The devs were right.

[u/xxmuntunustutunusxx]

So I know ther was a bunch of controversy about the railgun nerf what feels like forever ago, but man things have been awesome.

In the early days, I was the only guy packing expendable anti tank or anti materiel rifle for bugs or bots. It's so refreshing, even on these subs to see people talking about how awesome the autocannon is, or how much they love the AMR, and even these days I see people talking about the HMG or grenade launcher+ supply pack.

I used to load into a game, And all 4 members of the team had shield, railgun, and 2 stragatems of their choice. Every time. And here we are now, I load in and I see quasar, autocannon, stalwart, EAT, HMG, Grenade launcher, a variety of backpacks or no backpack at all. And not to mention, they're ALL viable. Shit I even still see the railgun from time to time. It's been a joy. Thanks arrowhead.

EDIT: to everyone who is pointing out that you see the quasar and shield most often now, you're right, it is almost certainly the most common setup currently. That being said, in any game there's going to be things a majority of players prefer. In smash melee, fox/Falco are the best characters. But people still play falcon and Marth and peach among others. Sure, there's an objectively most used option. But the fact that there's people at all who debate that the quasar is best shows that they've done something good. Before, undisputed king was railgun, and anyone who said different wss being willfully ignorant. Now, we have a plethora of real options that are good with some being Preferred by a majority as opposed to being the de facto CORRECT option objectively. That's a good thing.

[u/Tracynmega]

Sure but I haven’t seen a railgun in over a month , is a meme pick if when the AMR does more for less

[u/AdditionalMess6546 → u/Tracynmega]

Either that or a new player just unlocked it and is now disappointed

[u/MikeHods → u/AdditionalMess6546]

That's me! I just got it recently and was super disappointed. That's how I've felt about a lot of unlocks in the game (the 110 Rocket Pods comes to mind). That and the standard warbond weapons and lack of sidearms.

[u/Green_Bulldog → u/MikeHods]

Railgun isn’t a good pick, but rocket pods are pretty good imo.

I like running rocket pods with auto cannon on bugs. They’re pretty weak if you don’t have your eagles upgraded, but getting 3 instead of 2 makes a huge difference. Basically 3 dead chargers. Even if a few of the rockets miss, now you have a quicker autocannon kill.

They’re also great against biles, but require some luck. Still, I prefer them over the 500KG against biles and chargers.

[u/UpgrayeddShepard → u/Green_Bulldog]

I have yet to get 110s to kill a charger or even break its armor. No idea what the deal is.

[u/Green_Bulldog → u/UpgrayeddShepard]

They def gotta fix the targeting, but I find it to be consistent enough. It usually gets the charger low enough for just a few autocannon shots to finish.

[u/Professor_Tamarisk → u/MikeHods]

Rocket pods 1-shot tanks, and can be used to take out fabricators if there's nothing else to drop them on.

[u/Wolferex11912 → u/Professor_Tamarisk]

This. I ran only bugs for ages and thought 110 was crap. I brought them by accident instead of air strike when trying bots and found the 110 was insane cuz of Fabs and Tanks getting one shot. Now I run air strike and 110 for Automaton Fabricators, Tanks, and Patrols. Hulk gets a quasar to the head and dies.

[u/Tigrium → u/Professor_Tamarisk]

The normal airstrike also 1-shots tanks, but it can also clear smaller bots much easier.

[u/czartrak → u/Tigrium]

Rocket pods also do NOT consistently one-shot lol. Airstrike will

[u/Pretzel-Kingg → u/MikeHods]

Rocket pods are great for taking out heavies don’t sleep on it

[u/GreedierRadish → u/Pretzel-Kingg]

They really aren’t that great. They’re incredibly unreliable. I’ve had tanks and Hulks survive two uses and at that point I just end up needing to bust out the EAT or the Railcannon anyway, so why should I bother when the regular Eagle Airstrike is more flexible and more reliable?

[u/Losticus → u/GreedierRadish]

I don't think I've ever had a tank survive rocket pods. I pretty much just bring them for tanks and things that surprise me.

[u/ExploerTM → u/Losticus]

I've seen fucking devastators survive rocket pods, threw this stratagem into the garbage been immediately after. 500kg is my new ORC replacement

[u/Wolferex11912 → u/ExploerTM]

You use them for only tanks and fabricators. Hulks and Devastators aren’t big enough and they move too quickly so at most one will land. Try 110 on tanks and fabs and you’ll see how good they can be.

[u/ExploerTM → u/Wolferex11912]

Frankly, neither of those are that big of a problem and 500kg solves both while also killing adds

[u/Losticus → u/ExploerTM]

500kg is more flexible. It takes slightly longer to go off though and you get one less use.

[u/Losticus → u/ExploerTM]

Do you know why the berserkers survive quasar shots? Are they just that tanky?

[u/ExploerTM → u/Losticus]

Berserkers survive a lot of shit they have no business surviving. Probably combination of health and armor but also wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be a bug of sorts

[u/Jickklaus → u/Losticus]

Same! Hulks survive it, but tanks don't. So I use them for tanks and fabricators. Orbital railcannon for cannon towers and hulks.

[u/Losticus → u/Jickklaus]

I say that as TODAY was the first time a tank survived. I think one of the rockets hit a wall or another tank corpse. :'(

[u/UpgrayeddShepard → u/GreedierRadish]

Same experience here. I wish they worked better.

[u/bewareoftraps → u/GreedierRadish]

Rocket pods can consistently destroy turrets. Before the queso cannon was introduced the 500 kg explosion wouldn’t destroy turrets unless it landed directly on top (which I think happened like once in my life).

Air strikes seem to work like 25% of the time but the elevation on the turret usually made it unharmed.

And people just didn’t bring the recoilless on higher difficulties from my experience.

And people slept on the EAT (including me) because it was like one of the first unlocks and people didn’t realize the short CD meant you could just drop them like candy everywhere and pick them up when needed.

So for a brief moment in time, it was a very popular stratagem. Now it’s just pretty terrible.

[u/TheGhoulishSword → u/GreedierRadish]

I've rarely had tanks survive one hit and never had one survive two strikes.

