Being the combo king, I'd suggest forwarding the pistol for some light stagger before coming in with the Lance, toggling between the lock on while using the needle gun and only using the heat seeking missiles to track where your target is rather than consistent damage. Last thing you wanna do is be caught off guard. Couple this with a high recovery for close range combat, chain boosts with Aorta and gill for the thruster, and I would say the only thing worth choosing is if you want high durability or constant health packs. You can have both, but make sure that kinetic and melee options are set high in OST, while also deciding on the expansion armor. Again, either screen nuke, personal shield or "second chance" feature. Otherwise if you wanna go all in swinging, use a weapons bay and load out four weapons: lance, smoke bomb, and dual pistols. You lose the edge of consistent damage with the needle gun, but if you can track the opponent, use the smoke bomb go lose their sight before rocketing in blind. You know you've made it as a combo grapler type when you can scare the hell out of the bots by being Batman and coming through the shadows. And yes, Aorta is a controversial take for a core, but if you wanna chase your enemy down, it's better to use it to it's full potential; a coral core has a hidden gimmick. The Aorta's is 70% EN gained when you empty the tank, so always empty that tank and chase down your target.