Supports post DLC:

You know what the solution is? GET A SUPPORT BUDDY!

Stagger your firebases. When a position is cemented, have the rear support pull up his FB and step it forward. Continue this and push them into their base. In TF2, this is called "Pushing Sentries" and granted, is easier for the Engy since they can all spam build a level 3 in a few seconds, the support can continue this by having two supports heal one FB, then both supports chuck airstrikes.

Twice as many hacked turrets in base. Twice the FB cheese. Twice the shotgunny goodness!

There are plenty of team-based strategies to turn the Support into an offensive player, and I like THIS one very much.

However, the issue is only that the Support has been turned into a rather boring solo class. I'm actually quite curious to know how they test balance, and I think I'll ask Scathis or Eka the next time I see them online. I truly wonder if they base it on equally skilled players, or base it on what an experienced player can do in a random matchmaking game, or both, or neither.

I can still stomp face against an average team of friends (not just randoms), but against other members of OxyTeam, Sah's team, even Deadeye/Shammas ( ), I can usually never get them unless I corner them in with multiple airstrikes. Like I've said in previous posts, this pretty much negates the fast cooldown of airstrikes before, because to be effective with it you'd still have to blow 2-3.

It's just sad at how little the Support can do, pro vs pro wise, outside of hacking/healing his turrets against and equally experienced player.

I played a few games on Spunky today where I went above 20 and only died once or twice. Granted, I could put a 3.3 Rock-it VERY close to their line and I had my FB offset to hit them if they ducked behind the giant Spunky can so there was no escape if they dared cross over. Naturally, none of them switched classes long enough to destroy my firebase, much less.

This is an area I disagree a LOT with SXD over, and that is getting level 3 FB. When you pick it up, its cooldown starts 3/4's of the way done, and it recharges faster to boot. As long as you time it to where you pick it up right as your Hack finishes its cooldown as you relocate your FB, you can effectively have a decent FB rotation.

With the increased cooldown of Airstrikes, and the increased reluctance to even sink valuable cash into upgrading the skill, FB's can be [relatively] placed in the open so as to surprise most players. They just don't expect it since it was so easy for enemy supports to just Airstrike it.

We may have to revise builds a bit too, because going on a 15+ kill streak meant I was sitting on Gold speed for the better part of the match, and I was a pretty lively fat italian, let me tell you. One speed pickup and I could've been a shotgun dervish of death should I have chosen to be.

I may have to experiment with a gold skill regen too, I had airstrikes pretty regularly once I had picked up bacon from their jackbot.

It's all good that you disagree. Never said you couldn't. :lol:

It was just that, Pre-DLC, the Support didn't tend to make the most money on the team, and now they make even less. Unless I am in pubs, I was pretty much out-earned by more than half of the rest of Team OxyTeam, as their classes are better built to kill than the Support is. This means that I had to be smart with my money, and the $400 was always better off when I used it to buy Passive 3, Hack 3, Air Strike 3, or saved to buy Juice.

However, since two of these investments have become less useful than what they used to be, I might just consider buying Firebase 3 the few rounds I play Support. Never really liked camping a Firebase, and the number of kills I have with it shows it, but oh well.

Did we....did we just get referred to in a post by Gregggyyyy/SHOW YOUR HEART/Obama????? HOLY CRAP THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING MOMENT OF MY MNC CAREER.

ASIDE: Mouse says it's not "Sah's Team" it's the MOUSkateers, and therefore "Mouse's Team".

Okay, I will try not to be mean about this comment. Lets use a theoretical example!
What if tanks could dash only once every 23 seconds?
What if it took 23 seconds for an Assassins cloak to reload to 1/3 at level 3?
What if Assaults recharged their flight to 1/3 every 23 seconds at level 3?

Yes. Taking one of only 3 skills from a class and making it recharge drastically slower will make that class 2/3 as effective as it used to be. If you make a class 2/3 as effective as another class...PEOPLE WILL NOT WANT TO PLAY THAT CLASS AS MUCH.

