Your 'best' build

[Bonzai101]

A while back, I added a "Loadout - Sample Builds" section into my guide, however, I usually play solo w/bots, & only up to very hard.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2562653491
This means that my sample builds are likely not optimal for high level skirmish play.

I would really like to add some screenshots of builds, that other players have successfully used for each class, into this section, & add them in as contributors to the guide.

So, if you have a screenshot of a build that you think is really effective, or especially enjoyable to play, please reply below!

[Kill with Fire]

I have never tried these in high-level skirmish play, but I do like their uniqueness.

https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198040692865/screenshots
RIVNIK Heavy, for stripping armor. Generally large gameshift from controlling trash mobs to removing boss armor. Don't use the secondary in heated combat as imo it's for ammo conservation.

https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198040692865/screenshots/
Shotgun Assault, shield for delays and minor buffs while your shotgun is for clearing trash mobs that are on your team or maybe if a medium monster is kinetic reduced and has no armor, you can shoot at it a bit too.

[Bonzai101]

Thanks for posting!
I'm guessing the heavy was meant to be this SS https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2782394234

Interesting conceptually, hmmmm

(Just a side note, I'm having a bit of a Phoenix point binge atm, so will come back to this once I've completed the playthrough)

[Goldymires]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2786248960

This is my 'Standard' Heavy Build.

Primary Weapon is Minigun cos' duh..

Secondary is Thunder for more movement speed. I rarely use it.

Blue abilities:

I put 5/5 Stabilizer, for more accuracy (which increases dps cos' rounds are not missing) and to compensate for the damage modules

I put 5/5 in Ammolink, for more damage, less reload time, and more ammo in a clip, total ammo is around 570.

4/5 in Heavy weapons, for more rpms, reload speed, suppression and movement speed

4/5 in Targeting systems, for more damage and critical strike in a team supporting AoE.

Green Abilities:

Adaptive Systems, gives a tons of benefits when near doors and windows (and barricades). AND when inside a building gives me an extra damage buff and movement speed.

I can just touch 50 damage pershot with this build. And this is without Minigun System.

[Bonzai101]

@Goldymires Very solid build, in practice, how do you find adaptive systems vs. having a green sprint ability?

[Goldymires]

Personally, I think both of them are situational. Sprinting is good to catch up with a team or create some breathing room. Adaptive is good for the added damage, suppression and weapon range. I use Adaptive cos' if I can suppress them and kill them before they can close the distance, then I don't really need to worry about sprinting away from them :)

[Bonzai101]

@Kill with Fire
Just had a try of the Rivnik build on hard, while it had some great aspects, I felt I was reloading alot, & ammunition link would probably have been more useful than some of the other abilities.
Also, very rarely used suppression / wired.....

When you run it, how do you play it? What point distribution do you use?

Update :
Have now also tried out the Breach shotgun build...... it felt ...... weak, compared to what you can do with the assault class, can't say I could recommend it.

& have added @Goldymires heavy build, feels very good to play, ty

[Kill with Fire]

Yeah, honestly you can probably drop the shoulder turret for something else. I believe for RIVNIK heavy it is generally 3 heavy, at least 1 point into Wired, and rest into suppressive and pop suppressive and wired when an enemy boss or other big armor thing comes.

Yeah honestly I don't use that shotgun build all that much, just wanted to put out more builds involving shotguns out there.

[Exarch]

My Standard Heavy Build:

Maxed out wired first, so you can not just eat ammo all day*

*With regards to wired armor: On a long match, getting to wave 16 on very hard, i maybe use 80 boxes of ammo. 90 at most, while firing all game. Wired armor easily cuts my ammo use in half. Plus i stack poison / explosive ammo when i can. And if you find / save a powercell for late game, the duration of wired armor is essentially doubled for 10 seconds on use of said pcell. Even better if you have a terminator just constantly bumping your energy regen*

Ammo Link maxed out second, to avoid those pesky long reloads (+ the dmg buff is nice)

Max Heavy Weapons. RPM + reload is love. (More RPM also = more free bullets with wired)

Remaining into Safeguard. Passive rpm increase, which basically buffs wired armor indirectly without using the valued energy cost.

Stabalizers cut the miss chance massively. So less wasted ammo.

Overwatch isn't "needed" but it is nice, since you can look around the map while knowing you'll swap targets automatically to closest thing fast. and since your bullets pierce, anything behind ur target gets hit as well.
...
While crit IS nice. The damage you gain from crits is negligible. Shooting faster (Especially with wired armor) you get more damage. Crits are nice, but to have it (and max it, and get most out of it) you'd need both Critical sys AND Targeting system. Targeting system eats into wired a bit, so they (almost) negate. Plus, Heavy's job is to surpress threats (so they are slowed and can get debuffed for bonus dmg)... You should have threat killers on the squad. (my sniper comes to mind)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2789285885

[Exarch]

My First love, is my Sniper class Loadout.

The gun is Either SMG, or GAR (Gar being better in most cases for late game, especially once your both crits are maxed out. 30% crit chance on the gar with 4x crit dmg is nothing to scoff at. And if you are inside and near a door, it's a thing of beauty)

1 point in Ammo generation, Conceal, and Vital early.

Generate ammo any chance you can.

Start maxing Vital. It's job is to be able to let you nuke threats. (Remember to let your stacks load up between Stinger shots. a bunch of level 1 vital shots are worthless).

Max out Conceal Second, since it gives better gains than critical System.

