Any reason to use proximity mines?

[beez-one]

I mean at least buff them up to 6 total to make some sense picking them over other options.

[Chibbity]

Huh?

You know each one explodes 4 times right? They do more potential damage than any other Engi grenade with ease (Assuming you hit 3 targets with each explosion they do as much damage as most Engi primaries can); combine them with repellant plats and they are absolutely disgusting.

Obviously they are best suited to defensive missions though.

[Savior8801 (P-L)]

Multiple explosions, they work like a charm with bug repellent or natural choke points, they have unlimited lifetime until they explode for the first time so you can use them up before resupplying and still get some value out of them, great fear proc... they're more situational than the other, but I can still find a use case on some of my engie builds.

[vindicar]

Let me ask you back: is there a reason not to use proximity mines?
Lures or drones are okay, but they have much less lasting power, and proximity explosion even inflicts fear. Drones are slower. Lures are a lot heavier on your ammo pool. And plasma burster... I dunno, it's like frag grenade but worse?

So whenever you can set up chokepoints, or even just spot the typical routes, proximity mine will serve you well. And if you place one poorly, you can pick it up and reuse it (as long as it hadn't exploded once yet).

[Aimee]

Originally posted by vindicar:

proximity explosion even inflicts fear.

I would say thats actualy a detriment, since the mines are incapable of killing a lot of enemies in one explosion. And having them run away from a mine is not ideal, since there is a cooldown time before they explode again.

Overal the mines are pretty good if you know how to use them.

[gungadin22000]

They're the best grenade in the game.

Throw them somewhere you expect enemies to come through. Anything below a praetorian is now dead for 4 detonations, offering massive area denial as well as forewarning you of approaching enemies due to the sound of the explosion.

Pursued by gargantuan horde of glyphids? Run in circles while throwing proxies in front of you. Swarm will be gone in a few laps.

But what about fliers? Not a problem. Run inside a tunnel, throw them at the cave mouth. Fliers are now also removed from existence.

The proxies are the thinking dwarf's grenade, offering far more bang for your buck than any other throwable, particularly any situation requiring holding a defensive position, which for the engineer can be pretty much any situation when turrets and platform funneling are added into the mix.

They're poor versus hard targets, but the rest of the engineer's kit compensates for that. Proxy grenades are one of the reasons the engineer nearly always leads in kills. He doesn't even have to be somewhere to get them - turrets and mines take care of business.

[Insano-Man]

Originally posted by vindicar:

And plasma burster... I dunno, it's like frag grenade but worse?

Sure is great for racking up friendly fire, though.

[gungadin22000]

Plasma bursters are, IMO, utterly redundant. Not a terrible grenade, but the rest of the engineer's kit just does everything PBs do better.

[Stormer]

I used to use them before the drones where a thing and they do work really well when set up properly, but the majority of the time they end up being a nuisance to your teammates and they are very very bad at getting stuff already near you away

[gungadin22000]

That's one of the best things about the proxies. They are a skill check for both you AND your teammates: you need to place them correctly so they're not in your teammate's expected paths and your teammates need to respect your engineering and permit you to set up your killzones of mines, platforms and turrets.

Being in a defensive situation with a good engineer is an inspiration, as you stand back doing nothing while their passive defenses mop up all the trash mobs, leaving you to focus on the elite bugs.

Let the dwarf get his kills. Stop firing at grunts heading right into yellow rings.

[bacon]

worst grenade in the game. selfish teammates putting a big obnoxious sign on the ground that says "you cant fight here because i, the most important member of the team, have declared this a choke point."

[gungadin22000]

That's is either:

A) a fault on the part of your teammates, as they throw proxies places where you obviously want to go.

or

B) a fault on your part, as you fail to recognise what is indeed a choke point that should be respected for maximal killing efficiency.

In either case, teamwork skill check, not a problem with the proxy mines themselves.

[Makuren]

I use them a lot for flank area denial in cave networks a lot, or when the driller is going straight to the drop pod via digging.

[kestrel]

Originally posted by gungadin22000:

Plasma bursters are, IMO, utterly redundant. Not a terrible grenade, but the rest of the engineer's kit just does everything PBs do better.

you take bursters for loadouts with no or limited waveclear such as MPA warthog, LOK1, hyperprop, overdrive shard etc.. they're effectively the same as having pocket-sized breach cutters with added fear as a bonus, and you get 6 of them (3 back per resupply too)

they're also extraordinarily powerful if you quicknade them, two bursters at once deal up to 480 damage if you do it fast enough, which is more than a single prox will do in its lifetime (not to compare the two directly, but to give you an idea of bursters' damage potential)

[Aimee]

Originally posted by kestrel:

they're also extraordinarily powerful if you quicknade them, two bursters at once deal up to 480 damage if you do it fast enough, which is more than a single prox will do in its lifetime (not to compare the two directly, but to give you an idea of bursters' damage potential)

That and they dont have any damage falloff. You get the full damage in the 3,5m radius.
Great for a quick waveclear option between reloads, or on a downed dwarf as well.
They are pretty consistent, and that makes them great.

All of the engineer nades have a specific playstyle that benefit them, they are all pretty balanced.

[kestrel]

Originally posted by Aimee:

That and they dont have any damage falloff. You get the full damage in the 3,5m radius.
Great for a quick waveclear option between reloads, or on a downed dwarf as well.
They are pretty consistent, and that makes them great.

All of the engineer nades have a specific playstyle that benefit them, they are all pretty balanced.

oh yeah absolutely, they have a massive blast radius, way more than it seems
i knew i was forgetting something