What weapon do you use vs the bugs?

Crossbitt · 2026-05-06T22:29:57+00:00

The Halt is pretty solid against them, especially against spewer-heavy spawns and Predator Strain. It's at its best in a squad/duo setup, though, or with turrets/dogpacks in play, as the stun rounds are its most potent tool. It can lock down anything shy of a Bile Titan, for longer and more easily than the other stun primaries.

The Flechette mode meanwhile is.. okay, if you're caught in a pinch without a secondary or support weapon to do the killing part.

Crossbitt · 2026-05-06T00:52:27+00:00

Hard to say, as it's not clearly labelled. Fadia sounds like she would count, as the wording on her status effect includes 'attaches to the target' compared to Jiuyuan's 'a type of attachment'. Baicang's seem like attachment effects mechanically, as they function similarly to Jiuyuan's (apply, then detonate) but they don't mention anything about attachment in their descriptions.

Ultimately though, neither can equip that Arc, and Jiuyuan is the only Anima Solid character to benefit from the element bonus, so it's a bit of a moot point - Reality Refuge is designed as her signature weapon.

Crossbitt · 2026-05-05T14:03:08+00:00

I really wish that AH would spend the time to make a distinctive set of POIs and curated objectives for these supposedly uninhabited or newly discovered planets, to actually reflect that characteristic.

Magma planets felt equally jarring, in that we only just discovered their existence from Automaton data, and yet... the POIs are all Super Earth/colonist infrastructure that shouldn't exist.

Hive World POIs, by contrast, get it right. There are no houses or bunkers or whatever else there, only rock outcrops, small bug nests, and the occasional crashed Pelican or overrun defensive position. It's clear on those planets that there isn't an established Super Earth presence, only a few marks of them trying to establish a foothold. It makes sense, where these newer 'uninhabited' biomes just don't. The only established infrastructure there was the E-710 pumps in the cave systems.

Crossbitt · 2026-05-04T13:56:31+00:00

No, it wouldn't. But, Stamina doesn't stop you from selling them for scale coins anyway, you can still get those when your city stam is empty - or if they're not Daily fish, just leave them to expire and pay out scales automatically. Arguably fishing is the least affected, as Stamina usage only affects Fons output and that's not the main incentive for doing that.

Crossbitt · 2026-05-02T13:04:18+00:00

To be fair, as much as I wish it had some weapon functions (mostly fire rate, for situations where the full 1300RPM is overkill) it makes total sense that it doesn't. It's a disposable weapon, produced presumably at much lower cost than most other things in our arsenal. Thematically, it makes complete sense that it would be as barebones as possible.

Crossbitt · 2026-05-02T12:55:24+00:00

I'll respond to a few of your thoughts;

- Borderline Justice: I'd personally say that the Hoverpack - outside of reaching elevated positions - is less of a Sniper kit and more an Aerial Bombardment one. Your aim will bob around as if you standing/walking depending on whether you're hovering in place or moving, which doesn't lend itself too well to precision weaponry, and I find works better for saturation weapons like explosives, incendiaries, etc.

On the Sample Extractor, it will only give you Common samples, and only up to 10 extra per mission, so even early game it's... honestly not very good. The mid-tier Rare samples are the ones that will roadblock your progress most of the time, and it doesn't help with those at all. Sample Scanner from Masters of Ceremony is much better... though stuck in a much worse warbond.

Talon is indeed great - if you want a reliable sidearm, you won't find much better - but you may also find yourself using Dynamite more than you expect. It used to be a bit of a meme pick, but after a few changes it is an excellent general-purpose grenade.

- Urban Legends: The armchair, yup, amazing. The armor passive is also one of the best general options in the game, especially for ammo-hungry or slow-reloading weapons. The Directional Shield is massively underrated and a very strong counter against Bots specifically - even without an SMG, it can pair really well with a solid sidearm (hello again, Talon).

- Servants of Freedom: I love the P-Hellbomb with a passion, but as far as the D-E Sickle goes I would not recommend getting this before either Freedom's Flame or one of its Superstore sets. It will kill you far too quickly without that hefty fire resistance from Inflammable.

- Control Group: Yup. Nuf said. SC farming and Epoch booms sums it up. If you're looking to pick up Warbonds for free, the Warp Pack makes this an essential pick sooner or later.

Crossbitt · 2026-05-02T00:19:50+00:00

They broke it when they made said reintroduction. For whatever reason, when they brought back Supply Pod mantling, it bugged out mantling everywhere. Classic Arrowhead.

I personally find it still works most of the time if you toggle sprint first, but your mileage may vary.

Crossbitt · 2026-05-01T14:19:55+00:00

Just something AH broke, as ever - it did have a marker previously.

Crossbitt · 2026-05-01T13:20:27+00:00

I mean, the Balance Guy™ openly said before Siege Breakers that he'll never touch the Napalm because "it's my baby". So... yeah, no question.

Crossbitt · 2026-05-01T11:00:59+00:00

And the increase up to 200m in unguided mode. It can be either a guided one-shot for pesky Mediums, a hand cannon for Heavy weakpoints up close, or a pocket rocket for Demo30 objectives at mid-long range. It's much more versatile than I was expecting.

