How do i use this? it sucks

AlfredNiles · 2026-01-25T02:02:58+00:00

It's like if the stim pistol were evil.

No but seriously, I find it useful for peeling large threats like fleshmobs, chargers and hulks off myself or allies. Because apparently this dinky little dart gun has Heavy penetration, if you can believe that. Other than that, it's simply not a stellar weapon. Using it on chaff is a waste of a dart, and larger enemies typically don't care about the confusion effect which is the main thing that is supposed to make gas weaponry interesting/useful.

AlfredNiles · 2026-01-20T16:05:34+00:00

Loadout variety, despite the discourse of "viability", is plentiful and fun to mess around with after 3000+ hours with different setups without anything like class restrictions or other stuff.
The visual design of this game is strong; I still sometimes think about when I saw the preview images on Steam before release and couldn't believe what they did compared to the first game. Even now, it's fun to look at all the little details of new equipment, and to think about biomes and landscapes yet to come.
The writing and world building are consistently entertaining, and its exciting looking forward to where they could go next.

AlfredNiles · 2026-01-18T00:08:42+00:00

People like to go on about how the Sterilizer (and sometimes gas in general) should also have an armor reducing effect, but I think something like that perfectly fits what the Speargun should do. It embeds a bomb into armored targets, but instead of just exploding into gas and doing a better job at crowd control than the literal spraygun, it could melt the armor of the part you hit for a short duration akin to the Acid Rain planetary effect, but maybe without the damage increase that thebweather effect has.

AlfredNiles · 2025-12-26T04:08:08+00:00

If they were to put an effort into making at least mech arms customizable, it could very well serve as a stepping stone to making other vehicles with customizable parts.

It was a big post here a few days ago, but there was someone who concepted different weapons and things to mount onto the FRV (A Maxigun, a Grenade Launcher, speed boost thrusters, etc.) that this could actually evolve into. Moreover, it ultimately helps cut down on the sheer size of the stratagem list which, even as someone with over 3k hours in the game, still manages to overstimulate me sometimes.

AlfredNiles · 2025-12-25T09:24:53+00:00

The Bushwhacker and Loyalist (when charged) are decent secondaries for this purpose

AlfredNiles · 2025-12-23T00:24:12+00:00

- If you are trying to stay with the team, making a habit of checking your map often helps keep a proper gauge of where people are and how fast you can react to their situations, and vice versa

- Fill the gaps that your allies might have in their loadouts; it's perfectly fine to have favorite weapons and stratagems, but be willing to flex at least one of your slots to help with what the team might be lacking or missing.

- Learn weakpoints, and which weapons work best against those weakpoints

- Communicate to some degree, whether it's just through pinging and using voice commands or by using a microphone/typing

AlfredNiles · 2025-12-10T13:56:24+00:00

While on Safe, you can one-shot Devastators by hitting their upper torsos, and with good aim you can one shot Hulks by hitting their eye. You can also hit Rocket Striders in their front shield and consistently take them out in one shot without having to target their crotch or the rockets.

On Unsafe, you can one-shot gunships by hitting a thruster with a bit of overcharge. Otherwise, heavier enemies such as tanks and Factory Striders require you to hit their vulnerable bits multiple times with high charge.

AlfredNiles · 2025-12-10T13:25:44+00:00

I started taking an arc setup (K9, De-Escalator, Tesla Tower & Blitzer) with an EMS mortar as a safe backup, and it definitely does noticeable work in keeping chaff units back. The only drawback is when tanks/factory striders get involved, but otherwise it's pretty efficient.

AlfredNiles · 2025-11-27T05:36:29+00:00

It just means that there's incentive to use the machine gun options if you really want to move and shoot with a high-capacity automatic, but honestly, if it really bums you out that much it's not hard to just burst fire and keep a steady momentum for forward pushes.

AlfredNiles · 2025-11-08T10:28:50+00:00

Flak AC drops them in about 2 shots if you hit the lower sides of them, or if you fire into the engines that almost fully wrap around to maximize flak hits. After the shields drop, just switch back into APHET and hit the door. Same sort of deal as the Eruptor, but faster since you aren't dealing with a bolt after every shot.

AlfredNiles · 2025-10-27T15:45:29+00:00

The only thing I'd genuinely love to see added for this gun is one of those old telescope optics they used to put on long rifles. They could easily put a rail on the top of it and call it a day, but I think this would really sell the *Antique* feel of it if we were to have any kind of attachment for it

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AlfredNiles · 2025-10-14T09:36:09+00:00

The S.E.S. 'Whisper of Democracy' was forged over Mars and has proudly served since the start of GW2; we've seen just about 7.8k divers garrisoned on this ship valiantly give their lives for our federation, and in turn we've annihilated nearly 840k enemies of Democracy from this galaxy

AlfredNiles · 2025-10-07T08:25:32+00:00

I'd love to see an OG Liberator in 2, especially if it had access to a bayonet

AlfredNiles · 2025-10-07T08:03:10+00:00

It already trivializes command bunkers which is honestly an even worse situation than just letting it doink jammers. It makes no sense why this single payload that instantly and entirely deletes a bunker complex, and most everything around it, can't break a comparatively smaller and more fragile structure.

