Chemical Explosive bolts still need a buff.

[Archmage MC]

They still vastly underperform compared to the other two bolt types. Pherimones on a praetorian/oppressor/dread will basically get around 5-10 kills per bolt and distract a vast amount of glyphids. Electric bolts need prior setup but can wipe entire glyphid pods themselves and do lots of damage/synergize with a lot of OCs.

Chemical bolts have the same amount of bolts as pherimones, but don't have nearly the same killing power or ability to distract the glyphids. The issue being you can't use them to kill a glyphid, you've gotta use followup stuff.

Just buff their arrow damage so they do the damage of a normal bolt, and thus you can shoot a glyphid in a pack and it'll instantly explode. More consistent lineups will mean better killing power, and it'll also make them far more ammo efficient. Either that or make their debuff way stronger so that you can shoot a glyphid and it'll blow up after around 8-10 seconds later instead of glyphid grunts able to just ignore being shot by the arrow without any followup being used.

[MrPurple33]

I Appreciate Your Enthusiasm for the Chem Bolts, as I am One of the Minority of Players
that Exclusively Uses hem over Electric or Pheromones

There Are a Few Good Tricks with Chem Bolts However-

-The Chem Bolts are Very Useful Against Large Targets- The Damage 'Ticking' from the Acid Weakens a Target Like a Praetorian Fairly Quickly with Just One or Two Bolts, then You Pop Them for the Explosion- I Stick a Prae, Turn and Shoot some Grunts, Then Look Back, see It's Now Low on Health, and BOOM

-Chem Bolts are One of the Few Options for Scout, or ANY Class, That Actually Can Do Damage to the 'Invulnerable' Front Armor of an Oppressor- I Shoot 2-3 Bolts Into the Front of an Oppressor, and Yes, the Bolts do No Damage, But they Stick In and Immediately Start the Acid Damage 'Ticking'- Same with the Praetorian Above, Stick In the Bolts, Dodge Around and Shoot Grunts, then when Weakened, Grapple Behind for a VERY Easy Kill and Explosion

-The Instinct with Packs of Grunts Is to Shoot a Chem Bolt Into a Lead Grunt, then Shoot It and It Explodes (I Use the GK2 with My Crossbow) - In the Midst of Combat I Still Revert to That 75% of the Time- But the Crossbow Does Require You to Pause Just a Bit and Choose Your Target for Maximum Effectiveness- What Target for Pheremones, Where to Place Electric Bolts for Arcs, and What Target You Want to Explode for Chem Bolts- Rather Than Shooting the Lead Grunt, If You Have Even a Small Bit of Elevation, You Can Hit a Grunt in the Center or Rear, and Then Pop It, doing the same Explosion, but Fearing and Scattering Any Remaining Grunts

Another, Quite Good Option Is Rather than doing the Obvious- Sticking a Bolt In a Grunt Then Shooting It so It Explodes- You Pick a Grunt, Shoot It a Few Times First, THEN Stick
the Bolt In It- NOW It Insta-Explodes, You Just Shoot It with 2-3 Bullets from the GK2 FIRST
(The M1000 and Drak will have Similar 'Shoot First Then Stick' Damage)




I Actually Like the Slight Planning the Crossbow Takes to Use- Having Each Bolt 1-Shot and Explode a Grunt would be somewhat Lazy and Too Easy- Often I'm Timing WHEN an Enemy will Explode for Maximum Effect, Damage to Many, and the Fear and Running Away from the Explosion- I Can Use a Variety of Disruptive and Damaging Explosions, Use the Chem Bolts to Mainly Weaken a Large Target, the Explosion Is Secondary, Or Pre-Shoot a Grunt THEN Insta-Explode It- With the Crossbow, My Scout can now Act a Bit Like a 'Mini-Engie' and
Get Creative with the Options