Tank balance thread (because magrider)

[Raymac]

The tight clausterphobic little area being used in the demo doesn't really play to the Magriders strengths. We all know how situational Planetside is, so I wouldn't write off the whole tank based on seeing it in 1 situation.

[bpostal]

IMHO It's better to have the thing working at 100% and then worry about balance once we get outfits fighting in these things.

[Knightwyvern]

Originally Posted by DjEclipse

What stops a couple lightening from running close circles around a mag and just killing it?

This logic can be applied to all the MBT, not just the Mag. A couple lightnings with good drivers should be able to take out a single MBT.

[Malorn]

We can also expect a demo to have a lot of air and MAX gameplay. MAX are relatively new to most FPS gamers trying out the game, so they are something neat and exciting to non-PS vets. Flying in other games is also limited to just a handful of vehicles and you usually have to wait in line. No lines in Planetside 2, so we see a lot of people trying that out because flying's neat and fun also.

Tanks and ground vehicle combat is not particularly new to FPS games so I think it's natural we see fewer of those tanks. I haven't actually seen any vanguards in the Day 1 footage, and only a few few prowlers. The magrider was a hover tank - that's new and cool, haven't been many of those which also explains why we saw quite a few of them.

The behavior I see makes complete sense given the audience playing the demo.

[Turdicus]

Well Sylphaen there was the point in the stream when the double manned vanguard was tearing it up for a while. The autocannon on the top absolutely wrecked air vehicles while the driver was able to focus on maneuvering for the best shots against tanks and infantry. I was impressed by that and it survived for quite some time

[Knightwyvern]

Originally Posted by DjEclipse

No, it really can't, TR and NC have movable turrets. A couple of drunks who just logged on can grab lightenings flank a mag and penetrate it's soft squishy arse at close range. Can't do that with TR and NC, their turrets MOVE.

And a Mag can TURN.

Originally Posted by Malorn

Mag has a big advantage that I didn't see used in the demo - strafing and always keeping strongest armor towards the threat

In a tank vs tank situation, the mag's strong front armor is always facing, meanwhile they can strafe to the sides for evasive action, or simply circle-strafe the other tank.

[Darkace]

One of the things that I liked the most about the original planetside was that you had to have two people to man a tank. The biggest disappointment of tanks in games is when it's a one person super weapon they have to be greatly nerfed down from their real capabilities as to not be overpowered for the game but if you add more players to make it effective that disapates it's "overpoweredness" to multiple players instead of just one person making sense that a single dismount wouldn't have the firepower to take down a vehicle on their own

[chanic]

Originally Posted by DjEclipse

No, it really can't, TR and NC have movable turrets. A couple of drunks who just logged on can grab lightenings flank a mag and penetrate it's soft squishy arse at close range. Can't do that with TR and NC, their turrets MOVE.

A.) Be in armor column with at least one other magrider or
B.) Have a gunner in your top turret. Preferably both.

Problem solved!

[ringring]

Originally Posted by Synapse

News to me, I remember the TR being middle in terms of armor.

That was ps1. I'm pretty sure that Matt had said the new prowler was fastest but had the weakest armour....

I haven't voted. I don't have enough information to have an opinion tbh.

[Figment]

Just change the Magrider into a Tank Destroyer already and create some more diverse fixed gun tanks for TR and NC and a new turret tank for VS.

[Zhane]

Other: There is no possible way to know yet.

[sylphaen]

Originally Posted by Turdicus

Well Sylphaen there was the point in the stream when the double manned vanguard was tearing it up for a while. The autocannon on the top absolutely wrecked air vehicles while the driver was able to focus on maneuvering for the best shots against tanks and infantry. I was impressed by that and it survived for quite some time

That's good news ! It must have been in the part that I missed today. Thanks for the post.

[Vagabond]

Why does this thread even exist? Only a small minority has actually played PS2. Wait until beta to see what needs balancing or not. There is just not enough information for us to even have an opinion on what is overpowered or not.

[Grognard]

In my opinion, the Mag is, and will be, a balanced Tank. I will explain why, instead of just declaring my opinion as fact... given there is a massive danger to this tank, playstyle-wise. Most vets know it, and it looks like its not going to change.

The Mag is the best tank at range, because it can engage at ranges more effectively than other tanks, with more accurate fire, and strafe to avoid fire, big surprise... However, the closer the enemy gets, the more danger the Mag is in, because the opposing fire will become more accurate, and the strafing will start to magnify the major problem I see with Mags, and that is...

The very thing that makes the Mag a long range gunners dream, makes it a close range driving nightmare, because to AIM you must face a SINGLE target, and all other opponents can focus on your back armor. This, is the achilles heel of the Mag, and so it should be, or it would be over powered. At all costs, you need to minimize that... or you can just respawn a lot.

So, playstyle-wise, when the Tanks are supported with combined arms, they are balanced, even/especially in numbers. A Mag driver simply cant charge other tanks, they need to engage other tanks. Mag drivers need to fight more like a fighter pilot than other tankers, because its a finesse tank, not a hammer.

[Knightwyvern]

Originally Posted by DjEclipse

VS mags can already strafe in PS1 in a tank versus tank situation. Fyi, it's not a winning advantage now with a mag with a MOVABLE main gun. So I humbly call b.s. that it will be a winning advantage with a fixed turret.

Whether or not it will be a winning advantage (it should be ~33% of the time) remains to be seen. I was simply replying to your previous post about how a few lightnings could just run circles around a Mag to kill it, and I was pointing out the fallacy in that argument, being that a few lightnings could do the same thing to either of the other tanks as well. They have movable turrets, and a Mag can turn; hence, in all practicality, a movable "turret."