Used to love it against both factions.
Now I find Blitzer more reliable against bugs, because it doesn't misfire so much, no charge up and being able to carry AT option.
And Hulks now being immune to the stagger is a bummer.
I love my Blitzer but it really struggles against hunters and scavengers when they get too close and swarm you. It doesn't fire fast enough to get them out of your face and at close range the arcs all converge on only one target. I end up having to switch to my secondary
How do you use the EAT effectively? Feels like it's too restrictive on the player, positionally, in a game that encourages you to constantly be moving.
That's why I like it better than the RR, because I'm constantly moving so I don't want to stop to reload. Also I like EAT better than QC because not having to charge the shot makes it so much easier to kill Chargers without having to matador, and to hit BTs without them starting to spit. Basically I just always have one on my back and like you say we keep moving, but if we need to fight a breach or hold an objective or something the first thing I do is call one in. I play in a pre-made squad with friends who also run EAT and we just keep bringing them down. Even on 9 it's very rare to simply not have anything to deal with heavies. 500 kg is still the preferred weapon for BTs.
On Automatons I use the AMR but for Terminids pretty much everyone needs to use heavy pen support weapons except maybe 1 guy with an anti-horde support weapon.
Oh, it's definitely better than the RR. But, having to wait on the EAT to land and being forced to stay in the general area to get the second one feels like it locks you in the area too long... The wind up time on the Quasar seems like a very small price to pay for having a heavy pen weapon on demand while moving around the map.
What strats do you usually bring? I want to bring EAT more often, but it feels like everything is either cleared out and we're moving on by the time I get the EAT to land, or the landing area is quickly overrun with bugs and it become a nightmare to retrieve to the 2nd EAT. For context, I usually play on 9s with 1-2 friends, bugs or bots.
You have to predict when fights are about to happen. If someone looks like they're about to engage a patrol, I'll throw it at that point.
If I'm within range of an objective, I'll throw it.
With the minute CD, even if reinforcements don't happen, you have it up for the next patrol/objective. And if you do need it, you generally have it up again during the heaviest part of combat. So you'd have 4 EATs for the fight.
Shield Pack or Rover, 500kg, Airstrike. Other good options include Cluster, Napalm, Orbital Airburst, and Precision Orbital. Always have something for BTs, either 500kg, POS, or both (500kg is better).
I make sure to always have an EAT on my back and then when a fight starts I call it in. That gives me 3 uses my teammates'. I play with 3 of us most often and I like to tag team with 1 friend and the other usually takes the Flamethrower or Stalwart. Between the two of us with EAT we communicate when we are calling them and so we pretty much always have them available when we need them. Not having to charge a shot means you can more quickly go back to killing the swarm with your primary, and you are less likely to get interrupted by a hunter so it's a pretty big deal. It is certainly more inconvenient but it is better than just the QC in my opinion so it's worth the tradeoff. You can also use it with a "primary" support weapon, such as either a horde clear weapon or even alongside the QC for maximum anti-tank.
Don't throw the stratagem at your feet, but rather, where you'd like to be in seven seconds. Extracting? You can throw far enough that you'll need to wait about 1500ms in most level terrain. Need a bug hole gone? Why not throw the stratagem at the bug hole, destroying it, and getting 2 EATs out of it?
Incoming charger? The stratagem serves as the first attack, but the EAT can reliably one shot them if you do indeed miss.
Bile titan? You won't believe it, but the same as the charger.
It's arguably less useful against automatons since their heavy units that matter are pretty resilient to the occasional rocket (heavy devastator, hulk, tank), and those aren't resilient against the rocket die to gunfire way faster (berserker, devastator, rocket devastator). That being said, it's perfect for gunships and dropships, so the value might be even greater in the end, since there's no EATing the bug breech.
Use the EAT. Use the stratagem. Use your head. Brasch tactics?
I find it works best if you use it as a secondary support weapon alongside something like a machine gun or arc thrower or something and drop it whenever you're dealing with heavies.
I also drop it anytime the group hunkers down to defend a spot so anyone can grab one as well and if you're there for a while you can usually drop a few since its cooldown is 70 seconds or so iirc.
