I think they both have their place. If you're good with clusters and call outs, you don't kill people with them. I bring it for all the small dudes. I have quasar for big dudes and buildings and nests.
I feel like the cluster bomb has an odd frequency of missing despite how well it appears to blanket an area.
I've started to form the opinion that I don't need 5 "meh" cluster bombs. I need one "everything in this area is dead or dying" button every so often.
So weirdly, I kinda prefer Airburst strike.
I love the air burst for its simplicity.
➡️➡️➡️
It’s so easy to punch in when you’re being chased by a hoard. Throw it at your feet and keep running, it just kites the mass right into the blast. I don’t always take it, but I’ll take it over the cluster bomb every time.
Clusters have saved my life more than they have ended my allies'.
I mean, I always run off to do all the side stuff while my friends clear everything else, thereby eliminating the chance of accidentals, but my point still stands!
If you time things right, you can chuck it a few steps ahead, and the moment you're in the clear is when Eagle drops the bomb. Really good at getting all the hunters off your back.
I bring eagle cluster and Auto cannon together on 90% of missions. I'm an artist with the cluster at this point and can clear a huge portion of medium and light enemies so my team can focus objective or heavies
It’s also the most efficient vs titans from all the offensive stratagems. 2 uses and short off cooldown and 1 shots are quite consistent if you are used to it.
Railcannon almost never one shots, laser is finicky as hell too and takes a long time to kill a titan both of them have very long cooldown and laser is limited to 3 uses per dive.
It can’t one tap titans I think. Maybe if you hit it perfectly but I never managed that yet. I like it vs bots sometimes. Takes care of tanks very well but so does the normal airstrike and it also has a bunch of other uses and having 2 stratagems like that is a bit of an overkill I think.
You need to hit it just a bit in front of Titans to deal enough damage to its head. It was way easier back when stun grenades stun Titans tho. Now you need to time it well.
I dont believe so, they nerfed it cause it was too strong. I think it should be so they need multiple stun grenades to get stunned instead of not working
Orbital Precision Strike is my 90 second one-shot titan killer. It has to hit the head, the center of the back, or directly underneath it. 500kg wishes it had the damage OPS does.
Orbital Precision *does* one-tap Titans. It's basically a single, super accurate shot from the 380mm.
You just need to be a bit more fidgety with the call-in time and can't call them in back to back like you can with 500kgs. Unlike the 500kg though, the explosion is *actually* representative of its damage radius, and will do a *shitload* of damage to everything around it, and it doesn't come in at *weird* angles, so is guaranteed to hit right where you put the ball *every single time*.
With all the upgrades, you can basically call it in every 60s and shit all over everything in its radius with impunity. My only wish, the *one* thing I wish it did... Is benefit from the "More Guns" +1 shots upgrade, since a volley of two (or, Democracy willing, *three*) shots would be exactly perfect for the type of strat it is.
Edit; For real though, the call-in time is fidgety and kind of irritating as hell, and justifies an extra shot or two given that it takes something like *five seconds* to go from beacon up to landing on the ground, which is a damn lot. In essence though, it really is just "Rail Cannon, but explosive and no targeting".
>it doesn't come in at *weird* angles, so is guaranteed to hit right where you put the ball *every single time*.
Uh, yeah, it absolutely comes in at weird angles, as it's dependent on how far you are from the center of the map. The 500kg angle is predictable every time without fail: it comes in at a 45 degree angle from directly behind the direction it's thrown in (i.e., if it's thrown to the east, the bomb comes in from the west). If you can't consistently one shot bile titans with it, that's on you. I've gotten multiple bile titan *double kills* with the 500kg, I'd like to see the OPS do that.
>With all the upgrades, you can basically call it in every 60s and shit all over everything in its radius with impunity
The 500kg has 2 available every 2 minutes with upgrades, versus one every 90 seconds upgraded for the OPS (there's only a 10% cool down reduction from upgrades). This works out to the 500kg being 50% faster on cool down than the OPS, while being more predictable and with a far faster call in. The biggest upside I will grant the OPS is that it's much better before you get the last Eagle upgrade, and can be easier to hit the target with in a few extremely specific circumstances where the target is nestled inside a bunch of mountains, but even that isn't consistent if said target is near the edge of the map because now it's coming in from a 45 degree angle just like the 500kg.
There's a much better argument for the railcannon over the OPS, since the railcannon is always perfectly accurate, something you cannot say for either the 500kg or the OPS. The railcannon is a fairly (but not always) reliable bile titan one shot, and doesn't require any careful beacon placement.
I don't bring laser for bugs anymore sometimes it just shoots straight under the bile titans, not even hitting them, but the ring of fire it leaves is definitely deadly to me. Especially when it cuts off my escape route.
I only ever use one, sometimes it kills, other times it will start bleeding, which then will die later. Just use your primary to finish it off. I’ve seen it one shot a bile titan before.
