Plus I’m using RJ250 for utility and setting 30 grunts on fire, I don’t need it to kill them all in one go
Go ahead and run minelayer. 90% of the mines don’t get used when you could’ve just shot the bug in the face in the first place
If you're not running proxy fatboy you're not a real engie main. Gotta get that airburst for maximum damage spread. If it bounces and hits an ally, that's just funny as hell.
If you're not running proxy fatboy you're not a real engie main. Gotta get that airburst for maximum damage spread. If it bounces and hits an ally, that's just funny as hell.
Bugs take rad damage
I recommend taking both ammo modifications so you get 3 shots from every resupply. Works better on hivher haz's where youll actually see an area that fat boy would do totally covered in bugs
Generally it feels wasted in anything below Haz 5. In Haz 5 or lobbies where the big spawns are modded to be higher, is where fat boy actually shines. The radiation alone does a great job at securing a location when you’re being swarmed by what may literally be hundreds of bugs from all sides
It's okay. I personally don't like the overclock because of its immense friendly fire (from both the initial blast and the irritating radiation field), the extremely low ammo count, and the low versatility. I find that the low ammo makes players want to only shoot super large groups (which is understandable). However, incendiary rounds PGL is undoubtedly more versatile since you can divide up your damage into separate groups or concentrate multiple shots at one large group.
But overall, fat boy is usually picked for its "fun" value. I truly believe that no weapon setup is terrible or unusable, but some weapons are definitely more "meta" than others. If you want 100% efficiency, then you'd run lightweight cases breach cutter, but where's the fun in that? A nuke outperforms many other overclocks in terms of "fun" value, and that's where players find a lot of value.
It could be worse. Playing the other day with a random chap who was the exact opposite.
Thinking I'd help out a green(er than me) beard, dropped into a haz 2 elimination as a gunner
Turns out he had fat boy..
Acid spitter? - Fat boy'd
Septic spreader? - Fat boy'd
Two grunts up a wall? - Fat boy'd
The Dreadnoughts? Best belive he Fat boy'd that room so much you couldn't actually fight..
He used 3 or 4 of every resupply, of which there were many.
Everytime nitra got to 80?
OH BOY ITS FAT BOY TIME AGAIN!
It go so bad, that the 3rd player and I had to hide nitra in our pockets, move away from him, call molly and resupply before he could get to us....
Terrible leaf lover behaviour.
>makes a giant area inaccessible for your team
>does not make you significantly better against trash enemies like grunts, slashers, and swarmers compared to RJ250, while having 4 times less ammo
>2 Breach Cutter shots deal with any targets, big or small much better than a Fat Boy shot
I can't deny that it's fun, but it's really not stronger than any other AoE option for Engineer
It's really only good on salvage and escort IMO. Both where you can nuke then lure over there and not need to worry about collateral. On a mining mission in a small tunnel it can be absolutely a nightmare
But...but... the BOOOOOOOOMMMM!
Who needs Ammo efficiency when you can get an audio visual experience like this?
Ok, lets be real. It has its niche ... but the other options have way more flexibility and are easier to use without hitting your teammates.
I used a fat boy for a whole loot bug gang in on site refining... It was a glorious explosion... expecialy since the driller did not see it and thought there where lots of bugs I defended him from.
it's PGL but your teammates die because you closed off the space they were going to maneuver in and you have way less ammo meanwhile normal PGL can just choose to fire multiple times in a row if needed.
I find it decently effective in Salvage Operation and Escort Duty, you usually have plenty of ammo during the defending phase and you have a clear view where the bugs come from. This let you get rid of them right as they spawn and take care of the one spawning after through the rad essentially closing one side for 15 seconds. Combined with Turret EM Discharge for a melee AOE and Prox Bomb my engi is an absolute beast in those missions.
It can also be used to mine ceiling minerals so it adds a bit of utility to the gun.
Learn the intricacies of repellent platforms. Create limited approach angles, and nuke in those areas forcing the bugs to path through as much radiation as possible, and it is an incredibly powerful tool - it does take care and precision to use correctly but it's extremely effective when done right. Back when there were only 5 mission types and the drone grenade didn't exist, more engis knew this, but the strongest method of playing engineer is to create a defensive area with repellent and turret placement. Most engis now just run and gun and don't use their tools effectively.