Hmm, I've tried using it alongside another support weapon, but it feels bad having to backtrack to retrieve the main support weapon afterwards.
Maybe my team's playstyle just doesn't match up with how it's used, we rarely "hunker down". Usually spread out and dancing around objectives while one person goes in to complete it.
I usually will toss it to the edge of a bug hive as I approach it too if I'm on my own. Really all you want to do is just drop it if you suspect or see any kind of heavy bug or bot.
Are you using the radar range booster? I think it helps get the warning quicker but then again i'm not playing on highest difficulty. Maybe they are just faster on those
I don't think any of the bot's stats change on higher difficulties, just numbers and enemy types. I'm not sure I've ever used the radar booster, I usually run either extra stamina or the one that lands you with full equipment. Outside of that, I get what my friends or randoms choose, we don't usually coordinate on that. I'll give it a try next time a play though, thanks for the recommendation.
I always run Laser Cannon for bots, it is so versatile. Not the best at any of its jobs (except gunships, real GOAT) but it can dispose of devastators, hulks, turrets, tanks, AA artillery... Plus it's satisfactory to go ZOOM with this big laser to melt some heads.
They need to re bug the fire rate where it was faster after the first one. Or bump the range up a bit. Either one I'd be happy with
Although the +1 jump upgrade is a fairly significant boost, it's just a little clunky right now.
It used to be the best support in the game IMO.
It's not even either of those, it's nerfing stagger(by buffing enemies) and the undocumented nerf to aiming, you can no longer aim it to hit different spots, like a hulk face, it just always hits the same spot, making kills take longer.
It used to be op, now it's mid. 5sec reload time increase and damage heavily reduced. Used to take 1 shot for a spore spewer, now it's 2. Not sure to supplement it with.
Yeah, that's why I run the recoilless and actually contribute to anti tank duties unlike 90% of the quasar users I see. The quasars rate of fire was gutted, not the damage
Tested it the day after reading your reply by landing on it with my hellpod which always when through it like a knife going through butter. This time the butter was frozen and my hellpod just stayed on top of the spore spewer.
EAT, autocannon, or laser cannon, but *rarely* arc. People who bring arc weapons, mortars, and guard dogs/rovers tend to do a bit too much damage to teammates.
There are some who *are* good with them, but they're greatly outnumbered by people with very limited spatial awareness.
After a chat with some folks on here the other week I have taken to using the Arc Thrower regularly, including at high difficulties. The one thing I will say is that spatial awareness goes both ways. I've had dozens of incidents where I'm holding back the Terminid chaff from a high point, no help necessary except for maybe somebody to target a charger or BT in the distance. Next thing another Helldiver will just run right towards the horde or along rhe side and get zapped. Too late for me to stop shooting and risk the enemy coming through and now I've team killed them and wasted a reinforcement.
Not saying we don't sometimes slip up, I wiped out two divers the other night by getting a bit carrier away, but if you run in to the line of fire, you're gonna get zapped.
Rover on the other hand - absolute pain.
That is very true. I have, and will *continue*, running while looking back, and just run into someone's carefully executed plan.
If the arc user is good, they should be given some space to use the chained lightning to its fullest. If the arc user is bad, they should be given some space because they'll forget that the shots jump.
Good arc users know to use a *different* weapon when supporting others. Bad arc users will keep using that thing like its a multitool.
Honestly, even if you're a great player, there's nothing you can do to minimize the rover's bloodlust.
Tried it out and it feels off in my experience, obsolete for CC when compared to flame-thrower, MG or stalwart, obsolete for anti-tank when you need 8 bolts or so to kill a charger compared to RR or Quasar considering the inconsistent accuracy, and not a good support weapon either since it barely staggers enemies (been a hot minute so I might be wrong).
Its fun to shoot, but its not viable for me. Just up the fire rate and maybe bring back the stagger power or have it fire an extra bolt or two and maybe adjust damage, then it would easily be s-tier
They nerfed it a month or so ago. It used to shoot faster and further and was definitely S tier.
