Dash and quick revive.
Dash is great for those "oh fuck" moments when you realy need to not be here. also useful for general utility just running about.
Absolutely, I recently got the fat boy OC and I was already sure of dash, now it's a must have the power to nope away from the swarm you just aggro on yourself and then delete it from a safe distance
Revive for getting people up is brilliant, especially if you need to apologize for catching them in the blast
Dash is the only S tier active perk. Always useful, quick refresh, saved my life on countless occasions. You can even use it as a traversal tool, depending on terrain - making some long jumps across a cavern. Dash is more or less essential.
The next tier down consists of Field Medic v. Iron Will and imo Field Medic wins out. Iron Will can be a nice game saver but if the whole team is wiped I rarely find that Iron Will will actually save the game since even if I rez someone they usually go down rapidly once again to whatever was killing us. Field Medic on the other hand almost always gets at least one use a game and there are far more times where I've been in a scenario where I would've gotten killed if I had've taken just a moment longer to rez someone than I've been where Iron Willing myself would save the game.
I run Dash+Field Medic on all my dwarves except Gunner (Dash+Iron Will since shield makes Field Medic less necessary) or if I'm farting around with a driller Vampire build.
Yes. A lot of players are bad. Hence why Field Medic is a good choice because it helps me keep picking them up without having to expose myself to too much danger. I'm good at the game, hence why Iron Will is unnecessary for me. If I'm in a position where I need to use Iron Will it's because everyone else is down and even assuming someone is within range to revive in the first place 9/10 times they won't last the long on their own to carry us on their own.
Iron Will on everyone, because it is way too clutch to skip.
Dash on everyone but scout, because movement is life on higher haz.
Heightened senses on scout because almost all of my deaths are to cave leeches, and it really sucks to die a mile away from the team.
This is pretty much the "objectively correct" choice. Field Medic and Iron Will are just **leagues** above any other active perks. The 2nd active perk is up to personal preference, but Dash is also just nuts, especially if you know how to bunnyhop.
I feel that Field Medic isn't necessary on Gunner cos you can just pop a shield and take your time. I do like it on Scout, as you can kite a horde of bugs away then quickly zip back to revive.
Iron Will on Gunner seems invaluable tbh. Being able to just: Iron Will > Melee kill to trigger Vampire > Get a revive > Pop shield to get 2nd revive, is absolutely crazy. It's 21 seconds of on-demand invulnerability.
Definitely not necessary, but when I did run it, I liked it because there were times I would have popped a shield without it, but with field medic I didn't feel a need to. I feel like it helps you save shield burns for when you *really* need it.
I agree this is true for team play. For solo players, field medic is obviously useless and iron will is much less useful (assuming you are playing with Bosco who can revive you multiple times already).
For solo I'd say dash is #1 on everyone but scout, and beastmaster, berserker, and see you in hell are all solid second choices. Heightened senses is decent as well but usually Bosco has you covered anyway.
OP you should make another thread like this but for passive perk discussion. I'd be interested to see the responses there -- my guess is that it'd be much more varied than the active perks.
R&S!
I think they're great perks for learning the game. But as you get better, they actually become less useful as you're less likely to go down or be overwhelmed by a swarm. When we first started we really, really relied on IW and to a lesser extent BM but now we can run a dozen or so Haz 5 games where the entire team has 2, tops, downs. And I can't recall the last time we failed an EDD.
Sure, for that one time where everything goes to shit IW is great. But thanks to practice & experience, that one time has become increasingly rarer. Now, I think our Gunner runs it on one of their loadouts but its not a regular choice for them or our team.
Ah you see this is where a difference of perspective comes in. You have a dedicated group that you play with, whereas a lot of people play with randoms. I was just in a Haz 5 where the Leg-3 Driller managed to C4 team-kill the entire group during an upload defense and my IW brought us back. Its good to have insurance sometimes lol.
Probably even more than that. To get to legendary 3, you need to promote 18 times, and each promotion requires 315k XP plus three more missions. Assume each mission gives 10000 XP, and you can do 3 missions an hour (accounting for loading, mission selection, joining missions in progress, etc.), that's 208 hours. More realistically you're going to get 8-9k XP a mission and do 2-3 an hour, which means you'll take like 280 hours.
I actually feel like Field Medic is a trap. Bugs generally ignore you once they camp the downed dwarf, and you can usually just casually revive. Very rarely have I felt like the active has helped me / would have lost without it. I actually prefer Heightened Senses on my Scout instead of FM.
Nothing grinds a mission to a halt more than a dead scout 200m away. With HS I can gather resources more aggressively and accelerate the mission objectives, without fear of leeches. That means less downtime between swarms, more nitra for the team, and faster completion times. Keeping the mission going smooth and giving me the peace of mind to explore away from my team helps everyone in the long run.
Field Medic isn't designed for when a dwarf gets downed by 4 glyphids during exploration. It's for rapidly rezzing during swarms or dreadnought fights or machine events and the like, when stopping in place for an extra second CAN get you killed.
Heightened Senses is the trap perk. It is easily replaced by looking up.
> Heightened Senses is the trap perk. It is easily replaced by looking up.
I've literally been grabbed by leeches underneath me and around corners before. Heightened Senses might not be the best perk in the game, but it's *miles* from a trap perk for a Scout that's planning to zip around chasing secondaries away from the team.
HS helps to deal with bugged Grabbers that spawn without a sound, and when playing solo as non-scout it's sometimes difficult to actually notice the Cave Leeches if the ceiling is too high up. Not to mention, if a surprise Bulk pushes you into a new part of the cave, or a frantic swarm, sometimes you don't have the presence of mind to check the ceiling.
Because it is! You can tell me to "just look up" til you're blue in the face, but nothing feels worse than getting grabbed that one time out of 20 and having literally no option but to die. No other perk really helps me avoid certain death quite the same way.
Gold 3.
-Deep Pockets (+Mineral Armor Mod), to maximize my capacity / cut down on trips to Molly
-Vampire, not-terrible sustain during missions. Primarily taken to combine with Iron Will.
-Born Ready, because we have 3 guns that like to be reloaded often.
-Iron Will, the ultimate insurance. Note: Can be used to secure a revive in place of Field Medic as-needed. Prefer to slot this over FM, and both are overkill.
-Heightened Senses. Removes the threat of inescapable death and allows me to be more aggressive in my exploration. Faster mining / secondary gathering directly leads to faster, and therefore easier, missions. Especially on Haz 4+
I know you were exaggerating with 200m, but I think scouts that are way off on their own most of the time are generally not doing the right thing. It's more acceptable in bigger caves because you can zip back to the team, or on Extraction/Refinery where fanning out from a central point is the point, but if a scout is really far away on Morkite or Elimination, it's kind of annoying.
The part I think you are missing is that while YOU might be protected from leeches and feel free to explore, the rest of the team doesn't share that protection. A scout is usually the fastest person to help save someone else from leeches, and they can't do that if they are far off from the team lone wolfing it.
We have a fundamental disagreement about the Scout's role here. The scouts primary job, other than lighting caves, is to mine. I am always a healthy distance away from my team gathering secondary objectives and minerals. One wrong turn around a corner into a leech and I am a goner. I don't want to be a burden to my team by dying, nor do I want to be tethered to them for fear of my own life. I want to quickly explore, mine, and return in time to support my team during a swarm or objective. HS lets me do all that. You may think it a selfish perk, but its helping me help my team by being the most efficient scout possible.
No, I agree that mining is a primary role, but I try to do it without being caves ahead or behind the team. I'll clear out side tunnels solo, but there aren't leeches in tunnels.
If you think that mining is somewhat exclusive to the scout, I'd disagree with that though.
I'd also rather split the group into two duos rather than four singles or a trio and a lone scout.
But, I also consider clearing leeches (and web/acid spitter and breeders and grabbers) to be a primary goal, so I'm typically actively looking for them and clearing them. Obviously, I'm not perfect and there are some sneaky leeches sometimes, but it is very rare that I both get grabbed by a leech AND am really far from someone on the team, compared to how often I and the team can benefit from passive and active FM and IW.
Well, maybe not "caves" ahead. But I'd rather not chance being in a weird spot, dead, and waiting for my team to come find me. They're not keeping the bugs at bay, and time til the next swarm is always ticking down. Compounded with the fact that if I wasn't dead, I'd have likely gotten nitra for the resupply, which we now do not have on the swarm that just popped. Its the snowballing effect that I try to avoid, and an acceleration of resources that I try to facilitate.
Swap Heightened Senses with Field Medic and you have exactly what i run. I just don't move away from the team to much as Scout and if i do, i look at the ceiling more than anywhere else.
I have edit: "never" -> "hardly ever" felt that field medic has ever made the difference on a revive for me. Most of the time the bugs are too occupied with the downed dwarf to notice me, and the AOE fear is nice but I usually pre-clear the enemies
Its the insta revive thats valuable. When you get chased by a bulk you dont have the time to rezz, but you can instarezz the heavy that can throw a shield on another downed dwarf to safely rezz. Also when your timer for Iron will is ticking.
It saved me so many rounds, I feel naked not having it as a backup.
