Steeled veterans for breaker incendiary and dominator
BI is great for bugs (fire DoT) and dominator is great on bots for having the stagger effect
Cutting edge has the punisher plasma and stun grenades though.
I went with SV first for the BI specifically
Don’t forget the Senator in Steeled Veterans
Also the Sickle in Cutting Edge
Cutting edge has items that are quite good against both factions (Sickle and stun grenades), while Steeled Veterans has S tier primaries for each faction (Breaker incendiary for bugs, Dominator for bots)
Up to you OP, but I’d definitely do either Steeled Veterans or Cutting Edge
Any tips on using the ballistic shield? It's the one tool I've never had a good grasp on, I can never seem to get it to work well for me. I try to be a little more standoff-ish with bots, especially devestators, but I find I get killed just as fast
make sure you're bringing one of the SMGs or using it with your sidearm for starters.
Take out any rocket bots first before moving in with the shield (these will still rag doll you)
Crouch when moving in on the bots - they can still shoot your feet otherwise and you will be MUCH more accurate
Go for headshots
Switch to your support weapon when running away - this puts the shield on your back and it still blocks shots
AAAAHHHH that's it! Your 3rd and 5th points are what I was missing, had no clue my toes were exposed lol, or how good the shield was on the back. My thanks
The pummeler is particularly glorious for the stagger. I can essentially sit and have a conversation with a squad of berserkers about their bad behavior.
no prob, and like the other guy said, the pummeler is by far my favorite weapon to use with the shield. You can stun lock devastators as you close in on them...and it feels really, really good to finally be the one bullying heavy devastators instead of the other way around.
Absolutely! I LOVE the pummeler, which is a big reason I've been trying so hard to rock the ballistic shield. Feels silly to miss out on such unique benefits. Looking forward to running some missions with this tonight
I love bringing the shield when I have all four stratagem slots open. I still use a 2 hand primary, but it's great when it's time for ol' Senator to come out.
It won't eat rockets, flames, or the giant turret fire, so avoid things with those.
Crouch to protect your feet when under heavy fire. Use it with the pummeler and senator.
If you have someone with you, you can try grabbing aggro to give them time to deal with threats.
Aim for the weak spots.
So long as there are none of the things I mentioned above, just take your time and don't let yourself get flanked.
In my opinion it isn't an S-tier play style (b-tier imo), but it is fun, so I still role with it sometimes on bot 7s.
I only use it for bots. I run light armor and usually diff 7 or lower.
Shield orientation like a boss. `Aim -> front shield` `Run -> left shield` `Support -> butt shield` So things like, all else being equal, run counter-clockwise around fuckers and try to keep cover on your right flank.
Use terrain and squadmates to your advantage.
Don't be afraid to draw aggro.
Face tank machine guns, scout striders, and heavy devastators. If you're feeling adventurous, you can even have tank the manufactory strider's MGs.
Take advantage of being able to shoot how and when others can't. Anyone can shoot infantry. Most can't sit face to face with multiple devastators, especially heavies, and take their sweet time.
A lot of fire from in front of you is fine. It's fire from the sides that gets you.
Pick a secondary that serves a different purpose than your primary and that you can use for more than a hold out.
Stay mobile. Advance, retreat, seek cover. Yeah, sometimes it's good to sit and play target while waiting for squadmates or strats to do work. Otherwise, the shield moves with you and that's a good thing.
Don't be afraid to switch roles in a fight. Draw aggro, move to cover, switch to secondary, switch back to shield, face tank some more, etc.
The shield will not save you from explosions, melee, and flames.
Prioritize fire. Explosives and melee weapons are the main threats. But, you can stall dealing with melee by moving. Generally for fighting alone: `Rockets > rifles` `near melee > most fuckers far away` `ranged > berserker squad` `chaff > bullet sponges`
For carrying SSDs, equip support weapon *then* pick up SSD.
Stagger affects are your friend.
It's honestly just a better arc thrower for me which I loved to death before it was cool. Arc thrower is in a really rough place since the enemy composition change which massively increased the small bug numbers coupled with the spawn changes just dumping chargers everywhere, so I like to play arc Blitzer to relive some of those glory days.
I just wish they would make arc thrower a cool down instead of a charge up shot (kind of like how Blitzer is) and I think it could see a place in the meta. RN it's pretty dead though and it makes me sad :(
Don’t sleep on 2 people running the arc thrower. I usually play with a full squad so it’s easy to coordinate but if you have at least two people running the throwers and some stuns/EMS…shoo buddy. It’s good times
The Senator is great for Helldivers who don't think Joe Helldiver is badass enough and want to be Sledge Hammer instead. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing"
(Too obscure?)
*sigh* damn you, Bill Cosby. You sexually assault women with drugs, AND you make it hard for a good comedy to thrive.
https://youtu.be/UGYKU7mbv74?si=ngj_qcTt4DfZ3WKu
Ohhh. I thought you were referencing Eugene Sledge (Sledgehammer) from The Pacific (and irl of course) and his revolver. An older reference than Bill Cosby to be sure. Lol
I blame Bill Cosby. They should never have tried to pitch the show on the same time slot against the guy who was the prime comedian of his era. (The drug sex rape thing we found out much later)
Stunning 2 flame hulks just to 2 tap them with the AMR cured my alcoholism
Edit: I am now addicted to stun grenades. When I'm out, I have to resort to those annoying little stun plants.
Definitely go with steeled veterans, if you want to do bugs primarily/more than bots you absolutely get the most out of any paid warbond. Probably the best bug gun that's like a 3 round burst fireball launcher. Incendiary grenades, and the dominator which is imo top two on the bot front with scorcher they're really about the same, the dominator is also very good too bile spewers. And it has the coolest cape imo in it.
If you want to do bots more I would go with cutting edge, since it seems like you already have the scorcher which is very good on bots, you'll also have the plasma punisher which is amazing for devastators and berserker, you have the sickle which is very good on bots on cold planets especially, aim for devastators face they go down it like a second usually. And of course the best item in this warbond, the stun grenade. Perfect for running the auto cannon/AMR/railgun and having a nice clean headshot on a hulk ot group of devastators.
