Now, I hate to be the guy who says “X needs to be nerfed/buffed”, but for a level 7 REQ, it’s pathetic. The wraith can splatter the vehicle. The machine gun bloom is too much, and the rockets are pretty weak and boarding from all sides is mind boggling bad for a game where player mobility is so high. Now, as for things that should change, I would start with the obvious. Vehicle boarding should, at minimum, should be frontal, and ideally, should only be able to be done if the player is from a high elevation, as in, coming from an angle above the vehicle, not, at its legs.
A lot of people seem to use the excuse that, like the phaeton, is not a frontal assault vehicle, but a pot shot, stealth esque vehicle. It’s not either. It’s gun is far to weak and/or inaccurate to pot shot, unlike the scorpion, which is far more capable against a close range attacker than the mantis, as well as long range targets. The stomp is pretty weak for what it should do, and as I say, i’d rather have a wraith, or even a scorpion, up close, seeing as there is only two spots to board from, not the entire vehicle.
As someone who played Halo 4, I knew how powerful a vehicle it was, especially with having a shield, but honestly, it was a little OP. These changes, however, have made it something which I would easily make a level five/six REQ, not seven. Each of the MBT has advantages. The scorpion has a great gun, but the wraith has great defense against attacking infantry (It’s easily the best splatter vehicle) plus mobility, but the mantis has nothing against them. The scorpions gun is better against infantry than the machine gun, as well as being better against vehicles than the rockets. So, what is the purpose of the mantis? Even if you disagree with defense capabilities, the mantis only has better defense against infantry (ONLY compared to the scorpion), but poorer armaments compared to the other two, so does that make it a level seven REQ?