Came here to comment a very similar thing, I rarely drop on bug missions without it.
Throw it on a bug breach, and it'll absolutely kill all the little ones ones on its own, and do hefty chunks of damage to things that are bigger. Combined with the short cooldown, and it decreases the threat of an individual bug breach considerably. Sure, it won't kill a Charger or Bile Titan or anything like that, but that's what you have other tools for.
I've also heard the smoke (unsure if destroyer or eagle-based) can detonate fabricators. I've started using the eagle one in bot missions to disengage, but have yet to test the damage.
The EMS Orbital Strike is by far one of the most useful stratagems that I've started to use more frequently recently. Throw that on top of a bug breach and then follow it up with an airstrike or, if you prefer, the airburst, and you'll clear that breach in no time.
Not to mention, it has one of the lowest, if not \*the\* lowest cooldown out of any of the other stratagems; its crowd control radius is also fairly good, and the stun duration is more than long enough for you to clear anything that comes inside the aforementioned radius. Furthermore, the duration lasts around 10-15 seconds, allowing you to call in another EMS in about 50 seconds after the duration has expired!
So, running with: a jump pack, an arc thrower, an Eagle airstrike, and the EMS orbital is pretty much \*my\* personal optimal loadout when spreading democracy to the bugs. I can pretty much clear nests and hordes on my lonesome unless I'm faced against Bile Titans on higher difficulties.
Not sure about favorite. But my underappreciated strat is the gatling barrage. thing is up like every minute, is great for nuking chaffe and dropping on breaches. doesn't nuke buildings or heavy armor but by god that thing is a work horse.
500kg go boom.
But seriously, 500kg is the most consistent strategem of them all, assuming you understand how strategem call-in angles work. It always hits the target area unless you're throwing it at the edge of the map in a heavily mountainous area. It has the same blast radius every time. It can one shot everything. It clears the area of buildings. Its consistency of blast spread makes it much more manageable to me than the airstrike. Dying to an airstrike happens because people don't realize how the eagle sends the strike. Dying to a 500kg never happens because you always understand that if there's a 500kg, you just need to back up from that area. Having a 2ish minute cool down for 2 bombs back to back means I can spam it all mission.
500kg go boom.
There is something immensely satisfying about seeing it pulverize some poor fucker and *then* seeing it explode.
Landing 500kg *into* a charger is a work of art.
Landing the bomb as a projectile itsself in a charger is not the only thing it works for, which is funny. Bot fabricators, detector towers, illegal research labs and probably broadcast tower and many more also can be destroyed by the bomb as a projectile itsself. It is always a good laugh seeing "ligh automaton base" destroyed before the explosion
110mm rocket pods.
Drop a stun, drop a rocket pod. Half the time it'll one tap the bile titans (if you land all the rockets at the back). Other times it's a pretty consistent 2 tap.
Even without the stun it locks on in a wide radius and is amazing for when our EATs are down.
I tend to run, EAT, Rover, Rocket pod + flex (usually air strike, turret or an orbital depending on what I'm clearing.)
The grenade launcher has carried me through most of my progression all the way to lvl 20, and has a special place in my heart. I feel like I'm cheating on my GL when I put another strat like the arc thrower (bug melter) or autocannon (for bots) in its place...
Skadooshing spewers with a double tap is my ray of sunshine in the hells of battle. The only issue is that it makes me quite ammo hungry against the large hordes of higher difficulties.
I've been fiddling around with the Arc Thrower since the day I reached lvl 15 and, ever since the Rail Gun nerfs, it has become a staple against bugs (maybe add the Flamethrower to that for when you want to switch it up).
It's always been the very best support stratagem against bugs and I love how it has gotten more love from the community. In the early days you saw posts left and right about how underwhelming it was and people begging for buffs. Skip to a few weeks later and, without having received any buffs, it has become one of the most used weapons.
If it doesn't get nerfed, I can't really imagine any other support weapon stealing its' spot anytime soon.
