Punisher setups?

Punishers are generally inferior to both plasmas. Damage isn't comparable until less than 200 meters, so always in rocket range. Burning down anciles can be good or bad depending on the situation. Punishers suffer a lot more than plasmas do against bots ducking in and out of cover. Reload time is significantly higher.

Generally, they just don't perform as well. If you wanted to be more of a support role, they could shine in stripping anciles for a tridents user/db griffon on your team to rip up ancilots and Carnages. Overall plasma is typically better unless you always squad with several teammates.

Always wanted to add punishers to my lineup. Figured on my lance, just behind on silver and skeered to waste upgrades on whatifs.

Ohhh man... this is my subject rightchere!

OK, Ima lay down the skinny.  Know that you will most likely hear from most people a continued stream of "they suck!" from folks who either:

A. haven't used them since the buff and are going by the old experience
B. people who have not worked out the best ways to employ them, use them as they would Tarans or Orks, and just get dismayed and put em back on the shelf
C. people who have tried them at level 5 against level 8/9 bots/weapons and didn't think they were strong enough
D. people who just parrot what other people say.

First... and this is a big one... they are NOT replacements for Plasma. If you only have one Plasma bot and are considering switching out... don't. You need at least 1 if not 2 Plasma bots... IMHO. No, these sorta fill the role of good damage in between Mid and Short range, and Anti-Ancile support. The are very similar to Thunders... in that they are outstanding up close but lose effectiveness, slowly, out to 500m. That said... even at 500m if you have multiple punishers, you can still cause pain. Especially in the one I wish to talk about first:

The absolute, quintessential, must-try Punisher bot, is the Griff.  Follow Zman's advice above about how to employ them, because he is right on. Even though he is talking about a different bot...

I played a game today after putting my Punigriff back in, and it was death for the seeming overabundance of Carnages on the field.

Lemme say this, though. If you use this bot build... you have to remember to get the heck out of Trident splash when they shoot at you (JUMP AWAAAAY!) and to just plain avoid the Zeus bots if at all possible. But if you can get to a place that allows you to be covered from the long range Plasma, you can own anything closer than 400m and make most things out from 400 to 500m put their heads down. If they do not, they will die too, just a little slower.

Most folk don't dig these bad mamma-jammers, but, I am telling the truth, if you can figure out how to use them and stay alive, they are definitely still viable. I am in Android Gold and my Griff is level 8 and the Puns are all level 9, for transparency.

But don't just dismiss it if you don't have a Griff leveled enough or don't have enough leveled Puns to load it out... here are some alternatives for all punisher or mostly punisher builds that I can vouch for because I have used them a good bit (BTW, the way the range to damage ratio works for Punishers and Thunders, they are almost the same weapon so mixing them is fine):

1. Leo 1x Thunder 3x Punishers
2. Lancelot 1x Thunder 2x Punisher Mk2s
3. Fujin 3x Punisher Mk 2s
4. Galahad 1x Punisher Mk2 2x Punishers

Here are a couple of builds that I have ran that include Punishers but mix them with other weapons:

1. Natasha 2x Zeus 2x Punishers
2. Lancelot 1x Zeus 2x Punisher Mk 2s
3. Galahad 1 x Orkan and 2x Punishers (this works but really only shines in limited anti-ancile applications... It surprised me how well it worked... but I would still always recommend all Plasma for Galas, as the current state of the game sits... it just works.)

Builds that I will try soon:

1. Lancelot 1x Ancile 2x Punisher Mk 2s
2. Leo 1x Ancile 3x Punishers
3. Rhino 2x Punisher Mk 2s 2x Punishers
4. Griffon 2x Punishers 2x Orkans
5. Griffon 2x Punishers 2x Tulumbus
6. Doc 2x Tulumbuses 2x Punisher Mk 2s (the goal would be to use the Puns against Anciles and bots that get too close and follow up with Tulumbus when the shield is down and or, you create distance or make them hide to get away from your Puns since the Tulus will splash pretty well around corners)

Out of all of these that I have already tried... the two that I had the most success with are the Punisher Griff and the Lancelot Thunder Punisher. 

