Scorpion, I have spent the whole day fighting with Glu over my second $100 buy in which is still lost. Finally I bought in again and was successful in getting the Aphrodite and the Blackthorn. The Aphrodite is remarkable, but as a fan of the Assault weapon, you will go nuts with the Blackthorn. 17.5, 8.19M in the box, kicks the butt of my 15.5,4.07M Silk before any upgrades. This will be my first serious go to PVP Assault weapon in months.
I know you would thought that you would never get me to buy into your long repeated assertion that the Assault is an inherently superior weapon to the Heavy, but this one just may be.
First level upgrades for 17.5 weapons is 3.92M. Ouch! This means that they cannot be upgraded beyond the first tier without a Tier 15 Vault. Good news is that the Blackthorn is mostly upgradeable with game bucks.
One of the attractions of getting through a cycle with an Assault weapon, rather than a Heavy, is that the upgrade costs in Diamonds are 1/4 of the the upgrade cost for a Heavy.
The other side of this is the point that you make which is that the next Global will most likely offer a massive 17.5 Heavy and you won't have to stop to reload it, but it is going to be massively expensive t upgrade. Decisions, decisions!
Don't let me talk you into taking this VIP, but if you do,here is the best strategy: Stop at 5750 when you win the Blackthorn and use game $ and Gold to upgrade two or three levels. you want to do this because the upgrades beyond the first level are larger than our current Tier 14 vaults. Having used Gold to upgrade the Blackthorn, then run up to 7K and the Aphrodite. I didn't think of this until it was too late, but this is a rare example of the appropriate use of Gold rather than Diamonds to upgrade.
I've always been a big fan of the ASSAULT weapon for two reasons. (1) it's more accurate than a heavy (2) upgrades can be paid using in game cash which is essentially free. Reloading is no big deal since I'm always ducking and moving anyway. The ASSAULT was my weapon of choice for many weeks following 2 straight screw ups by GLU regarding HEAVIES.
Nobody ever took me seriously when I described battle tactics using the ASSAULT; I'm relieved that you've finally seen the light. **SMILES**
I'm waiting because the TESLA, ASSAULT and HEAVY all will be up for grabs on Friday. The TESLA should be the 3,500 VIP, the ASSAULT at 5,750 and the HEAVY at 7,000. They will be clones but should have the same ratings. The TESLA might be a 16.5 (not sure) but the other two are sure to be 17.5.
That being said, I'm still considering the possibility of this VIP.
If I need a SNIPER for the new, yet to be seen, region I'll find one some where. The CHEETAH is tempting, you know how I like a good SNIPER for the kill shot (one of my pet peeves).
I'm trying to wait as long as possible to make sure there is another TIER because without a new TIER this is all academic.
Where is the REGION ???
BTW don't worry too much about the lost buy in. If it shows up on your credit card, dispute it. The bank will remove it faster than a cat can lick it's *** due to GLU's horrible reputation.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
It is an interesting moment in the brief history of this game. There are more astonishing weapons out there than I can ever remember. It is impossible to predict what this week's Global will be. Tier 15 and the "new" Campaign have to be close. A perfect moment for me to decide that the Assault will be my "go to" weapon. Will I remember to reload, will I remember not to hit the habitual Weapons Switch button? Only the Shadow knows!
A personal note: As those who have read my posts for the last year know, I have been locked in an intense struggle for 2nd through 4th Place on the All-Time Leaderboard on the IOS platform. Tonight I am only 56 VP behind AUSAUSA, who has been in second place for a year and, so far, has not chosen to upgrade his weapons. I am 3200 VP ahead of Tonyzaper22 who is 4th.
Can I take second using only an Assault weapon? We will soon see.
It is an interesting moment in the brief history of this game. There are more astonishing weapons out there than I can ever remember. It is impossible to predict what this week's Global will be. Tier 15 and the "new" Campaign have to be close. A perfect moment for me to decide that the Assault will be my "go to" weapon. Will I remember to reload, will I remember not to hit the habitual Weapons Switch button? Only the Shadow knows!
A personal note: As those who have read my posts for the last year know, I have been locked in an intense struggle for 2nd through 4th Place on the All-Time Leaderboard on the IOS platform. Tonight I am only 56 VP behind AUSAUSA, who has been in second place for a year and, so far, has not chosen to upgrade his weapons. I am 3200 VP ahead of Tonyzaper22 who is 4th.
Can I take second using only an Assault weapon? We will soon see.
You most certainly can take second. The secret of the ASSAULT rifle is to fully upgrade it. Most players treat the ASSAULT like a SNIPER, never upgrade it and let the most effective weapon in their weapons locker gather dust ... load it up and go to town in your quest.
