What are your favorite exos?

[Tridus]

I haven't used all the exos yet, so I can only talk about the four I have. But of those, here's what I think of each one:

1. Assault.

Early game I used this guy all the time. The laser rifle has good damage and range, the grenade launcher is handy, it's tough, and if you get into ammo trouble the machine gun is backup. Was my workhorse for a long time, and I think it's an overall great bot in the first half of the game. I upgraded the laser rifle with range, ammo, and damage, and had a field day. Even more fun once I got some sentry turrets on him. Three shield slots starting out and the shield stat bonus inherent to the exo also mean he's more likely to survive mistakes or simple suboptimial situations ("I'm out of stealth, turrets, there's no cover, and there's just 5 bots left to kill. CHARGE!!!"). You have fewer resources in the early game, so that toughness is very handy as a fallback.

2. Siege

First half of the game, used sparingly. As in: "big clump of enemies, use rocket launcher". Almost never used otherwise unless I was in dire ammo trouble on my other bots. Low stealth (and only one propulsion slot) makes getaways dangerous if you do get into trouble, so it's a bot that I played very cautiously with and used sparingly.

3. Ninja

The welding laser is high damage for early game and can take out stuff in one hit that other weapons can't, but the range sucks. Has decent stealth, but still risky to use it a lot without upgrades. Not a lot of room for viruses. Also used sparingly, namely when I could stealth into stuff and get it close, or for avoiding traps (which you can do REALLY easily).

4. Science

This is probably the one I'd try to swap out if I could, simply because as a combatant it's... well okay, the lase rifle makes it not bad if you can keep range on your targets. If you get into range, it's super squishy. Limited upgrade space that isn't computers, but it's great at hacking doors. I'm not sure I could give it up easily given the limited slots for hacking on other bots, but you'd get a lot of firepower trading it out for something else.


Things changed with the epic bots though:

1. Epic Ninja

I used this guy a ton. By this point you can get a huge amount of stealth. The kinetic burst weapon can flatten most stuff. If you can't (Tigerbot, Doombot, etc), it's got enough computer slots to load up on viruses (and the stealth to use those viruses and get away safely). Excels at both assassination and reprogramming, and those are two very effective strategies.

2. Epic Siege

Ignoring the fact that the plasma cannon is currently so absurdly overpowered that I made a video of it one shotting entire maps, the rest of this guy is awesome. You still get the rocket launcher. You get massive range, wall ignoring shadow torpedoes for knocking dangerous targets off with impunity. You get extra slots to actually get a usable amount of stealth. You also get a third shield slot, for increased toughness. There's really a lot to love here.

3. Epic Assault

To be honest, this guy disappointed me. The plasma rifle is nice, but low ammo. The volatizer has a very weird firing pattern. He could really use a fourth reactor slot given that he has five weapons to power (especially if the -to power use in a system stat does wind up going away). The laser rifle is still good, but I found it trailed off in power as the game went on compared to what the Siege and Ninja were bringing to the table.

It's not that it's a bad exo and it's still one you can use a lot, it's just kind of a meh upgrade compared to the improvements the others got. Instead of being my primary bot, it was my "don't have a reason to risk one of my specialists right now" bot.

4. Epic Science

This was the only bot I really tried to get hacking points on, so I still didn't use it much to protect my hacking points from accidents. That said, the chain gun is awesome. Good range, lots of ammo, reasonable damage, and rapid fire brings the damage up to quite good if you set yourself up to use it. Three propulsion slots is nice, has so many computers that you can load up on all kinds of stuff (I had massive sensor range), and actually did surprisingly well when I was forced to use it in direct combat. The only one I had with only two shield slots, but the chain gun helped alleviate that as a risk. Probably different on hard where enemy ranges are going to be longer.


Of these four, I thought they were pretty well balanced. The epic assault was less impressive than the others, but still pretty useful. So... I don't know if this feedback is of any use or not.

[keith.lamothe]

Suggestions for the Epic Assault bot?  We could go with a fourth reactor slot but kind of the idea is that he's supposed to have sub-par reactor system.  So something that makes him more distinct from other bots (that generally have better reactors) rather than less distinct would be good

[Tridus]

Umm... simplest answer is probably more ammo on the plasma rifle. Base is 6 right now I think? That's not really enough for "assault", it's got less ammo than the rocket launcher and does far less damage.

[keith.lamothe]

I suppose that would help, but kind of the idea is that the plasma rifle is more like the plasma cannon than line the rocket launcher.  So really low-ammo, but also really powerful.  In the context of the Epic Assault (and Epic Sniper) it's supposed to give them some "light siege" capability, rather than to be a workhorse weapon that's used in most fights (unlike the machine gun or laser rifle).