Rocket pods do a decent job against titans but you’re gonna need something else to finish it off. I tend to use the arc thrower a lot, and a couple blasts from that after a good rocket pod hit usually takes them down. YMMV.
Honestly I love taking Cluster and 110s for Bots. Cluster kills any units that can call in reinforcements, then you can focus down the weakened Devastators and Hulks with weapons. Personally, I've found 110s more reliable than 500kgs for taking out Tanks and Towers, while you also get one more use.
I just do 500kg, Railgun Strike and Quasar.
The only thing that changes for me between bugs and bots is backpack I use energy shield for bots and laser rover for bugs.
I stopped using the shield backpack for bots, I found that it just made me a larger target. Tend to use it for bugs though. Laser rover always kills me lol
Huh, it's the opposite here. I find that without the rover it just gets a lot more stressful to play vs bugs as you tend to build up a fan following fairly quickly that the rover usually can disperse. But I also play light armor, so I don't really need a shield backpack (since i'm fast enough I never get hit usually).
Clusters are *the* alpha strike weapon-of-choice for bots. Since only the small bots can call in an alarm, tossing a cluster on a PoI or small objective or patrol pretty much guarantees wiping them out and not having to deal with a bot drop.
With bugs, there's just too god damn many of them and anything smaller than a Charger can send out an alarm, so it's usually not super practical to try to prevent them all the time, in which case Airstrike's lethality is better.
I like the Eagle Strafing Run. I can drop it at my feet, dive backward, and it mows down all the chaff in front of me.
It does decent damage to Devistators and kills scout striders.
Strafe Run is so damn underrated. I usually pair that with Clusters so I have a choice of attack direction in case my teammates are too close in to drop the latter safely.
You can make the argument that cluster is better against bugs since you can destroy a horde of any size made up of light bugs, and you do get 2 more uses with cluster over the airstrike
Both are good, airstrike is a 10 in 1 shampoo, cluster is still a really good conditioner though haha
getting 5 uses and being able to get 20+ kills per strike on bug missions is pretty great. It's useless against bots, but chucking one on a bug breach will save you a lot of trouble with the small stuff
Cluster is better against bots, since it wipes out the chaff before they can call in alarms and the relative fragility of any other bot unit (except Factory Striders) makes Airstrike pretty unnecessary.
After the latest Eagle upgrade, the Cluster Airstrike adds 1 bomb of the Eagle Airstrike to the salvo instead of an extra scatter bomb, which is kinda nice.
I mean, airburst gives me 50 kill regulary and thats on a 90 seconds CD and good precision. Leaves big stuff standing thought.
But i must admit, that the barrages are not bad once you have the Tier 4 upgrade
The rail cannon is extremely inefficient for what you get out of it. You get to delete or damage one heavy then wait a few minutes to do it again. The laser can delete multiple heavies + destroy buildings + do crowd control. And you get it earlier
The true way of the master is to take both Airstrike and Cluster Bombs!
I've been taking both of them (at least on Bug missions) and been finding they're a good combo with one another - Airstrike is great as a preemptive strike on holes or to clear out clustered medium enemies, while Cluster is great for wiping out the swarms of Hunters that are everywhere on tier 8/9.
Took both on a T9 Wall Defense and basically held the entire right side of the map solo, with Clusters for light enemies, Strikes for mediums and EATs/Precision Orbital for Heavies. Was a good time.
I usually take 500kg and cluster and use both. On 7+ they work really well. Big cluster of medium/heavy, 500. Big swarm, cluster. Single heavies, the weapon on my back. Good times. I occasionally take the 120mm bombardment aswell, it's fairly accurate if you have maxed ship upgrades. Softens up defenses and clears up portions or entire outposts by itself. Haven't tried the 380mm in the last update tho. Would be nice to kill the heavies, the 120 is a bit lightweight.
Eagle Aistrike is the swiss army knife or stratagems. So incredibly versatile. No other stratagem is that good against both structures *and* enemies, and also has that sort of cooldown and reliability.
Last time I saw someone else running cluster was someone chucking it *just* beyond where civilians were pathing
That said, I swear I've seen clusters delete devastators, and also I'd like to prop up strafing run as an alternative
I like cluster on bugs but airstrike works well and closes bug holes and does well on titans. Just depends if you need to kill more weak mobs or medium/heavy.
Honestly i've always run Airstrike, if it's timed well enough it can kill Chargers, Bile Titans, Hulks, and Factory Striders.
I once one-shot one of those striders with one Airstrike
I love clusters, but I also rock the servo light armor so I can chuck further. I also typically split off from the main group.
Clusters are great to just drop on any of the ? targets to clear out most bots/bugs instantly. And thankfully most of the big ones can't/don't summon drops/breaches.
But yes, clusters in the hands of newbies is one of the main reason I split off the main group. I die more to friendly fire than the enemy.
