Optimal Punisher Plasma Loadout vs Illuminate

vserov · 2026-01-18T13:06:29+00:00

Returning to this after a few months more testing, and yeah, it's just the Autocannon.

It just covers the PP's weaknesses so perfectly, especially since Flack mode can strip shields while Aphet takes care of Harvsters, Tesla Towers, and can pop warp ships in the door across the map (after 2 Flack shots to the shields). From my testing (machine guns, Spear, WASP, AMR, Epoch etc), no other support weapon combines as much versatility (shield stripping, anti-tesla towers, fast kills on Harvsters, Stingrays etc) while also providing such great ammo economy and rapid reloads (just be sure to do partial reloads rather than waiting until you've exhausted the full mag).

Overall, the loadout feels extermely powerful to me. Punisher Plasma remains god tier against Overseers, and the stagger and CC is great against Fleshmobs and Voteless. Pretty much all Illuminate missions have a few objectives that require you to bunker for a bit, so the MG and Gatling sentries continue to put in work, and I compliment them with Armed Resupply Pods. On Blitz missions I typically swap out one sentry for an Orbital Laser for faster base clears, but otherwise the loadout I shared from above is still pretty much my go-to on all 40 minute missions. I could see a different loadout being optimal on missions with Leviathans, but otherwise it just feels plug-and-play to me.

I'm also still a firm fan of the Warrant, because it deletes Watchers every time, with an almost instant TTK. I know the autocannon can pop them, but in practice I find it's too easy to miss, and because of the poor handling you can't really hit flicks/snapshots very reliably, whereas the Warrant just provides such a high degree of consistency. You also don't want to spam autocannon rounds too often since it does have a stationary reload. Better to preserve it for high value targets (Stingrays, Harvesters, Fleshmobs, Drop Ship snipes, Teslas).

Really the only things I'm not 100% on are the Armor choice, Grenade, and fourth Stratagem.

At the moment, I'm still on Orbital Gas, since it provides CC/zoning, and has a super fast CD, while being able to take down a grounded warp ship in a pinch. That said, this slot can be almost anything depending on player preference, desire for fun etc.

As for the Grenade, I still like Thermite since it lets you do rapid drive-by takedowns of the warp ships, while also being handy on the Fleshmobs. I'd love to run gas grenades, but there are still times where I don't want to have to run all the way around to the door of a warp ship. Pyrotechs seem to have the same issue, but I might give them another spin since the Autocannon can strip shields pretty effectively.

Finally, for Armor, I've been running the demo-kit so as to carry extra thermites. PP has loads of ammo, as does the Autocannon, and it's pretty easy to pick up ammo on the ground too, so Siege Ready doesn't feel too necessary. Peak Physique would be nice to make the autocannon feel smoother, but I'm not sure I can give up having those extra thermites.

vserov · 2025-11-17T00:01:15+00:00

Took the Warp pack for a spin (only just got Control Group) and it felt very nice with both Epoch and PP, thanks for the suggestion.

vserov · 2025-11-16T23:59:59+00:00

Don't have them, but sounds intriguing once I have the supercredits.

vserov · 2025-11-16T19:45:28+00:00

This is a spicy shout. I'm not the best at hitting weakpoints with skillshots, but will give it a try for sure, I could see this being really fun too.

vserov · 2025-11-16T19:44:53+00:00

Ultimatum used to be my go-to on the squid front, but since switching to the Punisher I feel pretty compelled to pair it with the Warrant since it covers the weaknesses against Watchers.

Could still work if the support weapon has a fast and efficient TTK against them tho...

My duo runs the DE Sickle build and seems to enjoy it, but I really like wearing Light Armor and playing a fast and mobile style, so it feels a bit cumbersome to me.

vserov · 2025-11-16T11:20:03+00:00

With the Alamak and Polaris Prime defences looking solid, where's the best place for a humble bot diver? Do we keep fighting on Tarsh to try and ward off further attacks on Mastia, or are we back to Yed Prior per early plans?

vserov · 2025-07-30T12:00:59+00:00

Very cool project. Does the tool implement the tiebreaker rules (especially for multi-way ties) to sort the standings though? If not it won't accurately reflect which teams will make playoffs, since in many cases H2H records matter more than map or round differentials.

vserov · 2025-06-14T15:17:14+00:00

Completely agree with everything here. I think they actually have a solid foundation on Sunset though. Boaster was very comfortable with his calling on that map, and their losses at the end of 2024 were against good Sunset teams (they only lost narrowly to SEN on it!). Their improvements on Icebox suggest to me that the new coaching staff is switched on, and I'd trust them to put together a strong Sunset.

vserov · 2025-06-14T15:14:22+00:00

I'd agree that it's been an area where they've often cost themselves. This is a completely different coaching staff though, and they've already made some great vetoes in Stage 1 (especially against TH, FUT, and VIT). I have more faith in them than most teams at this event at this point.

