I'm at my wits end with the gatekeepers

[CombatWombat]

So far every sector has worked like this: First you feel overwhelmed, but then you adapt to the new enemies and you can easily progress. Meanwhile you get new weapons and sector is conquered. I hardly needed any heal in the past sectors even on apocalyptic.

Now I'm stuck on these gatekeepers. I think I have tried every weapon available except the rocket launcher and nothing works. All you can do is trade hits and then you die because the damage they do is out of this world. Somehow I even doubt the rocketlaucher will be a game changer since the ammo is so resource heavy it's mindboggling. A cluster rocket needs 5 cluster grenades which needs 5 mugnades. That's 25!!! mugnades for one shot imagine missing that...

Anyway, the best weapon seems like the deatomizer it is the only weapon that can suppress them so you don't trade hits immediately. Everything else really is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ :( But then you have to reload because one guy usually takes more than one charge or a second guy enters and you are toast.

Grenades are way to inefficient, where a good grenade could kill 1-3 guys in the other sectors, here they do nothing. I have thrown entire stacks at 3-4 guys.

Slushis are still the best against all but the big guys who can't be frozen.

Even after the the hotfix it feels like you have to brute force every meter. And where you progressed in other sectors you crawl slower than a snail in reactor. And all you do is hit trade. :(

The only thing I haven't tried is cheesing it with turrets, because I really don't want to.

[Boo]

It's their personal shield generators mitigating damage once they break they start staggering and drop pretty fast

[Kairi ♡]

İlk olarak WhiskeyNinja tarafından gönderildi:

I'm wondering now that I'm in that area - are you supposed to set up a base and use turrets to defend? Is the point that there are too many enemies to fight individually so you're supposed to treat it like tower defense?

You supposed to pick your fights carefully, using traps such as mines to thin out the horde, or stealthing your way through.

[CombatWombat]

İlk olarak Kairi ♡ tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak WhiskeyNinja tarafından gönderildi:

I'm wondering now that I'm in that area - are you supposed to set up a base and use turrets to defend? Is the point that there are too many enemies to fight individually so you're supposed to treat it like tower defense?

You supposed to pick your fights carefully, using traps such as mines to thin out the horde, or stealthing your way through.

It's not really about picking your fights. It went from a fun game to a logistical nightmare. You see the difference when you come across one of the orders, they basically drop dead with a tap of the deatomizer while the gatekeepers need multiple reloads to kill. Meaning whatever you use grens, quills, bolts or charges, you need TONS of them, which sucks. Instead of exploring you are shuffling stuff around between your base and and your current location 60% of the time.

[Kairi ♡]

İlk olarak CombatWombat tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Kairi ♡ tarafından gönderildi:

You supposed to pick your fights carefully, using traps such as mines to thin out the horde, or stealthing your way through.

It's not really about picking your fights. It went from a fun game to a logistical nightmare. You see the difference when you come across one of the orders, they basically drop dead with a tap of the deatomizer while the gatekeepers need multiple reloads to kill. Meaning whatever you use grens, quills, bolts or charges, you need TONS of them, which sucks. Instead of exploring you are shuffling stuff around between your base and and your current location 60% of the time.

Doesn't seem to be this way on normal, though I have maxed stealth, so my first attack usually deals increased damage, and there is exor spirit to assist.

After all hotfixes, regular gatekeepers are vulnerable to melee damage and acid, floating ones weak to electricity, and big guys weak to acid. And new acid weapon uses radioactive waste as ammo, so just as free to use, as battery ones.

I don't use holy damage, as I am not a fan of crossbows.

[CombatWombat]

İlk olarak Kairi ♡ tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak CombatWombat tarafından gönderildi:

It's not really about picking your fights. It went from a fun game to a logistical nightmare. You see the difference when you come across one of the orders, they basically drop dead with a tap of the deatomizer while the gatekeepers need multiple reloads to kill. Meaning whatever you use grens, quills, bolts or charges, you need TONS of them, which sucks. Instead of exploring you are shuffling stuff around between your base and and your current location 60% of the time.

Doesn't seem to be this way on normal, though I have maxed stealth, so my first attack usually deals increased damage, and there is exor spirit to assist.

