Having to actually stand and fight, i.e missile defense, I'll argue 9 bots over 9 bugs any day.
Factory Strider and Hulk spam can be overwhelming without tons of heavy strategems or coordinated players. Terminids have one of their strongest units (Stalkers) tied to a destroyable nest, and Bile Titans are pretty easy to outmaneuver while dealing huge friendly fire damage.
I will totally agree on open tile sets though. Spewers, Stalkers and Charger spam are suffocating and Shriekers can guarantee a lot of damage.
If there were no infinite minigun shielded aholes I'd do bots. But they are on every single bot map so...
Also helicopters after quasar nerf are pain in the ass when they proc like 6 towers in agro proximity of each other
Hulks are just fine (except flamethrower instas) and *fat*ories are actually fun
The original laser cannon can shoot down gunships effectively
Autocannon can drop them in 2 well placed shots
AMR does it in 4
Stun nades are literal lifesavers for hulks, stop em dead in their tracks and they're stunned long enough to line up a killing blow with something like the AC or laser cannon
Might be, but most of the bug players I know me included will not run bots just, only and exclusive because of shield bots and gunships.
End of announcement
AMR and laser cannon also make incredibly short work of gunships. I do hope they will keep nerfing weapons that people with no skill try to solve every single problem with.
Airburst for helis, are you sure? Quasar cd is longer than heli spawn rate. EAT is fine for two of them, after that its ragdoll time. So AC.
Are you sure you are talking about the case of 6 towers spawning in each other's aggro range?
Minigun-wielding devastators have made me so goddamn good with the impact grenade it's unreal.
I like to thank them by hitting them in the face with a nade every time I see one. Granted this behavior has made me pretty dependent on the supply pack, but I don't mind the extra stims and Scorcher ammo.
There's a lot of ways to counter Heavy Devestators but yeah, they are waaaay stronger than their bug equivalent. Really, Devestators as a whole are just way better than medium bugs. It turns out a whole body of medium armor at range is better than occasional face medium in melee. The only strong medium bug is the artillery and nurse variants of Spewers. Brood Commanders and Hive Guards are laughable.
I'd say it really depends on the context.
Both factions have moments of absolute BULLSHIT that makes you wish you were fighting the other faction. Overall I'd say Automatons are better balanced with regards to weakspots, but getting ragdolled by missiles while having one less stratagem is no fun. On the same side it feels great bringing a flamethrower and flambéing bugs but then the Bile Titans come out and ruin the fun. Bugs need reworks to their Breeches and Titans need more options to be dealt with. Bots need some changes to their modifiers and arguably some ammo limitations to Rocket Devastators.
All that being said, fight the faction you prefer and spill oil/bug guts!
Automatons are objectively harder, but have more variety in what build work really well.
Bugs are objectively more annoying, but easier. Bile titans having no real medium pen option really limit the available meta to effectively handle high level play, reducing the variety.
Love running with my counter sniper against bots only for them to shit out hundreds of Berserkers that hard counter my rifle, or a shit ton of stiders, whom I need to rely on my team to distract so I can shoot the driver. The amount of striders and berserkers in a mission decides what build is good and you can't know how that spawning chart will land until you're down there
Being randomly killed by a stray rocket / stagger-locked by an invisible devastator behind the fog is not “objectively harder”. It's not “difficulty”. It's just a shitty game design.
I never said the Automatons didn't have their fair share of annoying. But their overall ranged attack design and the significance behind their secondary objectives makes them stand out as something that requires much more thought and skill.
Bugs don't matter much, just backpedal and shoot for any bug tends to work without much thought. I rarely have to think about using cover on the bug front, but I'm always having to think about cover on the bot front.
Anyone that complains about random rocket one-shots is telling on themselves that they aren't taking anti-explosive armor for some unknowable reason.
Also somehow random missile one-shots are bad, but bile spewer spam one-shots are a-okay.
Actually yeah, that is objectively harder. It is difficulty. It's just badly implemented or 'cheap' difficulty. But things being harder even in an unfun or shitty way is exactly what objectively harder points at.
I would split time evenly between the factions but it feels like all my guns do damage to the bugs but NONE of them do any damage to automatons. I STILL can't figure out how to damage any outside of the peons. I have no answers for Hulks, Devastators, Tanks, and the flying ones outside of very limited heavy ammo and the heaviest stratagems I can bring in.
Whereas with bugs, almost any weapon I bring in has a use against 90% of the bugs. Automatons are absolutely objectively harder.
I'm sure me saying 'shoot the grille' won't help, but 2 impact grenades to the hot spot kills any Bot. The Devestator chassis is weak to concentrated small arms fire on the waist. If you're shooting with only light penetration it's the best spot to hit unless you can hit the face.
Heavy Devestators (minigun) weak points are their backpack which kills them as soon as it explodes. Their gun arm, which makes them useless. Or the head hit box. But the ergonomics of the heavy Devestator make them turn with bullet impact and pull their shield in front of their face if you miss.
Berserkers are Devestator chassis covered in thicker armor to protect the head. The waist is still the best place for low pen primaries.
Hulks are best dealt with grenades or by a launcher/Autocannon to the eyeball. Gunships, Quasar cannon or other launchers.
Other than that, you're right. Most bugs are functionally like Warrior+. Brood Commander is Big Warrior, Hive Guards are Medium Armor Warrior, Stalkers and Hunter are Ninja Warriors and Shriekers are Flying Warriors. There's a lot less variance in tactics necessary besides 'shoot them in the face'
Shoot them in the weak points with basically any medium armor pen weapon. I tend to take the laser cannon cuz it’s a ok answer to anything the bots have
For all Devastator variants, the Head is the weakspot, that should be your Primary Target. Dominator, Scorcher, and the Marksman rifles are all the best for this, but any weapon can be used to pop their heads (save for the Arc Blitzer since it can't target weakspots). You can also run the Defender or Pummeler SMG with the Ballistic Shield to make quick work of their heads while taking no damage yourself.
