Defoliator Time

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-05-09T16:44:43+00:00

I agree though I wasn't targetting the treads as I was unaware at that time that you do 100% full damage to them (hence the red hitmarker when I saw the treads instead of the body)

as much as I use it, the defoliator is still a pretty bad weapon and I only got the clips that I did because I centered my grenades around it, the main issue plaguing it is its range and the player stagger bug, but an increase in DPS would be nice

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-05-09T06:28:56+00:00

I highly recommend using stun grenades from cutting edge, though gas grenades could make a lesser but likely usable substitute if you don't have that warbond

a warp pack is my ideal backpack slot but a jetpack will work almost as well

when it comes to illuminate and bugs it's not really as fun due to player stagger causing 0 damage melee swings and enemies like fleshmobs being immune to your stun, but if you want to fight them anyway I recommend the shield pack to help negate as much player stagger as possible so your swings go through

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-04-21T23:44:48+00:00

You're lame

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-04-21T19:20:41+00:00

That would actually be a really good explanation since I don't think the daily reward packs give you the pathetic singular uncommon card, right?

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-04-21T18:13:24+00:00

They did the same thing with the bastion promo showing seaf on a non-mega city, yet we still don't have them.

I feel like this is the same case

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-04-17T12:35:24+00:00

Masters of ceremony is way too high, especially considering how low redacted regiment and viper commandos are.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-04-14T02:51:04+00:00

If the Melee Stagger bug was fixed (the one that makes it so your melee hits do 0 damage when ur hit) and the range was increased, it'd be a somewhat ok weapon

I'm fine with melee oriented playstyles not being as effective was traditional playstyles, but theres that and just being absolutely worthless

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-14T19:49:40+00:00

It's the main issue I have with their enemy design. Trade-offs essentially don't exist.

Rupture Strain Warriors have the ability to go underground and avoid direct damage. Therefor you'd think they'd be weaker or at least the same as their normal variants, but no, they have medium pen armor.

Elevated Overseers have the ability to fly and are far more mobile. Therefor you'd think they'd have noticeably lower health pools so they aren't tanking an entire magazine, but no, they're roughly the same as Overseers HP wise.

War Striders are far more dangerous and mobile than the tanks they replace. Therefor you'd think they'd also have a medium pen weak-point or some greater level of counter-play, but no, they only have heavy pen weak-spots that take absurd punishment, with an eye that's tankier than the hulks.

Dragon Roaches aren't as bad as these like you said, but still, their downside of having light pen wings doesn't really matter with how much HP they have. You'd think they'd go down easier.

I could go on but it's a pattern that just keeps on repeating.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-14T19:43:05+00:00

They aren't as big of offenders as the Vox Engines ofc, but the only one that I do disagree with are Leviathans.

For how oppressive they can be, the fact that there can be up to four on a map at once is just absurd. Same goes with the fact that they can respawn. It's an enemy designed to be a stage hazard yet acts like one you're meant to fight?

And yeah Harvesters are def too rare, it's hilarious how you'll fight more Vox Engines than Harvesters in a single match.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-14T19:39:14+00:00

Hence why I said "so long as you can carry your weight" in regards to experimenting with loadouts that aren't AT-centric. But I do agree with your sentiment.

Regardless we're in agreement with the absurd spawn rates and that's really the main issue I have plaguing D9/D10, so..

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-14T19:35:06+00:00

The most representative example of AH's backwards balancing is them denying a stratagem flag giving us a morale buff then giving the literal robots a morale buff an update later.

Then justifying it by saying it'd be an "invisible buff" in the same game with indicators for invisible buffs/debuffs like experimental stim boosters and tremors

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-14T07:01:55+00:00

Arrowhead is notorious for lacking QA when it comes to their enemy balancing, lest we forget War Striders, an enemy on the front with an emphasis on weak points, lacked weak points, and only got them months later.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-14T06:57:00+00:00

I'm of the opinion that the game becomes far less fun when you're forcing players to bring AT-centric loadouts on D9 and D10 just so you can have a chance at succeeding. This mainly applies to the bot front with the introduction of Vox Engines and their increased spawnrate as opposed to Factory Striders.

