Top 5 Overrated Stratagems in Helldivers 2
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0:00 like vid for more vids
0:16 Rail-Cannon Strike
2:25 Orbital Laser
3:00 Ballistic Shield
3:58 Quasar Cannon
5:06 Grenade Launcher
5:50 Spear
6:43 Gas Strike
7:58 Cereal w/ Protein shake as the milk
0:14 "I won't be ranking these from 1-5, that's disingenuous. Number 1 rail Cannon" great start so far
lmao i read your comment the same time as he said this line in video
Just use the the precision strike 100 second cool-down and does like double the damage with more blast range
@@Bobthebuilder-fv3xcIt's not double the damage lmao what
@@arvy7765a direct hit kills a bile titan unlike the rail cannon that's a coin flip.
I always wanted the gas strike to be corrosive to the robots and drop their armor rating just a tad.
It is.... just not the Bigger Ones.
That would be a good buff.
I understand the ballistic shield being cosmetic against explosions, but doing nothing for melee is crazy. I would like to get the rational from the devs for this decision.
It's in the name. BALLISTIC shield. In all seriousness, I don't understand that choice either lol
Explosions will deal impact force and the heaviest armor penetration. So in order for the ballistic shield to resist most explosions, it will need to have even higher armor than Tanks, and Hulk Heavy Devestators. Since that will fundamentally mean this item would be meta compared to ALL other armors, devs are definitely hesitant to give such "Captain American Vibranium" capability to the shield. Then again, when you look at the shield generator, it basically blocks all explosions and impact force. I am not sure why Arrowhead decided to give generators quite a "meta" shielding effect, but not towards the *ballistic* shield. Maybe because generated shield can break easily or it is timed based.
I think that melees should be treated similarly to explosions, and have different explosion strengths(say devastator quad rockets versus cannon turrets) and when the shield takes impacts, too many or too strong of an impact will send you ragdolling. You could reasonably tank a rocket or two from a devastor or rocket infantry, but not from cannons or tanks, and wearing heavy armor or fortified armor will increase the number of smaller impacts you can take before ragdolling
Yeah always found it strange that a shield doesn't work against the primary things all shields in history were made for
@@GooiYingChyi the personal shield gen rubs out of energy quickly and can't block shots for long. The ballistic shield SHINES in co-op game play as you have others take out anything with rockets while you mow down chaff like nothing. You're basically moving cover and it's so welcome against bots. He isn't a team player, he's a solo player who does things on his own. Seriously, never once do I see him with the team unless he's forced too.
I wouldnt be mad if Arrowhead made us collect samples for weapon improvements
I personally think they should consider alternative unlocks. This way they could add way more for us to invest samples in without power creeping into infinity.
What about a mixture of recusition and medals?
@luistijerina1164 that could work too
That is how it worked in HD1
@@luistijerina1164 We already need *_way too many_* medals just for basic equipment; I'd much rather collect samples instead.
It would be cool if rail cannon (and 110 rocket pods) were configurable, and you could go into ship management and tell it what it should prioritize. If you want it to delete chargers even if a titan is nearby, you should be able to do that. You should be able to make it prefer turrets to tanks to hulks, or the other way around if you like.
I ain't waiting like 4 minutes per charger shot.
The airburst launcher clearly detonates next to other helldivers due to the air molecules stored in their lungs. Luckily, the ingenious design of the airburst launcher removes this air from their lungs after it's detected by the proximity trigger. A truly cutting edge piece of weaponry.
only single purpose i see for Railcannon currently is: Ohsh*t button when there's one heavy you need to kill here right now it autotargets, very quick, "almost never misses", rarely friendly fires, can be thrown on yourself safely and is unaffected by scatter and call in time modifiers. it won't work as your primary Anti Armor option, but in a pinch/situation gone wrong it can be lifesaver if you have free 3 slot from using support weapon with a backpack. 210s CD is definitely overkill given it's a side-grade to the Precision Strike with has 100s CD...
It having a longer cooldown is what makes it a side grade to the precision strike. If it has a more comparable cooldown then it'd be a massive upgrade over the precision strike due to its lock on.
@@clintmcbride7830 yes but not worth 2.1x the cooldown, also Precision strike has other strengths over Railcannon like being able to be used against objective buildings like Detector towers, smack group of Targets due to having AoE and higher damage (able to kill Bile Titan in one well placed shot and severely damage fab strider)
@@arczer2519 that's fair. I personally use the 500kg for all of those things so I haven't had much experience with the precision strike in a while. Maybe a shorter cooldown for the RC Strike wouldn't be a bad idea
I want the Orbital EMS to actually lock down bile titans. Yeah, it was stupid that stun grenades could and I'm glad they made changes to that. But a large EMS drop from Orbit should stun a bile titan. Orbital Gas needs to not only do damage but either a debuff (reduces armor by one stage) or a slow/confusion so they stay inside the cloud longer.
Orbital gas, I think slows slightly. Though I like to use the gas with EMS as you can suppress enemies to stay in the gas.
100% agree. It’s crazy that it doesn’t seeing as it takes up an entire stratagem slot.
I think the gas should shred armor. I mean the implication is that it is corrosive gas, so it should shred bug/bot armor exposing weakspots - making them easier to take down with less penetrative weapons.
100% agreed. EMS Mortar and Grenades shouldn't be able to do it. But Orbital EMS? The thing should stun-lock everything, including fabricators. Heck: IMHO it should fry circuits of all small Bots (e.g. troopers).