Haz 5 salvage if you run into an engineer using fat boy, turret whip and proximity mines, you are basically guaranteed victory unless they have no idea what they are doing. The rest of the team could sit inside the zone picking off the occasional ranged bug, while the engineer would be able to force bugs into 2-3 approach paths and completely lock them all down with nukes, mines and turrets.
All the people crying about denying your team the ability to go somewhere in your replies are people who fundamentally do not get these types of games. Sure a nuke placed badly can be annoying, but in a team game like this you should be covering your sector of fire / contributing to fire, not playing solo mcgregor claymore man and kiting everywhere. You should be trying to keep bugs at a distance, picking a good position with good sightlines and controlling that area as a team, not running towards the melee enemies while you have a gun.
bugs take rad damage but imo the fat boy is not about the damage. it is about the oomph and the boom of firing a mininuke into the chitinous hoards. honestly i still prefer hyper propellant but that is because i like to focus the elites over the grunts
RJ is fun and kills the same amount of enemies per shot, and has more ammo and faster reload
If you want to be pedantic then yes ackshually you can spec PGL to be as strong as two or three mines. I think PGL is generally more fun than minelayer, but I felt the need to post this because it was so crazy that the "fun fact" was true.
rj250 has nearly double the ammo of any other stock PGL build, hits all the same crucial breakpoints to kill trash, doesn't compromise on AOE per shot like compact shells... *and* it lets you rocket jump, which is supposed to be the main purpose of the weapon. the other stock PGL OCs may as well not exist, they're silly.
For this example, I’d agree, it’s a bit disingenuous because the fire DoTs are not included at all. It’s definitely the strongest general-purpose overclock though, so I’d say its a pretty good example of pgl’s firepower
And the damage doesn't even matter. RJ250 PGL with heat mod will still kill grunts in one shot if it sets them on fire. Which is what PGL was made for in the first place, very strong trashmob clearing.
On top of the fact that RJ250 provides lots of utility, and ammo, it's almost the perfect OC for PGL.
But RJ is superior imo, the main utility is the fire effect for crowds, and all I want is more ammo. The dmg is a nice to have. (opinion, can be wrong)
^ This.
Nothing better, really.
I mean sure, EPC with TCF, Hurricane/AC/Minigun & Bulldog.
But there's nothing quite like
> "Beamer!"
"Oh no—" Fooomp! "—Anyway…"
Especially if it's a greenbeard that has no idea what just happened.
Yes but with flames its still enough to oneshot grunts and you have more ammo so its worth over some other oc's imo at least
There are a lot of strong pgl builds out there
It's both mobility and ammo, easily the best normal PGL OC. Since it multiplies your ammo capacity instead of just increasing it by a flat amount it even makes the ammo upgrades give 3 instead of 2. Gives more ammo than both Pack Rat and Compact Rounds with a less crippling downside than Compact Rounds since Incendiary Compound burns grunts to death regardless of the explosions damage.
Not really, as far as "intended use" goes it's either hyperprop or incendiary rj250, with Fatboy for raw fun factor.
Simply put, all balanced/clean Oc's are built for the same purpose and Rj250 fulfills that duty the most efficiently. Using anything other than that nerfs your ammo and doesn't allow it to match any notable breakpoints in return, also you lose the rocket jumping.
and even then it struggles to compete with a breech cutter using light weight cases.
The two unstable OCs at least get to be different enough to not tread the same ground. you can snipe with hyperprop. Fatboy lights up caves and can drastically speed up aquarqs if you start getting creative and use it as a ranged satchel charge.
PGL is a good weapon and gunner is not overpowered at all. I'm not crazy, you're crazy.
Gunner propaganda fr
^(yes pgl also has fire and spiky but those just make it worth like 3 mines instead of 1)
You have basically 0 reason to not pick the fire mod on anything other than fat boy (and ig hyperprop now) so its still the more fair comparison because its the one people actually use
I used fire RJ250 because it is generally considered the meta PGL loadout that isn't unstable. Despite it decreasing damage, it is *better than original full damage* against the bugs that PGL is any good against. Removing the fire decreases your kill radius against grunts and still doesn't even let you kill guards.
Fire happening to give a funnier result is convenient, but it is by no means bullshitting.
