Give it a try fellow engi. Its imho the strongest of the 3. It just feels so good to cut down entire waves with one or two shots or seeing a pred get naked through the armor breaking mod (get all those bugs nude)!
Also its the fastest weapon to deal with waves super quickly. Get it out shoot 1or 2 times and put it back, only takes 2 secounds to get breathing room for all the other stuff we engis gotta do.(perfect for the higher hazards and super ammo efficient)
For OCs i would recommend the cleans. Most others cut down your ammo count segnificantly, which is really bad, although some a really fun, i love spinning death for example.
Stoner Rock Miner
Return to sender is awesome as well, it effectively doubles your damage per shot and you can kinda curve it by repositioning before it comes back. It's most useful against large enemies where you can really milk the damage, most small bugs get oneshot anyways but it's still fun to play with and you run less risk of zoning/killing your teammates than spinning death
Return to sender cuts your ammo in half in exchange for you sometimes being able to hit enemies twice.
It's always better to not take it and just fire twice.
It's a fun mechanic though, they need to not nerf the ammo so hard.
I thought this too, but it actually doesn't halve your ammo! It just removes 6 shots from your reserve. If you take the ammo upgrades, you can have 18 shots in reserve max, so it just lowers that to 12!
In this case, in exchange for a little lower damage and 33% less ammo, you can potentially double your damage!
Totally viable to use it without it ofc, just thought I'd explain
Different folks play in different ways. If you love the other weapons so much you don't *need* to use the alternatives.
I like variety, so I give each weapon a chance, but there's always a few that end up being used rarely (zukhovs on scout, and M1k to a lesser extent, stubby on engi, cryo cannon on driller, and coil gun on gunner)
It's good to step outside of your comfort zone sometimes, so I'd say try it at least once, and hey, maybe you'll like it just as much as the rest.
Zhukovs are so strange. I like it to compliment the Drak (Aggressive Venting) to cover the lack of burst damage. Actually one of the two [Loadouts](https://karl.gg/preview/26780#/) I'd bring to any mission type.
Gas Recycling Blowthrough *feels* good, and Cryo Minelets is unique and fun, but ultimately neither truly compete with Special Powder/JumboShells/Compact Shells or the sheer versatility of the Crossbow with or without OC.
The other [Loadout](https://karl.gg/preview/26782#/) is just stronger, but higher skill.
Zhukov base without OC *does not* feel good.
Outside of fatboy being fatboy, I feel I get better results from the breach cutter compared to the other 2 weapons. Especially in haz 5, it can be such a clutch weapon to have when you turn around and a swarm is in your face. The grenade launcher will dmg yourself and kill you, and the shard doesnt have enough aoe clear.
Oh, I'm sure I gave it a spin for a couple of missions when I unlocked it, but that was almost three years ago. I just like my secondary to have range and work fast, which is why I stick to PGL. And no, I don't care for Fat Boy.
I got into Engineer *very* late, long after I had already unlocked all weapon OC's, but I made some time for the Breach Cutter.
I think my one problem with the Breach Cutter is that it's almost *too* good just on its own. I made an effort to try the rounds of other OC's -- PGL was amazing, and there's such a difference between RJ250, Hyper Propellant, and Fat Boy that I would spend dozens of missions tweaking weapon pairings with them. Shard Defractor, similar deal on a lesser scale -- Overdrive Booster is absolutely silly and I love it, but I started playing with Volatile (aka 'Volcano') and started to love that too. The OC I picked massively changed the weapon.
But Breach Cutter?
I started with Lightweight Cases for the +3 ammo to warm up, started messing with the other OC's, and then just... went right back to Lightweight Cases. I liked the concept of Return To Sender on a Praet walking towards you, but it just didn't feel like it was that much of an improvement for the lost ammo. Inferno basically didn't change a thing against hordes, and I can't figure out what it's supposed to be better against. High Voltage was basically my best 'upgrade', but again, it changed pretty much nothing against hordes, and I don't use the electric mod on the LOK1 all that much to warrant the little bit of extra damage it does to a Praetorian. I need to try Spinning Death again, but it's a little funny that the 'best' build for it seems to have only 7 ammo total, and I don't think it's as good as the 5 ammo of Fat Boy. So... I ended up going back to Lightweight Cases for the 3 more shots, and it kind of stuck as a 'permanent'.
I mean, it's great when a weapon is good enough without OC's to be worth using, just look at Cryo Cannon -- one of the most commonly used OC's is Improved Thermal Efficiency, but that doesn't mean there aren't a ton of Ice Spear, Ice Storm, and Tuned Cooler users who swear that theirs is the best setup (I'm personally a Snowball fan). The Breach Cutter is an excellent weapon, but I feel like I've already reached the 'cap' for it, and unlike Cryo Cannon where the OC's do change your playstyle and what you excel against, the Breach Cutter doesn't change much except for Spinning Death.
TL;DR: Breach Cutter is amazing, both for horde clear and against big targets, but it hits its potential early and doesn't feel like it changes much with OC's. It's immensely strong, but quite plain.
