Is the Heavy becoming Obsolete?

While 'Heavy Suits are OP' was a popular theme in the first two builds, no one says that anymore. That would be just fine, but now there are complaints of the suit being ineffective in higher tiers. Recently discussion has focused on their excessive cost and low efficiency as they improve. So is the Heavy Obsolete? The very thread that sparked  the discussion here http://tinyurl.com/ct5qr8s acknowledges that a proper fix to stacking penalties may resolve many of the Heavy's so called 'issues'. As always, player skill will always have the biggest impact, and for that reason developers must tune with the skilled player in mind. Because if the skilled player is given too many advantages he breaks the game. Its quite possible that proper stacking penalties may fix the current damage disparity between heavies and other suits as they improve, but we decided to look at a few other options to keep it relevant but balanced.


The Heavy is unlike any other soldier that we have witnessed in FPS. This is one of the reasons its the center of so much debate. Most shooters have classes that are comparable to each other in health but the heavy shatters that perception. In RPG terms it is a slow tank that can deliver high DPS in the short to medium range area. Engaging it head-to-head and expecting it to die first is generally not a good idea. Although this piece focuses on how to prevent the heavy from becoming obsolete, the changes must start at lowering its range. Assault Rifle users have complained about excess range for the HMG for months and theyre correct. For game balance the heavy cannot be a medium long range weapon. Even sharpshooter proficiency level 5 should max its range out at about 50m. While max skills should allow it very high [80+%] efficiency at this range, the HMG breaks the game if it can outdamage a militia AR user with equivalent skills at 50m. The basic HMG should have a 30m max range and should be lower efficiency than an AR at that distance.

CCP Must be careful when tuning the heavy as it can easily become Godly. One of the core issues here is that the other dropsuits are able to lessen the disparity in durability and DPS as they advance. While damage can vary, this is unbalanced because the heavy goes up in cost but slowly loses its only advantage: Durability. One way to resolve this would be to increase the turn or movement speed of heavies, but we feel those limitations are at the core of what make the heavy uniquely balanced. What results is higher level assault, scout and logi dropsuits with the ability to engage the heavy inside its lethal area and outdamage it, which is grossly inconsistent.We cant allow other dropsuits total health that neutralizes the heavies main advantage, sponging damage. No dropsuit in the game should be allowed comparable survivability to the Heavy dropsuit unless they are willing to also share the downsides to durability. In addition, engaging the heavy inside the 15m range should be extremely lethal. The heavy is described as a 'defensive system that defies standard infantry conventions. No other classification can claim to be able to stand to-to-toe with enemy vehicles and survive.' We're confused. In many cases these suits are struggling to keep up with their same level counterparts. The heavy should not be standing toe-to-toe with tanks, but it has to keep its durability advantage.

Redesign Protection - This is one of the best suggestions we've seen in some time. 2-Ton Twenty-One recommended a system where the protection of shield extenders and armor plates should be a % of dropsuit base armor and shields instead of a fixed rate. Dust 514 is still in beta and its not too late to revise this. Each dropsuit has its advantages. The heavy sacrifices movement, turnspeed and equipment for high short range damage. Giving armor plates and shield extenders a fixed damage takes away their biggest advantage and probably isnt realistic. No other dropsuit should have the ability to carry as much armor or power shields equivalent to the heavy's. This will affect the total health of most dropsuits but its the right thing to do.

Heavy Price & Slots - In our last piece we addressed how the cost of heavies must come down [the protoheavy suit currently exceeds the militia tank in cost] but as these dropsuits never receive equipment they should not receive reduced high & low powered slots. Thats a limitation that is excessive. The slots should go as follows: Militia 1-1, Standard 2-1, Advanced 3-2 and Prototype 4-3.

Melee Damage - We touched on this earlier. Its laughable to have all dropsuit melee damage identical. CCP has mostly done a great job separating the strengths and weaknesses of each suit, which is why this needs changing. If the Heavy does 135 dmg, assault should be 70, Logi 50 and Recon 40. Few would argue the heavy hasnt earned more melee damage due to its slow, plodding tank nature.

Perks - The Duvolle can do 900 damage in 1.3 seconds without headshots. There's nothing we can do about that as the heavy hitbox insures that it eats atleast 95% of the shots in its direction. What we can do is increase the lethality of engaging heavies in their killzone. We'd like to see the HMG get a base 150% damage modifier within 15m. We'd also like to see the HMG get a suppression effect in that range, making close range gunfights with heavies a bad idea. Advantages like these are limited but punish players for engaging the HMG where its strongest.

 As always, we'll continue to attempt to help promote and publish ideas that help establish, enhance and grow the Dust 514 community as much as we can. Have any ideas that need sharing? Would you like to join our staff as a writer? Be sure to contact us at magww@live.com