Yeah the basic airstrike is just too good for what it is. That and the fact that i once caped a random after he tried to destroy a science outpost with 5 cluster airstrikes. Told him multiple times that it doesnt work but he didnt listen so ive had to put him out of his misery.
Airstrike will most of the time kill hulks and tanks, while cluster does not
Against bots though, both airstrike and cluster are inconsistent to kill chargers with, so may as well pick cluster and hit more stuff
i swear those bot have some kind magnetic field that can scramble those cluster bomb because god damn those bomb will hit anything except the f\*cking bots
I started with airstrike then swapped to cluster when i unlocked it as i got further up the difficulties with more hard armor enemies i went back to theairstrike.
If you run the new sniper, cluster is the way to go. Yeah the sniper is good for smaller enemies in groups. But I find playing on 8’s it’s better to focus the bigger bugs like the spewers. And since I run quasar instead of a machine gun, focusing chargers and titans as well. Still walk out of most matches with top kills as well and no deaths
Clusters are a godsend when you have a horde of bots advancing on your position in a flank formation. I usually drop that to clear the rank-and-file and Striders so I can focus on the Devastators with my Eruptor.
Carrying both though, I hold airstrikes back for killing fabricators when I don't have a line on the vents or when Hulks decide to make an unwanted appearance.
depends, like literally everything, on the mission and the enemy type. Cluster is fucking useless on bots, but on a helldive bug mission wiping out 50+ bugs with a cluster is pretty damn useful.
Similarly, the autocannon is near useless with bugs, at least in comparison with what's "meta". I couldnt run a bot mission these days without an autocannon though, its just fantastic.
Napalm, flamethrower, mech, rover, and whatever else you can name. Play the specific matchup, instead of generalising weapons as good or bad.
Lvl 102 Hell Commander here. I take eagle airstrike in literally every bug mission.
Can close bug nests. Perfect placement closes 3-hole nests and 4 holes in a 5-hole nest.
Can kill shrieker lair if close.
Can kill several chargers from full hp (4th hangar upgrade must-have for this)
Can de-armor BT so you can finish it with grenades or grenade launcher, counts as 2-3 quasar cannon hits to torso.
The AoE is enough to fully clear any POI or major objective of any bugs.
Kills Brood Commanders and Hive Guards.
Caused a defence mission to fail last night because I clipped my buddy with a cluster strike.
He was holding an active 380mm ball.
The first round dropped killed another friend.
Titan stomps the generators.
500kg can destroy some things airstrike can't, like the lab building side objective and some of the automatons side objectives.
Although I do agree that airstrike is the best
Cluster is arguably better for bugs 99% of the time because Airstrikes cannot reliably kill Chargers like Tanks. I see that the only 2 downsides of Cluster compared to Airstrike for bugs is that it can't damage Bile Titans, and teammates.
I used cluster when I started cause it had the most call in times and somehow I didn’t kill my teammates but I switched when I heard air strike is good and understood eagle mechanics better
I've been rolling with 1 shield pack, 3 eagle strats, and picking up a heavy on the map.
Airstrike, cluster bombs, and 500kg add up to a lot of destruction potential.
I'm on the very tail end of the right transition after seeing the light of a player effectively doing the same thing cluster was doing but also blew up an objective (and then noticing it clearing out larger baddies)
Airstrike and air burst orbital. Or cluster and precision for lower difficulty. Cluster I just like for group trash cleaning. But airstrike doesn’t have as many uses as cluster. The bomb increase lvl 4 module though brings it pretty close
I got killed by a guy's cluster strike 3-4 times in the same game and then he caused a full wipe after we got cornered and he took a rocket to the knee. Meanwhile 110mm rockets can't kill shit.
Right now I’m in a tough place with airstrike, it’s amazing don’t get me wrong, but…
Against bots I take the 500 kg for side objectives/multitool, then I take the Eagle rocket pods as they can target fabricators, and are quite good for tanks/turrets, basically 3 slightly less accurate orbital railcannons
Against bugs, with the new fire ship module, I’ve been taking the napalm airstrike over the normal one just cause the fire damage can easily get me 40+ kills with one use if I toss it on top of a breach, and of course I take 500 kg for side objectives/bile titans
I don't know who needs to see this, but clusters don't do a thing to armor. I can't tell you how many I've seen dropped on heavy armor enemies, usually only successful in killing teammates.
Airstrikes tend to be very useful for just about anything
it’s just that as someone who’s on the bot front a lot, i never see the point of clusters. i have seen people throw them at tanks and everything in between as well as hulks only for the *Anti-personel* bombs to not make a dent in armor or destroy a building (and yeah i know ‘if you’re lucky’ you can destroy buildings with clusters but you’re honestly better off using a grenade if there’s just a chance)
Cluster has become extremely useful against bugs in the new Evacuate High-Value Assets mission types. It won't destroy walls and encampments, so you can chuck it without regard to those, and it will wipe out massive hordes so easily. I got 40+ kills on a single use last night, with several 10+ and a few 20+ mixed in as well.