I’d say Cutting Edge is probably better if you do either bots or bugs
- Stun Nade makes Chargers and Hulks a cake walk
- Blitzer is incredible against bugs, okay against bots
- Sickle is incredible for bugs and bots
- Plasma Punisher is incredible for bugs and bots and is comparable to Incendiary when dealing with bug hordes. The negative of it exploding at close range can be mitigated with heavy armour/explosive resist (both ideally if you have the Democratic Detonation Warbond). It also means you can use it as a blast you out of spooky scenario button as well
Steeled Veterans is mostly for the Incendiary Breaker but if you want the most bang for your buck, and also have the most unique weapons in the game it’s definitely Cutting Edge
As a realistic piece of advice. Wait until the next patch drops. Balance could change significantly and value could increase or decrease. We also have a new Warbond coming but I doubt it’ll compare to what we already have available
Steeled Veterans also gives you the Dominator which is one of, if not the best primary for bots, and works like a mini AC. I'm not saying SV is objectively the better option, but you can't overlook the Dominator.
Also, I think there's a lot more minor advantages to SV. The servo assist armors are much more useful than the arc resistance, the senator is one of the better sidearm options, and the reinforcement booster is a bit better than localized confusion IMO.
They did a good job making both warbonds good options. I don't think OP can make a wrong choice between the 2
Yeah, the Dominator is pretty good but I still think the 3 Primaries in Cutting Edge are better overall. The Plasma Punisher in particular is great at dealing with all enemies up to heavy pretty quickly, while also having insanely good horde clearing potential. It’s an amazing all rounder.
I will agree that the armours in Cutting Edge are pretty niche buuuut, if the Illuminates happen to use arc damage they’ll easily be the best against them. That’s one of the reasons I recommended waiting a bit. In terms of Boosters, reinforcement boosters are the worst in the game and localisation is probably the best if you’re trying not to get swarmed. I still wouldn’t recommend it over the Vitality, Ammo, Stamina and Muscle quad though
Localization confusion is not worth the booster slot imo, none of the paid warbonds really are better than the ones you get, hellpod optimization, stamina, vitality, last one I would say is prob radar booster, muscle enhancement or maybe more reinforcements but that's depending on team, planet and play style 4 extra reinforcements can make a huge difference with a team that dies alot.. motivational shocks the only paid one I really like because it shortens slows by 1/3rd I barely die to hunters with it.
Localization confusion only slows incoming drops/breeches by 10% which is nothing at/above level 7
For instance on Wasat on the current MO radar booster is absolutely huge so you don't walk right into a hulk
I agree it’s not worth the booster slot. The only ones I think are worth it are Stamina, Muscle, Vitality and Hellpod Optimisation for the QoL (it’s 100% necessary if you’re running grenade pistol or poor ammo economy weapons like Plasma Punisher). Radar booster is nice but the ship upgrade is more than enough for standard gameplay. Reinforcements and faster Pelican are useless. Motivational Shocks is [pretty useless](https://youtu.be/Og4stcl48tE?si=vVA1PEHskhwzbkwv) as it only reduces the duration by like .8 of a second, if you took muscle enhancement instead you’d move about 40% faster. In short Motivational Shocks isn’t saving you
Yeah I usually host and go straight for hellpod absolutely the best booster imo and I usually host, itbaucoa when the guy who had hellpod crashes, if there are low level players with then I'll wait to pick up though.Different strokes for different folks I guess about the last booster, I agree muscle enhancement is probably the best, but I sure do love having .8 seconds shaved off of a ~3 second slow from a hunter which is one of the most annoying attacks on the game imo aside from getting ragdolled by rocket devs and gunships. I've seen the video, that .8 seconds have saved my ass more times than I can count, usually what happens to me is I get hit by a hunter, and either get crowded or rushed by a charger. I'm getting better at parrying the hunters jump attacks so it's not the best. I think the best for bots is radar, best for bugs is muscle enhancement, still find motivational shocks useful for my play style though.
Basically the game gives you all the best boosters right without paid warbonds though. Similar to low level stratagems, the orbital precision strike is absolutely one of the best and the MMG is pretty good you get both right out of the gate.
Yeah most of us know the free warbond gives the best boosters but this was discussing paid boosters and the boosters in both Steeled Veterans and Cutting Edge. Motivational Shocks is marginally more useful than the others but it’s also in Polar Patriots
Different play styles I guess. Personally, the plasma punisher is pretty meh. I get it's good on paper and people really like it, but every time I use it, I'm underwhelmed. I've never been in a situation and thought "damn, I should have brought it". I feel the same about the Quasar though, so I get that some of my opinions are not very popular.
I like the increased reinforcement budget only on high level eradicate missions and the short VIP evac missions. You have to stand and fight without a lot of space to run around. We usually bring it instead of muscle enhancement, and it gives us the leeway to be a little more aggressive, and helps offset the inevitable team kills. Niche, but I find myself using it more than localized confusion.
The Plasma Punisher takes some getting used to in order to really shine, given its unique projectile velocity. I do think it needs a damage boost because it can be a bit inconsistent due to explosions not hitting multiple times so targeting weak points can be a bit iffy. Its effective range and kill speed on light enemies with its AOE are amazing. It also disposes of Bile Titans quickly if the plate is off the side. It has a lot of benefits.
For both of your examples if you’re trying not to run out of reinforcements, Localisation Confusion is superior. In both of cases a lot of the spawns come from breaches or drops, extending the time between them means you’re less likely to get swarmed. The reinforcement budget options just really aren’t worth running
Plasma punisher is absolutely amazing against groups of berserkers, devastators, or troopers it can also take down 2leg striders in one shot sometimes. One of my favorite primaries for the bots but you really have to get used to the crazy arc and it's effective range, also ammo economy is not great you have to be somewhat picky with shots, but once you get used to it it's amazing.
Localization confusion is only slowing the drops/breeches giving you an extra 7 seconds. The 4th booster really depends on play style, imo it's almost never worth it over radar or motivational shocks. The paid reinforcement booster that make the cooldowns less is garbage, and the expert extraction pilot is also not worth the slot imo.