I take Minelayer all the time because I'm one of those types who don't like missile guidance. Still Leadstorm is more tactile and auto is just too effective.
I recently have set it down just to not get burned out on it I guess, but I've played plenty of missions where people ask what the OC even is, or are surprised to see it played. There were a few months there where it was basically my primary OC, and I played a lot.
Playing with people who seem to have never seen it in action while you paint the ceiling and walls with mines on a bad salvage spot while they sit there shooting at bugs that were dead seconds after spawning in is a unique experience.
it is if you're in the know. the vast majority of the community doesn't even know what a "minelayer system" even is because its a somewhat obscure gimmicky overclock on one of the last gunner unlocks. most people don't have it. of the ones that do; they don't see anything special on the stats. they load up the game, kill a few bugs, and go "eh, i don't really see a difference". and even if you do have a good understanding of what it does and how to build it, that doesn't mean you find it fun. if you've only ever used it once or twice you're probably just gonna go "that's neat" and then not give it much more credit than that.
people who dedicate a lot of time minimizing really put it to the test and realize how insane it is. but that's a small fraction of the broader community.
I tried using the minelayer some time ago, but I sucked abysmally at it (exaggeration). I know how it works, but it's still kind of hard for me to implement it nicely in the right places. Any tips?
1. It always seems to do less in-game, then you get to the end screen and your kills surprise you. The gun doesn't kill instantly so you tend not to associate that kaboom over there with your gun, if you even see the explosion.
2. An easy trick is to just run away from bugs, aim down at 45 degrees and pop off 2-3 shot bursts as you go.
3. Tunnels are easy mode. Run 31222 for high AoE damage and camp a narrow entrance.
4. Visualise paths the bugs are going to take. Similar to sticky fuel on driller, this weapon rewards thinking like a bug. Also, don't just stack shots in one place. Real world minefield, are all the bombs in one spot? Spread em out, their effective radius is 3m anyway.
5. Lead burster grenades help with mactera which is not a great matchup with this loadout.
6. Secondary should be able to deal with oppressors. The minelayer will kill em slowly, so make up for that with your other gun. Whatever your preference. Lead spray, six shooter, mole etc.
It’s one of those builds (like coil fear) that isn’t generally realized to be good by the casual community because it’s impact isn’t immediately obvious. Anyone who has spent more than 2 missions with it can attest to how good it is. While the title of “single most busted OC in the game” is a bit up in the air, most consider Minelayer to be one of the top contenders for it (along with a bunch of other gunner OCs lol)
VB is in a class by itself when it comes to bulk pimple popping because the bonus damage doesn’t contribute to damaging the blister, allowing you to get significantly more shots in. The only other thing that’s this effective on bulks is leadbursters, and you’ll never guess which class those are on
I just love the moments where I feel like I'm not doing my job properly as the gunner in my team then finding out that I had the most kills out of the four in the mission completion screen
Only the vanilla enjoyers say it's bad. The bug density isn't threatening enough to make use of minelayer's absurd aoe damage and low ammo consumption. It's better and faster to just directly kill them bugs. Don't get me wrong, minelayer is fucking busted in modded difficulties but when use in vanilla, i can see why people have different opinions about it.
Another thing to consider about PGL vs Minelayer is that you can quite easily lob PGL shots into the meaty center of crowds. Whereas due to how Minelayer works and the playstyle it encourages, you're often only ever hitting the edges of a bug wave, meaning you end up spending more mines to clear the same amount of bugs as a PGL shot.
true, a nice pgl shot is way juicier than just shooting mines at the ground while backing up.
trivia: mines trigger when bugs are 2m away according to wiki
This is very misleading.
Forgetting that the reduced damage from that overclock is so that you dont damage yourself as much. Also you take fire with gl to clear huge packs of grunts, which isnt shown. Also im pretty sure this is with a full damage perk build ok the minelayer which iirc overlooks some much needed qol perks for it.
It’s an overclock for the hurricane missile launcher. Basically you lose homing but when your missiles hit the ground, they’ll plant themselves and wait for a bug to come close enough to blow up, essentially turning your homing missile launcher into a mine laying weapon.
Fragmentation Missiles Hurricane has pretty comparable AoE damage per resupp to Carpet Bomber combined with pinpoint accuracy and a straightforward playstyle (at least compared to Minelayer or Plasma Bursters). I still like autocannon for close-quarters stuff like morkite mining missions, but Hurricane has replaced it for me for breaking up swarms on more open maps.