If the gas did damage AND blocked line of sight like smoke, it'd be amazing. Or if it did damage ignoring armour (because honestly, why would armour affect gas anyway?)
I was thinking that the Rail cannon should be a one shot for titans, it only hits ONE target, meaning if it were to be buffed it's damage potential would stay generally the same. I think the 110 rocket pods are in the same boat, but if it hit the two biggest things in a larger area, that would make it much better, especially since were getting air-to-air missiles that do the pretty much the same thing.
If rockets got the +1 bomb for strikes that drop multiple bombs (they do fire multiple rockets, after all?) They'd benefit a lot, but that upgrade doesn't apply to them.
@DancerVeiled rockets arent bombs. But its a dumb distinction to make, for gameplay purposes the rocket pods should benefit from the +1 upgrade
The nice part about the rocket pods is they break armor but I’ve had difficulty with its targeting. I think it requires you to be more precise with your throws. Either that or, it’s bugged.
The thing with Railcannon is, it always chooses the center of the big enemy, and in the case of Bile Titans, their backs. The raw damage could easily one-shot if targeted on their heads instead. Hence Orb Precision Strike is still much better at handling Titans (you can control where it lands). 110mm Rocket Pods will miss more than 50% of the time, unless you are targeting a stationary enemy, and beacon had to land within inches of the enemy. You'd be much better off using a KG or Precision Strike in this case. (Yes, with the current damage, give it ability to target 3 or more enemies, then I might consider using it)
@@DancerVeiledyeah that is quite stupid of a ship module, or devs are just too lazy to +1 on the 110mm pods bomb count.
"Hulks are bigger than you'd think!" - SES' Railcannon operator. Really, although impressive on the ease of use, the Railcannon strike CAN still target much smaller enemies despite having a much bigger one right next to it. I threw a Railcannon at a Bile Titan once, it goes and target the Brood Mother just because its the closest "big" target. I had a few days where the Railcannon just does no targeting at all, just because I threw it a few feet away from the large enemy. (I think they fixed this). I decided to just run with the good old Orbital Precision Strike. Surprise, surprise, I can one-shot bile titans if I'm lucky, or skillful enough. Otherwise love the Railcannon, just wished the cooldown is faster.
4:17 not just corners but through time and space as well.
Spear is one of my favorite stratagems. Sometimes it works 100% of the time. It's great fun.
It usually isn’t great, bit it is a lot of fun to use.
Here is hoping that the patch coming this week makes it so much more worth, but if it only improves the speed of lock-on and not the sometimes poor shot placement it has we'll still be a bit down bad
I hope Arrowhead would fix the lock on for the spear.
same tbh, that finicky locked in is fun to use for me at least because when your spear actually locked in, that dopamine rush really hit you hard knowing that airbase, canon turret, or tank would be destroyed 😂. I just wish they buffed the damage so we could kill the hulk or bile titan with only one ammo.
It’s top tier in groups that can’t handle Titan and chargers group Since everyone just spends all their gems on the same stuff Time to clear mobs is horrible if you don’t have anything to clear on your diver outside of gems cause it needs you when destroyer leaves
I think you can work around the lack of Med pen on the Ballistic shield. Laser Cannon can be a good pick as a support slot since it can handle most things you're weak at on Automatons.
I ALWAYS take the Laser Cannon with the Ballistic Shield. It’s primary mission is to kill any Rocket Devastators in sight LOL. Take cover, pop out and laser their rocket pods from distance then shield up and advance through the mini guns of death while trying to hit their tiny little heads with the Defender (God I wish they would behave released the laser SMG along with the Sickle and Dagger makes ZERO sense why they didn’t)
I run the spear. What I use it for: killing Fabricators, AT-ATs & Gunships. It is gr8 when it works, especially if stratagems are being jammed and you need to kill something big. Sometimes It decides to target the tower cannon, the tank and the hulk.. sometimes It just does not want to. You can use elevation and crawling on your belly to get it to aim better, sometimes it does work. Needs that fix from the devs. As a spear user you just pray to the RNG gods and sacrifice your kin at dawn be4 playing :). EDIT: vs bugs its not good, but bugs are easy and boring anyway.
*IF* it works and that's the issue.
Spear is very much like irl Javelin. It needs clear line of sight to work (Javelin needs IR), so any amount of visual obstructions are contributing to jamming the lock on. Additionally, spear has very precise locking mechanism. For example it sees towers as something killable only when they are facing you, but boy oh boy if they do, then you can blast them off from half the map (it's a visual pattern recognition system)
This is how I got Gone in 360 seconds. It's great at killing fabricators at range and even better at half locking onto a Hulk 20 times before the thing walks up and kills you.
@@spooderman3425 Haha, I keep making that mistake. Trying to lock onto a flamer hulk as it makes a mad dash towards me. By the time the rocket goes off it is too close and goes above it's head. RIP
@@Kijekin477 It really isn't a visual pattern recognition. As long as you've got clear LOS to the centre of a target you can get a lock on. I've locked on a fabricator through the MG nests and fired over the top to kill them while 80% of the target is obscured. As long as you've got clear LoS to the centre you can lock on with the Spear and make the killshot. The two actual problems is 1:that anything blocking the line of sight to the centre (for example a hulk's arms, a tank's barrel or the tower base of a turret) will block that line of sight stopping the lockon. 2: The targeting recticle is off, like so many other weapons. The actual spot that you need put on the centre of mass is the lower part of the targeting recticle.