Looking at it right now I see:

Rocket Launcher
Attack 1000
Range 9
AOE Radial 2
Ammo 7

Plasma Rifle
Attack 600
Range 9
AOE Diagonal 1
Ammo 6

Plasma Cannon
Attack 2000
Range 12
AOE Radial 7
Ammo 1


And what I'm thinking is to change the Plasma Rifle (just the player version, not the enemy-bot version) such that:
Attack from 600 => 1000
Range from 9 => 8
AOE from Diagonal 1 => Radial 3
Ammo from 6 => 3

So something that makes enemies sit up and take notice, and something you can pump up into something fairly siege-like with the right parts, but never approaching the ammo capacity of the rocket launcher or the sheer overwhelming power of the plasma cannon.

Thoughts?

[Winge]

Sounds pretty good to me.  Would that change also apply to the Epic Sniper's Plasma Rifle, or will that weapon be different?

On that note, I actually kind of like the Volatizer's pattern.  I find it fills in when the Grenade Launcher isn't quite 'right'.



Edit:
Oh, duh...my Favorite Exos.  I love the Siege Exo.  Rocket and Plasma Cannon Shenanigans are pretty much standard for me.  I also like the Epic Sniper exo, but that one needs a lot more gear (esp. +damage) to really shine.  I've found the Assault to be lackluster but necessary for tank/cleanup.  By it's very nature, it carries much more ammo than other Exos.  The Ninja is pretty fun, but I haven't tried it after the recent changes.  I didn't really like the Brawler, but I've done next to nothing with it.  Science is, for the most part, an unfortunate necessity.  The standard Science Exo is literally just a hacking machine for me.  I suppose I could set it up as a trap exo, but by that time, I would rather nuke the map.

TLDR order (lower number = preferred):
1.  Siege     KABOOOM!!! *sound of cackling in the background*
2.  Sniper
3.  Ninja
4.  Assault     boring, but very necessary
5.  Epic Science/Brawler
6.  Virused MurderBot     sorry, no longer available
7.  Non-Epic Science     Open that door for me.  Thanks.  See you next door!

[keith.lamothe]

Sounds pretty good to me.  Would that change also apply to the Epic Sniper's Plasma Rifle, or will that weapon be different?

They use the exact same weapon, so it would impact the sniper too.  If that's an issue an alternate type can be created, but I'm guessing no one will mind beefing up the Sniper's epic gun a bit too?

[Winge]

They use the exact same weapon, so it would impact the sniper too.  If that's an issue an alternate type can be created, but I'm guessing no one will mind beefing up the Sniper's epic gun a bit too?

I actually consider the Railgun to be the Sniper's epic gun.  Honestly, in my current game (stacked with pre-fix cooling tanks and an large amount of +all damage), my Sniper's Gamma Ray Laser is so strong that I almost never use anything stronger.  After all, if you can kill a DoomBot in two hits (one of them a free action), do I really need to worry about anything besides my ammo count?

For added fun, I like Virusing the bots that give a +50% attack boost.  You might want to increase virus cost of those...

[Tridus]

I suppose that would help, but kind of the idea is that the plasma rifle is more like the plasma cannon than line the rocket launcher.  So really low-ammo, but also really powerful.  In the context of the Epic Assault (and Epic Sniper) it's supposed to give them some "light siege" capability, rather than to be a workhorse weapon that's used in most fights (unlike the machine gun or laser rifle).

So something that makes enemies sit up and take notice, and something you can pump up into something fairly siege-like with the right parts, but never approaching the ammo capacity of the rocket launcher or the sheer overwhelming power of the plasma cannon.

Thoughts?

Personally that doesn't address the need very well for me, since what I find it's lacking is that workhorse weapon. The laser rifle is still in that role, but it's not as good on day 50 as it is on day 1. In my case if I really want to blow up groups at once I'll use the Siege bot to do it. That said the damage boost will let me use the epic assault to flatten something really dangerous, and that has value (and it seems other people like it). So I'm certainly willing to try it out and see how it feels.

[Winge]

Personally that doesn't address the need very well for me, since what I find it's lacking is that workhorse weapon. The laser rifle is still in that role, but it's not as good on day 50 as it is on day 1. In my case if I really want to blow up groups at once I'll use the Siege bot to do it. That said the damage boost will let me use the epic assault to flatten something really dangerous, and that has value (and it seems other people like it). So I'm certainly willing to try it out and see how it feels.

I am inclined to agree with Tridus as well.  Hard to say until I play with it a bit.

Right now, I am more peeved with the Science Exo than anything else.  It basically feels like someone took all of the fun from the Assault Exo, and replaced it with keys that I had to have.  It would be nice if the Science Exo would be more...unique.  Right now, the only real way to do that is with Sentries, Mines, and Viruses.  Other than that, it's basically a hackbot.