You've been at it for a year eh? I've only been playing for 6 months and that probably explains why I don't have ANY D.A.M.N fuses left LMAO
Nah seriously, take the weapon out for some target practice ... yet another concept that nobody takes seriously ... oh well. Push the edge of the envelope so you can see what the weapon can do ... you need to find where your "death" threshold is so you can avoid it during Global PvP battles.
Experiment and get used to ducking and reloading. Very important DUCK and RELOAD ... make it a reflex action. Another thing ... when the clip is empty, it will duck and reload automatically so you're not standing there with an empty weapon like a clay pigeon; but it will throw you off your rhythm ... you cannot use it like a HEAVY. If the clip DOES run dry, it's best to pause and regain your rhythm ... its not good to pop back up immediately.
One last tidbit ... the ASSAULT rifle is especially accurate at moderate to long range, whereas the HEAVY is most effective at close range. It doesn't recoil as much as the HEAVY and allows you to keep the target in your sights. As you're aware, the ASSAULT does NOT overheat.
Although it's more accurate and has a longer effective range, it doesn't have the punch of a HEAVY remember that. I often switch between weapons but ALWAYS use the ASSAULT for the kill shot ... ALWAYS ... provided of course LITTLE ME doesn't beat me to the kill.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
After having used the Blackthorn for an hour now, upgraded to 10M, 3 levels, I am less enthused than I was. It has impressive power, but somehow, leaves me exposed during PVP competitions. PVP is slower and Medkit use is higher. I am sure in the hands of a more skilled player it would be great, but I am going back to the 4M Silk.
Scorpion, your decision to hold out for the 17.5 Heavy is the right one.
After having used the Blackthorn for an hour now, upgraded to 10M, 3 levels, I am less enthused than I was. It has impressive power, but somehow, leaves me exposed during PVP competitions. PVP is slower and Medkit use is higher. I am sure in the hands of a more skilled player it would be great, but I am going back to the 4M Silk.
Scorpion, your decision to hold out for the 17.5 Heavy is the right one.
Don't give up on the ASSAULT Rifle so quickly. Remember it MUST be upgraded to realize it's fullest potential, behind the TESLA it's the first weapon I fully upgrade before taking it into battle. But I can't fault you for preferring the HEAVY. As I mentioned I use a combination of the two.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
More than half way to a fully equipped, armed to the teeth, 215K power drone which is the maximum one can achieve using 64K weapons parts. The max drone using 92K parts is 369K. As you continue your drone development, always keep in mind that it's the weapons that make the drone deadly; the support drone itself is only an empty shell.
LITTLE ME is deadly.
For those players who do not have the time, patience or resources to pursue a 2.95M version, this is where you want to be; a short hop up to the legacy maximum powered 369K drone that we all feared not too long ago.
I haven't seen a 2.95M drone yet that has caused as much concern and apprehension.
Good Luck and Good Hunting !!!
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
More than half way to a fully equipped, armed to the teeth, 215K power drone which is the maximum one can achieve using 64K weapons parts. The max drone using 92K parts is 369K. As you continue your drone development, always keep in mind that it's the weapons that make the drone deadly; the support drone itself is only an empty shell.
LITTLE ME is deadly.
For those players who do not have the time, patience or resources to pursue a 2.95M version, this is where you want to be; a short hop up to the legacy maximum powered 369K drone that we all feared not too long ago.
I haven't seen a 2.95M drone yet that has caused as much concern and apprehension.
Good Luck and Good Hunting !!!
Interesting that you are developing the SG and HR ahead of the weapons. The Healing Ray is a favorite of mine, I don't know what to think of the Shield Generator.
I am up to 756 pages, even though I am building up weapons fast as I can.
Interesting that you are developing the SG and HR ahead of the weapons. The Healing Ray is a favorite of mine, I don't know what to think of the Shield Generator.
I am up to 756 pages, even though I am building up weapons fast as I can.
The reason for this is simple, these parts for some reason seem to "clump" together more often than the machine gun, for example, probably because there are more of them.
As I said before, all of the parts will be used within a week or so and there will be nothing left but 410K-510K parts. There is absolutely no reason to waste time searching for specific parts. I use them as they appear, first come, first serve, front to back, top to bottom ... however they appear.
*** SMILES ***
I also find that the SG makes me more resilient to small weapons fire like merc rounds. SHIELDS offer little protection from rockets however.
I surmise the speed at which you're weapons parts load and fuse is the problem, but rest assured the more you use the faster it will get. Just keep burning them. Once my vault is filled, I use all the diamonds I can on drone weapons upgrades, between energy charges. I'm also only using free energy, so I have an hour between battles; I usually play for 8-9 hours a day. Of course, I don't waste time searching for parts.
