Edit: For the love of god, please don't quote a thread this long!! Feel free to tag me though.
"You know who I am. You don't know where I am. And you'll never see me coming." - Trevor SlatteryThis mighty Inquisitor! A super Griffin! Faster, more firepower, faster cooldown, more health and stealth all combine to make this thing a nightmare in the right hands.
And he IS a lot like a griffin, hell he even has kneepads like a griffin, and all the same rules apply to him, that apply to griffin. I just said above he is a nightmare in the right hands, and, just like a griffin, he's a big, fat, slow, sitting duck in the wrong hands.
My personal experience with Inquisitor is that I was stoked to win one in a Forum giveaway comp, mostly because I wanted one but was never going to direct the resources to farm one up. He took the spot of a Taran Bulg in my hangar, and I dithered about which one to keep. I LOVE Taran Bulg. I already had a L12 Ember from a Triple Ember Fury build (not a fan) so was happy to be able to use it. At the end of the day, Inquisitor won it's spot over the Bulg. It's ability to cap beacons and provide that element of suprise is something I was missing from my hangar. I was running three bulgs at the time (Taran, ST, Scourge) so also enjoyed a bit more variety. Now that I've gotten more experienced with Inquisitor, I really, really love him and he's got a set of dedicated scourges being levelled as we speak.
Unlike my previous article on the Scourgasari I won't be making this article weapon specific, simply because Inquisitor plays very similarly with any loadout. I won't, however, be discussing using Inquisitor as mid range (Although upcoming changes to the trident have me VERY interested) and will be focusing on what this dude does best, Brawling!
So let's start off by going through the Pros and cons
Inquisitor Pros and ConsPros
- A truckload of firepower with 1 hard and 2 medium hardpoints.
- The descend ability is DEADLY
- Decent groundspeed for a heavy bot
- Decent HP
Cons
- No shield
- Poor synergies between heavy and medium weapons (see loadouts below)
- Dies VERY fast in the open
- Large hitbox - can be easily hit while in stealth by bots on the same elevation as you.
Roles Inquisitor can play
Beacon Capper
Inquisitor can do many things, but there is one thing he can do better than any bot in the game, and that is Capping a protected beacon. We've all been in matches on DC or Valley where everywhere is lined up around centre beacon, and even stepping out there is almost instant death. Kumi doesn't have the health, Spectre will die the second his descend finishes, Lance is too slow. griffin will get shot out of the air. Inquisitor however, has a good shot at getting that beacon. He can descend onto it, start the flip and have enough HP to possibly survive the barrages that will come when descend finishes and turn that beacon blue. If he can't do it, no one can!
You'll hear many people talk about the Inquisitors ability to turn the tide of battle, and this is why. Decent health + Descend = Beacon capping.
It does mean you will get your inquisitor killed pretty quickly, so it's important to know WHEN it's to time mutter "It's a good day to die" and pull the trigger on a glorious death.
Valhalla is chock full of Inquisitors I promise you.
This is what inquisitor is for and what you should always have your eye on. If your team needs a hard beacon capped, get your inquisitor in there and get it done.
While waiting for the opportunity to earn your inquisitor a place in the hall of the gods though, there is other stuff he is also very, very good at
Assault
When he's not pulling a Leonidas, The inquisitor is also one of the best assault bots in the game. Depending on his loadout, he can hunt down and kill dash bots and just about anything else. The trick here is to know your prey, know your weapons and most importantly, use the terrain(See "Rules of using Descend" below).
An Ember/Scourge Inquisitor can mow a Haechi into the grass, but against a Bulg he needs to hit and run. An Orkan Thunder Inquis eats Bulgies for breakfast, but an Orkan Haechi will smash him (admittedly he'll probably take some damage doing it). Know your loadout, know your enemy and earn some silver!
Knowing your prey and your loadout strengths is not enough to ensure success, you also need to use your descend correctly, but we'll cover that later on.