[keith.lamothe]

Personally that doesn't address the need very well for me, since what I find it's lacking is that workhorse weapon.

Fair enough.  Do you suppose the Volatizer could be made more workhorse without being made OP?

Right now, I am more peeved with the Science Exo than anything else.  It basically feels like someone took all of the fun from the Assault Exo, and replaced it with keys that I had to have.  It would be nice if the Science Exo would be more...unique.  Right now, the only real way to do that is with Sentries, Mines, and Viruses.  Other than that, it's basically a hackbot.

Well, is a Mine/Sentry specialist not unique enough?

Anyway, fair enough on them seeming less fun.  Their lackluster weapons are intentional (except for the epic with the chaingun, of course), as if they had good weapons AND are that incredible with the computer stuff... well, why would you take an Assault or Brawler exo, instead of 2 Science's?

That said, I understand that "because it's balanced that way" doesn't make sucky weapons feel any more fun.  What would you suggest?

[Tridus]

Personally that doesn't address the need very well for me, since what I find it's lacking is that workhorse weapon.

Fair enough.  Do you suppose the Volatizer could be made more workhorse without being made OP?

Probably not with the AoE pattern it has, no. Wide area weapons can't really also be frequently used workhorses without being OP, just because they can hit so much stuff at once.

That was why I was looking at the plasma rifle originally, I didn't realize it was an AoE weapon (without upgrades it appears to have no AoE in the version I have). With two other AoE weapons, I'd be happier with a bigger single target gun. Amusingly, the Epic Science exo actually does better at that thanks to the chain gun. You could give the Epic Assault the chain gun, but that'd probably overpower it (chain gun with that thing's defenses? Oh man!) and take away a unique cool thing that the Epic Science has.

If you did want to give it something unique (rather than more single target firepower), replace one of the guns with a 1 ammo EMP bomb. That'd be the robot equivalent of assault forces using flashbangs and gas to disable opponents before they storm in.

[Histidine]

I don't think the exo with the grenade launcher needs a Big Grenade Launcher as well. +1 to giving it some kind of anti-armor gun or EMP bomb.

[Misery]

Ok, some thoughts on all of these guys:

Assault:  SO MUCH SHOOTING.  And so much shielding.  Regen on this guy currently makes him quite the terror.  His weapons are pretty good, as his laser can become pretty strong, and he's got the machinegun for hitting weaker foes without using ammo on any of his larger weapons.  This guy seems to be the good all-around one;  he's not super great at anything, but he can handle lots of situations.   Except computer stuff.  Lotsa power, dumber than a sack of hammers.

Siege:  ROCKETS.   This guy is great for an initial burst when entering a new room fulla bots.  And the Shadow Torpedoes are great too!  I use him as the initiator.   Not too much good for other things, but does he really need to be?  I'll answer for you: no.

Ninja:  Stealth + Welding Laser.  Yes.  Good at hitting things with viruses too.  Usually ends up having lots of trap avoidance as well.

Brawler:  Good grief this guy can hit pretty darn hard.  The shotgun isnt so great, but the Dissolver makes up for that.   Get some range boosts on that thing and this guy can be even stronger than he already is.   Not the easiest to use though.  Not sure what his epic form does.

Sniper:  Sure does snipe alot.   So much range and hits pretty hard.  Good at popping or weakening very strong single targets.   Bad against groups.  Havent used his epic form yet either, I only JUST found the blasted Bahamut mission for him in my current game.

Science:  Not the best at fighting, but he can hold his own well enough.  Has good stealth and can be good at virus stuffs, but I find he's best used to hack and place sentries/mines.  Also: Chaingun.


I dont really think any of these guys are OP, nor are they too weak. A pretty good balance overall, so far.

[Rekka]

I use Ninja Exo a lot because I love ninjas. He has a good amount of trap avoidance so it's a good scout. When things begin to get a little too hot I usually switch to Assault Exo or Siege Exo when too much robots are around. The Science one is my backup fighter (when all the others are dead generally ) and I only switch to it when I need to do some hacking. Didn't tried the other ones yet but these 4 make a good balanced team.

[Winge]

Well, is a Mine/Sentry specialist not unique enough?

Anyway, fair enough on them seeming less fun.  Their lackluster weapons are intentional (except for the epic with the chaingun, of course), as if they had good weapons AND are that incredible with the computer stuff... well, why would you take an Assault or Brawler exo, instead of 2 Science's?

That said, I understand that "because it's balanced that way" doesn't make sucky weapons feel any more fun.  What would you suggest?

I wouldn't mind it if I could use the Science Exo as a Mine/Sentry specialist.  As it is, I typically reserve almost all of those slots for hacking points (and one Capacitor, to help reduce inductive loading).  Maybe I'm just going overboard on hacking, and need to be willing to branch out a bit...