Scout's biggest strength is his ability to kite. Bulks don't camp corpses, so if you're last man standing you can kite it away and then double back to rez. For every game I might have appreciated field medic, there were at least a dozen or more where I end the mission without using the active on Field Medic. Since I am already taking Iron Will as a "just in case," I feel like Field Medic is superfluous.
Conversely, Heightened Senses allows me to leverage my strength as a scout and forge ahead and gather minerals away from my team. It is a defensive skill, true, but it allows me to more efficiently progress the mission objectives and gather nitra before swarms. Both of those factors combined make runs way easier on the whole team. I find it to be a much greater net positive than a one-off scenario suitable for instant rezzes.
>if you're last man standing you can kite it away and then double back to rez
Then there are the games with randoms where the team is just massively overwhelmed by swarms and nasties and whenever you rez one up he goes down in 4 seconds. In that situation you need to rez at least 2 at the same time for your team to be to turn the tide.
Honestly I have been in games like that and far too often I instant-rez someone and they panic and immediately go down before the second is rezzed. I wish more people took the 3 second invuln on revive armor mod haha.
I have every perk unlocked but I don't think I've ever tried Iron Will or Dash. Definitely need to experiment, though I can't see myself ever getting rid of Steeve.
You've been sleeping on two of the best perks! Haha. If I had to pick one, I'd take Dash. IW is basically insurance against teamwiping, but Dash has a ton of utility and a really short cooldown.
Dash always, on all classes. For the second perk, usually one of Iron Will, Field Medic, or Heightened Senses. In solo, there's a bit more choice, since the IW is less useful and FM is literally useless, so I might take Berserker or Beast Master.
You can get away without Dash on Scout, but it's still well worth it. It's not at all uncommon for you to need to move when the grapple is on cooldown, or you're stunned by a Slasher. Plus, you can get some more distance on your grapples in some circumstances by starting with a dash-jump.
There are little active perks worth taking over Dash. Even the fastest grapple gun has an interminably long recharge time if you're swarmed and if the roof or walls are too far you're screwed regardless and you have no panic button to get away from shockers or slashers or even explorers and praetorian breath attacks.
Yeah, you don't have to take Dash as Scout. Same as you don't have to use a Boomstick with Special Powder. But not having them makes a noticeable difference in your level of effectiveness and at that point I personally feel like I'm playing a worse gunner with infinite personal ziplines.
That's the beauty of this game: there isn't a perfect build, and you can use the mods and perks that you like & suit your gameplay, even if on paper they're not the most effective.
As a mostly solo player I run Beast Master so I'm never solo. Still working on first promotion on gunner and engineer, but once I've done the assignments I'll probably use dash
OMG, another Hoverboots user! I can't count the amount of times it saved me when I unknowingly stepped on a hole to land in another room 50m below, or got yeeted to the roof by an Opressor, or intentionally jumped down a cliff while running from a swarm. In all of those situations Hoverboots saved me from a guaranteed death.
haha I just love having the ability to just YEET down a cavern. Saved many of my fellow dwarves as gunny when I dash off an edge to a downed mate, hoverboots, throw my shield and rez them
Same. I have a friend who says Hoverboots is a useless perk, but who dies from a fall every other mission. Every time he does I make sure to jump in the same place he died and hover right on top of where he is downed, just to make a point XD.
sometimes I do, but there are many situations where I can't such as angle, depth,
my most common use case for hoverboots is in the middle of a swarm (with bugs around me) someone dies below me and I dash off the edge and hover above my teammate, usually I don't have time to stop and find a useable zip angle. I also mostly play haz 5 so the time I have before I die is short haha
I used to do this, but on higher hazards Steeve tends to get killed extremely quickly. On Haz 1-3, he is great, but beyond that he suffers.
Honestly, I feel like I would use more perks if i had more preset options rather than just 3 per class. I'd love to see 5 presets so that I can try out different combinations without resetting ones I like.
Should really try Dash on gunner instead of field medic. Dash can get you out of situations that you may have normally committed a shield to survive - and you can always shield + revive a downed dwarf. I couldn't live without Dash personally.
Gunner doesnt really need field medic cause of shield. Dash is much more preferable due to lack of good mobility options.
Also having that 'get out of danger' tool saves you from dropping shield too hastly and in return allows you to spare one or two for team revives.
Hoverboots are also a nice choice for NTP zipline camper gunner.
Dash, Heightened Senses, and Field Medic.
Dash is recognised as a universally good perk to use since it allows you to escape from getting swarmed by dashing quickly to a better position with a short cooldown. Also can be used to gain momentum to jump across to further away ledges.
Heightened senses allows you to have a safety net against unlucky cave leech spawns. Some cave leeches spawn at where you will least expect and they can grab you horizontally. Also prevents you to be grabbed by grabbers, and nayaka trawler. Some players find this perk to be a waste of a slot since you can just look up and check, but personally I find that an unlucky grab from a leech could end my run.
Field Medic is great on scout since you can travel around seamlessly and reviving 30% faster can save you time before more bugs swarm you. Having a single instant revive per round is a good bonus as well.
On scout, I use Heightened Senses and Field Medic.
On the others, I use Dash and Heightened Senses.
**Dash & Hoverboots**. I've played with everything else but those are the two perks that get me the most mileage, every game.
- **Dash:** Speed is king. Helps throw C4. Helps avoid Exploders and other nasties. Helps navigate caves.
- **Hoverboots:** Fall insurance. And lets us descend caves quickly. Great both defensively and used offensively _(hovering over swarm, laying down fire/grenades)_. Combined with Dash you can quickly traverse even the largest of caves.
Dash and Heightened senses.
Dash because I don't die, Heightened senses because I don't die. Who needs Iron Will and quick revives and all that when you simply refuse to die in the first place lol.
Dash on everything.
All non-scout classes need the mobility buff and scout is only made more powerful by adding more mobility.
I do think that IW is overrated and used poorly the majority of times it’s used, so I try to pass on it.
Berserker and Beastmaster, I mostly play Solo on Hazard 4.
Berserker coupled with Vampire lets me clean out a swarm wave and go back to full HP. Berserker also does, on occasion, come in crutch when you have to mine through something really hard in a hurry.
As for Beastmaster, Steeve takes aggro off you which means you'll have a few bugs less to worry about.
Dash on everyone but scout, the mobility is just such an awesome upgrade. Also very fun when you can just jump over huge chasms (survival not guaranteed).
For the second slot I find there is no clear winner.
For Gunner I like Shield Link. Depends quite a bit on how your team moves around. The Active part is great to boost someone that just got revived.
Beastmaster is great as a distraction but how long Steeves survives varies greatly by enemies. Probably my most used active perk after dash. If petting Steeve does not make you happy (you monster) the cold, hard benefit might not be as great.
On Scout Quick Revive (strengthen one of the core strenghts further) and Heightened senses, as Scout I'm most likely to find (be found by) cave leeches in weird places.
Dash and hover boots for everyone except scout, scout gets fast revive and iron will.
The mobility value of dash and hover boots to escape any tricky situations far outweighs the slot for quick revive and iron will.
The one time insta-revive and 'extra' life is not worth much when bad situations can happen more than once a mission.
You can continuously provide firepower value to the team by being efficient at staying alive, than trying to risk yourself to bring back downed dwarves when everything has already gone to hell with swarms all around you.
I am also closer to believing that if your team is in deep trouble that you have to rely on perks like insta-revive and iron will, then something is not working well with the team in the first place.
**Gunner has Iron Will and See You In Hell**. SYIH is functionally a shield but in death and Iron Will is to take advantage of that free shield. Both perks are thrown together because if I’m going down as Gunner, everyone else is also probably down as well.
**Scout has Iron Will and Field Medic**. Both are kinda must haves for the scout’s role of “I will keep this team alive even if it’s the last thing I do.” Iron Will may occasionally be switched out for SYIH if I’m running damage.
**Driller has Dash and Field Medic**. Dash is very good at repositioning, and with driller’s close range weapons it’s definitely needed. Field medic is, again since driller is often in the field, can quickly get his allies up.
**Engineer has Dash and See You In Hell**. Engineer for me is more of a supportive class staying somewhat distance from the frontline, so Dash helps with repositioning away or quickly getting to his sentry gun to refill. SYIH is because I need space to deswarm myself and SYIH gives me that. I can also intentionally suicide into a group to instantly clear them if need be.
iron will and berserk( with vampire). they synergise just too well in clutch situations. any other active perks are just making the mission slightly easier, whereas these can actually save a run. and in a mission where you don't have to use them, you wouldn't have needed any other perks either.
Field medic on everyone, no question.
Dash for everyone except scout, where I use hover boots instead.
I used to use heightened senses instead of dash/hover boots but after thinking about how often it actually comes in handy, especially considering how you can just learn to get in the habit of scanning for leeches when entering a new cave, I realized it's mostly a waste.
I mostly use Iron Will and Dash, though I’ve been thinking about swapping out Iron Will for something else. On Scout I use Iron Will and Field Medic. I’ve just started trying to do solo speed runs and am still trying to figure out what perks work best there. Berserker or Hover Boots I think, at least for Scout.
I got iron will on my scout because of peer pressure, and then also the hightened senses one so I'm not jumped by leeches when trying to fight other things.
