Really? Was it that much? I faintly remember seeing 3 tiers in the thirties. I remember seeing a 34.1 and a 33.3 but I can't find the old statistics. Do you know where I can find the old statistics?

The mode is DM you know? The objective is to get the most kills. If you see a player shooting a player with less upgraded equipment or lower tier equipment, wouldn't you shoot the player with lower tier equipment in order to get two kills instead of shooting the player with higher tier equipment and risk not getting that second kill? Your rank being the highest in battle could result in some players whose ranks are below Colonel playing with M1 equipment because they haven't reach the rank to get M2 Smoky or M2 Titan/Wasp or maybe M2 Striker, Viking and Twins. I specifically put rank brackets that do not intersect the ranks that you unlock higher tier equipment with. I don't completely understand what you mean by this. Please elaborate further.

Ok, as we all know, Firebird's Compact Tanks alteration states that it Increases the energy consumption by 50%. When I first saw this, my brain immediately thought, "Ok, regular Firebird could shoot for 5 seconds, that means Compact tanks Firebird could shoot for 2.5 seconds." I remember renting the alteration a few times on my currently Brigadier account. When I rented it, for comfort measures, I counted how long it took for the energy to finish. I counted 2.5 seconds. I even went on google to get a timer and it matched. Recently though, I've been observing them (because they're so prominent) and I noticed they shoot longer than 2.5 seconds. Only Friday did it hit me to check the Wiki for the Energy Consumption non-upgradable parameter. I assumed that it was 1000 and 1000 divided by 5 is 200 but I went to make sure. It was that. After applying the 50% increase in energy consumption, Firebird could currently shoot for 3.33 seconds when the alteration is equipped. That is almost a 1-second increase. What the heck? 3 seconds of Firebird damage is enough to kill unprotected medium hulls of the same modification as the Firebird. They're adding a faster heating rate and a higher temperature limit to it while letting it kill a medium hull right before its energy is depleted. By the time they turn around to face another enemy within range, they have enough energy to get that enemy to the maximum temperature because of Firebird's unnecessarily short reload time. Why couldn't you just say that the "Energy per second = 300"? I bet that would've encouraged players to find the Wiki to see what they're talking about but no, keep them in the dark I guess. Make the Firebird shoot for 2.5 seconds. The afterburn is already extreme. The alteration is for the fans of hitting and running away but why run away when you can finish off your enemy and then have enough energy to take down another one because your reload time is so short?

I found it to be Isida's unique ability (aside from healing). I remember when it was an upgradable parameter. I can't remember the exact number but I remember that the % of damage converted to health was in the 30s. 'Twas probably 33% for M4 but I can't remember the exact number. That felt powerful because I was able to stay alive in a 1 v1 if I had double damage. If the enemy was a squishy wasp or hornet, I wouldn't have gotten much. But then they reduced it to 10% and it was barely noticeable. It barely kept me alive longer. I said, "Heh, maybe it was too powerful, guess I have to live with this now" and I adapted. With each confrontation, I didn't expect to survive as long as I did before and I still enjoyed using it. Back then, you could keep yourself alive or extend your death countdown so you can do something productive to your team (healing) in your last few seconds assuming the latter is happening. Now, it's just "Kill this person before they kill me or before they can be able to inevitably kill me!"

Heh, why do you say it's "exploiting"? It's MM that puts them in the battles. If it were exploiting, then do you expect them to exit the battle immediately at the beginning when they see that they're the highest rank in the battle with relatively lower ranks than themselves? Have you been in a DM battle where you were the highest rank? If you were, did you exit immediately because you thought it was unfair to the ranks below you? Yes, I would expect them to give a relatively "average" performance but average is in the eye of the beholder. In a battle where there are small rank brackets that do not cross the unlock ranks for different modifications of turrets, hulls etc., for example, Marshal - Legend or Brigadier - General, there could still be players that would have a very high score compared to the second-placed person because that guy may have been fortunate enough to steal a bunch of kills from enemies (assuming that players from Brigadier - General have M2 0/10 equipment and players from Marshal - General have M3 0/20 equipment).

...the rank bracket was far too wide here: Not surprising that the Legends were on top. More than half the players were stars after all. I was, however, surprised the Legends didn't come first here: Hmmm, maybe it's because the rank bracket was smaller this time? I guess we will never know. Also, I think that the MMS makes battles that are already made increase their rank brackets. There would be up to Commanders in the battle along with many stars, then when a few people leave, it brings Legends into the battle. I don't like that to be honest but if it's necessary for the game to continue, then I guess I have to take it and move on.

