Best Tank/Sunderer Upgrades

[Hirmetrium]

Refer to here: http://wiki.planetside-universe.com/..._%28Vehicle%29

So, I've been looking through a lot of the certs recently and trying to decide whats best. I'm aware it varies slightly faction to faction, but I wanted to talk generally about what is best.

For example, tanks. What is the best Utility slot ability? Vanu's Magburner/NC shield seems like a solid choice for them, but I want to avoid the TR anchor mode like a plague, so I'm not sure what to get in its stead - Fire suppression to survive the last shell and finish them off maybe?

Then, the defense slot - should I get top armour to stop those pesky aircraft or those silly hill battles, or side armour? Or skip those all together and get Nano-repair (which seems redundant when I can just be an engineer)?

I've no experience of gun certs, and would opt for normal optics/ammo upgrades. Eventually, I'm considering an AA gun for the tank, simply because its a nightmare to fight otherwise.

Rival combat chassis seems like a must (or turning for NC?)

The Sunderer seems like another obvious conversation point, but I figure its AMS-Armour-Combat handling or Shield Diffuser-Armour-Combat Handling.

[President Weasel]

The A30 walker, which is the anti-air gun for the tank (and also the liberator), from what I've read on the internet is weak-sauce, barely better than the standard basilisk HMG but completely ineffective against armour.

[One Pigeon]

The A30 walker, which is the anti-air gun for the tank (and also the liberator), from what I've read on the internet is weak-sauce, barely better than the standard basilisk HMG but completely ineffective against armour.

I looked into this and came to the same conclusion when looking for upgrades to my galaxy turrets. Seemed it got need heavily and is now almost useless, particularly in the role its designed for.

[Yargh]

the giant secondary laser for the mag-rider is fantastic

[Cooper]

I looked into this and came to the same conclusion when looking for upgrades to my galaxy turrets. Seemed it got need heavily and is now almost useless, particularly in the role its designed for.

It's effective range (due to drop-off) got ramped up.

The walker will rip through that mossie on the tail of your Gal. much faster than the default weapon. But you just need your gunners to hold off until it's up close.

The range nerf makes it almost entirely useless on tanks...

[Timofee]

I can only speak to TR, but the 50cal anti infantry is excellent while regular HEAT strikes a nice balance between AI and AT.

I agree with you that fire suppression seems pointless and honestly the chances you get that low and aren't going to get blown up in the next 2 seconds is low. Given how hard it is to hit distant targets on the move you'll often be stopping to shoot so anchor mode seems reasonable to me.

For sunderer most of the weapons seem poor in the main, both grenade launchers fire their projectiles too slowly and generally 'feel wrong' AI capability also seems poor and that's supposedly what one of them is there to do. Honestly the HMG seems the best although I haven't tried the 50cal too much, if its the same as the one on the prowler MBT then it'll be well worth it.

[RIDEBIRD]

the giant secondary laser for the mag-rider is fantastic

Gonna have to buy it.

The AT tank gun for mag rider is pretty sweet, making tank duels much easier. Can still kill infantry with dead on hits.

[CMaster]

If you don't have the laser secondary on the Mag, one has to question why you're even bothering with it. (Although the more expensive AT-plasma might be good?). Basically, it turns the Magrider into an evil sniper tank.

[QuantaCat]

That wiki is outdated, btw, it is displaying upgrades for the lib that arent in anymore, or atleast named differently.

[DeVadder]

If you don't have the laser secondary on the Mag, one has to question why you're even bothering with it. (Although the more expensive AT-plasma might be good?). Basically, it turns the Magrider into an evil sniper tank.

I buy Magriders when we need armor or when i am buried in vehicle ressources. I am not spending certs on any vehicle except the sundy, but i still buy them from time to time.

[President Weasel]

The giant secondary laser on the Magrider is good fun when you're gunning it, although it has one major flaw against infantry and that's the noticeable delay between hitting the fire button and the shot actually firing. With moving infantry (and from a tank that's often strafing) it makes for a frustrating time trying to hit anyone (although it's immensely satisfying if you do manage to, as it's a one-shot kill) and it makes the tank rather vulnerable to heavies.
It's also entirely useless against even semi-competent enemy pilots, without even the discouragement effect of the standard HMG, so if you're planning to take a bunch of them anywhere where mosquitos are you'd need to try to arrange for air support or a skyguard or two or at least a couple of Sunderers.