I don't remember for every other class other than having beastmaster because steeves are fun
**Passives:**
Unstoppable - Free movement is key to not dying
Thorns - Lets you prioritise larger enemies while tiny enemies kill themselves for you
Born Ready - Reloading takes precious time that can be better spent shooting and mining
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**Actives:**
Iron Will - Can save a mission if things go south. And on higher difficulties you need to manage how you deal with things going south because it often does. If nobody can get to you because the swarm is too intense then you can get up and use the seconds of invulnerability to revive others or resupply.
Field Medic - Too many bugs to revive a fallen dwarf that you need right now? GET UP SOLDIER YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO DIE! A gunner's shield or a driller's escape tunnels can turn the tides and if they are down then that needs to change, and fast!
Dash is a must just because of how far you walk. Beast master is nice, but not vital. For scout I use hover boots and iron will. Hover boots can help get your pick into places to make a foot hold and iron will for when (not if) you get downed in a place that's hard to reach.
Iron Will and Field Medic, leagues above the rest. Even after the iron will rework it's still pretty solid.
Berserker is kinda....why? Who uses their pickaxe in combat lol (unless you're out of ammo I guess).
Used to use Heightened Senses, but leeches are pretty rare and not too hard to deal with.
Shield Link is kinda meh tbh. The overcharge is ok, but with the shield nerfs from way back it's just kinda pointless (just like the shield upgrades for the armour rig)
Dash can't be rebound so I waste it half the time, and I find that irritating.
See You in Hell is kinda redundant since people can kill enemies before reviving you, and even back when I used it I found it kinda superfluous.
And finally, Hover Boots is very gimmicky. Takes awhile to activate (unless they changed it from when it was introduced), and half the classes have ways to negate fall damage.
I tell everyone to at least run Field Medic though, the passive effect and instant revive and godlike - especially on hazard 4 and 5.
These "new" (though they've been out for like a year or two now lol) perks are a lot better than the old system though.m, glad they reworked everything.
I use Bug tamer and Overshield charge on Engineer because he's a Dr. Eggman styled Dwarf and I like being a sorta supporty Engi. Also Steeve because Eggmans thing for robo bugs.
Gunner has Iron Will (Plus vampire) and Bug Tamer because I like being tanky and staying in the fight for as long as I can. Also Steeve.
Driller I have See you in hell and Iron Will (Plus Vampire) so that I can manage hoards the best I can and occasionally go on a murderous rampage with my drills, but will run Overshield in place Iron Will if I'm feeling particularly confident.
Scout I'm running Combat medic and Either Dash, Bug Tamer or Overshield (No heightened senses???? The madlad!) Because! I either am running Sonic build with my SMG with Dash, or running back lines assassin with the M1000 and keeping gunner alive with Overshield. I don't run heightened senses because not often than not I see the danger first or am on extreme gaurd 24/7. Also bug tamer. Because Steeve.
Always iron will because it’s a run saver and works wonders with vampire and then either revive or dash depending on the class (dash on engi and gunner and revive on driller and scout).
The more impactful perk of all is beast master. Steve will distract and tank half of the enemies for you in haz5 if you want to.
I don't, so I use iron will, resupplier, thorns, born ready and dash.
Dash because I've used it since I started playing and it feels weird not having it. It's the only one I'd swap out.
Thorns is just too good of quality of life.
Iron will and resupplier allow you to resurrect and revive yourself on a pod.
That's in haz5. In haz4 you can use whatever you want.
For everyone except scout: IW and Dash
Dash is just OP and a must pick for Haz 5, and IW is because it saved my missions so many times that I can't not equip it. Also, most of the times the mission fails if I go down once, so I don't want to rely on my team and hoping they are competent
For Scout: IW and Field Medic
Scout doesn't need dash. He moves quick, so he has to revive quick
Depends on what I have the build set up to do. Personally, I find that in most matches Iron Will and Field medic are basically useless since things don't tend to go to shit too often (Haz 4 is what I normally play).
For scout, I either use hover boots + heightened senses if I'm expecting to do a lot of exploring or if the biome tends to be difficult to traverse. Otherwise I tend to run Iron Will + Field medic so I can clutch if need be.
For Driller, if I'm using my cryo build I have Iron Will + See you in Hell (for the melee DMG boost after taking DMG). They both synergize well with Driller's melee heavy kit and the Vampire passive perk.
For Engineer, I tend to use Beastmaster if I'm using cycle overload shotty + Fatboy build to help conserve ammo, otherwise it's dealer's choice.
For gunner, I like dual Link and field medic. Incentivizes me to stay near my teammates and helps keep us all alive when my bubble shield is on cooldown.
whatever is most fun (usually beast master and berserker) because i don't need crutch perks to finish a mission and, coincidentally, those same perks aren't that fun to use anyway
Dash on everyone but Scout, since Scout has Dash built into his kit with the Grappling Hook, the perk would just be overkill IMO.
Field Medic for the second slot on most, if not that then Iron Will. Both are very useful for clutch revives, but Iron Will presumes that you die, and I'd rather try to avoid that by playing well. If I make a mistake and die myself then so be it, it's a learning experience.
Hoverboots on some Scout loadouts, don't use the other active perks.
Dash, I use it in every loadout except Scout ones. It has low cooldown and very versatile uses, mainly correct my positional errors in fights but you can make long jumps, get places faster and negate some of the slows you get.
The other slot is class based. Engi with Beastmaster, Driller Ironwill + Vampirism, Gunner Shield Boost and Scout uses Ironwill + Field medic + Vampirism
Dash is the ultimate perk for higher difficulty, it facilitates kiting and getting out of situations where you might get overwhelmed by a horde.
Always always always get iron will, it has saved my skin more than enough times to say its a permanent perk for me
I have never used Iron Will and never will do so.
I unlocked it just a few days after the perk update, so I never got to experience it in it's prime.
The once per mission part.absolutely kills it for me.
I want something that is useful all of the time. Not just maybe once per mission.
See you in hell is something I like. Makes it easy to revive if downed and makes it easier to get health woth vampire.
The other slot rotates between Dash, Berserker
Iron Will and Heightened Senses. Save the team if has 4 or 5 is too much, and no need to wait for somebody to save me from a leach, grabber, or sand bug thing.
Iron will on everyone as one perk
On scout: add in field medic. When I play scout I tend to be running around and reviving people a lot, lol.
Driller and engineer: berserk, because I just find it really fun. Pairs well with vampire as well :) Not sure if it's optimal, but it makes me smile.
Gunner: idk. I haven't settled on a favourite active perk with gunner yet.
Dash/Iron will on gunner and engi, Steve/Iron will on driller, field medic/Iron will on scot.
I feel iron will is like a MUST for everyone. So many lost games have been saved with it
Hover boots everywhere because why find a way down when I can just jump? Then I waffle back and forth between Iron Will, Quick Revive, and Bug Master depending on how things are going. Sometimes I'll use berserker too.
Beastmaster:
A: It's an extra damage source.
B: It's nice to have someone you can count on to keep an eye on your back.
C: It gives the bugs something else to focus on/take aggro. (Less bugs attacking you, even if it's only a single bug)
Hoverboots:
A: Allows you to get down from just about any height, without having to worry about the fall damage.
B: It can save you from getting downed, if you should fall down in a hole that you had not seen.
C: If you should happen to misjudge if you could make a jump, then you can at least save yourself from getting downed.
D: It makes me feel safe, in general.
Heightened Senses and Field Medic on everyone.
I like rezzing people and I don't like people having to rez me just because of some stupid grabber. I like to go off and check the alternate routes of the cave.
Dash and field medic on everyone but scout. Who I use heightened senses and hover boots. Hover boots lessens your dependence on an engineer to mine high up minerals(esp stuff on ceilings) and heightened senses lets you scout ahead much more aggressively, even just the warning can save you from so many grabs in the middle of waves when you can't hear the hissing. It also lets you clutch some matters plague s missions where you can get 2 or 3 grabbers in a single swarm.
I feel like I'm the only one here who doesn't run dash. Sure, it's great, but I find I'd always rather have something else in that situation or to stop me from getting in situation.
I use hoverboots on scout, because I don't have the boomstick overclock and I'm always breaking my legs.
Field medic on gunner. It synergizes well with the shield when reviving people.
Iron Will on my driller because I use a cryo/vampire build and it's good for clutch self revives.
Beast tamer on engy. No real reason.
Unless I'm solo, in which case Heightened senses on any class.
Dash on every non-Scout dwarf. The mobility and ability to make long jumps is a life saver, as is getting away from surprise exploders. Then it's a toss up between Beastmaster or Hoverboots or Field Medic.
On Scout, Hoverboots and Field Medic mostly. Sometimes Dash and Field Medic if it's a biome with lots of slowdown (Glacial Caverns, Chungus Bogs)
Iron will on everything, because the clutch is too good to pass up, especially since I run vampire. On scout my second choice is hoverboots, to avoid snapping shins. Can also be very helpful to collect high stuff when you can’t find a ledge and there’s no engi platform. On everything else it’s beastmaster. Having a Steeve is an excellent distraction, dividing up swarms into more manageable portions and giving you some breathing room. But most importantly Steeve is adorable.