If you're scrolling to the back to use ONLY the higher rated parts, then it's going to take forever ... there's no way around that ... any word on the wipe? The only way YOU can effectively reduce the number of pages is to use the lesser rated parts, I'm sorry to say. I'm burning 20 pages (NET) a day using this method and it gets better with each passing day.
Even with 700+ pages you will be able to eradicate ALL parts within a month. I can appreciate that using 125s or even 51Ks at your level may seem excruciatingly slow, but the goal here is to reduce the number of pages not to make huge advances in the drone's level ... over the long haul it will be faster, trust me.
I gotta get you some patience in a bottle ... LMAO ... my short range weapons are 2 months old.
The TORTOISE ALWAYS WINS !!! Let the rabbits run, they always start backing up.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
Having fooled with the Blackthorn Assault, 17.5, 10.88M, for 24 hours I wanted to update my negative assessment from last night. The problem with the Blackthorn, and all Assaults for that matter, is that they are not as good as the Heavies at a distance. I have been fooling around with the Scorpion approved Short technique of switching between the Heavy and the Assault, using the Heavy at range and then using the Blackthorn up close. It works great, I don't know why I didn't try the patented Scorpion switcheroo earlier. Since I switch I never stop to reload the Blackthorn. If I run dry, I just switch.
The Blackthorn packs a wallop up close and destroys an enemy at close quarters much quicker than the Silk. I am beginning to catch the vision, Scorpion.
I'd like to throw my own two bits worth into this discussion. I purchased the heavy offered with Modern Slavers, added med kits to hit the 750 mark gaining (but not equipping) the 15.5 assault. Since then I have harvested 3.4 million diamonds and have the base the final upgrade from tier 11. Tomorrow I will be able to push at least two or three steps in production and health before exhausting the mission diamonds and using PvP matches to fund the upgrades. I'll be a little more balanced to my 13.5 assault, which I do very well with in short matches, duck, duck, shoot.
Raylina, great to see you progressing quickly. Something I've noticed being Tier 9, and struggling with a purchased tesla on Tier 8 mission, is that I struggled with killing the final victim in each match having to use 13 fully charged shots. If it was a bot however, it only took 2 or 3 for the long. Similar problems with shorts - only luck with bots, or very few players. The key issue there was that those that had won or crafted recent weapons seemed to have uncanny health and endurance. They're VP's on the other hand, were typically quite low showing they were out of balance.
I took a huge risk and crafted my long ago boxed up Mudflow and Guitar, (the tesla and assault, both x11.5) and now have much simpler kills, and can choose most any match I want. The key here was that I first went from Level 121 to 130, and now can take a huge amount of stray fire with very little damage. This 2 tier weapon boost would not be advised by Scorpion, so there is some caveat to his rule.
I hope my observations will help with others, but everyone should pay attention to Scorpion's rules!
Bradr, maybe I misunderstood or it's just the power difference, but are you and Scorpion having different results?
Scorpion;
Yeah he's experiencing 3 full levels ABOVE the prevailing tier. At 17.5 that weapon is effective at any range. Personally, I find the HEAVY weapon a bit hard to handle at long range, rounds are over the place, so to speak. **SMILES** I use my HEAVY for up close and personal fights like SENTRIES and JUGGS.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
Yeah he's experiencing 3 full levels ABOVE the prevailing tier. At 17.5 that weapon is effective at any range. Personally, I find the HEAVY weapon a bit hard to handle at long range, rounds are over the place, so to speak. **SMILES** I use my HEAVY for up close and personal fights like SENTRIES and JUGGS.
Do you reload your Assault? I am treating it as a throwaway piece. I pick the best moment to use it, drain it and move to the Heavy.
Historically the Heavies haven't been good long range. The Silk and its predessessor the ST, are great from the back. I never move forward any more unless I have to.
Raylina, great to see you progressing quickly. Something I've noticed being Tier 9, and struggling with a purchased tesla on Tier 8 mission, is that I struggled with killing the final victim in each match having to use 13 fully charged shots. If it was a bot however, it only took 2 or 3 for the long. Similar problems with shorts - only luck with bots, or very few players. The key issue there was that those that had won or crafted recent weapons seemed to have uncanny health and endurance. They're VP's on the other hand, were typically quite low showing they were out of balance.
I took a huge risk and crafted my long ago boxed up Mudflow and Guitar, (the tesla and assault, both x11.5) and now have much simpler kills, and can choose most any match I want. The key here was that I first went from Level 121 to 130, and now can take a huge amount of stray fire with very little damage. This 2 tier weapon boost would not be advised by Scorpion, so there is some caveat to his rule.
I hope my observations will help with others, but everyone should pay attention to Scorpion's rules!