From a scythe piloting point of view, I've been torn apart once by an A30 Walker in the back of a Galaxy and taken to pieces by an unexpected Skyguard Lightning, but the worst ground to air is definitely the dual anti-air max; those things are lethal.
I'm not sure anybody on the opposition side is even bothering with the A30 AA gun for their magrider equivalents; if they are, then they're not nearly as dangerous as the other things I just mentioned.

[RIDEBIRD]

The giant secondary laser on the Magrider is good fun when you're gunning it, although it has one major flaw against infantry and that's the noticeable delay between hitting the fire button and the shot actually firing. With moving infantry (and from a tank that's often strafing) it makes for a frustrating time trying to hit anyone (although it's immensely satisfying if you do manage to, as it's a one-shot kill) and it makes the tank rather vulnerable to heavies.
It's also entirely useless against even semi-competent enemy pilots, without even the discouragement effect of the standard HMG, so if you're planning to take a bunch of them anywhere where mosquitos are you'd need to try to arrange for air support or a skyguard or two or at least a couple of Sunderers.

From a scythe piloting point of view, I've been torn apart once by an A30 Walker in the back of a Galaxy and taken to pieces by an unexpected Skyguard Lightning, but the worst ground to air is definitely the dual anti-air max; those things are lethal.
I'm not sure anybody on the opposition side is even bothering with the A30 AA gun for their magrider equivalents; if they are, then they're not nearly as dangerous as the other things I just mentioned.

Bought the saron yesterday, and me and Ch1ll1e were tearing tanks up. You are so goddamn powerful in a magrider with that thing. I used the standard cannon for the main, and that worked well against infs.

[QuantaCat]

Yeah, the general consensus is that the A30 sucks, except for maybe on a galaxy or liberator.

[Rotekian]

As my Sunderer guide now includes some thoughts on upgrades I've opted to post it here. It does also include some tips on Sunderer usage.

The Sunderer

If you decide you wish to help the outfit by providing Sunderer cover, there are a few things that are useful to know.


Upgrades
You can only use one upgrade in each slot at any given time.


Advanced Mobile Station (Utility Slot)
The prime use of the Sunderer is to provide a spawn point. It can be used for transport, but in most cases this is of secondary importance compared to the ability to respawn. Death can be quick in Planetside 2 and the ability to respawn in a nearby location can often be the difference between taking a location and giving up on it. As such the AMS upgrade is really a must. It costs 50 certs.


Negative Phasing Shield Generator (Utility Slot)
If this could be combined with the AMS it would be incredibly powerful. As it is the use of a Sunderer with this upgrade is rather short. The best way I can think of to use this type of Sunderer is for breaching the inner shield of a base to gain access to the inner vehicle spawn so that it can be hacked and an AMS Sunderer built. Note however that the automated drive away from the vehicle spawn often chucks the vehicle through the inner shield which is less than ideal. This upgrade isn't likely to see any use outside of organised play.


Smoke Screen, Radar and Fire Suppression System (Utility)
These upgrades make more sense on other vehicles. Compared to the AMS upgrade they have very few benefits.


Vehicle Ammo Dispenser (Defensive Slot)
In many ways the next most useful upgrade. This one is not essential but it is very useful. Without at least 1 ammo resupply upgraded Sunderer it becomes very difficult to sustain long range tank battles. Short range tank battles are very lethal and will lead to a lot of lost tanks. As such if the outfit wants to engage in prolonged tank use, we need 1 of these.


Proximity Repair System (Defensive Slot)
This one is less useful. It can help in tank battles, but for smaller engagements it is often possible for supporting tanks to retreat and heal via engineer. This upgrade doesn't provide something that would be unavailable elsewhere like the AMS or the Ammo Resupply upgrades.


Stealth (Defensive Slot)
This protects against radar spotting. It also increase lock-on time, but that is less useful as the Sunderer is often immobile anyway. In my experience this can be quite useful for avoiding attention. If someone sees a sunderer at a distance without the red arrow over it, they are much less likely to call it out as an enemy. The less attention the sunderer draws the longer it lives and the better chance the driver has of hiding it behind a building or some rocks.


Nanite Auto Repair System (Defensive Slot)
An auto healing bus. Damage disables this system. If the bus isn't taking damage, an engineer can heal it pretty quickly. This upgrade may have a use if the driver wishes to wonder away from the Sunderer and leave its survival up to chance. It also might be good for a mobile non-AMS Sunderer that is constantly roaming around relying on its turrets. Any other type of Sunderer use is not going to get much out of this upgrade.


