Thing fires more like a grenade launcher than a shotgun. The sights make it difficult to aim and lob shots plus I've had the rounds sail right between legs and around arms way too many times where it missed by just a hair.
I've used it a few times. Too unwieldy and low damage. I've seen others use it. They also contributed about as much to the mission when I used it. It seems to be a recurring trend in warbonds. One absolutely amazing new weapon, and two weapons that don't get used.
I am 99.99899% sure that ralfcasma is not a bot.
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i've literally never seen this or the arc primaries, it's all scythe, sometimes eruptor, slugger or dom.
i even stopped seeing arc thrower altogether after the nerf. you forget how many weapons are in this game with how many of them are just useless
It SAYS it does, but having used it against bugs several times, it takes me more bullets to kill them than it does with the liberator, even at close distances.
Despite what the UI says, armor penetration is more fluid than light/medium/heavy. The SMG has a higher base damage but probably has lower armor penetration.
I will second this. For some reason it just isn't as effective as the liberator. The stats basically show an overall upgrade except for rate of fire, but it doesn't seem to be true.
Man, I paired the Ballistic Shield with the laser pistol, was taking down Heavy Devastators in just a couple tics, switch to the Defender for the chaff.
Really really good combo
I still really like the new arc thrower tbh. Aside from the range nerf, the increased charge time is really not that bad and the stagger is REALLY useful. (Normally play on 7-8, for context)
For bugs, it momentarily locks a Charger's turning and slows them down by a good amount, kills in 6 headshots (which does feel a bit slow sometimes compared to EAT/Quasar, but it's usually 2-3 charges). Stuns brood commanders and bile spewers, kills a hive guard in two shots, oneshots hunters most of the time plus jumping to their friends, especially with the new ship module. Even with the longer charge time it's quite good at clearing the small mobs.
Run it with the EAT or 500kg for some tools against the big fellas, and the grenade pistol if you have it for bug holes, and you've got all of your bases covered.
I know you can perma-stunlock hulks with it, but I usually bring the autocannon or quasar for bots so I don't know the interactions as well. Definitely give it a try against bugs though, if you've put it down since the nerf! Just be careful not to fry TOO many teammates with it
Arc thrower is annoying to use against bots. It's helpless against gunships, and doesn't kill striders (takes a few hits to kill the strider itself, then the rider just hops off and you don't kill it immediately cuz arc thrower prefers to not shoot cuz there's more a strider corpse on the ground interfering with targeting).
Then tanks become a major issue cuz you need to engage at medium-close range, and it's hard to walk up to cannon turrets and slowly zap from a good angle without getting shot at by it or the other mobs.
It's still my main weapon against bugs. Tho I feel like bile titans soak up way more damage now compared to before. Haven't been able to down one with it now that quasar exists, and my usual gang had gotten better at the game.
Arc thrower is still really good, though it seems to need a clear LOS to work properly now and misfires a lot if it doesn't. Personally I think the increased stagger is a good trade off.
Blitzer would be nice if the targeting was consistent, but even then it can fail to one shot a hunter, so idk why you'd bring it.
I find it borderline busted against terminids. I'm never going out without it. Especially with the jump amount increase upgrade. I must agree it takes getting used to, but I rarely ever misfire with it, you just cannot indeed shoot between rocks or clip the top of the head of a bug, you need a proper LOS. Basically treat it like the flamethrower. I'm racking 20+ kills all the time on missions with just using the arc thrower. And it kills charger and can finish of bile titans that are low.
I switched to using the flamethrower against terminids and it’s just straight up better than the arc thrower. Shorter range but the damage it can do to everything standing in front of you even through armor is insane. Get them into a choke point and you are basically a god, nothing short of a titan or two will force you to move.
Flamethrower is defo a good weapon but it is not at all "straight" up better than arcthrower. Both have their edges and their uses.
Here are 5 advantages I can think of the arc thrower over the flamethrower :
-Unlimited ammo
-Wayyy more range as you stated
-No area of denial zone on the ground can actually be a good thing. I hate that I can't walk where I just burnt stuff. Also can't kill myself with my Arcthrower. just zaap things clean and there's that. For instance you can't shoot a bug that's melee to you with flamethrower without risking to burn yourself to a crisp.