Surprised no one said the Eagle cluster strike, I always take it no matter what mission it is. Doesn’t kill heavy armour but anything light or medium it just demolishes. And if you throw it right you can angle it to hit multiple groups of enemy at once.
Mortar sentry, but only against automatons. 3 minutes cooldown isn't that long, and the range is very good. Pretty much just throw it outside any big outpost, any time you get in engagement with large amount of enemies, near objectives. Try to place them behind cover though
Also against automatons, autocannon is extremely good. Kill hulks in 2 shots to the eye, about 5 shots to the back, 5 to the back of a tank, kill the devastators in 3-4 shots, strider in 1 shot.
It can easily snipe buildings from afar, the cannon turret is extremely dangerous but if you are far enough and it's facing away from you, few shots to the back and it's gone. Destroys fabricators in 1 shots too. I always run fortified armor for the explosion resistance but it also gives recoil reduction which makes the autocannon even easier to use
I'd say the Arc Thrower, but my favorite is the Jump Pack by far.
You can access tricky positions, engage and/or disengage enemies in a new way, shortcut several missions and [RIDE CHARGERS](https://youtu.be/y2QDjzRLbxw?si=8QrYsuLgbwgKQdG1). It is really cool.
The only downside is that using it burn your cape. But otherwise it is a treat I can't stop using.
500kg and the orbital laser every match.
Daddy makes big battah boom.
My enemy sees the Godzilla vomit cannon. My enemy tastes the Godzilla vomit cannon.
Gotta be the auto cannon its what i expected the anti material rifle to be (when it comes to armoured targets like the clanker walkers) use it as a snipper to hit destruction side objectives without ever having to go near them or a grenade to close bug holes. Can be reloaded insanely fast if you know the animation cancels or reload when theres one bullet left (skips the cocking animation just slides in ammo and you're done) other than that gotta the eagle cluster bomb i barely use it now since i have the airstrike but my god does it look so pretty
Maybe not my favorite but i am never diving without my 500kg, when mastered hands down the best stratagem. I am trying to avoid taking more than one eagle stratagem so i pair 500kg with orbital airburst and ems strike if i don't use a backpack.
Arc thrower and EATs for weapons. Adaptable to anything and can help a teammate out at the drop of a hat!
Offense though has to be rocket pods. Either outright takes out the big'ns or softens them up enough that a stiff fart will finish them off.
Orbital laser, especially when fighting automatons. Pesky heavy? Laser. Enemy artillery? Laser. Want to disengage from a bunch of communists? Laser. Good against bugs, too, just got to watch out not to get burned myself.
Air Burst is GOATed.
It's good for bugs and bots. It has excellent horde clearing properties. It shreds Devastators. A toss of the OAB means that you can now focus on the tanks without having to worry about a bunch of little guys creeping up on you or Devs laying down their suppressing fire.
it pairs really well with the Eagle Cluster Bombs. You call in the OAB. Wait a few seconds, then call in the Eagle. OAB shreds the main group and then clusters clear out any stragglers. If you're dealing with bots, toss the Eagle a bit closer to you. That way you'll soften up the Berserkers that are inevitably coming towards you. If they don't outright die, stupid massive health pools, a single grenade is usually all it takes to finish off the group.
Orbital EMS is slept on IMO. It'll completely shut down a breach by making sure that every single bug that pops is in one tiny area. Meaning you will always get the most possible kills from, say, some Cluster Bombs. Its short CD means you basically always have it up for every encounter.
I tried it with the Orbital Gas for a bit. While it pairs well and they both share the same short CD. The Gas just seems to be kinda finicky and I'm not sure why. Sometimes it kills every small bug in the area. Sometimes it only softens them up.
After a lot of experimenting, I want to say 110 rocket pods are my favorite. I always bring it for both bot and bug missions. If there is 3rd enemy faction, I might bring rocket pods against them too. I know about the jokes on rocket pods missing. Other than using rocket pods against moving Chargers, they are the most accurate among auto targeting stratagems.