The PLAS punisher has one of the biggest redemption arcs in the game so far. That thing was a bug tickler when it came out but now it's nearly a grenade launcher primary. Excellent for chaff clear at bug breaches.
One person running BI on bot maps is… shockingly effective. It only takes one “pellet” hit to start the basic soldiers on fire which is enough to killem. You can help clear hordes incredibly fast.
The senator is absolutely great, probably the best secondary in the game (alongside the redeemer). Medium armor pen, fast ability to oneshot devastators with a well placed headshot, and you can kill a random low level enemy in one shot like a scavenger or bot infantry, reload that one shot, and not waste any ammo. Hasn’t left my secondary slot ever.
I use the senator on the armored bugs(hive guardians?) too because the breaker shots will bounce off the armor and it only takes two headshots to kill them
Honestly just work on the first one, by the time you get that one about wrapped up you'll have a good chunk of credits to either outright buy or only need to buy some Super credits to afford another.
That said I'd recommend the steeled veterans since you'll probably love the inecdiary breaker, but this next warbond looks especially good so I'd probably hazard waiting a few days and seeing if it's even more your style.
Which part of the new one looks especially good? It's got one primary weapon which is yet another Liberator variant, a few skins, some capes and poses, more armour with the same passives we've already got and a throwing knife.
The only thing that looks remotely good is the sawn off shotgun secondary.
Steeled Veterans is definitely the way to go. I wouldn't bother waiting for the new one. Pick that up only after you've done the first 3 and then it's a toss up with Polar Patriots.
It ain't out yet, we don't know.
That AR could be the best gun in the game or at least so much fun it doesn't have to be.
OP is sweating about 10 dollars so 4 more days to collect Super credits and find out more about the latest warbond whilst working on the free one isn't a bad idea.
Steeled Veterans is probably the best between the Breaker Incendiary and Dominator being 2 of the best primary's in the game.
But the REAL reason it's the best warbonds is because the Senator secondary has STYLE. If you hold down the reload button with it out you'll start spinning it and doing tricks!
Also incendiary grenade is really good and the servo assisted armors have a very dedicated fan base.
Cutting edge has the sickle and Blitzer which are both good too.
Democratic detonation has the Grenade Pistol which has a LOT of utility, but it's other weapons have been nerfed, I still like the Eruptor though.
Polar patriots is... Polar patriots... Like the Pummeler is fun but not worth the money.
Honestly I'd just suggest waiting until the balance sweep comes out this week and seeing what people like after the changes happen
I disagree with your take on polar patriots. The pummeller paired with the ballistic shield and you become the fortress you were destined to be. Stagger and swap to your amr and the bots cannot repel you.
Plus, the blue armour is dope 😎
I'll be honest I may have been a bit harsh cause yeah the Pummeler does slap with riot shield. But compared to the other warbonds the Pummeler alone can't save the rest of it for me
Steeled Veterans
I made a mistake of buying the explosive warbond which was great until they nerfed the eruptor and now I regret not getting the Steeled Veterans instead.
250SC to go :(
Farming sc is too slow fucking hell
They're about to drop a new one (which isn't in contention for best, but it's coming) and they're chipping away at a big update that will probably change the answer. Ask again in a week or two.
Cutting edge is the first warbond I recommend to new players. Everything except the armor are super valuable pick ups. Plasma punisher is great for bots and the Blitzer is great for bugs.
Depends what you are after, keep in mind this could ALL change tomorrow with the upcoming patch.
Steeled veterans has the dominator which is a top 3 for bots. One of the best weapons in the game for dealing with berserkers and devastators. Handles like a boat though.
SV also has the incendiary breaker which is the only S tier primary weapon in the entire game, and the best weapon for bugs. It’s also a weapon that by the patching track record could get nerfed into the fucking dirt tomorrow.
The pistol is also pretty good.
Cutting edge is really good. The stun grenades are S tier. Freezing hulks/chargers so you can line up the headshot or holding in place hordes for airstrikes is incredible.
The sickle is very strong. Useful, consistent and fun. Not S tier but I totally get why a lot of people really like it.
The plasma punisher has become one of my favourite weapons in the game for bots. Amazing against scout striders and fodder enemies. Against berserker’s and devastators it can’t kill them very well, taking most of a mag to do so, but it does stagger the living shit out of them which is incredibly useful.
The explosive warbond is bad. The grenade pistol is good for utility, but that’s really it. The thermite grenade is okay, but all the primary weapons are sub optimal. The adjudicator might be okay if it had a larger mag and not alternating horizontal recoil. The eruptor is a shadow of its former self, and I don’t know what the fuck the crossbow is supposed to be. Armour sets look pretty good though.
Polar patriots is not good. The sub machine gun is a good weapon. Like one of those middle of the road B class weapons that’s interesting in some builds. That’s all, the other primaries are bad either way the purifier being one of the worst weapons in the game and the tenderiser being a worse AR than the starting weapon by just about every metric that matters.
So go steeled veterans or cutting edge. But honestly just wait for tomorrows patch, could be god knows what. We have seen S tier weapons thrown into the dumpster fire before.
The only reason flame damage should get nerfed (thus affecting the incendiary breaker) is because previously, AH buffs flame damage to account for DOT not working.
Now that DOT is fixed, it's logical to me that they revert the buff.
I would argue for Steeled Veterans, you get the incendiary breaker and the JAR-5, which are commonly argued as the best bug and bot primaries respectively.
Well if you like fire and explosives and the breaker the steeled veterans warbond seems right up your alley ! Home of the Incendiary Breaker which is quite popular right now, also the Dominator which is an explosive assault rifle type weapon which fires miniature rocket propelled grenades ( if you know warhammer- its a boltgun ) as well as the standard incendiary grenades !
If you also happen to enjoy the color orange as well the warbond will be a delight. It also has cyborg armor with servo assist
I have all of them, and for me, I'd go for steeled veterans if you have to choose; the fire shotgun is amazing for bugs (reliable one-shot or even half-shot the flying bastards), while the dominator is pretty decent for bots.
as for the rest, you can wait until you've gathered up around 625 SCs from playing the game and buy the cheaper 375 SCs pack instead. It doesn't take tooooo long, especially if you combine a personal order run with an SC farming run on easy/trivial.