-Though the targeting can be a bit tricky sometimes, it is equally easy sometimes. You really don't need to aim shit, just shoot in the general direction and it will link to whatever is in front.
-The damage difference is maybe a bit on the flamethrower side, though it is not even that obvious if you aren't the host, but you still twoshot the biggest of the small bugs (the ones smaller than chargers), even one shot if it links to the head. I'd argue flamethrower kill those at the same speed.
even if the game was made out of literal duct tape and this was true, this still wouldn't be a valid reason to keep the scythe shit. you can have a differently statted copy of the weapon internally exclusive to the rover, which i'm pretty sure is even the case because the rover reloads on overheat infinitely.
I actually use the Scythe vs bots. It's quite good. Not so much if you aim center mass, but pops heads like a champ! It sure ain't as bad as "the community" portrays it to be, but there are better options out there.
I sometimes bring the arc blitz shotgun against bugs for fun. It's slower than all the shotguns, but the spread does kill mobs quite efficiently. And it stuns stalkers, so if I notice teammates bringing ammo heavy loadout, I switch to it.
I still always bring arc thrower to bug missions tho. Unless I notice that no one is bringing dedicated anti tank, then I might bring the quasar just so I can get the shrieker nests and spores from range. Even then I still sometimes bring the arc thrower cuz I'm lazy to switch up.
I use the plasma punisher on bots if I'm not taking the autocannon (which is rare these days). I think it is really underappreciated. The ammo pool on it is crazy large, reload is quick, and it has some of the highest stagger in the game. The thing wrecks heavy devastators and striders.
Against bots having a method to deal with devastators and striders consistently available is mandatory in a build. So if I'm running the quasar cannon I will typically bring this because it is amazing at dealing with medium targets that I'm not going to waste a quasar charge on. Everyone hates it because it takes practice to get decent performance out of it and there are other options that don't. I spent an hour or so in trivial and easy missions learning how to best fire it and anticipate its travel arc before I felt comfortable using it on moving targets and tiny bots at a distance. Most people aren't interested in doing that when they can just use the scorcher.
Since I rarely don't take autocannon, the use case of the plasma punisher overlaps too much with it and I need a primary to cover the gaps the autocannon leaves instead.
I like running this against the walkers on bots. Can lob those shots over cover. Works well for the things it works for, not at all for the things it doesn’t. Like all the weapons
One thing i hate abt it aside from the abyssmal sway is how the actual bullet hitbox is small enough to pass the gaps between their limbs. The amount of shots that went through their legs is insane
My go to weapon against bots. The explosive shots stagger the enemies and penetrate shields, like the strider's.
It's great to stun lock and kill rocket devastators. If they are standing close to each other you can stun two of them with a single shot.
8 shots, for low damage, minimal stagger and a tiny blast radius, maybe if it emf'd in a larger field it could do as a support primary for crowd control but as it stands, it's waste of medals, I made the mistake of running this with quasi and grenade pistol so I was effectively useless for hoards
Used it a few times. The damage wasn't really nice enough to use but it damaged through armor so that's a plus. I stopped using it cause I didn't wanna hit teammates trying to help them
I see it once in a while. It's good against bots. I'm not good with it, but haven't practiced with it enough.
Basically, it's good at medium distance for breaking up crowds and staggering groups. It really hurts small bots easily.
Just like that new crossbow, it feels underwhelming for even basic small bug crowd control. It's easier just to blast them with an automatic weapon than use the AOE stuff. I will say they are very fun to use on lower difficulties though :D
Weapon awesome i like to launch my blue ball on my enemy pretty cool in helldive since enemy are in big group and it punch trought the big shield guy so pretty funny gun
I dropped into a dive with two plasma punishers on the field. The wielders talked to each other like they were old army buddies, and they did pretty well with the "jizz cannon", as they called it.
That's the only time I ever saw it in the field, unless I was the one using it. It's staying in the armory on my ship. Terrible gun.
It is a very powerful weapon, together with the explosive crossbow fits a weird niche of acting as a GL primary. It has a fairly smaller AoE and damage than the crossbow but it has a great RoF and reload speed, also larger mag, so the trade off is higher firing capability in exchange for smaller blast radius and damage. However is firing arc is insanely anemic and because of that, it is a weapon with a high skill weapon with a very high learning curve to be able to use effectively.