The orbital rail cannon definitely needs either a cooldown buff or it would be cool if it could target 3 targets, or do 3 shots like an airburst
Lol he just said it in the video
Less cooldown would be the right buff
2 uses alike an eagle could to it too.
I hate it when it can’t Pierce through environments and ends up saving a charger; it just isn’t a rail gun if it can’t clip through environments
Honestly, I'd love to see some radical change like 5 second cooldown but 8 max uses or something. I think it's in a weird place with how it compares with the capabilities of support weapons (especially EAT) and needs a big shakeup.
I like quasar because you never need to reload it. The 3 second charge time isn't ideal, but it's better than sitting yourself down for a recoilless reload during a protracted battle, or if you're doing a fighting retreat. Sure, you never want to be caught in those situations, but they're going to happen regardless because no one plays a perfect game 100% of the time. You can also open any engagement with it because you don't need to worry about reloading it in case a tank or hulk gets dropship'd in. Not to mention the backpack slot gets opened up, so a shield generator can mitigate the charge up time, while a jump pack can just fly somewhere. You can even be a team player and wear a spare ammo backpack for a teammate if you don't feel like being a team player with a supply pack. It's just a good supplementary weapon for teams you have any amount of coordination with, whether you want to fill a more flexible role or you just wanna turn your brain off while still being effective. Also, there's no reason to shoot down dropships because half the time it just turns into invincible cover for the bots being dropped in.
Your medication ad analogy was wild but I respect you using the traditional Italian pronunciation of Buscemi
The spear could be laser guided by your teammates like the laser guided bombs or missiles in real life. Eg a teammate finds a target, marks it for you and boom. You hit exactly what you need
No one would do that.
@@Tetragramix Exactly this. It's already a struggle to have someone run a backpack to speed reload, I don't see anyone giving up shooting to be the laser pointer.
@@leadpaintchips9461 ppl are already marking targets. I think this could work as guidance for spear shooters
@@miszcz For tagging, it's one button press as you're sweeping the rest of the field. For a laser pointer, you'd need to keep it on target until your teammate decides to fire. If they changed it so that tagging (and confirming) a target is the only thing that is needed that would be fun, but I don't see them actually doing that. Despite how sci-fi the game is, there's a _lot_ that's grounded in modern tech and conventions. So I'm fully expecting it to require someone to keep it lit up until the spear impacts if they decide to change it.
Rail cannon classifies tower as structure and not enemy, so if there is any enemy near to its throw in spot. It'll target the mobile enemy first
the amount of times im running away from a swarm and the lazer goes after the 1 little bug behind me and toasts me as well lmao
Laser just sucks, I don't know why people take it. If you're going to pick some meme stratagem might as well go exosuit because at least it's bad ass.
@@magicjerk2641 oh dont tell me that!!!! we tell our 1 friend who takes it all the fucking time LOL
6:18 great ending
"Use what u wanna use" - but don't use useless scheise pls
Shut up.
helldivers HATE being told they're wrong about weapon/planet choices, if dough didn't put the disclaimer he would get torn apart even though he's right
And what do you use?
Fuck you youre not my dad
@@ShapeshifterOS Idk how you read "scheise" as "shield", but either way, that's essentially German for "sh*t". He isn't talking about the shield pack.
The problem with the rail cannon strike is that we have far better options, especially against bots. Orbital lasers, 500kg Bomb, Eagle Airstrike are permanent go-tos. Rail cannon comes back every 3 minutes and only kills 1 enemy. That's not enough uptime for bot drops, patrols and stationary enemies. The only way I see running rail cannon being decently viable is if It's a mission that allows you to carry 4 stratagems. And It's only decently viable If you aren't using extra slots like rovers or shield generators. Your uptime and loadout would be so bad.. that's why I agree It's definitely a top 5 overrated stratagem. Strong, but not great for uptime.
I’ve had chargers eat the rail cannon and bleed out. Sure they die but it should just obliterate whatever it targets with that long a cooldown.
@@derkaiser9881 Including Bile titans, all It mainly does is break armor which is sad for a 3m cooldown
My main problem with it is that the Precision Orbital Strike does the same job on less than half the cooldown while also having various utility uses and even clearing small groups of mediums in a pinch, and the only downside is that you need to time the impact yourself (which is not that hard against the kinds of big, slow targets you would use the Railcannon for in the first place).
500kg is overrated as fuck. But the rest yeah theyre good
@@TheCosmicAstro- Explain how It's overrated? It destroys Detector towers, Research Stations, and Mortar Emplacements. It can destroy Shriekers nest If you don't feel like taking forever doing other methods. It can destroy Small/Medium Fabricators and Bug hole layouts, It can kill a bile titan very easily If you shoot the bile titan once in the head with a Quasar, making bile titans die in record speed. Overall, It skips objectives and It's good for blitzing full clears. It is far from overrated, It gets things done and has utility other stratagems don't have. I've also used numerous of times to kill Hulks and sometimes It can kill a factory strider If well placed. It's AOE sucks for killing fodder, but that's not an eliminating factor considering how much other things It does.
the orbital laser issue comes from people not understanding its true purpose: base/horde clearing. the laser is not meant to be used on large enemies, thats terrible economy for it. instead it should be used for bases with bot drops called. its crazy good at mowing down devastators and anything below that level. once it runs into a tank or hulk (titans and chargers for bugs) you should kill that damage sponge or expect the laser to be over. railcannon strike is great for anything other than bile titans since that is the only enemy it doesnt instantly kill. i use it for chargers, hulks, tanks, and once i used it to kill a factory lol. the appeal for this one is its reliability. decent cooldown and one shots anything you run into except titans, i use it for bot missions alot
Best laser I've ever seen was when 3 Dropships all flew into it and died immediately taking their bots with them.
