Hi All!
With scourges suddenly thrust into the meta I thought I might do a write up about my very favourite build, the mighty Scourgasari. As many of you know Scourgasari has been a staple of my hangar since they were first introduced. At the time, scourge was considered extremely underwhelming, but, having scored them for free and liking the extraordinary versitility of this bot, I stuck with them and learned to love them.
You can read about my first experiences here:
war-robots-forum.freeforums.net/thread/15382/love-takes-time-scourgasari-meSince then, a lot as changed, they have been buffed twice. A 5% damage increase a while ago and now the massive buff to close range damage and a nerf to long range.
The latest buff completely changes the way scourge operates. Now over 450m it's like throwing rocks, but it's BRUTAL in close range. So instead of being a ranged weapon than can sort of brawl, it's now a brawlers weapon that can sort of range.
So let's get started with how to play one. Let's look at the weapons and Bot seperately first.
Scourge
Strengths- Autolocking - You don't miss with scourge, it aims for you
- Brutal close range damage
- Can hit up to 600m which is excellent for battle field suppression
- Can stay out of range of any other brawler weapon and still hit
- Ignores energy shield
- Autoaim swivels so you do not need to directly face your target to hit like orkans and Tarans.
- Quick Reload
Weaknesses
- Autolock takes three seconds, which is a lifetime in the heat of battle-
- Outdamaged by Orkans at 300M
- Outdamaged by Tarans at 350M
- Blocked by physical shield
- Lock is broken BEFORE, the target reaches your aiming brackets.
- You lose lock when your target dies
- Always hits centre of the bot, you can't shoot them in the side like you can with Tarans so people corner shooting you have a huge advantage
Ok - If you read nothing else in this article. make it this next bit
Autoaim Tips and tricks
The autoaim on scourge is both it's biggest strength and it's biggest weakness. If you maintain lock against an orkan or Taran opponent, when you are dashing about you will hit 100% of the time, they won't. This is significant enough to mean the scourge can outdamage either Tarans or Orkans in an open ground stand off against all but the very best players.
The problem being of course, that reds can break your lock, with either stealth or by strafing around you and it's three seconds of pain until you can lock on again, but there are some tricks to avoid this happening.
The three second target lock only happens if you don't already have a target locked - this is crucial and here's how you make it work for you.
Always keep a second red who is within 600 m of you inside your targeting brackets. If you lose lock on you main target, the scourge will automaticall lock the second target instantly, hold that lock then switch back to your main target instantly. This means you must always approach any fight carefully!! If the other red is not present, understand you are much more vulnerable.
The same goes for stealth, if you targetting a spectre, inquisitor or even a bloody stalker, make sure you have cover, and a second red to hold your target lock. when they stealth, Duck into cover while holding aim on the second red, wait for stealth to go, then relock your target and instantly start melting them!
The other thimg you need to know about holding lock is a lot of bots, especially Kumi, will try to run straight past you to break your lock, if they pull it off, you are dead. If they don't they've just run straight into scourge at it's most deadly, point blank. All you need to do is be ready for it and dash perpendicular to your targets direction, while turning to keep them in view. They will die almost instantly. Most pilots suck at doing this maneuver so Kumi pilots are getting very used to trying this, now that you know how to handle it, they are committing suicide!
When your target dies you will lose lock, EVEN if you have another red within your targetting brackets. There is always at least SOME lag for damage registering though so you can, with a LOT of practise, switch targets between the time you've delivered enough damage to kill the red and them actually dying. This gives you instant lock to your new target but requires a lot of practise to get this right. You are better off having to switch back to kill the red if you under cook it them being stuck waiting for the target lock.
Close in or back off?The other thing to know about scourge, and it requires practice to judge this, is sometimes it's best to dash straight into your opponent, the damage between 300M to 0M ramps up VERY quickly, so against Orkans(depending really on how much of a clip they have) this can give you the edge to take them down. But most of the time you are much better off dashing away from them to get out of their range.
I try to ?bum-bums?s how many dashes my opponent has left, if I think I can get out of their range, I'll dash away, if I know I can't I'll dash into them. Their weapons hit for the same amount no matter what the range so use that to your advantage. Stay out of range when you can, get the extra damage when you can't
Against Orkans
Remember you have a short reload, Orkans have a long one. When using scourge vs Orkans try to get them to blow some of their wad while dashing, strafing or ducking in and out of cover, once they don't have a full clip, it's advantage:Scourge
Ok, let's chat about the mighty Bulg
The Bulgasari
I freaking love this bot. Best looking bot in the game, he's got a shield, he's got dash, and having his weapons mounted high on his should make him a corner/over cover shooting nightmare. His shield is the strongest in the game and he has a truckload of health.