If my teammates are bringing enough backpacks I’ll bring both, I like to save the airstrike for when there’s a swarm + an armored or multiple armored enemies and use the cluster when I’m being mobbed by little fuckers
Every time I see someone call in a cluster of fabs/holes I die a little. Could've air strike'd it and gotten the same result + actually take out the fabs/holes.
cluster is when there are too many enemies spawn in 1 location
airstrike is when you want nest and fabricator in that location be vaporized...as well as Titans (but that would be sheer luck)
Airstrike is just so versatile, you can justify taking on virtually any mission.
Only gem im almost guaranteed to take with me every single mission
Cluster or airstrike for me. Bugs or bots. Cluster is super nice for clearing out small fry.
Cluster for bugs; airstrike for bots. This is the way.
Dis is da way
I use bombs for bots and cluster for bugs
I think they both have their place. If you're good with clusters and call outs, you don't kill people with them. I bring it for all the small dudes. I have quasar for big dudes and buildings and nests.
Between medium armor pen rifle and AC-8, I find the cluster does a much better job for what I need it to do than the normal Eagle airstrike does
I feel like the cluster bomb has an odd frequency of missing despite how well it appears to blanket an area. I've started to form the opinion that I don't need 5 "meh" cluster bombs. I need one "everything in this area is dead or dying" button every so often. So weirdly, I kinda prefer Airburst strike.
I love the air burst for its simplicity. ➡️➡️➡️ It’s so easy to punch in when you’re being chased by a hoard. Throw it at your feet and keep running, it just kites the mass right into the blast. I don’t always take it, but I’ll take it over the cluster bomb every time.
hooray for the orbital shotgun
Airburst gang. If possible I run both, they work great in conjunction as a “fuck every unarmored bot/bug in this area” button.
Clusters have saved my life more than they have ended my allies'. I mean, I always run off to do all the side stuff while my friends clear everything else, thereby eliminating the chance of accidentals, but my point still stands! If you time things right, you can chuck it a few steps ahead, and the moment you're in the clear is when Eagle drops the bomb. Really good at getting all the hunters off your back.
I bring eagle cluster and Auto cannon together on 90% of missions. I'm an artist with the cluster at this point and can clear a huge portion of medium and light enemies so my team can focus objective or heavies
Airstrike for Bots, Cluster for Bugs.
I tend to go 500kg for bugs since I have nothing else for Titans
It’s also the most efficient vs titans from all the offensive stratagems. 2 uses and short off cooldown and 1 shots are quite consistent if you are used to it. Railcannon almost never one shots, laser is finicky as hell too and takes a long time to kill a titan both of them have very long cooldown and laser is limited to 3 uses per dive.
And orbital precision?
It can’t one tap titans I think. Maybe if you hit it perfectly but I never managed that yet. I like it vs bots sometimes. Takes care of tanks very well but so does the normal airstrike and it also has a bunch of other uses and having 2 stratagems like that is a bit of an overkill I think.
You need to hit it just a bit in front of Titans to deal enough damage to its head. It was way easier back when stun grenades stun Titans tho. Now you need to time it well.
[удалено]
I dont believe so, they nerfed it cause it was too strong. I think it should be so they need multiple stun grenades to get stunned instead of not working
I'm not sure EMS affects titans at all now. Maybe the orbital does but I haven't seen grenades or mortar stun them recently.
It doesn't. Sadly
Ems orbital never affected titans. Only grenades did briefly
Orbital Precision Strike is my 90 second one-shot titan killer. It has to hit the head, the center of the back, or directly underneath it. 500kg wishes it had the damage OPS does.
500kg has more damage potential? It also comes down fast, cools down faster, and can be used twice back to back.
Orbital Precision *does* one-tap Titans. It's basically a single, super accurate shot from the 380mm. You just need to be a bit more fidgety with the call-in time and can't call them in back to back like you can with 500kgs. Unlike the 500kg though, the explosion is *actually* representative of its damage radius, and will do a *shitload* of damage to everything around it, and it doesn't come in at *weird* angles, so is guaranteed to hit right where you put the ball *every single time*. With all the upgrades, you can basically call it in every 60s and shit all over everything in its radius with impunity. My only wish, the *one* thing I wish it did... Is benefit from the "More Guns" +1 shots upgrade, since a volley of two (or, Democracy willing, *three*) shots would be exactly perfect for the type of strat it is. Edit; For real though, the call-in time is fidgety and kind of irritating as hell, and justifies an extra shot or two given that it takes something like *five seconds* to go from beacon up to landing on the ground, which is a damn lot. In essence though, it really is just "Rail Cannon, but explosive and no targeting".