I've tried most thing suggested here (not the shield yet) I have downgraded from apocalyptic to normal and it still takes way to much ammo/charges so you barely kill 1-3 packs and need to go back. I sneak up, open with a slushi then a grrenade then unload the deatomizer fully on his head, then reload and repeat. I used 3 magazines of quills and 2 full charges to kill another. The only fun and normal fight is the floaty ones.

If this is how they want difficulty to be we need bigger stacks and better crafting ratios.

[Cosmic]

İlk olarak eggcrack147 tarafından gönderildi:

Crystalline armor can cheese all 4 reactors if you're patient enough

Finally another person who can see a problem and think outside the box.
P.S That said, now I need to build what I need in the shadow portal to drop some get into the next area and might eat those words when I have to kill a few as I'm not finding anymore blood =P
Worried once the gate is down will it reset* next portal reset. Oh well only one way to find out!

Edit: typo and PS comment

[Kairi ♡]

İlk olarak CombatWombat tarafından gönderildi:

I've tried most thing suggested here (not the shield yet) I have downgraded from apocalyptic to normal and it still takes way to much ammo/charges so you barely kill 1-3 packs and need to go back. I sneak up, open with a slushi then a grrenade then unload the deatomizer fully on his head, then reload and repeat. I used 3 magazines of quills and 2 full charges to kill another. The only fun and normal fight is the floaty ones.

If this is how they want difficulty to be we need bigger stacks and better crafting ratios.

So you tried skink gun?

In Gale reactor I just lure enemies into reactor room, where turrets will help to kill them. As for shield - since it allows to turn enemy's own fire against them, it may reduce amount of resources you spend to kill them(shield itself just requires energy to work, and can be recharged on facility charging stations).

İlk olarak Cosmic tarafından gönderildi:

Finally another person who can see a problem and think outside the box.
P.S That said, now I need to build what I need in the shadow portal to drop some get into the next area and might eat those words when I have to kill a few as I'm not finding anymore blood =P
Worried once the gate is down will it reset* next portal reset. Oh well only one way to find out!

Edit: typo and PS comment

In last hotfix they changed it, so nullified walls do not appear again after portal world reset.

[CombatWombat]

İlk olarak Kairi ♡ tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak CombatWombat tarafından gönderildi:

I've tried most thing suggested here (not the shield yet) I have downgraded from apocalyptic to normal and it still takes way to much ammo/charges so you barely kill 1-3 packs and need to go back. I sneak up, open with a slushi then a grrenade then unload the deatomizer fully on his head, then reload and repeat. I used 3 magazines of quills and 2 full charges to kill another. The only fun and normal fight is the floaty ones.

If this is how they want difficulty to be we need bigger stacks and better crafting ratios.

So you tried skink gun?

In Gale reactor I just lure enemies into reactor room, where turrets will help to kill them. As for shield - since it allows to turn enemy's own fire against them, it may reduce amount of resources you spend to kill them(shield itself just requires energy to work, and can be recharged on facility charging stations).

https://steamcommunity.com/app/427410/discussions/0/600769761663604500/?tscn=1739133360#c600769927810413907

I've done gale, the brute force was not fun, now I'm at cloud and any ambition to finish it has left me :(

[Kairi ♡]

İlk olarak CombatWombat tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Kairi ♡ tarafından gönderildi:

So you tried skink gun?

In Gale reactor I just lure enemies into reactor room, where turrets will help to kill them. As for shield - since it allows to turn enemy's own fire against them, it may reduce amount of resources you spend to kill them(shield itself just requires energy to work, and can be recharged on facility charging stations).

https://steamcommunity.com/app/427410/discussions/0/600769761663604500/?tscn=1739133360#c600769927810413907

I've done gale, the brute force was not fun, now I'm at cloud and any ambition to finish it has left me :(

Fortunately, in cloud you have plenty of ammo for skink gun. And it's not exactly a spoiler - skink is living there, so you probably already encountered him.

[Aku]

Yeah, especially at Cloud Reactor, the Skink Gun is the thing to use. Plenty of ammo for it in the environment (the ammo it uses is radioactive waste), and all of the Gatekeepers are vulnerable to acid damage.

The only thing you have to worry about is having ammo for it outside of Cloud Reactor. Carrying around a bunch of radioactive waste is a hassle. I can see where the set bonus of the new radiation armor set would synergize amazingly with the skink gun, but the fact that you still get nauseous and vomit up all your food and water after a couple minutes is still a deal breaker for me.

