Guys.
How to not suck at Light Assault Planetside 2?
I don't play LA much so a lot of this is just general advice focusing on LA default weapons and mechanics. I'm focusing here on NC because that's all I really play.
Assuming minimal cert investment (so no C4 or new weapons);
- Altitude is your friend. People don't look up, so even a fairly naff hiding place will often work. Being above people means more headshots as well.
- Know the strengths and best range for your gun - no matter what you are using - and practice putting bullets into a target at that range. The Mercenary is actually a fantastic gun if used for mid/close ADS. Watch MattiAce's
aim and skill tutorials series. He used the Merc almost exclusively (although on engineer) until switching to TR.
- Outside that range have an idea of how you will react. Know how far out you can still snipe with single shots without it being a pure waste of ammo. Work out your best closing methods - usually over the top of cover for LA. Have a plan for in-your-face close quarters, even if it's just spray and pray.
- Cert to cover your weaknesses. This is the opposite to my HA play where all my attachments are focused on further buffing mid/long-range ADS focus fire. On my Mercenary I ran a laser dot to increase my hipfire, despite primarily used it ADS. This gave me an improvement in the otherwise weak area of close range hip-fire, while the close/mid ADS was already strong. This is just 100 certs and greatly improves your LA and engineer default weapon versatility.
- The only real class feature is the jump jets. If you aren't using them you are just an engineer without the ammo packs, repair tool or extra explosives. As such, put yourself in situations where you are using them as often as possible. If you aren't getting any use out of them then be the engineer instead. You may want to put some early certs in. Play in a biolab and see if you are confident getting around. If not, upgrade them another rank and try again.
- Flash grenades aren't a bad option but rarely used to their potential. I'd ignore them until after making bigger investments. Smoke grenades are probably more useful but can be used from an under-barrel launcher on the S-type carbines without costing any resources. Paying 200 certs for one smoke grenade that costs 75 infantry resources is only worthwhile if you are going to pay out for the grenade bandolier and feel you need smoke when using a gun other than the S-type.
- Nanoweave is the best armour option as a beginner, even just at rank 1. I wouldn't bother investing too much further though. There is no obvious advantage for the LA from going deep into any of the suit slot options so it's personal preference.
- Remember that guns have a slow and fast reload, depending on if you have run them empty or not. The Mercenary takes 2.75 seconds to reload from empty, only 1.8 with at least one round left in the magazine. 'Tactical' reloads to top off after each exchange are usually worthwhile. This is more true on some guns than others (the GD-7F only saves 0.3 seconds from a 3 second reload), so experiment or look up the times.
- Grenades are very effective but a lot of the time their value lies in the huge red marker they put on other people's screens. Using them to control where people move can be more valuable than the kills, especially when you can move around easier than they can.
If you are looking to change weapons, some thoughts (heavily NC here);
The Blitz (high capacity SMG) is the best value investment of any gun in the game. It can be used on all non-MAX classes effectively. With a fair investment in attachments it is scarily accurate in hipfire and no slouch for ADS (although very limited effective range). Because the LA can close so well this makes a hell of a lot of sense.
The GD-7F is tied for highest RoF (and, IIRC, DPS) carbine in the game, giving the NC a gun that outclasses everything the TR has at their own game. Before the SMGs were added it was the best at what it did. Unfortunately now it's pretty limited as an LA only weapon (engineer is unlikely to use it) compared to the Blitz. Maybe if you can get it cheap compared to the SMG and are unlikely to use it on any other class anyway.
The Gauss Compact S is a platform for a grenade launcher. While it's not the best carbine ever it's not that much worse than the basic Mercenary. Running it without an UBGL or UBSL is a waste though, so you have to make do without a rail attachment when using the main gun. I don't find the grenades offer much to an LA (only get two shots) compared to a high RoF gun or even just a Mercenary with laser dot. It's more of a support weapon; I run it constantly on my engineer. May find some use for laying down smoke or hunting Sunderers with C4.
The AC-X11 is a Gauss SAW with only 20 rounds in the magazine but a far shorter reload time. Given that getting the drop on someone with the SAW should kill in less than a dozen rounds (3 to 8 ideally) this is actually viable. That said you will have problems with multiple opponents, the recoil is a serious problem and demands bursting, and you are giving up close quarters power which LA is often supposed to focus on.
Shotguns... yeah.
Poll
Author
Topic: Planetside 2: Free-to-Play MMOFPS. 2000 players/server. (Read 1134451 times)