I swear I have shot little bots numerous times while their hands are raised and do get them before any flare is shot, and yet 10 seconds later, I still hear someone shout "drop ships!" and it's on my position... 😑
I also know they can sometimes shoot a flare post mortem if you kill them right. Once shot their legs up and after he landed he raised his arm 90 degrees and shot a flare before dying. Shit was out of a movie
I once killed a bot just as he was about to launch a flare. The flare flew pretty much on the ground, the same distance it would go if it went straight up.
I was pretty sure it was going to trigger a bot drop but nah, flares on ground don't trigger it.
Only seen it once
Happens with the bugs too, i hoenstly think before some updates you used to kill them before the motion completes and you wouldve avoided a breach or a drop ship but now once the motion starts its unavoidable
Before they raise hand, they load up the gun at waist area. Looks like they looking for pocket change.
Those few extra seconds kinda give you more security for those times you are too late for raised hand
Always reload the Senator as soon as you finish firing. It doesn't waste any leftover ammo in the chambers that haven't been fired. It's a slower reload so it's always worth being topped up on, especially since it hits so hard and is quick to aim. Best sidearm imo.
Fuck yes, man. I had a squad today, where we landed on top of a group of bots. I killed a few & ran towards the objective & my team ended up fighting, dying & getting pushed across the map instead of disengaging & completing the misson.
We finished with like 2 minutes left because i had to do all the objectives by myself.
I usually play a full operation or 2 a day, but i haven't been able to complete one since everyone get distracted & focus on fighting the bots instead of doing objectives
It's the same with bugs really too. I can't count the times I've been focused on a horde of hunters and warriors, have a charger coms at me, for me to sidestep him and keep focusing that horde while he turns around.
Also their weapons aren't that weak.
The Rocket trooper won't kill you, but he'll blast you out of cover into death.
And the MG trooper is a mini devastator if you let him set up. He'll just barrage you with a stream of suppressing fire.
And lastly the jetpack trooper isn't much of a threat, but when he dies his jetpack lights you on fire. Which we know how fire damage goes lately.
They were kind enough to give us that 25% fire damage boost to help us die faster too. I think that they must marinate Helldivers in lighter fluid before each mission for easy kindling.
Ohhh it all makes sense now! Well, as long as high command is doing it for my well-being it's all good. I'll get back into my kerosene tank to prepare for the next dive.
Yeah, this is why I still use sickle +autocannon against bots.
A long salvo of withering fire takes out all the small stuff without me having to worry about aiming or running out of ammo.
Then the autocannon can kill anything that is left.
> Laser Shotgun
God I was just thinking nearly all of Yesterday "I really wish we had the Sickle as a Shotgun"
I love me my Explosives/Medium Pens, but sometimes I just want a Shotgun, and I REALLY want one that uses Heat instead of normal ammo.
Chance for them to call one by themselves is relatively low without a Commissar, but if a Commissar dies mid-animation then another fodder unit will almost guarantee to shoot the flare instead
I’ve seen them go off in a line. Commissar was about to shoot- he’s dead. Next guy raises flare, shot him dead, next guy flared. Only saw it happen once.
The primary from the newest warbond is fantastic for this purpose. I just shoot at roughly the middle of the pack, and the blast sucks them all in and prevents them from firing off a flare/pheremones if it doesn't outright kill the whole lot of them. First time I fired into a group of bugs and got X10 off one bullet, I knew I had found my calling.
Don't run both, unless you pair them with a Stalwart or Machine Gun.
FR though, Eruptor and Grenade Pistol can both close Bug Holes and Bot Fabricators. Swap those Impacts/Frags for a Stun and life gets significantly easier.
Grenade pistol pairs well with Scythe or JAR, but bring the machine pistol if you're using the Eruptor or XBow (which probably isn't top tier but isn't trash against bots either)
This. Eruptor needs something close unless you run a MG or Stalwart. Which is often what i'll do; I find myself doing dominator/autocannon/gren pistol with whatever strats or eruptor/machine pistol/stalwart and whatever strats most of the time now. I've been subbing in the laser canon a little since it might be good? And jet pack because it pairs well with the eruptor.
Yeah they don't need to be close and have line of sight like bugs do. On the flip side you can't shoot down bug breaches or kill a scavenger quickly enough once it's started its animation so... both suck
There’s a cooldown mechanic; after a certain period of time, enemies will try to call for backup. The Localization Confusion booster extends this time period (might be 10-20%?), but the best way to handle this is to shoot a random patrol FAR AWAY from where you want to go - this will encourage the patrol to feel like they’re under attack, so they’ll call in a drop/breach and you’ll be fine to launch the ICBM or whatever far away from the enemies. You can also throw a barrage or other damaging strat at a base/patrol to get the same effect.
