HEAT... the nearly useless ability | Forums

[KegaroOne]

Since I leveled my Spec to level 30 I have gone back and started playing my Assault again. I have been running Heat for almost a week now and I have noticed that the ability is not very effective. I am currently using the Mk.1 (first level) Heat, have not upgraded to Mk. 2 version because I wanted to give the Mk.1 a decent testing period. I have noticed that Heat is not very effective even when you zoom to focus the Heat. I have tried Heat in various situations only to be flanked, melee'd, or evaded. I have also noticed that heat doesn't really deter higher level players as they usually have enough health to outlive the length of time that Heat can be used. Heat is currently the only ability that leaves you completely vulnerable to attack. I think there needs to be some sort of adjustment that allows you to at least be able to use your pistol or even melee to try and defend yourself.

I will upgrade to the Mk. 2 version tonight and try that out for a while.

[JasonWeis]

I don't think they intended this to kill players. Just suppress them. It is effective against a sniper who is blocking a choke point, hit them with heat, send your fire team through that area unscathed. Its a skill where it takes a large amount of teamwork to pull off. The extra damage on them is a bit low however.

[gameshoes]

Heat is the only ability where a teammate is required to utilize it fully. Whether it'd be to let that teammate kill the enemy or simply allow them to move up, you won't be using this ability when alone.
This makes it very weak compared to the other abilities because players can use those independently (of course having teammates nearby makes them better).

[KegaroOne]

I understand that is not meant to kill outright, but it also shouldn't leave you completely vulnerable to attack either.

[iSqueegeeman]

I love heat. I get many kills with it. I usually throw it up for supression and my fireteam usually clears out the opposing forces. The damage is kinda meh but then again it not meant for killing. I wouldnt say it useless but I agree with aleast using a pistol while it goes on. People that know how to counter it will just kill you, either by slowly walking to you and punching you or just trick or treat you.

[LiquidX74]

anyone hear and echo in here?

I've been saying this for months - and everyone tells me "it's not supposed to kill people" or "zoom in for more damage"

It is TERRIBLE.

If it doesn't kill people, or in some way make you stronger - how is it fun?
When an ability is so feeble that it is mandatory for (more often than not) clueless team mates to act with it, how is it fun for the bearer of heat?

As kegaro stated - you can stand right next to someone and have heat on for full duration and not kill them. It does ridiculously little damage, and as players health pools increase in size, it just gets more and more laughable.

Anytime I've used it to push with, I either get meleed in the face from someone running up to me, or shot from beyond heats range. I am of course moving too slow to take any kind of evasive action to these maneuvers so.. yea.. near instant death.

"heat isn't meant to push"

so, the heat bearer should just sit behind a block for the 8 seconds heat is doing absolutely nothing because the enemy is doing the same thing... Doesn't seem very assaulty.

"use heat to kill bubbles"

I would rather use a grenade, flank or something interactive and fun.

Again, I will compare this to a useful ability (bubble) - which seems far more assault like (in that it lets you take points).

aegis
=====
pros
-----
provides near invulnerability from ranged attack (except snipers - which have about a 5% chance to penetrate the shield)
bounces airborne grenades away
provides protection for as many people as want to push with you
allows the specialist to continue to deal full damage
nice long duration that allows a point to be captured almost completely through its use, or cross open areas without fear
cons
------
makes you move at a walk

heat
====
pros
------
makes enemies unable to fire - however they can still throw grenades and melee

cons
------
slows the assault to a crawl (slower than aegis)
removes the ability for the heat bearer to defend himself completely
removes the ability for the heat bearer to do any meaningful damage (1 damage per second, compared to the 50-100 most guns do.. )
short duration
can be out-ranged easily
forces the heat bearer (due to it's lousy mechanics) to remain pretty much stationary behind cover for it to have any use.

I think you see the issue here - the benefits of heat are negligible at best, while it lays a ton of negatives on the user. Why would anyone use it? oh yea, to struggle to get the 3 kills a week with it (good luck when everyone else is shooting for 50-60 damage, your 1 damage per second is quickly outpaced.. maybe you will get some assists though).


I know it has been said that heat and blitz are lacking, and both are being looked at and getting some love - but I think what assault players are trying to do is ensure that it gets enough love.

[Creepermoss]

I'm getting a bit tired of the folks that can shoot me while Heated. When he's popping numbers, and going Boop Boop, and calmly pulls out a gun and shoots me, it makes it even less useful.

[JasonWeis]

Rock, if you think it is useless, that is because you have no teamwork going on. Once the game is established with 8 man fire-teams, you will HAVE to have heat in order to make some pushes and what not. I don't understand how a team ability is being raged on so badly. If people are able to shoot during it, then that should be changed. But you still should be able to throw grenades or melee, other wise it is as bad as charge (you should be able to use your pistol at a reduced fire rate once you get knocked down.) I think heat is totally underrated because no one wants to work as a team, they all want kills for themselves.

[chemzero]

Rock, if you think it is useless, that is because you have no teamwork going on. Once the game is established with 8 man fire-teams, you will HAVE to have heat in order to make some pushes and what not. I don't understand how a team ability is being raged on so badly. If people are able to shoot during it, then that should be changed. But you still should be able to throw grenades or melee, other wise it is as bad as charge (you should be able to use your pistol at a reduced fire rate once you get knocked down.) I think heat is totally underrated because no one wants to work as a team, they all want kills for themselves.

Heat is the most team-centric ability and as such, gets considered useless. No other ability can supress an entire screen full of enemies at once. Put the mod that widens the arc on it and you can suppress a very, very wide area of your visible screen.

[LiquidX74]

Heat is the most team-centric ability and as such, gets considered useless. No other ability can supress an entire screen full of enemies at once. Put the mod that widens the arc on it and you can suppress a very, very wide area of your visible screen.

uh huh.
but. the assault still has to hide for it to be effective at all (by effective I mean making other players take cover) - meaning - no fun for the assault. And, it has a very short duration, and *requires* team mates to be aware.

As far as "when the game supports 8 man teams" and "heat will be required" - I call bull****, you sir are guessing at best. Anything heat can do, aegis can do better. Sure aegis doesn't suppress, it does something useful, it gets people to poke their head up and try to blast it down or be overly aggressive and charge it. All things that the specialist can react to (and shoot) - or his team can react to and shoot, plus it comes with zero negatives aside from a walking pace. Heat just makes people hug cover and I believe so long as they are hugging cover, they can still shoot - just not in any way that would expose them to heat - at least it seems that way from my perspective as an assault who has heat established for a few seconds only to get plugged by some guy 45 degrees to my right who is hugging cover.