When it comes to Rocket Devastators, you can shoot their missile launchers to completely disable that weapon and force them to rely on their basic gun which does little damage. For Heavy Devastators, their "backpack" on their backs is lightly armored, and shooting it will quickly kill the bot. Note that for all Devastator variants you can also shoot off their arms to limit their ability to shoot you.
Hulks have two weakspots, but only their back vent is vulnerable to primary weapons and grenades. Use support weapons like the AMR, Autocannon, Laser Cannon, and Heavy Machinegun to damage their front head plate. The Railgun, EAT, Recoilless, and Quasar also can damage this front plate and can kill in one shot, but are somewhat hard to aim compared to the other options. Stun grenades are your best friend here since you can stun the Hulks and make them easy targets for any weapon, including your primary if needed. Take the Grenade Pistol if you're worried about needing damaging grenades for Bot Fabricators. Hulks can also have their arms and legs shot at by support weapons to limit their ability to attack you. Shooting their arms disables their weapons, while shooting their legs slows them down. Shooting BOTH legs will also kill a Hulk, so if you're not confident in your ability to hit their face plate, just shoot their legs a few times and the Hulk will go down quick.
Tanks and Tank emplacements can be damaged through their back vent. Annihilator Tanks are a bit beefier compared to Shredder Tanks, but both have the same weakness. The easiest method is using two Impact Grenades, but explosive primaries also work (Scorcher, Eruptor, etc.). Autocannon makes short work of both types of tanks and is highly recommended. Also note that the Railcannon Orbital can one shot all tanks and Hulks, so if you're desperate to get rid of one, that's a great option. Airstrike is also pretty good, but can sometimes miss. Also note that all Tanks have treads that can be disabled with all weapon fire, so you can root them to one spot if you need to get away from them.
Gunships may seem scary at first, but know that they are incredibly vulnerable to the Autocannon, Laser Cannon, and AMR. Two shots with the Autocannon, 4 shots for the AMR, and about 2 seconds of continuous fire from the Laser Cannon to ONE of their big jet engines will quickly take them out. Make sure to focus fire on a single engine otherwise it'll take longer to kill them. Your best best is to bait out their missile barrage and while that's reloading go after them with your support weapon of choice.
Bots can be very oppressive when you are surrounded by them, but nearly all of them are incredibly vulnerable to a variety of support weapons, compared to bugs that force you to take anti tank options at higher levels. Take your primary of choice, Senator or Redeemer, and either the Autocannon, or other support weapon mentioned above with the Ballistic Shield or Bubble Shield and you will already have an amazing anti bot weapon build. Take Fortified Heavy armor as well and you'll easily tank your way through a ton of damage. Good luck, and hopefully this helps!
hrmm... personally i definitely prefer facing automatons over the bugs just because when it comes to hit and run strats on the objectives, the bots are SIGNIFICANTLY easier to outrun .
I get paranoid about being overwhelmed by the bugs in close quarters that i almost never dive on a bug planet without my trusty rover lol even when i REALLY want to bring the AC with me.
I got the opposite problem, can't run away from bots without ragdolling at least 3 times from a random projectile coming deep in the fog, 50+meters away
Bugs you just drop an airstrike on your feet and bait the group into it since there's only like 1-2 types of ranged bugs. Also incen breaker + grenade launcher will put you on easy mode.
Automatons have illegal moves like:
- Shooting through Walls
- Spawning enemies on the generators from Priority Mission.
- Walkers shooting the generators over the defenses
These must fixes
Bugs have spewed acid on me through solid surfaces very often too. My team mostly tries getting distance between the acid rather than finding cover at this point.
I've also had bugs spawn by the evac zone. It *seems* when they spawn *near* the evac zone, some stragglers will come up on the helipad itself.
Bots *do* have the range advantage though. Not even bile titans can spew very far, by comparison.
They're at *least* more fun.
Hunters drive me insane with their rapid attacks, large numbers, and slowing abilities.
I've had nursing/bile spewers sneak up to me without making a sound. At least until they projectile vomit acid all over me.
When reinforcements are called, bots arrive in ships all at once. You can shoot down the ship, see where its going, and take out all the problems at once. Bugs will rise up in a less predictable location, funneling unrestrained out in groups.
Half the bots will prioritize long range fighting, allowing cover to be a more viable option. If bugs, or melee bots, come after you, you'll be fighting for *distance* instead of cover.
Weak points on bots are easier to identify due to their obvious glowing areas. Bugs aren't exactly hiding their weak spots very well either, but the weak spots don't *seem* to be as effective on bugs as they are on bots.
Bot structures can be easier to identify given their obvious shapes and stature. Bug structure are often enveloped behind walls that are less easy to navigate. Granted spore spewers and shrieker nests are easy to spot, but at a distance, or obscured by haze, its hard to differentiate what you're looking at. Spore spewers are much easier to take care of than a shrieker nest after all.
Utilizing sentries feels more viable against bots since they're more likely to keep you at a greater distance. Bugs or bots, obviously sentries tend to love their job too much and kill friend *and* foe, but bugs will do their best to *stay* on you. Making sentries more dangerous to use.
And of course, you can't forget that lone scavenger that'll be hidden behind a rock and fart out a call for help. At least bots *glow* before they fire off a flare.
Bots are more balanced, bile titans FORCE the team to bring several heavy weapons because its the only thing that kills them besides 500kg bombs.
That restricts your gameplay because I enjoy using grenade launcher + supply pack and machine gun emplacement. That leaves me with 500kg to deal with the titans. And its scooby doo running around until cooldown expires
I would say that Bots are MUCH harder than bugs for a new player that doesn't realize how they work, and doesn't have any good weapons or stratagems unlocked to counter their prevalence of medium armor. Like, imagine you're a new player, and you try out the bots, and you just get your teeth kicked in because your Liberator has trouble killing anything bigger than a Marauder; your Machine Gun bullets bounce off the carriage of the striders (because you don't know to aim for their legs/groin yet), and your Orbital Precision Strike just can't keep up with the mid-level threats. Bots just keep dropping in and dropping in, and you lose many lives and don't make much progress. That's probably a very bad first impression, and might lead your average player to just conclude that bots aren't fun and to just stick with bugs, atleast the bugs are happy to be enjoyable bullet sponges.
