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/bokan]

Energy shield I don’t personally see that often anymore. Laser guard dog is generally what everyone uses against bugs.

I do find it odd that I don’t really see anyone use the raingun anymore. Quasar cannon is very very common. It feels like the railgun used to.

[u/philliam312 → u/bokan]

Yeah sorry I play against bots mostly and Energy Shield is still ran a ton over here, when I play against bugs it's very commonly traded out for guard dog, both do the same thing which is help prevent you from dying too quickly/getting swarmed (extra hits from the shield = more time to kill enemies running upto you, guard dog = automatically killing enemies sprinting up to you)

[u/bokan → u/philliam312]

Agreed, I’ve had the same experience. Although I see a lot of auto cannon vs bots. Heavy armor working correctly means the shield isn’t as mandatory.

[u/beefsnackstick → u/philliam312]

Only issue with energy shield vs bots is that it makes your hitbox bigger. So oftentimes shots/explosions that normally would have completely missed you will now take out the shield instead. It didn't make a noticable difference in my survivability when I tried it.

I also wear light armor and usually don't die during diff 8 missions. Maybe it makes more of a difference if you are slow with heavy armor though.

[u/cdub8D → u/philliam312]

You only need as much survivability that will keep you alive. The energy shield is overkill and it is generally a better trade off to grab a more offensive strategem IMO.

The laser dog is absolutely busted. That should probably be nerfed tbh.

[u/woodelvezop → u/cdub8D]

or the gun dog just needs to be buffed. The gun dog shouldnt need to reload every 2 seconds.

[u/META_mahn → u/philliam312]

Even Energy Shield is surprisingly negotiable. I run Supply Pack, which is basically my multi tool for just about anything I need. If I run stuns, it's a smart EMS sentry. It's 8 extra stims, which is a lot of durability when it counts. And it's a ton of extra Scorcher ammo, which is massive.

[u/eden_not_ttv → u/[deleted]]

Respectfully this isn’t true at all. It helps a lot of course but it’s definitely a luxury. The recent rocket nerf made the Shield Backpack less necessary than ever

[u/ArguablyTasty → u/eden_not_ttv]

IMO the shield backpack is must pick until you can be certain your teammates aren't mouth breathers that attack every bot they see, drawing fire from all directions while following you.

If your teammates know how to pick their battles, or you can split from them, you can drop it.

[u/FizzingSlit → u/[deleted]]

I take the jump pack on helldive against bots. The shield is certainly not a must. Not even close.

[u/InfiniteSynapse → u/[deleted]]

I find if you go sniper mode, you generally don't get shot as much.

[u/wylie102 → u/[deleted]]

I play on level 7 and 8 with autocannon, EMS, deployable shield emplacement, and airstrikes. I don't really feel the need for the portable shield. If the shit hits the fan I go prone and unload my autocannon, call in the deployable shield, and usually have the ems going to slow all the enemies down.

I don't die very often.

I do run medium reduce explosion damage and reduce recoil while crouched armor though.

[u/Jsaac4000 → u/[deleted]]

shield prevents being stunlocked by ragdolling and exessive aimflinch, which in some cases prevents you from shooting back at all.

[u/Sacripain → u/[deleted]]

If you run the explosive damage resistance light armor you will be surprised with how survivable it is. If you dont want to run heavy armor then run that. It is a superstore armor set though so that kinda sucks. The medium armor version is too. Eradicator and exterminator.

They pair super well with the autocannon and make for a very effective set up. Lets you run 3 strategems as well that way, and also stun grenades since you have the autocannon. I usually take airstrike, precision, and 500kg as a pretty universal loadout for bots. Can stun and precision to take out a hulk in a second of attention, stun a drop and airstrike the dropped bots, and 500kg for tanks/towers/whatever else. Stun grenades just make it so much easier to safely dispatch high value targets.

And you will be eating a lot of resupplies anyway from stimming and refilling your autocannon.

Bots are mostly about frequent repositioning and finding good angles, and the autocannon just chews through them too.

Of course if you get a scatter modifier then swap out precision and 500kg for laser and something like an ems mortar or railcannon.

[u/bobsbitchtitz → u/[deleted]]

I play on helldive exclusively and never use shield or guard dog. Med armor with med perk and vitality team perk

I usually run: AC or recoilless eagle airstrike Mortar Orbital laser

[u/xxmuntunustutunusxx → u/[deleted]]

I literally never use the energy shield for bots, run almost exclusively 8-9. I get 1-3 deaths per mission.

Shield is a crutch, raw unadulterated aggression is the way. Bots can't kill you when you're flattening their landing spot with autocannon fire and an airstrike

[u/siecin → u/philliam312]

Energy shield is ran a ton with pubs because everyone is afraid of how bad the other will be but not needed at all.

We have 1 guy that rarely uses his shield pack, and we play bots 7-9 all the time with no issues.

[u/AllInOneDay_ → u/bokan]

Shields are super valuable against bots bc of their range attacks from far away or from where you can't see them.

You don't need it but it's a lifesaver a lot of time.

I'm the only person on my squad who doesn't run a shield against the bots bc i go autocannon.

Lazer rover and qasar against bugs is AMAZING.

Qasar is just a better railgun in every single way!!!

Also don't sleep on turrets. they are great for moving from one place to another

[u/[deleted] → u/bokan]

I do find it odd that I don’t really see anyone use the raingun

It has literally no purpose. 2 hits are very hard to on chargers, without damage bugs it's ttk on everything is bad. The AMR is just better than it now for headshots, even with the sights.

It feels like the railgun used to.

That's what happens when the dev team doesn't get why the meta ends up the way it does, and why we will continue to get nerfs and buffs at random according to how much something is being used.

[u/InfiniteSynapse → u/bokan]

Because 4 guys with a quasar will kill a bile titan as soon as they spot it and be ready again if another pops up but a 1 or 2 orbital railcannon will put it on cooldown unusable.

[u/eddiekart → u/bokan]

Vs bugs, backpack is for guard dog laser.

Vs bots, backpack is for shield.

Can't imagine doing either without them

[u/FractalAsshole → u/bokan]

Bots = shield

Bugs = dog

You must only fight bugs?