Heat Blast vs Microwave Beam

[Uscari]

Honestly I never use either of these mods, because I only use this weapon to stagger fodder.

However, I think both have potential, and I want to use them more.

Microwave Beam seems good because it gives you a health reading, it immobilizes targets, and it falters nearby enemies.

Heat Blast is good because you get that AoE damage which doesn't hurt you, it destroys weakpoints (very useful against Revenants and Mancubi) and falters at very low ammo cost.

I can't decide which one is better, do you guys think one is better than the other? If so, which one?

[UNBREAKABLE]

Microwave beam I generally find better still, it has utility heat blast doesn't.

Heat blast is probably better in early game but the usefulness dwindles as you get more weapons with burst damage. Having to fire the plasma rifle for a period of time before you can use it seems slow when there are combos that do more damage that don't need a "wind up".

[DanySD]

Defintely the microwave beam

[vese91]

Heat Blast, far more easy and fast to use! The Microwave Beam slows down and exposes you too much

[DanySD]

Originally posted by vese91:

Heat Blast, far more easy and fast to use! The Microwave Beam slows down and exposes you too much

And it does the same to every demon

[гот-педовка]

Originally posted by DanySD:

Originally posted by vese91:

Heat Blast, far more easy and fast to use! The Microwave Beam slows down and exposes you too much

And it does the same to every demon

At ultra nightmare you die very fast, any slowdown makes weapons useless

[Hundinger]

Originally posted by suicide culture:

Originally posted by DanySD:

And it does the same to every demon

At ultra nightmare you die very fast, any slowdown makes weapons useless

Maybe if you are standing there for 10 seconds trying to cook a demon, but that's not what it's for. You can stun demons with a very short lock on, keep them from shooting or coming at you and read their health to know exactly when to meathook in for a finisher. It's also the only way to stop a possessed demon when all other faltering methods don't work.

It's a matter of playstyle, I prefer the beam but I used to prefer the blast. The beam is strong if you know what you're doing. But of course it's not required at all, just one viable method more.

[MattCryptid]

Both are good, but outside of spirits you don't really need to use the Plasma Rifle in this game.

Microwave beam is decent for doing quick stuns while Heat Blast is more of a jack of all trades- breaking weak points, faltering, quick efficient damage etc.

Heat blast takes more time to set up but is less janky and a bit more reliable, while Microwave beam arguably fits a more unique niche.

I do think there is a contingent of people who forgot how solid heat blast can be and/or give microwave beam more credit than its due after TAG essentially forced it for Spirits.

[Žviks]

Originally posted by suicide culture:

Originally posted by DanySD:

And it does the same to every demon

At ultra nightmare you die very fast, any slowdown makes weapons useless

If that was true Destroyer Blade would be useless too and yet it's one of the most used tools among UN players, even speedrunners.

[гот-педовка]

Originally posted by Lord Cacodemon:

Originally posted by suicide culture:

At ultra nightmare you die very fast, any slowdown makes weapons useless

If that was true Destroyer Blade would be useless too and yet it's one of the most used tools among UN players, even speedrunners.

Maybe if you run to a good position every time you want to use it, yes you can use it

[luh m]

piss beam

[Sar]

Originally posted by Lord Cacodemon:

Originally posted by suicide culture:

At ultra nightmare you die very fast, any slowdown makes weapons useless

If that was true Destroyer Blade would be useless too and yet it's one of the most used tools among UN players, even speedrunners.

Those players usually can bunnyhop pretty consistently.

[DanySD]

Originally posted by suicide culture:

Originally posted by DanySD:

And it does the same to every demon

At ultra nightmare you die very fast, any slowdown makes weapons useless

You're supposed to use it for only 1 second at a time max

[bullerbuller7]

Originally posted by Lord Cacodemon:

Originally posted by suicide culture:

At ultra nightmare you die very fast, any slowdown makes weapons useless

If that was true Destroyer Blade would be useless too and yet it's one of the most used tools among UN players, even speedrunners.

I like to use the destroyer blade while standing on a jump pad that goes straight up xD

Neither of the mods are very useful even early on. The only use for microwave is to stun enemies, but really, it's not worth it. The heat wave can be effective early on, but even then, micro missiles or even shotgun bombs are better.
So i only really use microwave just for stunning bigger demons, for no reason...

[Sar]

Heat Blast is guaranteed falter + good damage. It's an energy super shotgun.

[Uscari]

It feels to me like Microwave beam is the better 1v1 mod, as it allows you to interrupt animations constantly, meanwhile heatblast has a cooldown after 1 falter.

The real benefit of the Heat Blast to me is destroying weak points. Mancubus and even Revenant can be a real threat with the double turrets, and the ability to destroy both instantly without having to commit at all to fighting them is pretty appealing. You won't kill them, but basically turned them into walking health packs because they aren't a threat when the turrets down.