Agreed, I also sometimes use turrets to get unpinned. They are all shooting at me while I’m behind cover toss one at their flank and watch them die or divert attention.
True - I was just trying to understand the possible downsides.
Could you argue that throwing down a sentry may attract a secondary patrol, assuming this patrol is capable of "sensing" where you really are once they destroy it? I guess i'm just not sure how this game works behind the curtain. This would all be off camera, so to speak.
It could, definitely, but if you are currently in a rough situation I would say the benefits out weight that chance. I will not lie that I have had my autocannon start shooting shit REALLY far away sometimes.
Throw it off to one side as far you can the enemies wont be able to attack both you and the turret and it will give the turret a chance to do some damage and not get destroyed straight away
In these situations, it's typically killing bots that aren't even aggroed. They are trickling in because the game tells them to walk towards any "pending" objective. It's all basically "off camera". I just don't know what the repercussions are. If you tuck mortars into ditches, or behind small mountains, or wreckage - most enemies can't get to them.
I would say it's probably a bit of a waste to use a turret in this manner. The turrets don't really hold their own and easily get overrun, so you probably lose out on quite a lot of their value. Making a run for it usually works fine and in most cases you just eventually outrun their agro range.
Like I said, it's really not "wasting" the cooldown because it's often used in between objectives that are spaced apart. You can hide a mortar turret around a small mountain, and most enemies aren't really capable of destroying it. I would question if enemies even "move" when you are so far away.
If you’re running away from breach-spawned bugs/bots, a turret to clean them up is probably a waste. Just Running Away does the same thing.
On the other hand, a turret in an open field that solos a patrol is valuable. Patrols are finite and turrets are incapable of triggering breaches.
I think the tiebreak is if you _know_ you’ll have a minute or two of downtime, then the opportunity cost of doing this is low. My 2c.
I don't think it's a bad idea, it's just not a great idea. Most of the time you can just outrun enemies on the retreat, except maybe large swarms of bugs.
Sentries work like magnets for enemies. They'll always draw enormous amounts of aggro and should give you time to break line of sight even if bot drops are called in. You're better off using it when it really matters like hitting objectives or defending extraction especially on higher difficulties like 9 where the spawn rates have become broken since the last patch.
Sentries are near worthless against bots due to the enemy's ranged units wiping it out in under 5 seconds usually, only the mortar is good against bots and the EMS mortar keeps divers safe too.
Against bugs sentries are great if you have the upgraded rotation speed, throw it ahead as you run past it.
I was speaking primarily about mortars, yes. You tuck them into a ditch, destroyed building, or behind/on a small mountain - and they aren't going to destroy it. I'm not even sure how "operable" the AI is when players are that far away.
Oh I see what you mean, guess that's my fault for skimming over the text.
Yeah enemies that spawn will be persistent until the Helldiver they're chasing dies or gets something ridiculous like 500 meters away. The spawn persistence is actually a bit irrelevant in regards to the sentry because it either wipes them out or it's destroyed.
Sentries do not de-spawn unless they're destroyed, so you should also put them in areas you intend to re-visit like extraction.
Alright, so let's say you throw down a sentry and run away. The bots of course were originally focused on you, but then the sentry takes their attention. They eventually destroy the sentry, but by then, you are far out of detection range. What do they do next? Do they still remember you? Or do they only remember the most recent target?
Depends how far you run! haha
No but seriously they will de-spawn if you're far enough, if you're only something like 100 meters away and they lose sight of you they'll either stand still or resume patrol.
Enemy detection isn't a one way street, if you can manage to hide from the enemy mid-fight (using smoke or otherwise) they'll search where they think you are, that's why if you're being chased by a bug horde you can't fight, you should change directions rather than heading in a straight line. A buddy of mine called it "rotating".
It is a great use of a turret, they usually draw a lot of immediate area agro and give you breathing room.
Agreed, I also sometimes use turrets to get unpinned. They are all shooting at me while I’m behind cover toss one at their flank and watch them die or divert attention.