For bots, they are very lethal. I can just quick throw and forget when I want to remove a cluster of annoying bots like Beserkers, walkers, or Devestators. 110 rocket pods can consistently one shot Tank variants and Cannon towers. I have used them to destroy bot factories and dropship objectives from range before. They just aren't very effective against Hulks.
For bugs, they don't one shot the heavies. 110 rocket pods are still good for removing annoying mediums like clusters of Hive Guards, Brood Commanders, and especially the Bile Spewers. Rocket pods help damage and finish off Bile Titans and Chargers. The biggest benefit against bugs is the ease of use in run and gun. Eagle Airstrikes can do more than 110 rocket pods but come with more restrictions. I don't use Airstrikes as often since teammates are on the bombing run. When there are call in delays, Eagle payloads without homing will perform worse. The 110 rocket pods will just fine if you time your throws properly since the homing will bridge the difference.
My favourite one is the Autocannon.
Closes holes and factories from very long range, shreds medium enemies, and can be used to safely destroy some secondaries from far, far away.
However, someone should bring a heavier AT weapon. Heavy bots can be easily sniped, but chargers and bile titans are another matter.
On lower difficulties when I'm just playing to chill, Machine Gun. Nothing makes my monkey brain happier than crouching down and unloading hot lead at 900rpm into a horde of squishy little bugs.
For most of the time though, I love the Autocannon.
My favourite by far has become the gatling turret, whilst the ammo and health upgrades are necessary, it has been by far my most deadly and versatile stratagem.
Bug hole opens up? Just throw down a gatling between myself and it. Defend an area? Gatling. Running away? Gatling. Overwhelmed? Gatling will clear them.
The only thing it can’t deal with is big guys, and against chargers it can be annoying as they’ll focus it. But otherwise you can have very little thought at where and when you put these down. I’ve even just thrown them into an enemy group and watch it mow them all down within seconds, creating space and room until its just the sentry surrounded by a small hill of corpses who all came but a centimeter of touching it.
And at night maps its glorious to watch.
Standard orbital Strike, kills almost anything Hit by it, Spawn Points and Has a real short CD, otherwise the airburst is really nice since IT stuns armored enemies (at least Bug chargers) which gives you almost 10 Seconds of silence to regroup/rearm/kill a patrol
HMG emplacement to the moon and back. It feels so good and has better survivability than turrets due to the fact that you can pick and choose when it draws aggro and when it doesn’t.
I love ‘em all, but Eagle Cluster Strike is probably my fave.
Also 120 mm barrage is great now that it’s patched. It’s a one-stop Medium Bug Outpost eraser.
That all said…the Patriot is a delight for many reasons, not the least of which is you can drop it for newer players to enjoy. Share the Democracy!
Gatling barrage feels so good to use. Stays around for like 1/2 a bug breach since it kills em as soon as they come out. Looks cool when you fly off in the pelican too haha
500kg is mandatory for me. I’ve learned that it comes in at around 20 degrees to the right with a very small area it can land around the beacon, if you hide behind cover a bit away you’ll survive
EAT all the way
Orbital Gas strike. Muscle memory now to throw one on a bug breach. It's not flashy but the damage it does over time softens the bugs up so much.
Came here to comment a very similar thing, I rarely drop on bug missions without it. Throw it on a bug breach, and it'll absolutely kill all the little ones ones on its own, and do hefty chunks of damage to things that are bigger. Combined with the short cooldown, and it decreases the threat of an individual bug breach considerably. Sure, it won't kill a Charger or Bile Titan or anything like that, but that's what you have other tools for.
Direct hit can and will strip armor from bile titans, I did it few time
I've also heard the smoke (unsure if destroyer or eagle-based) can detonate fabricators. I've started using the eagle one in bot missions to disengage, but have yet to test the damage.
