Played some
Catalyst Black. It's a twin stick topdown shooter, but with 5-player PvP/PvE, and it's pretty good. (Edit: I'm still really enjoying it after 4-5 days or so. It's fun)
It's also a little unbalanced. Some combos are really good. Like, I'm pretty good at this kinda of game, but I probably shouldn't be getting 19 out-of 25 kills for my team in a Deathmatch. With pretty basic gear. Haven't paid a cent so far.
Or who knows, it's a free-to-play game on mobile, and I've been playing this sort of game for years, so maybe I should. I'm probably mowing down kids, spoiling their fun.
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Winning combo.
Your items have "banner bonuses", like a set bonus. 1x gives a bit, 2x gives a lot, then it tapers off. There's a set bonus that gives back life on hit. There is a mini-gun that hits *a lot*, and has +life-on-hit. So it works really well with that. There's another set bonus that gives +30%life, to top it off better. Here's what I use:
Splintered Fate (mini-gun), Catalytic Heal (heal), Belt of Phasing (shield dodge-roll), and Hailstrom (mortar special weapon). These are all really basic gear that you get early on in the game.
All up they give +30%life, +42life on hit, about +500shield per dodge roll, and massive damage output. You've just got to wind the mini-gun up a bit before you engage (it's a twin-stick with aiming if you want it, so use that second stick). You've got 120-132ammo, so wasting a bit is fine. Then, as you start shooting stuff, you become unkillable. And you can roll and reburst, or stop firing for a second and reburst, or launch a mortar and reburst. You've got about 1.4secs or so, which is pretty long, so there's no wind-up for the next victim. I take on 2v1s, 3v1s, etc, and usually walk away with 8-15kills. It's pretty broken.
There is cool down management, it is skill based, but it is also OP as hell
((It's great in basic Deathmatch, and Deathmatch with conditions(Hydra), it's not that good in PvE (Colosseum). And honestly, it is skill based. Timing those dodges and group heals and knowing when to retreat is vital to go 15-2 or something. But since you can blast down anything 1v1, it gives you time to get those skills and the feel for those timings. And honestly, it's just which way to dodge roll, forward/back/side-to-side and when to pop your heal. And how to aim with the second stick, that looks like a button. For everything else, there's the above and a flamethrower, or the basic assault rifle. I usually get 8-12kills with either anyway, and they can't nerf them all. These are basic gameplay skills. There's a fair few setups that work, but the "pre-fire the mini-gun a bit, then go on an unkillable rampage" is the most busted combo I've found so far))
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(((There are weapon counters. The basic AR counters the mini-gun, flamethrowers counter "group-up DPS" tactics, sniper rifles counter the AR. I'm still not really sure what the basic shotgun is used for, probably sniping out of the grass patches or something. Twin stick shooting or mortars usually counters that though. There's plenty of builds, and weapons do get some amazing upgrades (I don't want the twin pistols, I want a better mini-gun or AR or the mortar primary, but I'd love to see what they can be used for once levelled), so I can say it's free to play. Play it enough, and you do get a fair variety of weapons and gear, even legendary primal beasts, so I can say that it's skill based (everyone has the basic stuff I use to dominate in basic deathmatches), while still being build based on what you want to do. You can sniper, then go primal, and actually effect the match a heap, even if it's not reflected in your kill count. I'm not sure if doing great support is reflected in your "match score", but I've seen people outscore me, even though my K/D was way better, so there's something to be said for that. Use your damn group-heal, people!)))
((((OMFG! There's a minelaying ability, instead of group-heal! And I just got it, and it recharges quickly. Fuck yes! I hate mines. Everyone hates mines. But there's nothing like being good at minelaying 💥))))
(((((Mines are really hard to use properly. But it's also kinda satisfying to just be an Assault Rifle healer, that can bring on the pain alongside a flamer or mini-gunner or even shotgunner. Destroy the enemy's healing with a 2v1 and decent range and instant burst, then dodge roll and pop healing and "occasionally not see the team-death-score go up heaps". I don't know.... The game is not balanced, but it can have unspoken teamplay. Seriously, use the +shield on dodge roll belt, the +group-heal item, and anything's possible. I just got 16kills with a rocket launcher, the even most other support'y weapon alongside a sniper rifle))))
(The primary rocket launcher works pretty well with minelaying, and I average about 8-12 kills with it. It's the only weapon that I never bother aiming with. Just press button, launch explosive, hope. You'll probably miss, but you might not. You might hit a wall and the splash knocks 1/2 of someone's life off. You might accidentally lock onto a meganaut, get double damage, while killing everyone around said meganaut. Results vary.
