Really struggling on Solo

[@%thesock10150alpha49]

I want to get some levels in whilst my friends are away, and I don't like pugs, so I am going it solo.

I am trying to step my game up to Hazard 4 and it is such a large jump for me. I am playing Gunner and I know the obvious stuff, like using dash to bounce behind Oppressors or zipline shooting.

But several of these missions have had waves where it feels like there was nothing I could have done. Like the only answer was to just not be there.

For instance, I had a very tunnel-heavy Mining mission. It did a special grunt spawn wave and there must have been 30 of them on top of me within seconds. Some even came out of the walls so I was almost always completely surrounded. I did everything I could. Grenades, shield, dash out of them to try and make space. I was just overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

Or the Dozer mission where it spawned 2 Oppressors during the laser crystal phase. I have no idea how *one* guy is supposed to take down 2 laser crystals, then 2 oppressors, then the next set of laser crystals. On top of the normal compliment of grunts and fliers.

And it's almost like they black-bagged every single DRG creator on the internet and sent them to the camps. There is next to nothing released in the last 6 months that is of any use. So I'm having to use year-old guides and just hope the information if still accurate.

Ultimately, I've failed three out of the five attempts so far, and if I lose one more right now, I'm going to set fire to my house with me inside it. Does anyone have a good guide, or maybe some useful insights for making the Gunner work on high hazard Solo missions?

[Zoli]

Originally posted by @%thesock10150alpha49:

Ultimately, I've failed three out of the five attempts so far, and if I lose one more right now, I'm going to set fire to my house with me inside it.

Stop playing immediately and consult a psychologist.

[@%thesock10150alpha49]

Originally posted by Zoli:

Originally posted by @%thesock10150alpha49:

Ultimately, I've failed three out of the five attempts so far, and if I lose one more right now, I'm going to set fire to my house with me inside it.

Stop playing immediately and consult a psychologist.

I don't need a doctor, I've got fire insurance

[FatCat]

do you have overclocks? if so, what ones? are you dead set on using a minigun? neurotoxin autocannon helps IMMENSELY for solo gunner because it slows most bugs down and allows you to get distance once you apply toxin. and once its on its gonna kill basic grunts too so you dont have to keep shooting them. i pair it with the BRT for quick burst damage but a revolver with six shooter works too.

[@%thesock10150alpha49]

Originally posted by Fantom:

As for the crystals, you can shoot the top of the crystal with your minigun or bulldog.

See, this is where the game falls flat. There's not really any learning moments. It all just happens so fast and you have only a vague idea of what happened, let alone how to fix it.

But here I've been on the internet for all of 3 minutes and you've just literally expanded a galaxy in my brain. I am thoroughly boggled.

[Nosteru]

As Gunner I recommend the AutoCannon with Neurotoxin OC (if you have it) and Fear Mod on tier4. With a decent singletarget sidearm. This setup im able to more or less solo Haz5. Note: Im a bad shooter.
For Bosco the electrocute mod is important to slow down even a Bulk or any big target.

[@%thesock10150alpha49]

Originally posted by FatCat:

do you have overclocks?

Unfortunately, no. I'm still only level 16 with no promotions. I am aware of the poison autocannon build though.

[@%thesock10150alpha49]

Originally posted by Nosteru:

the electrocute mod is important

I will put it on him immediately.

I do wish Bosco was more mindful of objectives. He's super useful, but sometimes he's just too oblivious to help.

[Nosteru]

Originally posted by @%thesock10150alpha49:

Originally posted by Nosteru:

the electrocute mod is important

I will put it on him immediately.

I do wish Bosco was more mindful of objectives. He's super useful, but sometimes he's just too oblivious to help.

If i see a Bulk I instantly send Bosco to shoot it, you can deal with the entire swarm when Bulk just join to the party with you. If you combine this with Neurotoxin OC he basicaly go on lootbug speed.

[FatCat]

Originally posted by @%thesock10150alpha49:

Originally posted by FatCat:

do you have overclocks?

Unfortunately, no. I'm still only level 16 with no promotions. I am aware of the poison autocannon build though.

ah dang ok so vanilla gunner. thats a rough call, you lack mobility or any real tricks to get around. and without ocs you dont have much CC. really all you can do is use the ziplines to help on swarms and shoot the tips out of the beamers like the one guy said.

[Zé Bostola]

First things first, playing with friends makes missions A LOT easier, so don't blame yourself if you're doing so. I'm also a solo player, and after trying last 2 Elite Deep Dives i've noticed that they are a lot, like, A LOT easier if you're trying in a group of 4, rather than playing solo.
With that out of the way, let's begin.

I'm also a gunner main, and i play mostly harzard 5. For solo missions you need to always be aware of your surroundings. If you don't pay attention to what you hear, start doing so. The momment an Opressor spawns, for instance, i know, because i can hear it from afar, which gives me time to get in position and prepare to deal with it when it gets close.

