First off this is an ability discussion: The current abilities need tweaked obviously. But there's a few ways to do this so the people who like the current abilities aren't pissed off. Aka make other abilities.
These are my ideas for new abilities, that each have an up and downside. Which is what abilities are supposed to have. The old abilities will still be there. This provides another cert dump, which is heavily needed atm.
TR ability, Rapid Fire: For 6 seconds your attack speed is increased by 25-30%. Downside: Your movement speed is slowed by 50% during the 6 seconds. 35 second cooldown, 50 second cooldown at rank 1 NC ability, Shield Wall: For 6 seconds you will take 50% less damage. (Can still run while this is active). Downside: You cannot shoot while this is active. (This will help with low mag size/long reloads etc). 35 second cooldown at max rank, 50 seconds at rank 1. VS ability, (insert name here): Increase your movement speed by 50% for 6 seconds, you will not be slowed by firing. (obvi) Downside: During the 6 seconds of use and 10 seconds after (insert name here), your reload time is increased by 200%. (Which on average is less than 1.5 seconds longer than a normal NC max reload. My logic on the VS one is that you'll blast around for 6 seconds (which is about how long it takes to empty a clip), which is a lot longer than people think. You'll be able to get behind a corner and then reload. This ability would also mean there should be a complete rework of ZOE, which I think the VS would happily agree to.
Maybe a visual effect for each as well. NC will turn a gray rock color, TR will glow red, and hell, you could use the ZOE look for this since you have to rework ZOE.
Personal thoughts on why I made these abilities. NC: The down time for reloads/getting in close enough to be effective for an NC max is everything, this reduces it. And I think the "no fire" penalty is good enough. I don't want the ability to be a god mode where you can slaughter everyone while taking less damage. TR: TR players hate that lockdown makes you completely immobile. While this certain slows you, at least you aren't completely still so you can still dodge rockets. And the increase to attack speed should help against NC max upclose. (I'm an NC main, and I know it's completely bullshit how fast NC max can rip other max up close) VS: Trying to keep the "avoidance" trait for the VS. I think people will initially think this isn't as good as the other 2 max. I disagree, with the hour glass body of the VS max. Coupled with the movement speed increase, the ability to strafe dodge rockets will be very very easy. And the reload speed is pretty negligible if you're behind cover.