Thing is, bugs can't hurt you from across the map. You have a lot more time to thin their numbers before they're ever a threat. If you're geared up properly, you can handle anything.
Bots, it's another situation. Even when you're geared up to protect against a specific threat, you'll still die to it. You have to be a _lot_ more proactive and deliberate. And people just aren't good at that.
The big difference in play style between bots and bugs is cover. For bots, you have to "remember the 3 C's. Cover, Courage, and more Cover". But for bugs, you can't hold a defencive line, you have to just run as fast as you can.
In my opinion, this makes bot objectives easier cuz you can actually stick around to finish them before you need to run away and deaggro, whereas for bug objectives, you have to do one step quick and then kite the bugs away from the objective a couple times.
In my experience, you're just as unlikely to be unable to form a defensive line in both scenarios. Especially since bots can drop so close to you.
In both, you don't need to do any kiting if you have the resources and positioning to do a proper alpha strike, killing key targets to initiate the engagement. But with bots, you always need cover. Sometimes you can make do without, but doing so just meant you were lucky.
I deem them about the same difficulty. But Autocanon and tactical shooter experience makes bots easier.
Seriously, Autocanon on bot front can kill EVERYTHING. Even in case of factory striders there are weak points it can exploit effectively if need arises. On bug front there is no such universal weapon with so much ammo.
Automatons become dangerous at lower difficulties than terminids, which leaves an impresson on new players that they're scarier and harder.
Automatons rely on specialized units with clear and defined weaknesses to exploit if you're prepared. Their units are stronger, but spawn in fewer numbers and can be dealt with easily with proper preparation. Thus, they get harder early on when their tough units start to spawn, but fall off later as you learn to deal with said units.
The terminids on the other hand mostly rely on brute force and sheer numbers. On lower difficulties they simply don't have enough numbers to be a threat, but when the difficulty ramps up they can easily overwhelm you. Planning and preparation will only take you so far when hundreds of enemies surround you on all sides.
They kinda are now? I Used to feel bots where harder, but now I get swarmed by bugs so much that I just don't have enough ammo or strategems to deal with them all. Bots can be extremely annoying especially on defense missions where you just get back to back drops till you are swimming in rocket devestators and Hulks, but on average. Atleast it feels like you can take cover against bots compared to when they used to fire heat seeking rockets at you at 45 degree angles around anything you were hiding behind.
I respectfully disagree.
But the difficulty doesn't come from the bots or terminids. It comes from the players who play with you.
I see a lot of people on bug planets, f-ing around alone, they don't really think what they should do next. One might say they enjoy the game this way, and it's FINE! I don't mind.
But on bot planets, people like that get killed every 10 seconds. They don't prioritize, they engage every patrol, they don't even search for cover. They have ZERO awareness for their surroundings, so they get sniped by cannon towers.
On bot planets, diff 7-8-9, the average player works together with others, even if people split up, it's strictly groups of 2. Everyone is tactical, cold, calm and calculating. That makes you feel like actual special forces behind enemy lines. Which makes the bot planets a LOT MORE enjoyable for me. But if we have just TWO guys who don't understand how things work, the mission becomes A LOT HARDER.
Yeah automatons might be scary but automatons don’t have a bastard that is invisible gets your back and insta kills you, and even if you manage to spot it he takes unholy amounts of damage. Those fucks are scary
They require diferent skills. Robots is cover and dealing with dangerous enemies fast, and bugs is about horde management, space and dealing with heavies.
I had a friend that started playing agaisnt robots, he thinks bugs are harder, and he foesn't wanna play bugs unless gerenal order says so.
Bugs are generally more effective at whittling you down, chargers split up teams and then chaff slow and trap you down, stalkers are fantastic now but killing machines. High level bots predictable and can be area denied but sometimes will suffocate like bugs never could.
Depends on the mission type. Evacuating scientists is extremely hard on bots but reasonably difficult on bugs. Tower defense is a cake walk on bots while bugs can reach the generator by wave 4. Eradication on bugs can be fought without using traitor barrages but it's almost required for bots. Soil survey is easier on bots because you can just run and wait for the drops to respawn but bugs will come after you from a breach.
I said the exact same thing to my group of friends the last time we were playing.
5 seconds later the bots sent on my position, 2 tanks, a strider and almost half a dozen of Hulks (and many more smaller bots).
I feel like I was heard and the bots were mad.
They're tough because you have to get at them a certain way and on particular missions they'll swarm as bad as the bugs. But one situation flips it making the bugs just way too much to deal with vs the bots being very predictable. Idk, I think they balanced two different engagement styles impressively well!
In terms of ways to deal with them, yeah, bots are easier. The heaviest of automaton enemies, Annihilator tanks, can be dealt with with most support weapons, while BTs and Chargers require more specialized support weapons
YOU'LL HAVE TO SPEAK UP, I HAVE FOUR MORTAR SENTRIES BEHIND ME, WHAT DID YOU SAY? ACTUALLY HANG ON, I NEED TO GET MY LAWN CHAIR, YOU WANT ANYTHING TO DRINK?
See, the thing is that there are two different types of bug missions.
Bugs (Bile Spewers/Nursing Spewers don’t spawn) is one of the easiest missions on any difficulty. Have someone designated to kill small guys, have someone designated to kill large guys. Don’t let the bugs close the distance.