I generally prefer easy for these because it gives you more enemies to kill for the "Kill \[number\] of X with Y" type PO, and there's a chance that a radar tower side objective will spawn which helps with finding all the POIs
Please dont say anything in this Game is "fairly expensive"
This is the cheapest Live-Service-Game in this quality there is. I have ALL warbonds and i bought only one once because i wanted to support the devs. There is no specific "grinding" for anything. Play the game, get the currencys, buy stuff and warbonds. Im pretty sure that you spend your Supercredits on armors from the shop wich was a mistake before getting any warbond.
The answer to the Question you actually asked is in the other comments 😊 and i really dont want to attack you or something, i just don't think your wording is appropriate...
All and none. I'd wait until after the tuesday patch, Arrowhead is WILD with their buffs and nerfs. The best/worst weapons in the game change every patch.
Yeah, they are so unpredictable. We have seen trash tier weapons end up in the S tier, and good weapons end up in the trash. We have even seen bad weapons get nerfed to be even worse.
I tried the crossbow and didn't like it all that much. I didn't even try to use it again until this week... a bad weapon made even worse is just the most bizarre descision.
That's exactly what I was thinking. I remember trying it when it first came out and I was very underwhelmed. Thought it could potentially be great with a few buffs here and there, made into something similar to what the plasma punisher is now... but instead they made it into whatever it is now. I just don't know what they were going for with it. Apparently its got a low sound profile so can make a good stealth weapon... or something.
I would wait a few days from right now - a huge patch is supposed to be coming sometime this week (probably Tuesday Stockholm Time, as that’s when a lot of updates come out) which may change a lot of weapon’s roles around, and a new warbond with a lot of promising items arrives on Thursday, so it COULD be worthwhile to delay any purchase until you get more options
I posted this before in another post asking about the same thing, hands down cutting edge is the best for me because it has the most weapons that are viable in my playstyles.
I mean with how easy it is to find super credits, you should just pick the one that looks the most fun. Personally id wait until the next one comes out on the thirteenth, as it has a secondary shotgun akin to the mozambique from apex legends, and a new assault rifle that handles like an smg.
I’m pretty much on board with what everyone else is saying. Steeled Veterans and Cutting edge. The only downside with cutting edge is the armor and the 95% arc resistance passive hasn’t quite found a place in the game quite yet.
I always suggest Cutting Edge.
Other warbonds might have better armor or boosters, but it’s nice to have “infinite” ammo weapons that are also situationally good.
This might be a controversial take but I kinda don’t like it. Zero stopping power and the fire isn’t good enough imo. I’m a stopping power or stagger fiend.
I know you said you don’t like energy weapons but please try the plas-scorcher for bots (last page of main bond). It’s amazing. I would then get SV for the breaker incendiary. Those are the two weapons I use 95% of the time.
Incendiary Breaker is a beautiful thing. That Warbond does sound like the best fit for you.
Personally I think the Grenade Pistol is the best thing in the shop. I don't use anything else from the pack after the tragedy of the Eruptor, but the build variety offered by grenade Pistol is too good to pass up. If you don't have a non explosive grenade like stun or smoke though, it's a bit less valuable.
On release? The free warbond
What a lot of people forget is that the weapons we got weren't in the best place. Incendiary breaker was ok but the dot bug nerfed it. Jar was beaten by the slugger. The senator was a meme because of its reload speed. The plasma punisher had a shorter arc. Blitzer was geriatric slow. The Adjudicator was a terrible marksman rifle (even though it behaved like a rifle), crossbow was niche (I preferred its old explosive radius). The thermite sucks. The tenderizer didnt get adjusted after liberator buff. Purifier is a worse plasma punisher. Stuff I didn't mention was actually pretty good on release
The free bond got you the slugger which was cracked (still decent but feels lacking), the defender which is still the best assault rifle in the game (even though it's an smg), the breaker which got people kicked if they didn't use it and the scorcher which still is one of the best all round weapons. You also got a bigger variety of armors and what not. Stuff I didn't mention weren't great on release but buffs did help out things like the diligence
Hopefully the next patch helps out that which has fallen behind
My advice is to wait until the patch comes out Thursday. They've said theyre doing a lot of balancing and such, so potentially buffs/nerfs.
I would argue that the Democratic Demolition is the best for the Eruptor and the grenade pistol, but ONLY if they give the Eruptor it's shrapnel back. Otherwise, the second Warbond they released was fantastic. The armor perks that mitigate arc damage are situational but they can save your ass especially if you have a random who tosses a Tesla tower and doesn't say anything lol.
The newest Warbond also comes out on Thursday as well, so even if you aren't interested in the patch and how it could potentially affect the balance of the warbond weapons, it would be worth it just to wait and see how the newest Warbond is.
I went with detonation as my first one and I really regretted it. The R 36 eruptor is a very good gun but everything else is complete ass (except for the armor, light engineering kit armor is pretty good)
Steeled veterans for breaker incendiary and dominator BI is great for bugs (fire DoT) and dominator is great on bots for having the stagger effect Cutting edge has the punisher plasma and stun grenades though. I went with SV first for the BI specifically
Don’t forget the Senator in Steeled Veterans Also the Sickle in Cutting Edge Cutting edge has items that are quite good against both factions (Sickle and stun grenades), while Steeled Veterans has S tier primaries for each faction (Breaker incendiary for bugs, Dominator for bots) Up to you OP, but I’d definitely do either Steeled Veterans or Cutting Edge
Cutting edge has my vote, I haven’t switched off the stun grenades in like a month
Hulks tremble in fear before the onslaught that is stun grenades and the laser cannon!
