Anybody here play Planetside 2???

[Ishal]

Yeah, happens.
I've played a lot (3x 85+ BR characters and around 1600 hours total), I can usually keep a 5+ K/D if I'm not goofing around but even I run into days where I can't get a kill without getting shot dead two times in return.
Don't be shy with the squads. Many squads don't care if they end up with newbies (especially since mentor ribbons were introduced), you'll learn a lot and there is an extra XP reward if you do things with squadmates around. And subscribers give a passive XP boost to every other person in their squad, which even stacks.

Really?

Interesting. Didn't know that, the passive XP sounds good.

The main thing that'll keep me playing the game is if it sustains being fun long enough for me to earn enough certs to get good. I like flying a lot. The mosquito is a heck of a time. Shot down three scythes already before wandering too deep into NC territory and getting plastered by an AA tower.

I'll keep playing and see what happens.

 

[DFDelta]

The main thing that'll keep me playing the game is if it sustains being fun long enough for me to earn enough certs to get good. I like flying a lot. The mosquito is a heck of a time. Shot down three scythes already before wandering too deep into NC territory and getting plastered by an AA tower.

I'll keep playing and see what happens.

If you want to fly try out coyote missiles.
Wannabe pro pilots will call you names and rage, but they are the single best boost in air to air capabilties you're likely to get and so easy to use it is almost hilarious.

Also check youtube for some tutorials on advanced air combat. Especially the "reverse maneuver" is crucial to air to air combat.
Planetside physics are not like normal physics, you'll likely see some strange things happening in the air.

 

[Zhukov]

All starter weapons for infantry are also perfectly useful. With one exception (Gauss Saw for the NC Heavy Assault) all of them are perfectly useable with minimal upgrades.

I smell someone dissin' mah God Saw.

Seriously though, once one learns to burst fire instead of spraying, the basic NC Gauss Saw is a beast.

I'm guessing you mained NC, then?

Do you prefer them to the other factions?

I guess so. I've only really played NC. I've dipped my toes in the other factions, but mostly to troll my NC clanmates.

In the early days NC often complained about being underpowered. Like, constantly. Basically all you ever heard over comms was "OMG, I got killed again by a fucking TR bullet hose." I don't know if it was really true, never saw any stats or whatnot, but I do know that I never saw other factions complaining about NC being OP.

At some point there were some balance adjustments and suddenly all I ever heard from the other factions was "NC OP". That calmed down once they got used to having to face a fair fight.

The NC Vanguard main battle tank is a beast for Tank-vs-Tank combat. It doesn't have the anti-infantry capabilities of the TR Prowler or the crazy all-terrain mobility of the Vanu Magrider, but the frontal armour and forcefield mean that enemy vehicles will fear you like none other.

The NC fighter plane is... kinda shit. I love my Reaver, but only out of loyalty. There is, or was, a common joke going around on my (Australian) server:
Q: "The Vanu fighter has agility, the TR fighter has speed. What advantage does the NC fighter have?"
A: "Really fucking stubborn pilots."

The NC Max Suit is super specialized. It only really does one thing, but it does that one thing like nothing else can. That one thing being close quarters mayhem. You can put two heavy, fully automatic shotguns on. Plus you have a big ol' fuck off riot shield that blocks all frontal damage when it's up and you can even reload behind it. The disadvantage is that having to fight at close quarters means you will be taking constant damage, which in turn means that having a friendly and semi-competent engineer around for repairs is a must. Unlike the other factions, you can't just equip auto-repair and chill out at medium range.

NC small arms are, well... the idea is that they're supposed to be slow-firing and hard-hitting, but with a few exceptions (like the above-mentioned Gauss SAW) honestly I never really noticed that. The fact is that there's enough weapon variety within each faction that the supposed 'theme' is pretty irrelevant.

I will say that NC look ugly as fuck though. I mean, blue and yellow? Was the art director colour blind? We look like we're dressed in cereal boxes. The TR get all the best aesthetics, with the Vanu a distant second.

 

[Ishal]

In the early days NC often complained about being underpowered. Like, constantly. Basically all you ever heard over comms was "OMG, I got killed again by a fucking TR bullet hose." I don't know if it was really true, never saw any stats or whatnot, but I do know that I never saw other factions complaining about NC being OP.

At some point there were some balance adjustments and suddenly all I ever heard from the other factions was "NC OP". That calmed down once they got used to having to face a fair fight.