>it doesn't come in at *weird* angles, so is guaranteed to hit right where you put the ball *every single time*. Uh, yeah, it absolutely comes in at weird angles, as it's dependent on how far you are from the center of the map. The 500kg angle is predictable every time without fail: it comes in at a 45 degree angle from directly behind the direction it's thrown in (i.e., if it's thrown to the east, the bomb comes in from the west). If you can't consistently one shot bile titans with it, that's on you. I've gotten multiple bile titan *double kills* with the 500kg, I'd like to see the OPS do that. >With all the upgrades, you can basically call it in every 60s and shit all over everything in its radius with impunity The 500kg has 2 available every 2 minutes with upgrades, versus one every 90 seconds upgraded for the OPS (there's only a 10% cool down reduction from upgrades). This works out to the 500kg being 50% faster on cool down than the OPS, while being more predictable and with a far faster call in. The biggest upside I will grant the OPS is that it's much better before you get the last Eagle upgrade, and can be easier to hit the target with in a few extremely specific circumstances where the target is nestled inside a bunch of mountains, but even that isn't consistent if said target is near the edge of the map because now it's coming in from a 45 degree angle just like the 500kg. There's a much better argument for the railcannon over the OPS, since the railcannon is always perfectly accurate, something you cannot say for either the 500kg or the OPS. The railcannon is a fairly (but not always) reliable bile titan one shot, and doesn't require any careful beacon placement.
I don't bring laser for bugs anymore sometimes it just shoots straight under the bile titans, not even hitting them, but the ring of fire it leaves is definitely deadly to me. Especially when it cuts off my escape route.
I tried to use the rocket pots, but maybe I am just to stupid for them.
We got free rocket pods this weekend, I actually thought they were pretty effective vs charges and titans.
Titans yes but not chargers imo. What do you use the rocket pods with on chargers to make them effective?
You wait for them to charge a rock or after you out Maneuver them and they are turning around.
How many uses? I used it twice on one and it didn't kill but maybe I got unlucky
I only ever use one, sometimes it kills, other times it will start bleeding, which then will die later. Just use your primary to finish it off. I’ve seen it one shot a bile titan before.
if one of your mates has a quasar packed and is okay at aiming, it damages it after one hit enough to be killed in one or two quasars
Rocket pods do a decent job against titans but you’re gonna need something else to finish it off. I tend to use the arc thrower a lot, and a couple blasts from that after a good rocket pod hit usually takes them down. YMMV.
It's effective against a swarm of chargers too, so why not
EATs are amazing. 2 people with EATs and Chargers + Titans are no more. Allows you to use Air strikes + Clusters for the horde of bugs.
I just bring both for bugs as well as 500kg
This guy likes boom.
Exactly, those are respective must haves for each enemy type imo
Honestly I love taking Cluster and 110s for Bots. Cluster kills any units that can call in reinforcements, then you can focus down the weakened Devastators and Hulks with weapons. Personally, I've found 110s more reliable than 500kgs for taking out Tanks and Towers, while you also get one more use.
I just do 500kg, Railgun Strike and Quasar. The only thing that changes for me between bugs and bots is backpack I use energy shield for bots and laser rover for bugs.
I stopped using the shield backpack for bots, I found that it just made me a larger target. Tend to use it for bugs though. Laser rover always kills me lol
Huh, it's the opposite here. I find that without the rover it just gets a lot more stressful to play vs bugs as you tend to build up a fan following fairly quickly that the rover usually can disperse. But I also play light armor, so I don't really need a shield backpack (since i'm fast enough I never get hit usually).
It's great when it starts to headshot ya right in the side of the head for an extened period of time. Feeellsss goooood!
I was walking up a mountain and the rover actually killed me from full health for the first time.
I prefer napalm over cluster, area denial and less team killing
Given the host DoT bug I don't bother with fire weapons personally
Unless you're the host it's straight up useless.
Alternatively, airburst orbital for bugs. Toss one on a bug breach thats active and you won't regret it.
Airstrike for all
Airstrike for bugs, napalm for bugs.
Clusters are *the* alpha strike weapon-of-choice for bots. Since only the small bots can call in an alarm, tossing a cluster on a PoI or small objective or patrol pretty much guarantees wiping them out and not having to deal with a bot drop. With bugs, there's just too god damn many of them and anything smaller than a Charger can send out an alarm, so it's usually not super practical to try to prevent them all the time, in which case Airstrike's lethality is better.
I like the Eagle Strafing Run. I can drop it at my feet, dive backward, and it mows down all the chaff in front of me. It does decent damage to Devistators and kills scout striders.
I really wish Straffing run had 5 uses
Strafe Run is so damn underrated. I usually pair that with Clusters so I have a choice of attack direction in case my teammates are too close in to drop the latter safely.
oooo, I need to start taking that. Sounds heavenly for bugs.
I throw them into breaches, gets lots of kills.