Then max critical system. At this point, it should be wave 13-15 (depending on how much killing ya'll have done. batteries, etc) .... And with a nice shot (And praying to the RNG gods), a vital shot, 5 stack crit will do 40k dmg to thanatos or specimen on Very Hard with 8 people. :D Your crit chance is around 65-75% at 5 stacks with both maxed passives. So the odds are in your favor.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2789285874

Now i have seen people use reaper. and i've tested it. it's nice, but due to the steep energy cost. (Reaper and silent hunter work SUPER great together), they both require 1 thing to be viable. a kill. You need to kill at least 1 trash mob to get the most out of it. Not great when thanatos or specimen is nomming on your allies. It's great, don't get me wrong, but you can't take "snap shots" with it the way you can with vital targeting. that said.... Vital, Silent, Reaper, Ammo Gen is nice, just not for me. .... Pull out sniper. turn on reaper, kill trash. Energy gain from reaper + dmg buff from silent hunter kick on, turn on vital, and delete... but in the late stages, when there's a lot of fluffies, IF you don't get a kill, silent hunter & Reaper are now useless, invalidating a lot of your damage and 2 skills. Vital + crits, will never let you down. ;') (Assuming you've sacrificed a baby to the RNG gods)

[Exarch]

I have a LMG / GAR build for the assault. But to dive into such nuances and math, this isn't that thread. :V But i do love my assault class as well. Just, nobody plays dedicated Threat or Trash clear, and i find Heavy and Sniper do great at those 2 jobs. (While both can be outclassed by Demo for super threats. like ker, there's too much risk to get close and setting a trap. And hellfire tends to hurt allies, but is a great trash clear / tank)

[Exarch]

Originally posted by Bonzai101:

@Kill with Fire
Just had a try of the Rivnik build on hard, while it had some great aspects, I felt I was reloading alot, & ammunition link would probably have been more useful than some of the other abilities.
Also, very rarely used suppression / wired.....

When you run it, how do you play it? What point distribution do you use?

Update :
Have now also tried out the Breach shotgun build...... it felt ...... weak, compared to what you can do with the assault class, can't say I could recommend it.

& have added @Goldymires heavy build, feels very good to play, ty

I have a fun (but useless) shotgun build. Run Assault. LWTS, Ammonite, Cohesion, Discipline. put however many points you can in stabalizer system (to reduce spread) ... around late game you'll be doing +80% base dmg x3 (one of the 4 pullets misses at range). it's lackluster, but amusing. smg gets better results (for crit) ... Shotgun shines because it can hit multiple enemies in a line. That said, it's in desperate need of a buff.

[Exarch]

Worth noting. I (usually) play with bots because i don't like high ping and i play late in evenings on USA time zone. And i Play either Very Hard or Nightmare (Aet) Difficulty.

[Exarch]

LMG Assault:

Secondary pistol. for some of those bigger annoying things like Holers and Atrocities (if you're solo)

Max out Ammonite First. This will prevent late game ammo issues. (Plus, since it reloads 2 mags at a time, it counts 2x for ammonite. so every other reload he loads energy rounds)

second max, LWTS for the dmg buff + reload.

Third up. Discipline. Late game is mainly where this shines. Longer you fight, better damage you do. Gaining stacks is painfully slow. But oh so sexy. (At max stacks, if you can maintain, which isn't hard on wave 16, you have double dmg from Discipline. then another 40% dmg from LWTS. You turn into a powerhouse, so long as you can stay fighting)

1 point in cohesion. it's not important. You don't reload often. so on reload. +8% dmg. due to magazine size, the reload buff is only good for about 40/120 rounds. 60/120 rounds at most. (Cohesion is Great on the gar though)

Overall. Late game, your LMG goes from 70 dmg, to 170 dmg late game at max stacks. Ammo effecient as hell.

And you want (need) stabalizers to mitigate the spread. LMG only has about 60% accuracy with Overwatch system due to the painfully large spread it has Anything up close it's great. at a range it hurts. Stabalizers fix that problem rather nicely
.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2789292959

[Bonzai101]

Thanks for taking the time to reply @Exarch
I'll have a good read through, then come back to you, probably tomorrow, brain is a bit fried.

@Kill with Fire I've just been having a muck round with the below build
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2789294817
It feels very good for armour strip, more playtesting required though..... stonewall basically makes your energy evaporate, but if the enemy no longer has armour......

[Exarch]

GAR Assault

My PREFERRED Assault build:

Gar + Thunder (again, for those "oh ♥♥♥♥" things)

Heal lets you stay alive / not rely on medic so much. (I'd stick that on my LMG if i could figure the energy issue out)

Like the LMG. Max out Ammonite Early. Solves Late game ammo issues.

Max LWTS (Dmg buff + crit dmg buff)

Max Cohesion (it's essentially a LWTS on reload for 6 seconds. and since you have a small magazine, you'll reload often. Which is why you want/need ammonite)

3 points in Crit. Gar 10% crit + 6% crit systems. It's nice. and with LWTS + crit your crits are hitting at 4x dmg every 7 bullets. (then on reload, you hit even harder because of cohesion)

As a result of the value of crits, this is where it's tricky. All that ammo you've been saving, and you SHOULd have managed to find / save 20 boxes of ammo for your inventory. If you AND the team aren't hurting for ammo, Take 2 points out of ammonite, bump up the Crit to max.

Max crit = 20% crit. 1/5 bullets is doing 4.5x dmg. on reload, 1/5 bullets is doing 5.5x dmg .... your 50 round magazine has the damage power of 80 round magazine. 90 round magazine on reload. And, late game, you'll be reloading often.

Now, I like overwatch bonus because the faster retargeting is nice. Gar has almost no Spread to worry about. IF i had to pick something else, Dmg buff would be nice. but is 5 dmg on a gar worth giving up 40% faster auto aim? debatable.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2789292953