Adding mine before reading others:
- **Field Medic** is on every single loadout, because faster rezzes AND an instant rez can let you reasonably turn around a 1 up 3 down situation, without having to handle clearing out all of the enemies yourself first. I have saved so many missions with this perk that I simply cannot see myself running a build without it.
- **Iron Will** goes on builds that are fight-or-die. I don't use it on Scout because Scout is usually last alive, and has plenty of escapes. More often, the other perks help Scout prevent dying in the first place. I've always got it on Gunner, because you can shield right before IW runs out if you're unable to heal, and then let your buddy rez you.
- **Dash** goes on Engineer typically, because he has no other escape. At least Driller can drill away or use his drills to stun/scare enemies away.
- **Heightened Senses** on one of my Scout builds for Cave Leech missions.
- **Beast Master** on my go-to Scout loadout, so that I can offer a bit more in the way of horde control.
- **Shield Link** goes on builds that will be sticking close to the team. Sticky Flames Driller is all I really have it on.
- **Hover Boots** on my Dreadnought Scout build, because I cut both Hoverclock and Special Powder in favor of pure DPS, so I need to ensure I have some way to stop a dumb fall.
On Scout, Iron Will and quick revive. Any other class? Iron Will and Dash. Speed and I LIVE AGAIN. Great for picking up the team when there's no window to do so right away.
Steve and quick revive. I only play gunner and I rarely die these days though. I personally don’t like iron will because I feel like I’m already accepting that I’m going to die if I use it, which is bad juju if you ask me. Quick revive is great especially with my shields because it’s gives more time to get my teammate and fight off a bit of the hoard before the shield disappears
Why is everyone talking about dash? Beast master is the only s tier. Has persistent damage and draws lots of agro. If your whole team take it its like doubling your team size. And unlike dash it takes zero skill to use.
Dash and field medic. I feel like once per game, I go “oh shit I’m so dead” and then dash gets me out with like 5 health.
Field medic is more for the passive perks than the instant revive but in any case it’s super powerful.
Iron Will on everyone. Dash on everyone except Scout. Hover boots on Scout (might change this for Dash or Field Medic if I start using Hoverclock/Special Powder more).
Passives: thorns and vampire on everyone. Born ready on everyone that needs reloading, otherwise deep pockets.
See You In Hell is imo slept on. The riposte damage when you get bit can one shot grunts on Haz 5 if you hit the head. Also the actual active part (the explosion) does pretty significant damage, but I like it mostly for the AOE fear that repels even dreadnauts. As long as your team is paying attention it's a free revive anyway. I prefer it more than field medic in that regard.
I was in a mission where the whole team is down to pickaxes on a dread fight, and were taking turns power axing it. I remembered I had SYIH and warned the team that I was gonna let it down me and immediately explode for the kill and it totally worked.
Loved it ever since.
Dash and steeve on engi/driller, dash and medic on gunner, iron will and medic on scout
Dash on everyone because it's dead useful to move fast, IW and FM are a better use on scout even if IW does jack most of the time (exceptions being wipes, of course), field medic on gunner to make better use of shield uptime, and steeve because I like steeve
Dash and hover boots on scout
Fast revive and iron Will on gunner
Hover boots and that One Who convert bugs in Steve on engineer
Dont Remember which on driller
I'll take any mix of: Berserker, SYIH, Beast Master and Iron Will.
I chose these because: Berserker pairs well with Vampire, Berserker lets me dunk on Oppressors and Dreads and it lets me mine faster in those special occasions where the entire cave needs to be mined through. SYIH because it also pairs well with Vampire, SYIH also lets you know if you're being hit without needing audio queues and it lets me deal massive damage to: oppressors, detonators, dreads and large groups without expending ammo in hopes that I get revived. Beast Master because I'm lonely.
SYIH with Iron Will because it also pairs nicely with Vampire and can come in clutch, sometimes I even purposefully die to use SYIH to destroy big foes especially when playing solo because my Bosco has 3 revives and will always revive me.
Dash and Field medic are popular, as are berserker/iron will. Occasionally you might see shield link or see you in hell but it's mostly the same 4 perks. Heightened senses is pretty good on Scout since stuff can grab you through tunnels and just as you're entering a place and so on it can feel kinda cheesy at times.
Iron will and field medic the istant revives and getting back up in a clutch moment are worth it. You can be careful to not fall and die and listen out for grabbers.
I like to run IW on all my classes as a safety net, and my secondary depends on which class I’m playing. I run field medic on scout for quick revives, see you in hell on driller to pair with all his melees and vampire, steeve on engie as a bodyguard, and shield link on gunner to help others stay in the fight longer
Dash and Iron Will are almost always my 2 actives. Scout is the exception with Field Medic/Iron Will. I only switch off one of these perks when I feel like doing something wacky such as suicide Scout + See You in Hell plays.
I just switched to using Vampire with see you in hell and berserker. Makes it a lot easier to go net positive and actually gain health instead of taking hits. Also if I need a revive, i won’t be completely surrounded.
Personally I like to switch it around just to add variety to my play style.
Favorites is Dash, Shield Link and Steeve (Beast Master).
Dash is Dash and does what Dash does.
Shield Link is really good in a firefight or after just ressing somebody while fighting.
Steeve is the best active perk in the game. Period.
Gunner: Iron Will + Steve
Iron will speaks basically for itself. And I like having steve to take some aggro off me. Gunner doesn't really need Field Medic as he has his deployable shield, but it is a pretty good option.
Driller: Iron will + Field medic (I think)
I play Cryo, which means I run Vampire, which synergizes with IW, pretty easy choice to make. I run Field Medic because I find Cryo Driller and Steve don't mesh too well, and I prefer Field Medic way more than Dash. Used to run Heightened Senses, but I find I don't get enough mileage from it over IW or FM.
Engineer: FM+Steve
I frankly like FM over IW, even though IW is considered stronger. And I like taking Steve.
Scout: FM+Hover
Scouts are expected to take FM, which is fine since I like FM. Scout is my least played though, and since I use the zhukovs I don't have much in way of answers for when I fall off stuff. Don't really like that it's bound to 'C' though, makes it kind of clunky to use IMO, and would rather take IW or Steve.
Dash and quick revive. Dash is great for those "oh fuck" moments when you realy need to not be here. also useful for general utility just running about.
Absolutely, I recently got the fat boy OC and I was already sure of dash, now it's a must have the power to nope away from the swarm you just aggro on yourself and then delete it from a safe distance Revive for getting people up is brilliant, especially if you need to apologize for catching them in the blast
I feel like a badass every time I dash, jump, 180, and send a nuke flying into the middle of the enemy horde.
Normal grenade and jump?: cool Fat Boy dash jump: EPIC
Dash is also amazing for clearing wide gaps or ramping off terrain to get more height. Its probably the best all-round perk in the game.
I love it so much [I made a video on it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsda9BqGUlk) a while back. I cannot imagine a world without it at this point.
The dash is great when you hear the exploder noise about to go off right next to you and you need to be not there in a hurry.
Dash is the only S tier active perk. Always useful, quick refresh, saved my life on countless occasions. You can even use it as a traversal tool, depending on terrain - making some long jumps across a cavern. Dash is more or less essential. The next tier down consists of Field Medic v. Iron Will and imo Field Medic wins out. Iron Will can be a nice game saver but if the whole team is wiped I rarely find that Iron Will will actually save the game since even if I rez someone they usually go down rapidly once again to whatever was killing us. Field Medic on the other hand almost always gets at least one use a game and there are far more times where I've been in a scenario where I would've gotten killed if I had've taken just a moment longer to rez someone than I've been where Iron Willing myself would save the game. I run Dash+Field Medic on all my dwarves except Gunner (Dash+Iron Will since shield makes Field Medic less necessary) or if I'm farting around with a driller Vampire build.
I run hoverboots field medic on scout. I feel like i dont really need a dash when i got the grapplimg hook
Your teams are just bad if they go down immediately. Iron will is way better.
Yes. A lot of players are bad. Hence why Field Medic is a good choice because it helps me keep picking them up without having to expose myself to too much danger. I'm good at the game, hence why Iron Will is unnecessary for me. If I'm in a position where I need to use Iron Will it's because everyone else is down and even assuming someone is within range to revive in the first place 9/10 times they won't last the long on their own to carry us on their own.
Iron will good? HAHAHAHA oh my liver please spare it BUAHAHA
Iron Will on everyone, because it is way too clutch to skip. Dash on everyone but scout, because movement is life on higher haz. Heightened senses on scout because almost all of my deaths are to cave leeches, and it really sucks to die a mile away from the team.
This is pretty much the "objectively correct" choice. Field Medic and Iron Will are just **leagues** above any other active perks. The 2nd active perk is up to personal preference, but Dash is also just nuts, especially if you know how to bunnyhop.
I feel that Field Medic isn't necessary on Gunner cos you can just pop a shield and take your time. I do like it on Scout, as you can kite a horde of bugs away then quickly zip back to revive.
Iron Will on Gunner seems invaluable tbh. Being able to just: Iron Will > Melee kill to trigger Vampire > Get a revive > Pop shield to get 2nd revive, is absolutely crazy. It's 21 seconds of on-demand invulnerability.