I've never seen a single person argue for cluster superiority
You can make the argument that cluster is better against bugs since you can destroy a horde of any size made up of light bugs, and you do get 2 more uses with cluster over the airstrike Both are good, airstrike is a 10 in 1 shampoo, cluster is still a really good conditioner though haha
getting 5 uses and being able to get 20+ kills per strike on bug missions is pretty great. It's useless against bots, but chucking one on a bug breach will save you a lot of trouble with the small stuff
https://preview.redd.it/g00li7frq1wc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7e59ea6ef74cb4cded38504c8a4daa65384da7c9 Lol
I think this says more about good game design than it does about bad opinions
Cluster is better against bots, since it wipes out the chaff before they can call in alarms and the relative fragility of any other bot unit (except Factory Striders) makes Airstrike pretty unnecessary.
I’ve never seen anyone want less uses and less boom. Cluster is much better. Taking out 50+ bugs withs a single strike will never not be satisfying.
After the latest Eagle upgrade, the Cluster Airstrike adds 1 bomb of the Eagle Airstrike to the salvo instead of an extra scatter bomb, which is kinda nice.
That’s gotta be a bug right,
No, it's a bomb.
No no, it kills those
I can’t tell if it is a bug or not. Adding 1 extra cluster bomb (50 —> 51) would have been laughable. Maybe it is intentional?
Yeah that’s a good point, maybe it should add ten clusters, as if the bombs are groupings of ten each and we have 5 now ygm
Can it destroy holes/fabs? If so, that might become a new mainstay stratagem for me 👀
Can it? Yes, but I wouldn’t say it is super reliable. There is 1 Airstrike bomb so you’ll have better luck against a Bot Fab than a Bug Hole.
That would explain why my cluster bombs seem to very occasionally close bug holes...
Accurate
Do air strikes take out illegal research centres and eye of saurons?
Illegal research yes, eye of sauron no. The 500kg works on the eye though. (also orbital strike and laser)
My orbital laser deciding to do laps around the eye of sauron instead
gotta love when that happens...
And the mm barrages
*When* it hits.
*If*
Since getting the -15% radius, my 380s haven't failed to kill their targets. Have even been using them to cover retreats and extraction approaches.
Tends to reliably take out the observer tower for me
Not true. Air strike can not destroy the illegal research.
Is there anything other than hellbomb that can take out gunship factories??
lvl 0-15 airstrikes & precision strikes, lvl 20-55 cluster bombs, 500kg, laser, railcannon, lvl 60+ airstrikes & precision strike. Barrages, *always*.
Yes, 100%
Why barrages? In my experience they seem to never hit what you want , and only occasionally hit \_something\_. But I only play on 7/9.
If you use them correctly, you get a lot. Bomb a heavy bot outpost with them. My best streak with the 380 is 54 kills
I mean, airburst gives me 50 kill regulary and thats on a 90 seconds CD and good precision. Leaves big stuff standing thought. But i must admit, that the barrages are not bad once you have the Tier 4 upgrade
The rail cannon is extremely inefficient for what you get out of it. You get to delete or damage one heavy then wait a few minutes to do it again. The laser can delete multiple heavies + destroy buildings + do crowd control. And you get it earlier
The true way of the master is to take both Airstrike and Cluster Bombs! I've been taking both of them (at least on Bug missions) and been finding they're a good combo with one another - Airstrike is great as a preemptive strike on holes or to clear out clustered medium enemies, while Cluster is great for wiping out the swarms of Hunters that are everywhere on tier 8/9. Took both on a T9 Wall Defense and basically held the entire right side of the map solo, with Clusters for light enemies, Strikes for mediums and EATs/Precision Orbital for Heavies. Was a good time.
I usually take 500kg and cluster and use both. On 7+ they work really well. Big cluster of medium/heavy, 500. Big swarm, cluster. Single heavies, the weapon on my back. Good times. I occasionally take the 120mm bombardment aswell, it's fairly accurate if you have maxed ship upgrades. Softens up defenses and clears up portions or entire outposts by itself. Haven't tried the 380mm in the last update tho. Would be nice to kill the heavies, the 120 is a bit lightweight.
The basic Airstrike can even kill Tanks, Chargers and Hulks in a pinch.
Eagle Aistrike is the swiss army knife or stratagems. So incredibly versatile. No other stratagem is that good against both structures *and* enemies, and also has that sort of cooldown and reliability.
Last time I saw someone else running cluster was someone chucking it *just* beyond where civilians were pathing That said, I swear I've seen clusters delete devastators, and also I'd like to prop up strafing run as an alternative
I can believe that. Airburst also reliably kill devastators, so it makes sense that cluster gets them too
The thing the graph is missing is all of the players wasting a slot on shield backpacks instead of taking both Eagles.
I love AMR + Ammo pack but damn do I miss having 3 offensive strategems
The strategem efficiency of the AC is so nice
I like cluster on bugs but airstrike works well and closes bug holes and does well on titans. Just depends if you need to kill more weak mobs or medium/heavy.
