Quantum_Ranger

Yes, my best Tier 3 is a souped-up M113 ACAV. I can pretty much predict the outcome by counting York >> DCA > ACAV = BVP-M80A > others with lower DPM, assuming all have decent operators that aren't AFK. No York, no DCA, the ACAV has a shot at a blue star. Makes me feel bad for the Tiran 6 and Leopard 1 drivers just starting out... these days I just try to make sure they get at least 5 kills in case they are working on the anniversary challenge. That said, started grinding an AMX 50 in case the Raid wants me to go Frenchy.... decent tank, almost like a baby Stingray at T3, but it still lags behind all the above. QR

Sure, there are lower tier meta progression vehicles (M113 ACAV at T3), but GLOPs is nonexistent at T6 and below, and a long queue wait if you are running T7. So we are really looking at T8 and up. It would be really cool if we could get lower tier GLOPs going even half as well as lower tier PVE. QR

So what can we do to encourage newer players (who don't happen to own a meta vehicle) to do GLOPs? (OK, I suppose this might be a monetization mechanism to incentivize the purchase of prem meta vehicles, but then it degrades into P2W. SS has already said the social component is the highest priority, so a biker gang of meta vehicles is going to totally rule. Maybe we need some black leather and studded collar skins for the next Raid challenge? QR

Anyone find these high-tier-but-squishy prems frustrating? Yes there is the prem bonus, but with no armor, it's hard to live long enough to print more credits than a decent progression vehicle of the same tier. Still want the Stalker, because I don't have a Terminator/Ramka class vehicle in my garage yet. QR

It's pretty clean - they despawn after awhile, and it's all very sanitary. These bodies look like they've been sitting around for awhile getting spicy. Maybe this is the dev team's way to work out suicidal tendencies after the 0.33-deadline squeeze? If you read the Kraken description and add "at my.com" to each sentence, it's a good chuckle. QR

Well, at least the descriptions are nicely poetic. The frustration is for newer players who don't own any of the vehicles for the skins, so there's no real big prize unless we grind all the way to the end? Raider camo does look pretty cool - fits right into missions in the Minecraft Nether. And when does the clock start for the qualifying contract missions? If it starts when the raid starts, we burn up a week just qualifying.... At least there are no timers. QR

Or enter-and-exit just to shift the deployment vector 15 degrees so they actually use the cover next to you. It would also save us from having to advance the vehicle butt-first just so the infantry run in the correct general direction. Move To would be great... like aim at the spot and press the <MoveTo> key. QR

And those of us who didn't abuse it, who listened to the instructions from AW, got nothing for their honesty. Same goes for redeeming codes of uncertain provenance. Could we at least have a "good citizen" decal or something?? Sigh, QR

I am impressed you were able to keep playing despite the amorous distractions. Pardon my noob ignorance, but why do people do this? And if you could summon the help of your teammates, is there a way to entice the bots to kill him twice and kick him from the match? QR

OK, last night I received 3 crates with single ZTQ parts, one crate with 2 ZTQ parts, and 1 crate with 25 ZTQ parts. Each crate held a Special Crate part, for a total of 5 Special Crate parts for the stage. And of course @Katsumoto received the entire vehicle upon opening the first crate... wow. So it does appear that the drop rates might be different from the Hunter crates, and yes, there are ZTQ special crates. DVC, QR

This is really ironic, and a feast for conspiracy theorists! Let us know how it performs please... you are probably among the first to drive it. QR

Driving T7 Type 89 AFV in PVE. Have seen this in various maps, including Watchdog and Onyx. If the vehicle has just crossed a depression/ditch and you are deploying an AT squad while the vehicle is facing uphill (so the infantry have to step down into the ditch), the first infantryman dies instantly and the others don't leave the vehicle. Workaround is to deploy infantry only on level ground, or when the vehicle is facing downhill. It would be desirable to deploy infantry regardless of whether the vehicle is facing uphill or downhill. QR

Time is definitely the trickiest factor. If your skills are modest, there may be times when there are really awesome players with high-DPM vehicles whittle away at the potential damage you can farm from a match... so if you can plan your boosted time to several hours when you can deal max damage, all the better. Of course, if you're an expert, it matters less. I notice it gets a bit harder to finish contract missions requiring damage after about 2230 Eastern time US. Agree that vehicle fit is key. Unfortunately you need to grind the crew to level 2-3 before you get a feel for whether the relationship is going to last. QR

Yep, PVE has been glitchy the past couple of days, too. Various maps. It's eerie when all the friendly guns fall silent when everyone is frozen. I do notice that there is improved recovery in 0.33 - there have been times when my tank would just get permafrozen on a PVE map and stay there. Now I just get frozen for a few seconds at a time. This still hasn't stopped the cataclysmic disconnects, which always seem to happen when I'm having a great match. Sigh. QR.

