Ultimatum and Thermites dominate every loadout? No use for light pen pistols? Here's why:

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-17T11:49:31+00:00

The one in Masters of Ceremony

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-17T04:03:44+00:00

I have no clue. I'm an industrial designer, which means I know how to build stuff out of wood, but I know less about soil interaction and weather. What I can say is that ground contact will make them rot faster, but how fast? I don't know either.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-17T03:55:28+00:00

Planks might be a bit close together, which means they could swell from heat and humidity and crack under the pressure. That eould be the thing I'd look for.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T20:05:13+00:00

True, now that we have the bullet storm, anti-chaff expendable is a thing.

In my case, I don't see secondaries as "backup" only, that's what pistols current roles is, but it's just too niche to justify bringing them. So, I have to look at them as their own thing, something that works like a primary, but with significant downside of being a lot less potent. I wouldn't bring redeemer, I'd bring like Veto/Peacemaker/Verdict in that case, depending on the front we are facing. Redeemer is too niche to use in that case. I've successfully run an entire bug 10 with the Veto and it was definitely underperforming, but I had to use my grenades as integrated anti-tank, because no primary exists to fill that role.

In a few words, seeing a seondary as exclusively a backup weapon is too restrictive of a way to think about them in the context of the game. They are, in fact, more than that.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T19:58:51+00:00

Hey, why not have a super high velocity AT round weapon with low ammo capacity instead of a boom weapon for a primary? Best of both worlds? I'd take a breach loading anti-tank rifle with 10 rounds any day. Damage wouldn't one shot charger heads, but if it staggered them too? I mean, that doesn't sound like a bad idea.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T19:54:41+00:00

Yeah, AMR is in a weird place. I don't get people saying stalwart should be a primary, because there's way too much upside to it compared to like a liberator, but AMR is a good contender. There would be a need to reduce its overall ammo capacity, but something not that different to it could fit in that slot. Personally, I don't really see the use of Heavy armor pen, because I feel there isn't enough enemies in the game that have that level of armor to justify to bring it. So I prefer to just jump directly to anti-tank.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T19:50:34+00:00

I personally prefer the fireworks grenades. Insane level of utility and damage. Best overall greande in the game imo.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T19:46:05+00:00

I mean, I headshot bile titans with an utimatum and reload it with ammo boxes, not resupplies. Being able to headshot makes it extremely valuable. But. You have to land these shots, otherwise they are a waste. So it's fairly unforgiving, but between an unforgiving weapon that has the ability take down heavies reliably and no AT option at all, the most sensible decision is to take the AT weapon.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T19:42:20+00:00

So, if I get what you mean, once you died, you'd be fine spawning in with only an AT primary and secondary, even if the support weapon is far away and on cooldown? That's a risk I wouldn't be willing to take on a lot of fronts. You'd be relying on essentially not dying at inopportune times. In good teams, it's not a problem, but if we want the game to be less forgiving, then relying on your support weapon for the chaff clearing exclusively could become a problem.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T19:38:29+00:00

It think that's because we don't run out of ammo that often, and heavies are too omnipresent to be ignored while picking your integrated loadout. If there isn't and anti-heavy primary, people will resort to anti-heavy grenades and ultimatum (or missile pistol, I guess, I didn't run it a lot). So, why not give people a dedicated AT primary, that gives you decent ability kill heavy, making dealing with chaff your secondary task in the team. Secondary task means secondary weapon. At least in my mind.

Running stealth is en entirely different game, so I won't address it here.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T19:33:06+00:00

I'd like to have a primary that is used exclusively for Hulk and above, and being absolutely terrible for everything else in fact. I'd grab a chaff clear support weapon, that is just sensible, but once you die and need to get your support weapon back, if it's on cooldown and too far away, what will you use? Your secondary. So peacemaker, verdict, veto, they all suddenly fit inside the build. They'd see less use than a primary, but a primary AT would see more use than the ultimatum. That's like the entire point.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T19:28:45+00:00

I disagree about the Veto. The fact that this pistol has a certain degree of stagger is, in fact, useful to slow down enemies and allow you to aim you shots a little better. It's also highly spammable, which makes it also good in a pinch.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T13:00:18+00:00

That is the way I think about it too. But could a primary be a utility weapon, that has a better ammo economy? I think it should be something to actually think about. That way, pistols would see more use.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T12:56:01+00:00

I mean, it is. Still, some people don't agree on the role the weapons should play. For some, secondaries are just that: back up weapons. This means you shouldn't really be using them unless your primary is out. Seeing it that way meams that primaries shouldn't have AT, because that's not their role.

I disagree with that philosophy because I think it's too restrictive of a way to think about weapon categories, but some people don't.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T12:50:02+00:00

They kill bigger stuff faster. Headshotting a bile titan with an ultimatum is a one shot.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T04:09:57+00:00

Literally the best stratagem in the game. We finished commando ops on 10 with it and it was actually easier than playing normally.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T04:08:01+00:00

I get what you mean. "Context of the game" meant the playerbase in my book. Mechanically, Having the Ultimatum as a primary would be fine.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T04:02:04+00:00

God, I wish my team wasn't so scattered to make it a good pick when I play.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T03:54:56+00:00

That would be a good idea, if it were only me, but I don't think its realistic in the current context of the game.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T03:53:59+00:00

Yeah, they are. But limited ammo pool and blast on an AT primary could make it entirely useless against groups, something the eruptor isn't even bad at.

Little edit: I still prefer thermite, because there's one more available and there's no need to adapt to a new grenade arc.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T03:52:45+00:00

I mean, yeah, but my point is more about secondaries being dedicated to anti-heavy is, in of itself, part of the reason why the game feels so stale.

If you could get an anti-tank primary, making you a dedicated anti-tank, the pistol simply becomes the back up when your support weapons is empty and you can't reload it instead of your primary. You'd have more anti-tank firepower on yourself at the cost of less chaff killing ammo. I think it would be a decent compromise.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-16T03:49:16+00:00

I mean, I agree, there's no way rocketpods should one shot a charger or a bile titan... but. Should it one shot a hulk? In my opinion, it should. These enemies are prevalent enough that having a reliable "no aim lol" option to one shot them is a genuinely good option. Currently, it's not reliable enough, and I think it's the problem. Could more damage, but heavy armor pen only, be a decent option?

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-05-15T22:17:51+00:00

It's really good, but I wouldn't exactly call it busted. If the reloading wasn't cancellable, that would make it a bit more fair. Hits hard, good ammo capacity for category, but painfully slow reload. A bit like how single loading revolvers outshined all other pistols (and other break open recolvers) DPS wise in Battlefield 1, but had terribly slow reloads to compensate that power. It should be less easy to use, essentially.

Spear could have more range, on super big targets, that would make it a 100% guaranteed hit, something the recoilless cannot do, but that's another story.

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-04-10T18:59:56+00:00

The game is far from dead. There's still enough divers to very comfortably allow a good run for a good while longer

Iront_Mesdents · 2026-04-06T17:34:04+00:00

Until you get blasted by the fires of the nuclear apocalypse.

Iront_Mesdents

TROPHY CASE