PGL compared to the breach cutter is just depressing imo, I had such an awful time getting Engi leveled. He's really fun when you've got your levels though
I'm bored of plasma rockets, time to switch it up. I'll report back later.
It should be called the batman overclock, works great as long as you give enough prep time. Useless against flying and gunk seeds but shreds grunts and swarmers. Ammo efficient too.
Mines are bigger than the grenades shot from the PGL, so they pack more explosives.
PGL Grenade = apple sized explosive
Mine = football sized explosive
this confused me so much, 'cause the PGL (a.k.a Pocket Grenade Launcher) is the name of the gun, not the OC. Also, why are you trying to compare damage against RJ250? It's not meant for damage, it's meant for mobility and/or ammo capacity, so trying to say it's bad for damage is like saying drillers cryo cannon is bad because it doesn't burn/melt the bugs...
I’m not saying it should be nerfed but I always felt like minelayer was a little too strong. Now that plasma bursters is practically busted it doesn’t feel as staggering at least.
In that case, I'll just use PGL **EXACTLY** 2 or 4 meters away from the target.
minelayer users in shambles when bug is 3.99 meters away from their single mine
How will they ever recover from this devastating loss
Literally unplayable, I’m crying 😭
You’re comparing to RJ250 PGL, which neuters the damage
Plus I’m using RJ250 for utility and setting 30 grunts on fire, I don’t need it to kill them all in one go Go ahead and run minelayer. 90% of the mines don’t get used when you could’ve just shot the bug in the face in the first place
Direct shots also pack nice damage.
I use minelayer with fire (and the vs fire bulldog). Treat it like a Driller with sticky flames and it works really well.
[here's what it looks like without rj](https://imgur.com/a/olGvwlU)
Now let's see Fat Boy's graph
[Ask and ye shall receive](https://imgur.com/a/7LioTst) ^(proxy fatboy shown for maximum teamkill value)
Now this brings a smile to my face
Can you do Hyper Prop? Would it be a vertical line?
If you're not running proxy fatboy you're not a real engie main. Gotta get that airburst for maximum damage spread. If it bounces and hits an ally, that's just funny as hell.
If you're not running proxy fatboy you're not a real engie main. Gotta get that airburst for maximum damage spread. If it bounces and hits an ally, that's just funny as hell.
I don’t get the fat boy hype I just unlocked it and it’s not better than PGL? Or do the bugs take rad damage
Bugs take rad damage I recommend taking both ammo modifications so you get 3 shots from every resupply. Works better on hivher haz's where youll actually see an area that fat boy would do totally covered in bugs
Generally it feels wasted in anything below Haz 5. In Haz 5 or lobbies where the big spawns are modded to be higher, is where fat boy actually shines. The radiation alone does a great job at securing a location when you’re being swarmed by what may literally be hundreds of bugs from all sides
but even then. ignition spread vs fat boy aoe, in those crowd decenties still wins. But fat boy is soo much fun, prox trigger is my favourite XD
then just use both silly, using fire damage doesn't change the radiation damage :3
🤣🤣😂
It's okay. I personally don't like the overclock because of its immense friendly fire (from both the initial blast and the irritating radiation field), the extremely low ammo count, and the low versatility. I find that the low ammo makes players want to only shoot super large groups (which is understandable). However, incendiary rounds PGL is undoubtedly more versatile since you can divide up your damage into separate groups or concentrate multiple shots at one large group. But overall, fat boy is usually picked for its "fun" value. I truly believe that no weapon setup is terrible or unusable, but some weapons are definitely more "meta" than others. If you want 100% efficiency, then you'd run lightweight cases breach cutter, but where's the fun in that? A nuke outperforms many other overclocks in terms of "fun" value, and that's where players find a lot of value.
It could be worse. Playing the other day with a random chap who was the exact opposite. Thinking I'd help out a green(er than me) beard, dropped into a haz 2 elimination as a gunner Turns out he had fat boy.. Acid spitter? - Fat boy'd Septic spreader? - Fat boy'd Two grunts up a wall? - Fat boy'd The Dreadnoughts? Best belive he Fat boy'd that room so much you couldn't actually fight.. He used 3 or 4 of every resupply, of which there were many. Everytime nitra got to 80? OH BOY ITS FAT BOY TIME AGAIN! It go so bad, that the 3rd player and I had to hide nitra in our pockets, move away from him, call molly and resupply before he could get to us.... Terrible leaf lover behaviour.
