Well, I remember the devs saying themselves that jump packs are OP in EC now and that they even hired a new guy to handle this issue. They want to make them easier to hit and kill in the air because for now assault troops are almost completely safe in the air. Implementing the neccessity of refuelling might be one of the helping factors to this issue, ofc not the only one.
Ahh memories, so he does. He also slams his boltpistol into the floor of the ship, 40k logic never ceases to amaze.
It's hard to say something is overpowered if they've only tested it in small numbers. A small battle (6v6) is absolutely nothing like a big battle (50v50). Specifically in this case is that highly mobile troops become much more powerful when in small battles but are only really skirmishers in big ones. In a small battle, situation awareness (knowing where the enemy is) is much more vital and it's hard to predict where a highly mobile troop will be. Conversely in big battles being able to soak and dish out large amounts of damage are more valuable because there are so many more eyes open for flanking or small ambushes that it becomes an ineffective tactic.
Well, these are their words, not mine so I guess they know what they're doing. Also they mentioned having 300 players tests already, I'm sure they regularly test the game with more than 6vs6 players, hence their conclusions.
300 player battles or 300 player stress tests to see if the server tech can handle that many? Plus the hitboxes still look like they need a bit of work (having watched the most recent l.stream) so I'd prefer they didn't get too overzealous avoiding assault marine OP'ness before they are even alpha. It'd be tragically hilarious if they made assault marines worthless before they even started proper mass-player testing.
Nobody wants assaulter classes to be worthless, I'm planning to have some fun with them as well (although my primary interest is Devastator class...or tactical one if the stalker bolters are available only to them ) but I wouldn't like assaulters to have better transport abilities than ground vehicles. What would be the purpose of using transport vehicles while jump packs could do exactly the same role with much lower costs, better mobility etc?
I agree that assaults shouldn't be quicker/better at getting base to base than a transport, I just don't think we need to worry about that just yet. The battles they have shown have been over small bases or small portions of terrain rather than the large tracts between bases. Even then a simple fix would be to reduce the forward speed of a in-air assault. It makes it more floaty (easier to shoot) and slowing their ability to cover ground quickly. Giving them limited jumps creates more problems (than it would solve) because it punishes jump troops from taking longer flanking routes (which may require a number of jumps) as well as the higher skilled jump troops who survive long enough to normally (as opposed to DfA spam) use 12 jumps, since one of the big draws of a melee class is the lesser focus on ammo conservation making long combat stints viable.
Exactly, they shouldn't be able to take longer flanking routes imo, that's the ground vehicles role (besides the devs mentiond the possibility of jump packs troops using transport vehicles). Assault troops are not meant to travel, they should strike fast and get out of the combat zone fast but in a relatively small area.
An infantry-man (particularly not a melee focused one) is going to go on a wide flanking attack in an open field battle, the flanking attack that a jump troop will make is on the tactical scale and during fights within larger facilities where buildings and debris will stop vehicles and 'grounded' infantry. Look at how the light assault is used in PS2, they are incredibly rare in battles between bases but once you get to the techplant/tower/ampstation their numbers jump (no pun intended).
That's fine with me and that's how I see the jump packs role - fighting swiftly inside the bases, not freely traveling from one to another.