OK, before 0.33, if your vehicle was destroyed in PVE, you would get a fresh infantry team with the new vehicle. The old team, if deployed, would disappear when the new team got deployed. In 0.33, it looks like the respawn vehicles don't give you more infantry. If you died with infantry aboard, you get the same team back. If you die with a partial AT team, you get a partial team. If you dropped off your infantry before you died and they are all dead, you don't get more. But - it seems like if you have 1 AT infantryman left on the field when you die, and you pick him up after the respawn, some reproductive miracle happens in the troop compartment and you get a full AT team back. To me, this is a nerf to the vehicles that carry infantry, especially the AFVs that have (also nerfed) autocannon. In PVE, where respawns essentially give the player a total of 3 vehicles, why can't we have respawning infantry? QR

I agree - if you look at LAV-600 vs Stingray 1 at T6, the Stingray is just a shade better in terms of reload time, aim time, and armor, at the expense of top speed.... but who is ever going to see top speed anyway? And despite the refinement to wheeled vehicle steering in 0.33 (which has made them better), I still like the handling of a tracked vehicle better. Nowadays, for most of these roles, I'm picking a LT because the battalion challenges often require a LT. But I'll still play the TD to get the daily X2 XP bonus, and because it's a little further behind on the progression grind. They are pretty interchangeable. QR

Anyone try the CATTB in 0.33? It's available for purchase this week using the #@$# loot crate system... I think it's expensive but was curious if it was still a worthwhile investment. Thanks, QR

I think everyone loves new maps. On the other hand, if new maps are produced, we probably shouldn't whine [right away] if they aren't well balanced. I know map design is not easy, but perhaps a contest to submit new map proposals (or collaboratively critique the semi-finalists) might generate some cool ideas (and kill off some bad ones). Wildcards do actually have an indirect benefit. It allows noobs {like me!) driving squishy vehicles to feel like we're contributing something while not getting killed. The fewer times we die, the more match points we save. Yes, I would definitely rather help cap, but will usually die first in the ambush/initial defense. And yes, I would love to see more GLOPS players so I can try out the BVP-M80 Foka turret against the drones and gunships, which is impossible right now because T5 Glops is null. DVC, QR

Alternatively, you could allow platoons, but with a requirement for them to be internally balanced, so players would have to select slots based on vehicle class or vehicles within a class. This would reduce the frequency of a platoon 'o Pindads. Reminds me of a SH Ch3 match where I was driving M1 Abrams and MM put me in with a platoon of 4 other M1 Abrams.... clearing the runway did not go well due to lack of DPM. Especially for GLOPS, I don't feel like I *have* to play a particular vehicle, as long as I get to play... so (even though it's tougher on the MM) it might be nice for any mode to be able to submit a ranked list of vehicles, and for MM to give you a spot in a match based on the vehicles you are willing to play. For example, PVE queue wait for BVP-M80A is 2-3x as long as any other T5-6 right now, but if I could get into a match with less wait using something else, I might be OK with that. The frustration is that you can only offer one vehicle in queue at a time. This might promote more vehicle diversity in matches, which would also improve balance. QR

So is there a MM solution that would help? If it's too hard for an AI algorithm to do it, could we have a mode where some players get to pick a side, plus an IDC button or timer for other people with insufficient knowledge to be matched at the mercy of the AI? I recognize this would put the onus on the player base to achieve balance. Seems like this would have a bigger payoff for player QoL improvement than better dirt effects. QR

What are the best targets for the HE in T5? Still trying to work out the new shell mechanics and figure out the optimal loadout. The Foka is a blast, wish I could take on the helicopters in SpecOps with it. Speed and agility is pretty good, not very different from BMP-2 with acceleration skills. QR

Some observations with 0.33 now that I am working on the new contracts, mostly at Tier 3-6: 1.) Raging Fire is now painful without the fuel tanks. I used to get ~1 fire / mission spamming HEAT at engines and rears, maybe 2. Now after the rebalance I've just gone 4 missions without a decent fire (including 1 with a blue star, so it's not like I'm just camping.) Maybe it's the map rotation, but it's defintitely putting the RNG in RaNGer. 2.) Mech Infantry don't respawn when you do, so you pretty much get only 1 AT team for the entire match. Before the rebalance, if your infantry got wiped out, you would get another load if you respawned. I expect this will make it harder to accumulate infantry damage, both for the Semper Fi contract and for Man vs Machine, especially at the lower tiers. 3.) You don't get infantry with the Foka turret on the BVP-M80A. And yeah, I wish this gigantic turret had an extra magazine along with the extra autocannon. At least as a prem I can afford the respawn if I run out of ammo. DVC, QR

OK, revival of a zombie thread, but now that we are post-rebalance.... the MBTs look less capable and I'm being seduced by the Centauro 120. I am actually enjoying the LAV-600 (which was at the bottom of my list in 0.32) now that it's driveable. I might try the T7 Centauro next... Any feedback on the Centauro 120 in 0.33? Is it still a DPM monster after the ammo changes? Thanks, QR

Hm... so this implies the low tiers still have a balance problem... and yet the current Iron crate is offering XM247 and CATTB for anyone with a fat enough wallet. At the same time, who would bother to buy these with RL cash if we know they are going to eventually get nerfed? Does the left hand know what the right hand is doing? .... I must admit the LAV-600 is much more fun now that I'm not running into walls like a drunk. Makes up for the loss of fun from my fleet of MBTs. Not sure what would make MBTs attractive anymore, aside from grinding through them to progress to something else. QR

No way to buy the last 35 points for gold? (plus you get some back in credits and a plat crate, so cost is not that big compared to the investment you would stand to lose.) I would have thought 466 would have been within striking distance. QR