Beatdown Patrol wrote:
I have finally played the entire run of maps for the first time. Perhaps the biggest problem with releasing a huge game changing patch like this on Valentine's Day is that people with wives and girlfriends won't be able to play it in earnest until the next day.
Some observations about the new game play.
1) Pilots...you REALLY need to stop crying. I mean seriously. Perhaps it is harder to stay alive, but on ALL of the maps I played with air, the Jet and Helos were STILL ranking on top.
Some tactics for you from a groundpounder watching them in display last night as he was getting blown into scrap...
* Helos now have to fly low to the ground instead of floating at 3,000 feet wasting everyone. The pilots that ingressed and egressed at 150 ft or so were the ones that were STILL deadly. Very deadly.
* Helos now should never stop moving unless they are behind some form of cover. Becoming stationary makes you a phat target for .50 cal and armor vehicle fire...as it should.
* If you come under fire from vehicles, dive for the deck and leave the area flying low. We have to deal with the horizon and other objects in our way, so by diving low, you decrease your profile and make it very difficult for us to shoot down.
* Good jet pilots are avoiding the AA over enemy flag points and only bomb them when they are in the process of being taken by friendly troops. If they do decide to bomb an enemy flag point, they come in low, fast and from the blocked side of the AA turret.
2) Support is extremely deadly. While I didn't find it so deadly that it needed a nerf, there probably needs to be some other concession that Support has to make in exchange for their ability to put down cover fire like a mini-HumVee. Not being able to sprint or having the weapon overheat quicker are some good starts. I think everyone is experimenting with them right now, but it will start balancing out as people realize that one kit can not win the game by itself. My team won a game last night for that exact reason. They other team had about 15 Support guys out of 30. We had a better mix with Assault lobbing M203s, Snipers plinking from long distances, and Medics reviving anybody that fell. They lost the battle on attrition alone.
3) Snipers are as accurate as they should be, but the SVD and Type-88s increased accuracy now completely trumps the M24 and L96, especially when trying to countersnipe. I would put the SVD/Type-88s at an accuracy on par with the M24 before the patch. If you don't kill another sniper with a head shot first using an M24, you will not get another chance. You can't even run away because the delay in getting from the prone position allows the countersniper using the SVD more than enough times to score 3 hits. If I were to change anything, I would at least allow the M24/L96 snipers a quicker bolt action animation or allow them to stay in the scopemode while they work the bolt action.
4) As an Engineer, I think that allowing mines to not be blown up was a big mistake...and that is from an Engineer. We can completely deny a piece of real estate from people and with proper support, can pretty much hold an area indefinitely. If I am in armor, I can lay down mines in a perimeter to force other armor into what are essentially kill zones. They should probably allow mines to be blown up with grenades but increase the number of grenades required to do it the amount of at least 5. OR....artillery strikes should detonate them. I did hear a rumor that artillery blew them up, but I didn't see it happen last night.
5) Due to the increased accuracy of all the weapons, the ground war is deadlier than ever. Gone are the days of running around with no concern with what was around the corner. "Bound and Overwatch" tactics are proving to be VERY successful. The bugs bunnies, Flippers, and C4 flingers are finding out that they were not as good as they thought they were and are hence being annihilated by well working squads. While one could argue that Spec Ops should be allowed to throw C4 a few feet...the Spec Ops I faced last night seemed to not be having much of a problem destroying my tank.
6) The fear that armor would be the lords of the battlefields is misplaced. Mines are everywhere...to the point where driving a tank it is like running through a the backyard of a local dog kennel. Speeding down the street in a tank or APC is basically ASKING to run over a mine unless you are looking carefully for them. In being that cautious, it takes away from your situation awareness in finding other threats and targets of opportunity. I have also noticed a great increase in the amount of AT kits being picked. I don't know if the damage on the AT kits were tweaked, but I noticed more consistant damage from them to where it takes 3 shots from an AT kit to put a tank in very serious trouble. By very serious, I mean that a grenade will put them on fire. Supply crates also have been tweaked to repair damage at a significantly slower rate. I used to be able to sit on a crate and almost ignore 2 AT troopers. Now? I have to either get rid of at least one or run from the area. I can't remember, but I speculate that the 6th or 7th round or so will either kill me or put me on fire. Going up against 3 AT kits is now a very risky proposition. In an APC, the AT kit is even more deadly with the reduced crate repair rate.
That is what I noticed for now. Thus far...I will have to say that overall, I am happy with the patch.
- Beatdown.
me too, now maybe so many nOoBs won't go for the assault choppers so feverishly , lol
Last edited by docnutz (2006-02-16 07:36:10)
