Tribes: Ascend
- Thread starter Vaskadar
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Arx Buster isn't as strong against structures as the Grenade Launcher. 578 damage maxed vs. structures or 825 damage vs. structures? Your choice. Filling a room with the grenades is bad news for any engineer caught in tight quarters.
If you're talking about the Jackal... well, that thing is pretty ruinous for any engineer's campsite.
If you're talking about the Jackal... well, that thing is pretty ruinous for any engineer's campsite.
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IIRC I never had a good enough connection back then to do a lot of mid-airs and I still carried a shocklance most of the time in my light armor sets. It's not like it can't be used on the ground.
What exactly did they change with the jetpacks?
What exactly did they change with the jetpacks?
That's the trick though; giving it to a class that can turn invisible means you get people wandering past defences, and in the space of 1 second dropping and detonating 3 grenades. Heavies can survive it, but any light or medium class is usually dead and there's no real defence against it.
It's not like it's that OP. I'd say that a lone infiltrator is no match for an engineer, because by the time he's decloaked, he doesn't have enough energy to be mobile enough to fight. An engineer with a Thumper is bad news for any attacking force.
Technicians don't survive the grenade launcher, so unless the Infiltrator goofs, it doesn't matter how much energy they have. The only defence is to be in sight of another player or turrets.
Edit: Technician mastered, bitches. I killed six people with one grenade today (epic win and fail all in one).
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If Hi Rez would just sit down for 5 minutes and make the game more flexible, it could easily live for very long. As it stands, the game won't last very long. It just has no lasting potential in its current form.
If its free, people will play it.
I wonder if they started making this game and found a lack of interest before going free to play. If I were I. The business to make money I'd have made the game simpler.
that being said, I look forward to giving it a shot once I get some time.
I wonder if they started making this game and found a lack of interest before going free to play. If I were I. The business to make money I'd have made the game simpler.
that being said, I look forward to giving it a shot once I get some time.
The problem with this game, compared to HoN and LoL, is that the gameplay has no depth. The maps are terrible, the balance is terrible, some of the classes are useless, a lot of the core mechanics (jetpacks, velocity, chasing) are broken. To top it all off, the social interaction in the game is currently nearly non-existent. I mean, there's not even a seperate chat window, it's just a part of the UE console. And chatting with your friends is an aboslute chore.
This game has so much potential, but Hi Rez seriously has to change some things, before it all works out.
It really lacks depth in the early game - however when it comes to finally unlocking shit, it gives you quite a few different options that whilst seemingly subtle can have a profound effect on how the game is played. At Bronze level the game seems pretty badly balanced, because quite a few of the classes don't fare well without alternative unlocks. At Silver level you'll see a lot more variety - I recently started playing at Gold level and when playing matches, usually every class (or almost) is represented on my team - I'd call that a success in class balance.
The level design isn't great, but it is at least functional and has variety. Capture the Flag in Ascend is pretty naff imho (and Arena is pure sucktastic), but Capture and Hold works really well. Shame you have to play for 10-15 hours to unlock it, but then it's also best played with access to a variety of classes.
None of the classes are useless:
The Pathfinder is by far the fastest class and can be kitted out for either chasing (with the ability to launch at 140kmph from a standing start) or capping (thanks to high energy and strong benefits from splash acceleration).
The Sentinel is obviously a sniper, and in CTF games should occupy high ground where they can use their instant-hit weapons to stop cappers or chasers in their tracks. In Capture and Hold they can use claymores to defence and their range and accuracy to harass deployable and Technicians.
The Infiltrator is very useful and would always (imho) take the grenade launcher - in CTF they should destroy the generator and other base defences, but they can also harass heavy defenders something chronic. In Capture and Hold they should be identifying weakly defended points - usually those guarded by Technicians, deployables or singular heavies. They are the only class that can saunter past Turrets and Light Turrets completely unnoticed, and they are also rather good for hunting down and eliminating Sentinels.
The Soldier is a jack-of-all trades - I have little experience with this class, and I have to admit I don't see it used much.