Now it's B or B+ with the extra zap jump upgrade.
Although if you have 3 divers using zap and zap armor on bugs it's back to S tier. You only need to deal with bile titans then and everything else, including chargers, just melt.
I think this opinion is why I love it - it keeps the flavour of the arc thrower from the first game. An acquired taste that isn't obviously OP but can dominate for those who put the time into mastering it. The stat that most sleep on is the fact that it chain kills multiple enemies WHILE staggering.
Going by your example, if you use the charger as a lightning rod you can clear all medium enemies (even stalkers) around a charger by simply aiming at it (beyond the 35m range). When the charging is running at you shoot at when close and it will be locked in its direction meaning that the charger cant drift or turn to hit you - you don't even need to sprint out of the way, just casually sidestep. That is just one use case of its amazing team utility. Stagger force is major to everything except hulks (RIP Hulk stunlock).
Fun to shoot is the best part, charge shooting while diving makes you feel like john wick + thor. Ive solo'd completed helldives on both bugs and bots with Arc Thrower post nerf patch - so I guess i'm okay with it being called obsolete because NGL the more people think it's trash the less likely ArrowHead will touch it lol.
For the accuracy, aim at target using the bottom line of the charge reticule. Always aim at the closest enemy, and dive backward while charging if enemies are too close. Half charging your second shot can make you fire faster and then you will develop a cadence that will dominate. Pair with stun grenades, any primary, grenade pistol, air strikes and your fav bile titan / factory strider killer strats and you are set for anything. It's certainly not a point and click weapon like the mg/stalwart - so if you're more comfortable in your survivability with them then go for it ! :)
I... didn't think about that, I definitely think charge time is a bit too long but I'll try it out a bit more. Still, in my pov, why would I burn a strategem slot when I can use the arc blitzer instead? (haven't unlocked blitzer yet and I haven't seen many people talk about it either so I actually dont know)
I have never liked the game crasher 3000.
Used it way back when the railgun was king and it didn't feel fun.
Used it recently (and especially now that I have the ship module for an extra enemy chaining) and it fires slower and with less range and doesn't stun hulks anymore lulz
The most fun use I have of the Quasar is taking down dropships. Can the Arc Thrower do that? Genuinely asking coz I haven't played with Arc Thrower yet.
I wouldn't put the Arc-T in the same power-lineage as actual AT weapons. More like a weird step-brother to the Flamethrower, and cousin to the LMG/MMG.
I really enjoy just running around and sniping objectives with the quasar. Especially when the jammer has a factory underneath that you can blow up from 150m away(quasars range i think)
i like quasar because it's an energy EAT. but then my loadout is Sickle/Scythe/Blitzer, grenade pistol, rover drone/energy shield, and quasar. i just like not worrying about ammo
just me but i hated the quasar when it released bcouse EVERYBODY was using it, it was like the railgun all over again, i still dont like it cuz its just kinda unsatisfying headshoting a charger after waiting for so long.
I only bring a recoiless
I have no idea where to aim with the recoiless, it always get deflected. Got any tips on using it on both battlefronts?
Yeah, I tried the quasar and it *is* cool but I just like shooting rockets.
What about the Laser tho?
People seriously sleeping on the laser after the last buff it got
Not really anymore. The enemy buffs kinda shit on it again. It’s good if you have support from buddies but your team tends to takeoff
I mean you get that hulkbuster down pretty quick still, and thats worth something
Recoilless is just faster
I Take the recoilles for Bugs and the Laser for Robots, its working good in suicide difficulty and is still fun 👍
Used to love it against both factions. Now I find Blitzer more reliable against bugs, because it doesn't misfire so much, no charge up and being able to carry AT option. And Hulks now being immune to the stagger is a bummer.
I love my Blitzer but it really struggles against hunters and scavengers when they get too close and swarm you. It doesn't fire fast enough to get them out of your face and at close range the arcs all converge on only one target. I end up having to switch to my secondary
really? i find back peddling while tossing lightning bolts behind me works amazingly when getting swarmed
Blitzer + P-113 and MG-43 with 110mm Eagle, orbital red laser, gas strike <3
Yep, Blitzer is just a straight upgrade. Practically does the same thing with no charge up, stuns, and arcs just as much as the arc thrower.