ASIDE: I don't even like playing support, it's just your comment was ludicrous.

lol, I played my first game of Support yesterday, and all I did was stay in the base healing, upgrading and hacking turrets because I didn't want to leave them to the mercy of mortars and exploding sniper rounds :roll:

People praised me though, for being such a good defender.

Not only this, but let us not forget also about the nerfs to hacking and juice.

ive played support pre dlc but since the dlc had came out ive been playing alot more support. I agree with alot of the complaints as far airstrikes re charge (which is a big one), and enemy hacking being to slow. But the juice really isnt that bad it take sum time but healing everything in your site, melee hitting bots, and juice pick ups help it out alot. If ya just hold back and play the defensive end. If theres one thing that ive still havent seen change or even talk bout is saving the firebase rather then letting it get destroyed theres a recharge time for it and thats a buzzkill. If you wanna move it or save it from getting destroyed why should you have wait the same amount of time it takes if it was destroyed. at least give it no recharge for picking it up and moving it or a lil boost to re charge for saving it.

My two cents...The support that was released when this game first came out better aswel have been called SHIN SUPPORT with the amount of things this class has lost. (Remeber when we use to be able to hax through the saftey of a wall, hack+heal at the same time, not having to use gold ROF to make the healgun useful)

Two weeks of playing the DLC the juice fix is fine, as for the airstrikes I still feel the repercussions of losing our ONLY ranged weapon.

But here's a suggestion- When you pick your your firebase it recharges faster than if it was destroyed right.

How about if you get a ground zero on a pro (or kill them with a airstrike, this may b stretching it) you are rewarded with having that airstrike replaced (or churro effect on the airstrike skill).

Spaming out your airstikes would cost you the painfully slow recharge time but using them skillfully would award you with atleast having them when your really need them. IE motar gunner / jackbot shooting down your **** while you watch helplessly healing it.

All I can say is I'm glad I pushed for Sky Master before the dlc.

I loved and main'ed the support pre-dlc but apparently I'm terrible and needed airstrikes to play it the way I enjoyed.

As SXD and Show Your Heart and others have posted, airstrikes allowed you a way to attempt to deal with enemy pro's at range since both your standard weapons aren't built for that and most decent players don't stand around nicely while waiting for your firebase to deploy and be hacked.

With the change the support is playable, but I feel like my game hangs on the balance of babysitting turrets and firebases or having another support on the team who isn't mentally challenged. If that was uber's intent for the support from the start, I'll deal with it. Just sucks due to the fact I enjoyed the old version of the support (and I never hacked through walls or used juice endorsements to hide in the base til juiced.)

The real irony here is in games vs multiple supports on the other team, I just upgrade airstrike once and then never use them to do anything but blow up firebases. It's a bit depressing how effectively I can shut down players simply by eliminating 1/3 of their toolset, or at least keeping it on cooldown.

Guess its time to bother trying to not suck at all the other classes. I hear the assault still has his 8 second bomb.

This is what I have resorted to. Though I must say it DOES suck trying to master a new class...

My butt still hurts from getting whooped on by Tiger last night when I was playing tank.

Since the patch I have seen a greater variety of ALL the classes and I think the above posts show the reason. There were ALOT of supports pre-patch and I think people chose classes that could handle supports as a result. Now that Supports are usually only 1-2 per team, counter classes aren't in such high demand and teams have greater variety. I like it!

And I still see good supports and I think they are still the only class vital to winning. They are the only class that can heal/buff turrets. An overhealed Tank/Gunner is the scariest thing in this game. AND their firebase can lock down areas for a long time. Although their airstrike is super-limited use, its still powerful.

yes, a good support/gunner combo is scary....but a good gunner/gunner combo is even scarier!

They still have DOUBLE the armor AND double the firepower!

True. Very True.

But I still think:

Support + Tank/Gunner > Gunner/Tank + Gunner/Tank

Why? Because no matter how much health you take off the S+G/T combo, its going to come right back. G/T+G/T can be pushed back and forced to wait to heal.