I'm glad you finally got around to the MEDUSA and MUDFLOW. If you remember the first time you expressed "fear" using these weapons I recommended that you start using them straight away ... better late than never.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
Do you reload your Assault? I am treating it as a throwaway piece. I pick the best moment to use it, drain it and move to the Heavy.
Historically the Heavies haven't been good long range. The Silk and its predessessor the ST, are great from the back. I never move forward any more unless I have to.
I would chalk that up to YOU getting better at what you do as opposed to the weapon, but YES I reload often. I once described it as "using more clips that any one person could carry into battle". It really depends on the scenario. If I'm in a "close quarters" type battle I'll use a HEAVY, or at times a grenade, to kill the SENTRIES, then it's over to the ASSAULT.
I've been using the ASSAULT for a very long time, almost exclusively at times. I have spent hours in target practice developing battle tactics ... because I had no other choice. I know what the weapon can do because I've taken the time to push it past the limits. I hate to say this BRAD, but you're a spoiled brat. You love to blow things away, and if you can't, the weapon is useless to you; I can't fault you for that ... but where's the fire? Stop and smell the gun smoke every once and awhile.
*** SMILES ***
By design the HEAVY is for taking out large numbers of opponents clustered together at short range; you can simply throw hundreds of rounds at them while pivoting and take out an entire company of mercs ... there's nothing left, even for the body bags. The ASSAULT, I find is for more precise kills, one particular enemy, thus I always use it for the KILL SHOT of the spook or to eliminate a sniper in the balcony.
Don't get me wrong, when I'm in the heat of battle with a specific objective in mind, like making the GOLD LEAGUE to grab some fuses, I can be just as ruthless as the next guy and kill everything in sight ... men, women, cats and dogs ... I don't discriminate one bit; but when I'm playing for the fun of it, I sometimes challenge myself to WIN a battle using a minimal number of clips; sort of like my own private game within a game. Otherwise I'd be screaming from boredom.
To give you an idea just how "sick" I am, I'll sometimes count the number of rounds it takes to kill a specific enemy. It's almost second nature to me now; with the ASSAULT I can fire a number of rounds at the enemy and look away knowing that he's dead, without ever seeing him hit the ground ... that's precision. That little rounds remaining display in the upper right hand corner ... use it.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
I'm glad you finally got around to the MEDUSA and MUDFLOW. If you remember the first time you expressed "fear" using these weapons I recommended that you start using them straight away ... better late than never.
The only thing you posted about the Mudflow to me was when I was at Tier 7, and my health was woefully inadequate at the time with x8 primaries. I'm using a x11.5 assault at the moment for shorts - works very well, I only got 20 parts for the Medusa, and the only one I have all the parts for is the Onager - a long time to come. All my heavy missions have yet to be played.
You've always told me keep the weapons within +/- 1, never 2 steps over my Tier, unless I missed something.
But thanks, it's been an uphill battle. Tier 14 is going great for other account.
The only thing you posted about the Mudflow to me was when I was at Tier 7, and my health was woefully inadequate at the time with x8 primaries. I'm using a x11.5 assault at the moment for shorts - works very well, I only got 20 parts for the Medusa, and the only one I have all the parts for is the Onager - a long time to come. All my heavy missions have yet to be played.
You've always told me keep the weapons within +/- 1, never 2 steps over my Tier, unless I missed something.
But thanks, it's been an uphill battle. Tier 14 is going great for other account.
You may be correct, but knowing me I probably made a general statement like "Now that you have the weapons, you should use them to have any chance at all". But with so many weapons and so many players suffering from over powered weapons, I loose track of who has what.
**SMILES**
But I'm happy to hear that it's behind you now.
BTW I see NK14 poked his head up ... where did you find him?
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
You've always told me keep the weapons within +/- 1, never 2 steps over my Tier, unless I missed something.
This is absolutely the cardinal rule since you'll attract superior opponents ... with one exception, you can go as high as you want, provided there ARE NO SUPERIOR OPPONENTS, which is the case when you're caught up and not behind ... in this case YOU ARE KING and can use whatever weapon you want.
The other reason results from being to far ahead of yourself. If you have a superior weapon, but the weapon you're using isn't working because of opponent strength, then you have no choice but to use the weapon. Just don't get hit. See the problem isn't the weapon you're using, it's your inability to take a hit that's killing you.
I say this knowing quite well that if you don't take hits, you'll be fine but for some reason. that escapes me, some players refuse to duck for cover and stand there like some super hero ... go figure. When the missile lock icon appears on my HUD, I wait for a second or 2 to draw his fire and then move to another cover point. This is how people with no defense make it to the leader board ...
... they are ALWAYS moving ... try it sometime.
Now I won't negate the effect of frame delay. A single dropped frame could mean death. The battle is all about timing and rhythm, which next to impossible to achieve when frames are being dropped.