Dough just wanted to say, you make my day just a little better when you upload. Also Ballistic Shield video anytime soon?
I'm waiting for a one handed support weapon or primary with medium armor pen
Yes, watching your uploads made me feel that I'm not playing the game everyday in isolation. (Even if I have 3 friends who technically own the game, but only spent like 10 hours in total so far). I tend to also try out your tips and see if they are actually useful for me. For example, hitting the AT-FS eye has been fun to kill. I also did not know you can head shot hulks. It levels the playing field for bots vs. if I did not watch, I would have only played bug missions.
@@OhDough Thanks for the reply big man.
I dont understand the ballistic shield slander, just bring a laser cannon or amr or something with range to take out high value targets, then move in with the shield and safely clear the fodder, or use stratagems for the big guys. Also the revolver is a much better option than the grenade pistol since you can oneshot devs to the head with it. grenade pistol doesn't support the sustain playstyle the shield promotes nearly as well.
The shield is a lot of fun to use.
Yah the ballistic is great. Just bring the QC for heavy shit and boom done. And on bots you don’t need medium AP as you can just head shot all devastators and only rocket devastators can do shit to you anyways. The defender SMG makes extremely short work of bots and is considered to be really good. I don’t get this guys view point of it being bad as the only time it sucks is bugs and yah no duh. The flamethrower sucks on bots.
What difficulty are you playing where there are so few heavy targets that you can feasibly clear them out before moving in?
Yeah good luck taking out all the devastators and hulks with a single mag before moving in with a shield. Half of you guys don't helldive or even play on level 7 difficulty and it shows.
@@N00BSYBORG I play almost exclusively on 7+. You’re just bad and don’t know how to use the shield.
Man, wasn’t expecting Quasar on this list ESPECIALLY for Automotons. One shotting Hulks, Shooting off once against Tanks/Turrets then finishing off with an Eruptor. Having the option to shoot fabricators, and shooting drop ships RIGHT BEFORE they turn red effectively stopping an entire drop, or shooting down gun ships. Man I keep trying to finish the sentence then thinking of more uses, it’s so versatile. Just don’t use it against devastators? Leave that to the scorch or eruptor. Thought of two more things, LEAVES THE BACKPACK SLOT OPEN, NO AMMO CONSUMPTION, AND NO BULLET DROP OFF. EDIT AGAIN, YOU CAN ONE SHOT MORTORS, AND EAGLE GATTLERS, AND TWO SHOT STRIDERS
Autocannon does it all against bots and practically has unlimited ammo as well. Shooting down bot drops isn't that beneficial it almost never kills them.
SHHHHHHHH the quasar cannon is just an eat 17 or a recoilless with infinite ammo, we gotta pretend its not always the best choice for heavy armor or it will get nerfed SHHHHHHHHHHH ahaha yeah the quasar cannon, thing sucks for bots am I right guys?! ;)
@@KnightKingBranthe quasar cannon does have downsides though, after shooting once there's a cooldown before the next shot and even to land that first shot you need to charge it up which can be detrimental if you're being chased or can't stand in one spot while charging it up or you need to shoot something instantly. It's still the best imo but it has its cons to
@@Nazwabezcyfer Can it kill mortars and anti-air from the sides/front? Just curious because I've never tried and heard mixed things on it.
yes
Lol, I recently discovered your channel from Helldivers 2 content and am really enjoying your straightalking no-nonsense ways.
I love rail cannon strike but i only use it for bugs im shit at handling chargers and it lets me kill bile titans with any primary by shooting the chunk that gets blasted off... it aiming at the helathy one is great that way you can use almost any weapon to finish it off.
Hey thanks for the protein shake review ,might try it with lucky charms with oatmeal.
Well Quasar cannon makes automaton fun for me, cuz I love the shield backpack and Quasar is a great heavy killing weapon without the need for backpack, and yea I don't like having to call in EAT every time. At the end of the day, use whatever you want lol
The thing with the protein and cereals is genius. I've been doing it for months. Also, I personally love the grenade launcher because it helps me level up faster and compensates a bit for lack of friends
I think the grenade launcher is a good weapon but only for bugs. It's anti bile spewers mostly.
Love your vids mate! I also want more single handed weapons for the ballistic shield and maybe two charges for the orbital railcannon strike
My main issue with the rail cannon is the cooldown. It only takes out one big guy at once and takes so long that by the time you have it again, depending on the difficulty, you will have like 3 chargers or hulks to deal with and it’ll only take out one
pro tip: of you use a railcannon strike on a fresh bile titan and have a auto cannon, you can finish it off with an auto cannon by popping its underbelly and tail belly.
