A Family of Learned Doctors

In my mythology, there is but one god who does stand before the great bridge Bifrost, connecting Midgard to Asgard. One god who, through infinite foresight and instinct, will warn of the approaching inferno. He will blow the his great bugle, bidding humanity and the Einherjar to take up arms and stand against the darkness. He is the strongest son of Nine Mothers. He is the gilded-tooth sentinel. He is the whitest of gods. He is Heimdall, Guardian of Asgard.


Heimdall is a new support Titan that, I believe, is already much maligned. This is, of course, due to it not being an obviously overpowered face-breaker. As I've read and seen, apparently, Heimdall is borderline useless due to... reasons aplenty. It's a camper's dream. It's too slow. It can't take hits. It isn't a brainless Luchador or mid-wit Murometz, so it must be bad. These assertions are incorrect and we will discuss how to effectively use this Titan as mid- and close-range fire support with a variety of weapons I'm finding most useful. Heimdall is far from useless and I do hope you notice this Titan's subtle might.

SOUND THE HORN OF BATTLE!

Gjallarhorn, in addition to being the golden horn used to call the approach of Ragnarok, is Heimdall's Titan ability. Upon spawning, Heimdall has a Green Circle, a 20 percent speed boost, and can push the button to give itself additional speed as well as speeding up those in the circle. The rate of Green Circle healing also rises during the ability use. This is where I find I'm spending maybe 60 percent of Heimdall's play time. In this mode, Heimdall acts as a jacked up Tyr with all four weapons available. The Green Circle is substantially larger than Tyr's, so lurking far enough around a corner to avoid splash is very possible. In doing so, one can observe firing lines without the need to worry much about their own health bar. When the Blue movement begins, Heimdall can hit the button and hurry his Blue charges through the storm of Red dakka.

Upon activating the Gjallarhorn's second ability, the Green Circle becomes an Orange Circle. In the Orange Circle, Heimdall and Blues receive an attack boost. It also turns on Heimdall's 600m built-in weapon, which shoots bolts at whatever Red is in the target square and a pretty sick Suppression grenade. Pop a Red with the grenade and their attack plummets for a bit. It also splashes, so toss it into a cluster and watch them shrink in fear or however Suppression does its thing. I will generally activate the Orange Circle when the battle is joined and Blue doesn't appear to need the healing so much as they need the anti-healing boost. The Suppression grenade is proving wildly effective in opening up a hole for Khepri or Shell or Fenrir to blast directly into Red. The built-in laser gat is nice for suppressive fire while the main weapons are reloading or adding that little extra damage to pop a Last Stand or module or whatever, even to scrap a weakened Red.

Heimdall has a third ability that becoming apparently only upon its Glorious Death. See how I did that? When Heimdall at last succumbs to Red effort, it explodes mightily, restoring ten percent gray damage to close Blues, in addition to healing a nice piece of normal damage. If Heimdall is dying, I tend to pop Green Circle, hit the speed button, and run right up Blue's rear connector ports. You're welcome. If you see a Heimdall singing it's swan song, I recommend you do the same.

TO ARMS! TODAY WE FIGHT AND DIE!

As is the style of the time, four flashlights are what is on my primary Heimdall. You point them at Red's photo eyes and fry them out for a second. Are you good at swapping target lock? I strongly suggest you get very good at swapping target lock with this armament. Weather chickens, Hawk, Ao Jun and Ming, along with the occasional Nightingale can be struck, Blinded, and swapped out for the next aerial target in rapid succession with practice. You don't have to go for the kill, just the Blind. Dumbfiring will normally get Red scant damage, and they're much easier for Blue to follow up on with the hammer blow. Obviously, blowing through your Platinum to increase Blind accumulation may be beneficial to you. The 600m range on the flashlights is also wonderful when encountering Titans, regardless of name and armament.

I've also used Krait and Retaliator to fair effect, but with a somewhat more smashface play style. Stay covered, stay close to Blue, and shred whatever gets too close, be they Shell, Orochi, or what have you. Allow Blue to focus on what's in front of them while you rake the field with fire. Krait, I think, is somewhat more useful generally while Retaliator might be better if you're encountering a lot of physical shields. Regardless of armament, watch the OS button glow brighter and faster.

And yes, I did mention Orochi and Nightingale, and definitely inferred Murometz. Because of the Titan meta right this second, I'm finding two Quantum Sensors extremely useful, provided they can reach 600m. This certainly takes some resource investment and time, but you can always swap the modules around if you desire. Ensure the flashlights can shine upon an airborne Murometz and the field will be much safer for Blue. The rest is just brass buttons. On Krait and Retaliator Heimdall, I like a maxed QS, a maxed purple Armor module, a Titan Anticontrol and whatever else you want. Makes it into a more versatile combatant and more able in close, for sure, but it's ability to safely combat stealthy death from above wanes significantly.

I'm unsure if other weapons and modules work at this time, but I'd love to know if you do.

STRIKE FOR THE ALLFATHER!

Heimdall is Tyr after a good dose of Amanita muscaria and can be used in a similar way. Close fire support is my favorite use thus far. Stay a distance behind Blue, keeping them in your Green/Orange Circle as much as possible while laying down skunion to allow Blue movement and engaging Red Titans. Cover the Blue advance with your weapons and abilities, more or less. Utilize Gjallarhorn in both capacities, speeding up and empowering Blue movement and weapons. A key seems to be switching between them quickly in the midst of an engagement. If your Green Circle speed boost is active, switching to Orange Circle allows you to keep the last few seconds of speed boost. In Orange Circle mode, I recommend not switching abilities until it's recharged so you can Suppress Red upon occupation of a firing lane. This is, again, situation-dependant so some practice is gonna be necessary to get the timing down and figure what's best, when.

Common threats include... everything you'd think. Heimdall is a Titan, so it's best not to let Red inside your guard and a great idea to stick close to at least one knife-fighting Blue if you're advancing. It is possible to sit on the back lines, using your flashlights/machine guns to keep movement points restricted from Red and to screen for airborne and stealth threats. It's also possible to provide ground support to airborne Blues, but be aware of your win conditions and be ready to join the direct shooting fight. Heimdall is very versatile in these situations, able to switch firing roles very quickly when the need arises. And it will.

GLADDEN THE RAVENS! FEED THE WOLVES!

Heimdall is as much defined by what it is not as much as by what it is. It can stand and bang, but not like others. It can provide fire support, attack boosts, and healing, sometimes better than others. Heimdall, at first glance, may indeed seem rather lackluster. With careful equipment and application, however, Heimdall can shine against the encroaching darkness of the dumb and clumsy Red hordes.