So for starters to dispel any illusions that I might be trying to start some sort of bandwagon of biased opinions here I'm actually not going to state my opinions in this thread, at least not until some people have gotten a chance to weigh in before me. Okay, now that we have that out of the way...

So we just got meltaguns, and I don't think anyone can argue it's changed the dynamics of how one has to operate now that there's practical anti-armor weaponry available for Tactical/Traitor. I also realize damned good and well that it's likely a bit too soon to start casting judgment as to any buffs and nerfs that need to be made. But the balance of meltas themselves is not what I'm after today. What I want to know however is what everyone thinks of the state of being the attacking team vs being the defensive team is right now. Too easy? Too hard? No significant change?

And let's try to refrain from hand-waving the subject with things like reminding us we haven't had meltas long or that it's early access and we can't expect balance right now. Yes, we're in early access still and it's not even a week into meltaguns but the more constructive feedback we give the easier it makes development and progress towards balance.

And one last reminder, this is a thread about the attack/defense dynamic right now, not meltaguns themselves.

I don't think Melta's have changed vehicle killing at all really.

I think people are still using PC's and Power Sword/Fist and Meltabombs are downing Vehicles better.

As far as Infantry killing it definitely is pretty good however it doesn't kill someone so fast that they can't kill you at the same time with a traditional gun.

I find many people with a Melta killing someone only to die with them.

This is coming from a new player. Been only playing for a few days with about 5 hours total.

I feel like defenders have a large advantage over attackers which is honestly to be expected. Defending is always easier than attacking but I feel the assault team has too hard of a time.

A big reason for this is just map design, especially black bolt. The defending team has all the high ground and can happily plink away at the attackers with little recourse. The worst is that tanks and transports only have one lane of travel making it a shooting gallery for plasma cannons. Just terrible map design in my opinion. If this game opens up into a MMO shooter like the devs plan then this would be a fine and coveted fortress but as a 1 on 1 map it is the pits.

I'm usually regulating myself to the armored warfare detail (since most players seem to forget we can have tanks and transports) and meltas are my least concern. Every time someone comes at me with a melta I just drive a little bit away from them and blast them to pieces. All it does currently is make yourself into a bright easy target for tanks.

Power fists can topple a tank with the heavy strike which is funny but honestly shouldn't be happening. I thought the axes were supposed to be vehicle killers? Why are they currently so weak against them?

On the subject of meltas as anti-infantry, I find it hit and miss. Honestly, maybe I just suck but, I can't seem to kill anyone with a melta. Can't say I've died too much to a melta either so I can't say I find them OP at all at the moment. They just suck for their intended purpose

Overall I think meltas have added nothing in the grand scale of things and defending team have a great advantage over the attacking side but that surely isn't because of the new weaponry.

At this point, with only 16 players per team, it's hard enough getting two players to cooperate, let alone two players with the same weapon. God forbid they even be in the same area of the map and think the same thing. Getting 3 melta players together and asking them not to kill each other from friendly fire is impossible.

Using meltas in tandem to destroy vehicles is rare, most people use it to fry melee JPA and Shieldbros.

I think something that's also affecting any change to the games weapons etc from impacting gameplay is our lack of custom loadouts.

If I only get 5 loadouts to play with, it's pretty rare I even have one that's a dedicated tank killer slot. Need more loadouts to play with more weapons.

Melee has a lot of issues and a melta is not the worst of them. The entire melee combat system is garbage. It's both overpowered and underpowered. The ability to close is limited and even with changes it's not horribly hard to kill melee once they do close the distance. That being said, being a shield bro or MoN makes it easy to rack up kills and the calls for OP will continue.

I think it's a fun change but not really any more OP than a plasma weapon in its ability, people just are not used to fighting it and it hasn't been tuned at all. It's just the flavor of the week. Once a new faction is released, every one of their weapons will be called OP and underpowered.

Hrm...you know, sitting here I was posting my thoughts, but as I did I find it increasingly difficult to talk about it without thinking to myself about how often things are changing with the testing. So essentially my brain is handwaving the issue like I wanted to avoid. So I guess I'll just state some observations.

Maybe it's the meltaguns, maybe it's that we're down to 16 v 16 again, but I don't see captures happening nearly as often as they were pre-patch. Defending is oddly easier while attacking feels worse than ever to me. On some maps more than others (I'm looking at any and all of you that put rhinos and predators on the misplaced gate of Blackbolt!)

So onto the subject of meltas themselves I find that on vehicles they're almost perfect. Unlike a melta
bomb you just need a good chunk of vehicle and can go to town. Often in cover, which means that point/spawn camping predator has to move it's ass or die. Especially in the case of people who like to get on the guns of vehicles without drivers to get them out right away. But if you're using a rhino on a spawn point that means you better have a repair kit on you or you're not gonna last long to push forward.

On the infantry side of things I find it just makes things difficult for everyone. On a mechanical level it's frustrating because you have to run unreasonably far from meltas to get away, but at the same time doing anything to range will affect it's use on vehicles. On a damage level we get how it all works. The more heat you have, the faster you're gonna die. The problem I feel right now is the ratio of how long it takes to apply the heat vs how much damage you take. With a bolter you're rewarded for shooting in the head. With a melta you don't even have to think about it, pull trigger, apply damage. Oh you went into cover? I don't care, my damage is already ticking away. Oh look you died while trying to heal.

I guess what I'm getting at is that as they are now Meltas don't lose to Bolters, even at distances they probably should. Even if you DO get the guy, chances are the heat is going to kill you anyway. So I guess I'm sitting here wondering if Meltas against infantry are too forgiving or if they need to be changed so that they're punished for trying to fight a Bolter user in mid ranged combat.

I don't think Meltas are really making that big of a difference; however, their melee killing ability is too valuable to pass up. I kill faster then meltas with the storm bolter and usually only die to them because I took to long trying to kill one and their sun damage melted my health away.

And car killing hasn't changed, as I see meltas just walk in a horizontal line in front of the Tanks or Transports becoming easy targets to be run over, or flanked.

Whether I'm attacking or defending it makes little difference. I actually forgot I was the attacking team on one map, or was I defending, hmm.

The snowy map has quad cannons and 4 vehicle deployment garages, which should give them a big advantage, but they are rarely used to the utmost.

The oil well map where you gotta unlock points to capture has a vehicle spawn bias towards the attackers, too bad the attackers never abuse it, I sure try to though.

The bigger imbalances you are probably noticing is a difference in skill as I'm guessing your playing as Space Marines instead of Chaos. Chaos seem to have more veteran players as most new players seem to pick SM, which creates a newb vs pro type of gameplay.

Melta suggestion thread if anyone is interested.

http://forum.eternalcrusade.com/threads/melta-suggestion-thread.51799/