The Technician is what I generally play, because it has some great tools. I play with the SMG as it is great at whittling down and finishing enemies; usually after they have gotten too close to a turret, or one of your three grenades. I mainly play Technician, as I can play both offensively and defensively, as well as still keep racking up a score and doing something useful when there's noone to kill or no objective to handle. Motion Sensors near flag stands are great for sucking energy out of cappers; so if they are deflected they won't be able to get away, and they can also deny Raiders the ability to use their shield, or Infiltrators their stealth (although both are usually likely to just destroy the detector). My main strategy is to locate isolated heavies, place a turret, then lure them into it and catch them in the crossfire. If they are aiming at me, I can keep moving near the turret and they'll take a lot of damage, if they go for the turret, I can chuck grenades at them to deal 1000 damage a piece. I spend a lot of time moving between crowded places and picking off stragglers, and defending points - the latter is important because without the inventory stations, ammo for the SMG runs out quickly and it is not a great weapon by itself unless at very short range.
Now that it has the Plasma Gun, the Raider is ridiculously versatile, but the main perks are the Shield (meaning you stop taking damage against health and take it versus energy instead), which gives them obscene staying power - especially when combining it with Potential Energy, which basically means you not only take damage to energy instead of health, you gain energy from taking area of effect damage.
Juggernauts have the Fusion Mortar which is perfect for bombing the enemy base at long range and excellent with area denial - and requires no fiddly perks or anything to do so, and also carries a nasty Spinfusor by default so it isn't vulnerable either. This mans you'll see a lot of Juggernauts, and with the scoring bias geared towards kills more than anything else, they will often take high scoring places in the leaderboards (even if they don't actually perform a massively useful role all the time...)
Doombringers are one of the weaker classes, but the Minigun is reasonable for spattering incoming cappers, the lock-on rocket launcher is largely useless (doubly so given how easy it is to shoot down the rocket), although it can encourage players to stay low. Using the chaingun, force fields and mines, it makes a good choice for 'Heavy-On-Flag', especially with the SuperHeavy perk.
The Brute deals high damage, but I find it is generally a weaker option at range than the Juggernaut. Indoors it's a clear winner - Fractal Grenades are ridiculous area denial tools that are perfect for clearing entire rooms and you can carry three of them. The auto-shotgun is also pretty nasty versus any enemy caught at short range.
Social interaction is indeed where this game is fucked. In an F2P game, it's difficult to actually get your buddies together into a proper game, and there's nothing like an internal messaging system, so even though you can add people to your friends list, you cannot ever communicate with them ouside of a game.
The level design isn't great, but it is at least functional and has variety. Capture the Flag in Ascend is pretty naff imho (and Arena is pure sucktastic), but Capture and Hold works really well. Shame you have to play for 10-15 hours to unlock it, but then it's also best played with access to a variety of classes.
None of the classes are useless:
The Pathfinder is by far the fastest class and can be kitted out for either chasing (with the ability to launch at 140kmph from a standing start) or capping (thanks to high energy and strong benefits from splash acceleration).
The Sentinel is obviously a sniper, and in CTF games should occupy high ground where they can use their instant-hit weapons to stop cappers or chasers in their tracks. In Capture and Hold they can use claymores to defence and their range and accuracy to harass deployable and Technicians.
The Infiltrator is very useful and would always (imho) take the grenade launcher - in CTF they should destroy the generator and other base defences, but they can also harass heavy defenders something chronic. In Capture and Hold they should be identifying weakly defended points - usually those guarded by Technicians, deployables or singular heavies. They are the only class that can saunter past Turrets and Light Turrets completely unnoticed, and they are also rather good for hunting down and eliminating Sentinels.
The Soldier is a jack-of-all trades - I have little experience with this class, and I have to admit I don't see it used much.