From what I've seen that was supposed to be the point though, right? The TR bullet hose is basically what TR as is all about. Put as many bullets downrange as possible. NC have slower firing heavier hitting weapons.

I just hate the TR's tank. The Prowler is so lame looking compared to the Vanguard. It looks like a bar of soap.

The NC Vanguard main battle tank is a beast for Tank-vs-Tank combat. It doesn't have the anti-infantry capabilities of the TR Prowler or the crazy all-terrain mobility of the Vanu Magrider, but the frontal armour and forcefield mean that enemy vehicles will fear you like none other.

Confirmed. As stated earlier, died to them pretty much all last night.

The NC fighter plane is... kinda shit. I love my Reaver, but only out of loyalty. There is, or was, a common joke going around on my (Australian) server:
Q: "The Vanu fighter has agility, the TR fighter has speed. What advantage does the NC fighter have?"
A: "Really fucking stubborn pilots."

I've actually heard Wrel say it's his favorite ESF, next to the Scythe. I flew one today and got two kills before being shot down. It's vertical thrust is pretty good, other than that I'm not really a fan of the base nose gun.

I will say that NC look ugly as fuck though. I mean, blue and yellow? Was the art director colour blind? We look like we're dressed in cereal boxes. The TR get all the best aesthetics, with the Vanu a distant second.

See, I dunno. I actually like that color scheme. Catches my eye. Red and black looks cool, but it's a pretty common look. Vanu is kinda ehh... The sleek look for their gear is nice. But that cyan and purple is kinda bad. To be honest, aside from the prowler, the TR looks the best aesthetically. They're supposed to be the official government, with official military gear. They definitely have the professional military look about them, which I like.

Gonna take more play time before I figure out where to plant my flag.

 

[Ishal]

The main thing that'll keep me playing the game is if it sustains being fun long enough for me to earn enough certs to get good. I like flying a lot. The mosquito is a heck of a time. Shot down three scythes already before wandering too deep into NC territory and getting plastered by an AA tower.

I'll keep playing and see what happens.

If you want to fly try out coyote missiles.
Wannabe pro pilots will call you names and rage, but they are the single best boost in air to air capabilties you're likely to get and so easy to use it is almost hilarious.

Also check youtube for some tutorials on advanced air combat. Especially the "reverse maneuver" is crucial to air to air combat.
Planetside physics are not like normal physics, you'll likely see some strange things happening in the air.

After playing a bit in the afternoon I like the Scythe even more than the mosquito. It's so much more stable, holy crap.

Vanu seem fun, but what do they have for armor. Is the Magrider even that good against other armor? Also, what does Vanu have for outfits? Lots of active ones do you know?

 

[Zhukov]

...other than that I'm not really a fan of the base nose gun.

Oh, a quick note on fighter nose guns.

If you want to invest in flying, you really, really, really want to get a rotary nose gun for your fighter, regardless of faction. They beat the base weapons in basically every way. They shred enemy aircraft, infantry and light vehicles. The only thing they're worse at is killing tanks, and if you're trying to kill tanks with your nose gun then either you're doing it wrong or you can just stay above their firing angles and attack with impunity.

 

[DFDelta]

Vanu seem fun, but what do they have for armor. Is the Magrider even that good against other armor? Also, what does Vanu have for outfits? Lots of active ones do you know?

Sorry, late reply. Got sidetracked by Evolve.

The Magrider is not worse or better then the other tanks, just very different.

On one side it has the same armor as the Prowler (so less then a Vanny), the worst main cannons and no turret for it (so you have to constantly turn your tank to aim), the lowest speed and a special ability that seems rather meh compared to the other MBTs.

On the other it has slightly better ES secondary guns, a very good acceleration, can shoot on the move better then every other ground vehicle, can handle most terrain without almost any speed loss (so while the others will outrun it on roads the Magrider will turn circles around them inside hilly areas), can use the boost to climb into areas no other tank can get to, or to escape/attack over terrain that the other tanks can't cross and is the best one fighting against infantry because its high agility.

It is less of a tank in the traditional sene and more some sort of heavy skirmisher.
Fighting a Prowler or Vanguard head on is very likely to get you killed, but you can usually hit them from weird angles or even get some shots into their rear before they notice you, especially if you run stealth.



Can't help you with outfits, since I'm an EU player and most likely on different servers then you.