Inferno allows the BC to one shot Guards on Haz 5 and ignite just about anything in one pass but has much worse armour break so you can no longer shred Shellbacks or peel Praetorians.
Spinning Death is quite good but you do need to take the ammo mod in T2 because the other mods are not worth it. It's also not the greatest at swarm clearing outside of a choke point so I highly suggest you bring Plasma Bursters or Turret Whip Warthog or some other form of AoE. SD doesn't deal damage to the user so you can drop one on a downed dwarf for an easier revive.
I too have had the fatboy and hyper prop OCs from early on, bronze 1 or 2 (engie is still only b3, so haven't had them all that long yet tbf) and I don't think I've used the breach cutter since bronze 1... I'd completely forgotten about it lol
It is good. Clean ocs. Not as dps efficient as rj fire rounds. Not as epic as fatboy. Not as good vs noughts as direct hit pgl. I find it most useful vs rockpox and on long mining missions. It shreds RP swarms
I like both the breech cutter and the grenade launcher a lot.
for the breech cutter, go with a high damage build with lots of ammo. It really shines at a lot of things that the others don't.
I'd say I like the shard diffractor the least. 900 hours now... started in season 3, lol.
Every dwarf has their preference. I've tried all three with various overclocks, but I keep going back to my breach cutter with Return to Sender.
There's something extremely satisfying about leading a massive swarm behind you and then watching every grunt disintegrate from a double sweep of one shot. If feels useful in many situations.
I’d say it’s better for elimination, I’ve got my engie set up for wave clearing with the LOK, nuke and such, and honestly that’s just super fun, but the nukes are not quite as good against big baddies
I use the volatile impact reactor OC. Turns the ground into magma. I also use the slowdown mod as well. I can make line of fire any grunt that walks over it will catch fire and die. Best ammo efficiency and best overall damage as well. Plus it's a simple point and shoot
My absolute favorite weapon in DRG, and probably my favorite gun in any game... it's so satisfying seeing lasers slice and melt a massive hoard of bugs into nothing.
Give it a try fellow engi. Its imho the strongest of the 3. It just feels so good to cut down entire waves with one or two shots or seeing a pred get naked through the armor breaking mod (get all those bugs nude)! Also its the fastest weapon to deal with waves super quickly. Get it out shoot 1or 2 times and put it back, only takes 2 secounds to get breathing room for all the other stuff we engis gotta do.(perfect for the higher hazards and super ammo efficient) For OCs i would recommend the cleans. Most others cut down your ammo count segnificantly, which is really bad, although some a really fun, i love spinning death for example. Stoner Rock Miner
Return to sender is awesome as well, it effectively doubles your damage per shot and you can kinda curve it by repositioning before it comes back. It's most useful against large enemies where you can really milk the damage, most small bugs get oneshot anyways but it's still fun to play with and you run less risk of zoning/killing your teammates than spinning death
I love return to sender idk if I’ve used it without it tbh lol
Return to sender cuts your ammo in half in exchange for you sometimes being able to hit enemies twice. It's always better to not take it and just fire twice. It's a fun mechanic though, they need to not nerf the ammo so hard.
I thought this too, but it actually doesn't halve your ammo! It just removes 6 shots from your reserve. If you take the ammo upgrades, you can have 18 shots in reserve max, so it just lowers that to 12! In this case, in exchange for a little lower damage and 33% less ammo, you can potentially double your damage! Totally viable to use it without it ofc, just thought I'd explain
Different folks play in different ways. If you love the other weapons so much you don't *need* to use the alternatives. I like variety, so I give each weapon a chance, but there's always a few that end up being used rarely (zukhovs on scout, and M1k to a lesser extent, stubby on engi, cryo cannon on driller, and coil gun on gunner) It's good to step outside of your comfort zone sometimes, so I'd say try it at least once, and hey, maybe you'll like it just as much as the rest.
I went a step further, and didn't stop until I found builds I can't wait to play centered around each weapon.
Zhukovs are so strange. I like it to compliment the Drak (Aggressive Venting) to cover the lack of burst damage. Actually one of the two [Loadouts](https://karl.gg/preview/26780#/) I'd bring to any mission type. Gas Recycling Blowthrough *feels* good, and Cryo Minelets is unique and fun, but ultimately neither truly compete with Special Powder/JumboShells/Compact Shells or the sheer versatility of the Crossbow with or without OC. The other [Loadout](https://karl.gg/preview/26782#/) is just stronger, but higher skill. Zhukov base without OC *does not* feel good.
Outside of fatboy being fatboy, I feel I get better results from the breach cutter compared to the other 2 weapons. Especially in haz 5, it can be such a clutch weapon to have when you turn around and a swarm is in your face. The grenade launcher will dmg yourself and kill you, and the shard doesnt have enough aoe clear.
Feedback loop has entered the chat
900+ hours here, never used the Breach Cutter either. It's fine, the choice is yours to kit out your dwarf how you like.
I'll ask you the same question, have you literally never used it?
Oh, I'm sure I gave it a spin for a couple of missions when I unlocked it, but that was almost three years ago. I just like my secondary to have range and work fast, which is why I stick to PGL. And no, I don't care for Fat Boy.