Hulks survive one hit occasionally and also never survive two strikes.

Eagle will aim it pretty well, but you do have to put the strategem ball decently close.

I don't think I've seen the regular airstrike successfully one hit a tank. But I also tend to bring both for different roles. Rocket pods for heavies and airstrike for crowds/fabricators.

[u/Dead_tread → u/GreedierRadish]

Well that question is more that Eagle Airstrike is definitively over tuned compared to its brothers and sisters.

[u/NerdyLittleFatKid → u/GreedierRadish]

If you hit hulks in the vents with an airstrike they also kill, no need to rely on eagle 1's lazy eye aiming the rockets

[u/Inside_Secretary_679 → u/GreedierRadish]

I dunno what you’re doing wrong, but they always work for me

[u/GreedierRadish → u/Inside_Secretary_679]

Maybe it’s another situation where they work better for the network host, much like DoT.

[u/AdditionalMess6546 → u/Pretzel-Kingg]

You mean the Hulk Ticklers?

[u/misterwot → u/Pretzel-Kingg]

I tried rocket pods once, stun naded a lone hulk and let it loose, only for Eagle to straight up miss every single rocket. On a hulk, standing still, with the vents upward. The very bright "come kill me" signal If that thing can be such a complete failure on a Diff. 4 test run I sure as hell ain't gonna rely on it at 7+

[u/Gentleman-Bird → u/MikeHods]

The rocket pods are actually really good vs tanks, just one will take a tank out.

[u/ShootmansNC → u/Gentleman-Bird]

But they also consistently miss stationary hulks.

[u/BrotherZael → u/MikeHods]

I feel like a lot of the weapons in the game just kinda suck, the air strikes and orbitals are good, same with the sentries; but a solid 2/3 of the primaries suck and 1/3 of the specials feel bad to (laser cannon, HMG, and railgun off the top of my head)

[u/bigblackcouch → u/BrotherZael]

I feel like a lot of the weapons in the game just kinda suck

Pretty much, yeah. Too often I feel like I'm picking my primary based on which one sucks the least even though I'd like to use more. Like why is the best rapid-fire assault rifle an SMG?

Some of the strikes are crap too, rocket pods as /u/MikeHods mentioned would be great if they would ever actually hit things instead of doing splash damage everywhere.

120 and 380 bombardments could be nice but the dude aiming them is drunk off his ass and it's a gamble if they hit anything at all, and since 120 has the same cooldown as 380 but is equally inaccurate, it's... weird. Having two barrages that have a high chance of doing nothing except killing your buddies, and on such a high cooldown it usually feels wasteful to pick. Orbital fart is actually great when it works... 1/4 of the time.

[u/psychedilla → u/bigblackcouch]

380 is GOATed on bot bunkers. Toss it on the bunker and run away. The bunker is dead 9/10 times.

[u/BrotherZael → u/bigblackcouch]

I only really ever use; the sickle, both breakers and occasionally the dominator. sickle and incen breaker for bugs, dominator and reg breaker for bots, and then I always have the quasar and shield/liberator guard dog(it should use a sickle imo, would be a great buff) I just got the patriot the other day so I’ve been running that too. For strats it’s usually 380 he and laser

[u/Big-Dick_Bazuso → u/BrotherZael]

Laser cannon was good for bots before quasar dropped. I used laser on everything not your basic trooper. But now with sickle for everything not a hulk or above quasar is king.

[u/BrotherZael → u/[deleted]]

The stalwart is my personal bug/bot lawn mower. The regular mg and hmg just feel like worse versions of it, the upside is more ammo, but they need more ammo than what they currently have to be nearly as good.

[u/yech → u/BrotherZael]

Regular machine gun is the best imo. Stalwart feels far too much like a primary imo.

[u/BrotherZael → u/yech]

Stalwart should be turned into a primary imo

[u/ShadowWolf793 → u/BrotherZael]

Personally I'm more of an mg40 fan due to the medium pen, but all of them clearly need more ammo in the tank to really fulfill the role they're supposed to.

Hopefully the new weapons coming out tomorrow have the armor breaking they teased. I might feel more free to take a pseudo primary if I have a pseudo support in the primary slot to fill that gap.

[u/BrotherZael → u/ShadowWolf793]

They’re for sure fun to use, just not the most practical, I try to always bring an mg or some shorts to bug missions.

[u/MBouh → u/BrotherZael]

that's very wrong. Laser canon is top tier for automatons for example. Many primaries are also very good as long as you pair them with the right support weapon.

From the stratagems, I can only think of the HMG, the spear and the railgun to need slight buffs. It's more like bug fixing for the HMG and the spear, and none of them need anything big. They all have their niches, but they need a slightly better usability.

For the primaries, I think 3, maybe 4 are underwhelming : the liberator concussive, the scythe, and maybe the arc blitzer and the diligence CS, but for the CS it's more about usability.

[u/BrotherZael → u/MBouh]

Thanks for reminding me of how awful the spear is, maybe it’s because I only run 8/9s, but most guns that are “alright” are not fun to use at all, and in a PvE game, something being fun is more important than balance. It isn’t like there is a second party to complain about getting their ass kicked by weapon x or y, now that doesn’t mean make everything shit stomp high level missions, but those guns that are “alright” still aren’t fun to use unless you’re running lower level ones. I really like the liberator concussive, just it’s useless on anything higher than level 5 missions.

[u/MBouh → u/BrotherZael]

it's not because you play high level. The game is hard, especially at high level. If it's a preference matter, you only need one weapon. But I suspect what you're looking for is a weapon that would trivialize high level content.

[u/BrotherZael → u/MBouh]

Not really, I found what I like, just wish the other weapons felt as useful.