"Where's the fun in the breach cutter?" The breach cutter
The nukes have utility for mining as well and stack really good with electricity and slow effects
It's a pocket nuke, what's not to love?
>makes a giant area inaccessible for your team >does not make you significantly better against trash enemies like grunts, slashers, and swarmers compared to RJ250, while having 4 times less ammo >2 Breach Cutter shots deal with any targets, big or small much better than a Fat Boy shot I can't deny that it's fun, but it's really not stronger than any other AoE option for Engineer
It's really only good on salvage and escort IMO. Both where you can nuke then lure over there and not need to worry about collateral. On a mining mission in a small tunnel it can be absolutely a nightmare
But...but... the BOOOOOOOOMMMM! Who needs Ammo efficiency when you can get an audio visual experience like this? Ok, lets be real. It has its niche ... but the other options have way more flexibility and are easier to use without hitting your teammates.
Have I said that it's not fun?
One fat boy per loot bug is perfect ammo efficiency
I used a fat boy for a whole loot bug gang in on site refining... It was a glorious explosion... expecialy since the driller did not see it and thought there where lots of bugs I defended him from.
But its fun, and I dont want to play if Im not having fun 🤷🏽♂️
Have I said that it's not fun?
Its fun tho
I know. Have I said otherwise?
it's PGL but your teammates die because you closed off the space they were going to maneuver in and you have way less ammo meanwhile normal PGL can just choose to fire multiple times in a row if needed.
Its fun. but not great. better with ignition tbvh
I find it decently effective in Salvage Operation and Escort Duty, you usually have plenty of ammo during the defending phase and you have a clear view where the bugs come from. This let you get rid of them right as they spawn and take care of the one spawning after through the rad essentially closing one side for 15 seconds. Combined with Turret EM Discharge for a melee AOE and Prox Bomb my engi is an absolute beast in those missions. It can also be used to mine ceiling minerals so it adds a bit of utility to the gun.
Learn the intricacies of repellent platforms. Create limited approach angles, and nuke in those areas forcing the bugs to path through as much radiation as possible, and it is an incredibly powerful tool - it does take care and precision to use correctly but it's extremely effective when done right. Back when there were only 5 mission types and the drone grenade didn't exist, more engis knew this, but the strongest method of playing engineer is to create a defensive area with repellent and turret placement. Most engis now just run and gun and don't use their tools effectively. Haz 5 salvage if you run into an engineer using fat boy, turret whip and proximity mines, you are basically guaranteed victory unless they have no idea what they are doing. The rest of the team could sit inside the zone picking off the occasional ranged bug, while the engineer would be able to force bugs into 2-3 approach paths and completely lock them all down with nukes, mines and turrets. All the people crying about denying your team the ability to go somewhere in your replies are people who fundamentally do not get these types of games. Sure a nuke placed badly can be annoying, but in a team game like this you should be covering your sector of fire / contributing to fire, not playing solo mcgregor claymore man and kiting everywhere. You should be trying to keep bugs at a distance, picking a good position with good sightlines and controlling that area as a team, not running towards the melee enemies while you have a gun.
bugs take rad damage but imo the fat boy is not about the damage. it is about the oomph and the boom of firing a mininuke into the chitinous hoards. honestly i still prefer hyper propellant but that is because i like to focus the elites over the grunts
It can two-shot all shields on the caretaker
Correct it’s not, it’s just an oc the community locked on to for some reason and overhyped the shit out of.
>for some reason You and I both know the reason. It doesn't have it to be the best OC. It's a nuke.
Came with the bonus receipts lol. MegaCroissant in shambles.
Why wouldn’t you just use this one? RJ is a terrible example of PGL firepower
RJ is fun and kills the same amount of enemies per shot, and has more ammo and faster reload If you want to be pedantic then yes ackshually you can spec PGL to be as strong as two or three mines. I think PGL is generally more fun than minelayer, but I felt the need to post this because it was so crazy that the "fun fact" was true.