The Technician is what I generally play, because it has some great tools. I play with the SMG as it is great at whittling down and finishing enemies; usually after they have gotten too close to a turret, or one of your three grenades. I mainly play Technician, as I can play both offensively and defensively, as well as still keep racking up a score and doing something useful when there's noone to kill or no objective to handle. Motion Sensors near flag stands are great for sucking energy out of cappers; so if they are deflected they won't be able to get away, and they can also deny Raiders the ability to use their shield, or Infiltrators their stealth (although both are usually likely to just destroy the detector). My main strategy is to locate isolated heavies, place a turret, then lure them into it and catch them in the crossfire. If they are aiming at me, I can keep moving near the turret and they'll take a lot of damage, if they go for the turret, I can chuck grenades at them to deal 1000 damage a piece. I spend a lot of time moving between crowded places and picking off stragglers, and defending points - the latter is important because without the inventory stations, ammo for the SMG runs out quickly and it is not a great weapon by itself unless at very short range.
Now that it has the Plasma Gun, the Raider is ridiculously versatile, but the main perks are the Shield (meaning you stop taking damage against health and take it versus energy instead), which gives them obscene staying power - especially when combining it with Potential Energy, which basically means you not only take damage to energy instead of health, you gain energy from taking area of effect damage.
Juggernauts have the Fusion Mortar which is perfect for bombing the enemy base at long range and excellent with area denial - and requires no fiddly perks or anything to do so, and also carries a nasty Spinfusor by default so it isn't vulnerable either. This mans you'll see a lot of Juggernauts, and with the scoring bias geared towards kills more than anything else, they will often take high scoring places in the leaderboards (even if they don't actually perform a massively useful role all the time...)
Doombringers are one of the weaker classes, but the Minigun is reasonable for spattering incoming cappers, the lock-on rocket launcher is largely useless (doubly so given how easy it is to shoot down the rocket), although it can encourage players to stay low. Using the chaingun, force fields and mines, it makes a good choice for 'Heavy-On-Flag', especially with the SuperHeavy perk.
The Brute deals high damage, but I find it is generally a weaker option at range than the Juggernaut. Indoors it's a clear winner - Fractal Grenades are ridiculous area denial tools that are perfect for clearing entire rooms and you can carry three of them. The auto-shotgun is also pretty nasty versus any enemy caught at short range.
Social interaction is indeed where this game is fucked. In an F2P game, it's difficult to actually get your buddies together into a proper game, and there's nothing like an internal messaging system, so even though you can add people to your friends list, you cannot ever communicate with them ouside of a game.
Sorry Rambowjo, but I disagree with most of that statement. It does need more depth in that it need more maps, etc and the social interaction could use some work. However, I think the maps are pretty good for the most part. Granted, I primarily only play CTF, but the maps work really well for that gametype. I just wish there were more.
The only time I've seen a problem with balance with with the plasma gun, but it seems they've tweaked that some.
Some of the classes are useless? Really? I've played about 35 hours and played all the classes, and have yet to find a useless class. If you think a class is useless, then you aren't playing it right. I have done very well with every class, and I have been on the losing end of every class. You just have to know your class role.
And how are the mechanics like skiing and velocity broken? They seem to work really well. Now, if you are trying to chase down an enemy flag carrier with a heavy you are going to have problems, but that's because a heavy should be holding a base instead of chasing.
Yeah, they still have a lot they can do with this game, and it's far from perfect, but it's not nearly as broking as you say IMHO. I've logged a lot of hours in the game, my clanmates have as well, and we play almost nightly. More and more of my clanmates are starting to play and continue to play, and we never have a problem filling up a match, so there has to be some validity to what I'm saying.
Edit - see ambershee's post
ambershee said:
I used the soldier for a long time. It is a good entry level class. The primary assault rifle is really weak, but the secondary thumper is pretty good. I still use the soldier quite a bit. It actually works well as a flag runner, especially when the other team is heavily defended. It gives up some of the pathfinder's speed for a little more armor.
ambershee said:
Actually, the Doombringer is my current favorite class. I'm usually ranked in the top 2 or 3 on my team. Yes, I primarily play defense with it, but I do a lot of midfield play with it as well. The chain gun will shred through armor quickly. Combine that with great survivability (especially with upgraded armor) and there's very few that can stand toe-to-toe with me. The rocket launcher can often seem useless until an enemy vehicle comes near. It excels at taking down bikes, tanks, and jets. It can also be useful on maps where the enemy flag runners have to make a long jump the the flag stand.
