Buy a Fury? Or commit to all knife-fighting hangar?

@heavypanda you already know my advice, fight with those knife fighters until that last one is smokin' and sparkin' trying to take down one more red or cap a beacon for the win.  

If you're going to flank people with a carnage, then get 2 zeus's to put on it.

ⓣⓡⓘⓒⓚⓨ48, tridents are at 8 - When I hit a bot, it takes ~30k off their health. Which means on my own, it takes ~5 volleys to kill most level 8/9 heavy bots. But because I usually hop from target to target, you never really feel like you are messing up someone's day. Thunder Carnage or DB brings the ouch in 4-8 seconds when up close and personal. I guess that's where my disconnect is. I am really trying to figure out if the added punch of a Fury makes the midrange game feel more satisfying, or if i should just stick to what is most fun and blow bots up from point blank, and then, if doing so is viable once the bad guys level up, or if a knife hangar will just mech out every game.

You need at least one bot for midrange to stay away from those numerous Orkancers you will find in top tier.
Fury with Tridents helps you pressure center beacons and get a good damage score without much effort, now that leagues are back, its all about the damage. (Even if you lose, its still all about the damage).

Id put the tridents on a Nat, Pins for light weapons, and play with that a bit to see how it feels. While not exactly the same it should mimic the feel close enough compared to the Carnage.

I like mine well enough that i'm not in any hurry to buy a Fury.

There is a slight unbalance between player ranks I think.
Sometimes I play games where I see Master/Especialist tier players in my matches, but that must be caused by not too many players online, so if the MM cant find apropriate matches for those high tier players, they will just put them to play with us lol.
I just got to gold II today and rushing for gold I, I dont see anything bellow lv 9 in those ranks.

I run an all short range hangar (10/10). My win% hovers in the low 60s. On larger maps it is challenging but I can compensate by using more bots with good speed (Galahad x2 and 1 carnage/Rhino) to leverage positions

A huge advantage of Fury over the Carnage that I haven't seen mentioned yet is the height of the weapons. You can often shoot over other teammates that run in front of you, shoot over taller obstacles/cover and be protected while doing so since your center-mass where enemies target you is lower. That with the 50% increase in damage and the ability to actually do damage to energy shield bots with those 3 extra missiles helps a lot. Not sure how well 2 carnages with tridents can battle each other, but I'm sure you've experienced trying to battle a TT Fury that slightly staggers the firing of his 3 tridents to blow down your shield and hit you with a few rounds each volley.

With Ecus?

Get the fury, if you don't have the gold for it, use an rdb griff.

I have tried that myself, received the Pin 9-10 bug fix (thanks Pix for my 1st level 10 weps)  It does well if I dont have to worry about getting damaged.  At level 6, the Natty can not take much of a punch before all the lights turn off!!

1. Yes, the T Trident Fury will make you feel like you're doing something. It will take a while to upgrade but a max TT Fury does 120% more damage than your current Carage- over 2x the damage per burst, an entirely different class. The Trident Carnage is very rare in Top; both Carnage Zeus and the RDB Griffin are far more common (and effective).

2. Yes, all brawler is viable in Top, especially solo. Most who run it however will either a) be going mainly for damage over wins, b) skip maps or c) be backed up by a strong clan with range. Without range even a top team will get slaughtered on open maps like Canyons against strong opposition. Typically an all brawler player will let their team down in that situation by meching out early, so unless you're a particularly strong player one mid-range is highly recommended.

3. The Carnage Thunder is not a mainstream top tier bot currently- too hit and miss. Perhaps the Ancile mod will change this, but while fun it's simply too squishy for the toughest matches at the moment. The RDB Griffin is a good half-way house for those that don't like mid-range if you're having trouble with hanging back.

Zeus Molot Tasha is surprisingly effective. Does a good job moving those triple tridents off thier spot. You can punish jumping Griffins as well. Tasha is soooooo much cheaper...

Appreciate the alternative suggestions, but I have no Zeuses, and three tridents, so at this point it is TT Fury, or a 5th knife fighter. Thanks everyone for your advice.