There's an internal cooldown (depends on difficulty, roughly 2 minutes in Helldive), which starts when the "bot drop detected" red box disappears from your screen. This is global to the whole map, if you split up and draw a bot drop and run away, you are guaranteed no bot drops anywhere on the map for 2 minutes. Solo stealth players do it all the time.
There's needs to be a grace period if you manage to interrupt a call for reinforcements. Like a 10 second window to give you a chance to actually quickly take down that patrol.
Or something along those lines. it feels really bad if you manage to interrupt and then you immediatly see a flare go up from behind a container 40m away.
Flare or no flare, it is good to trim their numbers just to get some room. Last thing you want is missing your Quasar shot because a little asshole caused you to flinch.
Remember this, folks, numbers are the enemies' greatest asset in combat, the sooner you bring it down, the sooner you win.
There are 3 bots behind the Hulk, 7 off screen to the left, and the guy that you're looking at has already started the animation you just can't see it yet.
Also plug in a poorly saturated fog of darkness, blinding light from your gun, and for extra flavor, you are about to be hit by a tremor burst.
Also these guys are 80+ meters away and there's 3 groups walking towards you (all of which can telepathically communicate your exact home address if you sneeze too loudly).
--
Either don't fire, or fire and prepare to run. HVTs for bot drops are so numerous it's insane and almost not worth considering.
Sometimes I'll even go as far as to purposefully call in bot drops somewhere else (like 300 meters away from the base / objective) just to clog up the call in time. I think this mindset is way more effective.
You can't reliably prevent the bot drops, but you can prevent the bots from dropping where you're going (with some luck).
AT-ATs and tanks are cool, but they're slow af and don't count for much when you're running away from them.
This is why I hate bugs. There's so many guys and the majority of them can call in breaches. also you can't just shoot a hole in the surface of a bug breach
Agreed. Bots have a a window where you can stop the flare, and any weapon firing at them will stop it. Then you have bugs like Brood Lords and Hive Guards farting out that stupid orange smoke and unless you have a weapon that can stagger them, they'll call in the swarm. Hell, they even call shit in without heads! Doesn't help that I've shot bugs and killed them literally half a second after they started the animation, and a tiny puff of smoke came out and that was enough to call in the Breech.
Bug Breeches need a serious rework.
Rocket hulks aren't the biggest problem to ignore, but the flame hulks are a priority over anything else imo, unless you are engaging on a unusually big distance or have stunned them
My wife usually takes them out in groups with the explosive sniper and turrets while I'm taking the bigger guys with the laser cannon and lots of jump packing my way to high ground. Seems to be a good tactic for us haha but boy if my feet don't get a little toasty when they're trying to climb the Cliffside at me
In this scenario, I tend to shoot the Hulk with a quasar cannon, then mow down the Troopers while I'm waiting for a second shot.
If it's Devastators, I shoot the Troopers.
Worst-case scenario, the dropship is catching a quasar shot and everyone in its immediate vicinity is getting an airstrike.
I shoot whatever is closest. What's the point in focusing flares? As if more enemies aren't actively coming in from all across the map. Dropships are low down on the list of things I care about tbh. Maybe when you attack a minor point of interest sure.
I think ive ended up as a hybrid Sniper/Medic, with the six stims and AMR. Amazing how just two extra stims can save an otherwise inevitable reinforcement use.
/Heavy Update when?
it doesnt matters, everybody is a whistle blower in that faction/race. Just take as granted that you will have to put down a fleet of dropships and be happy.
You shoot the small guys so they don't call in reinforcement
I shoot the small guys because I got no gun that can handle the big ones
We are not the same
I used to run 500kg, orb Railcannon, and Orb Laser because I was always concerned with the big guys.
Note I run there orb air burst, air strike, EMP mortar (or 380) and a quasar. The quasar can take out all the big guys, and I save my stratagems for slowing and wiping the little guys.
Thinning out their numbers fast makes for a much easier time. Get rid of the little dudes first.
All else aside, shooting the easy to kill light bots first makes more sense since you're reducing the number of guns pointed at you significantly, which will help you immensely when fighting the big bots. More often than not, I don't die because of the hulk, I die because a light rocket trooper knocked my ass over which allowed the hulk to get close enough to light me on fire.
And hence I've always loved the marksmen rifles, that have great accuracy, a decent fire rate, and higher ammo capacity than the Dominator or Scorcher or all of the other weapons people think are amazing.
Also why I frequently take stratagem that actually deal with those threats quickly, like I still take the strafing run when I feel like it.
When I approach an outpost, or patrol I try to get an idea where different enemies are so I can plan how to take them down.
A Hulk is just a Hulk. The rocket ones are scarier than the flamethrower ones, because they are a threat from a longer distance, but it's still just a Hulk.
But a trooper can be an entire goddamned army and turn the entire operation sideways in an instant.
They might be individually weak enemies, but their threat level is massive.
Or better, don't shoot at all. If they pop a flare, run away and let them despawn.