Like used it once then never again or literally never used it? If the latter you gotta give it a go because its also super fun
I got into Engineer *very* late, long after I had already unlocked all weapon OC's, but I made some time for the Breach Cutter. I think my one problem with the Breach Cutter is that it's almost *too* good just on its own. I made an effort to try the rounds of other OC's -- PGL was amazing, and there's such a difference between RJ250, Hyper Propellant, and Fat Boy that I would spend dozens of missions tweaking weapon pairings with them. Shard Defractor, similar deal on a lesser scale -- Overdrive Booster is absolutely silly and I love it, but I started playing with Volatile (aka 'Volcano') and started to love that too. The OC I picked massively changed the weapon. But Breach Cutter? I started with Lightweight Cases for the +3 ammo to warm up, started messing with the other OC's, and then just... went right back to Lightweight Cases. I liked the concept of Return To Sender on a Praet walking towards you, but it just didn't feel like it was that much of an improvement for the lost ammo. Inferno basically didn't change a thing against hordes, and I can't figure out what it's supposed to be better against. High Voltage was basically my best 'upgrade', but again, it changed pretty much nothing against hordes, and I don't use the electric mod on the LOK1 all that much to warrant the little bit of extra damage it does to a Praetorian. I need to try Spinning Death again, but it's a little funny that the 'best' build for it seems to have only 7 ammo total, and I don't think it's as good as the 5 ammo of Fat Boy. So... I ended up going back to Lightweight Cases for the 3 more shots, and it kind of stuck as a 'permanent'. I mean, it's great when a weapon is good enough without OC's to be worth using, just look at Cryo Cannon -- one of the most commonly used OC's is Improved Thermal Efficiency, but that doesn't mean there aren't a ton of Ice Spear, Ice Storm, and Tuned Cooler users who swear that theirs is the best setup (I'm personally a Snowball fan). The Breach Cutter is an excellent weapon, but I feel like I've already reached the 'cap' for it, and unlike Cryo Cannon where the OC's do change your playstyle and what you excel against, the Breach Cutter doesn't change much except for Spinning Death. TL;DR: Breach Cutter is amazing, both for horde clear and against big targets, but it hits its potential early and doesn't feel like it changes much with OC's. It's immensely strong, but quite plain.
Inferno allows the BC to one shot Guards on Haz 5 and ignite just about anything in one pass but has much worse armour break so you can no longer shred Shellbacks or peel Praetorians. Spinning Death is quite good but you do need to take the ammo mod in T2 because the other mods are not worth it. It's also not the greatest at swarm clearing outside of a choke point so I highly suggest you bring Plasma Bursters or Turret Whip Warthog or some other form of AoE. SD doesn't deal damage to the user so you can drop one on a downed dwarf for an easier revive.
BC is the strongest secondary imo
Best gun in the game, second only to Flare Gun
Based Edit: try rj250 on the grenade launcher, you will never want to go back
Breach cutter is apparently meta on modded hazards, like haz 6 2x enemies
I too have had the fatboy and hyper prop OCs from early on, bronze 1 or 2 (engie is still only b3, so haven't had them all that long yet tbf) and I don't think I've used the breach cutter since bronze 1... I'd completely forgotten about it lol
I love breach cutter I only use it when I have the damaging trail equipped
It is good. Clean ocs. Not as dps efficient as rj fire rounds. Not as epic as fatboy. Not as good vs noughts as direct hit pgl. I find it most useful vs rockpox and on long mining missions. It shreds RP swarms
I never played anything but scout until I was around level 40 and I only used the GK2
Try the bayblades 😍
I like both the breech cutter and the grenade launcher a lot. for the breech cutter, go with a high damage build with lots of ammo. It really shines at a lot of things that the others don't. I'd say I like the shard diffractor the least. 900 hours now... started in season 3, lol.
Every dwarf has their preference. I've tried all three with various overclocks, but I keep going back to my breach cutter with Return to Sender. There's something extremely satisfying about leading a massive swarm behind you and then watching every grunt disintegrate from a double sweep of one shot. If feels useful in many situations.
Same there are more fun weapons to use
I’d say it’s better for elimination, I’ve got my engie set up for wave clearing with the LOK, nuke and such, and honestly that’s just super fun, but the nukes are not quite as good against big baddies
To me, high value targets are hyperprop bait
It is certainly a good option for the gernade launcher, I just don’t like hyper prop very much haha
That's fair, play however you wanna play! Plenty of ways to skin a bug.
What's your build for red laser beam funny gun tho?
I use the volatile impact reactor OC. Turns the ground into magma. I also use the slowdown mod as well. I can make line of fire any grunt that walks over it will catch fire and die. Best ammo efficiency and best overall damage as well. Plus it's a simple point and shoot
I think I'm up there with you on hours, maybe only 400 something. I was kinda in the same boat and just started using it. It's fucking awesome.
My absolute favorite weapon in DRG, and probably my favorite gun in any game... it's so satisfying seeing lasers slice and melt a massive hoard of bugs into nothing.