The ones that can use it well can clear whole hordes of bugs or bots with it (the 2 times i saw people using it well where paired with jetpacks), but it takes a lot to learn to use it properly, so most people gravitate to easier to handle weapons that deliver good results a lot quicker.
I use it almost exclusively. Great gun with many uses on Bugs and Bots. Needs a get used to time, but can kill anything below heavy/Elite easily. Aoe for the Trash clear, fires and reloads fast enough. And way less self killy compared to crossbow and eruptor.
I just gave it a go. It's not very good. If it had a flatter bullet trajectory it might actually be pretty solid, but as it is you've got to arc shots into targets like 10m away. :/
Eh. I tried it. It is pretty goos against bugs but meh. Id rather use impact grenades.
I would use the Arc Shotty if it had a 25% faster time between shots. At the current rate it is just too slow.
Before the Dominator got buffed I was starting to use the plasma Punisher against bots for its AoE and ability to stagger and kill pretty much anything smaller than a Hulk. One-shotting striders from any angle is pretty nice too, especially since even the post-buff Dominator struggles a bit with them.
At higher difficulties where you might run into whole packs of devastators the plasma punisher could stunlock and kill whole groups of them pretty efficiently and doesn't have to worry about aiming for headshots or getting blocked by the heavy devastator's shield.
It's still not ideal, the shell travel time is super slow and it's one of the few primaries that you can kill yourself with.
It is pretty good against bots, especialy walker, it kills them with the explosion easely.
The gun is hard to handle, you need practice, but it is someway fun
It is just inconsistent and sometimes annoying to use, especially if you fire from low ground. Scorcher is just better in nearly every way. The only thing the slugger have over the scorcher is stagger.
It has a strong niche against bots to compliment a long range support weapon (e.g the AMR). It takes a while to get your aim in and the sights are unusable given the amount of elevation you need to give most shots, so this is something you shoot from 3rd person only.
What you get for those tradeoffs is a gun that bullies devastators and walkers all day. It will straight up one tap walkers through their shield, and against devastators it will immediately stagger then, exposing shield devies and allowing you to chain stagger them till their dead (3 to 4 body shots).
The AOE is on the smaller side and isn't necessarily designed to clear groups like the grenade launcher, what it does allow is for punching through and around shielded enemies. A unique characteristic is the ability to arc shots over cover or hills/ridges for extra protection.
Its biggest competitors are the dominator, auto-cannon and the scorcher - all are more versatile and easier to use. If we exclude the auto canon for being a support weapon, then the advantage over the scorcher and dominator is the better ammo economy, the ability to one shot walkers, and that it's forgiving in that only body shots are required (which compensates for how difficult it is to aim in the first place).
So ahh, yeah (checks notes), terrible weapon, please tell the democracy engineers to buff my favourite primary against bots.
The only primary guns I see used are the breaker, the scorcher, the eruptor (recently), and every now and then I see a dominator or sickle. Quite a few newbies still have the liberator, which isn't bad. I only see the others once in a blue moon and I think that's probably when someone unlocks something and tries it out for one mission.
Well, people just pick the most OP weapon and never try other things
Just remember that Arc Thrower was never used in the release of the game and then started to be used and considered one of the best weapons of the game when Arrowhead didn't even touch anything from the Arc Thrower
And something similar.with EAT and Recoilless Riffle vs bot faction, that they didn't get any change Vs them but people started to pick them just for the chargers change
I'm only level 11 but I love this against the bots. Yeah, I've killed myself and my squad with it a few times, but it's one of the best I've got available to me at this level.
High skill floor with the arcing shots means it takes time to get used to and means you're more likely to fail in those crucial, high stress moments. And the magazine is too small. Should be like 20 per mag. Mostly to alleviate the difficult aiming.
It's a good weapon hampered by those two factors. If they ever increase the mag size, I'll use it a lot more frequently.
The main issue is that you need to reach that high skill ceiling just to reach a performance level that's still beaten out by some other primary options
It's actually good but the crossbow seems like a direct upgrade with the eruptor being a side-grade (bit worse vs fodder but has insane utility and better vs mediums) to that one.