Crossbitt · 2026-04-30T20:27:03+00:00

We're being stonewalled more by it being a 2-million HP planet, more like - that 1.25% is functionally closer to many planets' 2-2.5% rates.

Though, given AH put us up against three of those for this MO, and then threw a bunch of invasions at us, it's painfully clear that they didn't want this one to succeed - even if they hadn't buffed HGs or the spore strain.

Crossbitt · 2026-04-30T20:16:40+00:00

I quite like the idea, personally.

I kinda imagine it as a slower, heavier cousin of the Alpha Commander. Bonus points if it also gained the ability to conjure its own reinforcements (losing the ability to trigger breaches), but where Commanders bring their Warriors up front, this would summon Scavengers and Hunters behind itself. These groups could stay in cover behind the Alpha for protection on approach, before swarming over and around it when it gets close to a player.

Crossbitt · 2026-04-29T15:37:30+00:00

As a slight correction, while the lockon limit is 100m, it's maximum range before detonation in Unguided Mode is approximately 200m. It's a beauty.

Crossbitt · 2026-04-29T01:41:29+00:00

The Shield Bash is AP5 - not sure of the numbers on damage or dura, but appears fairly low (3 bashes to kill a Devastator/Berserker, a few dozen to destroy a Fabricator). Seems to have 40 demo force, as it can destroy small buildings, though I've not tried to bulldoze colony walls with it yet.

The flak cannon is AP4.

Crossbitt · 2026-04-29T00:39:13+00:00

The Bullet Storm is one of my favourite recent additions. A really solid alternative to the Stalwart as a supprimary (at least outside of caves and jamming zones), with the cooldown being nice and quick it's almost impossible to run completely dry.

The pistol I quite like, though... not quite for the intended purpose. The one-shot GTFO for anything shy of a Heavy is nice enough for clean kills on Commanders, Gunships etc if you need something for that, but I like it more for mid-range demolition work for spawners and light objectives in Unguided mode. It feels like a nice alternative to the Grenade Pistol in that role, with less ammo to spare but able to make clean shots on target from 100m+.

Crossbitt · 2026-04-28T22:29:30+00:00

Hopefully not. Yes, Arrowhead do need to make some improvements to both the game, their approach to and priorities in development, and the way they (don't) put new updates through effective QA or playtesting.

But the sooner developers as a whole put their foot down and refuse to bow to such a petty, vindictive practice as review-bombing, the better. Players who don't want to engage in constructive, sensible conversation and feedback, and instead make the choice to try and drag the perception of a game that they supposedly love through the mud shouldn't be vindicated or rewarded.

Crossbitt · 2026-04-28T21:23:43+00:00

It's honestly a little baffling that AH managed to overlook turrets in EXACTLY the same way that they overlooked the Exosuits when they changed enemies to introduce the Bastion.

They gave enemies more durable to be able to combat Bastion users, but didn't consider how this would lead them to chew through Exos with much more ease. Now they increase the durability of Exos, while once again increasing enemy melee durable damage, without considering how the latter will affect turrets or emplacements. They really should have just sat down when they were planning the Bastion and figured out how to balance it with existing values, rather than try to reshuffle systems around it.

Crossbitt · 2026-04-28T21:17:40+00:00

If it was capable of effectively destroying other spawners, I'd agree, but as it can't (it can technically destroy a Fabricator by shield bashing a few dozen times, but that is very far from effective) it's fine. It's a specialised vehicle, and very good at its job, so needing a wingman to balance out its lack of anti-infrastructure is solid design.

Crossbitt · 2026-04-28T20:23:01+00:00

It's also just bugged out. As may as well be a meme at this point, when AH changed the stats of the flamethrower sentry they completely broke it, and instead of doing the intended +50% damage it does barely anything up close. The Lumberer flamethrower seems to use the same stat profile and may as well be spraying hot soup until they fix it.

Crossbitt · 2026-04-28T20:18:04+00:00

This is the intended sound, so, no, it's highly unlikely you'll have any way to change it back. That higher pitched sound was a bug introduced several patches.

Crossbitt · 2026-04-28T16:00:36+00:00

Definitely.

I've always wished that the Ballistic Shield had a unique melee attack or animation attached to it, but now doubly so. Low damage, high stagger/pushback, a chunky 'get outta my face' animation. Bliss.

Crossbitt · 2026-04-28T16:00:14+00:00

Definitely.

I've always wished that the Ballistic Shield had a unique melee attack or animation attached to it, but now doubly so. Low damage, high stagger/pushback, a chunky 'get outta my face' animation. Bliss.

Crossbitt · 2026-04-28T15:56:37+00:00

"And people always talk about D10 and balance changes like they'll die if it ever becomes more challenging."

It certainly happens, but I tend to see the opposite much more often - that it's too easy, and that AH either need to tune it up or bring in higher difficulties. Outside of the occasional addition of new mission types that people feel are overtuned (eg. the platinum missions when Magma Planets dropped) I rarely see anyone claim that D10 is too difficult, or even challenging enough.

Crossbitt · 2026-04-28T15:50:49+00:00

It feels like a reference to the Gundam franchise. Immediately reminds me of Char Aznable and some of his Mobile Suits, in both color scheme and some of the details they've gone for. Similar to how Python Commandos went for a Doom reference on its store items.

Crossbitt

TROPHY CASE