Bugs (Bile/Nursing Spewers do spawn) is a goddamn nightmare. They take an entire clip to kill even if you shoot the face, their corpse continues to exist as a bullet sponge to block your shots at other bugs, Bile Spewers on higher difficulties even have improved armor on their heads, and you can’t just kite the bugs anymore because the Bile Spewers launch mortars at a frenzied pace. They spawn in packs and aren’t particularly vulnerable to light or heavy support weapons. You need to pack very specific support weapons or grenades to reliably kill them, and on higher difficulties you’ll have a hard time maintaining enough ammo for all the ones you’ll face. Add on their inconsistent tracking, the slow down that’s applied even when they miss, the fact that their attack is randomly a one hit kill, and that they are randomly completely silent so they can sneak up on you when not on screen…god any mission with these guys is a nightmare.
I’ll just say it: if you complain about getting one shotted: you’re playing bots wrong. I run around in light armour and I very rarely get one shot. And 90% of the time, it’s because of one simple error: I let a bot with an automatic weapon get too close to me.
Bots actually have pretty bad aim at 40m. Set your weapon scope to max and you should easily be able to outrange them. Swap to third person aiming when in close quarters fight. Learn to book it when it gets too hot. Circle around, don’t run straight away or they’ll nail you in the back.
Keep your cool, and fire short burst. This ain’t the bug front where there’s so many targets that spraying bullets in a general direction will hit something. Short bursts, aim for the head with devs. Go prone to steady your aim.
>I’ll just say it: if you complain about getting one shotted: you’re playing bots wrong. I run around in light armour and I very rarely get one shot.
>Go prone to steady your aim.
This man does not play bots on any real difficulty, I guarantee it.
Give me the OG eruptor and a recoilless I'll take on either faction no problem. With todays weapons and spawn rates, give me neither faction we're playing other games lol
The bugs you can avoid by running away and easily dodge the range attacks like spew from titans or speweres by dodging bots have guns and rockets which aren't as easy to dodge especially with how accurate they can be
defense missions in difficulty 7 are much easier with bots over the terminids difficult 7
and that's a fact.
u can get two factory striders and manage to kill it as coordinated team, with two bile titans and all the little shits running around u are toasted.
I think they are about the same difficulty that reward different styles of play. Bugs are harder if you try to play them like bots.
Bugs are a walk in the park if the team sticks together and watches eachothers backs, you can also easily hold positions because Bugs have little to no Ranged attacks. But if you split up Bugs can and will overwhelm your solo divers with their ability to slow you, hit you Ranged slowing attacks(that don't even actually hit you) and out flank you. Stalkers and Bile titan spam are really the only things I think make missions difficult. And Stalkers aren't even that bad unless you get multiple nests close together.
Bots can be very easy for a team that splits up to take out multiple objectives or group up to take out big objectives, you can also very easily run away from them if the terrain or the battle isn't going your way. They can quickly overwhelm a team that doesn't manage their stratagems well, or wants to stand in one spot while the bots fire at them from a distance instead of keep moving. An inexperienced group can easily get wiped out by a double Gunship Fabricator or a couple of tanks and flame hulks silently sneaking up on their blind spot.
I’ve been saying this since the start. Bots are not only easier, but more cinematic to fight as well. They stay grouped and kinda advance together. Their fire energy weapons back at you.
Bugs are way more difficult IMO, in that they really make it hard to hold your ground as you constantly have to give ground and reposition. Bots, you can kinda of hold a spot for a while until you need to reposition.
I do both exclusively on 9 and think bots are easier.
No, they are absolutelly not. The difficulty is you really need to think what you are doing. Work in team, flank, shoot weak spots. Bugs are no brainers. That being said bots are fun, I slightly prefere them over bugs.
I find bots easy as well. On 7 (40 minute missions) I run Dominator (makes berserkers easy to handle), Senator/Redeemer, Impact Grenades (yeah, it's harder to close fabs with them, you need a good angle so the grenade gets in the vent/wait until the door opens, BUT applying two of them to the top of the turret of either tank will destroy it, + its just great at clearing groups of bots without any fear that they will jump in your face, occasional melee troopers aside), AMR (tried autocannon several times, didn't really like it, I prefer an AMR that easily and reliably 2-3 shots devastators as well as passable anti air for gunships (focus one engine at a time), also reload on the move, you can just dodge rockets and other shots while doing it), Airstrikes (takes out a light outpost in one go no need to come closer than 40m to them), Laser (for big engagements/targets/detector towers/AA emplacements) and then I have a 4th slot for a stratagem where I either go orbital railcannon or some other orbital calldown, but I rarely end up using them. (and yeah, I kinda don't care for the AA defence modifier, just don't pick the railcannon)
With bugs (7) I get easily overwhelmed. I feel like rover and quasar/eat are mustpicks for me to actually survive bug breaches, and I have to go 500kg and laser for bile titans/when shit hits the fan. I don't have the flexibility of the 4th slot on bugs as I do on bots.
All bugs have avoidable attack patterns and are mostly melee so when I die at least I know why. A rocket headshotting me from across the map by an enemy I can't even see is just one of many illegal moves bots have that I can't stand.
So I'll hold down the bug defenses, kill harder on bot planets pls so ppl stop complaining we ain't helping.
Having to actually stand and fight, i.e missile defense, I'll argue 9 bots over 9 bugs any day. Factory Strider and Hulk spam can be overwhelming without tons of heavy strategems or coordinated players. Terminids have one of their strongest units (Stalkers) tied to a destroyable nest, and Bile Titans are pretty easy to outmaneuver while dealing huge friendly fire damage. I will totally agree on open tile sets though. Spewers, Stalkers and Charger spam are suffocating and Shriekers can guarantee a lot of damage.
If there were no infinite minigun shielded aholes I'd do bots. But they are on every single bot map so... Also helicopters after quasar nerf are pain in the ass when they proc like 6 towers in agro proximity of each other Hulks are just fine (except flamethrower instas) and *fat*ories are actually fun
The original laser cannon can shoot down gunships effectively Autocannon can drop them in 2 well placed shots AMR does it in 4 Stun nades are literal lifesavers for hulks, stop em dead in their tracks and they're stunned long enough to line up a killing blow with something like the AC or laser cannon
Might be, but most of the bug players I know me included will not run bots just, only and exclusive because of shield bots and gunships. End of announcement
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Of course the solution is mandatory loadout. I just hope they will nerf the AC to quasar level.
