Heavy Guide

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Hello fellow mercs. For those of you who haven't squadded with me, I'm Death Scyhe. I have been playing about a month now, and joined the Uni on my first day. I became a Heavy suited Heavy Machine gunner (HMG) merc about 2 - 3 weeks ago and wanted to impart my experiences and wisdom to those who are looking to be Heavies or are Heavies. I also hope others that play the suit share their knowledge with me here in a more dedicated format. To the best of my knowledge (meaning I can be very wrong) I am one of maybe 2 or 3 full time (98% +) Heavies. Now the following information should not be taken as FACT. This is just what I have personally experienced. Your mileage may vary. This post is a work in progress and will be updated often as my experiences and knowledge improve. If you have any suggestions, comments, or critiques, feel free to post or send an in game mail to Death Scyhe Duni.

What you can't do

1. God-mode. Versus every other class in the game, you can be taken out just as easily as taking them out.

2. Fast. We are the slowest base speed suit. We also have the slowest turn rate in the game.

3. Cheap. As you go up in suit tiers, ours is way more expensive. A protosuit setup can easily topple 250k

4. Long Range. The further you get from a Heavy, the safer you are.

What you can do

1. Survive. Heavies have the most base HP (Shield + Armor) but remember the God-mode statement.

2. High Damage. A Heavy in short range against other suits can easily shred them.

3. Very beneficial to teams. If you notice, a lot of more serious corps are fielding many variations of Heavies as a basic trooper.

4. Psychologically disruptive. A Heavy makes just about anyone pause for a brief second giving you the chance for damage.

5. Desired. A Heavy is becoming more and more common in squads putting you in demand.

Becoming a Heavy.

You can start as a heavy if you take the Sentinel role. I personally don’t know what this entails. I took the longer way of becoming a Heavy by being an assault first. Becoming a Heavy takes only a few skills. It also does take certain personality traits.

The skill lists to get into an actual heavy suit are as follows. Dropsuit Command 3 Amarr Heavy Dropsuit 1

For personality traits, in my opinion, it takes bravery with a decent touch of “stupidity", and the ability to be a martyr. I say bravery/stupidity because sometimes as a heavy, I do things others won’t. I will often in 1v1 just walk across a grenade. I will run into rooms of 2+ opponents and just start shooting. I will take a sniper round for teammates.

Heavy Weaponry

The list as followed are the most common weapons I've used and ran across others using, along with the skills needed to use, and personal opinions.

Heavy Machine Gun Weaponry 4 Heavy Machine Gun 1 This is my weapon of choice. It is great for Close Quarters Combat (CQC). You can harass well with it. It can rip through smaller suits with ease. The downside is that it isn’t very accurate, has only short to mid range, and takes a base of 8 seconds to reload.

Forge Gun Weaponry 5 Forge Gun 1 I only use forge guns for vehicles and to destroy assets (Clone Vats, Rail/Blaster Turrets, and Supply Depot). I have had them used against me and they are devastating. The downside is that it takes a while to charge before firing.

Assault Rifle Weaponry 1 Assault Rifle 1 Main gun for a lot of setups. A middle of the road weapon. In the right hands however they can stand toe to toe with a Heavy at higher tiers. Most common I've had problems with is the Gek.

Swarm Launcher Weaponry 3 Swarm Launcher 1 Another situational weapon for destroying vehicles

Mass Driver Weaponry 2 Mass Driver 1 Never personally used. They are very damaging to Heavies though.

Laser Rifle Weaponry 3 Laser Rifle 1 Another weapon I haven't used. They are good mid range and can melt a heavy in seconds if you remain still.

Support skills.

The following are support skills that will improve your role as a heavy. They will improve your offensive and defensive capabilities.

General Skills

Amarr Heavy Dropsuit (8x) This skill will allow you to operate higher tiers of suits at level 3 and 5. Used to get shiner suits

"Your" Weapon Your specific weapon skill will give you a special bonus to the weapon as well as unlocking higher tier weapons.

Field Mechanics (1X) Increases your Dropsuit and vehicle maximum armor by 5% per level to a 25% cap. This applies to the suit base armor without mods.

Weaponry (1X) Increases your handheld weapon damage by 2% per level to a max of 10% This applies to the base damage of the weapon.

Endurance (3X) 5% stamina per level.

Mobility (3x) 5% max stamina and stamina per level.

Combat Engineering (1x) +5% Dropsuit and vehicle powergrid per level.

Shield Boost Systems (2x) Prerequisite: Combat Engineering 2 3% to Dropsuit and vehicle shield recharge rate per level.

Shield control Prerequisite: Combat Engineering 2, Shield boost Systems 4 +5% to Dropsuit and vehicle maximum shield.

Weapon Skills

The following skills are weapon based and are named for each weapon. For simplicity, I will call them all Weapon skills whether they are Light, Sidearm, or Heavy. They all require Weaponry 3 as a base skill.