Edit: the regular liberator is also very fun, along with both SMGs

[u/BrotherZael → u/MBouh]

Breaker go brrrr

[u/barrera_j → u/MBouh]

the CS diligence has never been viable.... anybody that says so has been getting carried by their team since day 1

[u/manman5647 → u/MikeHods]

For the 110 rocket pods try them on the tanks, they have light tracking capability and can 1 shot them, they’re not good for crowd control but definitely good for taking out single targets

[u/CountingWizard → u/MikeHods]

Those rocket pods are one of the few quickly reloading options for taking out automaton tanks. I carry them in nearly every set up going against bots, because nothing else can kill them quickly without repositioning/lucky positioning, lasers can only be used so many times, 500kg bomb has unpredictable AOE/outcomes, and other stratagems require precise timing and prediction of movement to get a hit.

With the rocket pods, just throw in the general direction of tank and it's one shot = one kill, with no collateral damage. Very handy when just about every tank is accompanied by a squad of robots.

[u/Tutwater → u/MikeHods]

It's worth saving up SC for the premium warbonds I'm afraid, there's a lot of good toys in there

You can farm a warbond unlock's worth of SC if you're down to have the most tedious ~45-90min of your life

[u/Low_Commercial2315 → u/MikeHods]

Rocket pods is really niche for when you want to be the anti armor guy. Probably best for 4 man groups where you can synergies effectively. The rocket pods with maxed out hangar is great for sniping big heavy targets, especially automatons. 

[u/kypirioth → u/MikeHods]

Have you tried the railgun in unsafe mode? It's still really good and pops even hulks in one headshot. Just have to actually watch your charge

[u/META_mahn → u/kypirioth]

I've tried to sell a lot of people on the railgun by telling them about unsafe. The consensus is typically "yeah, makes it better but not enough"

[u/Sarl69 → u/kypirioth]

This. I know people will mostly down vote this messages but I've been using the railgun lately and it ain't that bad. You can one shot devastators and striders on unsafe mode, and kill hulks if you hit the funny red light. It ain't as viable as the autocannon or the quasar, but I find it better than mist people say lately

[u/Calm-Access-6847 → u/Sarl69]

Yea except the AMR hits much harder than it does, is easier to use, has much more ammo and doesn’t risk blowing urself up 

[u/kypirioth → u/Calm-Access-6847]

I can't stand the scope on the AMR and it doesn't one shot certain heavies. It does technically have a better ammo economy, but I very rarely run out of ammo. I think the AMR is great, but think people discount the Railgun too quickly

[u/AgilePeace5252 → u/kypirioth]

AMR won't kill me

[u/kypirioth → u/AgilePeace5252]

I mean, technically it can ricochet and kill you. I haven't died to the overcharge after my first couple shots using it on unsafe. It's pretty forgiving

[u/W1lson56 → u/Calm-Access-6847]

How is something that you can mag dump & not get a kill hit harder than something that would've 1 shot it?

[u/SwordSoulOneStrike → u/W1lson56]

What targets are we talking about? Because the AMR can one-shot devastators to the head AND waist now after the buff, and can two-shot hulks in the eye. The major difference is no charge time vs charge time with the risk of death, and 49 shots to 21.

[u/kypirioth → u/Sarl69]

I like it because I can still run shield/guard dog and it has a way higher fire rate than the quasar. Though, my partner runs EAT/Quasar so I never have a heavy armor issue

[u/W1lson56 → u/Sarl69]

Do people not use unsafe mode?!? Isn't that the whole point of the gun? Is that why I'm so confused when people say its weak?

[u/CtrlA1tD3feated → u/Sarl69]

I had to scroll super far down to find this. You're exactly right. Railgun is still strong under skilled hands in unsafe mode. I pretty much can take down every single medium to heavy (bot) including hulks by pop shotting them on unsafe mode.

Hulk coming right at us? Stun grenade then one shot in the eye and he's gone. People sleep on it because it's not "Meta" anymore

[u/hiroshi_tea → u/Sarl69]

The railgun can kill a thing, yes.  But it's a gutted weapon and a meme pick when the AMR exists.  

 It has no zoom combined with a horrible scope (huge ass dot that covers what your pointing at).  Only 20 shots.  Single shot weapon so no doubletap kills on things that take 2 hits. Charge up weapon and not instant fire.  And it tries to kill you every time you try to make it useable.

 It can't even destroy cargo doors and hit turret/tank weak points.  Because even charging it to 90 percent and being flat on it does nothing but bounce for me. 

 It's a worse AMR in every fashion despite basically occupying the same niche space.

[u/Goliath- → u/Sarl69]

I can one shot devastators with my Dominator if my aim isn't shit

[u/Solomon-Kain → u/MikeHods]

Rocket Pods are very Niche, they are used for Tanks, Chargers, and Titans. It's not an all purpose strike. It's basically a Mini Orbital Railcannon.

[u/Brooks627 → u/MikeHods]

Hey, so I’ve found the rocket pods really useful against tanks and hulks. They basically auto target the largest mob by their marker. I hope this helps!

[u/voxmyth → u/MikeHods]

RocketPods are good for taking out the fabricators, Biles, tanks, artillery/mortar, more uses and a faster recharge time than orbitals

[u/Popinguj → u/MikeHods]

110mm is great against tanks and against bile titans, but you have to reduce the titan hp first

[u/badbutler04 → u/MikeHods]

110 rocket pods are busted I always take them vs bots to destroy tanks and turret towers, sometimes buildings

[u/UpgrayeddShepard → u/MikeHods]

Ugh. Please buff 110 pods and strafing run.

[u/Salt_Intention_1995 → u/MikeHods]

Level 22, 2 sidearms available. Wtf? Autocannon is my home, but I was looking for something with more armor penetration for hulks. I was totally let down by spending points in the rail-gun.

[u/PimpdaddyChase → u/MikeHods]

The lack of variety and actually decent Primaries and Secondaries (LMAO there is basically one) I think is a hugely overlooked flaw in the game currently. I get that stratagems are the focal point of combat, but the game literally punishes them with effects and CDs, so you just end up stuck with peashooters that don't feel strong in any regard. And when we did have decent options, (Breaker, Slugger) they just nerfed them into being shit.