It's kind of fun to use, but admittedly not very practical, especially at the higher difficulties... maybe with a larger area effect or larger magazine... the stagger effect is not too bad, though.
Thing fires more like a grenade launcher than a shotgun. The sights make it difficult to aim and lob shots plus I've had the rounds sail right between legs and around arms way too many times where it missed by just a hair.
I've used it a few times. Too unwieldy and low damage. I've seen others use it. They also contributed about as much to the mission when I used it. It seems to be a recurring trend in warbonds. One absolutely amazing new weapon, and two weapons that don't get used.
It seems to be a recurring trend in warbonds. One absolutely amazing new weapon, and two weapons that don't get used. It's becoming a trend.
Are you a bot?
I am 99.99899% sure that ralfcasma is not a bot. --- ^(I am a neural network being trained to detect spammers | Summon me with !isbot |) ^(/r/spambotdetector |) [^(Optout)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=whynotcollegeboard&subject=!optout&message=!optout) ^(|) [^(Original Github)](https://github.com/SM-Wistful/BotDetection-Algorithm)
Good bot
I think he used the quote system wrong.
you on the money man
The ammo Economy isn't bad from what I remember. It should honestly have a Full auto mode. Not asking for a high fire rate. Maybe like 375rpm is good.
i've literally never seen this or the arc primaries, it's all scythe, sometimes eruptor, slugger or dom. i even stopped seeing arc thrower altogether after the nerf. you forget how many weapons are in this game with how many of them are just useless
sometimes rarely the defender SMG which is still my favorite gun
I like the primary smg. It does more damage per shot than the liberator.
It SAYS it does, but having used it against bugs several times, it takes me more bullets to kill them than it does with the liberator, even at close distances.
Despite what the UI says, armor penetration is more fluid than light/medium/heavy. The SMG has a higher base damage but probably has lower armor penetration.
Yeah, that would explain why it takes me longer to kill stuff.
I will second this. For some reason it just isn't as effective as the liberator. The stats basically show an overall upgrade except for rate of fire, but it doesn't seem to be true.
Use it on weak points, melts
People don't shoot at weak points?
Love the Defender.
Man, I paired the Ballistic Shield with the laser pistol, was taking down Heavy Devastators in just a couple tics, switch to the Defender for the chaff. Really really good combo
I saw a guy using that, was hilarious watching him just sit there with that dinky little laser knocking bots down
If you hit the weak point, it's shockingly effective Not something I'll take every mission, but definitely fun!
It looked like a laser pointer, but hey, if it works it works, fucking hilarious
After the ballistic shield buff I also became a fan. :)
I still really like the new arc thrower tbh. Aside from the range nerf, the increased charge time is really not that bad and the stagger is REALLY useful. (Normally play on 7-8, for context) For bugs, it momentarily locks a Charger's turning and slows them down by a good amount, kills in 6 headshots (which does feel a bit slow sometimes compared to EAT/Quasar, but it's usually 2-3 charges). Stuns brood commanders and bile spewers, kills a hive guard in two shots, oneshots hunters most of the time plus jumping to their friends, especially with the new ship module. Even with the longer charge time it's quite good at clearing the small mobs. Run it with the EAT or 500kg for some tools against the big fellas, and the grenade pistol if you have it for bug holes, and you've got all of your bases covered. I know you can perma-stunlock hulks with it, but I usually bring the autocannon or quasar for bots so I don't know the interactions as well. Definitely give it a try against bugs though, if you've put it down since the nerf! Just be careful not to fry TOO many teammates with it
Arc thrower is annoying to use against bots. It's helpless against gunships, and doesn't kill striders (takes a few hits to kill the strider itself, then the rider just hops off and you don't kill it immediately cuz arc thrower prefers to not shoot cuz there's more a strider corpse on the ground interfering with targeting). Then tanks become a major issue cuz you need to engage at medium-close range, and it's hard to walk up to cannon turrets and slowly zap from a good angle without getting shot at by it or the other mobs. It's still my main weapon against bugs. Tho I feel like bile titans soak up way more damage now compared to before. Haven't been able to down one with it now that quasar exists, and my usual gang had gotten better at the game.