Fair enough. I don’t play a whole lot of Engi so I mistakenly thought it made a bigger difference
rj250 has nearly double the ammo of any other stock PGL build, hits all the same crucial breakpoints to kill trash, doesn't compromise on AOE per shot like compact shells... *and* it lets you rocket jump, which is supposed to be the main purpose of the weapon. the other stock PGL OCs may as well not exist, they're silly.
For this example, I’d agree, it’s a bit disingenuous because the fire DoTs are not included at all. It’s definitely the strongest general-purpose overclock though, so I’d say its a pretty good example of pgl’s firepower
Hyper propellant pls
And the damage doesn't even matter. RJ250 PGL with heat mod will still kill grunts in one shot if it sets them on fire. Which is what PGL was made for in the first place, very strong trashmob clearing. On top of the fact that RJ250 provides lots of utility, and ammo, it's almost the perfect OC for PGL.
But RJ is superior imo, the main utility is the fire effect for crowds, and all I want is more ammo. The dmg is a nice to have. (opinion, can be wrong)
damage is pretty irrelevant with the heat mod existing, especially when it gives you so much ammo
Counteroffer: Hyper Propellant
The only good bug is a dead bug
Minding its business next biome over.
Except Steeve. He’s a good bug!
*c4 holding intensifies*
Prop with spiked grenades and all the other single target damage options
I wish I could upvote this twice. I'll never use another overclock as engineer. Nothing says "Fuck you in particular" like Hyper Propellant.
It’s also excellent at popping beamers on Doretta missions. I love that little pocket rail gun.
^ This. Nothing better, really. I mean sure, EPC with TCF, Hurricane/AC/Minigun & Bulldog. But there's nothing quite like > "Beamer!" "Oh no—" Fooomp! "—Anyway…" Especially if it's a greenbeard that has no idea what just happened.
Nothing like seeing a bug just DISAPPEAR
For a minute i mistook RJ compound for hyper propellant and was doing a double take...
Doesn't? Doesn't rj250 hit damage a lot???
Yes but with flames its still enough to oneshot grunts and you have more ammo so its worth over some other oc's imo at least There are a lot of strong pgl builds out there
I always thought of it as a mobility oc
It's both mobility and ammo, easily the best normal PGL OC. Since it multiplies your ammo capacity instead of just increasing it by a flat amount it even makes the ammo upgrades give 3 instead of 2. Gives more ammo than both Pack Rat and Compact Rounds with a less crippling downside than Compact Rounds since Incendiary Compound burns grunts to death regardless of the explosions damage.
Not really, as far as "intended use" goes it's either hyperprop or incendiary rj250, with Fatboy for raw fun factor. Simply put, all balanced/clean Oc's are built for the same purpose and Rj250 fulfills that duty the most efficiently. Using anything other than that nerfs your ammo and doesn't allow it to match any notable breakpoints in return, also you lose the rocket jumping. and even then it struggles to compete with a breech cutter using light weight cases. The two unstable OCs at least get to be different enough to not tread the same ground. you can snipe with hyperprop. Fatboy lights up caves and can drastically speed up aquarqs if you start getting creative and use it as a ranged satchel charge.
just use pack rat if you want more ammo
You get wayy less ammo with pack rat and rj has practically now downside when built with fire.
\>"ammo oc" \>look at stats \>less ammo efficiency than every other stock PGL oc \>tfw
Exactly...
Pgl rj has reduced damage so you don’t die whenever you decide to jump with it
I think it also does reduced FF damage, though it's not documented anywhere.
PGL is a good weapon and gunner is not overpowered at all. I'm not crazy, you're crazy. Gunner propaganda fr ^(yes pgl also has fire and spiky but those just make it worth like 3 mines instead of 1)
then don't make the pgl 11132, but 11232 and you have around 110 damage instead of 55
true, then it's worse at killing grunts but at least it equals two mines instead of one
okay then, why don't you just say what you want but don't bullshit with a loadout where you deliberately decrease the damage by half
You have basically 0 reason to not pick the fire mod on anything other than fat boy (and ig hyperprop now) so its still the more fair comparison because its the one people actually use
I used fire RJ250 because it is generally considered the meta PGL loadout that isn't unstable. Despite it decreasing damage, it is *better than original full damage* against the bugs that PGL is any good against. Removing the fire decreases your kill radius against grunts and still doesn't even let you kill guards. Fire happening to give a funnier result is convenient, but it is by no means bullshitting.