*** SMILES ***
Yet another reason for keeping up to date with campaigns and tier defenses. It may sting in the beginning, but over the long haul you'll reap benefits that out pace the cost by at least 2-1.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
Philosophical question about game play, if there is such a thing.
When do we need to upgrade weapons, drones, bases, anything for that matter?
The pragmatist in me answers ... When I Need To Upgrade.
OK "Need" is a very subjective thing right, so how do we measure need in a game that's essentially built upon winning battles and accumulating points for those victories? After all, it's pretty fracking difficult to say I need a new weapon when your WIN / LOSS ratio is 100, 200, 300 or 500 to 1.
An even deeper question may reveal the truth. Would we enjoy playing the game as much if we won all of the time (pretty close to it now if you ask me) BUT never upgraded anything?
Feedback anyone?
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
Provided we would keep interest in the game and maintain the win/loss ratio, I see no need to upgrade. However, I am now being thrown opponents that have put my ratio to 4:1, where I had been 20:1. I suspect two scenarios are behind this.
1. I had almost 40 med kits and GLU wants me to use them up.
2. I bumped the power of my 13.5 assault to the second upgrade level and GLU feels that I can handle 14.0 opponents instead of the 13.0 that I was getting.
Either way, my effectiveness has been diminished.
Provided we would keep interest in the game and maintain the win/loss ratio, I see no need to upgrade. However, I am now being thrown opponents that have put my ratio to 4:1, where I had been 20:1. I suspect two scenarios are behind this.
1. I had almost 40 med kits and GLU wants me to use them up.
2. I bumped the power of my 13.5 assault to the second upgrade level and GLU feels that I can handle 14.0 opponents instead of the 13.0 that I was getting.
Either way, my effectiveness has been diminished.
Huggles
How close are you to a max'd out TIER 12? That's where you need to be if you're seeing TIER 14 opponents most of the time. This might also be attributed to there being very few TIER 13 opponents available. How often do you try to find another opponent? I wouldn't panic just yet, it could only be a dry spell ... it happens.
Do you have a TESLA? If so, what is the rating? You might want to take some LONG battles most of the time since you'll probably see more opponents you can defeat.
This is a difficult point in the game for most, here's why. Even numbered TIERs offer modest increases in player health whilst odd numbered TIERs double your health, so we're really talking about TIER 13 (ideally), which isn't cheap and this becomes the back breaking straw for some.
History has shown that this is where players start to give up, but YOU don't strike me as being the quitting type.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
RaylinaD just wanted to elaborate on the TESLA a bit should you decide to grab one. First off it should be no hihger rated than your SNIPER and the absolute ceiling is 12.5. This weapon will be effective in LONG range battles against TIER 11 and 12 so it should last a little while.
With regards to your ASSAULT weapon: you need to get it fully upgraded ASAP. I don't know why this didn't occur to me earlier. You're sitting on 200 MILLION in CASH ... it's time to spend it. At 40% upgraded it's under powered for the opponents you're attracting. Get it fully equipped and the tide will shift, I promise.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
I'm breaking into tier 11 today. My sniper rifle is a no upgraded 14.0, my tesla is a non upgraded 13.5, my assault is a first level upgraded 13.5 and my heavy is a non upgraded 13.0. I have not pushed to upgrade the weapons because I'm tossing everything at the base. Any luck and I'll start tier 12 this weekend.
It appears at this time that ALL of my opponents are showing at 14.0 with 1M weapons.
I know I have a long way to go and you are correct- I don't give up. However, I will be taking a long break next month to go hunting and will not have internet available for the week. Lots of diamonds for everyone else! LOL
I'm breaking into tier 11 today. My sniper rifle is a no upgraded 14.0, my tesla is a non upgraded 13.5, my assault is a first level upgraded 13.5 and my heavy is a non upgraded 13.0. I have not pushed to upgrade the weapons because I'm tossing everything at the base. Any luck and I'll start tier 12 this weekend.
It appears at this time that ALL of my opponents are showing at 14.0 with 1M weapons.
I know I have a long way to go and you are correct- I don't give up. However, I will be taking a long break next month to go hunting and will not have internet available for the week. Lots of diamonds for everyone else! LOL
Huggles
GOTCHA ... here's the real deal ... without upgrades your weapons are really 1 rating lower than advertised but the advertised rating is what the match maker uses, that's your weak link.
Complex Minds Require Challenging Games ... SCORPION
GOTCHA ... here's the real deal ... without upgrades your weapons are really 1 rating lower than advertised but the advertised rating is what the match maker uses, that's your weak link.
Without your guidance a lot more people than I would be struggling with this game. Maybe as an addition to the TOOBAD philosophy, you could compile most of the forum notes you and Brad have posted into a snipers survival guide and market it. Return some "gold" to your pocket.
