Personal Feedback on Cherub

[Cailleach]

Seems most people rank Cherub pretty low on the hierarchy of fun and power.
I have to agree, even though I really like the concept behind him.

His core mechanic, the shield charges is interesting and brimming with potential, however, the way it is currently working seems less than ideal to me.

Kinetic Shield: His basic ability, the kinetic shield is decent or even overpowered early game when the enemies are few and one weapon attack is all they are really capable of. There is a sense of real consequence about his shield usage at that point.

After starting my second investigation I noticed a dip in power.
Having to choose between shielding and shooting was starting to become an increasingly distasteful choice to make.
It might be it was due to squad damage output becoming so important and/or the number of enemies so high that his one shield per round really wasn't doing that much in the grand scheme of things.

Phalanx: It didn't help that Phalanx doesn't always force agressive enemies to target him even though they can see him and Phalanx is active.
Now don't get me wrong, enemies that cannot see him obviously should not fire at him even when Phalanx is active. Problem is, even if they DO see him, there are times they decide to shoot at his squadmates anyways. That just feels bad to watch, especially since it's a single use ability, got 3 encounters to crack? Too bad, Phalanx is available in only one of them and you can't rely on it to do what it says.

I can't think of more than once or twice where more than a single agressive enemy targeted Cherub's Phalanx and it's always the one he targeted with the ability.
This puts a hefty dampener on his charge generation and thus hampers his charged abilities, fighting beneath potential ALL the time will turn most people off from using him.

Generator vs Guard: . I don't think I'll ever pick Guard again even though I find it objectively more powerful than Generator.
If I pick Guard, Cherub gains an armor point and some additional defense at the end of his turn, plus he can be low cover for his allies, fair. But his charge generation suffers for it.
Coupled with that some shields he places sometimes are never targeted, picking Guard feels like kicking his own legs from under him in terms of potential and fun.

Overload: more or less pointless if you rarely ever get above 2 charges anyways due to how few charges are generated throughout (an) encounter(s).

Recharge and Resonance Field: I will probably always go for Recharge from here on out due to how hard it is to stack charges on him.

Supercharge: NOW we're talking! A fun ability so powerful that the single use is justified.
If only I had some charges to activate it with...

Writing this I realize my biggest issues with Cherub is how hard it is to reliably stack charges on him without the right abilities.
Then comes the lack of power in his kinetic shield for mid to late game.
Then there's his melee ability ALWAYS draining ALL his stacks.
In a scenario where Cherub's handgun is out of ammo and reloading ends his turn but not using a 2-3 stacked Charged Bash on a single 1hp enemy would almost certainly result in a bleeding out squadmate... That is not a fun choice to make.
Granted his melee ability Charged Bash becomes ridiculously powerful at even a single stack, nevermind 2 or 3, though I have never been able to generate enough stacks for a 3 point Charged Bash having taken Guard and Resonance field in my playthrough with him.

Then again, picking energy generation makes him (A lot?) more squishy, but I think as it currently stands, it's the only way to go.
Axiom can charge himself up indefinitely with the use of a 4 turn cd ability and gains a charge every time he is hit by something, Cherub is easily choked out, and vulnerable to underperforming as such.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?

[juliejayne]

I tend to agree. But give him a few grenades, I like turncoat, or acid, and get the pistol upgraded, you need that for Blueblood anyway, and he is not bad.

But yes, one of the team who struggles more late game.

[Yodums]

He's usable earlier in the game before you get all the overpowered items. But unfortunately, you are incentivized to wipe out / time delay enemies before they get a turn (not to mention end up spending less real life time on mission the sooner you wipe out the enemy), so spending an action to set up a shield is not conducive to that plan once you get maxed out characters and equipment.

Depending on enemy spawn and how hard you abuse certain characters, the first two characters can sometimes clear encounters by themselves before the other two characters even get a turn, even on impossible difficulty, when playing the game's intended shock and awe approach. And Cherub doesn't really contribute to that game plan. But he can be fun if you prefer to grind out an attrition battle or want to try something "different"

Also, I think Phalanx only draws aggro on attacks for squadmates at the same breach point, at least from what I noticed anyway. I didn't have any problems reaching max charges when I use him, but I went with Generator and Recharge and was mindful of Phalanx.

[pepoluan]

I find Cherub to still be somewhat useful on later stages.

I usually use him to aggro enemies that would otherwise target my DPS.