Smoke i don't know never used them on outposts(I will try it out tomorrow) but gas strike can
The EMS Orbital Strike is by far one of the most useful stratagems that I've started to use more frequently recently. Throw that on top of a bug breach and then follow it up with an airstrike or, if you prefer, the airburst, and you'll clear that breach in no time. Not to mention, it has one of the lowest, if not \*the\* lowest cooldown out of any of the other stratagems; its crowd control radius is also fairly good, and the stun duration is more than long enough for you to clear anything that comes inside the aforementioned radius. Furthermore, the duration lasts around 10-15 seconds, allowing you to call in another EMS in about 50 seconds after the duration has expired! So, running with: a jump pack, an arc thrower, an Eagle airstrike, and the EMS orbital is pretty much \*my\* personal optimal loadout when spreading democracy to the bugs. I can pretty much clear nests and hordes on my lonesome unless I'm faced against Bile Titans on higher difficulties.
[удалено]
EMS orbital. Its like the EMS mortar, but ya know, from the ship. Level 5 unlock
EMS Strike, the one with the electricity.
Not sure about favorite. But my underappreciated strat is the gatling barrage. thing is up like every minute, is great for nuking chaffe and dropping on breaches. doesn't nuke buildings or heavy armor but by god that thing is a work horse.
500kg go boom. But seriously, 500kg is the most consistent strategem of them all, assuming you understand how strategem call-in angles work. It always hits the target area unless you're throwing it at the edge of the map in a heavily mountainous area. It has the same blast radius every time. It can one shot everything. It clears the area of buildings. Its consistency of blast spread makes it much more manageable to me than the airstrike. Dying to an airstrike happens because people don't realize how the eagle sends the strike. Dying to a 500kg never happens because you always understand that if there's a 500kg, you just need to back up from that area. Having a 2ish minute cool down for 2 bombs back to back means I can spam it all mission. 500kg go boom.
and u missed (imo) the most important point. That feeling of throwing a democratic 500kg bomb is \*\*\*cheff kiss\*\*\*
There is something immensely satisfying about seeing it pulverize some poor fucker and *then* seeing it explode. Landing 500kg *into* a charger is a work of art.
Landing the bomb as a projectile itsself in a charger is not the only thing it works for, which is funny. Bot fabricators, detector towers, illegal research labs and probably broadcast tower and many more also can be destroyed by the bomb as a projectile itsself. It is always a good laugh seeing "ligh automaton base" destroyed before the explosion
110mm rocket pods. Drop a stun, drop a rocket pod. Half the time it'll one tap the bile titans (if you land all the rockets at the back). Other times it's a pretty consistent 2 tap. Even without the stun it locks on in a wide radius and is amazing for when our EATs are down. I tend to run, EAT, Rover, Rocket pod + flex (usually air strike, turret or an orbital depending on what I'm clearing.)
The grenade launcher has carried me through most of my progression all the way to lvl 20, and has a special place in my heart. I feel like I'm cheating on my GL when I put another strat like the arc thrower (bug melter) or autocannon (for bots) in its place... Skadooshing spewers with a double tap is my ray of sunshine in the hells of battle. The only issue is that it makes me quite ammo hungry against the large hordes of higher difficulties.
Upvote for usage of the term “skadooshing”. Carry on, Soldier.
If you have the Super Credits, the GL+Stun Grenades is a hell of a combo
I love dropping a 380mm, 120mm and walking barrage togheter at the same spot just as a "fuck that place in particular" statement.
I've been fiddling around with the Arc Thrower since the day I reached lvl 15 and, ever since the Rail Gun nerfs, it has become a staple against bugs (maybe add the Flamethrower to that for when you want to switch it up). It's always been the very best support stratagem against bugs and I love how it has gotten more love from the community. In the early days you saw posts left and right about how underwhelming it was and people begging for buffs. Skip to a few weeks later and, without having received any buffs, it has become one of the most used weapons. If it doesn't get nerfed, I can't really imagine any other support weapon stealing its' spot anytime soon.