You just raised the bar for every other youtuber by making a top 5 with 7 items, no one can ever top this off 😂 This will be the new norm
what are you favorite support weapons to use against bots and bugs respectively @OhDough
The thing about the GL is that it can kill an entire group of medium enemies with the same amount of shots that it takes to kill one. That's how to get the most out of the limited ammo. It's an amazing weapon for ambushing patrols because you can kill a lot of light and medium enemies very quickly, not giving them a chance to retaliate or call in reinforcements. It's also great for thinning out extraction waves. It's weakness is obviously heavy enemies. If I'm playing solo I usually run it with the EAT or even the QC, which I'll call in at a good vantage point before assaulting a group of enemies so I have a good place to fall back to if I get chased by a heavy. While I agree that it would be great if there were more one-handed weapons, the BS is incredibly fun to use against bots. It allows you to be super aggressive when assaulting outpost. It feels great walking right up to a devastator and shooting them in the face. It's also great when you're retreating because you can put it on your back. The Defender is actually kinda nuts when you realize how strong, accurate, ammo efficient, and quick to reload it is. It pairs so well with the BS. I kind of agree with the ORCS and OL being overrated. Sometimes they don't target what you want and it seems like a lot of players use them as a crutch to deal with heavy enemies and don't know what to do when they're on cooldown. That said, I've played missions where everyone was running them and it was an absolute breeze.
I use Orbital Laser as a damage boost, using my support weapon(Arc or EAT/Quasar etc) to target whatever bigger target the laser gets stuck on. That way you takes groups of big things faster on the higher difficulties. No big targets and it mops up trash, always a bonus, and no risk of the Rail Cannon's...performance anxiety. I often have teammates running a Rail Cannon, so if it doesn't one-shot the bile, the laser will finish it off and move onto the next.
My Ballistic Shield build is the Knight in Burst fire mode, explosive damage reduction heavy armor, the Grenade Pistol and the HMG, never ADS with the HMG, hipfire it exclusively and run Stun nades. Crouch whenever you get into a firefight for the aiming bonus and better shield coverage, this is honestly the biggest thing about running the Shield, constantly crouching. When you need to reposition try to run so that the enemies are on your left since the Shield will cover your Left side while sprinting and when there's a Hulk hide behind a corner for him to get a bit closer then aim for the face, throw a Stun grenade to be completely safe then jump out behind the corner and just spray into his face, he'll go down shockingly easy at close range. If you come across a Tank lob your grenade pistol on top of the gun, outrun it or Eagle Airstrike it. The hardest part of this build is getting comfortable shooting the HMG without a reticle but it's surprisingly not that bad once you get used to it, just make sure to always have cover nearby to bait Hulks to getting closer. The Knight in Burst mode while crouching with the aiming bonus armor is a stunningly accurate weapon and if you're good enough to aim for the head will drop everything. This build needs to be crouching to do almost anything, domeing with the Knight, covering your shield or holding your HMG steady but you can take on literally anything the Automatons can throw at you as long as you're hunkered down like a turtle.
Straight to the point and no bs. I appreciate contents like yours
Orbital laser is great to clear a large robot factory and clears adds for a safe extract. I understand your point that an orbital laser will just be a waste on a bial Titan with a bunch of bugs but that’s if I am solo. I won’t bring it. If I am with a full squad, somebody else has a stratagem to help take out the Titan quickly and let the laser go off to clear other targets.
It's also horrendous when it goes after charging chargers. But for the bots it's excellent.
It basically solos the command Bunkers mission too. Throw and forget (usually)
I've tested both the gas and napalm, If youre using just napalm for ur eagles than napalm is better, but if ur using 500kg aswell as napalm (or any other eagle) the timing starts to get restricting with rearms. However the gas cloud is a must bring when using breaker incen (IMO). You can get the double DOT effect of the incen breaker as well as the cloud. Medium enemies die extremely quickly and the heavier ones are crippled from the double DOT. (tested in helldive) ALSO i believe the gas strike gets a very large initital impact radius. Ive noticed it basically instakilling small enemies outside of the lingering gasses range when it lands.
The railcannon doesn't really give me any issues. It's more of a problem of wanting it to just solve your biggest problem but I appreciate that it prioritizes the hulks and such. 500kg however will just kill nothing sometimes even when nearby. Just because hammer can do a job your might be better off with a saw.
Bad uptime
@@godoftsukuyomi7480 that kind of the only thing I can agree with and a small cd buff would be nice. Still an instant lock in for my stratagems regardless.
The rail cannon strike against the bots also tends to target striders if they're close enough to whatever it is you want to kill, like a hulk. It's happened to me more times than I'd like to admit and it's why I refuse to even bring it on bot missions
Nade launcher. Aim at the ground below the enemy. Makes it more consistent
Orbital laser is my go-to for when I don't trust my group and we might get overrun by small stuff as much as the big stuff. This applies to bugs a lot.
I always found it odd that people toss Orbital Lasers at heavies when it’s clear purpose is to sweep away hordes of medium and lower enemies.
I use the quasar bc u can shoot turret towers and tanks from any angle, one shots hulks, one shots gunships shooting them anywhere, down dropship (even if dropping them makes them more anoying) and bc rocket launcher with unlimited ammo and low cooldown between shots
About the Quasar Cannon, for me it is a weapon that can do everything required even on bots, it can shoot down gunships and drop ships with one hit every time, nearly everything else in 2 shots or less. can destroy alot of objectives even from a far distance. infinite ammo and all of this is on one stratagem that I don't need a backpack for which all of the weapons that can do what the quasar does but "better" need.