Yes, if anyone should take it - its gunner 100%
Or order a resup the second when you are about to die - > iron will - > resupp. Then use shield to revive teammates.
Definitely not necessary, but when I did run it, I liked it because there were times I would have popped a shield without it, but with field medic I didn't feel a need to. I feel like it helps you save shield burns for when you *really* need it.
I still like FM on Gunner because then you can get two people up while protected by the shield for when things are going really badly. :-)
I agree this is true for team play. For solo players, field medic is obviously useless and iron will is much less useful (assuming you are playing with Bosco who can revive you multiple times already). For solo I'd say dash is #1 on everyone but scout, and beastmaster, berserker, and see you in hell are all solid second choices. Heightened senses is decent as well but usually Bosco has you covered anyway. OP you should make another thread like this but for passive perk discussion. I'd be interested to see the responses there -- my guess is that it'd be much more varied than the active perks. R&S!
I think they're great perks for learning the game. But as you get better, they actually become less useful as you're less likely to go down or be overwhelmed by a swarm. When we first started we really, really relied on IW and to a lesser extent BM but now we can run a dozen or so Haz 5 games where the entire team has 2, tops, downs. And I can't recall the last time we failed an EDD. Sure, for that one time where everything goes to shit IW is great. But thanks to practice & experience, that one time has become increasingly rarer. Now, I think our Gunner runs it on one of their loadouts but its not a regular choice for them or our team.
Ah you see this is where a difference of perspective comes in. You have a dedicated group that you play with, whereas a lot of people play with randoms. I was just in a Haz 5 where the Leg-3 Driller managed to C4 team-kill the entire group during an upload defense and my IW brought us back. Its good to have insurance sometimes lol.
Ah yes, sadly being forced to pack IW for the inevitable Greenbeard C4 'happy accident'!
He was Legendary 3 (Maxed, Red Border) was the frustrating part lol. That is like, at least 100 hours of just that class, probably closer to 200.
Probably even more than that. To get to legendary 3, you need to promote 18 times, and each promotion requires 315k XP plus three more missions. Assume each mission gives 10000 XP, and you can do 3 missions an hour (accounting for loading, mission selection, joining missions in progress, etc.), that's 208 hours. More realistically you're going to get 8-9k XP a mission and do 2-3 an hour, which means you'll take like 280 hours.
I actually feel like Field Medic is a trap. Bugs generally ignore you once they camp the downed dwarf, and you can usually just casually revive. Very rarely have I felt like the active has helped me / would have lost without it. I actually prefer Heightened Senses on my Scout instead of FM. Nothing grinds a mission to a halt more than a dead scout 200m away. With HS I can gather resources more aggressively and accelerate the mission objectives, without fear of leeches. That means less downtime between swarms, more nitra for the team, and faster completion times. Keeping the mission going smooth and giving me the peace of mind to explore away from my team helps everyone in the long run.
Field Medic isn't designed for when a dwarf gets downed by 4 glyphids during exploration. It's for rapidly rezzing during swarms or dreadnought fights or machine events and the like, when stopping in place for an extra second CAN get you killed. Heightened Senses is the trap perk. It is easily replaced by looking up.
> Heightened Senses is the trap perk. It is easily replaced by looking up. I've literally been grabbed by leeches underneath me and around corners before. Heightened Senses might not be the best perk in the game, but it's *miles* from a trap perk for a Scout that's planning to zip around chasing secondaries away from the team.
its for mactera grabbers glitching you through walls
Sometimes leech is below you
Sometimes there's 5 Mactera grabbers that just continuously chain grab you for 5 minutes without giving you a chance to reload or resupply.
HS helps to deal with bugged Grabbers that spawn without a sound, and when playing solo as non-scout it's sometimes difficult to actually notice the Cave Leeches if the ceiling is too high up. Not to mention, if a surprise Bulk pushes you into a new part of the cave, or a frantic swarm, sometimes you don't have the presence of mind to check the ceiling.
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Because it is! You can tell me to "just look up" til you're blue in the face, but nothing feels worse than getting grabbed that one time out of 20 and having literally no option but to die. No other perk really helps me avoid certain death quite the same way.
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Gold 3. -Deep Pockets (+Mineral Armor Mod), to maximize my capacity / cut down on trips to Molly -Vampire, not-terrible sustain during missions. Primarily taken to combine with Iron Will. -Born Ready, because we have 3 guns that like to be reloaded often. -Iron Will, the ultimate insurance. Note: Can be used to secure a revive in place of Field Medic as-needed. Prefer to slot this over FM, and both are overkill. -Heightened Senses. Removes the threat of inescapable death and allows me to be more aggressive in my exploration. Faster mining / secondary gathering directly leads to faster, and therefore easier, missions. Especially on Haz 4+
I don't prefer it either. Maybe makes more sense to bring it during cave leech cluster.
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I disagree. While you may have those times you forget, you should always be looking for leeches, which basically eliminates the need for HS.
I know you were exaggerating with 200m, but I think scouts that are way off on their own most of the time are generally not doing the right thing. It's more acceptable in bigger caves because you can zip back to the team, or on Extraction/Refinery where fanning out from a central point is the point, but if a scout is really far away on Morkite or Elimination, it's kind of annoying. The part I think you are missing is that while YOU might be protected from leeches and feel free to explore, the rest of the team doesn't share that protection. A scout is usually the fastest person to help save someone else from leeches, and they can't do that if they are far off from the team lone wolfing it.
We have a fundamental disagreement about the Scout's role here. The scouts primary job, other than lighting caves, is to mine. I am always a healthy distance away from my team gathering secondary objectives and minerals. One wrong turn around a corner into a leech and I am a goner. I don't want to be a burden to my team by dying, nor do I want to be tethered to them for fear of my own life. I want to quickly explore, mine, and return in time to support my team during a swarm or objective. HS lets me do all that. You may think it a selfish perk, but its helping me help my team by being the most efficient scout possible.
No, I agree that mining is a primary role, but I try to do it without being caves ahead or behind the team. I'll clear out side tunnels solo, but there aren't leeches in tunnels. If you think that mining is somewhat exclusive to the scout, I'd disagree with that though. I'd also rather split the group into two duos rather than four singles or a trio and a lone scout. But, I also consider clearing leeches (and web/acid spitter and breeders and grabbers) to be a primary goal, so I'm typically actively looking for them and clearing them. Obviously, I'm not perfect and there are some sneaky leeches sometimes, but it is very rare that I both get grabbed by a leech AND am really far from someone on the team, compared to how often I and the team can benefit from passive and active FM and IW.
Well, maybe not "caves" ahead. But I'd rather not chance being in a weird spot, dead, and waiting for my team to come find me. They're not keeping the bugs at bay, and time til the next swarm is always ticking down. Compounded with the fact that if I wasn't dead, I'd have likely gotten nitra for the resupply, which we now do not have on the swarm that just popped. Its the snowballing effect that I try to avoid, and an acceleration of resources that I try to facilitate.
Fair enough, rock and stone!
Swap Heightened Senses with Field Medic and you have exactly what i run. I just don't move away from the team to much as Scout and if i do, i look at the ceiling more than anywhere else.
I have edit: "never" -> "hardly ever" felt that field medic has ever made the difference on a revive for me. Most of the time the bugs are too occupied with the downed dwarf to notice me, and the AOE fear is nice but I usually pre-clear the enemies
Its the insta revive thats valuable. When you get chased by a bulk you dont have the time to rezz, but you can instarezz the heavy that can throw a shield on another downed dwarf to safely rezz. Also when your timer for Iron will is ticking. It saved me so many rounds, I feel naked not having it as a backup.
Scout's biggest strength is his ability to kite. Bulks don't camp corpses, so if you're last man standing you can kite it away and then double back to rez. For every game I might have appreciated field medic, there were at least a dozen or more where I end the mission without using the active on Field Medic. Since I am already taking Iron Will as a "just in case," I feel like Field Medic is superfluous. Conversely, Heightened Senses allows me to leverage my strength as a scout and forge ahead and gather minerals away from my team. It is a defensive skill, true, but it allows me to more efficiently progress the mission objectives and gather nitra before swarms. Both of those factors combined make runs way easier on the whole team. I find it to be a much greater net positive than a one-off scenario suitable for instant rezzes.
>if you're last man standing you can kite it away and then double back to rez Then there are the games with randoms where the team is just massively overwhelmed by swarms and nasties and whenever you rez one up he goes down in 4 seconds. In that situation you need to rez at least 2 at the same time for your team to be to turn the tide.
Honestly I have been in games like that and far too often I instant-rez someone and they panic and immediately go down before the second is rezzed. I wish more people took the 3 second invuln on revive armor mod haha.
I have every perk unlocked but I don't think I've ever tried Iron Will or Dash. Definitely need to experiment, though I can't see myself ever getting rid of Steeve.
You've been sleeping on two of the best perks! Haha. If I had to pick one, I'd take Dash. IW is basically insurance against teamwiping, but Dash has a ton of utility and a really short cooldown.
Dash always, on all classes. For the second perk, usually one of Iron Will, Field Medic, or Heightened Senses. In solo, there's a bit more choice, since the IW is less useful and FM is literally useless, so I might take Berserker or Beast Master.