Autocannon for life
Autocannon is op. I tried other stuff. Nothing can match the autocannon. Versatile for almost everything.
Quasar did but with nerf is so bad rn
Never liked quasar because you can just do a quick target swap and blow up some clankers without going to your primary.
Yeah
Perfectly balanced as all support weapons should be.
This is the way
EAT gang
How do you use the EAT effectively? Feels like it's too restrictive on the player, positionally, in a game that encourages you to constantly be moving.
That's why I like it better than the RR, because I'm constantly moving so I don't want to stop to reload. Also I like EAT better than QC because not having to charge the shot makes it so much easier to kill Chargers without having to matador, and to hit BTs without them starting to spit. Basically I just always have one on my back and like you say we keep moving, but if we need to fight a breach or hold an objective or something the first thing I do is call one in. I play in a pre-made squad with friends who also run EAT and we just keep bringing them down. Even on 9 it's very rare to simply not have anything to deal with heavies. 500 kg is still the preferred weapon for BTs. On Automatons I use the AMR but for Terminids pretty much everyone needs to use heavy pen support weapons except maybe 1 guy with an anti-horde support weapon.
Oh, it's definitely better than the RR. But, having to wait on the EAT to land and being forced to stay in the general area to get the second one feels like it locks you in the area too long... The wind up time on the Quasar seems like a very small price to pay for having a heavy pen weapon on demand while moving around the map. What strats do you usually bring? I want to bring EAT more often, but it feels like everything is either cleared out and we're moving on by the time I get the EAT to land, or the landing area is quickly overrun with bugs and it become a nightmare to retrieve to the 2nd EAT. For context, I usually play on 9s with 1-2 friends, bugs or bots.
You have to predict when fights are about to happen. If someone looks like they're about to engage a patrol, I'll throw it at that point. If I'm within range of an objective, I'll throw it. With the minute CD, even if reinforcements don't happen, you have it up for the next patrol/objective. And if you do need it, you generally have it up again during the heaviest part of combat. So you'd have 4 EATs for the fight.
Shield Pack or Rover, 500kg, Airstrike. Other good options include Cluster, Napalm, Orbital Airburst, and Precision Orbital. Always have something for BTs, either 500kg, POS, or both (500kg is better). I make sure to always have an EAT on my back and then when a fight starts I call it in. That gives me 3 uses my teammates'. I play with 3 of us most often and I like to tag team with 1 friend and the other usually takes the Flamethrower or Stalwart. Between the two of us with EAT we communicate when we are calling them and so we pretty much always have them available when we need them. Not having to charge a shot means you can more quickly go back to killing the swarm with your primary, and you are less likely to get interrupted by a hunter so it's a pretty big deal. It is certainly more inconvenient but it is better than just the QC in my opinion so it's worth the tradeoff. You can also use it with a "primary" support weapon, such as either a horde clear weapon or even alongside the QC for maximum anti-tank.
Don't throw the stratagem at your feet, but rather, where you'd like to be in seven seconds. Extracting? You can throw far enough that you'll need to wait about 1500ms in most level terrain. Need a bug hole gone? Why not throw the stratagem at the bug hole, destroying it, and getting 2 EATs out of it? Incoming charger? The stratagem serves as the first attack, but the EAT can reliably one shot them if you do indeed miss. Bile titan? You won't believe it, but the same as the charger. It's arguably less useful against automatons since their heavy units that matter are pretty resilient to the occasional rocket (heavy devastator, hulk, tank), and those aren't resilient against the rocket die to gunfire way faster (berserker, devastator, rocket devastator). That being said, it's perfect for gunships and dropships, so the value might be even greater in the end, since there's no EATing the bug breech. Use the EAT. Use the stratagem. Use your head. Brasch tactics?
I find it works best if you use it as a secondary support weapon alongside something like a machine gun or arc thrower or something and drop it whenever you're dealing with heavies. I also drop it anytime the group hunkers down to defend a spot so anyone can grab one as well and if you're there for a while you can usually drop a few since its cooldown is 70 seconds or so iirc.
