Whats going on:
Currently Explosive packs are the be-all-end-all of abusive.
There is no reason to use engineers or bombers as their proper roles anymore, they are replaced by SMG squads with explosive packs, which in some campaigns can just be thrown onto a tank and make it instantly explode, or as currently with Berlin, simply throw it near the tracks.
They are spammed at infantry any chance they get and are 3 times more lethal against them aswell, despite no fragmentation.
What has been done so far:
Fixes have been applied lately, before them you could just throw an explosive pack onto the front armor of a Panther and it would kill the tank, now you have to actually get it somewhere wedged into like the tracks to blow them up, or simply thrown near the track, which isn’t realistic either.
But it shouldn’t end here, while they are still extremely overpowered vs tanks in Moscow for example, they are heavily abused in an anti-infantry role, making regular grenades obsolete.
What could be done:
My suggestion is that Explosive Packs should be delegated to Engineers only, since their real life use was in demolition, not anti-tank (or anti-infantry for that matter). The role of engineers is to halt tank advances via emplacements, tank traps and mines. Nobody does that unfortunately, despite how effective AT emplacements are versus tanks (PAK-40s will effectively oneshot T-34s, US anti-tank cannons can frontally penetrate any german tank, and russian 20-K anti-tank cannons easily deal with german tanks, too, yet are used all-too rarely) they are only used a fraction of the times in anti-tank engagements compared to explosive packs.
I believe it would increase teamplay for people to actually use engineer classes for example to put down emplacements and ammo for their teammates (as it gives score through that aswell)
Damage for anti-tank weaponry and upgraded anti-tank guns could also be an option.
Aswell as adding dedicated anti-tank grenades and techniques to no longer have to rely on detpacks for everything, as it doesn’t make much sense.
Etc:
Explosivepacks have absolutely no downsides:
- Insane availability (all classes, increased carrycapacity with bags)
- Cheap
- Destroys ANYTHING (I’ve got planekills with em, kek)
- is buffed through perks that let you cook it and hit a tank at (rangebuff) 50 meters and have it explode directly on impact (especially nasty in Moscow with tank that have little armor)
- Is often abused as a roomclearing weapon even though we have grenades for that, which are obsolete
Bombers have sufficiently powerful weapons in their respective campaigns that they don’t require explosive packs, although they could be given an alternative in the form of anti-tank grenades, making their role more efficient at closer ranges too.
Right now nobody really uses these two classes, opting instead for the bane-of-all-tanks explosive packs, which make High Explosive rounds from tanks absolutely pale in comparison, even though they don’t have fragmentation.
Tanks are turned into a barrel of laughs, not the strong offensive and defensive powerhouses they are.
Explosivepacks right now are the all-ender of tanks, and they shouldn’t be, as we have effective countermeasures already.
These explosive packs can be carried once by EVERY soldier, 3x with a grenadepack.
They can be cooked by a skillful player to explode instantly on any tank completely destroying it.
I can throw them at 30 meters at a T-28 and it’ll be wiped off the face of the earth.
Many people use them incorrectly and complain about how they don’t work, but I’ve mastered their use since pre-alpha, and harnessed them extremely effectively in Closed Beta Testing. And my belief is that they are insanely overpowered and abused against infantry aswell.
Cheers.