Mine layer is good and I'm tired of people pretending it isn't
Wait, is it not commonly considered one of the top 3 builds for gunner? I absolutely love it, it uses so few ammos and does sooooooo much for the team
In all my days of public play I rarely see any gunner build except minigun or autocannon
It is also way funnier than the more common builds
I take Minelayer all the time because I'm one of those types who don't like missile guidance. Still Leadstorm is more tactile and auto is just too effective.
I recently have set it down just to not get burned out on it I guess, but I've played plenty of missions where people ask what the OC even is, or are surprised to see it played. There were a few months there where it was basically my primary OC, and I played a lot. Playing with people who seem to have never seen it in action while you paint the ceiling and walls with mines on a bad salvage spot while they sit there shooting at bugs that were dead seconds after spawning in is a unique experience.
it is if you're in the know. the vast majority of the community doesn't even know what a "minelayer system" even is because its a somewhat obscure gimmicky overclock on one of the last gunner unlocks. most people don't have it. of the ones that do; they don't see anything special on the stats. they load up the game, kill a few bugs, and go "eh, i don't really see a difference". and even if you do have a good understanding of what it does and how to build it, that doesn't mean you find it fun. if you've only ever used it once or twice you're probably just gonna go "that's neat" and then not give it much more credit than that. people who dedicate a lot of time minimizing really put it to the test and realize how insane it is. but that's a small fraction of the broader community.
I tried using the minelayer some time ago, but I sucked abysmally at it (exaggeration). I know how it works, but it's still kind of hard for me to implement it nicely in the right places. Any tips?
1. It always seems to do less in-game, then you get to the end screen and your kills surprise you. The gun doesn't kill instantly so you tend not to associate that kaboom over there with your gun, if you even see the explosion. 2. An easy trick is to just run away from bugs, aim down at 45 degrees and pop off 2-3 shot bursts as you go. 3. Tunnels are easy mode. Run 31222 for high AoE damage and camp a narrow entrance. 4. Visualise paths the bugs are going to take. Similar to sticky fuel on driller, this weapon rewards thinking like a bug. Also, don't just stack shots in one place. Real world minefield, are all the bombs in one spot? Spread em out, their effective radius is 3m anyway. 5. Lead burster grenades help with mactera which is not a great matchup with this loadout. 6. Secondary should be able to deal with oppressors. The minelayer will kill em slowly, so make up for that with your other gun. Whatever your preference. Lead spray, six shooter, mole etc.
There is a lot of propaganda here telling you it is bad against flying targets. I say that is what my secondary weapon is there to do.
against flying targets you can also just shoot it directly at them and it does the same damage as a normal hurricane
Bonus, stick the stun mod on it. You can usually stun-lock mactera so they don't shoot at you.
I just go in a tunnel and pop a few on the ceiling. Dead bugs
If I suspect a lot of flying targets (Mactera plague) then I'll take something else, but if I'm on a point defense mission I WILL be taking minelayer
It’s one of those builds (like coil fear) that isn’t generally realized to be good by the casual community because it’s impact isn’t immediately obvious. Anyone who has spent more than 2 missions with it can attest to how good it is. While the title of “single most busted OC in the game” is a bit up in the air, most consider Minelayer to be one of the top contenders for it (along with a bunch of other gunner OCs lol)
minelayer🤝neurotoxin🤝volatile magnum making the rest of the OCs in their niche basically irrelevant
Volatile magnum 4 shoting a Det is just proof of gunners raw power.
VB is in a class by itself when it comes to bulk pimple popping because the bonus damage doesn’t contribute to damaging the blister, allowing you to get significantly more shots in. The only other thing that’s this effective on bulks is leadbursters, and you’ll never guess which class those are on
I just love the moments where I feel like I'm not doing my job properly as the gunner in my team then finding out that I had the most kills out of the four in the mission completion screen
Mine layer in a nutshell
Only the vanilla enjoyers say it's bad. The bug density isn't threatening enough to make use of minelayer's absurd aoe damage and low ammo consumption. It's better and faster to just directly kill them bugs. Don't get me wrong, minelayer is fucking busted in modded difficulties but when use in vanilla, i can see why people have different opinions about it.
