live without advanced targeting. I think surge is a must have. And I flip flop back and forth between audio amp and sensor shield.

It is a bit weird that there is such a easy to get hard counter, but like I said the limitations do balance it some. I don't cloak much but funny how when I do it seems EVERYONE is running with DL.

[sylphaen]

Originally Posted by zeropositivo

It's kinda weird how there is a direct hard counter to the infiltration suit. I now understand what this darklight thing is, and the fact that those using it have a special icon on them... but still, that's kinda weird they have something that has no drawback at all... I foresee infiltrators getting progressively less useful the more people start getting that implant

It's the difference between pro-infiltrators and beginners: people don't walk around all day with DL and very good infiltrators are hard to catch when they play smart. Even if you have DL.

[Shogun]

whiteagle, i understand your problem.

if you want to get lots of xp, you simply have to squad up and go to hossin or cyssor where the action is. lonewulfing might be fun and the tactical value you described is also very important, but it would not grand much xp. as a lowlevel br, it is just necessary to do some zerging now and then. later, when you don´t really need xp because you already got some nice weapon and vehicle options, you are free to do the lonely specops thing whenever it´s necessary.

[zeropositivo]

I just managed to kill a couple people with Darklight

let them see me, lure them behind a corner, secondary fire mode on my spiker
Satisfyyyyyyyying

[Figment]

Originally Posted by sylphaen

It's the difference between pro-infiltrators and beginners: people don't walk around all day with DL and very good infiltrators are hard to catch when they play smart. Even if you have DL.

You will be surging, which drains less stamina, but since you will also have Sensor Shield on, most the time, you will drain a bit more stamina. Dark Light USED to be possible in third person, but now only works in first person. Important thing to remember: they have to have line of sight.

The thing is, DL has a limited range (25m) and drains stamina very fast and since they have heavier suits, their surge will drain more stamina. So when people chase you, they will look for any reason to switch it off. Any sign that says "the cloaker went that way", will give them reason to disable Dark Light for 6, 7 seconds if there's just one path to go.


So the goal is to either stay ahead of them far enough to make their DL useless, OR to make them think you went elsewhere. Often you can use this to doubleback on your path at a different level, open a door and not go through it or even just find a good spot.



In principle, people that use Dark Light are usualy new to the game, or in situations where DL is important (like holds and resecures). The majority of players will learn to look for the shimmer over time and do things like regular Crazy Ivans in the field.

I don't know many infils that spare a Dark Light implant, just a couple that used to hunt infils with plasma grenades from the walls. Most of the time, the infils in game are the best at "knowing" where you are, since they always look at their own shimmering in third person and know exactly what to look for at a glance and they rationalise the flight path from your position, their position and their options all intuitively.

EMP grenades light up infils for a fraction of a second, shotgun shells work quite well, even at medium ranges due to the lack of armour and plasma is also a method of flushing them out. As you may have noticed, unlike in PS2, infils are unlikely to try and kill you until they have a chance to ambush you. So if you're out and about looking for them, they'll either try to ambush you or simply try to escape. Either way, if the prey is on alert, he's the hunter and the infil the prey. A lot of infils therefore use Enhanced Targeting as third implant (some use melee boost, to two-stab people in secondary mode), to have improved target selection: the weak stragglers are much better targets.

[Whiteagle]

Originally Posted by Crator

NTUs used to get drained from people using spawns but they had to remove it cause it was draining too fast during large battles. NTUs are currently drained by having damage on anything on a base (turrets, equipment/vehicle/repair terms, and gens). Also, an advanced hacker can put a NTU draining virus on a base. Oh, almost forgot, BFRs can drain the NTUs right out of the silo, store them just like an ANT, and bring them to an friendly owned base and fill it.

Ok, figured that might be the case...
In any event the Spawns are too exposed right now to associate a cost with them, so sticking with SCUs that drain Resources to repair themselves is probably the better bet.

Alright, so here is my idea, bring back NTU as Resources that are stored at individual bases instead of players.
We change the name from Nanite Technology Unit to Nanite Transport Unit, with the explanation being that microscopic bits of Resources are being held by Nanites that take them where they need to go.