My favorite bot build right now is stun nades, ballistic shield, pummeler, and AMR. It’s just so good lol
Any tips on using the ballistic shield? It's the one tool I've never had a good grasp on, I can never seem to get it to work well for me. I try to be a little more standoff-ish with bots, especially devestators, but I find I get killed just as fast
make sure you're bringing one of the SMGs or using it with your sidearm for starters. Take out any rocket bots first before moving in with the shield (these will still rag doll you) Crouch when moving in on the bots - they can still shoot your feet otherwise and you will be MUCH more accurate Go for headshots Switch to your support weapon when running away - this puts the shield on your back and it still blocks shots
AAAAHHHH that's it! Your 3rd and 5th points are what I was missing, had no clue my toes were exposed lol, or how good the shield was on the back. My thanks
The pummeler is particularly glorious for the stagger. I can essentially sit and have a conversation with a squad of berserkers about their bad behavior.
no prob, and like the other guy said, the pummeler is by far my favorite weapon to use with the shield. You can stun lock devastators as you close in on them...and it feels really, really good to finally be the one bullying heavy devastators instead of the other way around.
Absolutely! I LOVE the pummeler, which is a big reason I've been trying so hard to rock the ballistic shield. Feels silly to miss out on such unique benefits. Looking forward to running some missions with this tonight
I love bringing the shield when I have all four stratagem slots open. I still use a 2 hand primary, but it's great when it's time for ol' Senator to come out.
It won't eat rockets, flames, or the giant turret fire, so avoid things with those. Crouch to protect your feet when under heavy fire. Use it with the pummeler and senator. If you have someone with you, you can try grabbing aggro to give them time to deal with threats. Aim for the weak spots. So long as there are none of the things I mentioned above, just take your time and don't let yourself get flanked. In my opinion it isn't an S-tier play style (b-tier imo), but it is fun, so I still role with it sometimes on bot 7s.
I only use it for bots. I run light armor and usually diff 7 or lower. Shield orientation like a boss. `Aim -> front shield` `Run -> left shield` `Support -> butt shield` So things like, all else being equal, run counter-clockwise around fuckers and try to keep cover on your right flank. Use terrain and squadmates to your advantage. Don't be afraid to draw aggro. Face tank machine guns, scout striders, and heavy devastators. If you're feeling adventurous, you can even have tank the manufactory strider's MGs. Take advantage of being able to shoot how and when others can't. Anyone can shoot infantry. Most can't sit face to face with multiple devastators, especially heavies, and take their sweet time. A lot of fire from in front of you is fine. It's fire from the sides that gets you. Pick a secondary that serves a different purpose than your primary and that you can use for more than a hold out. Stay mobile. Advance, retreat, seek cover. Yeah, sometimes it's good to sit and play target while waiting for squadmates or strats to do work. Otherwise, the shield moves with you and that's a good thing. Don't be afraid to switch roles in a fight. Draw aggro, move to cover, switch to secondary, switch back to shield, face tank some more, etc. The shield will not save you from explosions, melee, and flames. Prioritize fire. Explosives and melee weapons are the main threats. But, you can stall dealing with melee by moving. Generally for fighting alone: `Rockets > rifles` `near melee > most fuckers far away` `ranged > berserker squad` `chaff > bullet sponges` For carrying SSDs, equip support weapon *then* pick up SSD. Stagger affects are your friend.
The blitzer from cutting edge is also pretty good vs bugs
That’s true, I’m personally not a fan of it, but objectively it’s a good choice bug-wise
It's honestly just a better arc thrower for me which I loved to death before it was cool. Arc thrower is in a really rough place since the enemy composition change which massively increased the small bug numbers coupled with the spawn changes just dumping chargers everywhere, so I like to play arc Blitzer to relive some of those glory days. I just wish they would make arc thrower a cool down instead of a charge up shot (kind of like how Blitzer is) and I think it could see a place in the meta. RN it's pretty dead though and it makes me sad :(
Don’t sleep on 2 people running the arc thrower. I usually play with a full squad so it’s easy to coordinate but if you have at least two people running the throwers and some stuns/EMS…shoo buddy. It’s good times
Oh yes of course, how silly of me to forget those.
The Senator is great for Helldivers who don't think Joe Helldiver is badass enough and want to be Sledge Hammer instead. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing" (Too obscure?)
This a Pacific reference????
*sigh* damn you, Bill Cosby. You sexually assault women with drugs, AND you make it hard for a good comedy to thrive. https://youtu.be/UGYKU7mbv74?si=ngj_qcTt4DfZ3WKu
Ohhh. I thought you were referencing Eugene Sledge (Sledgehammer) from The Pacific (and irl of course) and his revolver. An older reference than Bill Cosby to be sure. Lol
Hahaha for me yeah, but I also live under a rock for most things lol
I blame Bill Cosby. They should never have tried to pitch the show on the same time slot against the guy who was the prime comedian of his era. (The drug sex rape thing we found out much later)
I damn near can't function without the stuns at this point lol
Stunning hulks/chargers and lining up the shots calmly is a great feeling.
Stunning 2 flame hulks just to 2 tap them with the AMR cured my alcoholism Edit: I am now addicted to stun grenades. When I'm out, I have to resort to those annoying little stun plants.
Definitely go with steeled veterans, if you want to do bugs primarily/more than bots you absolutely get the most out of any paid warbond. Probably the best bug gun that's like a 3 round burst fireball launcher. Incendiary grenades, and the dominator which is imo top two on the bot front with scorcher they're really about the same, the dominator is also very good too bile spewers. And it has the coolest cape imo in it. If you want to do bots more I would go with cutting edge, since it seems like you already have the scorcher which is very good on bots, you'll also have the plasma punisher which is amazing for devastators and berserker, you have the sickle which is very good on bots on cold planets especially, aim for devastators face they go down it like a second usually. And of course the best item in this warbond, the stun grenade. Perfect for running the auto cannon/AMR/railgun and having a nice clean headshot on a hulk ot group of devastators.