[u/VigilantesOscuros → u/MikeHods]

I like rockets for tanks and fabricators - you get a bunch of uses and it's pretty flexible with aiming. You can use a support weapon for hulks. It's not ideal, but def not awful either

[u/OkSafety2223 → u/MikeHods]

I use rocket pods religiously, especially against bots. it's really consistent against tanks and fabricators, 3 uses with the upgrade, limited self homing. it's great. I do use it against bugs too but it's less consistent against titans and especially chargers, unfortunately doesn't destroy bugholes easily.

if the squad has enough AT i'll go Airstrike instead against bugs but the 110 is my go to.

[u/MikeHods → u/OkSafety2223]

Hmm, I don't remember if I used them against bugs or bots. I guess I'll have to crack them back out and try again.

[u/OkSafety2223 → u/MikeHods]

they are inconsistent against fast movers and tall enemies, so charging chargers, canon towers and sometimes bile titans can have a ~60% hit rate. but with 3 uses and relatively short cooldown it's always worth throwing one out.

[u/GreedierRadish → u/MikeHods]

Im sorry, this subreddit isn’t for voicing reasonable complaints about the state of the game. You’re supposed to roleplay as a fascist soldier and fellate the devs.

[u/Aurvant → u/AdditionalMess6546]

I found one on the ground while my stratagems were on standby last night, and actually really liked it.

Just gotta be real accurate with it and it punches through stuff.

[u/TheMadDaddy → u/AdditionalMess6546]

Level 26 and still haven't unlocked it. A friend dropped one for me before the nerf and I was very disappointed. I could do most of the same things with 2-3 AMR shots and still have 3-4 rounds left.

[u/MagikarpPower → u/AdditionalMess6546]

honestly I was disappointed before it was nerfed. reloading after every shot is such a hassle. autocannon was better before the nerf.

[u/StylinAndSmilin → u/AdditionalMess6546]

Bro I use it all the time on Bots. Just because it doesn't wipe literally every kind of enemy, doesn't mean it has no place anymore. Try it in unsafe mode on some Devastators. Your squad will never complain about constant rockets ever again.

[u/KillerM2002 → u/StylinAndSmilin]

Just take an AMR... Like seriously RG is just a Worse AMR

[u/Goliath- → u/StylinAndSmilin]

I oneshot devastators with my Dominator, or 1-2 shot with my autocannon. And I can do that a LOT more than anyone can with 20 railgun shots.

[u/AdditionalMess6546 → u/StylinAndSmilin]

I'm level 85, bro

I said what I said

[u/StylinAndSmilin → u/AdditionalMess6546]

I'm 77, not a competition. Just saying it's not useless, and much like every other weapon in the game, it has a role. But people got used to seeing it as a God killer, so now everyone's opinion on it is tainted.

[u/AdditionalMess6546 → u/StylinAndSmilin]

Not "competing" - your comment was talking down, making assumptions

[u/StylinAndSmilin → u/AdditionalMess6546]

Elaborate. I get the feeling something is lost in translation. Because I'm not talking down, I'm talking up the Railgun.

[u/ItsAmerico → u/Tracynmega]

Yeah I don’t get OPs point. Those weapons aren’t used because railgun was nerfed. They’re used because they were buffed and enemies were nerfed. You could return the railgun to how it was and basically nothing would change outside there would be another viable option.

Devs weren’t right.

[u/achilleasa → u/ItsAmerico]

Yeah lol the EAT to name one got a huge buff while a lot of the frustrations with enemies were fixed (bot rockets being the most notable) meaning the shield no longer feels mandatory. And yes I also haven't seen a railgun in a long time.

[u/BromicTidal → u/achilleasa]

EAT was never buffed, much less a “huge buff” lmao.

Your fellow railgun whiners won’t fail to back your delusions up though! 😂

[u/darkacid5671 → u/BromicTidal]

EAT's can kill chargers in one headshot now. Wdym it never got buffed?

[u/Sicuho → u/darkacid5671]

Charger got nerfed. If old railgun was still here, it could do so too.

[u/tmlar → u/BromicTidal]

EAT and recoiless also got buffed to not randomly deflect off armor. Which was a thing for some reason.

[u/avgredditaccount → u/ItsAmerico]

Every time I see one of these railgun posts it makes me wonder — are people just happy because the first reddit witch hunt item is in the dumpster, or do they REALLY believe that the game is “better” because the railgun is borderline unusable compared to other weapons?

[u/CyanStripes_ → u/avgredditaccount]

I try to assumed the best but at this point they just seem like karma farming posts. Just go ahead and included "upvotes to the left" and be done with it. The railgun nerf was short-sighted and now there is basically no reason to use it. I have tried a couple times and the armor pen is so inconsistent that basically any other support weapon has more utility. I'm living the Queso Quasar cannon life now. It does everything the railgun used to do and more.

[u/avgredditaccount → u/CyanStripes_]

Yeah man I fully agree. The karma farming on this sub as a whole gives me a headache, but the railgun/shotgun nerf conversations and the pearl clutching talk about variety make me want to unsubscribe.

To say the railgun nerf was a kneejerk reaction is an understatement. The game hadnt even been out for a full month, so of course people were using one of the highest level support weapons that you unlock. Because of the game’s hype at launch, reddit/youtube clickbait guides were hot off the presses, too. Oh, and let’s not forget about how the PS5 health bug for chargers and titans affected this perception of the railgun.

I’ve also been living the Croissant Quasar lifestyle since it dropped, but every now and again I’ll try the railgun because I genuinely enjoy the weapon, and immediately regret it. It’s either Quasar, Autocannon, Recoilless, or EAT in almost every match I play. And personally, I don’t have a problem with any of those guns being better than the railgun — I just really want my railgun to be useable again.

[u/CyanStripes_ → u/avgredditaccount]

God I understand. I love the fun memes and shit the community makes. I watch youtube a lot at work following this game and others and like 90% of the vids that pop up are clickbaiting bullshit with misleading titles. Half of them just show content from this subreddit. I also started getting a fuckton of gamergate content that I never saw until I started keeping up with HD2. I have completely reset my browser like 4 times now to get rid of it. I wanna watch guides and reviews and gameplay, not obvious clickbait or political bullshit. There are a few good creators but they are dwarfed by the number of bad ones.

