Ops are quite useful all the time. I agree that they should be able to dehack an objective, but you're simply looking at objectives. Yes, the game is all about objectives, but when I do an objective for any class, I can't do it without teammates... If an operative is keeping an eye out while I am doing something, marking enemies, marking mines if I am about to plant a bomb, com hacking (which I am amazed so many of you ignored, perhaps no one pays any attention to the map that tells you where the enemy teams is... one of the most useful things you can ever know and probably the most important role of an operative), I feel much safer. When it comes to defense they don't play the largest role, that is a fair statement, but it's not an issue of class balance. Some games simply can't be won without operatives. Stacking 8 turrets on each other? EMP and op takes control of all 8 of them... Ops are easily one of the most useful classes on an attacking team provided you don't have a team with 8 of them lol. And when it comes to defense they still have caltrops (more useful than you would think), the ability to take control of allied turrets to allow them to focus on the objective (because sometimes they would rather shoot the guy in the corner than shoot the guy that's planting the bomb!!!!!!), and they can also tell you where the entire enemy team is (once again, most useful thing ever IMO, nothing makes me feel safer than knowing where bad guys with guns are). If they gave ops de-hacking I think it would be perfect, but as is, they are pretty amazing anyways...

Engineers don't really need nerfing either I don't think... Sure they can buff guns, but so what? It's not like you need 8 of them to do that. And sure they can plant mines and turrets, all the better for the op to take control of. The beauty of Brink is that everything has a counter. No one class can become invincible if you have a team that is smart enough to tactically approach every situation, diffuse it, and accomplish the objective. It's not an issue of class balance, it's an issue of human intellect.

agreed. i find too many people unwilling to change class. i will always go which class is needed most (usually the class needed for the objective). so many people seem unwilling to ever change.

i have also noticed a deterioration in teamwork and general intelligence the last few nights. some servers just seem to be full of useless noobs. i dont have an issue being a noob, but if you dont know what to do listen to the team and follow them. i seem to have to be a one man wrecking machine on some servers as i get no help. sec tower first objective now seems impossible as heavy if im the only one trying to plat where my team just stand in the spawn and snipe. have the COD crowd suddenly all joined?

You know... I'm getting to where I believe that perhaps a few have. Medics who refuse to revive, saving those pips for themselves. Engineers that refuse to damage buff their teammates, saving pips for themselves... I think if Brink does manage to acquire some sort of success with the upcoming DLC, I still worry that the community will once again dwindle not long after it's release, not because the game is poor or things need to be fixed, but simply because people don't understand how it works... Engineers are great for defense, and operatives (essentially) shut engineers down making them excellent for offense assuming you have one or two. Sneak around, take care of the turrets holding your team back as they distract the enemy, and you have a clear path to that crane control. Medics are nice to have all the time, because they can keep your team moving forward. Soldiers can keep the enemy team struggling to stay up and maintain constant weapons fire, keeping the enemy pinned down so your team can move up... Key words in EVERY sentence there. TEAM! I'm afraid that a lot of players simply don't see this all important idea, and that may lead to misunderstandings of how the game operates, and thus complaints about balance and what not. Such thoughts worry me . I love this game, and I want a crowded community so I can stop shooting at bots that think they can line up a better shot than me with my sniper rifle aimed at the center of their skull... It's just not the same . (sorry if I went a little off topic lol).

I know what you mean - though I am loathe to accept it.

I have moved onto levelling up 'pure' classes - I have come to realise how difficult that proposition is in pub' - where a bot or even a less experienced player may need to be replaced/supplanted to get the job done. Without any abilities in a class, when you are 'forced' to assume the role its like playing with one arm tied.

agreed, if you played in an 8man squad you can all chat about what is needed and setup your characters that way, on pubs there is no communication at all usually.

I have four "pure" classes leveled up to 20 (one of each class) and yes it can be annoying in pubs where people often run around doing whatever. Nothing like having to take a class you have 0 skills in just to win the game and push your team along.

I even said this same statement in the S.D. forums and everyone says "NO", "Your being sarcastic", or "Awe getting Toobed too much" well I hate to say I told you so but you guys saw this coming and playing in denial won't help you out, maybe next time we should all listen and look before we make false accusations & assumptions. BURN.

I don't see it. Engineers can be shut down with operatives and soldiers for that matter. Soldier grenade launched from an under barrel = buh bye turret cluster and whatever mines were in the kill radius. The E-Z nade should only be a problem if you're on a static line. They aren't impact explosions so if your offensive line moves forward, or moves at all, you negate the effectiveness of the E Z Nade. Also it's not very effective in open spaces. As a soldier I've wiped out an entire team, not full human, with my three grenades, including turret defenses when they used a clustered defense. That's not typical though. The only imbalance I see is the ridiculous ease at which you can level a medic. Other than that it all seems pretty balanced to me.

The grenades are indeed useful, but not in those common close range firefight in brink. The point is a soldier is weaker from a stats perspective than an engineer or medic if the soldier has not been buffed, and an engineer will rarely get to the whole team for buffing.

edics are amazing if you get all the Supply abilities for them and in general then get the supply comman post you can gain roughly 2,000 XP in a minute just healing and buffing SMARTly

You need to use nades (and every type frag/flash/molotov) and cook them or shoot them - grenade shooting - (except molotovs) - at every oppportunity. The soldiers job is like that of a mmo tank, draw aggro.