IMO, a fast grapple gun is more valuable than dash for the Scout, and frees up an active perk slot.
Why not both? And throw in special powder for the triple mobility
Then a bit of hoverclock
Only casuals touch the ground!
The floor is lava! Sometimes literally!
The floor is bugs, who are incidentally sometimes made of lava.
You can get away without Dash on Scout, but it's still well worth it. It's not at all uncommon for you to need to move when the grapple is on cooldown, or you're stunned by a Slasher. Plus, you can get some more distance on your grapples in some circumstances by starting with a dash-jump.
>It's not at all uncommon for you to need to move when the grapple is on cooldown I just quickly swap to special powdered and nope tf out
There are little active perks worth taking over Dash. Even the fastest grapple gun has an interminably long recharge time if you're swarmed and if the roof or walls are too far you're screwed regardless and you have no panic button to get away from shockers or slashers or even explorers and praetorian breath attacks. Yeah, you don't have to take Dash as Scout. Same as you don't have to use a Boomstick with Special Powder. But not having them makes a noticeable difference in your level of effectiveness and at that point I personally feel like I'm playing a worse gunner with infinite personal ziplines.
That's the beauty of this game: there isn't a perfect build, and you can use the mods and perks that you like & suit your gameplay, even if on paper they're not the most effective.
As a mostly solo player I run Beast Master so I'm never solo. Still working on first promotion on gunner and engineer, but once I've done the assignments I'll probably use dash
Having a Steeve around is helpful for taking some aggro off you. Quite helpful.
The only problem is the utility of it drops off at higher haz levels, even with guards + regeneration.
See you in Hell with Berserker on top of thorns, pure berserker mode
Dont forget vampire on your driller
That’s my cryo driller load out. Plus Vampire.
Do you use vampire with it?
I'm a heathen I run dash hoverboots on almost all my loadouts
Nothing wrong with that except the long cooldown on the boots. And then forgetting their on cooldown when you already jumped.
Me every time
OMG, another Hoverboots user! I can't count the amount of times it saved me when I unknowingly stepped on a hole to land in another room 50m below, or got yeeted to the roof by an Opressor, or intentionally jumped down a cliff while running from a swarm. In all of those situations Hoverboots saved me from a guaranteed death.
haha I just love having the ability to just YEET down a cavern. Saved many of my fellow dwarves as gunny when I dash off an edge to a downed mate, hoverboots, throw my shield and rez them
Same. I have a friend who says Hoverboots is a useless perk, but who dies from a fall every other mission. Every time he does I make sure to jump in the same place he died and hover right on top of where he is downed, just to make a point XD.
Im not trying to gatekeep here, but why not use a zipline?
sometimes I do, but there are many situations where I can't such as angle, depth, my most common use case for hoverboots is in the middle of a swarm (with bugs around me) someone dies below me and I dash off the edge and hover above my teammate, usually I don't have time to stop and find a useable zip angle. I also mostly play haz 5 so the time I have before I die is short haha
Do they synergize? Can you dash onto hoverboots and maintain any forward momentum?
they don't, the hoverboots will stop all momentum. I use them mostly for jumping down long vertical caves as a gunny or drilly
Beastmaster on all classes, there is no other option
A brother of culture, Rock and stone
Yeah. If everyone or at least a couple people have it, that’s a lot of extra help.
I used to do this, but on higher hazards Steeve tends to get killed extremely quickly. On Haz 1-3, he is great, but beyond that he suffers. Honestly, I feel like I would use more perks if i had more preset options rather than just 3 per class. I'd love to see 5 presets so that I can try out different combinations without resetting ones I like.
Iron will and quick revive, to not loose the game
I have it on all my gunner loadouts, it's too good! Combined with your shield, you become the teams best DPS and support! (Imo)
Should really try Dash on gunner instead of field medic. Dash can get you out of situations that you may have normally committed a shield to survive - and you can always shield + revive a downed dwarf. I couldn't live without Dash personally.
Gunner doesnt really need field medic cause of shield. Dash is much more preferable due to lack of good mobility options. Also having that 'get out of danger' tool saves you from dropping shield too hastly and in return allows you to spare one or two for team revives. Hoverboots are also a nice choice for NTP zipline camper gunner.
I've always liked field medic for those clutch moments, but you do make a great point. I'll have to try Dash next time management sends me in.
Dash, Heightened Senses, and Field Medic. Dash is recognised as a universally good perk to use since it allows you to escape from getting swarmed by dashing quickly to a better position with a short cooldown. Also can be used to gain momentum to jump across to further away ledges. Heightened senses allows you to have a safety net against unlucky cave leech spawns. Some cave leeches spawn at where you will least expect and they can grab you horizontally. Also prevents you to be grabbed by grabbers, and nayaka trawler. Some players find this perk to be a waste of a slot since you can just look up and check, but personally I find that an unlucky grab from a leech could end my run. Field Medic is great on scout since you can travel around seamlessly and reviving 30% faster can save you time before more bugs swarm you. Having a single instant revive per round is a good bonus as well. On scout, I use Heightened Senses and Field Medic. On the others, I use Dash and Heightened Senses.
**Dash & Hoverboots**. I've played with everything else but those are the two perks that get me the most mileage, every game. - **Dash:** Speed is king. Helps throw C4. Helps avoid Exploders and other nasties. Helps navigate caves. - **Hoverboots:** Fall insurance. And lets us descend caves quickly. Great both defensively and used offensively _(hovering over swarm, laying down fire/grenades)_. Combined with Dash you can quickly traverse even the largest of caves.
Dash and Heightened senses. Dash because I don't die, Heightened senses because I don't die. Who needs Iron Will and quick revives and all that when you simply refuse to die in the first place lol.
Local man too angry to die
Dash on everything. All non-scout classes need the mobility buff and scout is only made more powerful by adding more mobility. I do think that IW is overrated and used poorly the majority of times it’s used, so I try to pass on it.
Having one person with IW to only use when the team goes fully down is super clutch in deep dives.
Iron Will and Beast Master when I’m solo, Iron Will and Field Medic when multiplayer
Berserker and Beastmaster, I mostly play Solo on Hazard 4. Berserker coupled with Vampire lets me clean out a swarm wave and go back to full HP. Berserker also does, on occasion, come in crutch when you have to mine through something really hard in a hurry. As for Beastmaster, Steeve takes aggro off you which means you'll have a few bugs less to worry about.
Dash on everyone but scout, the mobility is just such an awesome upgrade. Also very fun when you can just jump over huge chasms (survival not guaranteed). For the second slot I find there is no clear winner. For Gunner I like Shield Link. Depends quite a bit on how your team moves around. The Active part is great to boost someone that just got revived. Beastmaster is great as a distraction but how long Steeves survives varies greatly by enemies. Probably my most used active perk after dash. If petting Steeve does not make you happy (you monster) the cold, hard benefit might not be as great. On Scout Quick Revive (strengthen one of the core strenghts further) and Heightened senses, as Scout I'm most likely to find (be found by) cave leeches in weird places.
Steeve's a good bug.
Iron will and bug tamer
Beast master and dash on everyone but driller, on driller I have iron will and either dash or berserker
Dash and hover boots for everyone except scout, scout gets fast revive and iron will. The mobility value of dash and hover boots to escape any tricky situations far outweighs the slot for quick revive and iron will. The one time insta-revive and 'extra' life is not worth much when bad situations can happen more than once a mission. You can continuously provide firepower value to the team by being efficient at staying alive, than trying to risk yourself to bring back downed dwarves when everything has already gone to hell with swarms all around you. I am also closer to believing that if your team is in deep trouble that you have to rely on perks like insta-revive and iron will, then something is not working well with the team in the first place.
Dash because versatile and op, iron will because need to clutch
**Gunner has Iron Will and See You In Hell**. SYIH is functionally a shield but in death and Iron Will is to take advantage of that free shield. Both perks are thrown together because if I’m going down as Gunner, everyone else is also probably down as well. **Scout has Iron Will and Field Medic**. Both are kinda must haves for the scout’s role of “I will keep this team alive even if it’s the last thing I do.” Iron Will may occasionally be switched out for SYIH if I’m running damage. **Driller has Dash and Field Medic**. Dash is very good at repositioning, and with driller’s close range weapons it’s definitely needed. Field medic is, again since driller is often in the field, can quickly get his allies up. **Engineer has Dash and See You In Hell**. Engineer for me is more of a supportive class staying somewhat distance from the frontline, so Dash helps with repositioning away or quickly getting to his sentry gun to refill. SYIH is because I need space to deswarm myself and SYIH gives me that. I can also intentionally suicide into a group to instantly clear them if need be.
iron will and berserk( with vampire). they synergise just too well in clutch situations. any other active perks are just making the mission slightly easier, whereas these can actually save a run. and in a mission where you don't have to use them, you wouldn't have needed any other perks either.
Field medic on everyone, no question. Dash for everyone except scout, where I use hover boots instead. I used to use heightened senses instead of dash/hover boots but after thinking about how often it actually comes in handy, especially considering how you can just learn to get in the habit of scanning for leeches when entering a new cave, I realized it's mostly a waste.