Weapon Capacity (3x) 5% max ammo per level.

Weapon Capacity Proficiency (6x) Prerequisite: Weapon Capacity 5 3% max ammo per level.

Weapon Rapid Reload (3X) 3% weapon reload speed.

Weapon Rapid Reload Proficiency (6X) Prerequisite: Weapon Rapid Reload 5 2% weapon reload speed.

Weapon Sharpshooter (3X) 5% maximum range per level.

Weapon Sharpshooter Proficiency (6X) Prerequisite: Weapon Sharpshooter 5 3% maximum range per level.

Weapon Upgrade (3X) -5% weapon cpu usage per level.

Weapon Upgrade Proficiency (6X) Prerequisite: Weapon Upgrade 5 -3% weapon cpu per level “Your” weapon operation and proficiency. These vary by weapon but all expand on the main advantages of the weapon.

Skill Progression

People wonder what’s the best way to skill up is. There are two main roads of thought that I know of. The first is to upgrade your suit and weapon skill to get to the tier 5 gear as fast as possible. The second is to stop at a lower tier and then level support skills. Any way works as long as you get the results you want and works with your play style. I am personally going to stay at lower tier and get support skills as they will slowly work me up better and gives me time to work on my basic tactics and player skills (twitch skills).

Fittings

As I research fittings a little more I will fill in this post better. If you have a favorite fit or module for a Heavy feel free and I may add it. (With credit of course).

Tactics:

First I will go into Heavy vs. other types of suits/load outs. Then I will talk about ambushes, skirmishes, and Corp battles. If you agree/disagree/have another opinion, feel free to comment or mail me.

General Tactics

The closer you can be to the opponent and still keep up with them moving the better. Your range is very short. The only other ones shorter will be shotguns, smg, and nova knife users. Knowing how much ammo and heat you have left can save your life. If you have time always reload between encounters.

Vs

Sniper: If you can find him and get him in range, most snipers use light armor and should be an easy kill. Some snipers do speed tank (Evade damage by moving fast). Be sure to aim where the sniper is going to be, not where he is.

Logistics: Another easy kill if they are solo. Some logibros don’t focus much on weapons making their attacks on you easy to take. I have seen a few that do take things like assault rifles. Handle those like you would others of the same weapon type.

Assault: A good assault player will keep you at the point that your range ends and his still is in play. Higher tier rifles can start eating away at you fairly quickly. Attack from the side or back when possible. Shotgunners are very dangerous close up, possibly more so than you are. Avoid extremely CQC when possible.

Heavy: Heavy vs Heavy often comes down to the loadout and situations. If you can lay in wait or otherwise ambush a Heavy, you will come out the majority of the time. Another factor is gear. If you see another heavy killing with a better weapon than you have, try to avoid a direct toe to toe fight. If Heavy has a Logibro, be extremely cautious. Try to take out the Logibro first.

Matches

Ambush: Watch your immediate spawn area. I always do a 360 to make sure no one is behind me. If solo, try to find a group of blues to run with. If you are in a squad, try to meet up with them and follow the leader’s instructions. The object of this match is to take out the clone reserves of the opponent as much as possible.

Skirmish: This is a capture/hold objective game. You can win by depleting clone reserves, but will often be won via MCC destruction. If you are solo, try to stay with the squad. Try to be the first in to damage and take damage to allow your team to flank and survive. If defending a position, use your high rate of fire to disrupt attackers. Try to take out weaker suits first if possible. Otherwise hit the biggest one of them as hard as you can.

Corp Battle: Corp battles are the same as skirmishes. The only difference is that all of your allies should be corpmates. D-Uni has a sticky about various policies on how squads should function. The most difference though is that you should be on voice with your team. This way intel and orders can be given verbally. You should follow the same tactics as a skirmish. The exception is when you are ordered to do something different. If you feel you are not being used to the best of your ability. Make suggestions toward your squad leader in a constructive tone. “Would you like me to be the first in to take damage and allow you to flank?” “Should I target the Heavy or the Logi first?”

Final Thoughts:

Playing a Heavy can be fun and rewarding. You get to give decent damage while soaking a lot up. A lot of Heavies enjoy a good Kill/Death Ratio (KDR). I went from a .40 on my first day as a Heavy to a 1.1 after 2 weeks (at time of posting). However, do not let this number dictate your success as a Heavy. Talk to your fellow players for advice and input. I hope you take away some good info and advice on whether you want to play a Heavy or just to understand them better. If you have any comments/questions/advice/critiques, feel free to post or send an in-game mail to Death Scyhe Duni. Smash lots of faces into desks and enjoy your time on Dust 514.

Thank You's

First to CCP for making the game. D-Uni for giving me a home on Dust. Supremeeve Vexus and The Beard: For being my ingame bros and teaching me to smash people's faces into desks.