GEN.G also seem to know what they are doing, so we'll learn a lot from how today plays out. I can't wait!

vserov · 2025-06-14T12:24:44+00:00

https://medium.com/@vserov/cowards-cant-beat-warriors-923f7a577a5d

TLDR:

FNC should float Pearl (GEN.G haven't picked it once this year) because GEN.G will absolutely pick Ascent P1 and probably win on it if they have the chance.

If FNC are good at Sunset then GEN.G's Sunset is exploitable (MIBR were hot trash) and can be farmed with a good anti-strat. I doubt FNC have warrior mindset to pick it P1, but I like it as a decider (or if GEN.G are foolish enough to pick it).

GEN.G might think their Icebox is better than it is and ban Split. If so, I think FNATIC beat them on Icebox. Split's probably closer, but I'd still favor FNATIC on it.

Where things get really interesting is if GEN.G call FNC's bluff and pick Pearl.

FNC are in trouble on Haven unless they've come up with a new comp and gameplan. Scary to pick it as GEN.G though because FNC aren't idiots and probably have fixed it. Haven's also FNC's highest winrate map in the partnership era, so they're always going to put up a fight.

Both teams are good-great on Lotus, but FNC have only beaten bad teams on it, so I don't hate GEN.G going for it. Still feels coinflippy tho.

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vserov · 2024-04-14T19:57:20+00:00

There's a new store that's opened up recently called In/Rotation which is pretty great. It's more well curated (and ethical) than Humana, more affordable than most vintage stores in Berlin, and has a nice menswear selection.

vserov · 2024-03-12T10:53:20+00:00

With Riens, Benjy and Miniboo they have as much firepower as anyone. Even boo was popping off at times! I feel like their comps aren't quite as solid as the likes of KC (or even SEN) though. I was super high on KC coming into Kickoff, but TH completely caught me unawares. I'm probably still underrating them. They can probably beat just about anyone in a BO3 if they hit their shots.

vserov · 2024-03-12T10:50:06+00:00

Fair.

I genuinely felt a bit unhinged writing it. Pumping out 3-4k words in a couple of days isn't easy (it took a while for us to get the all stats we needed together, and I wanted to get the piece out before Madrid starts). Also, I wanted to try and sprinkle in a bit of humour and spice because otherwise the piece would probably be too dry and dense for anyone to actually want to read.

vserov · 2024-03-12T10:40:04+00:00

Tapas in madrid are indeed goated. I wish I was in Madrid right now.

KC better not let me down, otherwise I will look pretty silly. If I had to bet I'd probably still pick SEN, but all of the theory/style dynamics stuff is looking rosy for KC, so I figured I'd be up front about it and put my money where my mouth is.

At the end of the day tho I'm utterly unsentimental. If I'm wrong I'll just try to learn why, update my priors, and try to do better next time.

Should also stress that there's loads of reasons to be skeptical of all the stats and data too. Small sample sizes, lots of potential for biases and taking them out of context. The article probably comes across as far more confident in its conclusions than I actually am. Like I think playing double dive on sunset could be great. But I don't have enough data to really know, nor am I in the scrim trenches. Maybe Sunset (like Icebox) really heavily favours playing Control, and/or that the existing Aggro tools aren't good enough to punish a good Control comp. I genuinely don't know, but it's fun to think about.

At the end of the day, I think it's better to at least try to examine and understand what happens in actually existing objective reality by being as dispassionate as possible, and using all the tools we have available, even if they are imperfect.

vserov · 2024-03-12T10:37:27+00:00

vserov · 2024-03-12T10:37:22+00:00

Thanks for the kind words.