The orbital rail cannon has a lot of issues, like sometimes it will hit a Hulk but do nothing. I think it might actually be bugged specifically when it comes to tanks tho, cause there's no way to make sense of how consistently it will target a Strider or Devastator nearby a tank instead of the obviously larger enemy... the tank... I still like to use it sometimes tho, u just have to know it's pitfalls so u can mitigate them. That said it definitely needs some work. I like the expediency of it, not so much the auto targeting and it's utter failure to appropriately prioritize enemies. It would be nice if u could ping the enemy u want it to hit if your near a group of large enemies and/or want it to target something specific, and it could use a damage or cooldown buff.
Railcannon is thee best option for immediately killing anything south of a Bile Titan or Factory Strider instantly, which can be a lifesaver in tight spots. I've very very rarely had it target the wrong enemy, if you need it to hit the Tower instead of the Hulk, try throwing the stratagem ball further away from the Hulk but closer to the Tower (if that makes sense). I swear there was a time where it one shotted Bile Titans, I usually bring Rocket Pods along with the RC to finish them off Orbital Laser is a GODSEND for taking out big Automaton bases (especially eye of Sauron towers). Can be super useful as well to deal with multiple Bot drops. Not so great against Bile Titans true, can be good for clearing out bug hordes but there's definitely better options against the bugs. Quasar Cannon is good for downing ships, and that's a coin flip dilemma in itself sure. Sometimes it kills the enemies, sometimes it causes them to get stuck and become immobile, sometimes it even destroys objectives. Then again, sometimes it doesn't do shite against enemies, gives them free cover, and adds an obstacle to your path. Still, you can take out Turret Towers and Fabricators from super far with it, with no worry for ammo and a free backpack slot (usually Shield for stopping flinch). It's a whole lot better against the Bugs, especially if two squad mates bring one. Grenade Launcher for some fackin reason does bugger all to Shrieker Nests, why?? It's good for taking out mobs quickly though if you learn the aim, great for stopping flares or bug snitching in groups. I wanna say it's still the best support weapon for dealing with mobs quickly? Spear yeah, it's poop. Hopefully not for long. I rarely host so the Gas Strike seems to be bugged for me, it doesn't kill anything :((
I'd love to hear what you would bring if you wanted to try hard against both factions. Play style is a good component, but what you bring can make things fit together.
I still firmly believe that the Ballistic Shield is what makes Automaton missions playable. If you're working with at least one person who specializes in Anti-Tank stuff, the shield allows you to push into enemy territory and hold ground where you otherwise can't. Also, running away with the shield on your back while you have all the samples is a real lifesaver.
I disagree with ballistic shield simply because I never see anyone actually paying with it. People should play with it more lol. And only use it for what it's good for, mg raiders, turrets, heavy devastators, shredder tank, using it against fabricator strider to rush under the belly.
I used to run O. Rail cannon against bugs but I’ve found the 500kg works much better for Titans. Especially on the new defend mission. Being able to toss out two back to back with a shorter cooldown. The Queso cannon is great against gunships but I’d rather use Eat-17 and have an Arc Thrower or rail gun. The other two Stats I use are Autocannon sentry and Eagle Airstrike.
I honestly would like to see a laser pointer secondary that buffs the damage of guided weapons as well as lock on time just to make it worth bringing
Can you try a bug round with: Laser Rover, Quasar, Eruptor, grenade pistol, light armor with padding, and stun grenades? It’s become my go to. Too many ads? Stun and hotswap between weapons until gone. Titans? You have 2 more strategem slots and a laser rover to keep ads off you while quasaring.
Railcannon is good on like levels 4-5 were the Chargers are few and far between. It kinda needs a cooldown that decreases by difficulty level to stay relevant.
I actually swapped from sickle/quasar cannon to eruptor/arc thrower for bots lately....arc thrower stagger is just too fun 😂
I'd love the rail cannon to get a buff. The thing is a good panic option between reloads, right out of the drop pod at mission or to safely deal with an enemy trying to kill a teammate. Never understood the orbital laser hype. Quasar... infinite ammo so I can carry more ammo for my erupter. Spear is literally the only weapon we can personally hold that can 1 shot a bile titan. It's also supposed to have been fixed about 17 days ago in but for PlayStation reasons we have to wait for the big patch. How fixed it will be we can only guess but at the vary least we can hope for it being the lock on
Spear only locks on if it has a fully clear line of sight. It's not horrible if you can understand why it cant target something. It needs to see targets for itself. It's more for taking out objectives like bot factory's, Shrieker nests, etc. It could use a little targeting buff but it isn't as bad as people claim it to be when you understand what it's trying to do
I personally love railcannon strike, I bring it on every mission along with 500 kg bombs. The way I see it is its a great charger, hulk and tank killer, then I'll just use 500 kgs on everything else like titans or stationary targets. Also if you crack the bile titans back armor it seems too make them very weak to explosives, I've been able to finish them off with a few grenades or auto cannon shots after cracking their back open. If anything this stratagem is mad underrated, I never see my teammates pick it besides me.
Grenade launcher is pretty good against bots when you carpet bomb patrols with it, you usually pair it with the backpack supply, aiming is a thing you need to get used to it like the AMR, i usually aim it at dropships too it can obliterate all the bots it is carrying before it even drops, though i wouldn't use it for solo play.
I’ve had the rail cannon strike a strider rider guy instead of the tank sitting 3 ft from him…. I am sending this message from the grave.