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Too much defense, not enough offense!
I play infiltrator to clear the flag stand of hostile equipment and forces. I don't dare assault the gen room unless I've got backup.
I play infiltrator to clear the flag stand of hostile equipment and forces. I don't dare assault the gen room unless I've got backup.
It's the worst weapon of that type in the game - that isn't just me saying that, it is statistically speaking true; lower rate of fire, slower projectile, less damage and less splash than Spinfusors, Bolt Throwers and other Thumpers.
Take a Spinfusor.
My main problem with velocity and skiing, is that there's zero friction. When you ski down a hill at 300km/h, you shouldn't be picking up speed, you should be losing speed.
The jetpacks are terrible because of how weak they are. If you are standing still, they work fine, but if you fall off a ledge, you have to use 100% of your jetpack to get back on that ledge, which is extremely frustrating in the genroom and some of the flagstands, and generally anywhere with a ledge.
On top of that, the jetpack has a cap to its speed gain, meaning that past 80km/h or so, you won't gain any speed using it, only height. Of course, if you gained more speed, the thruster pack would become obsolete, but then I'm perfectly okay with that. You also can't vector the jetpack very much, which sort of sucks. Jetpack vectoring means that the jetpack pushes you in whatever direction you want. Right now it just goes up and then a little bit in the direction of the WASD keys you are holding.
Last, the jetpack has a lot of weird bugs. For example, if you are falling over a certain velocity, the jetpack stops functioning. It simply doesn't do anything. Using it will decrease your velocity by around 1km/h each second of usage.
The BRT and SLD don't have a place in the game right now. They are viable (on pubs), sure, but RDR and JGN are pretty much better in every way, apart from energy.
Some of the maps are simply too small, and would benefit greatly from being made bigger. I'm thinking in particular of Sunstar and Drydock. Sunstar generally needs a landscape overhaul, but that would come naturally from being made bigger. Temple Ruins is decent, but has issues with scaling. The hills are simply too big, in my opinion. It also has some kind of issue with the terrain texture, it is not scaled properly, so the sizes of hills and your speed can be very deceiving.
The best maps right now, in my opinion, are Raindance, Katabatic and Arx Novena. Katabatic and Arx put a lot of responsibility on the defense, but that's how the game is supposed to be. On Sunstar you basically need a DMB on flag, and you'll be fine.
The jetpacks are terrible because of how weak they are. If you are standing still, they work fine, but if you fall off a ledge, you have to use 100% of your jetpack to get back on that ledge, which is extremely frustrating in the genroom and some of the flagstands, and generally anywhere with a ledge.
On top of that, the jetpack has a cap to its speed gain, meaning that past 80km/h or so, you won't gain any speed using it, only height. Of course, if you gained more speed, the thruster pack would become obsolete, but then I'm perfectly okay with that. You also can't vector the jetpack very much, which sort of sucks. Jetpack vectoring means that the jetpack pushes you in whatever direction you want. Right now it just goes up and then a little bit in the direction of the WASD keys you are holding.
Last, the jetpack has a lot of weird bugs. For example, if you are falling over a certain velocity, the jetpack stops functioning. It simply doesn't do anything. Using it will decrease your velocity by around 1km/h each second of usage.
The BRT and SLD don't have a place in the game right now. They are viable (on pubs), sure, but RDR and JGN are pretty much better in every way, apart from energy.
Some of the maps are simply too small, and would benefit greatly from being made bigger. I'm thinking in particular of Sunstar and Drydock. Sunstar generally needs a landscape overhaul, but that would come naturally from being made bigger. Temple Ruins is decent, but has issues with scaling. The hills are simply too big, in my opinion. It also has some kind of issue with the terrain texture, it is not scaled properly, so the sizes of hills and your speed can be very deceiving.
The best maps right now, in my opinion, are Raindance, Katabatic and Arx Novena. Katabatic and Arx put a lot of responsibility on the defense, but that's how the game is supposed to be. On Sunstar you basically need a DMB on flag, and you'll be fine.
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