The mixed weapon bot that I enjoyed the most... was the Natty Zeus Pun.  That thing was awesome against Carnages and Fujins and damn good against equal level or less Ancilelots.  Higher level Anciles will regen too fast for just 2 Punisher Mk 1s to do enough good... but if your Puns are equal level they should do the trick.  The 2 Zeus are bad enough, but the Puns would drop the Ancile and keep it down and if anyone had Tridents or RDB or Molots, they didn't have to worry as I was just keeping the Ancile down as a matter of principle! 

Above all, have FUN!

IMO, YMMV

4. Griffon 2x Punishers 2x Orkans

I have tried and liked this build... I used it to jump on Ancilots. If you can begin firing the Punisher just before you jump strike, you will tear down the Ancile...while you are landing you can release the Orkans and tear it apart. The punisher at point blank can tear right through the shield.

The option of tearing down Anciles from 500m as support is also an option...Just take care to only fire the Punishers and not waste your Orks.

I have tried a Griff with 2 magnums and 2 Punisher MK2 and it was a fun play , but as someone else said I needed a plasma bot. I might relive this build in the future or trade magnums for Aphids

punishers on a doc has only 1 second down time

infinite firing power

The point with punishers isn't always to deal damage; punishers tend to deal a little less damage than you'd like but a little more damage than you think. The punisher and punisher Mk2 are weapons used primarily to control the battlefield and force enemy bots behind cover. The hail of fire from a full punisher loadout is very demoralizing due to the way that it continuously drains your health, millimeter by millimeter. It's a diversionary tactic. And it kills plasma bots very, very fast. A punisher Galahad can tear down a plasma Griffin in one try, if you start firing from max range and close distance; your own shield won't even be broken by the end of the encounter. Plus, you can break enemy shields from much further out than they can touch yours. And you even deal damage to shield bots that are blocking your fire with their shields, because your spread of bullets simply goes around their shield.

Gunfighter set ups are much different to run than plasma or rockets. But in their proper roles, they are no less effective than anything else in the game.

This. Absolutely this. A Griff Leadhose controls the battle field in a 360 radius up to about 600yds, if you factor in the jump ability.  The LHG shreds anciles, and in one full cycle will absolutely take out a Carnage, Fujin, or pretty much any bot with an ancile except for a Leo or Lancelot. Those two, just because of their health pool. 

But you are able to push bots into cover, drive bots off of a beacon, and when piloted correctly, you can jump on and shred just about any bot you encounter. 

After doing more testing, Punisher Stalker seems like a no-go. Not enough dmg from two light Punishers and the stealth doesn't last long enough to let you unload as much as you want.

Punisher Rog, on the other hand, seems much more viable. It's jumping let's you get in close and more importantly get back out to reload, and jump to dodge the Aphids and rockets that fly around in close range. And two med Punishers can dish out acceptable dmg. Pog can duel Orkatkas, clear out campers, flank very effectively. Based on my testing I'll take a Pog over a Punisher Griff now.

Lance, Gary, and Rog are my top three Punisher platforms now. I can imagine a Punisher Doc being a really fun and effective non-stop-spray-of-bullets support bot as well theoretically, but don't have one to test with.

The thing about Punishers is that they are kinda stuck between plasma and rockets, so for the most part it's hard to ever justify them over either. The only advantages Punishers have are being able to harass at 350-500, blow away Ancile for rocket buddies, and do more dmg per clip within 200. The range versatility is their selling point and it's hard to quantify that so they are underrated. To best use these advantages, you need mobility and a flanking/support/harassment mindset. Rog and Doc are the top-tier for this sort of gameplay so they are the best options I think, in theory.

Much, much smaller ammo capacity on the molot. Fire rate is far higher on punisher as well.  If they want to make them viable alternatives to plasma or rockets, they need shorter reload times. In the case of the punisher, an overheat mechanic is probably the best way to do it. Unlimited ammo, but builds up heat as it fires in ramp up mode. Not firing it reduces the heat meter, and use the current reload time as the overheat cool down period if it fully overheats.

"Spray and Pray", I got the vertix.io reference can I? Or maybe you didn't mean to make a reference.

I really like Drake's post about an overheat mechanic rather than a reload time although it does spoil the pseudo-realism aspect of requiring time to reload. But it would add a feature to punishers that would give a good reason to using them in a setup. It would give them their slot between plasma and rockets.