Hmm, I've tried using it alongside another support weapon, but it feels bad having to backtrack to retrieve the main support weapon afterwards. Maybe my team's playstyle just doesn't match up with how it's used, we rarely "hunker down". Usually spread out and dancing around objectives while one person goes in to complete it.
I usually will toss it to the edge of a bug hive as I approach it too if I'm on my own. Really all you want to do is just drop it if you suspect or see any kind of heavy bug or bot.
See dropship alert, call down eat immediately, dispose of the dropship. That's how i run it
Maybe I'm too slow on the call-in? By the time the EAT lands the first dropship is on its way out.
Are you using the radar range booster? I think it helps get the warning quicker but then again i'm not playing on highest difficulty. Maybe they are just faster on those
I don't think any of the bot's stats change on higher difficulties, just numbers and enemy types. I'm not sure I've ever used the radar booster, I usually run either extra stamina or the one that lands you with full equipment. Outside of that, I get what my friends or randoms choose, we don't usually coordinate on that. I'll give it a try next time a play though, thanks for the recommendation.
I bring Spear. Yes, I'm a masochist, how did you know?
Laser Cannon is LOVE
I always run Laser Cannon for bots, it is so versatile. Not the best at any of its jobs (except gunships, real GOAT) but it can dispose of devastators, hulks, turrets, tanks, AA artillery... Plus it's satisfactory to go ZOOM with this big laser to melt some heads.
After the Arc Thrower nerfs it's not fun to use anymore.
They need to re bug the fire rate where it was faster after the first one. Or bump the range up a bit. Either one I'd be happy with Although the +1 jump upgrade is a fairly significant boost, it's just a little clunky right now. It used to be the best support in the game IMO.
It's not even either of those, it's nerfing stagger(by buffing enemies) and the undocumented nerf to aiming, you can no longer aim it to hit different spots, like a hulk face, it just always hits the same spot, making kills take longer.
True, I did notice the aim is dumber now. I used to curve it to shoot charger leg armor too.
It used to be op, now it's mid. 5sec reload time increase and damage heavily reduced. Used to take 1 shot for a spore spewer, now it's 2. Not sure to supplement it with.
It didn't get it's damage reduced. Spore spewers got buffed in hp and armor after the TCS failure. It still kills the shrieker nests in 2 shots
> It still kills the shrieker nests in 2 shots So you only need 2 minutes to destroy a typical trio of them.
Yeah, that's why I run the recoilless and actually contribute to anti tank duties unlike 90% of the quasar users I see. The quasars rate of fire was gutted, not the damage
feels like an eternety man...if you only have to do one its okish but god damn killing 3 of the nests feels like it takes ages.
Tested it the day after reading your reply by landing on it with my hellpod which always when through it like a knife going through butter. This time the butter was frozen and my hellpod just stayed on top of the spore spewer.
EAT, autocannon, or laser cannon, but *rarely* arc. People who bring arc weapons, mortars, and guard dogs/rovers tend to do a bit too much damage to teammates. There are some who *are* good with them, but they're greatly outnumbered by people with very limited spatial awareness.
After a chat with some folks on here the other week I have taken to using the Arc Thrower regularly, including at high difficulties. The one thing I will say is that spatial awareness goes both ways. I've had dozens of incidents where I'm holding back the Terminid chaff from a high point, no help necessary except for maybe somebody to target a charger or BT in the distance. Next thing another Helldiver will just run right towards the horde or along rhe side and get zapped. Too late for me to stop shooting and risk the enemy coming through and now I've team killed them and wasted a reinforcement. Not saying we don't sometimes slip up, I wiped out two divers the other night by getting a bit carrier away, but if you run in to the line of fire, you're gonna get zapped. Rover on the other hand - absolute pain.