Comments
I've always been a big fan of the ASSAULT weapon for two reasons. (1) it's more accurate than a heavy (2) upgrades can be paid using in game cash which is essentially free. Reloading is no big deal since I'm always ducking and moving anyway. The ASSAULT was my weapon of choice for many weeks following 2 straight screw ups by GLU regarding HEAVIES.
Nobody ever took me seriously when I described battle tactics using the ASSAULT; I'm relieved that you've finally seen the light. **SMILES**
I'm waiting because the TESLA, ASSAULT and HEAVY all will be up for grabs on Friday. The TESLA should be the 3,500 VIP, the ASSAULT at 5,750 and the HEAVY at 7,000. They will be clones but should have the same ratings. The TESLA might be a 16.5 (not sure) but the other two are sure to be 17.5.
That being said, I'm still considering the possibility of this VIP.
If I need a SNIPER for the new, yet to be seen, region I'll find one some where. The CHEETAH is tempting, you know how I like a good SNIPER for the kill shot (one of my pet peeves).
I'm trying to wait as long as possible to make sure there is another TIER because without a new TIER this is all academic.
Where is the REGION ???
BTW don't worry too much about the lost buy in. If it shows up on your credit card, dispute it. The bank will remove it faster than a cat can lick it's *** due to GLU's horrible reputation.
A personal note: As those who have read my posts for the last year know, I have been locked in an intense struggle for 2nd through 4th Place on the All-Time Leaderboard on the IOS platform. Tonight I am only 56 VP behind AUSAUSA, who has been in second place for a year and, so far, has not chosen to upgrade his weapons. I am 3200 VP ahead of Tonyzaper22 who is 4th.
Can I take second using only an Assault weapon? We will soon see.
You most certainly can take second. The secret of the ASSAULT rifle is to fully upgrade it. Most players treat the ASSAULT like a SNIPER, never upgrade it and let the most effective weapon in their weapons locker gather dust ... load it up and go to town in your quest.
You've been at it for a year eh? I've only been playing for 6 months and that probably explains why I don't have ANY D.A.M.N fuses left LMAO
Nah seriously, take the weapon out for some target practice ... yet another concept that nobody takes seriously ... oh well. Push the edge of the envelope so you can see what the weapon can do ... you need to find where your "death" threshold is so you can avoid it during Global PvP battles.
Experiment and get used to ducking and reloading. Very important DUCK and RELOAD ... make it a reflex action. Another thing ... when the clip is empty, it will duck and reload automatically so you're not standing there with an empty weapon like a clay pigeon; but it will throw you off your rhythm ... you cannot use it like a HEAVY. If the clip DOES run dry, it's best to pause and regain your rhythm ... its not good to pop back up immediately.
One last tidbit ... the ASSAULT rifle is especially accurate at moderate to long range, whereas the HEAVY is most effective at close range. It doesn't recoil as much as the HEAVY and allows you to keep the target in your sights. As you're aware, the ASSAULT does NOT overheat.
Although it's more accurate and has a longer effective range, it doesn't have the punch of a HEAVY remember that. I often switch between weapons but ALWAYS use the ASSAULT for the kill shot ... ALWAYS ... provided of course LITTLE ME doesn't beat me to the kill.
Scorpion, your decision to hold out for the 17.5 Heavy is the right one.
Don't give up on the ASSAULT Rifle so quickly. Remember it MUST be upgraded to realize it's fullest potential, behind the TESLA it's the first weapon I fully upgrade before taking it into battle. But I can't fault you for preferring the HEAVY. As I mentioned I use a combination of the two.
DRONE WEAPONS: MG (122K). RL (112K), HR (131K), SG (131K)
FUSES:. 32 x TIER 13 (XP-26); 6 x TIER 12 (XP-20); 10 x TIER 6 (XP-18)
PARTS: 417P (12,510)
More than half way to a fully equipped, armed to the teeth, 215K power drone which is the maximum one can achieve using 64K weapons parts. The max drone using 92K parts is 369K. As you continue your drone development, always keep in mind that it's the weapons that make the drone deadly; the support drone itself is only an empty shell.
LITTLE ME is deadly.
For those players who do not have the time, patience or resources to pursue a 2.95M version, this is where you want to be; a short hop up to the legacy maximum powered 369K drone that we all feared not too long ago.
I haven't seen a 2.95M drone yet that has caused as much concern and apprehension.
Good Luck and Good Hunting !!!
Interesting that you are developing the SG and HR ahead of the weapons. The Healing Ray is a favorite of mine, I don't know what to think of the Shield Generator.
I am up to 756 pages, even though I am building up weapons fast as I can.
The reason for this is simple, these parts for some reason seem to "clump" together more often than the machine gun, for example, probably because there are more of them.