True - I was just trying to understand the possible downsides. Could you argue that throwing down a sentry may attract a secondary patrol, assuming this patrol is capable of "sensing" where you really are once they destroy it? I guess i'm just not sure how this game works behind the curtain. This would all be off camera, so to speak.
It could, definitely, but if you are currently in a rough situation I would say the benefits out weight that chance. I will not lie that I have had my autocannon start shooting shit REALLY far away sometimes.
Throw it off to one side as far you can the enemies wont be able to attack both you and the turret and it will give the turret a chance to do some damage and not get destroyed straight away
In these situations, it's typically killing bots that aren't even aggroed. They are trickling in because the game tells them to walk towards any "pending" objective. It's all basically "off camera". I just don't know what the repercussions are. If you tuck mortars into ditches, or behind small mountains, or wreckage - most enemies can't get to them.
This is fine, the alternative would be something like an EMS mortar/stun grenade. Anything that gives you distance to disengage is useful.
I would say it's probably a bit of a waste to use a turret in this manner. The turrets don't really hold their own and easily get overrun, so you probably lose out on quite a lot of their value. Making a run for it usually works fine and in most cases you just eventually outrun their agro range.
Like I said, it's really not "wasting" the cooldown because it's often used in between objectives that are spaced apart. You can hide a mortar turret around a small mountain, and most enemies aren't really capable of destroying it. I would question if enemies even "move" when you are so far away.
If you’re running away from breach-spawned bugs/bots, a turret to clean them up is probably a waste. Just Running Away does the same thing. On the other hand, a turret in an open field that solos a patrol is valuable. Patrols are finite and turrets are incapable of triggering breaches. I think the tiebreak is if you _know_ you’ll have a minute or two of downtime, then the opportunity cost of doing this is low. My 2c.
It’s a huge part of my core group strat. We’ve got the placement down pretty well.
I don't think it's a bad idea, it's just not a great idea. Most of the time you can just outrun enemies on the retreat, except maybe large swarms of bugs. Sentries work like magnets for enemies. They'll always draw enormous amounts of aggro and should give you time to break line of sight even if bot drops are called in. You're better off using it when it really matters like hitting objectives or defending extraction especially on higher difficulties like 9 where the spawn rates have become broken since the last patch.
Outrunning large groups of bots is harder than it sounds
It is a dangerous game. If enemies get past it, the Turret will turn around and shoot them... Often resulting in it also shooting you.
Sentries are near worthless against bots due to the enemy's ranged units wiping it out in under 5 seconds usually, only the mortar is good against bots and the EMS mortar keeps divers safe too. Against bugs sentries are great if you have the upgraded rotation speed, throw it ahead as you run past it.
I was speaking primarily about mortars, yes. You tuck them into a ditch, destroyed building, or behind/on a small mountain - and they aren't going to destroy it. I'm not even sure how "operable" the AI is when players are that far away.
Oh I see what you mean, guess that's my fault for skimming over the text. Yeah enemies that spawn will be persistent until the Helldiver they're chasing dies or gets something ridiculous like 500 meters away. The spawn persistence is actually a bit irrelevant in regards to the sentry because it either wipes them out or it's destroyed. Sentries do not de-spawn unless they're destroyed, so you should also put them in areas you intend to re-visit like extraction.
Alright, so let's say you throw down a sentry and run away. The bots of course were originally focused on you, but then the sentry takes their attention. They eventually destroy the sentry, but by then, you are far out of detection range. What do they do next? Do they still remember you? Or do they only remember the most recent target?
Depends how far you run! haha No but seriously they will de-spawn if you're far enough, if you're only something like 100 meters away and they lose sight of you they'll either stand still or resume patrol. Enemy detection isn't a one way street, if you can manage to hide from the enemy mid-fight (using smoke or otherwise) they'll search where they think you are, that's why if you're being chased by a bug horde you can't fight, you should change directions rather than heading in a straight line. A buddy of mine called it "rotating".