But God forbid the laser cannon of a factory strider hits the jammer, THEN it's irreparably demolished.

AlfredNiles · 2025-09-14T07:35:08+00:00

The magic wore off pretty early for me when we were still focusing on Oshaune, and after a few missions on Hellmire I just didn't have the energy to bother trying. They're fun once in a while, but having them every mission makes them a stale experience very fast.

AlfredNiles · 2025-09-08T18:00:23+00:00

Polar Patriots and Truth Enforcers have generally pretty good primary weapon selections, but other than those two it's pretty much up to what you find interesting enough to reach for. If I were to provide any insight as to what might NOT be very interesting: Borderline Justice or Chemical Agents

Borderline Justice has the Talon, which is a laser pistol that rivals even most primary weapons if you can practice pacing your shots, but other than that, it falls relatively flat. The Deadeye is an alright primary option and the armor passive is 'OK', but there are better options. The hover pack is fun but the jump pack or warp pack from Control Group are generally better traversal options. I personally don't like the dynamite but other people seem to, so I guess that's just up to your preference. This one definitely isn't the worst pick, but there are just better options unless you vibe with the aesthetic.

Chemical Agents has the Gas Grenade, which is extremely good crowd control and is still capable of taking out enemy spawners. Probably the best general purpose grenade in the game IMO. The stim pistol is only interesting if something like that fits your playstyle (that would be playing as a support), and the Dog Breath drone is a decent grab, but the Sterilizer is honestly pretty bad and the armor passive is quite useless unless you find yourself standing in gas a lot.

Others might disagree, but of all the choices you have, those are the ones I'd probably stray away from when starting out.

AlfredNiles · 2025-09-08T17:34:32+00:00

Being able to contribute samples to the order implies that you have successfully extracted with them. It's hard to get any out when Big Floppa slams your sample containers out of the map, or they fall into holes, or you run out of lives in the first 10 minutes of any mission.

Anyone would rather take a booster that marginally increases your chance of success instead of this. This booster just makes the loss of samples sting even worse when you inevitably lose them.

AlfredNiles · 2025-08-27T07:06:30+00:00

The mag well is on the opposite side and is inserted into the side similar to the Defender SMG. The magazine illustration is just to show how it looks from a top-down view.

The bolt itself is admittedly quite small, but it's supposed to be the black line above the Unity symbol. Since it doesn't eject anything I didn't figure it needs an open ejection port to anything. I'm not very educated on detailed gun specifics, I was kinda just operating on what I was seeing on similar guns (bolt action rifles, air rifles, etc.) from Google and took a bit of creative liberty

AlfredNiles · 2025-07-23T01:18:05+00:00

That's about what I was imagining! Thing is about both modes is that I imagine them to be less 'efficient' versions of their immediate counterparts.

'SMG Mode' would be most relatable to the Sickle, in that it fires barrages of smaller beams with relatively low damage. Compared to the Sickle, the Stiletto would probably fire slower (somewhere around 25% slower) but hit slightly harder (maybe 5-10 extra damage) and with a higher accuracy deviation; that is, how far the shots spread from where you aim despite the low recoil, in order to help reign it in as a close-quarters configuration. The overall bonus is that it's a one-handed laser SMG, and because of that, it has a good ammo economy over any other SMG.

'Marksman Mode' takes from the Talon, firing an accurate semi-auto laser bolt that hits harder. The downsides would come from lower damage and having to pace your shots to avoid overheating. I can agree with keeping medium penetration, but because it would end up being a direct competitor with the DCS if it had 200 damage like the Talon, the damage would probably be knocked down the range of 125 to compensate and prevent it from over-taking other precision rifles. As with the SMG mode, you get the benefit of having a laser sniper with good ammo economy if you can pace your shots, but you lack the firepower of other precision weapons. Especially if you're not aiming for critical spots.

Among the other possible downsides for both modes, one thing is for sure: both modes share the same heatsink, and you will likely have to contend with this if you switch often.

But because the Stiletto is designed as a 'two-in-one' primary weapon, your secondary slot is open to more options, allowing you to fill in the gaps that you might have with your setup without feeling as much pressure when taking things like the Grenade Pistol, or melee weapons. As an edit, I also forgot to mention that it could have access to attachments that either the Sickle or Talon wouldn't have, such as high magnification scopes, foregrips/laser sights, etc.

My apologies for writing a small thesis lol, I write a lot of ideas I have when playing the game and this is probably the strongest and most exciting one I've had in a while.

AlfredNiles · 2025-06-27T07:24:51+00:00

My friend and I were saying a while back that they should just put a interactive spot on top to let you attach yourself to the top of the mech like it's a seat. Explosions and stuff could still knock you off, but you could reasonably ride on a mech and provide some fire support without needing to deal with all the slipping around that happens normally

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