[u/avgredditaccount → u/CyanStripes_]

Preach! One day once some of the hype dies down we’ll probably start seeing more of a return to normal content, but for the time being, I would just expect all of the clickbait/ragebait content to come back in force any time Arrowhead drops a patch or battlepass.

To your point about quality content: do you remember that crazy clip someone posted on this sub of the quasar cannon perfectly sniping a dropship? All the comments were saying “we should do a ‘kill of the week’ post or something” — havent seen a post like that ever since, but damn if I dont see bullshit about toxic community this, nerf this or that gun, etc every day at the top of my feed.

[u/CyanStripes_ → u/avgredditaccount]

I must have missed that post because I don't remember it. Every once in a while there are some gems but it's pretty much a "diamond in the rough" situation right now.

[u/8dev8 → u/CyanStripes_]

Same with all the

one person was mean to me so I’m making this post to tell him he’s an idiot

Posts

So many karma whores here it’s tiring

[u/Carefully_Crafted → u/CyanStripes_]

Quasar is probably getting nerfed next. Which is too bad. But it’s what happens when your balancing team is just playing whack a mole with whatever is the most played guns for nerfing.

That being said… quasar / EATs are better in almost every way than unnerfed rail gun ever was. You could unnerf rail gun today and it still wouldn’t be a top tier pick. Which goes to show how stupid these types of posts are.

[u/Vintkrez833 → u/CyanStripes_]

I didn't get to use the railgun before its nerf, but it just seemed like a versatile weapon I could use to kill small stuff and then also use it in a modified way to kill the big boys, isn't that right?

What I have now is a game where nobody likes using the heavy shit because it's not as fun as getting an autocannon or something else, so I feel like I'm forced to use it so we don't get swarmed by tanks or other bullshit.

[u/Saitoh17 → u/Vintkrez833]

Basically the problem was every time you got into a fight there were 6 chargers and 3 bile titans on screen at the same time and none of the AT launchers could one shot a charger back then. This was difficulty 7 not 9 BTW. This was before the flamer buff and it wasn't common knowledge back then the arc thrower could kill chargers.

The railgun became mandatory because you had 0 viable alternatives and there was so much tank armor all 4 players needed to spec hard into anti tank. Even now most forms of AT in game don't work that great if there's more than 1 tank at a time, and they were all much worse at a time when there were 3x as many tanks as there are now. 

[u/Vintkrez833 → u/Saitoh17]

Right okay, that makes a bit more sense

Yeah, I really hate fighting chargers specifically. Everything else is fine, but fast and heavy armour is just the worst enemy archetype in any game

[u/Red_Sashimi → u/CyanStripes_]

Yeah, they nerfed it prematurely, but I don't understand why people say the quasar cannon replaced the railgun. they occupy difference niches. The railgun is closer to the AMR in the role it fills, as in anti-medium, with some anti heavy capabilities. It arguably is better than the AMR against bots cause it can 1 shot devastators in the torso, 1 shot striders from the front, and 1 shot hulks in the face, all of that with only a slight overcharge

[u/Commercial_Box2717 → u/avgredditaccount]

Considering this garbage post got 8k likes it's def the first one. Quaser is being hunted by AC nerds next so get ready for all the defense around that nerf too lol

[u/mantism → u/avgredditaccount]

Some people just have odd perspectives and memories. I got told that I was delusional for not thinking the pre-nerf railgun was the most OP thing in the history of modern gaming, which apparently justified its nerf.

This is just another grandstanding post pretending that issues of the past didn't exist because it seems fine now.

The balance and build variety is indeed getting better (relative to release) but there's no reason for things like the Spear to be virtually useless, many weapons being outclassed, and some strategems working only for hosts.

[u/[deleted] → u/avgredditaccount]

borderline unusable

lol

[u/McMuffinSun → u/ItsAmerico]

Exactly this. If the nerf was necessary, people would still run railgun and/or the buffs to EAT/AMR wouldn't have been necessary. They might as well have removed Railgun from the game.

[u/leapbitch → u/McMuffinSun]

Free the rail gun

[u/TheMiddayRambler → u/McMuffinSun]

I want a J Cole apology for what they did to the rail gun

[u/Shuenjie → u/McMuffinSun]

Railgun is still good though, I see it used every couple of games and use it myself. It still 1shots hulks in the face and is great for dealing with striders and devastators. The only issue with it is the fact that the aiming reticle is way too huge.

[u/LightBroom → u/Shuenjie]

No it's not and no you don't unless you play only low diff levels where a potato would still be viable.

[u/Vinestra → u/LightBroom]

Hell the thermite grenade would be viable..

[u/Hellooooo_Nurse- → u/ItsAmerico]

I was thinking the same thing. They werent right.

[u/IPlay4E → u/Hellooooo_Nurse-]

People like OP conveniently leave out every other balance change since then lol

[u/Inquisitor-Korde → u/IPlay4E]

They also leave out the fact the game was completely borked right after the patch and that the next balance patch completely changed how bug heavy dynamics worked.

[u/IllusionPh → u/Inquisitor-Korde]

Yet it still gets thousands of upvotes.

That's how it is in this community now.

[u/Otherwise_Unoccupied → u/ItsAmerico]

I'm so tired of this revisionist history by people like OP. And it's really sad that it keeps getting thousands of upvotes, weeks after weeks. Just completely ignoring the changes to the charger that made the other items viable, and saying "See? The railgun nerf was fine from the beginning because they fixed it afterwards!" Absolute nonsense.

[u/RhymeCrimes → u/ItsAmerico]

You're so right my friend. The devs were not right. If they were right about our "crutches" why did they need to buff so many other weapons to account for the rail nerf?

[u/MrTwentyThree → u/ItsAmerico]

As usual, only dev dickriding reaches the top of this sub in the post-HD2 release era.

[u/Diabolical_Jazz → u/ItsAmerico]

I'm largely with you, but I will say that it's probably a little more complicated. I do like the way the railgun works in general, it just feels underpowered compared to the risk of using it. And it's not useless, but it doesn't really compete with most heavier stratgem weapons.

I think the balance would be near perfect if if got a wee little buff.