Quasar is equal to EAT and the RR. They each have their upsides and downsides, but the main thing that grouping brings is that they're not finicky about where you need to hit the heavy armor. So if you can't get a good angle or have a lot of flinch coming your way, you can just shoot them in the body and it's good enough. I'm not a fan of the windup and cooldown of the Quasar. I'm also running with three stratagems, so 'taking up' a backpack slot isn't that big of a deal to me since I'm not going to be using it anyways, which is why I prefer the RR over EAT.
OhDough, does Orbital Gas Strike suffer from the Host bug problem. I've heard that if you are the host, gas strike does more DoT. Could you test this?
all I know is gas strike does next to no damage if you aren't the host
i remember the grenade launcher being better, perhaps in a previous patch because i'd have less rebounds and like take 2 to down a devestator give or take
Interesting opinions! mostly agree but here are some of my counter thoughts: Orbital Lazer: I only really think it's kind of okay on the bots-- and mostly a "get out of jail free" card. But the way people use it often has them throw and hope it does its job on its own. If it's taking out a medium base, sure, it'll probably do that. But, so would a barrage or two. If I'm taking an orbital lazer it's because I need alot of damage RIGHT now, and I'm going to supliment with my own. If an Robot dog or a bile titan are being targeted, I'm sure as hell gonna try and wipe those targets out quick so the beam can move on. tldr: people do use it too much and often incorrectly. Ballistic Shield: I often see people hyping up its use for like, big tanky builds. And, yes, it kinda works that way, I find it's actually a better choice 8/10 than the energy shield SPECIFICALLY when I'm going stealth ops (which is most of the time) -- hit and run tactics. The shield is basically a never goes off protection vs everything the bots throw at you (sans of course rockets). I'd say most of my bot deaths though come from mass amounts of regular fire especially from devastators. But yes-- the shield right now isn't super great offensively as we only have really one weapon to use with it. That being said, the shield allows you to be very accurate with this weapon and take out devastators (sans rocket mans) really easily. Quassadilla Canon: I play with a friend who almost always takes this into a fight. And it's good-- it's got brain turned off, don't have to worry about ammo, it just works, kills the one thing you need killed so long as you aim good and don't miss. Buuuut I agree with what you say, most of the time there are just better options for the bot side of things and trying to precharge a shot is often just very dangerous and slow. Spear: I'm one of those spear users who's come around-- thought it was shit but then I started to understand the kind of lock on profiles it was looking for and got way more consistant with it. Is it god tier? No -- certainly not. But it offers some very unique utility that other weapons can't. 1) it's often a one shot to most small heavy units like chargers and hulks though if it doesn't then you can follow up with regular fire now that the armor is stripped. 2) It's ability to lock on and fire at targets across the map makes this an amazing counter vs canon towers and even lets you snipe fabricators which makes things like the stratagem blocker objective waaaaay easier. 3) A spear that's being loaded by a friend can machinegun out rockets on the same target! I've taken an robot dogo doing this (though there is an easier way--- just use two eagle airstrikes) 4) It's not just a bot weapon. It takes out chargers very well and most imiportantly-- it's a bile titan sniping machine! I'm not sure what it is, but of all the units in the game bile titans are by far the easiest thing for the spear to get a lock on to. The only suggestion I'd have is try not to use 2 rockets per titan-- instead, rocket one, then switch to an explosive primary to take out the bile titan. You can usually do so in one clip once their armor is blown off. 5) I've always loved gas strike vs bugs~ I've not had as much success vs bots. But the thing I love about it is it's massive cooldown AND it slows bugs down/prevents them from breaching while in the mist. It comes down quickly -- and rearms super fast. Pair this with the EMS strike, and you got a wombo combo that does amazing damage~ (why not use the fire eagle airstrike with EMS? Mostly cus the cooldowns don't match up, every 60 seconds you WILL have both ready to go as you need them~)
The Railcannon strike LOVES to target Broodcommanders instead of chargers. In what world is a lightly armored target more important than heavy for a stratagem? The orbital laser i have replaced with the 380mm by now. I mainly used the laser for clearing outposts, not for killing large targets (which it could do, but took way too long compared to other stratagems), and the 380mm does the job just as nicely, but without the limited usage. Quesadilla just got its recharge time nerfed heavily, i guess we'll return to spamming EAT-17 now.
I wrote off the ballistic shield when I took it to a desert planet and couldn't used the shield to sled down a dune
Idk I very much love the gas strike. Sure the napalm lasts longer but you never have to rearm the gas strike and having it every 70 secs is insanely useful. Plus as you mentioned napalm sucks when you are using more than one eagle. I find myself using the 500kg on bugs and not being able to snuff out a bug breach because I'm waiting for my eagle rearm definitely sucks.
You did the Grenade Launcher dirty! Three or four rounds spread nicely and you can wipe almost everything in a leve7+ bug patrol. You then might need to fire another one or two for the Brood Commanders. It's very much a team-loadout weapon, however, not a solo one. But you must use the ammo back-pack with it, otherwise it's quickly useless.
The spear should have a little recon drone you can scout with and laser a target from a distance and shoot off the rocket n have it hit
I've never had a problem with the railcannon strike not hitting what I intend it to hit when thrown.
Grenade launcher felt pretty good to me. It was competent at taking down groups of the bots' chaff, but primarily it was good at taking down nests and even the occasional factory (with the same issues as the 'nade pistol). That said, now that I have the grenade pistol, I don't take it anymore. I do think it could use some buffs to its max clips. Quasar is fantastic to me for two reasons: As you mentioned, it's great at taking down dropships (have not had the gate issue, but then I just don't target one over a gate). It also does not come with a backpack. Having access to a shield backpack, brought or shared, is a pretty big boon. It is very highly rated. But I'm not convinced that it's *over*-rated. I don't know that it needs a buff.