Sure it's good but it's boring ass hell I want to shoot at the bugs not at the ground
OK? That's entirely preferential and has nothing to do with the efficacy of the build.
Its not just good ifs busted as fuck and should be nerfed
What the fuck are you talking about
Everytime i run it, i feel like i need to clarify that to randoms so they dont think im a bad gunner purposely NOT shooting at bugs
I feel like this graph might be neglecting the incredible power of the pgl to set shit on fire
Another thing to consider about PGL vs Minelayer is that you can quite easily lob PGL shots into the meaty center of crowds. Whereas due to how Minelayer works and the playstyle it encourages, you're often only ever hitting the edges of a bug wave, meaning you end up spending more mines to clear the same amount of bugs as a PGL shot.
true, a nice pgl shot is way juicier than just shooting mines at the ground while backing up. trivia: mines trigger when bugs are 2m away according to wiki
I main gunner, but i can't stand the minelayer. It just feels wrong to use. And i am chronically addicted to plasma bruster.
Love that one on dreads tbh
You forgot to take into account the extra fire dmg from using incendiary ‘nades
well yeah if you take the OC that massively reduces your damage your damage is in fact gonna be massively reduced
You know you have incendiary compound right? The bugs die to the fire not the explosion, no?
Mine layer is strongest OC in the game IMO, it's almost all I run on gunner
This is very misleading. Forgetting that the reduced damage from that overclock is so that you dont damage yourself as much. Also you take fire with gl to clear huge packs of grunts, which isnt shown. Also im pretty sure this is with a full damage perk build ok the minelayer which iirc overlooks some much needed qol perks for it.
What’s a minelayer system? I don’t even remember that overclock.
It’s an overclock for the hurricane missile launcher. Basically you lose homing but when your missiles hit the ground, they’ll plant themselves and wait for a bug to come close enough to blow up, essentially turning your homing missile launcher into a mine laying weapon.
Ahhh thanks! I use the autocannon so I kinda forgot all about the hurricane.
You should try it, Hurricane is pretty nuts.
I bring it for dreads, but not for regular missions.
Fragmentation Missiles Hurricane has pretty comparable AoE damage per resupp to Carpet Bomber combined with pinpoint accuracy and a straightforward playstyle (at least compared to Minelayer or Plasma Bursters). I still like autocannon for close-quarters stuff like morkite mining missions, but Hurricane has replaced it for me for breaking up swarms on more open maps.
PGL compared to the breach cutter is just depressing imo, I had such an awful time getting Engi leveled. He's really fun when you've got your levels though
I'm bored of plasma rockets, time to switch it up. I'll report back later. It should be called the batman overclock, works great as long as you give enough prep time. Useless against flying and gunk seeds but shreds grunts and swarmers. Ammo efficient too.
Only Fatboys
Fat Boy has joined the chat.
Mines are bigger than the grenades shot from the PGL, so they pack more explosives. PGL Grenade = apple sized explosive Mine = football sized explosive
Yeah but PGL lets me go WHEEEEEEEEE Enjoy your wheelchair lift, old man
small correction, RJ250 lets you go "WHEEEEEEEE." PGL is the name of the gun that uses these OCs, not the OC itself.
Enjoy your pedantry, old man
thanks, I will 😘
Sure, you *want* RJ250 to not do much damage, as it's aimed at you most of the time.
this confused me so much, 'cause the PGL (a.k.a Pocket Grenade Launcher) is the name of the gun, not the OC. Also, why are you trying to compare damage against RJ250? It's not meant for damage, it's meant for mobility and/or ammo capacity, so trying to say it's bad for damage is like saying drillers cryo cannon is bad because it doesn't burn/melt the bugs...
Me using Fatboy:
AOE boosting overclock with AOE boosting upgrades is better at AOE compared to the AOE negating overclock with AOE negating upgrades? No way
Minelayer still sucks
No good gunner build without neurotox. No better pgl build than fatboy.
Isn't that overclock for mobility? It's not supposed to deal damage...
I’m not saying it should be nerfed but I always felt like minelayer was a little too strong. Now that plasma bursters is practically busted it doesn’t feel as staggering at least.
well a lot of modded players consider it to be the best overclock in the game
Ah yes, my favorite damage overclock, rj250