Have not noticed any increase in power. They nerfed the re-load again by a bit, but that is offset by my MUs. Depends what maps and role you like more. If you prefer close-up and smaller maps go Firebird + alteration.

You must be referring to the M2 versions. Query was for M3. At M3 armor is same, so compare speed (Viking) versus stability (Hunter). For Smoky stability is quite important.

At M3 armor is same so... depends on what you value more - speed vs stability. Smoky requires more precise aiming than many other turrets so you might want to go for Hunter at M3. I find my M3 Viking does not have enough stability. I'm still upset over the switch in characteristics the Devs made.

It's great when Dev's set the bar high... Firebird and Hammer have some nice alterations. Even Twins can get back to it's OP-ness by buying the "no-splash" alteration. And from what I understand the Rail Alt gives them what they want - the turret before the re-balance. When is Isida going to get an alteration that players might actually want to buy?

Correct - protections are important. Assume DA & DD cancel each other out... The more protection involved the worse it gets for the "new" Isida because it needs to recharge even more. Around 37% Protection is the balance where they are equal. The "old" isida only needs to start recharging against an M3 Viking at 50% protection. At 50% protection it takes "old" Isida ~ 10.5 seconds to kill. New isida takes 11.75 seconds. And during that time old isida has healed by 250.

If you equip the alteration it is not weak. Kills quite quickly.

I think this is more important than crystals/hr ratio at ranks below Gizmo. Having enough crystals to buy equipment at unlock rank is very important - allows you to compete. If you gain more xp than crystals you are possibly ranking too fast and won't have the funds to buy the equipment that matches the competition.

I think this is what LittleWille was referring to earlier...

As I said previously in a Team Battle each tank should play to it's strength. An isida can do a quick kill - but - then has to re-charge. It is really only good for one kill then must rest. If you ignore Healing (at least 50% of it strength) then you are not using it's full potential. In a team battle an Isida benefits greatly because there would be team-mates that can inflict damage from afar - unlike the Isida. So Isida's need to return the favor. Let me put it another way... Join a Team battle with Field-Marshals and up with an Isida. Run around attacking, then resting (since you are dry in 5 seconds), and healing "when you have spare energy" and see how welcome you are.

OK - thanks for highlighting what I missed. And I think you misread my last part. ;) I think the "new" (current) Isida is better in DM (than old one) because it deals dmg much faster and thus is less subject to kill-steals. But this also affects it's use in Team Battles - the quick drain makes it less flexible for doing both.

Everyone in team battle should be playing to strengths. So most of the other turrets are there to damage/kill. freeze also there to slow enemy down. pretty sure none of them (except Isida) heal. If an Isida is playing Team Battle and it spends most of it's time running around attacking, then yes - it could be considered selfish. Ya wanna kill tanks (most of the time)? Play DM. Ya wanna benefit from having a team? Be prepared to do some healing.

The turret reloads even as it fires? So the pool of energy listed is not actually accurate? 5 sec really = 7 seconds attack before dry? (In actual use I find new turret runs dry quite quickly - and - if a team game you then have to wait a long time to heal) You gave numbers above that accounted for "partial reload" of the new turret. But I don't see you accounting for the "partial reload" of the old turret. it would be 9 seconds + __ seconds? So it's total damage would go up as well right? Additionally, the old Isida healed itself as it attacked, so potentially it could survive longer - even the 10% might make a difference in survival. In DM yes, the new isida is more efficient and kills quickly. But for team battles it is not as flexible. Devs seem to have swung from... crappy at DM/great at team all the way to great at DM/ so-so in teams...

Last night in Rio an isida with < full health kept running off toward enemy base - by itself - while half our team needed healing. I know from experience you can't heal everyone - all the time. But I had no idea what that Isida was trying to accomplish.

Bought an M3 protection Module at 20% off. :( The extra 25k crystals at 30% off would come in handy toward more MUs...

It's one update - the Splash damage. That's what does the 'self-damage'. Think Thunder with much shorter range...

Even trying to change equipment in garage and finding server so slooooowwww... :angry:

M3? Was 544 for 9 seconds. Now is 708 for 5 seconds. So... (708-544) / 544 = 30%. 9-5 leaves 4 second reduction. 4/9 = 44%. So a 30% increase in dmg vs a 44% drop in energy pool.

And have the battles show up in menu with colors like you have above - easier to pick your battles. Blackwasp suggested something along these lines. Or even better... A filter that will show the battles you want. Would be nice if it applied across servers so we don't have to keep switching servers to find appropriate battle.

I don't think OP's issue is finding cover. It's getting there after spawning. On many maps (including Tribute & Rio) you can spawn in line-of-sight of a shaft. Only chance to get under cover is with a Hornet or Wasp - medium hulls don't have enough acceleration. And the transition time is often not long enough - see my note further up. Only defense is to have a costly Protection Module. And with supplies enabled you are forced to slap on a DA ASAP or die.

Possibly - or - possibly not. I've used Isida A LOT before the change. And used it since. I prefer it with longer energy pool. Maybe you're not using it in CTF or CP much. I am. I dislike DM. So I can tell you from experience that the larger energy pool is more useful. But I'm not here to convince you of what you should like...

What is your definition of "massive"? About the same amount that they reduced the attack duration? So a "massive" increase in DPS compensates for a "massive" reduction in attack duration + loss of self-healing? Do the math and let me know if the damage potential is now 1) More 2) Equal or 3) Less than before.

An idea to prevent spawn-killing from shafts came to me while reading the 48-hr supply experiment. Currently a tank re-spawning is a "ghost" - can move but not use supplies or attack - for few seconds. What if that time was lengthened a bit (few seconds) - enough to give tanks in most situations a chance to get under cover. Caveat - as soon as the re-spawning tank hits a supply key or space-bar it solidifies and is now a normal combatant. Extra time can't be enough to move far toward enemy base, but enough to get out of line-of-sight from enemy snipers. Of course some maps this won't make a difference - if little/no cover available...

Previously Isida might have taken longer to destroy enemy, but it had a better chance of overcomming the Module Protection because with 9 seconds attack it did more overall damage before running dry. This is key - more damage overall. The 10% healing by itself does not sound like much (I wanted 20% but whatever). However the self-healing allowed the Isida to survive longer and use more of it's energy pool. Titans would benefit even more with their extra health. My understanding is the game dishes out damage like this in quarter-second intervals. One or two of those might be enough to finish off an opponent before the Isida dies. Then if it manages to surprise another tank it can self-heal even more. I'll wait while you look up my hours on Isida ;)

Difficult to code? Likely not. Difficult to convince Devs to accept? Likely yes.

I prefer the non-supply Pro-Battles, but as you mention, very little to choose from. More battles on RU servers, but playing team battles where you can not communicate leaves a lot to be desired. Can be very frustrating.