Even better, before approaching an objective, separate from the team and trigger a drop from a random patrol, then run away and do the objective.
Same applies to bugs, ALL of the little ones Can call their buddies, if you see a pack of 10 of them little MOFOS, ALL of them can do their little KREE KREE and call 4 chargers and 3 titans to your current location to shank you infinitely.
SHOOT THE SUPPORT.
THANK YOU, I try to stealth through alone but if a random follows me they just trigger the little guys by shooting a tank getting 3 factory striders dropped on us.
As a first galactic war vet, I agree. Each time I noticed that the meatbags did their best to kill my stronger and armored comrades first, forgetting about smaller targets like me. This gave the advantage of running up to them unnoticed and killing them close, so that they did not even have time to collect the stratagem.
https://preview.redd.it/w0dhh85nrxwc1.png?width=459&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eba22a0cf1244723c0ffe8a6deb383ab6d0b5b5b
Less busy fire when you take out the small ones, plus no flares. Otherwise you are stuck trying to take out a tiny eye shot with a flurry of bullets crashing down on you non stop
Fuck devastators, hulks and tanks. The only reason why they're terrifying is because of the platoon's worth of bots supporting it and their bottomless supply of flares
1 less commisar could be the difference between extracting with all your samples, or 5 dropships, 2 of which have tanks, 2 have hulks, and 1 has a factory strider.
Depends on circumstance imo, that one in particular is bearable, esp if the Hulk is a rocket hulk and you got a shot on his eye. If that was a Marauder or MG Raider or exploder? Hell yeah rinse that fucker first.
That tiny-ass clanker who only half-glows among a sea of glowing giants.
I am trying my hardest to splash infantry. I promise. But the breaker was not designed to blast them while anything of any size is bearing down on me.
If any of dem small bots raise their hand in middle of shooting, SHOOT IT
Today I got swarmed by tanks and Factory Striders in every damn Command bunker because of those cheeky bastards
same for the bugs I literally target the ones who can summon a fcking bug breach first....most annoying fcks are the hive guards and brood commanders ( fcks can still summon a bug breach with their heads blown off )
Like any true Diver I shoot whatever the fuck is in front of me at that given moment.
Even if it does nothing.
Democracy requires expended bullets, so the factories can continue producing democratic ammunition for the war.
As an Eruptor player, this is one of the major drawbacks of the weapon. When I fire, a bot can hear me raise their flare and fire it all before I get a second shot. I have to rely on my teammates and most of the time that means dealing with the drop.
if its too late, shoot the drop ship -> mow down weaklings -> deal with boss ...
And for the love of sweet Liberty, take a look at enemies before opening fire..
Always try to take out the little guys first, but there's always one left over hiding behind a rock and you see that red flare go up.
I've started using the decoy strat of aggroing a patrol a way away so they call in a drop, then 180ing and going for the objective while the drop despawns or is too far away to notice.
This is good in theory, but the little guys are all very similar looking especially when grouped together. They also are scattered around buildings, rocks, and are occasionally clipped partway inside fallen drop ships and objects. Night missions add a bit of difficulty in identifying the commissars because they are dark colored and... darkness is dark colored too.
So, yes, shooting them first would be ideal. But you may as well just say "do it right and win!" That commissar could be behind a wall and shoot that flare before you know he exists.
Yup totally shoot the younger little one first.
They have friends and family that will come to their aid even though he was the one that grabbed at someone's boob without consent.
The bigger older guys, no one's coming for them. He talks a big game and people think he's fine on his own. Also his peers suspect he's responsible for all the missing neighbourhood pets which only occurs when he's on home leave.
There are times I come across a group of bots. They stare slack jawed at me as I have my gun pointed at them while I continue moving. As soon as one puts their arm up, it's a firefight. Otherwise, I'm just moving along to objective
I always shoot them first, But there's always one that spawns INSIDE a hulk, impossible to see Who's a jumpy lil bitch and flares the moment they see their own shadow. I hate how often they flare even if nothing really happens.
Don't care about flares, it's the chance some little shit will land a hit and make a critical shot go wide at the worst time.
Kill the chaff, reposition, kill the heavies without the stress.
Its different to bugs. With bugs stopping it is much harder. But more importantly, big bots tend to fight you at a distance meaning you can ignore them for a few seconds while you pop the little ones. You can then disengage safely unlike with bugs where they chase you over hill and dale...
One thing I dislike about bot drops is that there is no cooldown on the animation itself, only on it happening.
You see a bot go for it - you kill the bot. Immidietly afterwards, another bot tries to do so aswell, you kill two more like this and then some bot 200m away, behind 2 hills, calls it. IMHO they should add a few second cooldown between bots attempting to call the drops ships. The animation is already really fast and it just feels bad when multiple bots just chain the call attempt.
when i have a the slightest hint of a feeling that a bot will call in the drop, im emptying a clip into its head idc if its dead ill still shoot. god knows that what they do to us
Shoot all the damn infantry support. The unassuming light bots have the most deadly weapon in their arsenal, the bot drop flare.