Railcannon is geeat but against bugs for some reason will prefer to target the commando even if you have changer or titan against you (probably a code error) but it's doesn't happen often
it all about having a complimentary loadout. Most of my loadouts focus on one thing, and can do a little bit of the other. like an anti armour build aganst bots. i bring the recoilles rifle, orbital gattling, airstrike (4th slot can be whatever, a mortar, shield auto turret) and also selecting the right primary to compliment the build, i choose the plas sorcher. for anti infantry i bring the autocannon, railcannon and 500kg/ airstrike (4th slot can be whatever) primary cloud be the penetrator, jar, sorcher, or a marksman rifle. these are builds against bots mind you
4:16 "These Bots are prefiring corners" shows Bots shooting through walls and/ or possibly other map geometry.
I love being hit by Cannon Turrets through non destructible terrain.
grenade launcher is insane against the medium automatons or below with the supply back without it i agree its really bad but it does extremely fast dps and just eats up every type of devastator and grunt
At 5:23 That reminded me of Hammer Techs "the ex-wife" from IM2... only it went off..
Railcannon strike is very good against bugs if you run it with anti tank. Shoot 1 anti tank and rail cannon strike and the titan is gone. Quite consistent. But if you’re just running the strike, its not good.
i honestly like the gas strike and napalm combo if I'm on small fry duty. just throw them at bug breaches and most things will be dead by the time they leave the area. i rock those two with rover, MG and eruptor. and every small to medium enemy will have a bad day :D a huge downside is that i cant deal with anything big so and when my teammates can't either. i get charged to death un multiple occasions :D
Railcannon buff that could be funny and good: it checks if the target it hit is still alive and if so it fires one additional time.
People definitely overhyped the quasar cannon a lot, its just a fairly well balanced option in the anti-tank role that trades DPS for excellent sustain and long range accuracy. When im away from my team and they are being attacked by gunships, being able to quickly take them out from several hundred meters away and then get back to whatever i was doing is very handy.
The railcannon can be effected by the scrambled operation modifier
I like the quasar bc 1: infinite ammo and 2: free back pack slot. And you get both of those while being able to take out pretty much everything in one or at most two shots in the case of tanks and turrets, and it can destroy fabricators, holes, and dropships
Turrets is 3x to the armor. 2x if you smack the weak spot at least once.
Thank you! I feel vindicated lol. I feel the same way with the railcannon. I even made the same comment about the cd
One the bug side, I've even seen a charger full tank a laser. It's very inconsistent at targeting bug weak points.
the defender+ballistic shield is pretty good, not the best combo but it’s not bad at all and really fun to rock personally
The grenade launcher needs to either be buffed or become a primary weapon like in HD1. It was already niche and pretty much only useful for Blitz missions but now the Grenade Pistol and the Eruptor made it obsolete.
Correct me if I'm wrong (with actual dev claims, not just "I heard that"), but I don't think pings have any effect on the Spear. I have seen people suggesting the change and even people thinking it was a thing, but I've gone through all the patch notes and haven't seen it mentioned at all. The only thing mentioned is that the targeting is inconsistent. Worst bit is, I don't even think it would make the weapon feel that nice. It would mean that you can't ping anything else while you are trying to kill an enemy, and you'd need to constantly be pinging enemies. As a programmer myself, if I wanted to do that I would just use the same code as for the ping system internally whenever you start targeting something. However, instead of creating an actual ping on the target, you use it to create the yellow triangle.
I've switched from the railcannon to the 110 rocket pods, it has similar lock on problems. However I have three uses before rearm, and the rearm is shorter. I prefer the Laser Pointer over the Quasar Cannon for Bots, it melts weakpoints extremely fast. Honestly feel like it's one of the best support weapons for bots. I fully agree with you on the Ballistic Sheild. Once we get more one handed weapons, it's use is going to skyrocket. Gas has the same bug as fire damage, where only the host gets the DoT. So it's super hot garbage in a group.
Gimme the LAZ-TANTO. One my favorite one handed SMGs from HD1 now THAT has to be one of the best one handed weapons for the balistic shield
I use Autocannon for bots and Quasar for bugs. If I’m solo I’ll take Arc Thrower and Blitzer for both. It’s really fun.
For me it’s 1&2 The 2 mortars 3 EAT 4 Shield pack 5 Arc thrower Underused 1 Gatling sentry 2 Recoiless R 3 Mech 4 Ammo pack 5 Normal machine gun.
so i give grenade launcher praise for new people as it unlocked early on so gives them a good early game bug hole closer and crown control tool all in 1
GL Pistol I just use for hoard clearing trash mobs of both both and bugs though I try to save some for the bug skewers of course I want them consistently far away from me and my teammates.
I find that if i impact grenade the sac under the bile titan and then railgun strike it it would 100% die. The sacs hold a good portion of the titan's hp
I think the ballistic shield would be better used for easier mission types where enemies with heavy armour don't really appear much. That will let you get the most effect out of your one handed weapons. So it might be a good stratagem to buy early into the game but it will fall off pretty hard into mid to later difficulties.
You need to follow the Rail Cannon with a quasar or something similar to kill a Bile Titan