I wonder if the AC is suffering from the same accuracy bug as the HB - it looks like you're accurate, but other people see a lot more spread. I've noticed when facing off against an AC, the first shot is accurate, but the rest less so, and it's easy to suppress.
Must be the case, hence my confusion. Easy to test, go into the garrison with a friend and have him shoot. While you watch.
My nose is bleeding and one of my eyes can't stop twitching. That can mean only 1 of 2 things: Either I picked too deep and hit grey matter (again), or I am about to defend the CSMs. I'm ok with the AC the way it is right now, at least in terms of the ability to brace and get bonuses from it. Due to the damage it can do though, it will be very easy to make a small change and turn it into a game breaking kill-a-ma-jig. Right now though, it is tough. It is a high threat. You have to take it seriously, and if you get caught in a bad spot, you are dead. BUUUUUT, as a HB player, it a pretty fun weapon to fight against, and as long as I have allies paying attention and able to hop in to help, the AC is extremely killable. It would make sense that it is suffering from the same bug as the HB since I imagine the AC is based on the same code as the HB due to their similarities. Once the bug is fixed, AC will be even deadlier, but the balance between HB and AC should still remain since HB will get the same accuracy boost. Yes, 3 shot kill will beat HB, but better suppression effects (due to more rounds on/near target), and the human principle that most of the time any damage is taken someone flinches, should keep the HB/AC effective balance the same. Hey, after checking the finger again, looks like it was both!
Taking the opposite stance again, as is my want: If everyone and their mothers right now thinks HB is shit and AC is OP... what is going to happen when both get buffed? HB may be kosher again, but AC will be super-OP?
Hey! I said I scratched my brain, I think I did pretty well with coherent thoughts! No worries, we all play devils advocate on this thread from time to time, it keeps everyone else honest, challenges Group Think, and leads to good suggestions and feedback. I'd caution against the, "everyone says..." argument though. On night 1-3 of Patch 18, we had a pretty epic tire fire with that thread asking how the devs could let the AC happen, but then folks calmed down. Concur that there is a good chance that the AC can easily become super OP. It's defining characteristic is huge damage, so a little tweak to the mitigation factors (accuracy, cooldown, ect), and we have a monster on our hands that everyone but the AC lobby will loath.
Hey. Wanna go back behind the Thunderhawk, you can spray your hot rounds all over its side and I'll watch?
Did you know for a fact that you do use TTK as one of the various means of balancing video games? The reason you go for a base line TTK is so you have a foundation to work around and balance the weapons' other stats(I.E. accuracy, recoil, reload speed, damage ranges, etc. etc.). Because a HB that not only deals more damage per shot but also fires significantly faster will have a significantly lower TTK. The "why should it" is common sense; balance. Bolter TTK: 1.75-sec, 8 Bolts, 0.25-sec Fire Rate HB TTK: 1.2-sec, 7 Bolts, 0.2-sec FR Let's bump up the speed from 25 to a 38.75% increase. HB TTK: 1.08-sec, 7 Bolts, 0.18-sec FR TTK advantage slips further and further in the HB's favor. Copying SM's Meta would require copying everything from it. Using a similar TTK to it because it proved to have an enjoyable TTK, one that many EC players preferred. If you don't want EC to die like SM did, support my builds and help me perfect them. It is very sad that you cannot see clear counters that eliminate the validity of your concerns as clearly defined and correct points. People often laugh to hide their pain, especially once they come to realize they've been wrong all along. When I responded to your video. Because I don't have the resources. Go figure. It takes money to make things and it doesn't just grow on trees. I could. Because they've not met me yet, I suppose. Heavy Bolter's don't actually have a lot of Armor Penetration so shouldn't be very effective at penetrating things like cover. Being "a support weapon" is not a valid reason to give it some gimmick in an attempt to improve its power. You're not supposed to be able to shoot enemies on walkways/at a higher elevation than you very well because they have a.. uh, tac.. tacit... right! A tactical advantage over you. If you cannot hit them with your main weapon then use one of your other pieces of wargear, reposition or get a teammate to assist you. Even