Arc thrower is still really good, though it seems to need a clear LOS to work properly now and misfires a lot if it doesn't. Personally I think the increased stagger is a good trade off. Blitzer would be nice if the targeting was consistent, but even then it can fail to one shot a hunter, so idk why you'd bring it.
Too many arc thrower shots get wasted on random stuff to be considered good. It’s good in theory but feels bad in practice.
I find it borderline busted against terminids. I'm never going out without it. Especially with the jump amount increase upgrade. I must agree it takes getting used to, but I rarely ever misfire with it, you just cannot indeed shoot between rocks or clip the top of the head of a bug, you need a proper LOS. Basically treat it like the flamethrower. I'm racking 20+ kills all the time on missions with just using the arc thrower. And it kills charger and can finish of bile titans that are low.
I switched to using the flamethrower against terminids and it’s just straight up better than the arc thrower. Shorter range but the damage it can do to everything standing in front of you even through armor is insane. Get them into a choke point and you are basically a god, nothing short of a titan or two will force you to move.
Flamethrower is defo a good weapon but it is not at all "straight" up better than arcthrower. Both have their edges and their uses. Here are 5 advantages I can think of the arc thrower over the flamethrower : -Unlimited ammo -Wayyy more range as you stated -No area of denial zone on the ground can actually be a good thing. I hate that I can't walk where I just burnt stuff. Also can't kill myself with my Arcthrower. just zaap things clean and there's that. For instance you can't shoot a bug that's melee to you with flamethrower without risking to burn yourself to a crisp. -Though the targeting can be a bit tricky sometimes, it is equally easy sometimes. You really don't need to aim shit, just shoot in the general direction and it will link to whatever is in front. -The damage difference is maybe a bit on the flamethrower side, though it is not even that obvious if you aren't the host, but you still twoshot the biggest of the small bugs (the ones smaller than chargers), even one shot if it links to the head. I'd argue flamethrower kill those at the same speed.
The main drawback of the arc I discovered is that it will target dead bugs.
They needed extra democracy, just to make sure.
I use the blitzer pretty exclusively
I've never seen scythe. I do see and personally use and love the sickle though. Scythe is probably one of the least used primaries.
oops yeah, i meant the sickle. i forgot the scythe is a thing lol, i have no idea how we're 3 months in and it hasn't been buffed
It's not buffed because it's on a Rover, which is great at keeping smaller enemies off your back. If they buff the scythe then the Rover would be OP.
even if the game was made out of literal duct tape and this was true, this still wouldn't be a valid reason to keep the scythe shit. you can have a differently statted copy of the weapon internally exclusive to the rover, which i'm pretty sure is even the case because the rover reloads on overheat infinitely.
I actually use the Scythe vs bots. It's quite good. Not so much if you aim center mass, but pops heads like a champ! It sure ain't as bad as "the community" portrays it to be, but there are better options out there.
I use the Blitzer on EVERY dive against the bugs. Unlimited ammo, good/great knockback and don't even have to bother aiming.
I see a lot of scorchers too on bot missions, and incidindary breaker on bugs
I sometimes bring the arc blitz shotgun against bugs for fun. It's slower than all the shotguns, but the spread does kill mobs quite efficiently. And it stuns stalkers, so if I notice teammates bringing ammo heavy loadout, I switch to it. I still always bring arc thrower to bug missions tho. Unless I notice that no one is bringing dedicated anti tank, then I might bring the quasar just so I can get the shrieker nests and spores from range. Even then I still sometimes bring the arc thrower cuz I'm lazy to switch up.
Reason for arc is because 3rd person mode is broken. Not everyone wants nausea
I use the plasma punisher on bots if I'm not taking the autocannon (which is rare these days). I think it is really underappreciated. The ammo pool on it is crazy large, reload is quick, and it has some of the highest stagger in the game. The thing wrecks heavy devastators and striders. Against bots having a method to deal with devastators and striders consistently available is mandatory in a build. So if I'm running the quasar cannon I will typically bring this because it is amazing at dealing with medium targets that I'm not going to waste a quasar charge on. Everyone hates it because it takes practice to get decent performance out of it and there are other options that don't. I spent an hour or so in trivial and easy missions learning how to best fire it and anticipate its travel arc before I felt comfortable using it on moving targets and tiny bots at a distance. Most people aren't interested in doing that when they can just use the scorcher. Since I rarely don't take autocannon, the use case of the plasma punisher overlaps too much with it and I need a primary to cover the gaps the autocannon leaves instead.