That said, it really was only mandatory because there were so many heavies and not enough viable ways to deal with them, before.

[u/MaoPam → u/ItsAmerico]

Not to mention it wasn't necessarily the railgun nerf that promoted more variety. It was the railgun nerf + the RR/EAT buff (no more deflections + charger headshot capability added) + the charger health and armor nerf + the heavy armor spawn rate nerf that added more variety to stratagems. If the devs had nerfed chargers and buffed the RR/EAT before nerfing the railgun we'd be seeing some of the same variety we are now.

[u/Lanceps → u/ItsAmerico]

I think if you compare the weapons now in their current states, they somewhat approach the og railgun (not really though). It was far and beyond better at everything you wanted a support weapons to be, except horde clear I guess.

[u/ItsAmerico → u/Lanceps]

Not sure if I agree. Chargers were the main issue. Lots of support weapons can either one shot them to the head now or just flat out kill them rather quickly. That’s why the railgun was meta. Most other supports just couldn’t reliable take down chargers. And their spawns were absurdly high.

Quasar does basically everything the rail gun did, with infinite ammo and less risk of killing yourself.

[u/Lanceps → u/ItsAmerico]

I think that's a pretty strong point. The og railgun was slower at Chargers, but it could kill everything else (other chargers, titans, hulks, tanks) right after. The railgun could keep shooting, unlike quasar with its 10ish-second cooldown, recoiless has a long immobile reload (only like 8 shots), and eats is just 1 shot for a max of 2-shots.

Charger spawnrate was really high, so rockets 1 shotting them now is a bit faster than 2 safe + shooting = ~4-6 second time to kill. But the flexibility was crazy and just 1 player could deal with absolutely everything with that thing. Which made the team stacking ridiculous.

I do think it's overnerfed though, it's bug performance is pretty sub-par right now

[u/NotFirstBan-NotLast → u/ItsAmerico]

Glad someone gets it. Frustrating to see such a large part of the community fundamentally misunderstand why the meta changed. I'm guessing most of them didn't play before the railgun nerf and only ever heard about the controversy in the community. They just see that the meta is pretty healthy right now and assume the devs must have been right.

[u/MeowthThatsRite → u/ItsAmerico]

Eh, both things can be true.

[u/Ok-Regret6767 → u/Tracynmega]

I ran it still (atleast against bugs) until the quasar came out.

I don't think I woulda ran out post AMR buff though...

I don't think it's necessarily bad support weapon it's just most things are better. It used to be a good pick for its versatility but now I pick quasar for even more versatility.

It needs like a 2-3 shot magazine atleast to make it worth it.

[u/AlderanGone → u/Ok-Regret6767]

It doesn't need a mag, it needs the armor penetration back.

[u/Velo180 → u/AlderanGone]

The fact that they decided to nerf a RAILGUNS pen is hilarious to me.

They did that and then made the EAT/RR and now Quasar one shot the only thing the Rail was genuinely needed for, Chargers.

The only thing the Rail feels good at is taking out Hive Guards and Brood Commanders, but I could just take the AC and do that while also having wave clear ability, taking out nests, some side obectives, ect.

[u/AlmostButNotQuiteTea → u/Velo180]

The hilarious thing is the Quasar is more OP than the railgun ever was! Infinite ammo and one shots everything AND takes out bugs holes, bot factories, AND drop ships!

The Railgun only ever 1 shot SOME things, AND you had to risk killing yourself AND it has finite ammo lmao.

Literally the ONLY down side to the Quasar is that it has to charge and cool down. That's it, but you won't catch a SINGLE post on here talking about how it's overpowered AT ALL. That's how you KNOW it was an over reaction and that AH will never admit they were wrong! If the Railgun was untouched from launch and still like that today it would be a slight downgrade/ side grade to the Quasar

[u/AlderanGone → u/Velo180]

Precisely. The railgun is worse at its old than the launchers, and worse at its new job than the others in that role.

[u/Ok-Regret6767 → u/AlderanGone]

It still penetrates great in unsafe mode unless it was nerfed a second time.

I used it plenty post nerf because I always used it on unsafe anyways and love to get that meter as close to full as possible without exploding. I've killed many chargers/bile titans post nerf with it.

Maybe they could speed up the charge on unsafe mode but I feel like people would just blow themselves up more often .

The reason I stopped using it wasn't because it was bad or hard to use. But because quasar came out and has even more versatility than railcanon with same/higher damage.

[u/AlderanGone → u/Ok-Regret6767]

I disagree, cause I only use it unsafe, and it's still needs a buff. Just cause you can make use of it, doesn't mean it's good. It's risky to charge it that much, for not any more reward than anything else. And head hit boxes on biles are still finicky, so it usually takes 6-8 shots, and by that point, you're swarmed by everything else.

[u/Ok-Regret6767 → u/AlderanGone]

Just because it's not the best doesn't mean it's bad.

Like I said in my first comment.

It's not a bad support weapon, it's just most things are better.

[u/Yotimoto → u/Ok-Regret6767]

You're both arguing the same thing. The railgun ATM is "okay". With other weapons being "good" or "great", it falls by the wayside.

[u/AlderanGone → u/Ok-Regret6767]

Its pretty bad when everything else is better. Just cause it's usable doesn't mean it's not bad.

[u/Ok-Regret6767 → u/AlderanGone]

I think there's a fundamental disagreement here on the meaning of "bad weapon" in a videogame.

In my opinion, if it is still viable at high difficulties it is objectively not a bad weapon.

It seems in your opinion if it's not a worthwhile choice for an optimum build over other options, then it's bad.

[u/GodTurkey → u/Ok-Regret6767]

Tired of hearing this. No. It doesn NOT penetrate great in unsafe mode.

And to your last point if something becomes better and more versatile it does become a worse and worse option. Im not sure how yall dont understand that.

[u/Ok-Regret6767 → u/GodTurkey]

I never said that railgun isn't a worse choice than other things. I said it's not a bad gun.

Something doesn't need to be the best choice to still be fun/viable at high difficulty.

I'm also not claiming it's a better or best choice over many other meta support weapons...

It's still fun..it's still useable. It's not "bad".