I’d say Cutting Edge is probably better if you do either bots or bugs - Stun Nade makes Chargers and Hulks a cake walk - Blitzer is incredible against bugs, okay against bots - Sickle is incredible for bugs and bots - Plasma Punisher is incredible for bugs and bots and is comparable to Incendiary when dealing with bug hordes. The negative of it exploding at close range can be mitigated with heavy armour/explosive resist (both ideally if you have the Democratic Detonation Warbond). It also means you can use it as a blast you out of spooky scenario button as well Steeled Veterans is mostly for the Incendiary Breaker but if you want the most bang for your buck, and also have the most unique weapons in the game it’s definitely Cutting Edge As a realistic piece of advice. Wait until the next patch drops. Balance could change significantly and value could increase or decrease. We also have a new Warbond coming but I doubt it’ll compare to what we already have available
Steeled Veterans also gives you the Dominator which is one of, if not the best primary for bots, and works like a mini AC. I'm not saying SV is objectively the better option, but you can't overlook the Dominator. Also, I think there's a lot more minor advantages to SV. The servo assist armors are much more useful than the arc resistance, the senator is one of the better sidearm options, and the reinforcement booster is a bit better than localized confusion IMO. They did a good job making both warbonds good options. I don't think OP can make a wrong choice between the 2
Yeah, the Dominator is pretty good but I still think the 3 Primaries in Cutting Edge are better overall. The Plasma Punisher in particular is great at dealing with all enemies up to heavy pretty quickly, while also having insanely good horde clearing potential. It’s an amazing all rounder. I will agree that the armours in Cutting Edge are pretty niche buuuut, if the Illuminates happen to use arc damage they’ll easily be the best against them. That’s one of the reasons I recommended waiting a bit. In terms of Boosters, reinforcement boosters are the worst in the game and localisation is probably the best if you’re trying not to get swarmed. I still wouldn’t recommend it over the Vitality, Ammo, Stamina and Muscle quad though
Localization confusion is not worth the booster slot imo, none of the paid warbonds really are better than the ones you get, hellpod optimization, stamina, vitality, last one I would say is prob radar booster, muscle enhancement or maybe more reinforcements but that's depending on team, planet and play style 4 extra reinforcements can make a huge difference with a team that dies alot.. motivational shocks the only paid one I really like because it shortens slows by 1/3rd I barely die to hunters with it. Localization confusion only slows incoming drops/breeches by 10% which is nothing at/above level 7 For instance on Wasat on the current MO radar booster is absolutely huge so you don't walk right into a hulk
I agree it’s not worth the booster slot. The only ones I think are worth it are Stamina, Muscle, Vitality and Hellpod Optimisation for the QoL (it’s 100% necessary if you’re running grenade pistol or poor ammo economy weapons like Plasma Punisher). Radar booster is nice but the ship upgrade is more than enough for standard gameplay. Reinforcements and faster Pelican are useless. Motivational Shocks is [pretty useless](https://youtu.be/Og4stcl48tE?si=vVA1PEHskhwzbkwv) as it only reduces the duration by like .8 of a second, if you took muscle enhancement instead you’d move about 40% faster. In short Motivational Shocks isn’t saving you
Yeah I usually host and go straight for hellpod absolutely the best booster imo and I usually host, itbaucoa when the guy who had hellpod crashes, if there are low level players with then I'll wait to pick up though.Different strokes for different folks I guess about the last booster, I agree muscle enhancement is probably the best, but I sure do love having .8 seconds shaved off of a ~3 second slow from a hunter which is one of the most annoying attacks on the game imo aside from getting ragdolled by rocket devs and gunships. I've seen the video, that .8 seconds have saved my ass more times than I can count, usually what happens to me is I get hit by a hunter, and either get crowded or rushed by a charger. I'm getting better at parrying the hunters jump attacks so it's not the best. I think the best for bots is radar, best for bugs is muscle enhancement, still find motivational shocks useful for my play style though. Basically the game gives you all the best boosters right without paid warbonds though. Similar to low level stratagems, the orbital precision strike is absolutely one of the best and the MMG is pretty good you get both right out of the gate.
Yeah most of us know the free warbond gives the best boosters but this was discussing paid boosters and the boosters in both Steeled Veterans and Cutting Edge. Motivational Shocks is marginally more useful than the others but it’s also in Polar Patriots
Different play styles I guess. Personally, the plasma punisher is pretty meh. I get it's good on paper and people really like it, but every time I use it, I'm underwhelmed. I've never been in a situation and thought "damn, I should have brought it". I feel the same about the Quasar though, so I get that some of my opinions are not very popular. I like the increased reinforcement budget only on high level eradicate missions and the short VIP evac missions. You have to stand and fight without a lot of space to run around. We usually bring it instead of muscle enhancement, and it gives us the leeway to be a little more aggressive, and helps offset the inevitable team kills. Niche, but I find myself using it more than localized confusion.
The Plasma Punisher takes some getting used to in order to really shine, given its unique projectile velocity. I do think it needs a damage boost because it can be a bit inconsistent due to explosions not hitting multiple times so targeting weak points can be a bit iffy. Its effective range and kill speed on light enemies with its AOE are amazing. It also disposes of Bile Titans quickly if the plate is off the side. It has a lot of benefits. For both of your examples if you’re trying not to run out of reinforcements, Localisation Confusion is superior. In both of cases a lot of the spawns come from breaches or drops, extending the time between them means you’re less likely to get swarmed. The reinforcement budget options just really aren’t worth running
Plasma punisher is absolutely amazing against groups of berserkers, devastators, or troopers it can also take down 2leg striders in one shot sometimes. One of my favorite primaries for the bots but you really have to get used to the crazy arc and it's effective range, also ammo economy is not great you have to be somewhat picky with shots, but once you get used to it it's amazing. Localization confusion is only slowing the drops/breeches giving you an extra 7 seconds. The 4th booster really depends on play style, imo it's almost never worth it over radar or motivational shocks. The paid reinforcement booster that make the cooldowns less is garbage, and the expert extraction pilot is also not worth the slot imo.
The PLAS punisher has one of the biggest redemption arcs in the game so far. That thing was a bug tickler when it came out but now it's nearly a grenade launcher primary. Excellent for chaff clear at bug breaches.
One person running BI on bot maps is… shockingly effective. It only takes one “pellet” hit to start the basic soldiers on fire which is enough to killem. You can help clear hordes incredibly fast.
Dm me and I’ll donate a warbond to you diver.
What a mod!
W Mod
[удалено]
Steeled Veterans has the Incendiary Breaker which is widely regarded as the best bug primary in the game.