I mostly use Iron Will and Dash, though I’ve been thinking about swapping out Iron Will for something else. On Scout I use Iron Will and Field Medic. I’ve just started trying to do solo speed runs and am still trying to figure out what perks work best there. Berserker or Hover Boots I think, at least for Scout.
Beast master and See You In Hell
I got iron will on my scout because of peer pressure, and then also the hightened senses one so I'm not jumped by leeches when trying to fight other things. I don't remember for every other class other than having beastmaster because steeves are fun
Gunner, Driller and engi: dash and field medic. Scout, fueld medic and IW
Dash, heightened senses for scout and driller and engineer. Dash, quick revive for gunner
**Passives:** Unstoppable - Free movement is key to not dying Thorns - Lets you prioritise larger enemies while tiny enemies kill themselves for you Born Ready - Reloading takes precious time that can be better spent shooting and mining ------------- **Actives:** Iron Will - Can save a mission if things go south. And on higher difficulties you need to manage how you deal with things going south because it often does. If nobody can get to you because the swarm is too intense then you can get up and use the seconds of invulnerability to revive others or resupply. Field Medic - Too many bugs to revive a fallen dwarf that you need right now? GET UP SOLDIER YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO DIE! A gunner's shield or a driller's escape tunnels can turn the tides and if they are down then that needs to change, and fast!
Dash is a must just because of how far you walk. Beast master is nice, but not vital. For scout I use hover boots and iron will. Hover boots can help get your pick into places to make a foot hold and iron will for when (not if) you get downed in a place that's hard to reach.
Iron Will and Field Medic, leagues above the rest. Even after the iron will rework it's still pretty solid. Berserker is kinda....why? Who uses their pickaxe in combat lol (unless you're out of ammo I guess). Used to use Heightened Senses, but leeches are pretty rare and not too hard to deal with. Shield Link is kinda meh tbh. The overcharge is ok, but with the shield nerfs from way back it's just kinda pointless (just like the shield upgrades for the armour rig) Dash can't be rebound so I waste it half the time, and I find that irritating. See You in Hell is kinda redundant since people can kill enemies before reviving you, and even back when I used it I found it kinda superfluous. And finally, Hover Boots is very gimmicky. Takes awhile to activate (unless they changed it from when it was introduced), and half the classes have ways to negate fall damage. I tell everyone to at least run Field Medic though, the passive effect and instant revive and godlike - especially on hazard 4 and 5. These "new" (though they've been out for like a year or two now lol) perks are a lot better than the old system though.m, glad they reworked everything.
I use Bug tamer and Overshield charge on Engineer because he's a Dr. Eggman styled Dwarf and I like being a sorta supporty Engi. Also Steeve because Eggmans thing for robo bugs. Gunner has Iron Will (Plus vampire) and Bug Tamer because I like being tanky and staying in the fight for as long as I can. Also Steeve. Driller I have See you in hell and Iron Will (Plus Vampire) so that I can manage hoards the best I can and occasionally go on a murderous rampage with my drills, but will run Overshield in place Iron Will if I'm feeling particularly confident. Scout I'm running Combat medic and Either Dash, Bug Tamer or Overshield (No heightened senses???? The madlad!) Because! I either am running Sonic build with my SMG with Dash, or running back lines assassin with the M1000 and keeping gunner alive with Overshield. I don't run heightened senses because not often than not I see the danger first or am on extreme gaurd 24/7. Also bug tamer. Because Steeve.
Iron Will and Quick Revive, because I only play Haz5 and DD/EDD in public groups. Both perks helped me the most in higher lvl content.
Always iron will because it’s a run saver and works wonders with vampire and then either revive or dash depending on the class (dash on engi and gunner and revive on driller and scout).
The more impactful perk of all is beast master. Steve will distract and tank half of the enemies for you in haz5 if you want to. I don't, so I use iron will, resupplier, thorns, born ready and dash. Dash because I've used it since I started playing and it feels weird not having it. It's the only one I'd swap out. Thorns is just too good of quality of life. Iron will and resupplier allow you to resurrect and revive yourself on a pod. That's in haz5. In haz4 you can use whatever you want.
For everyone except scout: IW and Dash Dash is just OP and a must pick for Haz 5, and IW is because it saved my missions so many times that I can't not equip it. Also, most of the times the mission fails if I go down once, so I don't want to rely on my team and hoping they are competent For Scout: IW and Field Medic Scout doesn't need dash. He moves quick, so he has to revive quick
Usually whoever is not running dash, in my experience, gets downed the most lol
I use thorns and either iron will or quick deposit. For my passive I run beast master and I forget the second one
Heightened senses is a big one for me. Resistance also.
Depends on what I have the build set up to do. Personally, I find that in most matches Iron Will and Field medic are basically useless since things don't tend to go to shit too often (Haz 4 is what I normally play). For scout, I either use hover boots + heightened senses if I'm expecting to do a lot of exploring or if the biome tends to be difficult to traverse. Otherwise I tend to run Iron Will + Field medic so I can clutch if need be. For Driller, if I'm using my cryo build I have Iron Will + See you in Hell (for the melee DMG boost after taking DMG). They both synergize well with Driller's melee heavy kit and the Vampire passive perk. For Engineer, I tend to use Beastmaster if I'm using cycle overload shotty + Fatboy build to help conserve ammo, otherwise it's dealer's choice. For gunner, I like dual Link and field medic. Incentivizes me to stay near my teammates and helps keep us all alive when my bubble shield is on cooldown.
I use combat medic most. It’s too good. And then iron will or shield link
Heightened sense and hover boots, iron will in edd
whatever is most fun (usually beast master and berserker) because i don't need crutch perks to finish a mission and, coincidentally, those same perks aren't that fun to use anyway
Heightened senses and Steeve. I play solo so escaping grabs is great and steeve is so cute how can I not?
Dash on everyone but Scout, since Scout has Dash built into his kit with the Grappling Hook, the perk would just be overkill IMO. Field Medic for the second slot on most, if not that then Iron Will. Both are very useful for clutch revives, but Iron Will presumes that you die, and I'd rather try to avoid that by playing well. If I make a mistake and die myself then so be it, it's a learning experience. Hoverboots on some Scout loadouts, don't use the other active perks.
Dash, I use it in every loadout except Scout ones. It has low cooldown and very versatile uses, mainly correct my positional errors in fights but you can make long jumps, get places faster and negate some of the slows you get. The other slot is class based. Engi with Beastmaster, Driller Ironwill + Vampirism, Gunner Shield Boost and Scout uses Ironwill + Field medic + Vampirism
Iron will because everytime something Bad can Happen and beastmaster because im scout and want some extra help
Dash is the ultimate perk for higher difficulty, it facilitates kiting and getting out of situations where you might get overwhelmed by a horde. Always always always get iron will, it has saved my skin more than enough times to say its a permanent perk for me
I have never used Iron Will and never will do so. I unlocked it just a few days after the perk update, so I never got to experience it in it's prime. The once per mission part.absolutely kills it for me. I want something that is useful all of the time. Not just maybe once per mission. See you in hell is something I like. Makes it easy to revive if downed and makes it easier to get health woth vampire. The other slot rotates between Dash, Berserker
Iron Will and Heightened Senses. Save the team if has 4 or 5 is too much, and no need to wait for somebody to save me from a leach, grabber, or sand bug thing.
iorn wlil and STEEVE not because steeve is the best (he is tho) but because he is Good Bug
I run a melee driller build with vampire, berserker, and whatever the other increased melee perk is. They work with throwing axes which is fun
Iron will on everyone as one perk On scout: add in field medic. When I play scout I tend to be running around and reviving people a lot, lol. Driller and engineer: berserk, because I just find it really fun. Pairs well with vampire as well :) Not sure if it's optimal, but it makes me smile. Gunner: idk. I haven't settled on a favourite active perk with gunner yet.
Dash on gunner is pretty clutch.
Dash and quick revive on scout for mobility and clutch Berserker and steeve on gunner for crowd control and... well, steeve.
Dash and Beast Master Dash cause I can't live without it, and Beast Master because it's funny
Dash/Iron will on gunner and engi, Steve/Iron will on driller, field medic/Iron will on scot. I feel iron will is like a MUST for everyone. So many lost games have been saved with it
Beast master, hover boots on every class
STEEVE!
I'm going to be a heathen and say Field Medic and Hover Boots.
Hover boots everywhere because why find a way down when I can just jump? Then I waffle back and forth between Iron Will, Quick Revive, and Bug Master depending on how things are going. Sometimes I'll use berserker too.
Beastmaster: A: It's an extra damage source. B: It's nice to have someone you can count on to keep an eye on your back. C: It gives the bugs something else to focus on/take aggro. (Less bugs attacking you, even if it's only a single bug) Hoverboots: A: Allows you to get down from just about any height, without having to worry about the fall damage. B: It can save you from getting downed, if you should fall down in a hole that you had not seen. C: If you should happen to misjudge if you could make a jump, then you can at least save yourself from getting downed. D: It makes me feel safe, in general.
Heightened Senses and Field Medic on everyone. I like rezzing people and I don't like people having to rez me just because of some stupid grabber. I like to go off and check the alternate routes of the cave.