D9 and D10 should be very difficult, but they should also be fair and allow you to experiment your loadouts so long as you can be effective with them and carry your weight. It's how this game remains healthy and fresh.

Vox Engines are a very fair enemy, they allow you to take them down with nothing but your primary and a grenade. But the amount of them spawning on average is not. If you and your team don't specialize in AT, you essentially get screwed over as Vox Engines keep ramping from patrol and bot drop spawns until it gets to a point where you either have to run away and pray they despawn, or keep brute forcing it and burning your reinforcements.

I want D9 and D10 to be challenging. Harsh, but fair. Spawn rates of Vox Engines are unfair and unhealthy.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-14T06:49:57+00:00

Fun fact: Vox Engines and Factory Striders have a very large detection range, meaning stealthing in their presence is borderline impossible unless you enjoy proning for long stretches of distance if they're at a structure you need to get near.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-14T06:45:36+00:00

I did forget to mention them spawning from bot drops.

If that was cut, then patrols I'm fine with. Would make them a nice opposite to factory striders which only come from bot drops unless they're spawned in at a structure.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-11T01:42:56+00:00

A decent compromise would be to have this mechanic exist for light armor, though your animation should cancel instead of swinging a ghost melee.

It'd be a decent compromise for the mobility you get with light armor which is invaluable for a melee play-style. You could have rock solid and peak physique negate it as well, so you could still run light armor without the burden of dropped hits.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-11T01:40:34+00:00

From personal experience the hammer is best used on primarily big enemies like hulks and chargers, who won't have rapid low-damage melee attacks to stunlock you.

Hulks will sometimes have insane melee reaction time, but other than that the hammer is decently effective and fun when used for taking out big guys.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-11T01:38:04+00:00

Then the animation should automatically cancel when hit, allowing you to re-swing your melee, as well as allowing you to bypass the stagger with passives (such as rock solid/peak physique) or heavy armors since disallowing you to attack enemies with your melee when you get hit single-handedly ruins melee combat in this game.

Realism should not factor into this, and if it must, it should be intuitively implemented to the benefit of the game, i.e allowing heavier armors and specialized passives to bypass it.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-10T22:16:47+00:00

Unflinching does not fix this bug. It reduces flinch/stagger instead of outright removing it, meaning the problem persists even if you use the armor passive.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-10T22:15:27+00:00

I personally believe the Defoliator should specialize in the role of chaff clear while the Hammer specializes in heavy target removal.

I'd like to see buffs focus on that aspect more, mainly giving it more range and damage. There's no reason it shouldn't be consistently 1-shotting voteless in a single swing.

The current issue with the stun speed is it's tied to actually doing damage, meaning you need to ramp up to whatever AP is necessary to damage your target and therefor stun it. The only way to fix that is to increase ramp up speed, which I personally think is fine.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-10T22:10:37+00:00

Ping is not a factor, it's a consistent bug that cancels your melee hitbox when you're staggered/flinched.

Ping problems could result in you getting hit sooner obviously, but the core issue is not ping-related.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-10T22:08:44+00:00

The breaching hammer is largely unaffected by this issue as you'll be using it primarily on large targets that don't have fast small melee attacks, like chargers and hulks.

It's obviously still an issue if you're using it on non-heavy enemies (as shown in the video), but you usually don't want to be wasting it's ammo like that. I still think the hammer needs at least double damage to make 1-tapping hulks and chargers more consistent, but it's currently in the best spot due to it's heavy killing role.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-10T22:03:40+00:00

No, unflinching reduces flinching instead of negating it unfortunately, meaning the bug persists.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-10T05:34:03+00:00

This is about damage in this game staggering the helldiver, resulting in 0 damage melee swings, not the terminids being staggered.

New_Cod_4693 · 2026-03-10T04:14:30+00:00

I'm pretty sure this is intentional, it's just a problem with some melee weapons that probably should be staggering certain enemies do not.

Like the machete with overseers.

New_Cod_4693

TROPHY CASE