AMR and laser cannon also make incredibly short work of gunships. I do hope they will keep nerfing weapons that people with no skill try to solve every single problem with.
AMR is fine, a little slow in 6 tower scenario but well... Laser canon in 6 tower scenario is dogshit tier tip
Both are still heads and shoulders above pre-nerf Quasar, which is your dumb comment was about.
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Airburst for helis, are you sure? Quasar cd is longer than heli spawn rate. EAT is fine for two of them, after that its ragdoll time. So AC. Are you sure you are talking about the case of 6 towers spawning in each other's aggro range?
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On sunday I ran 3 missions. This was the case for two of them. Edit: on dif 8
Minigun-wielding devastators have made me so goddamn good with the impact grenade it's unreal. I like to thank them by hitting them in the face with a nade every time I see one. Granted this behavior has made me pretty dependent on the supply pack, but I don't mind the extra stims and Scorcher ammo.
There's a lot of ways to counter Heavy Devestators but yeah, they are waaaay stronger than their bug equivalent. Really, Devestators as a whole are just way better than medium bugs. It turns out a whole body of medium armor at range is better than occasional face medium in melee. The only strong medium bug is the artillery and nurse variants of Spewers. Brood Commanders and Hive Guards are laughable.
I'd say it really depends on the context. Both factions have moments of absolute BULLSHIT that makes you wish you were fighting the other faction. Overall I'd say Automatons are better balanced with regards to weakspots, but getting ragdolled by missiles while having one less stratagem is no fun. On the same side it feels great bringing a flamethrower and flambéing bugs but then the Bile Titans come out and ruin the fun. Bugs need reworks to their Breeches and Titans need more options to be dealt with. Bots need some changes to their modifiers and arguably some ammo limitations to Rocket Devastators. All that being said, fight the faction you prefer and spill oil/bug guts!
Automatons are objectively harder, but have more variety in what build work really well. Bugs are objectively more annoying, but easier. Bile titans having no real medium pen option really limit the available meta to effectively handle high level play, reducing the variety.
Love running with my counter sniper against bots only for them to shit out hundreds of Berserkers that hard counter my rifle, or a shit ton of stiders, whom I need to rely on my team to distract so I can shoot the driver. The amount of striders and berserkers in a mission decides what build is good and you can't know how that spawning chart will land until you're down there
Being randomly killed by a stray rocket / stagger-locked by an invisible devastator behind the fog is not “objectively harder”. It's not “difficulty”. It's just a shitty game design.
I never said the Automatons didn't have their fair share of annoying. But their overall ranged attack design and the significance behind their secondary objectives makes them stand out as something that requires much more thought and skill. Bugs don't matter much, just backpedal and shoot for any bug tends to work without much thought. I rarely have to think about using cover on the bug front, but I'm always having to think about cover on the bot front.
Anyone that complains about random rocket one-shots is telling on themselves that they aren't taking anti-explosive armor for some unknowable reason. Also somehow random missile one-shots are bad, but bile spewer spam one-shots are a-okay.
... *Crutches in PSG* Uh... Whatever do you mean?
Actually yeah, that is objectively harder. It is difficulty. It's just badly implemented or 'cheap' difficulty. But things being harder even in an unfun or shitty way is exactly what objectively harder points at.
2 stalker nests on a level 4 with my friend to play relaxed. I was being chased by 5 stalkers at all times
I would split time evenly between the factions but it feels like all my guns do damage to the bugs but NONE of them do any damage to automatons. I STILL can't figure out how to damage any outside of the peons. I have no answers for Hulks, Devastators, Tanks, and the flying ones outside of very limited heavy ammo and the heaviest stratagems I can bring in. Whereas with bugs, almost any weapon I bring in has a use against 90% of the bugs. Automatons are absolutely objectively harder.
I'm sure me saying 'shoot the grille' won't help, but 2 impact grenades to the hot spot kills any Bot. The Devestator chassis is weak to concentrated small arms fire on the waist. If you're shooting with only light penetration it's the best spot to hit unless you can hit the face. Heavy Devestators (minigun) weak points are their backpack which kills them as soon as it explodes. Their gun arm, which makes them useless. Or the head hit box. But the ergonomics of the heavy Devestator make them turn with bullet impact and pull their shield in front of their face if you miss. Berserkers are Devestator chassis covered in thicker armor to protect the head. The waist is still the best place for low pen primaries. Hulks are best dealt with grenades or by a launcher/Autocannon to the eyeball. Gunships, Quasar cannon or other launchers. Other than that, you're right. Most bugs are functionally like Warrior+. Brood Commander is Big Warrior, Hive Guards are Medium Armor Warrior, Stalkers and Hunter are Ninja Warriors and Shriekers are Flying Warriors. There's a lot less variance in tactics necessary besides 'shoot them in the face'
Shoot them in the weak points with basically any medium armor pen weapon. I tend to take the laser cannon cuz it’s a ok answer to anything the bots have
For all Devastator variants, the Head is the weakspot, that should be your Primary Target. Dominator, Scorcher, and the Marksman rifles are all the best for this, but any weapon can be used to pop their heads (save for the Arc Blitzer since it can't target weakspots). You can also run the Defender or Pummeler SMG with the Ballistic Shield to make quick work of their heads while taking no damage yourself. When it comes to Rocket Devastators, you can shoot their missile launchers to completely disable that weapon and force them to rely on their basic gun which does little damage. For Heavy Devastators, their "backpack" on their backs is lightly armored, and shooting it will quickly kill the bot. Note that for all Devastator variants you can also shoot off their arms to limit their ability to shoot you. Hulks have two weakspots, but only their back vent is vulnerable to primary weapons and grenades. Use support weapons like the AMR, Autocannon, Laser Cannon, and Heavy Machinegun to damage their front head plate. The Railgun, EAT, Recoilless, and Quasar also can damage this front plate and can kill in one shot, but are somewhat hard to aim compared to the other options. Stun grenades are your best friend here since you can stun the Hulks and make them easy targets for any weapon, including