No other bot can stride the land with the confidence of the Bulgasari. If a beacon is only covered by plasma and the reds aren't more than 90ish degress apart from each other (So you can block them all with your shield) you can just march straight onto that beacon. If a red is packing plasma, you can just walk right into them with your shield facing them. I LOVE coming across a Tarancilot when I'm packing my Orkan Bulg, they already know they are dead and can only backpedal furiously... which they know won't work. Walk straight into their ancile and kill them dead.
Let's put this awesome weapon and amazing bot together
The ScourgasariShielded fire
The autoaim and your shield provides an incredible synergy. You can hit them, they can't hit you. Against an orkan or Taran build, they can't block and shoot at the same time, you can. Keep that shield angled properly and plasma can't hit you. It takes practicse to know what angle to use, you lose lock BEFORE the red reaches your targetting bracket so give it a little time. The more spaced out the fire, the harder it is to block, Scourge are easy to block, you can see them hitting, tarans you can adjust for as they come in. Zeus and trebs however, are prone to letting you make mistakes, they hit occasionally and for massive damage so against them it's important to stay vigiliant and keep the correct angle.
Corner shooting / cover shooting
The autoaim makes corner shooting a breeze and having all the weapons in one spot makes it deadly. Just ensure your third scourge, the one mounted up top is hitting the wall NOT your target, if you are hitting with all three scourges at once from behind a straight vertical wall you CAN be hit.
And it's not just corners, the game is full of sloping cover like the ramps in the valley map or the angled cover on Centre in springfield, this sort of cover allows you to hit with all three scourges while staying completely in cover
And it's not just Corners and sloped cover, on a lot of maps (city side on Springfield and around the hill beacon on powerplant) there are spots you can shoot OVER cover.
Start looking for and learning these spots. If you aren't shooting out of cover with your bulgasari you are wasting once of it's best abilities
The Antiplasma Master
I've already touched on this, but 1vs1 there is no plasma build that can take down a scourgasari who knows what he's doing, and practically no one is safe. Zeus Fury? Taran Haechi? ST Bulg? Tarancilot? None of these guys can even scratch you, as long as you have a clear path, you can simply march them down firing the whole way. There is nothing better than cruising around canyon centre while multiple plasma bots hammer on your shield while shreiking in panick.
Hot tip: ALWAYS target the plasma bot furthest to your right, this means they will all be hitting your shield. If you are hitting a target, any red to the right of them will be able to hit you
Situational awareness
Here is where you decide if this build is for you. Old school Rhino pilots will know just how important this is. With Tarans or Orkans you can have quick looks around in between delivering the pain, like a Rhino however, scourgasari can't do this. You need to know where EVERY red on this field is and what they are packing. you need to understand what that red is most likely to do, because you can't watch them, turning would break your target lock. When you reload your scourges you have TWO seconds to look around the battlefield and update your mental map, before re-locking your target to be able to start firing again the moment your scourges recharge
Situational awareness makes this build god like. There is few things in this game more satisfying them being able to smash that Orkan Haechi that didn't think you knew he was there, you're messing with a zeus fury on the other side of the map, and as the Haechi pounces you instantly, turn, lock him, dash backwards and melt him while his orkans explode harmlessly metres from your face. You can hear the screams
Without situational awareness though, that Heachi will eat you for breakfast.
Your Kryptonite.
We've talked a lot about dealing with orkans, using the advice above means you can take em down, but there are 3 other weapons that can give you a TON of trouble, and those weapons are the Pin, Tulumbas and most especially, the Trident.
Pins and Tulums are not too bad, you have 100M range on them. If you REALLY have to take them on inside 500m make sure you have your dashes ready and don't dash EARLY. They will be expecting the dash and usually fire a short salvo to force you to dash. You are better off taking the damage from that first salvo and then being able to avoid the rest of the clip. As with any setup, the REAL trick to taking it on is knowing where they are and what they are likely to do.
Tridents have you stone cold. If they are in range of you, you are in range of them. But they don't need three seconds to target and their splash lets them hit further than their 600M range. To make it worse you do bugger all damage at range, so even if you avoid the first salvo, you won't do significant damage before they reload, and if they use cover between shots, which 95% of them do, you won't do any. Your 15 second recharge on dash also means you have no chance of dancing around their fire more than once or twice.
If tridents come your way, dash out of the way and find another path or target. Don't take on tridents unless you are within 400M, have a clear path to them and 2 dashes ready to go.
Well that's enough for now!
Hoping this helps everyone!
Please feel free to agree or disagree! I am pretty good with this build but am always wanting to learn more and hear how you guys rock it with this awesome build!
Without situational awareness though, that Heachi will eat you for breakfast.
