Friday, October 12, 2018

Dave's Cert Guide (PS2)

So, recently I've been trying to pull friends into playing Planetside 2, an aging MMOFPS, with varying degrees of success. It's a game I've played off and on for years, but that I keep coming back to as a it scratches my itch to for a casual FPS. This round of playing it has been a lot more fun thanks in large part to Daniel, Hubert, Luke, and Michael. The game is just a lot more enjoyable when you have a squad to coordinate with, and the bigger the better. While I've been a member of a number of outfits over the years, it's really nice to finally be in one with friends, even if we just play on a weekly basis.

At any rate, for as much as I love it, PS2 is at times a deeply flawed game - and nowhere is this more apparent than the new player experience, which many of the recruits for our unit, the Arkansas Rangers, are currently experiencing. Perhaps most unclear is what you should be spending certs on. Certs, and the proficiencies and abilities they unlock, truly are what make the game pop and allow you to be able to be effective on the battlefield. But, without premium, they are an incredibly precious commodity - so efficient investment of them to get the most bang for your buck is a must. With this in mind, here is my quick guide to what you should be investing in right off the bat. These are not hard and fast rules, but should be taken as strong suggestions.

If you realize you haven't invested your certs well, never fear, at BR15 you can get all your cert spending refunded to spend again.


Planetside 101


1. Nanoweave/Flak Armor

You should at the very least invest in level 1 (preferably up to levels 3/4) for one of these in all your classes, depending on whether you are encountering more explosive damage or getting in more gunfights with that class. The reason you keep losing 1v1's at low BR levels is because your opponents have these suit slots fully upgraded and can simply out-tank you. The low levels are cheap to invest in, and will go a long way towards increasing your survivability.

2. Lock-On Launchers (HA Only)

For the NC, grab the Crow for ground units, the Hawk for air units. Or you can save up and grab the Annihilator to be able to lock-on to both at the cost of being able to dumb-fire your weapon. I would recommend just grabbing the two specialized ones and equipping the one you need as necessary. I would generally recommend the Hawk first as you can still fight ground units with it (or with your default Shrike), while the lack of a lock-on launcher leaves you completely helpless when facing air. Having these tools on hand will also go a long way towards increasing your Cert income.

3. Medical Tool (Medic Only)

Having trouble getting kills? Support your team by being a medic! In all seriousness, medics and engineers statistically get the most income of any class and are completely invaluable. Indeed, a squad that rolls in without at least 33% of its composition being medics is headed for trouble. Each level in your medic tool decreases the time to revive, increases the range at which you can revive, and gives the person you revive more starting health. Each revive is essentially 80% of a kill XP-wise, and leveling up your tool means you can do it more often and more safely.

4. Repair Tool (Engi Only)

Much of the same logic applies here. Engies are always in demand, especially with maxes around or on vehicle pushes. Leveling up this tool allows you to repair longer before it overheats. Another solid way to provide utility to your team even if you aren't giving kills, and getting yourself lots of certs in the interim.

5. 1x/2x Red Dot Sights

Having trouble hitting things? Improved optics for most guns are only 5 certs away. Play around in the VR room and see which sights you like the most (or maybe you just prefer the iron sights), but  even the most troublesome starter guns can be improved by better optics.

Honorable mentions here that improve certain gun sub-classes: Forward grip for LMGs and Compensators for carbines


Planetside 201


Beyond the most basic proficiency listed above, what you cert more into is often more a matter of your play-style and what niche you seek to fill in your squad. These are the ones that will benefit you in the widest variety of situations and will lead to the most cert income, but can be deviated from if you have something specific you are upgrading towards.

Before we go any farther though,

6. Weapons

Most weapons are strictly speaking, side-grades, having clear strengths and weaknesses that reward a player for maximizing them and punish a player for using them outside their niche. With this in mind, I generally don't recommend buying weapons early, as they are prohibitively expensive and the default weapons you can access are solid in most situations with enough experience using them. To my mind though, there are a couple exceptions to this.

6A. The MGR-S1 Gladius

This is a ridiculous SMG that only the NC has access to, and makes you extremely potent at close-mid range engagements while still retaining some efficacy at range. Slap soft point ammunition and a advanced laser sight on this thing, and you can win most 1v1 engagements at 35 meters or less. What's even better? All classes have access to SMGs. Buying this gun is a solid way to improve combat efficacy on all of your classes.

6B. The MGR-L1 Promise

My big complaint with NC Heavy Assaults is that the Gauss Saw, while a truly godly weapon, is very hard for new players to use. Thankfully, the NC has access to one of the best LMGs in the game in the form of the Promise. It combines high rate of fire and unrivaled accuracy at long ranges while still maintaining good damage. If you play a lot of HA, invest in this gun.

7. Tank Mines (Engy Only)

2-3 tank mines kills most things, and you would be amazed how often you score multi-kills with these them. Just remember to switch to Engi every 20 minutes or so, mine a road that will probably be frequented by opponents, and watch the certs roll in.

8. Revive Grenades (Medic Only)

Want to revive 20 people at once? Invest in Revive Grenades! These are truly the item that take Medic cert generation above and beyond, and the tool that make medics so crucial to holding crowded indoor point rooms where a defensive position can be wiped in a second by a well placed brick of C4. Cert into Bandolier to carry up to 4 of them into combat, and you can turn your medic into a cert generating machine who can singlehandedly save a point hold.

9. C4 (Light Assault and Medic)

I hesitate to recommend this, because proper delivery of C4 is difficult and often ends in your death. However, C4 is the best infantry tool available to deal with vehicles and MAXes in close quarters. A skilled light assault with C4 is truly a force to be reckoned with, so if you want to carve out a niche for yourself there are the ultimate terror of the rooftops and MAXes, grab C4 for your Light Assault (and maybe medic too) - just be aware you that while the certs will be rolling in when you pull it off, you will be dying often in trying to pull it off.

10. Nanite Auto-Repair Systems/Vehicle Ammo Dispenser (Sunderer Utility Upgrades)

I don't recommend vehicle upgrades and air upgrades to new players - there are simply more important things to be investing in, and unless you are coordinating with a squad, you will frequently fall victim to significantly more experienced pilots and drivers in more upgraded vehicles. The cost of making a vehicle combat efficient is very high, and you're better off saving this to later in your career as a player. However, there is a notable exception to this in the form of Sunderers.

You have to learn how to drive, properly place, and deploy Sunderers, full stop. Offensives live and die by Sunderer placement and availability. You'll also find that a properly deployed Sunderer is a cert machine, cranking you out at least 5 XP per spawn off of it. In a large battle, that adds up fast.

Upgrading your Sunderer to dispense ammo to friendly vehicles, or alternatively repair them, is a great way to increase your passive cert income and support your team while already driving a cert grinding monster. For example, a common tactic is to park 1-2 repair sundys around a deployed sundy to keep it alive, and if its being shot consistently, this will make you boo-koo cash while you fight on foot. Think of these upgrades as the bonds or index funds of cert generation while you go out on foot to earn your daily salary killing spandex weirdos.

At any rate, those are my top suggestions for how to invest your Certs as a new player. Feel free to post questions - especially if you want a class specific suggestion.










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