As I said before, all of the parts will be used within a week or so and there will be nothing left but 410K-510K parts. There is absolutely no reason to waste time searching for specific parts. I use them as they appear, first come, first serve, front to back, top to bottom ... however they appear.
*** SMILES ***
I also find that the SG makes me more resilient to small weapons fire like merc rounds. SHIELDS offer little protection from rockets however.
I surmise the speed at which you're weapons parts load and fuse is the problem, but rest assured the more you use the faster it will get. Just keep burning them. Once my vault is filled, I use all the diamonds I can on drone weapons upgrades, between energy charges. I'm also only using free energy, so I have an hour between battles; I usually play for 8-9 hours a day. Of course, I don't waste time searching for parts.
If you're scrolling to the back to use ONLY the higher rated parts, then it's going to take forever ... there's no way around that ... any word on the wipe? The only way YOU can effectively reduce the number of pages is to use the lesser rated parts, I'm sorry to say. I'm burning 20 pages (NET) a day using this method and it gets better with each passing day.
Even with 700+ pages you will be able to eradicate ALL parts within a month. I can appreciate that using 125s or even 51Ks at your level may seem excruciatingly slow, but the goal here is to reduce the number of pages not to make huge advances in the drone's level ... over the long haul it will be faster, trust me.
I gotta get you some patience in a bottle ... LMAO ... my short range weapons are 2 months old.
The TORTOISE ALWAYS WINS !!! Let the rabbits run, they always start backing up.
The Blackthorn packs a wallop up close and destroys an enemy at close quarters much quicker than the Silk. I am beginning to catch the vision, Scorpion.
Huggles
I took a huge risk and crafted my long ago boxed up Mudflow and Guitar, (the tesla and assault, both x11.5) and now have much simpler kills, and can choose most any match I want. The key here was that I first went from Level 121 to 130, and now can take a huge amount of stray fire with very little damage. This 2 tier weapon boost would not be advised by Scorpion, so there is some caveat to his rule.
I hope my observations will help with others, but everyone should pay attention to Scorpion's rules!
Scorpion;
Yeah he's experiencing 3 full levels ABOVE the prevailing tier. At 17.5 that weapon is effective at any range. Personally, I find the HEAVY weapon a bit hard to handle at long range, rounds are over the place, so to speak. **SMILES** I use my HEAVY for up close and personal fights like SENTRIES and JUGGS.
Do you reload your Assault? I am treating it as a throwaway piece. I pick the best moment to use it, drain it and move to the Heavy.
Historically the Heavies haven't been good long range. The Silk and its predessessor the ST, are great from the back. I never move forward any more unless I have to.
I'm glad you finally got around to the MEDUSA and MUDFLOW. If you remember the first time you expressed "fear" using these weapons I recommended that you start using them straight away ... better late than never.
I would chalk that up to YOU getting better at what you do as opposed to the weapon, but YES I reload often. I once described it as "using more clips that any one person could carry into battle". It really depends on the scenario. If I'm in a "close quarters" type battle I'll use a HEAVY, or at times a grenade, to kill the SENTRIES, then it's over to the ASSAULT.
I've been using the ASSAULT for a very long time, almost exclusively at times. I have spent hours in target practice developing battle tactics ... because I had no other choice. I know what the weapon can do because I've taken the time to push it past the limits. I hate to say this BRAD, but you're a spoiled brat. You love to blow things away, and if you can't, the weapon is useless to you; I can't fault you for that ... but where's the fire? Stop and smell the gun smoke every once and awhile.
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By design the HEAVY is for taking out large numbers of opponents clustered together at short range; you can simply throw hundreds of rounds at them while pivoting and take out an entire company of mercs ... there's nothing left, even for the body bags. The ASSAULT, I find is for more precise kills, one particular enemy, thus I always use it for the KILL SHOT of the spook or to eliminate a sniper in the balcony.
Don't get me wrong, when I'm in the heat of battle with a specific objective in mind, like making the GOLD LEAGUE to grab some fuses, I can be just as ruthless as the next guy and kill everything in sight ... men, women, cats and dogs ... I don't discriminate one bit; but when I'm playing for the fun of it, I sometimes challenge myself to WIN a battle using a minimal number of clips; sort of like my own private game within a game. Otherwise I'd be screaming from boredom.
To give you an idea just how "sick" I am, I'll sometimes count the number of rounds it takes to kill a specific enemy. It's almost second nature to me now; with the ASSAULT I can fire a number of rounds at the enemy and look away knowing that he's dead, without ever seeing him hit the ground ... that's precision. That little rounds remaining display in the upper right hand corner ... use it.