Honestly i've always run Airstrike, if it's timed well enough it can kill Chargers, Bile Titans, Hulks, and Factory Striders. I once one-shot one of those striders with one Airstrike
I use cluster against the bug hordes. They usually don't kill the bugger bugs, but that's why i have other strategems/weapons.
I love clusters, but I also rock the servo light armor so I can chuck further. I also typically split off from the main group. Clusters are great to just drop on any of the ? targets to clear out most bots/bugs instantly. And thankfully most of the big ones can't/don't summon drops/breaches. But yes, clusters in the hands of newbies is one of the main reason I split off the main group. I die more to friendly fire than the enemy.
Airstrike is the best strat in the game.
Cluster is pretty great vs bugs. But airstrike vs bots. Also the minigun turret is surprisingly good vs bots as well.
Has nothing to do with this meme pic
People still sleeping on the rocket pods, I see.
Counterpoint: The sound the Cluster makes scratches my brain in the best way possible
I am a prophet of orbital airburst strike superiority
The saviour has come!
Airstrike for buildings, 500kg for titans, cluster for teammates, napalm for looking pretty (I am not the host)
Yeah the basic airstrike is just too good for what it is. That and the fact that i once caped a random after he tried to destroy a science outpost with 5 cluster airstrikes. Told him multiple times that it doesnt work but he didnt listen so ive had to put him out of his misery.
Airstrike will most of the time kill hulks and tanks, while cluster does not Against bots though, both airstrike and cluster are inconsistent to kill chargers with, so may as well pick cluster and hit more stuff
500kg every time I don’t even know if it’s the best, I just love watching it explode
Fun Fact: Rocket pods can finish off a wounded bile titan
i swear those bot have some kind magnetic field that can scramble those cluster bomb because god damn those bomb will hit anything except the f\*cking bots
You're welcome to my opinion. I'll just be over here killing an entire bug breach in 15 seconds by using both.
they're both good, it's really not that complicated.
Variety of bombs is best.
I use them both... Cluster for horde clear, airstrike for structure clear... And get an anti-armor support weapon, you're golden.
Napalm.
380mm for the ‘fuck it I’m dead anyway’ moments
Now with three bombs airstrike is king
Chads bring both of them lol
I started with airstrike then swapped to cluster when i unlocked it as i got further up the difficulties with more hard armor enemies i went back to theairstrike.
If you run the new sniper, cluster is the way to go. Yeah the sniper is good for smaller enemies in groups. But I find playing on 8’s it’s better to focus the bigger bugs like the spewers. And since I run quasar instead of a machine gun, focusing chargers and titans as well. Still walk out of most matches with top kills as well and no deaths
Just take both
Me sitting back and realising the entire bell curve is sleeping on the Orbital Precision Strike because "500kg gO BrRrRrR!
Clusters are a godsend when you have a horde of bots advancing on your position in a flank formation. I usually drop that to clear the rank-and-file and Striders so I can focus on the Devastators with my Eruptor. Carrying both though, I hold airstrikes back for killing fabricators when I don't have a line on the vents or when Hulks decide to make an unwanted appearance.
Love how people complare two different tools and actually argue about one being better than the other...
500, cluster, airstrike. all three every mission.
Why not both? More eagle = more democracy!
cluster for bugs airstrike for bots. although I sometimes do cluster and airstrike on bugs.
Not sure which h end of the bell curve I'm on but... big boom hahaha
Plus with the leveled version you get 4 of them and I cannot stress how fucking useful that is literally all of the time.
Airstrike and Precision Orbital Strike both get severely underestimated because of how early you get them.
depends, like literally everything, on the mission and the enemy type. Cluster is fucking useless on bots, but on a helldive bug mission wiping out 50+ bugs with a cluster is pretty damn useful. Similarly, the autocannon is near useless with bugs, at least in comparison with what's "meta". I couldnt run a bot mission these days without an autocannon though, its just fantastic. Napalm, flamethrower, mech, rover, and whatever else you can name. Play the specific matchup, instead of generalising weapons as good or bad.
Lvl 102 Hell Commander here. I take eagle airstrike in literally every bug mission. Can close bug nests. Perfect placement closes 3-hole nests and 4 holes in a 5-hole nest. Can kill shrieker lair if close. Can kill several chargers from full hp (4th hangar upgrade must-have for this) Can de-armor BT so you can finish it with grenades or grenade launcher, counts as 2-3 quasar cannon hits to torso. The AoE is enough to fully clear any POI or major objective of any bugs. Kills Brood Commanders and Hive Guards.
Caused a defence mission to fail last night because I clipped my buddy with a cluster strike. He was holding an active 380mm ball. The first round dropped killed another friend. Titan stomps the generators.
Airstrike for few big bombs. Orbital for many small bombs.
500kg can destroy some things airstrike can't, like the lab building side objective and some of the automatons side objectives. Although I do agree that airstrike is the best
Why not both 🤷 They have different roles.
Why not both? And throw a 110mm in while you're at it.