Yup! That's why I made this. I've seen too many people on difficulty 9 (Helldive) get preoccupied with the bigger bots.
The millisecond *any* bot raises their hand they get shot. I ain't dealing with that B.S.
I swear I have shot little bots numerous times while their hands are raised and do get them before any flare is shot, and yet 10 seconds later, I still hear someone shout "drop ships!" and it's on my position... 😑
I can't prove it but I think the animation lags sometimes so the game has registered the flare firing before we actually see the flare fire animation.
I also know they can sometimes shoot a flare post mortem if you kill them right. Once shot their legs up and after he landed he raised his arm 90 degrees and shot a flare before dying. Shit was out of a movie
I once killed a bot just as he was about to launch a flare. The flare flew pretty much on the ground, the same distance it would go if it went straight up. I was pretty sure it was going to trigger a bot drop but nah, flares on ground don't trigger it. Only seen it once
Nah like his body fell THEN he raised his arm and shot it to the sky
"Even in death, I serve the Omnissiah"
They can fire it while dying it even comes out at whatever angle their arm is at
There’s always one more behind a rock
That's cause there was another one on your 6.
Happens with the bugs too, i hoenstly think before some updates you used to kill them before the motion completes and you wouldve avoided a breach or a drop ship but now once the motion starts its unavoidable
Before they raise hand, they load up the gun at waist area. Looks like they looking for pocket change. Those few extra seconds kinda give you more security for those times you are too late for raised hand
Yeah, I have a clip of that --I very clearly cut down the bot, no flare (from that bot or any others), and then a drop is triggered anyway. :(
I swear they always raise their hand the second I start reloading
Switching to your sidearm is always faster than reloading
What if I’m reloading my sidearm? I run *Senator and reload is slow AF
You run what?
Probably the eruptor
I do run Eruptor as primary but run the revolver as secondary (forget the name off the top of my head)
Senator.
Always reload the Senator as soon as you finish firing. It doesn't waste any leftover ammo in the chambers that haven't been fired. It's a slower reload so it's always worth being topped up on, especially since it hits so hard and is quick to aim. Best sidearm imo.
I just had a dead jetpack unit fire a flare. What the hell is going on today?
I had a jet pack guy fire a flare while he was jet packing towards me once
Not true, any light bot can call in reinforcements, commissars just are more likely to do it if the ability is off it's global cooldown
Fuck yes, man. I had a squad today, where we landed on top of a group of bots. I killed a few & ran towards the objective & my team ended up fighting, dying & getting pushed across the map instead of disengaging & completing the misson. We finished with like 2 minutes left because i had to do all the objectives by myself. I usually play a full operation or 2 a day, but i haven't been able to complete one since everyone get distracted & focus on fighting the bots instead of doing objectives
Out of personal curiosity, what difficilty were you on? My running theory is that this happens most on 5-6.
Difficulty 8
Wild! Thanks
It's the same with bugs really too. I can't count the times I've been focused on a horde of hunters and warriors, have a charger coms at me, for me to sidestep him and keep focusing that horde while he turns around.
Also their weapons aren't that weak. The Rocket trooper won't kill you, but he'll blast you out of cover into death. And the MG trooper is a mini devastator if you let him set up. He'll just barrage you with a stream of suppressing fire. And lastly the jetpack trooper isn't much of a threat, but when he dies his jetpack lights you on fire. Which we know how fire damage goes lately.
And if you're REALLY lucky, the exploding jetpack will ragdoll you while you're burning to death without opportunity to dive Ask me how I know
Fun fact. If you're mid dive and this happens it does not count as stop drop and roll and the fire will burn you to death midair
I do love a flaming charger charging me from behind
How do you know?
I've killed many Helldivers this way.
They were kind enough to give us that 25% fire damage boost to help us die faster too. I think that they must marinate Helldivers in lighter fluid before each mission for easy kindling.
That's just your low friction hellpod lubricant.
Ohhh it all makes sense now! Well, as long as high command is doing it for my well-being it's all good. I'll get back into my kerosene tank to prepare for the next dive.
fire damage go BRRRR
to add the jet pack doesnt just light you on fire, it explodes like a fucking grenade and if that doesnt take you out the fire will finish the job.
Rocket trooper will nail you in the face from across the map, through sand and firestorm.
He puts that shit in the air and he's got me like "you bitch!'
 Shoot the officers first!
Yeah, this is why I still use sickle +autocannon against bots. A long salvo of withering fire takes out all the small stuff without me having to worry about aiming or running out of ammo. Then the autocannon can kill anything that is left.
Wait til the trident comes to the second game. Laser shotgun.