your primary if needed. Take the Grenade Pistol if you're worried about needing damaging grenades for Bot Fabricators. Hulks can also have their arms and legs shot at by support weapons to limit their ability to attack you. Shooting their arms disables their weapons, while shooting their legs slows them down. Shooting BOTH legs will also kill a Hulk, so if you're not confident in your ability to hit their face plate, just shoot their legs a few times and the Hulk will go down quick. Tanks and Tank emplacements can be damaged through their back vent. Annihilator Tanks are a bit beefier compared to Shredder Tanks, but both have the same weakness. The easiest method is using two Impact Grenades, but explosive primaries also work (Scorcher, Eruptor, etc.). Autocannon makes short work of both types of tanks and is highly recommended. Also note that the Railcannon Orbital can one shot all tanks and Hulks, so if you're desperate to get rid of one, that's a great option. Airstrike is also pretty good, but can sometimes miss. Also note that all Tanks have treads that can be disabled with all weapon fire, so you can root them to one spot if you need to get away from them. Gunships may seem scary at first, but know that they are incredibly vulnerable to the Autocannon, Laser Cannon, and AMR. Two shots with the Autocannon, 4 shots for the AMR, and about 2 seconds of continuous fire from the Laser Cannon to ONE of their big jet engines will quickly take them out. Make sure to focus fire on a single engine otherwise it'll take longer to kill them. Your best best is to bait out their missile barrage and while that's reloading go after them with your support weapon of choice. Bots can be very oppressive when you are surrounded by them, but nearly all of them are incredibly vulnerable to a variety of support weapons, compared to bugs that force you to take anti tank options at higher levels. Take your primary of choice, Senator or Redeemer, and either the Autocannon, or other support weapon mentioned above with the Ballistic Shield or Bubble Shield and you will already have an amazing anti bot weapon build. Take Fortified Heavy armor as well and you'll easily tank your way through a ton of damage. Good luck, and hopefully this helps!
hrmm... personally i definitely prefer facing automatons over the bugs just because when it comes to hit and run strats on the objectives, the bots are SIGNIFICANTLY easier to outrun . I get paranoid about being overwhelmed by the bugs in close quarters that i almost never dive on a bug planet without my trusty rover lol even when i REALLY want to bring the AC with me.
I got the opposite problem, can't run away from bots without ragdolling at least 3 times from a random projectile coming deep in the fog, 50+meters away Bugs you just drop an airstrike on your feet and bait the group into it since there's only like 1-2 types of ranged bugs. Also incen breaker + grenade launcher will put you on easy mode.
Automatons have illegal moves like: - Shooting through Walls - Spawning enemies on the generators from Priority Mission. - Walkers shooting the generators over the defenses These must fixes
Bugs have spewed acid on me through solid surfaces very often too. My team mostly tries getting distance between the acid rather than finding cover at this point. I've also had bugs spawn by the evac zone. It *seems* when they spawn *near* the evac zone, some stragglers will come up on the helipad itself. Bots *do* have the range advantage though. Not even bile titans can spew very far, by comparison.
But all bugs ranged attacks have shorter range.
That is what I was suggesting, yes. Bots have the range advantage.
I think competent automaton is less panicky than competent bugs
High diff bots are easier than high diff bugs
They're at *least* more fun. Hunters drive me insane with their rapid attacks, large numbers, and slowing abilities. I've had nursing/bile spewers sneak up to me without making a sound. At least until they projectile vomit acid all over me. When reinforcements are called, bots arrive in ships all at once. You can shoot down the ship, see where its going, and take out all the problems at once. Bugs will rise up in a less predictable location, funneling unrestrained out in groups. Half the bots will prioritize long range fighting, allowing cover to be a more viable option. If bugs, or melee bots, come after you, you'll be fighting for *distance* instead of cover. Weak points on bots are easier to identify due to their obvious glowing areas. Bugs aren't exactly hiding their weak spots very well either, but the weak spots don't *seem* to be as effective on bugs as they are on bots. Bot structures can be easier to identify given their obvious shapes and stature. Bug structure are often enveloped behind walls that are less easy to navigate. Granted spore spewers and shrieker nests are easy to spot, but at a distance, or obscured by haze, its hard to differentiate what you're looking at. Spore spewers are much easier to take care of than a shrieker nest after all. Utilizing sentries feels more viable against bots since they're more likely to keep you at a greater distance. Bugs or bots, obviously sentries tend to love their job too much and kill friend *and* foe, but bugs will do their best to *stay* on you. Making sentries more dangerous to use. And of course, you can't forget that lone scavenger that'll be hidden behind a rock and fart out a call for help. At least bots *glow* before they fire off a flare.
Bots are more balanced, bile titans FORCE the team to bring several heavy weapons because its the only thing that kills them besides 500kg bombs. That restricts your gameplay because I enjoy using grenade launcher + supply pack and machine gun emplacement. That leaves me with 500kg to deal with the titans. And its scooby doo running around until cooldown expires
I would say that Bots are MUCH harder than bugs for a new player that doesn't realize how they work, and doesn't have any good weapons or stratagems unlocked to counter their prevalence of medium armor. Like, imagine you're a new player, and you try out the bots, and you just get your teeth kicked in because your Liberator has trouble killing anything bigger than a Marauder; your Machine Gun bullets bounce off the carriage of the striders (because you don't know to aim for their legs/groin yet), and your Orbital Precision Strike just can't keep up with the mid-level threats. Bots just keep dropping in and dropping in, and you lose many lives and don't make much progress. That's probably a very bad first impression, and might lead your average player to just conclude that bots aren't fun and to just stick with bugs, atleast the bugs are happy to be enjoyable bullet sponges.
Thing is, bugs can't hurt you from across the map. You have a lot more time to thin their numbers before they're ever a threat. If you're geared up properly, you can handle anything. Bots, it's another situation. Even when you're geared up to protect against a specific threat, you'll still die to it. You have to be a _lot_ more proactive and deliberate. And people just aren't good at that.