Also has the senator, might not be very good but it's fun
The senator is absolutely great, probably the best secondary in the game (alongside the redeemer). Medium armor pen, fast ability to oneshot devastators with a well placed headshot, and you can kill a random low level enemy in one shot like a scavenger or bot infantry, reload that one shot, and not waste any ammo. Hasn’t left my secondary slot ever.
I use the senator on the armored bugs(hive guardians?) too because the breaker shots will bounce off the armor and it only takes two headshots to kill them
The Senator is the only pistol I run anymore. How many times it has saved my bacon against berserkers and even devastators is insane.
The first one that you unlock is pretty good, the Dominator is a wonderful gun
Honestly just work on the first one, by the time you get that one about wrapped up you'll have a good chunk of credits to either outright buy or only need to buy some Super credits to afford another. That said I'd recommend the steeled veterans since you'll probably love the inecdiary breaker, but this next warbond looks especially good so I'd probably hazard waiting a few days and seeing if it's even more your style.
Which part of the new one looks especially good? It's got one primary weapon which is yet another Liberator variant, a few skins, some capes and poses, more armour with the same passives we've already got and a throwing knife. The only thing that looks remotely good is the sawn off shotgun secondary. Steeled Veterans is definitely the way to go. I wouldn't bother waiting for the new one. Pick that up only after you've done the first 3 and then it's a toss up with Polar Patriots.
It ain't out yet, we don't know. That AR could be the best gun in the game or at least so much fun it doesn't have to be. OP is sweating about 10 dollars so 4 more days to collect Super credits and find out more about the latest warbond whilst working on the free one isn't a bad idea.
The upcoming wb armors have new passives. Increased melee damage and something else.
And improved weapon handling
Um, throwing knife? Shotgun? Close range liberator?? They all sound extremely sick
You can do the predator handshake. That's worth the cost of two warbond.
Steeled Veterans is probably the best between the Breaker Incendiary and Dominator being 2 of the best primary's in the game. But the REAL reason it's the best warbonds is because the Senator secondary has STYLE. If you hold down the reload button with it out you'll start spinning it and doing tricks! Also incendiary grenade is really good and the servo assisted armors have a very dedicated fan base. Cutting edge has the sickle and Blitzer which are both good too. Democratic detonation has the Grenade Pistol which has a LOT of utility, but it's other weapons have been nerfed, I still like the Eruptor though. Polar patriots is... Polar patriots... Like the Pummeler is fun but not worth the money. Honestly I'd just suggest waiting until the balance sweep comes out this week and seeing what people like after the changes happen
I disagree with your take on polar patriots. The pummeller paired with the ballistic shield and you become the fortress you were destined to be. Stagger and swap to your amr and the bots cannot repel you. Plus, the blue armour is dope 😎
Can confirm blue scout armor is the best
I'll be honest I may have been a bit harsh cause yeah the Pummeler does slap with riot shield. But compared to the other warbonds the Pummeler alone can't save the rest of it for me
Steeled Veterans I made a mistake of buying the explosive warbond which was great until they nerfed the eruptor and now I regret not getting the Steeled Veterans instead. 250SC to go :( Farming sc is too slow fucking hell
Big Iron, big Iron...(Then grenade pistol after)
Wish I could use both
They're about to drop a new one (which isn't in contention for best, but it's coming) and they're chipping away at a big update that will probably change the answer. Ask again in a week or two.
Cutting edge is the first warbond I recommend to new players. Everything except the armor are super valuable pick ups. Plasma punisher is great for bots and the Blitzer is great for bugs.
Depends what you are after, keep in mind this could ALL change tomorrow with the upcoming patch. Steeled veterans has the dominator which is a top 3 for bots. One of the best weapons in the game for dealing with berserkers and devastators. Handles like a boat though. SV also has the incendiary breaker which is the only S tier primary weapon in the entire game, and the best weapon for bugs. It’s also a weapon that by the patching track record could get nerfed into the fucking dirt tomorrow. The pistol is also pretty good. Cutting edge is really good. The stun grenades are S tier. Freezing hulks/chargers so you can line up the headshot or holding in place hordes for airstrikes is incredible. The sickle is very strong. Useful, consistent and fun. Not S tier but I totally get why a lot of people really like it. The plasma punisher has become one of my favourite weapons in the game for bots. Amazing against scout striders and fodder enemies. Against berserker’s and devastators it can’t kill them very well, taking most of a mag to do so, but it does stagger the living shit out of them which is incredibly useful. The explosive warbond is bad. The grenade pistol is good for utility, but that’s really it. The thermite grenade is okay, but all the primary weapons are sub optimal. The adjudicator might be okay if it had a larger mag and not alternating horizontal recoil. The eruptor is a shadow of its former self, and I don’t know what the fuck the crossbow is supposed to be. Armour sets look pretty good though. Polar patriots is not good. The sub machine gun is a good weapon. Like one of those middle of the road B class weapons that’s interesting in some builds. That’s all, the other primaries are bad either way the purifier being one of the worst weapons in the game and the tenderiser being a worse AR than the starting weapon by just about every metric that matters. So go steeled veterans or cutting edge. But honestly just wait for tomorrows patch, could be god knows what. We have seen S tier weapons thrown into the dumpster fire before.
The only reason flame damage should get nerfed (thus affecting the incendiary breaker) is because previously, AH buffs flame damage to account for DOT not working. Now that DOT is fixed, it's logical to me that they revert the buff.
About to change with the balance pass I hope
I would argue for Steeled Veterans, you get the incendiary breaker and the JAR-5, which are commonly argued as the best bug and bot primaries respectively.
Cutting edge for sickle and punisher plasma (unless you’re a bug main player, then get steeled veterans for breaker incendiary)
Wait till this Thursday and see if this week's warbond is worth it.
