Loader on Monsoon

[LinkZeppeloyd]

Hey all, I stared trying out loader thinking “he’s melee, seems like it will be impossible.” Then I was surprised to find out that he can face tank bosses and is fun/strong! (Monsoon solo)

However- while I could facetank bosses early on. As i get into later stages all kinds of elites (and anything that does fire!) just wasting me despite my barrier shield being up.

So two questions: am I correct that his barrier doesn’t stop fire, and if so...

How do you win with loader? There is so much fire stuff.

[きょすけ]

I haven't tried yet monsoon with Loader, but I found that bursting fungus along aegis and/or topaz brooch are a great combo with that character:

- Bursting fungus heals you when you are standing still (doesn't matter if you attack, just stay still);

- Topaz brooch form a temporary barrier upon kill, which adds to the scrap barrier for a greater effect;

- Aegis grants another temporary barrier each time you heal, which is an awesome combo with bursting fungus.

Now while I'm not sure if it was tougher's times at proccing preventing me from taking fire damage, I BELIEVE the barrier should tank burning damage too...

But imho, this setup (as many others) can work only if you use/abuse artifact of command, otherwise you just have to be lucky into getting the right items.

[Lian "Smexy" Kinnidy]

Loader is all about her Shift punch in combination with speed.

So when trying to tackle high priority targets like bosses or generally tankier enemies, you should use your grappling hook (you can sprint during the grapple, just need to remember that after every hook, you have to press the sprint key again) in combination with your Shift ability to dish out huge damage. You can also use her Pylon (R ability) as a grappling point for your grapple.

I also recommend for you to unlock her alternate abilities to see if those fit you right.

As for her barrier: It's only really usefull at the beginning.

[Ixzine]

With Loader and Acrid, place less and less emphasis on their melee abilities as the run goes on, in general. You shouldn't be meleeing scary elites or clumps of bosses, either because they could kill you... or because they make it impossible to tell what is going on around you from being too large or taking too much of your time. You need to know what is going on in Risk of Rain 2, and if you focus on using Charged Gauntlet while avoiding attacks, you can. (Also as it turns out Charged Gauntlet is just the strongest attack in the game, so you don't lose a lot by not left-clicking).

Also with Loader in particular, Crowbar is an incredible white item. Even just a couple Crowbars + Bands/Stickies/ATG Missiles can result in some nonsense damage very fast, so prioritize it above any white that isn't Crit.

[zverozvero]

She can go Fast and that must be used to get rolling. Timing is bit tight but if you jump before grabbing or shift-punching it gives significant acceleration. Mix it with good angle of grapple
(~30-40^ upwards) and Pylon and you can cover half a map in first few seconds after spawn. Plus it adds to hit and run strategy late game.

If you unlock Bands both are absolute nuke with Gauntlet punch. Repulsion Armor Plate resists fire damage as it takes from each tick.

[Instigator]

Loader is probably the easiest monsoon run I've done. You just go *FAST*. Loader has so much base ability that items are just nice-to-haves if you make the run fast enough. I think I did my obliterate on loader in about 25 minutes.

[LinkZeppeloyd]

Originally posted by Ixzine:

With Loader and Acrid, place less and less emphasis on their melee abilities as the run goes on, in general. You shouldn't be meleeing scary elites or clumps of bosses, either because they could kill you... or because they make it impossible to tell what is going on around you from being too large or taking too much of your time. You need to know what is going on in Risk of Rain 2, and if you focus on using Charged Gauntlet while avoiding attacks, you can. (Also as it turns out Charged Gauntlet is just the strongest attack in the game, so you don't lose a lot by not left-clicking).

Also with Loader in particular, Crowbar is an incredible white item. Even just a couple Crowbars + Bands/Stickies/ATG Missiles can result in some nonsense damage very fast, so prioritize it above any white that isn't Crit.

But acrid has posion spit and plague goo, both ranged. Loader has... ?

[AngelofAnger]

Loader has punch. Is weirdly considered ranged. As you hit and get out kf range quickly

[zverozvero]

Alternative grasp attack that deals decent damage with stun. Pylon is aoe good enough for wisps and vultures but to float away far as needed it must be launched with inertia in mind. And Gauntlet dash is worthy substitute to ranged attack with mobility and impact it has. Acrids passive is good enough to stall and drag through when loot dont provide but loaders base kit has more punch. Enough punch to blitz through obliteration or Mithrix fight.

[LinkZeppeloyd]

I admit im no expert witth loader's kit, sounds like theres some functionality im not aware of yet. Also i havent unlocked his alt skills. Sounds like rushing a bit more makes sense as opposed to hunting down all the gear

[Instigator]

I did his alternate shift, normal grapple. Speed ran the bosses and only looted what was affordable and immediately nearby. Loader can down the bosses with virtually no items, and when you go that fast, the later bosses are much much easier.

[きょすけ]

Originally posted by LinkZeppeloyd:

I admit im no expert witth loader's kit, sounds like theres some functionality im not aware of yet. Also i havent unlocked his alt skills. Sounds like rushing a bit more makes sense as opposed to hunting down all the gear

I must say that I love exactly that skill you unlock while reaching the celestial portal under 25 mins. It's a direct upgrade to the default grapple, imho.

[KellyR]

I use alternate grapple (It does some damage, and dragging wisps to you can be handy) but I'd never even consider swapping her utility (Shift, except for me it's bound to mouse4) skill. The Falcon Punch is just absolutely amazing. Especially when you get good at using the grapple fist to get you going fast while charging the falcon punch, and then letting go of the punch button at just the right moment to hit for the skill's max damage.

It's not hard at all to get it to levels where you one-shot elite bosses. And the mobility is amazing, it launches you a huge distance when fully charged.

[ii_Gizmo_ii]

Always get 1 Repulsion Armor Plate on any character but especially melee characters if possible, that 5 damage reduction against normal enemy attacks may not be much in the early game and useless late game but what I feel a lot of people don't think of or even know is that it also reduces damage over time effects IE fire.

If that fire for example does 5 damage a tick, with Repulsion Armor Plate it is now only doing 1 damage a tick (can't do less then 1 damage), that is an 80% reduction right there for a single item, not bad if I do say so myself. I feel like 1 Plate is an essential item in any run as it provides you a ton of survivability against damage over time effects, especially fire

[Instigator]

Originally posted by ii_Gizmo_ii:

Always get 1 Repulsion Armor Plate on any character but especially melee characters if possible, that 5 damage reduction against normal enemy attacks may not be much in the early game and useless late game but what I feel a lot of people don't think of or even know is that it also reduces damage over time effects IE fire.

If that fire for example does 5 damage a tick, with Repulsion Armor Plate it is now only doing 1 damage a tick (can't do less then 1 damage), that is an 80% reduction right there for a single item, not bad if I do say so myself. I feel like 1 Plate is an essential item in any run as it provides you a ton of survivability against damage over time effects, especially fire

Also makes it much easier to get around the void field area without getting low.

[LinkZeppeloyd]

Yes I am on board with armor plates, fire seems to be the main threat to me currently. I haven't unlocked the alt skills but i didn't know you could speed up then falcon punch. I'll have to try that today (I assume that's how you get the "300mph" challenge for the alt skill?)