[Bonkers]

İlk olarak Aku tarafından gönderildi:

Yeah, especially at Cloud Reactor, the Skink Gun is the thing to use. Plenty of ammo for it in the environment (the ammo it uses is radioactive waste), and all of the Gatekeepers are vulnerable to acid damage.

The only thing you have to worry about is having ammo for it outside of Cloud Reactor. Carrying around a bunch of radioactive waste is a hassle. I can see where the set bonus of the new radiation armor set would synergize amazingly with the skink gun, but the fact that you still get nauseous and vomit up all your food and water after a couple minutes is still a deal breaker for me.

Currently, probably due to a bug, the skink can also drink normal and tainted water to reload, so it's usable in most areas without having to carry a barrel around.

[CombatWombat]

Got some ambition back and made a video:

https://odysee.com/@CombatWombat:4/2025-02-10-20-35-31:5?r=5gxX2irf5YFB42uZziCBYyLg9v69DVij

Game is on apocalyptic. Tell me this is isn't hilarious.

First, the two bots are pre dark energy and die just fine. They also stagger. Easy.

Second, the shield seems useless if you can't find a wall for your back. He literally shoots you across the whole map.

Third, no shield, still no freeze, much WOW!

Fourth, that was an e-gren and 6 (!!) quill magazines close range straight to the head. You can argue I missed a few so let it be 5 magazines or 60 quills to this guys head and a grenade to kill him. Let me say this again: This is RIDICULOUS.

[Bonkers]

İlk olarak CombatWombat tarafından gönderildi:

Got some ambition back and made a video:

https://odysee.com/@CombatWombat:4/2025-02-10-20-35-31:5?r=5gxX2irf5YFB42uZziCBYyLg9v69DVij

Game is on apocalyptic. Tell me this is isn't hilarious.

First, the two bots are pre dark energy and die just fine. They also stagger. Easy.

Second, the shield seems useless if you can't find a wall for your back. He literally shoots you across the whole map.

Third, no shield, still no freeze, much WOW!

Fourth, that was an e-gren and 6 (!!) quill magazines close range straight to the head. You can argue I missed a few so let it be 5 magazines or 60 quills to this guys head and a grenade to kill him. Let me say this again: This is RIDICULOUS.

You can just use a Deatomizer and a Skink for him and won't have to spend any ammo. When I first encountered the Jotun and the two bots, one Deatomizer, one laser collector, a few slushies (for the bots) and a few shotgun shells were enough to beat them, with no prior experience fighting a Jotun.

I honestly like that you have to use walls for cover to fight Jotuns and can't cheese them with Slushies. It makes them actual challenges, kind of a weaker but mobile mounted machine gun. Also, the Hardlight Shield is usable aginst them, but you will have to strafe while having it out to not be pushed away too hard. A jump pack will also let you avoid their fire pretty well.

A grinder with Lodestone discs should also be significantly cheaper for beating them, only taking around 20 discs, with a significant number of them being retrievable from the body.

[MrMcGreedy]

I agree, Jotun feels a bit overtuned. It's like how the security bots felt in early game; extremely deadly and liable to eat all your ammo (or worse, 2 minutes at base for laser charging) for hardly any damage. The skink helps the most, but without that Jotun are ridiculous (and I'll whine with it too lmao). The security bot was countered with a chopinator yeah; pretty much one of the only ways to safely kill one early on so I guess it makes sense for the skink to kind of take that role of "kill the big slow thing" (assuming you read patch notes/watch the update videos because I don't see how you should know the skink can be useful otherwise).
I do love the idea of a tanky dude with a machinegun pushing us to our scientific limits though, so I don't quite want them to nerf Jotun either. Perhaps carrying a laser emitter, battery, and laser turret would be the equivalent to carrying the chopinator early game? Haven't tried that out, but it might help us.

[Nerevar]

gks got nerfed already.

gks are fine now.

player literally has rockets and a grenade which can flat out delete ANYTHING instantly no matter its hp or shield.

couple this with the fact there is essentially no good reason to kill more than 2 jotuns ever and they are so slow you can just ignore them and move on.

all other gks are easy to kill with pre reactors gear and weapons.