Tell me. Why does one team have 2 Legends while the other does not? We were holding out pretty good at the beginning: They had 17 kills while we had 16...then it all changed. Somewhere around when they had 40 kills, look where they had most of my team: Another teammate was behind me in the picture and another one just died and was respawning. A player on our team had left shortly before this screenshot so it was 8 v 7. This is the result: Conclusion: The battle is decided at the beginning. Whichever team has better players at the beginning will win. The rank brackets weren't that wide here but...

Usually, funny is stupid and relatable.

Generosity...: ...and Gratitude: I could have easily pushed him off of that spot with my Titan. So could the other defender I was with who was also a Titan. You don't see this from players these days, especially generosity. Every time it happens, it's great to document it.

Well, you did have an advantage over a player who started without double battle funds and gold boxes dropping all over the place. Other than that, I'd say it's basically grind-to-win. Get lucky in containers and that'll carry you forward. With the economy these days, it's pretty easy to get your M1 turret to M2 in a relatively short time. On my third lieutenant account, I have Firebird M1 9/10 (It's like that because I had it 5/10 after the big MU update they put out some years ago and it was the only M1 turret I had so I kept upgrading it and because I don't want to upgrade it to 10/10 because I don't want to lose the perfect number of 115 damage per tick.) and Striker M1 8/10 going on 9. The majority of my crystals went into Striker and both of its alterations. My Firebird has been at 9/10 for two ranks now I think. The account has more than 800 Repair Kits and more than 1k of each supply because of containers and missions. The account is basically well-off and I'm comfortable playing with M2 kits. Although M3 Freezes all over the place take away most of the fun I'm gaining. I was thinking of making new accounts to get the container in the challenges to see what rewards I would get in them.

I don't understand what you mean. Do you mean the self-healing was worthless or the current Isida is worthless?

Heh, I was meaning to ask for this since 2016 but didn't think anyone in the chat would have it. Thank you Hexed.

What's the current record for most players with a 3-star bonus in one game?

First time playing with a Wiki Admin. Even killed him as well.

With even more information on them, like how for each pellet of a Dragon's Breath Hammer, it ignites the target for 3.3% of maximum temperature. Or how Smoky's Incendiary Rounds alteration's critical ignites the target for 50% of maximum temperature. Why don't we have stats like those on the English Wiki?

Well, this was on the Wiki. It is the most trustworthy source for information but due to the devs' transparency issues sometimes, it may be hard to keep updated with the right information. It's sad that they took away the rent feature so we couldn't have noticed the decreased damage before. Even if they didn't give us the rent feature, they should have kept the effect descriptions so people wouldn't be confused. I understand that Wikis would be a reliable source but for me, they aren't and are subject to being outdated. Firebird is just a big mess right now, by itself and its alterations. For this, there was no damage nerf when it came out. I specifically remember just a few days later, they put out the first balance change for the new alterations. The damage nerf was a part of that. If you would like the proof, check the Web Version's Patch Update 534. I have one screenshot of a player who had alteration before it was nerfed. That thing gave you 10 ticks of fire damage if you were being shot with it for 1.25 seconds. Anyone it touched would be doomed to die. Now, you need to be shot for 5 seconds to get 10 ticks of fire damage. It feels like it's actually 3 seconds but whatever. At least it isn't how it used to be. Yes, I agree misleading information affects purchases and I was very displeased when I saw Incendiary Mix being a 10% increase and not a 50%. If it's like that, then that means Compact Tanks has been selling for way cheaper than it was supposed to and Incendiary Mix was severely overpriced. Given that Firebird itself is too powerful right now, I'd say the devs did this on purpose; this whole firebird thing on purpose actually. You can't do that and not realise that you messed up which alteration was supposed to be for which price for 2 and a half months.

It's asking what I play most and not what I like to play so I chose Capture the Flag. I've been avoiding Control Points unless I have a mission in it. I wouldn't willingly play that if I have no missions to do.

Maybe because 100 damage below Maximum damage is still good? There's a slim chance to do it anyway.

Maybe not too often.