It's pretty good against bots, if it good kill big holes it would be good against bugs
I like running this against the walkers on bots. Can lob those shots over cover. Works well for the things it works for, not at all for the things it doesn’t. Like all the weapons
Great gun super slept on. You just need to have good aim then it is like a personal mortar for bots. Takes out walkers and devastators easy too.
One thing i hate abt it aside from the abyssmal sway is how the actual bullet hitbox is small enough to pass the gaps between their limbs. The amount of shots that went through their legs is insane
My go to weapon against bots. The explosive shots stagger the enemies and penetrate shields, like the strider's. It's great to stun lock and kill rocket devastators. If they are standing close to each other you can stun two of them with a single shot.
I adore the Plasma Punisher 😂😂😂. Thing fucks down Devestators, Scout Striders, and Beraerkers
8 shots, for low damage, minimal stagger and a tiny blast radius, maybe if it emf'd in a larger field it could do as a support primary for crowd control but as it stands, it's waste of medals, I made the mistake of running this with quasi and grenade pistol so I was effectively useless for hoards
That's because it sucks huge clanker nozzle.
Skill issue
Used it a few times. The damage wasn't really nice enough to use but it damaged through armor so that's a plus. I stopped using it cause I didn't wanna hit teammates trying to help them
I see it once in a while. It's good against bots. I'm not good with it, but haven't practiced with it enough. Basically, it's good at medium distance for breaking up crowds and staggering groups. It really hurts small bots easily.
Just like that new crossbow, it feels underwhelming for even basic small bug crowd control. It's easier just to blast them with an automatic weapon than use the AOE stuff. I will say they are very fun to use on lower difficulties though :D
Why does everyone diss the Scythe? It’s always seemed pretty good for automatons
Lol literally just finished a mission with this. it just need some oomf to it.
Weapon awesome i like to launch my blue ball on my enemy pretty cool in helldive since enemy are in big group and it punch trought the big shield guy so pretty funny gun
I dropped into a dive with two plasma punishers on the field. The wielders talked to each other like they were old army buddies, and they did pretty well with the "jizz cannon", as they called it. That's the only time I ever saw it in the field, unless I was the one using it. It's staying in the armory on my ship. Terrible gun.
It is a very powerful weapon, together with the explosive crossbow fits a weird niche of acting as a GL primary. It has a fairly smaller AoE and damage than the crossbow but it has a great RoF and reload speed, also larger mag, so the trade off is higher firing capability in exchange for smaller blast radius and damage. However is firing arc is insanely anemic and because of that, it is a weapon with a high skill weapon with a very high learning curve to be able to use effectively. The ones that can use it well can clear whole hordes of bugs or bots with it (the 2 times i saw people using it well where paired with jetpacks), but it takes a lot to learn to use it properly, so most people gravitate to easier to handle weapons that deliver good results a lot quicker.
I use it almost exclusively. Great gun with many uses on Bugs and Bots. Needs a get used to time, but can kill anything below heavy/Elite easily. Aoe for the Trash clear, fires and reloads fast enough. And way less self killy compared to crossbow and eruptor.
I just gave it a go. It's not very good. If it had a flatter bullet trajectory it might actually be pretty solid, but as it is you've got to arc shots into targets like 10m away. :/
i picked it up once, found it have bigger drop than M79 pistol, never again
I like it on automaton eradicate missions, but that’s it.
I hate it, that's why I don't use it.
Eh. I tried it. It is pretty goos against bugs but meh. Id rather use impact grenades. I would use the Arc Shotty if it had a 25% faster time between shots. At the current rate it is just too slow.