But I've got so much going on, firing, timing dodges, laying mines constantly, moving, and not-dying-too-much, that it's nice to pair it with a weapon where you just press the "send" button and let the random nature of team multiplayer games work it out for you. It does enough.
It is *hilarious* to mine the landing position of an enemy's jump platform, so it's all worthwhile. Sometimes they even catch on and stop jumping. But almost never 🥷⤵️💥🤬, repeat...)
(In Hydra (Deathmatch with caveats), the sniper rifle or rocket launcher primaries are bullshit good. Especially with minelaying. Want to know what to do, or have a defined role in your team? Just stand on the harvester, moving around lots, repeatedly pressing the "send" button. The sniper also charges your primal form really-damn-quickly as well (and the rest of your team's, so they can have some fun too). Then your team can win via kills, or win via shards. Just keep pressing "send", mine 1-2 entrances, and hold that damn harvester at all costs. Just got 18kills doing that, with my primal form as "nup, not dying now, you are" back-up, and happily reverted to sending/laying form straight after, twice. I still can't work out what shotguns or pistols are used for, but sniper rifles are ace in some game modes. Tight corridor that you *have* to walk down for a victory condition? It's annoying if there's mines and a sniper there, waiting for you 🙂
Still bullshit good with just group-heal. Play mother-hen, with a sniper rifle primary, and a mortar secondary. No-one will touch the shard-nest, but everytime you come to it, you get a free heal! So go and get shards, I've got work to do... Pretty funny on how fast a sniper on a point recharges their primal ability. The opposing team doesn't ever "let's not zerg rush that bit", because it's a potential win condition. So you do so much damage, that you can primal form pretty regularly. There's a "yep, I'm body blocking and doing a bit of damage in this form, but you lot have really got to get your shit together. I'll be back to heal you soon" thing going on. Because it's best to assume the rest of your team is shit, even though it's often you that is. But free heals for win conditions, +plus+ free primal cool down for shooting stuff, just for bringing the mother-hen shards and fighting off the occasionally regular zerg-rush at that location? Priceless)
(Note: just like in robots.io, mines go off almost instantly at close range. So can be considered some form of AoE hand-to-hand weapon sometimes. It doesn't come up often in this game, but you can lay mines directly on people when necessary. Handier with PvE mobs, but at least it's there as an option)
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(After 4 days: most enjoyable combo still is shield-dodge-roll belt, insta-group-heal ability, early basic mortar heavy, and basic sniper rifle primary (Primal Eye?). With Torden as my primal. Sniper rifles giving you and your team primal energy is glorious. So is having +30% life and a shield dodge-roll belt. You're a support build, that can just run off on side missions or solo stuff, and "just escape", while also having a big impact. Yeah, Torden's clunky, and actually pretty easy to gun down, but also heavily OP on the damage he does when he does hit. Which is nice as you go from close/long-range support, to picker-tickler, to solo-hero, to stompy body-block, to whateverer.
It's also nice that you're the party healer and enabler of "whatever stupid stuff they want to do as well". I honestly drop back to my "sniper form" pretty regularly, well before my primal HP has let out, just because a sniper rifle + group heal + dodge-shield-roll and a basic mortar is a hell of a lot more useful than "Torden form" could be in some game modes. But big smashy-smashy on a "every sniper shot that hits reduces that cooldown by 10secs" is nice too. 280secs for Torden smashy-form? Nope. It's like 18-24 hits, and the time it takes to hit people while just repeatedly pressing the "send" button varies. Usually about 30secs-2min.
It's also funny that you don't really learn how to use a sniper rifle by using a sniper rifle. You learn it from the other primaries, their ranges, how you'd dodge in that situation, even knowing you're definitely just tapping an auto-aim button with the sniper rifle, while laughing at all the missed shots that with a rocket launcher you would have scored 2-3 kills with. I mean, it's a grim business, being a party support monkey, with the best weapon in the game...)
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Topic: Pocket games thread (Read 126823 times)