when firing on the move the HB should be able to reliably hit and damage targets within 30-meters or so. Standing still should provide enough accuracy to reliably hit targets up to 60-meters, while bracing/aiming should enable you to reliably hit targets out to 90-meters or more. Firing from a Crouch could provide around 75-meters of reliable accuracy. Devs should have just a slight mobility(I.E. -1/6 speed) decrease due to holding the Heavy Weapon, which becomes more significant(I.E. -1/2 speed) when they begin to fire their weapon. Aiming should cause them to brace even if not in cover, preventing them from moving and reducing their turn rate(only when not braced on cover) in return for reducing their recoil and zooming in for more accurate shots. Weapons should not have durability as it should be Stamina that determines melee effectiveness. In addition to using Stamina for Attacks and Dodges, players should also lose Stamina when they Block, which should replace clang. Block would cause both players to recoil and for the blocker to lose Stamina. Ranged weapons would be able to shoot through a Block for full damage. Melee weapons with higher Armor Penetration than the blocker would be able to deal a percentage of damage through the Block, which simulates the blocker giving to the blow to prevent their weapon from being damaged/losing durability in the first place. Weapons of higher Strength would also drain bonus Stamina when blocked, while losing less Stamina when blocking lower Strength weapons. Running out of Stamina would prevent Block, increase the Dodge cooldown and reduce Attack/Move Speeds. Spoiler For example Combat Knife(Strength 4, Armor Penetration -) Basic Attack costs 3.4% Stamina. Chainsword(S5, AP-[bonus S for lower TTK vs Knife]) BA costs 4% Stamina. Due to the 1 higher S, the Chainsword only loses 2.55% Stamina blocking the Knife, which in turn loses 5% when blocking the Chainsword, as each point of Strength increases the Stamina drain by 25%. The HB should at the very least be able to heavily damage an enemy that runs straight at you, making it easier for you to Down them with your Knife/Pistol. The HB should have a Fire Rate of 0.2-sec(360 RPM) and a hip-fire ready-up time of 0.2-sec. Brace/de-brace time could also be 0.2 or 0.3-sec, giving enemies a small window to attack the Dev without leaving them vulnerable for too long. Natural suppression works exceptionally well, openly showcased in games like Battlefield, Battlefront and Planetside 2. When playing my Combat Medic I generally run for cover when first fired upon, especially if fired at from long range. When in/near cover I'll engage close targets and fire upon vulnerable/exposed medium range ones but otherwise stick to cover. When playing my Heavy Assault I generally start a short sprint as I turn on my Adrenaline Shield and attempt to turn on and gun down my aggressor, unless they are at long range or there are multiple enemies(keep an eye on the mini-map). In the long range cases, I seek cover and then try for a kill if facing an LMG or other, shorter range weapons or if facing a Sniper Rifle I'm about 50/50 on trying to at least suppress the Sniper or just finding another path. Against multiple enemies, timed strafes/stand-ups from cover with kills recharging the Adrenaline Shield allows for multiple kills before death. While players generally have a low fear of death in video games they usually seek cover and some means to recover when low on health in order to return to the fight quicker than dying and respawning would. Players that attempt to out-shoot their enemies when at a significant disadvantage(I.E. SMG vs Sniper Rifle at 50-meters+) get killed more often, therefore spending more time waiting to respawn and so leaving their team down a man more frequently. So much truth here. HB TTK vs Tactical should be: 1.2-sec, 7 Bolts, 0.2-sec Fire Rate(0.2-sec hip-fire ready-up) Accuracy: 2.9-cm spread at 24-meters Major Damage Drops: 72 and 144-meters Projectile Speed: Hit-Scan AC TTK vs Tactical should be: 1.2-sec, 5 Shells, 0.3-sec FR(0.2 to 0.3-sec hf ready-up) Accuracy: 3-cm spread at 24-meters Major Damage Drops: 96 and 192-meters Projectile Speed: 200 to 250-ms While slower firing and having travel speed so that shots can miss at longer ranges if the target is not led, the AC would be more accurate, have greater range and AoE DMG on each shot, allowing you to deal some damage even if you don't directly hit your target, in addition to being able to damage multiple targets if they are close enough together. Overall the HB should still be the better Anti-Infantry weapon, while the AC would have better Anti-Vehicle capability.
