You could... - wait until you can buy the next mk-version - try it out in Pro-battles for a while where the impact will be less as it does not involve contests, missions or Stars - using 1 low item in combination with other good items for a little bit will not get you banned. I end up on teams with players not equipping any modules and nothing happens to them.

Overheating I could live with. It's the extra kick in the batteries I don't like. Nerfing the damage by... 75%? IN ADDITION to overheating was just going too far.

Alex is Alex Trebek, host of the game show Jeopardy - where contestants must phrase their responses in the form of questions. But really - if you apply common sense - is m2.9 very much inferior to m3.3 ? Off by... 0.4... I think we can all agree that 0.4 is a small number. So - there is your "basic knowledge".

What is "common sense?" for 500 Alex ?

Did you even read the explanation MAF gave? Just don't equip mk1 or mk2 items when you have mk6 or mk7 items in your garage.

I just meant that the trooper drone makes it much, much easier for a player to Cap a flag while enemy team is being loaded into the battle. It's 1-0 before you blink.

Happens in every mode. And since we get missions in every mode... Small consolation for those that get Shafted (pun intended) coughtrooperdronecough

The only explanation I can think of for this is... they just haven't bothered to buy another medium hull. My alt account had the Vulcan-Hunter combo before the variable ODs were introduced. It was awesome. But once the new ODs came into effect, Vulcan-Hunter was meh. Most other combos jumped in power with ODs. Vulcan-Hunter did not - except for select situations. Since you want to keep distance from enemy - the only time you use OD is when they finally trap you. Or if you happen to be guarding a flag. A lot of time goes by in the battle where you have an availabe OD and don't use it because the opportunity is just not there.

I'll bet that 3400 GS player had no trouble at all completing missions or gettting Stars. It's pointless to have a battle with "even Teams" if a bunch of players in that battle just should not be there. This is another example of why TO is losing players. New players get frustrated with silly matchMaking like described above, and just give up.

So you go into battle with 2 "personal" Isidas?

Worse than Hornet or Wasp? Pretty sure Viking has better stability than those two... the weight alone is significantly more. Hunter is stable - and was a good match before ODs were introduced. But it's synergy with Vulcan is very weak. Hunter wants to be close to target while Vulcan does not. The Hunter OD gets used a lot less with longer-ranged turrets.

Can't get into battles - get same system error at top of page Looks like no missions tonight. Brutal.

Make me.

Not sure which is more alarming. The GS of 6200? Or the GS of 1200 ... ?

Well since the WIKI does not give specifics, new players would have no idea how much worse a Vulcan is on Viking than other turrets. You are looking at this from point of view as a current user. TO is trying to attract new users. I never said you did not know how Vulcan works. I said you don't care if it sees improvement with Viking OD because you do not use it. It has little impact on you. And Vulcan with Viking OD IS useless when compared to other ODS. ODs have been made so integral to the game now you have to take that into account.

It's not like everyone can afford to buy a new hull (and MU it) on a whim. And it's kinda dumb if it's just cookie-cutter hull & turret combos. And I'm not suggesting Vulcan be changed. The mechanics of the OD need to be changed - they were poorly thought out when designed. Why do re-load turrets get a GIANT boost in re-load + a damage boost? And why does Vulcan (a DPS turret) get a lower DPS factor than the other DPS turrets? I bring up what you use because of biases. You don't use Vulcan so it's non-performance does not affect you.

Freeze, Fire, Isida, Vulcan all work well on the viking hull. Enough speed and health to allow for closing to battle. Then ODs are introduced and make the above combos way less than optimal because of the way they set up the mechanics of the OD. In one fell swoop they nerfed combos that prevously worked. But you insist on trying to compare combos that did not work well before the ODs were introduced. So no - you are comparing apples to oranges. So... you are saying it IS a coincidence?

I saw the Vlog and know about the change in mechanics. But there was no mention of any actual "buff" - which is why I asked as I thought I missed something. I don't consider mechanics change a buff unless they increase in-battle performance somehow...

In what way?

It kills quickly. If you don't have DD but defender has DA and/or 50% module you might be in trouble. But Hunter OD helps clear the way. Works with hunter a LOT better than turrets like smoky. If I need kills this is now my go-to combo - especially on smaller maps and maps with cover so you can ambush

Guess ppl are waiting to see how it actually performs...

I bought the Plasma-torch alt for Ricco and equip that with Hunter. Now I can kill the tanks I stun - assuming there are not too many of them - runs out of juice quickly.

You're comparison is not a good one. Not even considering ODs, firebird and mammoth is not a good combo. But Vulcan and viking is a good combo. So... back again to how the mechanics differ. They benefit re-load turrets way too much. And a good number of turrets (freeze, Firebird, Isida, Vulcan) do not benefit very well with vulcan OD. You say it's not a big deal. Is it just a coincidence that your 4 most-used turrets are just fine with viking - your most used hull? I wonder...

More battles in middle of day today - 8 vs 5 TO START. Stayed that way until 3 min left. Other team had 2 early caps and it ended 2-0. Could have been a decent battle if MatchMaker actually worked. But it does NOT.

Wait a minute - you think Vulcan should not get same boost as other turrets (while using exact same OD) because it already does a lot of damage? So Does Rail, and hammer. But they still get a giant boost. There's a difference between being optimal and getting the same benefits as other turrets. Vulcan-Hunter has very little in the way of synergies, but the OD does the exact same thing regardless of turret. It nerfs supplies and stuns. But Viking OD performs mechanically quite differently for re-load turrets, and in a much better way. It's night and day for when a Rail hits shift versus Vulcan - and they are both ranged turrets. The reload buff should be based on a factor - and that factor should be lower than it currently is. And since ranged turrets get a reload buff they do NOT need a damage buff too.