I understand. Still though, it's noticeable and makes me want to question what was in those patch notes. Doing it one by one and then skipping 3 does seem a bit unusual.

Well since you have it M4, it would be great to buy it. Tell us what you think of it after using it for a bit.

A friend who lived closeby told me I should try it. I own his account now as he doesn't play anymore.

Do I really have to convince people that Sledgehammer Rounds for Thunder is OP; if not OP, then unbalanced in a positive way for Thunder? Like seriously, it's letting you shoot a lot faster just for maybe a 100-250 average damage decrease. Why are people saying this alteration is trash? Here's an example of one. It's not a good example of what I'm trying to convey but here it is. Deadmau5 was the Sledgehammer Thunder. Coupled with me healing him from time to time, he was able to get 37 kills and no deaths. While I was with him, I would look at how fast he took down unprotected enemies and enemies with double armour. It shoos almost like M4 Smoky with only about a 200 damage decrease per shot. He probably had Thunder M3.5 but let's assume he had M4. At mid-range, he would be doing about 830-900 damage on average per shot. If you put that side by side with an unaltered Thunder, the sledgehammer rounds would kill their opponent faster. The only thing that Sledgehammer really does is make you go out of the new Maximum Damage Range so you wouldn't be able to potentially one-shot unprotected M4 light hulls. If stats aren't enough to convince you then just being a high rank and looking at what the high-rank Thunders are using, you'd notice something. 70% of high-rank Thunders I encounter have the Sledgehammer alteration. I wonder why that is? Maybe because they realise they get better results from it? Or maybe because they know it's an upgrade in the form of an alteration? I guess we'll never know. In high-rank DMs, almost all the Thunders in there are Sledgehammers. They get to shoot faster but they lost a little bit of damage, that's a win for them since it means they can kill-steal more efficiently now. Honestly, anytime a Sledgehammer Thunder starts shooting me from behind and I'm in the open, I just accept death. there's nothing I can really do being a melee or short ranged turret because the Thunder could just drive away from me while shooting me like a goddamn Smoky. Players need to see that this is an upgrade. It helps in 1 v 1 supply fights because you can interrupt a Repair Kit's healing earlier and save yourself a shot compared to unaltered Thunder.

I also don't see where they're lying as well. If you're talking about the fact that it doesn't state that it increases the Energy consumed by the shot, then you're wrong; They aren't lying. If you are to increase the reload for Shaft's Arcade Shot, then obviously, the energy required for one shot would be increased. It didn't need to be said within the description seeing saying "the reload time is increased" is more understandable than saying "the energy required for a shot is increased".

Well...you can't combine them. And if you're talking about Cyclone alone, do you think that all enemies would stop in their tracks to let you lock onto them? No. Many times, I've had my reticle disappear right before the end because they got behind cover. Not everyone is out in the open you know. Even if you complete the reticle, it is not like Thunder where the shot would instantly impact them. No - it has to travel a distance before it gets to its target. That also gives the enemy more time to retreat between cover. The time for that is not much but it saves your life. This also conveys that it is relatively more necessary to never take your laser off of a horizontally parallel fast hull or a perpendicular-to-your-verticle-stance fast hull as you will lose precious time in your reticle to take out the target before they reach to cover and that isn't good since you have to lock on for more than 4 seconds. And really? Combining that with Uranium would only make sense in Juggernaut. The missiles would be so slow that anyone could get to cover before they reach. Having 8 Uranium missiles in a salvo is complete overkill by 2x in most cases. 4 is enough. Why would you use 8 slow moving missiles when you can use 8 fast moving missiles. The enemy knows they're being locked onto; they would look for cover immediately. If an experienced player realises that the laser is on them for longer than expected, then an experienced player would realise that the Striker has Cyclone (and in this case, mixed with uranium) and would even more hastily get out of there because Cyclone is basically a confirmed kill if you don't have protection. That's what I think Cyclone's purpose is for. If your target is out in the open, you'll get a confirmed kill but you'll have to wait longer to lock on compared to unaltered Striker. Sometimes, it would take a salvo and 2 missiles to kill the Juggernaut. It's not always a confirmed kill when they can use their overdrive at any time and they may have many upgrades on their hull to boost their HP. I didn't want to post that long reply about alterations earlier because I had a feeling it would make people go off-topic. I just used that to show how some alterations, compared to others, are upgrades to further make my point on my earlier post talking to @splitterpoint.