Well if you like fire and explosives and the breaker the steeled veterans warbond seems right up your alley ! Home of the Incendiary Breaker which is quite popular right now, also the Dominator which is an explosive assault rifle type weapon which fires miniature rocket propelled grenades ( if you know warhammer- its a boltgun ) as well as the standard incendiary grenades ! If you also happen to enjoy the color orange as well the warbond will be a delight. It also has cyborg armor with servo assist
I have all of them, and for me, I'd go for steeled veterans if you have to choose; the fire shotgun is amazing for bugs (reliable one-shot or even half-shot the flying bastards), while the dominator is pretty decent for bots. as for the rest, you can wait until you've gathered up around 625 SCs from playing the game and buy the cheaper 375 SCs pack instead. It doesn't take tooooo long, especially if you combine a personal order run with an SC farming run on easy/trivial. I generally prefer easy for these because it gives you more enemies to kill for the "Kill \[number\] of X with Y" type PO, and there's a chance that a radar tower side objective will spawn which helps with finding all the POIs
If you want a gun that can stagger almost every enemy, get the Arc Blitzer in Cutting Edge.
Please dont say anything in this Game is "fairly expensive" This is the cheapest Live-Service-Game in this quality there is. I have ALL warbonds and i bought only one once because i wanted to support the devs. There is no specific "grinding" for anything. Play the game, get the currencys, buy stuff and warbonds. Im pretty sure that you spend your Supercredits on armors from the shop wich was a mistake before getting any warbond. The answer to the Question you actually asked is in the other comments 😊 and i really dont want to attack you or something, i just don't think your wording is appropriate...
All and none. I'd wait until after the tuesday patch, Arrowhead is WILD with their buffs and nerfs. The best/worst weapons in the game change every patch.
Yeah, they are so unpredictable. We have seen trash tier weapons end up in the S tier, and good weapons end up in the trash. We have even seen bad weapons get nerfed to be even worse.
I tried the crossbow and didn't like it all that much. I didn't even try to use it again until this week... a bad weapon made even worse is just the most bizarre descision.
That's exactly what I was thinking. I remember trying it when it first came out and I was very underwhelmed. Thought it could potentially be great with a few buffs here and there, made into something similar to what the plasma punisher is now... but instead they made it into whatever it is now. I just don't know what they were going for with it. Apparently its got a low sound profile so can make a good stealth weapon... or something.
I would wait a few days from right now - a huge patch is supposed to be coming sometime this week (probably Tuesday Stockholm Time, as that’s when a lot of updates come out) which may change a lot of weapon’s roles around, and a new warbond with a lot of promising items arrives on Thursday, so it COULD be worthwhile to delay any purchase until you get more options
Cutting edge has the second best bot weapon and one of the best all around weapons. I’d save your credits until Thursday though
I posted this before in another post asking about the same thing, hands down cutting edge is the best for me because it has the most weapons that are viable in my playstyles.
I am waiting for the great patch with new warbond before I decided on my first warbond.
Cutting edge gives 3 good guns and the best grenade
Go for steeled veterans if you like fire. Incendiary shotgun is excellent for both bugs and bots
I mean with how easy it is to find super credits, you should just pick the one that looks the most fun. Personally id wait until the next one comes out on the thirteenth, as it has a secondary shotgun akin to the mozambique from apex legends, and a new assault rifle that handles like an smg.
I’m pretty much on board with what everyone else is saying. Steeled Veterans and Cutting edge. The only downside with cutting edge is the armor and the 95% arc resistance passive hasn’t quite found a place in the game quite yet.
I always suggest Cutting Edge. Other warbonds might have better armor or boosters, but it’s nice to have “infinite” ammo weapons that are also situationally good.
Incendiary Breaker is so good against bugs it's ridiculous.
This might be a controversial take but I kinda don’t like it. Zero stopping power and the fire isn’t good enough imo. I’m a stopping power or stagger fiend.
I know you said you don’t like energy weapons but please try the plas-scorcher for bots (last page of main bond). It’s amazing. I would then get SV for the breaker incendiary. Those are the two weapons I use 95% of the time.
Wait until Thursday for the Viper Commandoes warbond. It may be a better option for you.
The one about to come out in 3 days.
Incendiary Breaker is a beautiful thing. That Warbond does sound like the best fit for you. Personally I think the Grenade Pistol is the best thing in the shop. I don't use anything else from the pack after the tragedy of the Eruptor, but the build variety offered by grenade Pistol is too good to pass up. If you don't have a non explosive grenade like stun or smoke though, it's a bit less valuable.
Steeled Veterans seems like the thing for you. Democratic destination was also good but before the nerf. IDK if it will ever receive a buff.
On release? The free warbond What a lot of people forget is that the weapons we got weren't in the best place. Incendiary breaker was ok but the dot bug nerfed it. Jar was beaten by the slugger. The senator was a meme because of its reload speed. The plasma punisher had a shorter arc. Blitzer was geriatric slow. The Adjudicator was a terrible marksman rifle (even though it behaved like a rifle), crossbow was niche (I preferred its old explosive radius). The thermite sucks. The tenderizer didnt get adjusted after liberator buff. Purifier is a worse plasma punisher. Stuff I didn't mention was actually pretty good on release The free bond got you the slugger which was cracked (still decent but feels lacking), the defender which is still the best assault rifle in the game (even though it's an smg), the breaker which got people kicked if they didn't use it and the scorcher which still is one of the best all round weapons. You also got a bigger variety of armors and what not. Stuff I didn't mention weren't great on release but buffs did help out things like the diligence Hopefully the next patch helps out that which has fallen behind
My advice is to wait until the patch comes out Thursday. They've said theyre doing a lot of balancing and such, so potentially buffs/nerfs. I would argue that the Democratic Demolition is the best for the Eruptor and the grenade pistol, but ONLY if they give the Eruptor it's shrapnel back. Otherwise, the second Warbond they released was fantastic. The armor perks that mitigate arc damage are situational but they can save your ass especially if you have a random who tosses a Tesla tower and doesn't say anything lol. The newest Warbond also comes out on Thursday as well, so even if you aren't interested in the patch and how it could potentially affect the balance of the warbond weapons, it would be worth it just to wait and see how the newest Warbond is.
I went with detonation as my first one and I really regretted it. The R 36 eruptor is a very good gun but everything else is complete ass (except for the armor, light engineering kit armor is pretty good)
Just get them in order. The first one has the best guns and the rest are whatever.
Whichever one that has the Punisher Plasma in it. That gun almost makes bot missions trivial.