For waves, you need to keep yourself moving while you shoot. NEVER stand still, unless you're really on top of your game. Usually, tunnels and open areas are perfect spots to fight waves, so if you know one is comming, get in position to fight the wave when it spawns. Keep running away from grunts and shooting them. As a gunner, you have enough firepower to kill waves almost without moving. On harzard 4 and 5, you need to keep repositioning yourself, otherwise you gonna be swarmed. Other classes need to do it a lot, like the Scout. As a gunner, you don't need to do it so often because of the firepower you have, but still, keep moving (and shooting).

Another tip, save your last shield to use a supply pod wihtout getting swarmed to death. Believe me, having to use a pod while enemies are around you is not recommended. If you see you only got one last shield, call a supply pod, throw your shield on it and use it. It can and will save you a lot of times.

Also, always have 2 guns to support you in every situation. People usually run primary for crowd control and secondary for single targets. Never build your 2 guns to do the extact same thing. The build also can change depending on the mission you're trying. Escort missions for instance, requires you to have max area mods for your shield. If everything is going wrong and you know you gonna lose a part of the dozer, throw a shield on it. Since you have max area mods, the shield will completely protect the drilldozer against anything, expect the beammers. If you use the molotov, throw it on enemies and only then start repairing it. The molotov will kill the bugs around the shield and damage the other ones nearby, making your job a lot easier after the shield's time runs out.

And that's probably all i can say. Stay alert, stay moving, know how to build your arsenal, and you'll be fine even on harzard 5.

[@%thesock10150alpha49]

See, the two that I won both had open areas.

Two of the ones I lost were practically entirely tunnels, so I guess I may as well just go make a sandwich or something when that happens. Sucks to suck, right?

The third was the Dozer Mission, that I hopefully now have a solution to. Thank you internet.

[Zé Bostola]

Originally posted by @%thesock10150alpha49:

See, the two that I won both had open areas.

Two of the ones I lost were practically entirely tunnels, so I guess I may as well just go make a sandwich or something when that happens. Sucks to suck, right?

The third was the Dozer Mission, that I hopefully now have a solution to. Thank you internet.

I run the minigun most of the time. If you're using it as well, use the penetration mod on tier 3. It simply shreds waves on tunnels. Forgot to mention that.
Also, if you can, buy the eletric bullets for Bosco on the last tier. It will slow down anything that Bosco is shooting at the moment. I usually use this to slow down targets that i don't want or can't deal with at the momment.
You can tell Bosco to focus a Bulk Detonator, for instance, if it spawns during a wave. Bosco will buy you a lot of time to get rid of the grunts so you can deal with the detonator latter. Helps a lot.

[@%thesock10150alpha49]

Originally posted by Zé Bostola:

I run the minigun most of the time. If you're using it as well, use the penetration mod on tier 3. It simply shreds waves on tunnels. Forgot to mention that.

I was running armor pen because the guards were giving me trouble and I wasn't expecting the cave to be a long series of murder tubes.

How would you build a vanilla minigun? I keep the revolver for bigger targets.

[Vayde Knyght]

As far as guides go, this one is a well layed-out guide that covers a LOT, from big things to little things. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1364434600
Helped me out a lot when I started, and is still mostly up-to-date, I think. (Last update was on the 17th of September, author announcing that the guide will no longer be updated) so there might be a few slight inaccuracies as anything that changed with 34.5 probably isn't covered, but it's still quite solid for the time being.

...There's a lot of information, so use the sidebar on the right to navigate to specific topics you're curious about, if you decide to give it a look.

[Zé Bostola]

Originally posted by @%thesock10150alpha49:

Originally posted by Zé Bostola:

I run the minigun most of the time. If you're using it as well, use the penetration mod on tier 3. It simply shreds waves on tunnels. Forgot to mention that.

I was running armor pen because the guards were giving me trouble and I wasn't expecting the cave to be a long series of murder tubes.

How would you build a vanilla minigun? I keep the revolver for bigger targets.

Weapon builds are 100% personal preference, there is no correct answer to your question.
This weapon suits my personal play style, so if this build doesn't do well for you, feel free to change it however you like.
For me, i like weapons that kill fast, no matter the penalties. With that said, i run (2 - 2 - 3 - 1 - 2).

Explaining the build for each tier:

2) Faster fire rate is simple: the quicker your gun shoots, the faster it kills. Simple as that.

2) Damage, of course, because more damage helps killing faster.

3) Penetration bullets helps you on crowd control, and since you'll be hitting 2 enemies with a single shot, you both kill faster and also waste less ammo.

1) Damage, again, because more damage kills faster.

2) It cools down your weapon on each kill, which means you can keep killing and will almost never overheat your gun.

Of course, some people may want to have more ammo instead of damage on tier 2, which is completely fine. Remeber, builds are personal. You build your gun for your play style. I like guns that kills fast, so that's what i use.