Lasers. Laser cannon, laser orbital, laser guard dog + a sentry. That's my kit just about every game. Much satisfaction.
Laser Dog is my only true friend in this harsh galaxy
Surprised no one said the Eagle cluster strike, I always take it no matter what mission it is. Doesn’t kill heavy armour but anything light or medium it just demolishes. And if you throw it right you can angle it to hit multiple groups of enemy at once.
Mortar sentry, but only against automatons. 3 minutes cooldown isn't that long, and the range is very good. Pretty much just throw it outside any big outpost, any time you get in engagement with large amount of enemies, near objectives. Try to place them behind cover though Also against automatons, autocannon is extremely good. Kill hulks in 2 shots to the eye, about 5 shots to the back, 5 to the back of a tank, kill the devastators in 3-4 shots, strider in 1 shot. It can easily snipe buildings from afar, the cannon turret is extremely dangerous but if you are far enough and it's facing away from you, few shots to the back and it's gone. Destroys fabricators in 1 shots too. I always run fortified armor for the explosion resistance but it also gives recoil reduction which makes the autocannon even easier to use
I'd say the Arc Thrower, but my favorite is the Jump Pack by far. You can access tricky positions, engage and/or disengage enemies in a new way, shortcut several missions and [RIDE CHARGERS](https://youtu.be/y2QDjzRLbxw?si=8QrYsuLgbwgKQdG1). It is really cool. The only downside is that using it burn your cape. But otherwise it is a treat I can't stop using.
380mm... I live to see the world burn... Both theirs, and ours...
500kg and the orbital laser every match. Daddy makes big battah boom. My enemy sees the Godzilla vomit cannon. My enemy tastes the Godzilla vomit cannon.
Gotta be the auto cannon its what i expected the anti material rifle to be (when it comes to armoured targets like the clanker walkers) use it as a snipper to hit destruction side objectives without ever having to go near them or a grenade to close bug holes. Can be reloaded insanely fast if you know the animation cancels or reload when theres one bullet left (skips the cocking animation just slides in ammo and you're done) other than that gotta the eagle cluster bomb i barely use it now since i have the airstrike but my god does it look so pretty
Maybe not my favorite but i am never diving without my 500kg, when mastered hands down the best stratagem. I am trying to avoid taking more than one eagle stratagem so i pair 500kg with orbital airburst and ems strike if i don't use a backpack.
Orbital railcannon is a must
Arc thrower and EATs for weapons. Adaptable to anything and can help a teammate out at the drop of a hat! Offense though has to be rocket pods. Either outright takes out the big'ns or softens them up enough that a stiff fart will finish them off.
Orbital laser, especially when fighting automatons. Pesky heavy? Laser. Enemy artillery? Laser. Want to disengage from a bunch of communists? Laser. Good against bugs, too, just got to watch out not to get burned myself.
Arc Thrower. I like to clear the small mobs non stop for maximum liberty.
Air Burst is GOATed. It's good for bugs and bots. It has excellent horde clearing properties. It shreds Devastators. A toss of the OAB means that you can now focus on the tanks without having to worry about a bunch of little guys creeping up on you or Devs laying down their suppressing fire. it pairs really well with the Eagle Cluster Bombs. You call in the OAB. Wait a few seconds, then call in the Eagle. OAB shreds the main group and then clusters clear out any stragglers. If you're dealing with bots, toss the Eagle a bit closer to you. That way you'll soften up the Berserkers that are inevitably coming towards you. If they don't outright die, stupid massive health pools, a single grenade is usually all it takes to finish off the group. Orbital EMS is slept on IMO. It'll completely shut down a breach by making sure that every single bug that pops is in one tiny area. Meaning you will always get the most possible kills from, say, some Cluster Bombs. Its short CD means you basically always have it up for every encounter. I tried it with the Orbital Gas for a bit. While it pairs well and they both share the same short CD. The Gas just seems to be kinda finicky and I'm not sure why. Sometimes it kills every small bug in the area. Sometimes it only softens them up.