The only thing you posted about the Mudflow to me was when I was at Tier 7, and my health was woefully inadequate at the time with x8 primaries. I'm using a x11.5 assault at the moment for shorts - works very well, I only got 20 parts for the Medusa, and the only one I have all the parts for is the Onager - a long time to come. All my heavy missions have yet to be played.
You've always told me keep the weapons within +/- 1, never 2 steps over my Tier, unless I missed something.
But thanks, it's been an uphill battle. Tier 14 is going great for other account.
You may be correct, but knowing me I probably made a general statement like "Now that you have the weapons, you should use them to have any chance at all". But with so many weapons and so many players suffering from over powered weapons, I loose track of who has what.
**SMILES**
But I'm happy to hear that it's behind you now.
BTW I see NK14 poked his head up ... where did you find him?
This is absolutely the cardinal rule since you'll attract superior opponents ... with one exception, you can go as high as you want, provided there ARE NO SUPERIOR OPPONENTS, which is the case when you're caught up and not behind ... in this case YOU ARE KING and can use whatever weapon you want.
The other reason results from being to far ahead of yourself. If you have a superior weapon, but the weapon you're using isn't working because of opponent strength, then you have no choice but to use the weapon. Just don't get hit. See the problem isn't the weapon you're using, it's your inability to take a hit that's killing you.
I say this knowing quite well that if you don't take hits, you'll be fine but for some reason. that escapes me, some players refuse to duck for cover and stand there like some super hero ... go figure. When the missile lock icon appears on my HUD, I wait for a second or 2 to draw his fire and then move to another cover point. This is how people with no defense make it to the leader board ...
... they are ALWAYS moving ... try it sometime.
Now I won't negate the effect of frame delay. A single dropped frame could mean death. The battle is all about timing and rhythm, which next to impossible to achieve when frames are being dropped.
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Yet another reason for keeping up to date with campaigns and tier defenses. It may sting in the beginning, but over the long haul you'll reap benefits that out pace the cost by at least 2-1.
When do we need to upgrade weapons, drones, bases, anything for that matter?
The pragmatist in me answers ... When I Need To Upgrade.
OK "Need" is a very subjective thing right, so how do we measure need in a game that's essentially built upon winning battles and accumulating points for those victories? After all, it's pretty fracking difficult to say I need a new weapon when your WIN / LOSS ratio is 100, 200, 300 or 500 to 1.
An even deeper question may reveal the truth. Would we enjoy playing the game as much if we won all of the time (pretty close to it now if you ask me) BUT never upgraded anything?
Feedback anyone?
1. I had almost 40 med kits and GLU wants me to use them up.
2. I bumped the power of my 13.5 assault to the second upgrade level and GLU feels that I can handle 14.0 opponents instead of the 13.0 that I was getting.
Either way, my effectiveness has been diminished.
Huggles
How close are you to a max'd out TIER 12? That's where you need to be if you're seeing TIER 14 opponents most of the time. This might also be attributed to there being very few TIER 13 opponents available. How often do you try to find another opponent? I wouldn't panic just yet, it could only be a dry spell ... it happens.
Do you have a TESLA? If so, what is the rating? You might want to take some LONG battles most of the time since you'll probably see more opponents you can defeat.
This is a difficult point in the game for most, here's why. Even numbered TIERs offer modest increases in player health whilst odd numbered TIERs double your health, so we're really talking about TIER 13 (ideally), which isn't cheap and this becomes the back breaking straw for some.
History has shown that this is where players start to give up, but YOU don't strike me as being the quitting type.
With regards to your ASSAULT weapon: you need to get it fully upgraded ASAP. I don't know why this didn't occur to me earlier. You're sitting on 200 MILLION in CASH ... it's time to spend it. At 40% upgraded it's under powered for the opponents you're attracting. Get it fully equipped and the tide will shift, I promise.
I'm breaking into tier 11 today. My sniper rifle is a no upgraded 14.0, my tesla is a non upgraded 13.5, my assault is a first level upgraded 13.5 and my heavy is a non upgraded 13.0. I have not pushed to upgrade the weapons because I'm tossing everything at the base. Any luck and I'll start tier 12 this weekend.
It appears at this time that ALL of my opponents are showing at 14.0 with 1M weapons.
I know I have a long way to go and you are correct- I don't give up. However, I will be taking a long break next month to go hunting and will not have internet available for the week. Lots of diamonds for everyone else! LOL
Huggles
GOTCHA ... here's the real deal ... without upgrades your weapons are really 1 rating lower than advertised but the advertised rating is what the match maker uses, that's your weak link.
Without your guidance a lot more people than I would be struggling with this game. Maybe as an addition to the TOOBAD philosophy, you could compile most of the forum notes you and Brad have posted into a snipers survival guide and market it. Return some "gold" to your pocket.
Huggles