Blockade Armour (Defensive Slot)
More armour. The ability of a AMS sunderer to survive is often more down to the ability to runaway from or out heal the attacker. More armour doesn't really help much with either of these things.


Mine Guard (Defensive Slot)
At the present moment mines are not a popular upgrade. As there aren't a lot of mines about, it is therefore less useful to be able to get an upgrade that protects against them.


Tips


Squad Transport
Normally at the start of play the Sunderer won't be used for squad transport. You might be carrying 2 people around on the turrets but that will be it. Instead everyone else will bring a tank. This occurs if we start out at the warpgate. As tanks die off people start to stack up in Magriders and begin to want Sunderer transport.
You are expected to at least ask if anyone needs a ride before driving to the next objective.


Quantity
We don't need everyone going Sunderer at the same time. We will get through quite a few Sunderers in a night, so be prepared to wait for a call for a Sunderer before getting one out and make sure everyone knows you are getting one.
Generally we want 1 Sunderer per 12 man squad.


In Play
The driver is often expected to remain in or near the Sunderer. A Sunderer will live a lot longer if the driver is prepared to reposition (run away) when enemy tanks show up. Alternatively the driver may need to be an engineer repairing the Sunderer while under fire. It is often possible to hide under the Sunderer while repairing it (if spotted you will be shot though).
Facing matters. A tank firing on the rear of a Sunderer can kill it very quickly. Equally the starting Sunderer turrets are effective enough that the Sunderer can win when firing on the rear of a tank (although only if the tank misses at least some of the time).
Try to find a good spot to allow people to flank from based on the position of other deployed Sunderers.


Riding the bus
If you're in a turret position you need to keep an eye on your ammo.
Although the turrets are quite effective against air targets, it is generally a bad idea to waste ammo on them if they are at long range. If they have clearly spotted the Sunderer or are attacking/defending the same position then they are good targets.
The same applies to tanks. If the tank hasn't spotted the Sunderer, then we would much prefer to sneak by it.
If you are not in a turret position then your only job is to be prepared to jump out and defend the Sunderer should it blunder into something it can't handle. Tanks are the prime threat to the Sunderer, but Liberators and massed interceptors (Scythe/Mosquito/Reaver) can also be dangerous.
As such switching to a Heavy/MAX are your best options. You should do this before getting into the Sunderer. When under fire the Sunderer can't afford to stop to give you access to the terminal. It is much easier to jump out and switch to engineer to help repair the Sunderer than the other way round.

[Cooper]

The only comment I would add is that 2 AT mines (the most I think and engie can carry) are all it takes to take down a deployed AMS Sundy.

AT Mines explode when placed under an enemy vehicle, even if that vehicle doesn't move. They take about two seconds to arm, but are placed on the ground at the same speed as ammo packs (they share the animation).

I'm increasingly thinking of getting the mine guard, unless SOE change the mechanics for AT mines.

[President Weasel]

The update notes mention that the A30 Walker is getting a little bit of love - the round velocity in particular should make it more effective, and may actually make it worth putting on a tank.

[Everblue]

I actually have some station cash burning a hole in my pocket, and was wondering whether there's anything really good in for the Lightning to spend it on. All help gratefully received!

[EsotericReverie]

I have the Skyguard cannon for the Lightning. It has a really scary sound to it and fills the air with flak at a terrifying rate. Also, flak just got some love in the last patch. It is hard as hell to aim, though, especially on the move, since the Lightning has no gyro stabilization on the turret. The 50 round mag runs out real quick too.

The HE cannon is fun againts infantry, though the rather long reload time makes aiming and choosing what shots to take crucial.

[bonkers]

The HE just ripps through infantry, but as said you have to make your shots count.
I do not have the skyguard but even after patch people say it's not worth it. Dunno it's true but I doubt the patch changes fixed it.
The anti armor gun is nice, but not particulary strong. It's okay when you are facing tanks and cannot pull a magrinder but you are not a tank killing beast. More of a support tank that remains behind the battle tanks while those take the hits.
The other gun is more of a jack of all trades and /imho better then the standard gun, but also does not do anything particulary good.

[RIDEBIRD]

We seem to have a lot of sarons in the platoon. We could use a few more peeps with lightning HE (anti-infantry), and a couple of more skyguards. If so we could gather a real nasty armor platoon.

So, if you don't have a saron, consider getting HE or AA when the cash sale hits on the 21st.