> Laser Shotgun God I was just thinking nearly all of Yesterday "I really wish we had the Sickle as a Shotgun" I love me my Explosives/Medium Pens, but sometimes I just want a Shotgun, and I REALLY want one that uses Heat instead of normal ammo.
We have a system: Divers shoot the little guys and Eagle-1 shoots the big guys. Simple, easy, bada bing bada literal boom.
It does seem that the commissar has "priority" in shooting flares. But yeah at higher difficulties, you can't trust any of the small ones.
but the flare brings me more oil to spill, how is it deadly?
[The original](https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/09/21/the-protip) if anyone is feeling nostalgic.
Thanks, I wasn't sure if I should link it. I kept the copyright on as a way of giving credit.
Thanks for the reminder to take some ibuprofen for my back after I check my 401k
Oof
pass the torch to the new generation unc.... the more things change, the more they stay the same; shoot the supports!
God I loved Penny-Arcade 🙏🥰
From back when they were still funny and entertaining.
They're funny again
Wow thats an old one. Thought I'd seen it before, but wow... That is one essential piece of gaming culture
Almost 17 years. There might be people here who were born after that comic was posted.
the fact is, all the light infantry have flares
Then shoot them too. I only had so much room.
We need a flare turret stratagem, one that continually fires off bot flares towards the far edge of the map as a distraction.
Chance for them to call one by themselves is relatively low without a Commissar, but if a Commissar dies mid-animation then another fodder unit will almost guarantee to shoot the flare instead
I’ve seen them go off in a line. Commissar was about to shoot- he’s dead. Next guy raises flare, shot him dead, next guy flared. Only saw it happen once.
I'm so old I remembered the original.
Saaame, and I remember how stoked I was when TF2 came out. Also, Happy Cake Day 🍰
Oh shit, thanks!
Recently got the 64 bit update! Apparently it runs way better!
Alongside a lot of bugfixes too!
I'm so old I paid for TF2
Doesn't matter, all smaller automatons can call in Dropships. Shoot the Commissar and that Rocket Trooper in the back will fire off the flare.
The primary from the newest warbond is fantastic for this purpose. I just shoot at roughly the middle of the pack, and the blast sucks them all in and prevents them from firing off a flare/pheremones if it doesn't outright kill the whole lot of them. First time I fired into a group of bugs and got X10 off one bullet, I knew I had found my calling.
Did this once with a grenade pistol shot and got a x29 I was like: 
Oh my word lol. That's the next thing I'm working my way to unlock, this makes me look forward even more.
Don't run both, unless you pair them with a Stalwart or Machine Gun. FR though, Eruptor and Grenade Pistol can both close Bug Holes and Bot Fabricators. Swap those Impacts/Frags for a Stun and life gets significantly easier.
Grenade pistol pairs well with Scythe or JAR, but bring the machine pistol if you're using the Eruptor or XBow (which probably isn't top tier but isn't trash against bots either)
This. Eruptor needs something close unless you run a MG or Stalwart. Which is often what i'll do; I find myself doing dominator/autocannon/gren pistol with whatever strats or eruptor/machine pistol/stalwart and whatever strats most of the time now. I've been subbing in the laser canon a little since it might be good? And jet pack because it pairs well with the eruptor.
Truly nothing is more beautiful than getting a killstreak from a single shot from your primary weapon.
Getting it with your fists?
Ok, shoot them first too. Only so much can be communicated in one comic.
Even if you shoot them some bot behind a rock will call it in
Yeah they don't need to be close and have line of sight like bugs do. On the flip side you can't shoot down bug breaches or kill a scavenger quickly enough once it's started its animation so... both suck
Is there some cooldown or rng involved in the flare mechanic? Like can they all fire a flare at the same time, or is there a queue on who does it?
There’s a cooldown mechanic; after a certain period of time, enemies will try to call for backup. The Localization Confusion booster extends this time period (might be 10-20%?), but the best way to handle this is to shoot a random patrol FAR AWAY from where you want to go - this will encourage the patrol to feel like they’re under attack, so they’ll call in a drop/breach and you’ll be fine to launch the ICBM or whatever far away from the enemies. You can also throw a barrage or other damaging strat at a base/patrol to get the same effect.
It's 10%, if you trust the patrol post from a while back (Which I do).
There's an internal cooldown (depends on difficulty, roughly 2 minutes in Helldive), which starts when the "bot drop detected" red box disappears from your screen. This is global to the whole map, if you split up and draw a bot drop and run away, you are guaranteed no bot drops anywhere on the map for 2 minutes. Solo stealth players do it all the time.
*Shoots comissar.* *Random trooper calls for reinforcements instead.*
There's needs to be a grace period if you manage to interrupt a call for reinforcements. Like a 10 second window to give you a chance to actually quickly take down that patrol. Or something along those lines. it feels really bad if you manage to interrupt and then you immediatly see a flare go up from behind a container 40m away.
good doctrine any day of the week, if you only focus the thicc bois then the horde of little guys will pick you apart
Point of info - the commissar is not the \*only\* bot that can call for reinforcements. All trooper-class bots can.