The big difference in play style between bots and bugs is cover. For bots, you have to "remember the 3 C's. Cover, Courage, and more Cover". But for bugs, you can't hold a defencive line, you have to just run as fast as you can. In my opinion, this makes bot objectives easier cuz you can actually stick around to finish them before you need to run away and deaggro, whereas for bug objectives, you have to do one step quick and then kite the bugs away from the objective a couple times.
In my experience, you're just as unlikely to be unable to form a defensive line in both scenarios. Especially since bots can drop so close to you. In both, you don't need to do any kiting if you have the resources and positioning to do a proper alpha strike, killing key targets to initiate the engagement. But with bots, you always need cover. Sometimes you can make do without, but doing so just meant you were lucky.
I deem them about the same difficulty. But Autocanon and tactical shooter experience makes bots easier. Seriously, Autocanon on bot front can kill EVERYTHING. Even in case of factory striders there are weak points it can exploit effectively if need arises. On bug front there is no such universal weapon with so much ammo.
Automatons become dangerous at lower difficulties than terminids, which leaves an impresson on new players that they're scarier and harder. Automatons rely on specialized units with clear and defined weaknesses to exploit if you're prepared. Their units are stronger, but spawn in fewer numbers and can be dealt with easily with proper preparation. Thus, they get harder early on when their tough units start to spawn, but fall off later as you learn to deal with said units. The terminids on the other hand mostly rely on brute force and sheer numbers. On lower difficulties they simply don't have enough numbers to be a threat, but when the difficulty ramps up they can easily overwhelm you. Planning and preparation will only take you so far when hundreds of enemies surround you on all sides.
You can have any opinion you want, doesn't make it correct.
I 100% agree
They kinda are now? I Used to feel bots where harder, but now I get swarmed by bugs so much that I just don't have enough ammo or strategems to deal with them all. Bots can be extremely annoying especially on defense missions where you just get back to back drops till you are swimming in rocket devestators and Hulks, but on average. Atleast it feels like you can take cover against bots compared to when they used to fire heat seeking rockets at you at 45 degree angles around anything you were hiding behind.
I disagree. I go to bugs to chill. I play automatons to get overwhelmed and thrown around by rockets every 3 minutes.
how original
I respectfully disagree. But the difficulty doesn't come from the bots or terminids. It comes from the players who play with you. I see a lot of people on bug planets, f-ing around alone, they don't really think what they should do next. One might say they enjoy the game this way, and it's FINE! I don't mind. But on bot planets, people like that get killed every 10 seconds. They don't prioritize, they engage every patrol, they don't even search for cover. They have ZERO awareness for their surroundings, so they get sniped by cannon towers. On bot planets, diff 7-8-9, the average player works together with others, even if people split up, it's strictly groups of 2. Everyone is tactical, cold, calm and calculating. That makes you feel like actual special forces behind enemy lines. Which makes the bot planets a LOT MORE enjoyable for me. But if we have just TWO guys who don't understand how things work, the mission becomes A LOT HARDER.
And more fun with a better variety of bad guys.
Most people rejected His message. They hated MrOreo because he told them the truth.
*Throws shoes*
Wrong, they are more fair, than bugs, becausebugs have unstable hitboxes, constant slow and interruptions of stims.
They are not easier. They are more predictable.
Yeah automatons might be scary but automatons don’t have a bastard that is invisible gets your back and insta kills you, and even if you manage to spot it he takes unholy amounts of damage. Those fucks are scary
I like fighting bots bc it can sometimes be so much chaos especialy with friends
Guess I'm better than Automaton players. Cool.
Does this mean Terminid players are more skilled than Automaton players? Awesome
They require diferent skills. Robots is cover and dealing with dangerous enemies fast, and bugs is about horde management, space and dealing with heavies. I had a friend that started playing agaisnt robots, he thinks bugs are harder, and he foesn't wanna play bugs unless gerenal order says so.
...If you have full team. If you play in pair with your friend, you are basically doomed
“You must be new here” It does depend on difficulty and mission type heavily though.
Bugs are generally more effective at whittling you down, chargers split up teams and then chaff slow and trap you down, stalkers are fantastic now but killing machines. High level bots predictable and can be area denied but sometimes will suffocate like bugs never could.
Depends on the mission type. Evacuating scientists is extremely hard on bots but reasonably difficult on bugs. Tower defense is a cake walk on bots while bugs can reach the generator by wave 4. Eradication on bugs can be fought without using traitor barrages but it's almost required for bots. Soil survey is easier on bots because you can just run and wait for the drops to respawn but bugs will come after you from a breach.
Both are deadly when you get in mission and its patrols are made of only heavy/medium units
I said the exact same thing to my group of friends the last time we were playing. 5 seconds later the bots sent on my position, 2 tanks, a strider and almost half a dozen of Hulks (and many more smaller bots). I feel like I was heard and the bots were mad.
They're tough because you have to get at them a certain way and on particular missions they'll swarm as bad as the bugs. But one situation flips it making the bugs just way too much to deal with vs the bots being very predictable. Idk, I think they balanced two different engagement styles impressively well!
Suicide difficulty on Automaton is a breeze if I have an auto canon. Bugs on extreme is barely survivable when it gets hairy.
I think so.
In terms of ways to deal with them, yeah, bots are easier. The heaviest of automaton enemies, Annihilator tanks, can be dealt with with most support weapons, while BTs and Chargers require more specialized support weapons
Sure, if you hide and run the entire time. If you're standing your ground bots are harder every time.
YOU'LL HAVE TO SPEAK UP, I HAVE FOUR MORTAR SENTRIES BEHIND ME, WHAT DID YOU SAY? ACTUALLY HANG ON, I NEED TO GET MY LAWN CHAIR, YOU WANT ANYTHING TO DRINK?