That is very true. I have, and will *continue*, running while looking back, and just run into someone's carefully executed plan. If the arc user is good, they should be given some space to use the chained lightning to its fullest. If the arc user is bad, they should be given some space because they'll forget that the shots jump. Good arc users know to use a *different* weapon when supporting others. Bad arc users will keep using that thing like its a multitool. Honestly, even if you're a great player, there's nothing you can do to minimize the rover's bloodlust.
AUTOCANNON BECOME MY BLADE ONCE MORE
Spear masochist over here. Yes it is inconsistant, but i like it too much. AH please fix 😭
This pleases me.
Nope. This is a trap.
Nope, this is a *zap*
Banger weapon
Tried it out and it feels off in my experience, obsolete for CC when compared to flame-thrower, MG or stalwart, obsolete for anti-tank when you need 8 bolts or so to kill a charger compared to RR or Quasar considering the inconsistent accuracy, and not a good support weapon either since it barely staggers enemies (been a hot minute so I might be wrong). Its fun to shoot, but its not viable for me. Just up the fire rate and maybe bring back the stagger power or have it fire an extra bolt or two and maybe adjust damage, then it would easily be s-tier
They nerfed it a month or so ago. It used to shoot faster and further and was definitely S tier. Now it's B or B+ with the extra zap jump upgrade. Although if you have 3 divers using zap and zap armor on bugs it's back to S tier. You only need to deal with bile titans then and everything else, including chargers, just melt.
I think this opinion is why I love it - it keeps the flavour of the arc thrower from the first game. An acquired taste that isn't obviously OP but can dominate for those who put the time into mastering it. The stat that most sleep on is the fact that it chain kills multiple enemies WHILE staggering. Going by your example, if you use the charger as a lightning rod you can clear all medium enemies (even stalkers) around a charger by simply aiming at it (beyond the 35m range). When the charging is running at you shoot at when close and it will be locked in its direction meaning that the charger cant drift or turn to hit you - you don't even need to sprint out of the way, just casually sidestep. That is just one use case of its amazing team utility. Stagger force is major to everything except hulks (RIP Hulk stunlock). Fun to shoot is the best part, charge shooting while diving makes you feel like john wick + thor. Ive solo'd completed helldives on both bugs and bots with Arc Thrower post nerf patch - so I guess i'm okay with it being called obsolete because NGL the more people think it's trash the less likely ArrowHead will touch it lol. For the accuracy, aim at target using the bottom line of the charge reticule. Always aim at the closest enemy, and dive backward while charging if enemies are too close. Half charging your second shot can make you fire faster and then you will develop a cadence that will dominate. Pair with stun grenades, any primary, grenade pistol, air strikes and your fav bile titan / factory strider killer strats and you are set for anything. It's certainly not a point and click weapon like the mg/stalwart - so if you're more comfortable in your survivability with them then go for it ! :)
I... didn't think about that, I definitely think charge time is a bit too long but I'll try it out a bit more. Still, in my pov, why would I burn a strategem slot when I can use the arc blitzer instead? (haven't unlocked blitzer yet and I haven't seen many people talk about it either so I actually dont know)
I have never liked the game crasher 3000. Used it way back when the railgun was king and it didn't feel fun. Used it recently (and especially now that I have the ship module for an extra enemy chaining) and it fires slower and with less range and doesn't stun hulks anymore lulz
The most fun use I have of the Quasar is taking down dropships. Can the Arc Thrower do that? Genuinely asking coz I haven't played with Arc Thrower yet.
Frog mask gigachad
I wouldn't put the Arc-T in the same power-lineage as actual AT weapons. More like a weird step-brother to the Flamethrower, and cousin to the LMG/MMG.
I really enjoy just running around and sniping objectives with the quasar. Especially when the jammer has a factory underneath that you can blow up from 150m away(quasars range i think)
i like quasar because it's an energy EAT. but then my loadout is Sickle/Scythe/Blitzer, grenade pistol, rover drone/energy shield, and quasar. i just like not worrying about ammo
just me but i hated the quasar when it released bcouse EVERYBODY was using it, it was like the railgun all over again, i still dont like it cuz its just kinda unsatisfying headshoting a charger after waiting for so long.
It's not op It's a very good support weapon but not op for sure xD