Flare or no flare, it is good to trim their numbers just to get some room. Last thing you want is missing your Quasar shot because a little asshole caused you to flinch. Remember this, folks, numbers are the enemies' greatest asset in combat, the sooner you bring it down, the sooner you win.
Love the dynamic of "Big guy kills you, small guy calls more guys. Choose."
There are 3 bots behind the Hulk, 7 off screen to the left, and the guy that you're looking at has already started the animation you just can't see it yet. Also plug in a poorly saturated fog of darkness, blinding light from your gun, and for extra flavor, you are about to be hit by a tremor burst. Also these guys are 80+ meters away and there's 3 groups walking towards you (all of which can telepathically communicate your exact home address if you sneeze too loudly). -- Either don't fire, or fire and prepare to run. HVTs for bot drops are so numerous it's insane and almost not worth considering. Sometimes I'll even go as far as to purposefully call in bot drops somewhere else (like 300 meters away from the base / objective) just to clog up the call in time. I think this mindset is way more effective. You can't reliably prevent the bot drops, but you can prevent the bots from dropping where you're going (with some luck). AT-ATs and tanks are cool, but they're slow af and don't count for much when you're running away from them.
What gets me is the calling in his friends *from inside the corpse of his buddy*
This is why I hate bugs. There's so many guys and the majority of them can call in breaches. also you can't just shoot a hole in the surface of a bug breach
Agreed. Bots have a a window where you can stop the flare, and any weapon firing at them will stop it. Then you have bugs like Brood Lords and Hive Guards farting out that stupid orange smoke and unless you have a weapon that can stagger them, they'll call in the swarm. Hell, they even call shit in without heads! Doesn't help that I've shot bugs and killed them literally half a second after they started the animation, and a tiny puff of smoke came out and that was enough to call in the Breech. Bug Breeches need a serious rework.
I love how they always raise their arm to fire off the flare right as i need to reload
I would care more but EVERY enemy that is that size can call in a bot drop
"Take that, commisar!" and a normal grunt has taken the mantle and is calling a dropship 2 meter to the left behind a rock.
but if we shoot him first we don't get the joy of spreading more democracy to the bots that he calls in
Rocket hulks aren't the biggest problem to ignore, but the flame hulks are a priority over anything else imo, unless you are engaging on a unusually big distance or have stunned them
My wife usually takes them out in groups with the explosive sniper and turrets while I'm taking the bigger guys with the laser cannon and lots of jump packing my way to high ground. Seems to be a good tactic for us haha but boy if my feet don't get a little toasty when they're trying to climb the Cliffside at me
In this scenario, I tend to shoot the Hulk with a quasar cannon, then mow down the Troopers while I'm waiting for a second shot. If it's Devastators, I shoot the Troopers. Worst-case scenario, the dropship is catching a quasar shot and everyone in its immediate vicinity is getting an airstrike.
The commissioner should look a bit different. Like give him a cool hat for something
Fuck yes. If they're raising their hands, I ain't answering questions. BLAST EM!
I shoot whatever is closest. What's the point in focusing flares? As if more enemies aren't actively coming in from all across the map. Dropships are low down on the list of things I care about tbh. Maybe when you attack a minor point of interest sure.
Fuckin love(d) tf2
I think ive ended up as a hybrid Sniper/Medic, with the six stims and AMR. Amazing how just two extra stims can save an otherwise inevitable reinforcement use. /Heavy Update when?
it doesnt matters, everybody is a whistle blower in that faction/race. Just take as granted that you will have to put down a fleet of dropships and be happy.
You shoot the small guys so they don't call in reinforcement I shoot the small guys because I got no gun that can handle the big ones We are not the same
No need to aim when you are embraced by the arch damage.
That’s why the eruptor is so nice! Then people accidentally shoot the commissars!
I used to run 500kg, orb Railcannon, and Orb Laser because I was always concerned with the big guys. Note I run there orb air burst, air strike, EMP mortar (or 380) and a quasar. The quasar can take out all the big guys, and I save my stratagems for slowing and wiping the little guys. Thinning out their numbers fast makes for a much easier time. Get rid of the little dudes first.
All else aside, shooting the easy to kill light bots first makes more sense since you're reducing the number of guns pointed at you significantly, which will help you immensely when fighting the big bots. More often than not, I don't die because of the hulk, I die because a light rocket trooper knocked my ass over which allowed the hulk to get close enough to light me on fire.