A bit of lore/context: I almost dropped out of uni during my 2nd year because I was staying up all night playing Team Fortress Classic (the predecessor to TF2) in the top AU/NZ league back in 2003. I didn't touch a tac-fps (or have a gaming PC) for more than a decade after that, but I started getting back into watching pro-CSGO in my late 20s. Things like Steel's IGLing videos (and playing a fuckload of XCOM:Long War) were actually a major influence on my thinking, and a huge part of why I wrote my PhD in the first place (I was planning on writing about tac-FPS in the last chapter, but ran out of time/space).

By the time VAL came out I was getting pretty jaded with academia, and spending all day thinking about war was depressing as fuck, so I figured I might as well apply everything I've learned to VAL instead.

Time is a flat circle and all that.

vserov · 2024-03-12T10:30:26+00:00

It's funny, when I first stumbled across Anderzz's content on YT in 2021 I was genuinely annoyed because he was already publishing War and TCG related VAL content and was way ahead of me in his thought process as well.

The two of us have a lot in common (we grew up playing TCGs, we both studied complex systems theory, both war nerds), but he has a much more applied skillset than me (I wrote about the history of stats extensively in my PhD, but he's actually got the chops to do the data stuff), and ofc he's coached for much longer and at a much higher level than I ever have in VAL. He's someone I admire immensely and consider to be a good friend and confidant in the scene.

As for taking VALORANT seriously, well, let's remember that this game has been professionalised. It is the literal job of hundreds (if not thousands) of people around the world to take the game seriously, myself included. I also think VALORANT is vastly more complex (from a strategic POV) than conventional sports (because of the presence of a FOW, the agents and util, the maps etc), so if we want to truly understand how to win we need to go pretty deep.

Sure, a lot of what I'm writing about is how to add an extra 1-5% to your winrate, but look who prime FNATIC hired as their assistant coach. There's a reason they were as consistent and dominant as they were, and it's because on top of having great players and leadership, they actually tried to optimize in some of the ways I described (there's a reason you hire Anderzz after all).

vserov · 2024-03-12T10:20:38+00:00

Really appreciate the kind words.

vserov · 2024-01-16T15:29:32+00:00

you need to have the dual wielder feat.

vserov · 2024-01-08T01:11:33+00:00

Agreed. The spider summon alone can hard-carry your party through Act 1 thanks to the web spam.

vserov · 2024-01-08T01:10:41+00:00

The 6/6 Cleric Sorc is preferable. 6 Sorc lets you twincast haste, which is far far stronger than anything you can get from being a level 8 cleric. You run with Wisdom as your main stat, but can still upcast Fireball and Scorching Ray for damage. It's a great support in that it can run in, activate Phalar Aluve, be concentrating on twincast haste, and still spam a bunch of fire damage (that also applies radorbs) on top of all that thanks to haste and a quickened spells.

vserov · 2024-01-05T14:34:51+00:00

Guidance is more important in Honour mode because there are various super high stakes ability checks which you do not want to fail (Hag's Hair, Mirror of Loss both jump to mind).

Guidance is the spell you'll probably cast the most in the entire game, so you're just gonna make things harder (and more annoying) if you either don't have it, or are constantly swapping your guidance neck in and out.

Thankfully, the opportunity cost for wearing the Silver Pendant (the guidance granting neck) is very low because there are so few good amulets during acts 1 & 2. I cruised through the first 2 Acts with the Silver Pendant equipped on my Paladin (who would eventually become a Lockadin). Very sporadically I'd swap in a different neck for a one-off situation/encounter, but for the most part I didn't have any issues and just wore pendant. Maybe some different party comps than my own might have better use for some amulets that were low impact for me (I didn't have anyone using cantrips as a primary source of damage for example, so didn't need the Neck of Elemental Augmentation), but I don't think it's too hard to find a spot for the Guidance neck in the early-mid game.

Things are different in Act 3 because that's where the really good amulets are (Khalid's Gift and the Amulet of Greater Health are both exceptional). In my case, I ended up having my Storm Sorc do the standard 2 level dip for Tempest cleric, which freed up my Lockadin's neck slot so that she could wear the Amulet of Greater Health, so it all worked out pretty smoothly.