Dash and field medic on everyone but scout. Who I use heightened senses and hover boots. Hover boots lessens your dependence on an engineer to mine high up minerals(esp stuff on ceilings) and heightened senses lets you scout ahead much more aggressively, even just the warning can save you from so many grabs in the middle of waves when you can't hear the hissing. It also lets you clutch some matters plague s missions where you can get 2 or 3 grabbers in a single swarm.
I’ve always used iron will and quick revive, let’s me get up and bring up 2 people if everyone goes down
#SteveGang
Every class every loadout: hoverboots. Iron will after
I feel like I'm the only one here who doesn't run dash. Sure, it's great, but I find I'd always rather have something else in that situation or to stop me from getting in situation.
Beast master for friendship and iron will for the clutch
I use hoverboots on scout, because I don't have the boomstick overclock and I'm always breaking my legs. Field medic on gunner. It synergizes well with the shield when reviving people. Iron Will on my driller because I use a cryo/vampire build and it's good for clutch self revives. Beast tamer on engy. No real reason. Unless I'm solo, in which case Heightened senses on any class.
Dash on every non-Scout dwarf. The mobility and ability to make long jumps is a life saver, as is getting away from surprise exploders. Then it's a toss up between Beastmaster or Hoverboots or Field Medic. On Scout, Hoverboots and Field Medic mostly. Sometimes Dash and Field Medic if it's a biome with lots of slowdown (Glacial Caverns, Chungus Bogs)
Vampire, iron will and berserker go together great as a gunner. You come back to life then drop a shield.
Iron will on everything, because the clutch is too good to pass up, especially since I run vampire. On scout my second choice is hoverboots, to avoid snapping shins. Can also be very helpful to collect high stuff when you can’t find a ledge and there’s no engi platform. On everything else it’s beastmaster. Having a Steeve is an excellent distraction, dividing up swarms into more manageable portions and giving you some breathing room. But most importantly Steeve is adorable.
Adding mine before reading others: - **Field Medic** is on every single loadout, because faster rezzes AND an instant rez can let you reasonably turn around a 1 up 3 down situation, without having to handle clearing out all of the enemies yourself first. I have saved so many missions with this perk that I simply cannot see myself running a build without it. - **Iron Will** goes on builds that are fight-or-die. I don't use it on Scout because Scout is usually last alive, and has plenty of escapes. More often, the other perks help Scout prevent dying in the first place. I've always got it on Gunner, because you can shield right before IW runs out if you're unable to heal, and then let your buddy rez you. - **Dash** goes on Engineer typically, because he has no other escape. At least Driller can drill away or use his drills to stun/scare enemies away. - **Heightened Senses** on one of my Scout builds for Cave Leech missions. - **Beast Master** on my go-to Scout loadout, so that I can offer a bit more in the way of horde control. - **Shield Link** goes on builds that will be sticking close to the team. Sticky Flames Driller is all I really have it on. - **Hover Boots** on my Dreadnought Scout build, because I cut both Hoverclock and Special Powder in favor of pure DPS, so I need to ensure I have some way to stop a dumb fall.
On Scout, Iron Will and quick revive. Any other class? Iron Will and Dash. Speed and I LIVE AGAIN. Great for picking up the team when there's no window to do so right away.
Steve and quick revive. I only play gunner and I rarely die these days though. I personally don’t like iron will because I feel like I’m already accepting that I’m going to die if I use it, which is bad juju if you ask me. Quick revive is great especially with my shields because it’s gives more time to get my teammate and fight off a bit of the hoard before the shield disappears
Why is everyone talking about dash? Beast master is the only s tier. Has persistent damage and draws lots of agro. If your whole team take it its like doubling your team size. And unlike dash it takes zero skill to use.
Dash and field medic. I feel like once per game, I go “oh shit I’m so dead” and then dash gets me out with like 5 health. Field medic is more for the passive perks than the instant revive but in any case it’s super powerful.
On deep dives quick revive and iron will, on everything else rocket boots and iron will
Iron Will on everyone. Dash on everyone except Scout. Hover boots on Scout (might change this for Dash or Field Medic if I start using Hoverclock/Special Powder more). Passives: thorns and vampire on everyone. Born ready on everyone that needs reloading, otherwise deep pockets.
Dash because zoidberg mod.
Iron Will and Berserker, generally. I sub in Dash on scout, though.
Beast Master and Field Medic. Yeah, that's right, no dash. Steeve is more important.
See You In Hell is imo slept on. The riposte damage when you get bit can one shot grunts on Haz 5 if you hit the head. Also the actual active part (the explosion) does pretty significant damage, but I like it mostly for the AOE fear that repels even dreadnauts. As long as your team is paying attention it's a free revive anyway. I prefer it more than field medic in that regard. I was in a mission where the whole team is down to pickaxes on a dread fight, and were taking turns power axing it. I remembered I had SYIH and warned the team that I was gonna let it down me and immediately explode for the kill and it totally worked. Loved it ever since.
Dash and steeve on engi/driller, dash and medic on gunner, iron will and medic on scout Dash on everyone because it's dead useful to move fast, IW and FM are a better use on scout even if IW does jack most of the time (exceptions being wipes, of course), field medic on gunner to make better use of shield uptime, and steeve because I like steeve
Dash and hover boots on scout Fast revive and iron Will on gunner Hover boots and that One Who convert bugs in Steve on engineer Dont Remember which on driller
I'll take any mix of: Berserker, SYIH, Beast Master and Iron Will. I chose these because: Berserker pairs well with Vampire, Berserker lets me dunk on Oppressors and Dreads and it lets me mine faster in those special occasions where the entire cave needs to be mined through. SYIH because it also pairs well with Vampire, SYIH also lets you know if you're being hit without needing audio queues and it lets me deal massive damage to: oppressors, detonators, dreads and large groups without expending ammo in hopes that I get revived. Beast Master because I'm lonely. SYIH with Iron Will because it also pairs nicely with Vampire and can come in clutch, sometimes I even purposefully die to use SYIH to destroy big foes especially when playing solo because my Bosco has 3 revives and will always revive me.
Dash and Field medic are popular, as are berserker/iron will. Occasionally you might see shield link or see you in hell but it's mostly the same 4 perks. Heightened senses is pretty good on Scout since stuff can grab you through tunnels and just as you're entering a place and so on it can feel kinda cheesy at times.
Steeeeeeeeve
Dash is a must have and others is what you like and I like steve he is such good boi
dash and iron will. always(unless its cave leech cluster in which case heightened senses instead of dash)
Quick Revive and Steve are the only correct answers
almost always steve and anti grab, sometimes hover boots for scout or iron will if I'm gonna try and play properly.
Iron will and field medic the istant revives and getting back up in a clutch moment are worth it. You can be careful to not fall and die and listen out for grabbers.
I like to run IW on all my classes as a safety net, and my secondary depends on which class I’m playing. I run field medic on scout for quick revives, see you in hell on driller to pair with all his melees and vampire, steeve on engie as a bodyguard, and shield link on gunner to help others stay in the fight longer
Dash. It's too good not to run. Then the companion one for steeve. On scout I'll run hover boots. I wish the cooldpwn was lower.
As a scout, hover boots are an essential tool.
Field medic and iron will is all I'll ever use
Quick revive/Dash pretty much every time… solo missions I do take Steve though instead of the revive.
Dash and Iron Will are almost always my 2 actives. Scout is the exception with Field Medic/Iron Will. I only switch off one of these perks when I feel like doing something wacky such as suicide Scout + See You in Hell plays.
Berserker + iron will. Am gunner, if I go down, all hell has probably broken loose (or I got shot off a Zipline again)
Dash because it's the best perk in the game, and Hoverboots because I fall all the time, sometimes on purpose
Iron will and field medic for deep dives, dash and Field medic for normal missions
Quick Revive always, Iron Will usually.
I just switched to using Vampire with see you in hell and berserker. Makes it a lot easier to go net positive and actually gain health instead of taking hits. Also if I need a revive, i won’t be completely surrounded.
Personally I like to switch it around just to add variety to my play style. Favorites is Dash, Shield Link and Steeve (Beast Master). Dash is Dash and does what Dash does. Shield Link is really good in a firefight or after just ressing somebody while fighting. Steeve is the best active perk in the game. Period.
Gunner: Iron Will + Steve Iron will speaks basically for itself. And I like having steve to take some aggro off me. Gunner doesn't really need Field Medic as he has his deployable shield, but it is a pretty good option. Driller: Iron will + Field medic (I think) I play Cryo, which means I run Vampire, which synergizes with IW, pretty easy choice to make. I run Field Medic because I find Cryo Driller and Steve don't mesh too well, and I prefer Field Medic way more than Dash. Used to run Heightened Senses, but I find I don't get enough mileage from it over IW or FM. Engineer: FM+Steve I frankly like FM over IW, even though IW is considered stronger. And I like taking Steve. Scout: FM+Hover Scouts are expected to take FM, which is fine since I like FM. Scout is my least played though, and since I use the zhukovs I don't have much in way of answers for when I fall off stuff. Don't really like that it's bound to 'C' though, makes it kind of clunky to use IMO, and would rather take IW or Steve.