Support
This is another place Inquisitor can take a starring role. Many of the best builds in the game, and even a few others, rely on hit and run tactics. They are massively strong when hitting, and competely vulnerable when running. Orkan Spectre, Orkan Haechi, Shocktrain Bulg and even the good old DB griff all rely on being able to hit, then get back into cover, where, very frequently, reds will come to hunt them down.
Have an inquisitor backing them up and covering their escape means these bots can function much more effectively, and, most importantly, if they trust you to stick with them, you massively extend the range they can operate within.
When I'm Inquisitoring I am always on the lookout for an Orkan Haechi to tag along with him.
If he needs to move forward and there is no cover, a classic example would be heading to the reds side beacon on Valley, I'll go first and provide suppression, so my mate with the big guns can move forward.
If he dashes out to unload his orks, I'll ensure I am covering his escape route and take on the reds while he reloads, usually by the time I've done some damage and used up my descend, my Ork Haechi mate has another load of death all ready to go, which, hopefully, let's me survive until my descend is reloaded.
Once again though, success and failure will usually be determined by how and when I use my descend... so let's talk about that.
The 6 rules of using descend
Rule #1: NEVER use descend for map travel
It's a long way from spawn to centre on Yama for example, a descend at the start not only ensures you get credit for the home beacon cap, but gets you to centre that much faster, It will recharge before you get there... so what's the harm?
It's not stealth if people know you have it. What make Spectre and Inquisitor deadly is that you don't see them coming. If you know where they are and what they are a lot of the threat has been removed.
The other reason to keep your descend charged is that it's the only defense you have. Experienced griffin pilots won't even need to be told this. Good Griffins only jump in an attack if they know they will land somewhere safe (like RDBs do ALL the time) or they will get the kill (DB griffin 101). The rest of the time good griffin pilots will ALWAYS have their jump ready in case they need to get out of dodge.
Rule #2: Don't descend unless you will be hitting your target from the START of the jump
It's no point just being able to hit them for a few seconds when you land, the earlier in your jump you can start pumping damage into them, the better. Of course, use your judgement. An Orkan loadout might be ok to start firing later, and against weaker targets hitting later is also ok, but just ensure you are doing enough damage to destroy your target before descend finishes, and being able to deal damage throughout the WHOLE jump is a great way to ensure this.
Rule #3: Try to land on a different elevation from your target
You can still be hit with stealth on, you just can't be targetted. For a stalker, that isn't a problem, most shots go over it's head, but an inquisitor is a BIG target, if you are on the same elevation as your target, they can still hit you. If your target is a Haechi, their low profile means they will hit you with EVERY weapon and it's almost pointless using stealth if you are on the same elevation they are. The game is loaded with great descend sites, especially on smaller maps like Valley, DC and moon where they are practically EVERYWHERE, which also helps Rule #6
Rule #4: Wait until your target cannot get back to cover on time.
This is where situational awareness is vital. In ANY bot you should be keeping a track of your enemies special abilities. Targetting a Griffin, have they jumped yet? Haechi.. how many dashes do they have left? If you don't know the answer you have to assume they are fully loaded. Wait and be patient. Wait until they are a jump or 2 Dashes + several seconds from cover and really catch them with their pants down. I you know they have used all their dashes, you can attack while they are closer to cover.
If you descend on a Haechi with 2 dashes ready and close to cover, he will just dash away, wait for your descend to end, and tear you apart.
Of course, loadout effects this as well. If you are packing Redeemer/ Tarans or Redeemer Scourge, that griffin can jump away all he likes, as long as it won't put him out of range, you can shoot his silly head out of the sky.
Rule #5: Fully loaded weapons
Shouldn't need to say this and not going to explain it, keep those guns loaded!
Rule #6: Land somewhere you can get back into cover before your descend finishes.