This plays into bringing in an old idea of mine, Nanite Pipelines that normally transport these NTUs from various scattered Nanite Extraction Generators to three separate NTU Silo at each Base.
Depending on it's size, each Base has its own Stockpile of Resources from which all vehicle and consumable purchases at that Base are drawn from, as well as powering and repairing any Base Feature (such as Generators, Spawn Deployment jamming antenna I call a Wireless Aerial Jammer or WAJ, Turrets, and Terminals).

Excess Resources are stored at a Faction's Warpgates, the three tines of which each acting as a TRULY GIGANTIC NTU Silo.
This allows Warpgates a VERY large, but still potentially exhaustible stock of Resources
The Resource system itself is revamped to resemble its Beta incarnation, with Alloys, Catalysts, and Polymers responsible for specific purchases across the board instead of one Resource for each type of Purchase.

Now the Pipelines themselves are pretty much a in game representation of the Lattice Network, but the Nanite Extraction Generators (or NEGs) which actually provide a Resource might be located in another part of the Territory then the Base, and would thus there would be a line connecting the two.
Longer stretches of Pipeline will have safety valves that can be temporarily hacked to reverse Resource flow or outright destroyed to stop it, but this also destroys the Lattice link and it will need to be repaired to restore the connection.

Finally we get to the Coup de Grace of this system, the re-introduction of the Advanced Nanite Transport and a newer, slightly less powerful NTU Aircraft I call the Nanite Aerial Transport or NAT.
These new Support Vehicles, while not actually armed, will still prove to be vital to offensive movements thanks to their ability to syphon out NTU from Silos as well as supply it.
The Classic ANT will have three tanks each able to hold a Small Silo's worth of NTU, set-up to try and fill a single tank with one type of NTU until full before filling the others, allowing it to take any combination of three Small Silo's worth of NTU.
The NAT will only have one NTU tank, but as an Aircraft it will be able to ignore difficult terrain.

In addition to reinforcing existing allied supply lines and sabotaging the enemies, these craft might also be able to draw extra residual NTU left in Safety Valves, allowing support drivers to collect extra bonus Resources to stockpile for their Empire.


...So, what do you guys think about this?
I know changing the Resource System from the Personal Level to a Base one does impact SOE's planned source of income, but I would just replace the percentile Resource Gather Bonus from Resource Boost and Membership Bonuses into percentile Discounts on Consumable Resource Purchases.
It's the same general effect, but this might make such perks slightly more powerful in comparison...
...Then again, that will also create more demand for Membership Levels and Temporary Boost packs...

Originally Posted by Shogun

if you want to get lots of xp, you simply have to squad up and go to hossin or cyssor where the action is. lonewulfing might be fun and the tactical value you described is also very important, but it would not grand much xp. as a lowlevel br, it is just necessary to do some zerging now and then. later, when you don´t really need xp because you already got some nice weapon and vehicle options, you are free to do the lonely specops thing whenever it´s necessary.

Well the annoying thing is I am that close to the next Battle Rank, and once I get my Combat Engineering my Lone Wolfing will become FAR more effective.

As for Infiltraitors in this game, my best advice is to learn to sneak WITHOUT using your cloak.
Don't use it as a crutch for just getting into places; You are playing a game with people who are VERY use to fighting invisble enemies and thus more knowledgeable on their common habits.

[Shogun]

white, your lonewulfing will get extremely effective, when you even specialise in ce with all the additional ce certs. being able to place spitfires in enemy territory is priceless.

i got to br 32 without any weapon certs. fulltime supporter, infiltrator and adv hacker. and lonewulfing is now a viable option for me. i can fortify a whole base all by myself, repair everything, upgrade wallturrets and set up hidden additional ams. when the fight comes to such a base, it buys time to setup response.
or i go to an enemy base where they spawn their vehicles and go havok on the base, hacking all spitfires or wallturrets to make them fire at the enemy. then go for the gen to interrupt the flow of vehicles and respawners.

[Whiteagle]

Yeah, the Hacking Cert Tree is FAR more useful for Infiltrators then the Stealth Suit.
Being Invisible just isn't worth going around in just your Pajamas at low BR.

[ChipMHazard]

Just came from Zoran's stream. Some players in it who got to see PS1 for the first time.
They were impressed by the level design, the mmo vibe, the phantasm, voice macros and doors. Shaila got a few of them interested enough in the game to want to download it, so that's good