A Family of Learned Doctors

i have mah new robot

REEEEKKKK HAVOOOOCCC

scp you shall be in containment cell for ya own good scp 079

I see you like the ladies.

Yeah, the Ravana is interesting. On paper it ought to be a great brawler. In practice, a robot that vanishes off a beacon is not necessarily an asset in beacon modes, IMHO.  I know Pixonic was selling a bundle with wasps, which are of course clown shoes because of the long reload, but the 600 meter range makes me think a Ravana with lead hoses would be extremely painful for reds to face. Speed, AND phasing, AND shoots from cover… might be a nice counter for certain waddling chicken bots we’re cursed with in this meta. 

...Don't you use machines that don't have organic healing capability? Because, what's that smell? Could it be HERESY!

NOTES FROM THE FIELD - SE7EN

I have very little to discuss. Weird, right? 

Khepri is super fun. Full stop. I've got under-leveled Magnetars on it and Suppression chips on the accompanying drone. So far it's full of utility, especially following tanks and brawler Titans. As much as I'm enjoying the Magnetars, I'll be building another Halo to arm Khepri with. That setup will fulfill another S of the three S's of utility - Spread, Splash, and Status.

Seeing less Fafnir in the air has meant a more varied selection on the ground. Ravana definitely seems to be having a bit of a resurgence. I also believe I'm seeing more Hawks and Ao Jun, so thats neat too. Still loads of Revenant and Harpy/Siren, though. Joy of joys.

I should discuss Nodens and Mender at some point. And finish a story. I'll do all that eventually.

shawngonakillyou, I will be happy to spread my virulent knowledge of Lockdown Khepri as soon as I am confident in the mastery of the machine. Theoretically, Halos will make a stronger close fire support machine of Khepri while still inflicting status with greater spread. So far, Khepri really likes to take Fenrir and Shell for walks and truly turns Minos into the Bull God. If I can lockdown and suppress multiple Reds and stick them in front of those juggernauts, I'll do it all day long.

I theorize, 079 , that four Halo, combined with The Eye equipped with Suppression and Lockdown chips, when broken out from behind a Blue tank or Titan, will inflict Lockdown and Suppression on a hard target, allowing Blue to pulp them. At the least, I believe it will break yellow shields, break Anti-Control, and turn Red towards me. Red turns towards me, I inflict status, pop Phase Shift, and ensure Blue tank/Titan remains boosted/covered to the best that action will allow me to. 

We're calling it Bull Riding🐃

Because Minos.

I get what you are saying, however, I do disagree with healers only focusing on healing. I view healers as multirole, where they can heal as well as perform another function. Tyr can do midrange, Weyland can tank, and Nightingale can beacon run, and what they lack in those roles compared to other bots (like Behemoth for midrange or Loki for beacon running) they make up for with their ability to heal. How I build my hangars is that I decide the five bot roles I want, and then make one of those roles be filled by a healer. That way the bot’s versatility is not compromised by an over-focus on healing alone. Healing is great, but its problem is that it follows teammate’s moves, so having something the bot can do when healing is not needed or something else is more crucial to victory means the healer in your hangar is never a liability. The exception to this is Mender and maybe Demeter, as they focus a lot on healing and make great wingmen but struggle on their own, but that is fine because their healing is really good. I personally do not view healers as a battlefield role per se, but instead a bot type that fills a role in a different manner than most, offering healing in exchange for lower raw performance. The same goes for an all-healer hangar, you still have the tank, knifer, beacon runner, etc. like any hangar, but they do those roles a bit differently by healing.

Apologies for the length here, but this is an area I want more and more....

Very interesting opposing views 079 (still can't tag you even following your instructions) and @fester. I think these opposing views are why I struggle as a healer.

I really want my focus to be healing but I have trouble pulling myself out of the destroyer role once the adrenaline starts to flow. The few times I have been able to fully focus on healing has provided some of the most fun I've had in this game. I recently did a healing experiment that I posted about with my Mender and only used my weapons sparingly when people invaded our camp. But keeping a group of blue alive LONG after they should have expired was invigorating and is more how I'd like to focus.

That said, few blues know how to maximize it and I end up having to knife fight my way out of the holes the blues leave when they abandon me. Usually doesn't end well, but I have build my healers well and can definitely inflict damage.

079, I think most pilots approach healers as you do (myself included). Healing is a peripheral benefit to the bot's ability to do damage (not exactly what you said, but using ghoulish overkill to drive the point). It is a cool ability. But I like to think it could be so much more than peripheral and I think that is where our good Doctor is coming from too. I rarely am able to put into practice, but having done 5.5M healing in my Mender experiment, I know first hand it can be so much more. 

To me the trick is the same as all the other battle tactics. You've got to survey the way the battle is playing out. I play TDM more, so excuse the digression into those tactics, but if you have a group of blues who start out clustered and take a little damage, and you blast heal them all with your Mender, they're going to stay close to you. It'll be a good healer focused session. If everyone disperses, it transitions to game-on mixed role for me. I may try to stick close to someone to heal them, but you must pay attention to where they are leading you and your particular healers capability. Mender can't hang in deep red solo, but Khepri and Tyr would stand a chance for a short period. Demeter could bug-out if there is a blue close enough, so you can be a bit more daring with Demeter (teleporting deep into Red is no beuno, but following a blue deep into red and having your teleport available is better). 

As I write this, maybe the problem is TDM for healers? TDM doesn't have focal points where the blues must gather, so you can end up very dispersed when playing TDM solo (not a good tactic, but often what happens). In the games where the Blues "get it" and stay mildly grouped (not stupidly so, but in defensible positions relative to other blues), you're going to have a good healer game. In BR and DOM the blues are all going to the same general places and that would seem to be a more frequently successful healer paradigm....

So, question - Do healers play better in BR/DOM, or TDM (or equally well and I just need to be a better healer )

How I see healers in TDM is it is a matter of small map or large map. On small maps, the teams do tend to be quite scattered, so a mobile healer that can “chase” them, such as Mender, Nightingale, or Demeter, is ideal. On large maps, teams tend to stay at their spawns more and thus cluster up, meaning a stout group healer like Tyr, Weyland, or Nightingale is ideal. Now that I think of it, Nightingale is probably the best healer for TDM since it does the best on both map sizes, so use that bot if you can!

Did somebody call for a doctor? Dr. Vulture in the house and on call!




I will sooth your woes, while stealing your ki... erm, and "teamwork" the enemy to death, while giving you a healing refuge.

I had to do it. I had to leash Rogotka with Khepri. Just to see what happens. And what happens is pretty sick.