Hit and Run. If you aren't certain you will kill your target or are fighting multiple targets and aren't doing a suicide beacon cap, try to land somewhere that you can get back into cover before your descend ends. A classic example would be the red's ramp on moon. you can move from your side beacon and start your jump so you land on the top of their ramp. You can be hitting them the whole time you are in the air, while turning your legs backwards, land on their ramp while still firing and start walking backwards, time it right, and you will drop of the back of the ramp just as descend finishes and can move back to your side beacon area to recharge your descend.
A quick note on capping in BR matches.
When you do what inquisitor does best, cap a red beacon in BR, you have 2 choices. Use your descend to jump onto the beacon, or walk onto the beacon and save your descend. There is no right answer here, be aware of the choice though.
If you use descend to jump onto the beacon, Reds will have time to spawn and smash you when descend runs out because you've wasted most of your descend getting onto the beacon.
If you walk onto the beacon and save your descend you run the risk of them dropping before you get in beacon flipping range, but a descend jump will take you OVER the beacon radius and this can be bloody awkward. That being said, this is the option I take most of the time as the majority of players wait for the beacon flip to start before dropping on the beacon and you can just jump vertically and kill them. If the beacon cap is not critical and a red drops while I'm just outside of capping range, I will usually descend AWAY from the beacon while killing the red, find cover and try again once I've recharged. I've meched people out doing this over and over several times.
Ok. So now it's time for the hardest subject of all.. let's talk weapons:
Inquisitor Loadouts
Ok - a quick note here, there is a problem with synergy between some heavy and medium weapons that I'll talk about below. But you need to understand that inquisitor load outs mostly come down to personal choice and the type of bot you want to hunt, the pros/cons of different weapon pairings gets so complicated you could probably write a thesis. I have written these in order of my personal favorites to least favorites, ALL have weaknesses though.
I've only listed combos I have personally tried... except for the last one which I would be VERY curious to try, but simply can't fit in my upgrade queue.
I'm sure my fellow forumers will be able to help flesh this out!
Scourge / Ember
Pros
- You can concentrate on hitting with the Ember while the scourge takes care of itself.
- Can do damage outside Taran / Orkan range, admittedly not a lot but it can really help
- Excellent damage, while Tarans have higher damage at 350M Scourge ember will do more simply because you can hit consistenly with the ember
- Deadly against Heachi, Kumi and just about everything else.... except Bulgasari
Cons
- Not great for capping red beacons in BR matches
- Will not kill a Bulg in a clip in most situations.
- Needs exposure to deliver so not great for just descending on the spot and unloading.
- While scourge on a Bulg make it look like a futuristic weapon of death, on an Inquisitor they look like stumpy crab claws.
This is what I prefer to run and am levelling a set of dedicated scourges for my Inquisitor (I sometimes borrow a set from my beloved scourgasari). As we'll talk about below, Tarans and Ember have a HUGE problem with targetting, Ember needs you to lead the target, Tarans need you to hit the target square so you tend to struggle with aiming it.
This is not the case with Scourge Ember.
As mentioned in cons, this loadout is not as good at capping Red beacons in BR matches because it can take time to aqcuire target lock, and every second counts in this situation. If you are running Scourges I highly recommend you read the article I wrote about Scourgasari, it details the best way to manage Autolock.
war-robots-forum.freeforums.net/thread/21607/scourgasari-proThis loadout is brilliant against Kumi and Haechi, but against a Bulg who knows how to use his shield, that single ember has to do all the work. In the case of ST Bulgs, you can still keep them VERY busy and seriously impact their damage potential.
Also note the scourge and Ember firing and reload times are slightly different so keep an eye on it. It's very possible, if you aren't paying attention, to jump into battle with Full scourges and an almost empty ember
Taran / Ember
Pros
- Excellent damage. The bigger and slower the target, the better it gets.
- Beacon capper deluxe, if Reds drop on a beacon and you've saved your descend, they are in REAL trouble.