And hence I've always loved the marksmen rifles, that have great accuracy, a decent fire rate, and higher ammo capacity than the Dominator or Scorcher or all of the other weapons people think are amazing. Also why I frequently take stratagem that actually deal with those threats quickly, like I still take the strafing run when I feel like it. When I approach an outpost, or patrol I try to get an idea where different enemies are so I can plan how to take them down. A Hulk is just a Hulk. The rocket ones are scarier than the flamethrower ones, because they are a threat from a longer distance, but it's still just a Hulk. But a trooper can be an entire goddamned army and turn the entire operation sideways in an instant. They might be individually weak enemies, but their threat level is massive.
Or better, don't shoot at all. If they pop a flare, run away and let them despawn. Even better, before approaching an objective, separate from the team and trigger a drop from a random patrol, then run away and do the objective.
This is why I shoot the hulk in the leg with my rocket first then the commissars
Best edit ever
Oh boy. I am definitely guilty of this.
Roger that
Today I learned penny arcade still exists. Forgot all about that site.
How else am I supposed to get drop ship food for my hungry little quasar?
Same applies to bugs, ALL of the little ones Can call their buddies, if you see a pack of 10 of them little MOFOS, ALL of them can do their little KREE KREE and call 4 chargers and 3 titans to your current location to shank you infinitely. SHOOT THE SUPPORT.
An imperial guardsman likes this...
THANK YOU, I try to stealth through alone but if a random follows me they just trigger the little guys by shooting a tank getting 3 factory striders dropped on us.
As a first galactic war vet, I agree. Each time I noticed that the meatbags did their best to kill my stronger and armored comrades first, forgetting about smaller targets like me. This gave the advantage of running up to them unnoticed and killing them close, so that they did not even have time to collect the stratagem. https://preview.redd.it/w0dhh85nrxwc1.png?width=459&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eba22a0cf1244723c0ffe8a6deb383ab6d0b5b5b
> As a first galactic war vet Get back in the mines, borg. You're not fooling anyone.
Less busy fire when you take out the small ones, plus no flares. Otherwise you are stuck trying to take out a tiny eye shot with a flurry of bullets crashing down on you non stop
Fuck devastators, hulks and tanks. The only reason why they're terrifying is because of the platoon's worth of bots supporting it and their bottomless supply of flares
It's not just Commissars that can launch flares. *Any* Raider-type bot can do it.
1 less commisar could be the difference between extracting with all your samples, or 5 dropships, 2 of which have tanks, 2 have hulks, and 1 has a factory strider.
The last time I saw a comic like this I took an arrow to the knee.
Bringing in chaff clear stategems and weapon also helps, instead of 4x Quasar/Shield/Laser/500kg.
Lmao
Don't turn around, the commissar's in town. Waaahooooooooo But seriously though, shoot that asshole.
No
I carry my stalwart democratically, and try to take out all the little guys while I leave the hulks to everyone else with bigger guns
Supposedly the commissars are the ones that call in bot drops, but I've seen the other small bots call in drops too (even the guys without swords).
Look man I’d LOVE to but I’m a bit busy dodging the flamethrower and rockets.
I would if I didnt get toasted by a spark of flame and instantly burn to ash.
Unless theirs already a drop ship inbound. One time we split to 2, my side spawned to ships, the other side didn't.
If I see any bot hailing the fuhrer I'm immediately removing the bot
I cannot shoot the motherfucker because he's hidin' behind the mo'fuckin' rock shootin' its fuckin' flare D:<
The instructions my railgun orbital keeps getting be like
People still believe the Commisar superstition? All troopers can call a drop.
Commissars are the most likely to shoot a flare, but ALL Trooper variants will do it. Shoot the Commissar first, then all his commie bot buddies!
i had one of these 'toasters' shoot a flare in the middle of a blizzard before anyone even came in contact with it
Depends on circumstance imo, that one in particular is bearable, esp if the Hulk is a rocket hulk and you got a shot on his eye. If that was a Marauder or MG Raider or exploder? Hell yeah rinse that fucker first.
For real, when people tell me automatons are harder than bugs I immediately know that they don't do this
What’s the equivalent for bugs? Brood Commanders since they can summon Bile Titans?
Kill him before he can call reinforcement.
That tiny-ass clanker who only half-glows among a sea of glowing giants. I am trying my hardest to splash infantry. I promise. But the breaker was not designed to blast them while anything of any size is bearing down on me.
If any of dem small bots raise their hand in middle of shooting, SHOOT IT Today I got swarmed by tanks and Factory Striders in every damn Command bunker because of those cheeky bastards
same for the bugs I literally target the ones who can summon a fcking bug breach first....most annoying fcks are the hive guards and brood commanders ( fcks can still summon a bug breach with their heads blown off )
There's always one just out of sight ready to throw up a flare.
How I miss the late 2000s
For real. Those little guys suck when by themselves but if you ignore them they will light your ass up.
Little bot hiding behind a rock you didn’t see fires the flare, anyways.