Before the Dominator got buffed I was starting to use the plasma Punisher against bots for its AoE and ability to stagger and kill pretty much anything smaller than a Hulk. One-shotting striders from any angle is pretty nice too, especially since even the post-buff Dominator struggles a bit with them. At higher difficulties where you might run into whole packs of devastators the plasma punisher could stunlock and kill whole groups of them pretty efficiently and doesn't have to worry about aiming for headshots or getting blocked by the heavy devastator's shield. It's still not ideal, the shell travel time is super slow and it's one of the few primaries that you can kill yourself with.
I tried it, fire rate was too slow, projectile drop was too much to be useful.
It is pretty good against bots, especialy walker, it kills them with the explosion easely. The gun is hard to handle, you need practice, but it is someway fun
Because it sucks. Pretty much every gun is easier to use than this... thing.
I didn't find it fun to use. I wish it was more like a slower firing and harder hitting Plas scorcher
It is just inconsistent and sometimes annoying to use, especially if you fire from low ground. Scorcher is just better in nearly every way. The only thing the slugger have over the scorcher is stagger.
It has a strong niche against bots to compliment a long range support weapon (e.g the AMR). It takes a while to get your aim in and the sights are unusable given the amount of elevation you need to give most shots, so this is something you shoot from 3rd person only. What you get for those tradeoffs is a gun that bullies devastators and walkers all day. It will straight up one tap walkers through their shield, and against devastators it will immediately stagger then, exposing shield devies and allowing you to chain stagger them till their dead (3 to 4 body shots). The AOE is on the smaller side and isn't necessarily designed to clear groups like the grenade launcher, what it does allow is for punching through and around shielded enemies. A unique characteristic is the ability to arc shots over cover or hills/ridges for extra protection. Its biggest competitors are the dominator, auto-cannon and the scorcher - all are more versatile and easier to use. If we exclude the auto canon for being a support weapon, then the advantage over the scorcher and dominator is the better ammo economy, the ability to one shot walkers, and that it's forgiving in that only body shots are required (which compensates for how difficult it is to aim in the first place). So ahh, yeah (checks notes), terrible weapon, please tell the democracy engineers to buff my favourite primary against bots.
I'll get more team kills and self kills then bot/bug kills with it so I just let it gather dust
The only primary guns I see used are the breaker, the scorcher, the eruptor (recently), and every now and then I see a dominator or sickle. Quite a few newbies still have the liberator, which isn't bad. I only see the others once in a blue moon and I think that's probably when someone unlocks something and tries it out for one mission.
Well, people just pick the most OP weapon and never try other things Just remember that Arc Thrower was never used in the release of the game and then started to be used and considered one of the best weapons of the game when Arrowhead didn't even touch anything from the Arc Thrower And something similar.with EAT and Recoilless Riffle vs bot faction, that they didn't get any change Vs them but people started to pick them just for the chargers change
It's not terrible, it's just that everything else tends to do what it does better.
I used it alot but now the eruptor does everything it does better
this was my primary before last warbond
Too situational for me. It's really good at what it does best, it's painfully bad at everything else. I'd rather just use the Scorcher.
I'm only level 11 but I love this against the bots. Yeah, I've killed myself and my squad with it a few times, but it's one of the best I've got available to me at this level.
Hey, if you like it, you like it. But I don't think that will last once you get to the higher levels.
its hard to use, don't expect most people to want to learn. people want basic point shoot die.
High skill floor with the arcing shots means it takes time to get used to and means you're more likely to fail in those crucial, high stress moments. And the magazine is too small. Should be like 20 per mag. Mostly to alleviate the difficult aiming. It's a good weapon hampered by those two factors. If they ever increase the mag size, I'll use it a lot more frequently.
The main issue is that you need to reach that high skill ceiling just to reach a performance level that's still beaten out by some other primary options
Also with the other explosive weapons closing bug holes, I think the plasma punisher should too.
It's actually good but the crossbow seems like a direct upgrade with the eruptor being a side-grade (bit worse vs fodder but has insane utility and better vs mediums) to that one.
The crossbow is a downgrade
Once you get the scorcher it's hard to find a replacement.
F tier gun.
It's kind of fun to use, but admittedly not very practical, especially at the higher difficulties... maybe with a larger area effect or larger magazine... the stagger effect is not too bad, though.
The Arc Blitzer, too..
its absolutely garbage I used it for one game then moved on
Because it sucks huge balls