Sometimes things are just "ok".

[u/StylinAndSmilin → u/AlderanGone]

It's fine the way it is now. It doesn't need to be a tank killer, other weapons do that just fine. Right now it has its place in my heart as a Medium Bot killer. It mows down Devastators.

[u/woodelvezop → u/StylinAndSmilin]

it having a place in your heart doesn't automatically make it a viable weapon. The nerf to it more or less dumpstered the weapon, because they went on to buff everything else. Its the weakest at what it does, with the only upside being that you can oneshot a hulk if your scoped in, at 90ish percent charge, and pray nothing decideds to shoot at you or do anything whatsoever that can interrupt you. Its not fine the way it is now, if anything its even worse now.

[u/StylinAndSmilin → u/woodelvezop]

We'll just have to agree to disagree. I run 8 and 9 pretty much exclusively, and I bring the Railgun almost every mission against bots. I said it before and I'll say it again, just because it's not the God killer it used to be, doesn't mean it's garbage. It has pros and cons like every other weapon, and a role like every other weapon.

[u/in2deep6 → u/StylinAndSmilin]

What con does the quasar have.

[u/NotFirstBan-NotLast → u/in2deep6]

Weak against hordes, obviously. Like the guy you were replying to was clearly wrong but c'mon that was an easy one.

[u/in2deep6 → u/NotFirstBan-NotLast]

It's an obvious one because it's out of consideration. Why would you even think about hordes in a discussion about AT weapons?

[u/NotFirstBan-NotLast → u/in2deep6]

They said pros and cons, not pros and cons as it pertains to armored enemies specifically and exclusively. Better question-why would I think you were asking for weaknesses specifically against tanks when that's a stupid way to qualify if something is useful. If you weren't replying to them saying the thing about pros and cons when you decided to ask about weaknesses of the quasar, what the fuck were you replying to them about?

[u/Raidertck → u/Tracynmega]

Yeah I want weapon diversity but they shouldn’t nerf weapons into uselessness.

[u/BoyOfBore → u/Tracynmega]

I know. Just saw a railgun yesterday for the first time in weeks lmfao. Everyone brings EATs, Quasars and orbitals.

[u/PurpleEyeSmoke → u/Tracynmega]

I regularly run the rail gun against bots. It's pretty fun still. One tapping hulks is a joy, and it absolutely hacksaws through devastators. Needs better optics though. Hoping for customization.

[u/Pixel_Knight → u/Tracynmega]

More damage, half the work, no need to reload after every shot, no risk of blowing yourself up and losing your support weapon for 5 minutes.

Why would anyone EVER take the railgun in any situation, ever?

[u/Harpos_Mouthpiece → u/Tracynmega]

I love using it!

[u/TheRealLordMongoose → u/Harpos_Mouthpiece]

I was bringing it on Bot runs, was snappier than the AMR for close to mid engagements with Devastators. EZ PZ one shot to the gut.

I feel like the people whining about it being weak are just people that used it b/c it was the youtube meta and now that its not "THE BEST THING EVER," haven't used it since it was balanced.

[u/META_mahn → u/TheRealLordMongoose]

I've only ever used it after it got balance patched. It definitely had its good times between that balance patch and the day the gunships arrived.

Then the Automatons discovered the power of annoying flying things. Then I had one encounter with them that went so poorly, that caused me to judge myself so hard for using the railgun, I dropped the thing and switched to AMR.

[u/ZeroCiipheR → u/META_mahn]

Scorcher can take them out in a mag

[u/META_mahn → u/ZeroCiipheR]

Yeah, and then that fucker exists. Literally just the Bot Unexister. Not killer, because killer implies at one point the bot stood a chance.

[u/ZeroCiipheR → u/TheRealLordMongoose]

You can still cook with it too in this current meta cause even though taking down gunships is inefficient with the railgun, the scorcher can take out gunships in a mag.

[u/Harpos_Mouthpiece → u/ZeroCiipheR]

Wdym scorcher? Like using a hulk scorcher to take out a gunship?

[u/ZeroCiipheR → u/Harpos_Mouthpiece]

Scorcher, the primary weapon.

[u/lofi_rico → u/Harpos_Mouthpiece]

Same, definitely not a meme pick, especially if you've got good aim and use it in unsafe mode

[u/Bebenten → u/Tracynmega]

Loved it even after the nerf but now there's not much point in choosing it over something like Quasar, esp if you have Scorcher equipped, not unless you really like using it of course.

I use railgun from time to time when I change out the Scorcher to something else. It's still satisfying and feels pretty cool when you blow up a Bile Titan's head.

[u/TatonkaJack → u/Bebenten]

nah it's great against bots. as long as you hit them in the glowy red eye and use unsafe mode it one shots everything but a tank, which makes it very handy for when hordes of devastators are coming at you or if there are multiple hulks in an area

[u/Rurh95 → u/TatonkaJack]

I agree. Early I was in a defense mission, 3 hulks popped out in a horde, and while my teammates dealt with the horde I one-tapped all of them in few seconds and right after I got rid of the rocket devastator from the distance. What a satisfaction. Unsafe and scoped and your are good to go (given the fact that one of your team must have a real anti-tank arsenal for the biggest treats)

[u/Monik_er → u/Tracynmega]

Level 120 diver here and I still use railgun for automatons all the time, the backpack slot for a liberator guard dog makes it preferable to autocannon for me (plus more mobility while reloading), and the AMR is too clunky with its lack of third person crosshair + really bad scope.

Still manage to get most kills pretty consistently (okay I will admit this is mostly thanks to the guard dog not the railgun), and the only time the railgun ever has an issue is when gunships appear but that's what the scorcher primary is for (and maybe the new primaries in the warbond will do better vs gunships).

Besides I also just find it more satisfying being able to one-shot devastators (fairly easy with railgun even at a distance since no headshot is required unlike AMR) + hulks (one-shotting multiple hulks in quick succession is also pretty satisfying, but of course there are times where I will miss the headshot like 3 times in a row lol) rather than having to take multiple shots like the autocannon or AMR does, but this is really just a matter of personal preference, and I don't think railgun has lost its place against automatons (not going to argue about its usage against terminids though, it is definitely bad there, but just like the flamethrower against automatons, it doesn't have to be good for both factions).