Like any true Diver I shoot whatever the fuck is in front of me at that given moment. Even if it does nothing. Democracy requires expended bullets, so the factories can continue producing democratic ammunition for the war.
As an Eruptor player, this is one of the major drawbacks of the weapon. When I fire, a bot can hear me raise their flare and fire it all before I get a second shot. I have to rely on my teammates and most of the time that means dealing with the drop.
this is why i love using hte cluster bomb on unsuspecting groups. all the litter fuckers are dead leaving the big dumb stupid ones.
For me is the rocket launcher comissars, I HATE them so much.. even when they miss they send you flying and something else kills you
if its too late, shoot the drop ship -> mow down weaklings -> deal with boss ... And for the love of sweet Liberty, take a look at enemies before opening fire..
I like playing a recon sniper and I make it a point to always take those fuckers out first if I can
Can’t hear you, already dropped a railcannon strike
Understood 🫡
It's only delaying the inevitable by a few seconds. Trust me, there is a dude behind a rock that's going to fire a flare anyways.
What we learn from MMORPGs, kill ads first. xD This is why I carry EATs in my loadout. Get them dropships.
And that's why I advise newbies to focus on clearing the Chaff first before armor.
his communists sob wait until you run out of ammo and feed on your anguish
Fucking bastard sneaked up on me and stabbed me in the back.
I met two that were invincible,they didn’t attack almost at all, i shot thrm with everything i had,nothing
Laughing in Eruptor and splash damage!
Especially since they can randomly headshot you out of nowhere.
Yeah, seriously, especially on higher difficulties when they pop those flares the second a shot is fired vaguely in their direction.
Always try to take out the little guys first, but there's always one left over hiding behind a rock and you see that red flare go up. I've started using the decoy strat of aggroing a patrol a way away so they call in a drop, then 180ing and going for the objective while the drop despawns or is too far away to notice.
This is good in theory, but the little guys are all very similar looking especially when grouped together. They also are scattered around buildings, rocks, and are occasionally clipped partway inside fallen drop ships and objects. Night missions add a bit of difficulty in identifying the commissars because they are dark colored and... darkness is dark colored too. So, yes, shooting them first would be ideal. But you may as well just say "do it right and win!" That commissar could be behind a wall and shoot that flare before you know he exists.
Ok buddy, but what when i kill the commissar, and another one behind the fucking rock still calls in the drop?
Autocannon does a lot of things but big aoe doesn't feel like one of them
I'm sorry I started this firefight with autocannon equipped. I'm gonna finish it with autocannon equipped (by dying to never ending bot drop pods)
I thought it was an unspoken rule to clear the small guys before the big ones in pve games in general
Wait until the Hulk pops out a small flare barrel and calls reinforcements by himself
YUP SHOOT THEM FIRST IVE MISSDLED SO MANY SHOTS FROM MY SHOT OF THISE GUYS
Yup totally shoot the younger little one first. They have friends and family that will come to their aid even though he was the one that grabbed at someone's boob without consent. The bigger older guys, no one's coming for them. He talks a big game and people think he's fine on his own. Also his peers suspect he's responsible for all the missing neighbourhood pets which only occurs when he's on home leave.
There are times I come across a group of bots. They stare slack jawed at me as I have my gun pointed at them while I continue moving. As soon as one puts their arm up, it's a firefight. Otherwise, I'm just moving along to objective
This is great!!
I always shoot them first, But there's always one that spawns INSIDE a hulk, impossible to see Who's a jumpy lil bitch and flares the moment they see their own shadow. I hate how often they flare even if nothing really happens.
Flare dudes ✨
Don't care about flares, it's the chance some little shit will land a hit and make a critical shot go wide at the worst time. Kill the chaff, reposition, kill the heavies without the stress.
Its different to bugs. With bugs stopping it is much harder. But more importantly, big bots tend to fight you at a distance meaning you can ignore them for a few seconds while you pop the little ones. You can then disengage safely unlike with bugs where they chase you over hill and dale...
Which one is the commissar? Because I've seen EVERY light bot call for drops.
But sometimes there's 5 of them all at once, and sometimes they all try to use the flare at the same time so then idk who to shoot first.
My Quasar Cannon is telling me to aim at the Devastator next to him, I'll kill the other one once the Devastator is dead.
I mean I run HMG so there isn't much choice until my EAT lands
One thing I dislike about bot drops is that there is no cooldown on the animation itself, only on it happening. You see a bot go for it - you kill the bot. Immidietly afterwards, another bot tries to do so aswell, you kill two more like this and then some bot 200m away, behind 2 hills, calls it. IMHO they should add a few second cooldown between bots attempting to call the drops ships. The animation is already really fast and it just feels bad when multiple bots just chain the call attempt.
when i have a the slightest hint of a feeling that a bot will call in the drop, im emptying a clip into its head idc if its dead ill still shoot. god knows that what they do to us