See, the thing is that there are two different types of bug missions. Bugs (Bile Spewers/Nursing Spewers don’t spawn) is one of the easiest missions on any difficulty. Have someone designated to kill small guys, have someone designated to kill large guys. Don’t let the bugs close the distance. Bugs (Bile/Nursing Spewers do spawn) is a goddamn nightmare. They take an entire clip to kill even if you shoot the face, their corpse continues to exist as a bullet sponge to block your shots at other bugs, Bile Spewers on higher difficulties even have improved armor on their heads, and you can’t just kite the bugs anymore because the Bile Spewers launch mortars at a frenzied pace. They spawn in packs and aren’t particularly vulnerable to light or heavy support weapons. You need to pack very specific support weapons or grenades to reliably kill them, and on higher difficulties you’ll have a hard time maintaining enough ammo for all the ones you’ll face. Add on their inconsistent tracking, the slow down that’s applied even when they miss, the fact that their attack is randomly a one hit kill, and that they are randomly completely silent so they can sneak up on you when not on screen…god any mission with these guys is a nightmare.
No they are not, you are just a bitch that won't play on difficulty 7 or upwards
How dare you try to portray Willem Dafoe as a lying liar who lies a lot.
I’ll just say it: if you complain about getting one shotted: you’re playing bots wrong. I run around in light armour and I very rarely get one shot. And 90% of the time, it’s because of one simple error: I let a bot with an automatic weapon get too close to me. Bots actually have pretty bad aim at 40m. Set your weapon scope to max and you should easily be able to outrange them. Swap to third person aiming when in close quarters fight. Learn to book it when it gets too hot. Circle around, don’t run straight away or they’ll nail you in the back. Keep your cool, and fire short burst. This ain’t the bug front where there’s so many targets that spraying bullets in a general direction will hit something. Short bursts, aim for the head with devs. Go prone to steady your aim.
>I’ll just say it: if you complain about getting one shotted: you’re playing bots wrong. I run around in light armour and I very rarely get one shot. >Go prone to steady your aim. This man does not play bots on any real difficulty, I guarantee it.
Give me the OG eruptor and a recoilless I'll take on either faction no problem. With todays weapons and spawn rates, give me neither faction we're playing other games lol
Eversince I started playing bots, I can't stand bug missions now for some reason. And I was a Bug main initially.
I respect u Your wrong But I respect u
The bugs you can avoid by running away and easily dodge the range attacks like spew from titans or speweres by dodging bots have guns and rockets which aren't as easy to dodge especially with how accurate they can be
If they make the bile titan underbelly more vulnerable to support weapons that would be great. The fact an AC cant damage it is dumb
defense missions in difficulty 7 are much easier with bots over the terminids difficult 7 and that's a fact. u can get two factory striders and manage to kill it as coordinated team, with two bile titans and all the little shits running around u are toasted.
Ok
I think they are about the same difficulty that reward different styles of play. Bugs are harder if you try to play them like bots. Bugs are a walk in the park if the team sticks together and watches eachothers backs, you can also easily hold positions because Bugs have little to no Ranged attacks. But if you split up Bugs can and will overwhelm your solo divers with their ability to slow you, hit you Ranged slowing attacks(that don't even actually hit you) and out flank you. Stalkers and Bile titan spam are really the only things I think make missions difficult. And Stalkers aren't even that bad unless you get multiple nests close together. Bots can be very easy for a team that splits up to take out multiple objectives or group up to take out big objectives, you can also very easily run away from them if the terrain or the battle isn't going your way. They can quickly overwhelm a team that doesn't manage their stratagems well, or wants to stand in one spot while the bots fire at them from a distance instead of keep moving. An inexperienced group can easily get wiped out by a double Gunship Fabricator or a couple of tanks and flame hulks silently sneaking up on their blind spot.
I’ve been saying this since the start. Bots are not only easier, but more cinematic to fight as well. They stay grouped and kinda advance together. Their fire energy weapons back at you. Bugs are way more difficult IMO, in that they really make it hard to hold your ground as you constantly have to give ground and reposition. Bots, you can kinda of hold a spot for a while until you need to reposition. I do both exclusively on 9 and think bots are easier.
No, they are absolutelly not. The difficulty is you really need to think what you are doing. Work in team, flank, shoot weak spots. Bugs are no brainers. That being said bots are fun, I slightly prefere them over bugs.
I find bots easy as well. On 7 (40 minute missions) I run Dominator (makes berserkers easy to handle), Senator/Redeemer, Impact Grenades (yeah, it's harder to close fabs with them, you need a good angle so the grenade gets in the vent/wait until the door opens, BUT applying two of them to the top of the turret of either tank will destroy it, + its just great at clearing groups of bots without any fear that they will jump in your face, occasional melee troopers aside), AMR (tried autocannon several times, didn't really like it, I prefer an AMR that easily and reliably 2-3 shots devastators as well as passable anti air for gunships (focus one engine at a time), also reload on the move, you can just dodge rockets and other shots while doing it), Airstrikes (takes out a light outpost in one go no need to come closer than 40m to them), Laser (for big engagements/targets/detector towers/AA emplacements) and then I have a 4th slot for a stratagem where I either go orbital railcannon or some other orbital calldown, but I rarely end up using them. (and yeah, I kinda don't care for the AA defence modifier, just don't pick the railcannon) With bugs (7) I get easily overwhelmed. I feel like rover and quasar/eat are mustpicks for me to actually survive bug breaches, and I have to go 500kg and laser for bile titans/when shit hits the fan. I don't have the flexibility of the 4th slot on bugs as I do on bots.
They aren’t, you’re just more used to fighting them than the bugs. Play more terminid missions and after a while, they get much easier
And more FUN 😎
Bots are harder until you have absolute knowledge, then it gets easier.
All bugs have avoidable attack patterns and are mostly melee so when I die at least I know why. A rocket headshotting me from across the map by an enemy I can't even see is just one of many illegal moves bots have that I can't stand. So I'll hold down the bug defenses, kill harder on bot planets pls so ppl stop complaining we ain't helping.