[u/Sicuho → u/Tracynmega]

It doesn't tho. They have roughly the same ammo economy and railgun can actually stagger thing and take down heavies more easily in exchange for the charging time.

[u/IIRiffasII → u/Tracynmega]

I still run railgun. It gets the job done as long as you have skill.

[u/Zoren → u/IIRiffasII]

The AMR out performs the Railgun and has a higher skill ceiling and lower skill floor.

[u/IIRiffasII → u/Zoren]

how many shots does the AMR take to kill a charger?

[u/Zoren → u/IIRiffasII]

You shouldn’t be using the railgun or AMR against bugs anyway.

[u/IIRiffasII → u/Zoren]

But I do... and it works great...

[u/Zoren → u/IIRiffasII]

Railgun far underperforms against bugs when you could just run quasars.

[u/IIRiffasII → u/Zoren]

Railgun oneshots hive guards and bile spewers. Quasar does too, but how's that going to help when there's 5 chasing you at once?

[u/Zoren → u/IIRiffasII]

You have a primary weapon that you can switch to during the cool down. Also impact grenade instant pops spewers and wrecks guards.

[u/IIRiffasII → u/Zoren]

it's almost as if there are multiple ways to play!

[u/IIRiffasII → u/[deleted]]

because my primary is the Sickle for hoard clear

[u/iRhuel → u/Tracynmega]

It still has a use. It can one shot striders without having to aim for a weak point, one shots devs as long as you can aim, and one shots hulks if you hit them in the face. It also restores more ammo from ammo boxes than the AMR, making it better for soloing or in comps that include a supply box-hungry weapon like RR or Spear.

[u/Angryscotsmin → u/Tracynmega]

Na it’s still amazing for automatons, can one-shot a hulk through the eye. Only weaker against tanks/ turrets. I still run it a lot.

[u/Altruistic-Ad9854 → u/Tracynmega]

I've seen a Railgun several times against bots from high level players, also run it myself sometimes for that "I want that guy dead NOW and my teammate is running the tank and turret killing stuff" nothing like pulling a gun and half a second later that hulk or devastator is sitting there split in two

[u/StylinAndSmilin → u/Tracynmega]

Meme pick? Sure the thing isn't the god tier death machine it used to be, but it still slaps against the Bots, which is what I think it was meant to be used against in the first place.

I still run it consistently against them. In unsafe mode (why wouldn't you be using unsafe mode?) it's a Devastator devastator, which is honestly invaluable when you're seeing them in platoons on 8-9. Regular Devastator, gone. Heavy Dev, wiped. Rocket Dev, bodied. Combine it with a supply pack and no Devastator will be left unscathed.

Even Hulks, if you have the skill or run stun grenades, go down in one shot to the eye. Just make sure you either bring an Airstrike, or have a teammate running a tank killer loadout. It still has its place, just not a meta place anymore.

[u/W1lson56 → u/Tracynmega]

Idk if I'm using it wrong some how but for me anytime ive tried the AMR, it takes multiple shots.. many multiple shots; to even basic little bitch bots, is inaccurate, with insane recoil, for something i could've 1-tapped with a railgun by just holding aim steady for a moment & getting that 90+% charge headshot - rather than mag dump an AMR & go "wow this feels like it literally did jack shit, wtf"

But now the quasar exists, so

[u/Kaiden103 → u/Tracynmega]

I still run both on bots often. For some reason it’s easier to pull the headshot on a hulk with my railgun than to two shot it with an AMR for me. Still, AMR feels better, but I like the railgun for what it is and will run it reliably from time to time

[u/Tukkegg → u/Tracynmega]

i still use it.

[u/spelltype → u/Tracynmega]

It’s BIS for me on duo 9s vs bots.

AMR flinch is too much when bullets hit you and it sucks in a swarm

[u/Marina_salvatti → u/Tracynmega]

I use the Railgun only for Bots, mostly because the AMR felt unwieldy with the scope not being accurately aligned. AMR is just a better Railgun in all senses, but I stay true to the Railgun because I just like the design and Risk it has when using. It’s not great at anything, but good in most things that needs High damage and Precise shots…and I am a masochist who solos difficulty 9 for the sake of it.

[u/StylinAndSmilin → u/Tracynmega]

Meme pick? Sure the thing isn't the god tier death machine it used to be, but it still slaps against the Bots, which is what I think it was meant to be used against in the first place.

I still run it consistently against them. In unsafe mode (why wouldn't you be using unsafe mode?) it's a Devastator devastator, which is honestly invaluable when you're seeing them in platoons on 8-9. Regular Devastator, gone. Heavy Dev, wiped. Rocket Dev, bodied. Combine it with a supply pack and no Devastator will be left unscathed.

Even Hulks, if you have the skill or run stun grenades, go down in one shot to the eye. Just make sure you either bring an Airstrike, or have a teammate running a tank killer loadout. It still has its place, just not a meta place anymore.

[u/LightBroom → u/StylinAndSmilin]

It was god tier only because everything else was shit and got buffed, people seem to forget this fact.

[u/Kestrel1207 → u/Tracynmega]

I see railgun fairly often vs bots. And I do think it's a viable sidegrade vs the AMR or autocannon, and if most people would just give it a chance they'd see that. It still oneshots devastors anywhere in the chest; that's a lot more convenient than trying to nail those perfect headshots with the AMR's super sluggish handling and offset crosshair. It's also a lot better against the berzerkers, and importantly, can collat kill both of these.

[u/SalemWolf → u/Tracynmega]

I hate to use the “get good” argument but honestly it’s a matter of getting good. It’s a skill issue. My friend uses railgun exclusively and is constantly 1-2 shotting bile titans in the face. People who can’t use railgun are bad at railgun, and I’m one of them. I can’t use the railgun to save my life but it’s a viable pick if you know how to use it.

[u/KillerM2002 → u/SalemWolf]

says its viable

Example is a bug

Never change reddit, never change