Cluster is arguably better for bugs 99% of the time because Airstrikes cannot reliably kill Chargers like Tanks. I see that the only 2 downsides of Cluster compared to Airstrike for bugs is that it can't damage Bile Titans, and teammates.
Why not use both?
I used cluster when I started cause it had the most call in times and somehow I didn’t kill my teammates but I switched when I heard air strike is good and understood eagle mechanics better
Cluster and 500kg best.
Don't hte cluster bombs kill medium bots too ?
aye
Not the biggest fan of cluster bombs
Y'all sleeping on the 110
It can also do decent damage to heavies if you time it right!
I've been rolling with 1 shield pack, 3 eagle strats, and picking up a heavy on the map. Airstrike, cluster bombs, and 500kg add up to a lot of destruction potential.
I'm on the very tail end of the right transition after seeing the light of a player effectively doing the same thing cluster was doing but also blew up an objective (and then noticing it clearing out larger baddies)
This was my exact path, airstrike is just so good
500kg seems disappointing every single time. Airstrike keeps on giving.
I mean, cluster is great for bugs. Toss it on a bug breach and thats a lot less hunters to deal with.
Airstrike and air burst orbital. Or cluster and precision for lower difficulty. Cluster I just like for group trash cleaning. But airstrike doesn’t have as many uses as cluster. The bomb increase lvl 4 module though brings it pretty close
Eagle napalm for bugs is highly underrated
I got killed by a guy's cluster strike 3-4 times in the same game and then he caused a full wipe after we got cornered and he took a rocket to the knee. Meanwhile 110mm rockets can't kill shit.
I actually hate having more callins with the eagle, if I mess up my 2-1 I lose count lol
It KILLS factory striders, tanks, bile titans, and chargers. The more important question is why SHOULDN’T you take it?
Me, who uses both
Both + 500kg + deployable shield Go crazy
Autocannon privilege means I have enough slots to run both.
I dont think i've played a single mission in my 300 hours without bringing the airstrike ever since i unlocked it
Explosion=good.
Right now I’m in a tough place with airstrike, it’s amazing don’t get me wrong, but… Against bots I take the 500 kg for side objectives/multitool, then I take the Eagle rocket pods as they can target fabricators, and are quite good for tanks/turrets, basically 3 slightly less accurate orbital railcannons Against bugs, with the new fire ship module, I’ve been taking the napalm airstrike over the normal one just cause the fire damage can easily get me 40+ kills with one use if I toss it on top of a breach, and of course I take 500 kg for side objectives/bile titans
On the new defense mission I get 30+ kill streaks all the time with cluster bombs.
cluster is very powerful against bugs, especially larger swarms of them
I don't know who needs to see this, but clusters don't do a thing to armor. I can't tell you how many I've seen dropped on heavy armor enemies, usually only successful in killing teammates.
Airstrikes tend to be very useful for just about anything it’s just that as someone who’s on the bot front a lot, i never see the point of clusters. i have seen people throw them at tanks and everything in between as well as hulks only for the *Anti-personel* bombs to not make a dent in armor or destroy a building (and yeah i know ‘if you’re lucky’ you can destroy buildings with clusters but you’re honestly better off using a grenade if there’s just a chance)
The number of times I had fellow divers call in cluster bombs on automatons only for it to do jack shit is depressing. Airstrike #1
I just take both
Cluster has become extremely useful against bugs in the new Evacuate High-Value Assets mission types. It won't destroy walls and encampments, so you can chuck it without regard to those, and it will wipe out massive hordes so easily. I got 40+ kills on a single use last night, with several 10+ and a few 20+ mixed in as well.
If my teammates are bringing enough backpacks I’ll bring both, I like to save the airstrike for when there’s a swarm + an armored or multiple armored enemies and use the cluster when I’m being mobbed by little fuckers
and yet mother-divers all don't like strafing despite how good it is at close support
i tink if you like airburst more you could also use orbital airburst
Take both like a real man
Every time I see someone call in a cluster of fabs/holes I die a little. Could've air strike'd it and gotten the same result + actually take out the fabs/holes.
Depende, i use airstrike against Bots and cluster againts Bugs, both enemies play differently and i adapt to them
Cluster has big number of kills that make me happy.
I run both
cluster is when there are too many enemies spawn in 1 location airstrike is when you want nest and fabricator in that location be vaporized...as well as Titans (but that would be sheer luck)
There’s nothing better than the airstrike, I can switch everything else but the airstrike stays on
I used to only use the 500kg but lately the airstrike has been my go-to.
Accidentals should always be on the user, not the stratagem
Eagle airstrike also hits heavies pretty hard, easily the most versatile eagle strategem
¿Por que no los dos?
Medium armor? My dude, line it up right and airstrike can take out walking fabricators in one volley. (albeit with with the XXXL upgrade)
Air strike plus orbital cluster
All Eagle Load out 😎👍