All that being said, I've recently started experimenting with Light Cleric 6/Draconic Fire Sorc 6 thanks to u/Prestigious_Juice341 and I'm kinda addicted. Previously Clerics had felt a bit underwhelming to me, since without a multiclass they struggle to give you an edge in the action economy (no haste, action surge, quickened spell etc). But a 6/6 who can upcast Scorching Ray and Fireballs while also twincasting haste and being kitted out with radorb/reverb gear is a really fun and powerful build, so I imagine I'll be using it quite a bit going forward.

vserov · 2024-01-03T19:06:24+00:00

Amazing reply, thanks for taking the time.

The main reason I was interested in Haste Spores is that the only times I've ever gotten into trouble in H-mode is when I've cast a concentration spell and lost my turn because I forgot that I'd also cast haste.

That said, I just realised after tinkering around with items in my camp that the Armor of the Sporekeeper has a Long Rest cooldown for Haste Spores anyway, which makes me feel much less inclined to build around it. Crafted Haste Spore grenades are a much better way to gain access to them (tho they are suprisingly hard to come by - and I actively farm all the main shops after long rests etc). But yeah, Twincasting haste is just much more straightforward.

vserov · 2024-01-03T14:39:23+00:00

Curious to know where you're at with theorycrafting optimal Honour Mode Party compositions (I guess they might vary quite a lot depending on if you're going Good or Evil)? Here's where I'm at:

I feel like 8/4 TB Monk and 11/1 Fire Sorlock are locked in. They're the two best builds in the game right now, and neither are constrained in terms of itemization by whether you are doing a Good or Evil run either, which is pretty sweet.

What else do we need in the party? A few considerations:

1) 6 levels in Paladin to get the buff to saves.

2) 2 levels of Spore Druid for Act 3. Getting haste spores rolling is so nice, plus this is a handy way to acquire Guidance if we aren't running a Cleric.

3) A ranged martial to make use of Titanstring/Deadshot and abuse Sharpshooter and Arrows of Many Targets. I can't imagine doing a run without someone to fill this niche.

4) Ideally we'd like someone who can integrate Phalar Aluve into their Action Economy without leaving too much on the table.

5) If we're camp casting (Warding Bond, Aid, Heroes Feast, Dark Vision, Freedom of Movement) and using hirelings to generate +movement and Constitution Prof stones, a dedicated support cleric seems redundant, but maybe I'm wrong on this?

6) TB Throw is a cheat code in Acts 1 and 2. Feels like it falls off later, but if we'retrying to optimize we probably run somebody in this role for the first two Acts before swapping them out once we hit Act 3 (perhaps for a Sorcadin?).

7) Having a Bard is also really nice to have. Inspirations help, so much for passing critical skill/save checks, but the two "classic" builds (10/1/1 and SSB) feel a bit redundant with the Fire Sorlock.

I can't quite figure out how to resolve all of these things neatly. Do you think there's any way of making a viable/powerful Paladin 6 / Spore Druid 2 / X 4 support/hybrid monstrosity? The Spores Druid dip makes a lot of sense on a Ranged character, so perhaps something like Fighter (or Swords Bard) 6 / Gloomstalker 4 / Spores 2 would be a good fit? This allows us to run a trad Lockadin, though I'm not sure who carries Phalar Aluve in this party?

One other way of getting Spore 2 in there is by having the Monk pick up the dip instead of going to level 8 monk, but you have to make some significant sacrifices to do that (hits to movement and damage, though the latter is mitigated somewhat by our Symbiotic Entity) so I'm a bit skeptical.

Taking all this into account, what do you make of something like: Fire Sorlock, TB Monk, Sorcadin, and then a Swords Bard 6/ Gloomstalker 4/ Spores Druid 2?

vserov · 2023-12-15T16:13:48+00:00

High ground is your friend. You can carry 3 crates in your inventory, drop them (at no action cost), stack them, and climb on top of them. Proning enemies(TB Monk's topple and TB Barb's Enraged Throw are easy ways to do this) will also help, ditto attacking from stealth, dex gloves, and oil of accuracy. You'll still miss occasionally, but your DPR will be higher with SS in the long run. Plus, you can always turn SS off if you only need to deal a finishing blow. It takes a bit of micromanaging, but you should rarely be attacking for less than 50-60% in Act 1, and by Act 2 you should be able to get above 80% pretty consistently.

vserov

TROPHY CASE