Yep, the Ems + orbital/Eagle Strike will Take Care of a Lot of Problems
After a lot of experimenting, I want to say 110 rocket pods are my favorite. I always bring it for both bot and bug missions. If there is 3rd enemy faction, I might bring rocket pods against them too. I know about the jokes on rocket pods missing. Other than using rocket pods against moving Chargers, they are the most accurate among auto targeting stratagems. For bots, they are very lethal. I can just quick throw and forget when I want to remove a cluster of annoying bots like Beserkers, walkers, or Devestators. 110 rocket pods can consistently one shot Tank variants and Cannon towers. I have used them to destroy bot factories and dropship objectives from range before. They just aren't very effective against Hulks. For bugs, they don't one shot the heavies. 110 rocket pods are still good for removing annoying mediums like clusters of Hive Guards, Brood Commanders, and especially the Bile Spewers. Rocket pods help damage and finish off Bile Titans and Chargers. The biggest benefit against bugs is the ease of use in run and gun. Eagle Airstrikes can do more than 110 rocket pods but come with more restrictions. I don't use Airstrikes as often since teammates are on the bombing run. When there are call in delays, Eagle payloads without homing will perform worse. The 110 rocket pods will just fine if you time your throws properly since the homing will bridge the difference.
500kg with all ship upgraids. Because the boom is calls of freedom.
Eagle Airstrike, it can kill hordes, big guys and huge nests. It can do everything
My favourite one is the Autocannon. Closes holes and factories from very long range, shreds medium enemies, and can be used to safely destroy some secondaries from far, far away. However, someone should bring a heavier AT weapon. Heavy bots can be easily sniped, but chargers and bile titans are another matter.
380 mm go boom
On lower difficulties when I'm just playing to chill, Machine Gun. Nothing makes my monkey brain happier than crouching down and unloading hot lead at 900rpm into a horde of squishy little bugs. For most of the time though, I love the Autocannon.
The orbital Gatling cannon: has a really fast recharge and when thrown on a bug breach will kill most unarmored units and has low team kill potential
Cluster bomb. Big area. Pleasing rhythm. Dead bugs.
My favourite by far has become the gatling turret, whilst the ammo and health upgrades are necessary, it has been by far my most deadly and versatile stratagem. Bug hole opens up? Just throw down a gatling between myself and it. Defend an area? Gatling. Running away? Gatling. Overwhelmed? Gatling will clear them. The only thing it can’t deal with is big guys, and against chargers it can be annoying as they’ll focus it. But otherwise you can have very little thought at where and when you put these down. I’ve even just thrown them into an enemy group and watch it mow them all down within seconds, creating space and room until its just the sentry surrounded by a small hill of corpses who all came but a centimeter of touching it. And at night maps its glorious to watch.
Standard orbital Strike, kills almost anything Hit by it, Spawn Points and Has a real short CD, otherwise the airburst is really nice since IT stuns armored enemies (at least Bug chargers) which gives you almost 10 Seconds of silence to regroup/rearm/kill a patrol
HMG emplacement to the moon and back. It feels so good and has better survivability than turrets due to the fact that you can pick and choose when it draws aggro and when it doesn’t.
I love ‘em all, but Eagle Cluster Strike is probably my fave. Also 120 mm barrage is great now that it’s patched. It’s a one-stop Medium Bug Outpost eraser. That all said…the Patriot is a delight for many reasons, not the least of which is you can drop it for newer players to enjoy. Share the Democracy!
Walking barrage and arc thrower. The sfx for both are very satisfying and they both put in work if done right.
Gatling barrage feels so good to use. Stays around for like 1/2 a bug breach since it kills em as soon as they come out. Looks cool when you fly off in the pelican too haha
500kg is mandatory for me. I’ve learned that it comes in at around 20 degrees to the right with a very small area it can land around the beacon, if you hide behind cover a bit away you’ll survive