Cons
- As already mentioned, Tarans and ember need to be aimed differently.
- Taran bug will get you killed
- Needs exposure to deliver so not great for just descending on the spot and unloading.
This is the most common loadout, and while I prefer scourges, this one still ROCKS. The problem comes from the ember being a slow weapon that needs targetting, while tarans are point and shoot. Against large targets it works pretty well, against lances you can still shoot the side of the armor in the direction they are travelling to by passing it and still land a LOT of hits with the Ember. Against faster opponents though, you tend to hit with either the Tarans OR the ember, if the red is smart enough to strafe, which most of them are, this is slightly mitigated by the fact that faster bots have less health and still get seriously torn up by a pair of Tarans
The reason this build is great is you can switch targets quickly and easily, when a red drops onto the beacon you are capping, you can be hitting them with all 3 weapons before their feet hit the ground.
Oh and yeah, Taran bug is a HUGE problem with this build.
Like the Scourge/ Ember, reload will not line up exactly so pay attention to your clips.
Orkan/ Ember
Pros
- Smashes Bulgs into sad blue little puddles.
- Fast unload of the Orks make this build useful for simply jumping on the spot
- Good burst damage
- Similar aiming between Orkans and Ember
Cons
- 1 weapon that ignores anciles and 2 that don't and aren't enough to pop the ancile AND hurt them. Against anciles you are effectively only using the ember.
This loadout suprised me. If you want to go ST Bulg hunting on small maps, this is the loadout you want. It's a specialised loadout though and almost useless against Anciles unless you are playing a support role for another Orkan bot. That being said, Bulg is currently top of the pops in the meta and this is a very, very hard counter for them to avoid if you get in range. Also great for tagging Spectres whose ground speed make them hard for you to catch as you can do a lot of damage very quickly.
Taran or Scourge / Redeemer
Pros
- Reload time matches
- Instant fire without lockon
- Aims the same as Tarnans
Cons
- Lower Damage than Ember loadouts, even before you take Embers shield ignoring ability into account
- Suffers from the Taran Bug
- Redeemer is just so damn UGLY
I wouldn't use this build unless I already have a Redeemer, which needs a serious buff to bring it up to par with ember and the upcoming heavy orkan will only put redeemer further behind.
That being said, this is still a really good loadout that can run, gun and switch targets better than any other loadout. Another excellent choice for capping BR Beacons.
Orkan / Thunder
Pros
- Thunder makes Inquis look like he is wearing a top hat
- Excellent against Bulg and other unshielded bots
- Excellent in team support
- Excellent against Lances
- Not a bad choice if you are descending on the spot
Cons
- An inquisitor that get's within thunders effective range is probably a dead inquisitor.
Poor old thunder, once so mighty, but sadly, while they have the same weapon slots an inquisitor is NOT a Lancelot. You won't be in a lot of situations where you can pop the ancile with your thunder then unload the orkans. And getting it done within the length of a descend can be pretty tight. A Inquisitor playing as exposed as Lances used to be able to is a dead inquisitor.
That being said, it DOES work, but it leaves a lot of potential for leaving you with a slightly damaged, really cranky Haechi on your hands. This build can be very, very deadly but requires extreme patience
Storm / Thunder
I can't comment too much on this because I've never run it. It's no secret I'm not the biggest fan of storm simply because Orkans can operate at 300M and be unloaded and gone before Storms even get close enough to seriously hurt... that being said, If I was going to level storms, it would be for this build and, it would not suprise me to find that this build is the very best to use for capping red beacons in BR with Inquisitor.
Anyway, I hope this helps, please feel free to agree/disagree or add more detail below! And don't be afraid to argue with me. It's like I always say "Some people want their answer to be right and others want the right answer!" I am definately in the second group!
Kumiho article coming shortly and I'd be happy to hear of other bots / loadouts you would like me to write up.
Happy Hunting, go smash some Reds