Also, fully charged, Cherub runs really fast, and his damage is guaranteed. And charged, his bash became AOE. I routinely knock out two enemies in one go with his AOE bash.

He's almost essential for VIP Evac missions, though. Since only one enemy ("The Hunter") will fire at the VIP, erecting a kinetic shield around the VIP ensures that the VIP won't die in that turn.

[gimmethegepgun]

Originally posted by pepoluan:

He's almost essential for VIP Evac missions, though. Since only one enemy ("The Hunter") will fire at the VIP, erecting a kinetic shield around the VIP ensures that the VIP won't die in that turn.

"Essential" is a gross exaggeration. He's helpful for the reason stated but by no means is he needed for that. You can protect the VIP by other means, most notably through destroying the enemy that wants to target the VIP.

[Wu Sha Ling]

individually, cherub isn't exciting. each agent has their role in each encounter and against each opfor. cherub plays well in longer operations, not so good in single encounters. the damage buff is particularly good with blueblood, critting for 21. oneshotting some bosses

[_iBeGoinSTUPID_]

Cherub has been a large source of my frustrations about the game, specifically about his phalanx. It is absolutely insane how much that skill could end up screwing over the team with how incredible unreliable it is. Between that and him acting like he can't see teammates when you're trying to shield on them, at this point he's my 24/7 assembly/spec ops guy

[peddroelm]

Cherub's Phalanx will ONLY protect teammates that jumped in the same 'door' / breach point he did. It is a great way to charge him up on some encounters when enough hold/firepower is not sufficient to 'silence' all the attackers. Ideal for these situations are acid/poison/fire DOT ammo (on team mates) that will allow the aggressive enemy to charge Cherub's phalanx up and die from DOT before they get to act again ..

Self buff +15 aim (with extra 15 from improved scope) take lightning hands shot ..then take a second shot or self flank to draw on enemy's fire.. Return fire is not as reliable (your self aim buff shield breaks before you get to the the return fire shot ( does it have overwatch fire penalty ? ) ) but adds a bit..

Lately I often found myself holding back on using his shield bash to subdue enemies to keep him at max charge ..just in case .. 6 cone AOE damage is nothing to sneeze at in Chimera Squad..

Since during a mission various types of enemies will shoot at him he needs an universal ammo type (tracer and tranq are truly universal but weak offensively, acid rounds work great except vs andromedons and you might give them to a better damage dealer, AP does nothing against un armored enemies, hit CTC doesn't justify talons .. probably Half the enemies in the game are immune to dragon or venom rounds ) ..

Final stretch of the game I have 1 bluescreen round user (last game Patchwork) , Dragon rounds user ( being on fire DISABLES THE GUARDIAN's ABILITY TO MASS SHIELD last game Claymore) from the breach phase ; Acid rounds on Shelter for his chainshot SMG .. Tried Cherub with both AP and venom rounds .. (venom rounds are superior during breach phase since you can usually control what you use it against.. During the mission ...bit of a toss up vs the faction full of snakes and robots .. )

Hair trigger might be the best second weapon mod for him after the scope (or maybe stock ?) ..
Medkit is probably his best second utility slot for most/all of the game ? (mindshield ? )

He needs to breach first to get most out of him ..Pump him full of extra actions so enemies keep shooting his shield and he keeps triggering return fire for most acting enemies ..(but in chimera squad that first breach slot has heavy competition) So then he often gets used in slot 2 or 3 to protect a faster killing damage dealer ..

[keegstand]

I love Cherub. I went Guard/Recharge. Your problem may stem from not taking Recharge. Resonance Field is a sucker pick, IMO. Recharge allows him to constantly have 1+ charge unless/until you use Overload. I also gave him the first Reflex Grip gun upgrade I got, which allows him to shoot + melee every turn. Guard allows him to melee without fear of ending the turn out of cover.
The epic pistol that gives a free-action shot every 3T with a Advanced or higher Stock allows for a lot of guaranteed damage to get people down to Charged Bash damage range reliably. If you knock 2 people out with a single Charged Bash, you get 2 charges. Due to this, he is also a great candidate for Terminal's Cooperation ability.
Phalanx is underwhelming, but just use it to get that first charge.

[Yian Yan]

Fun fact: Guard becomes high cover bonus when you're at 3 charges. Which is, unfortunately, another incentive to not use his bash/supercharge. His resonance field is quite nice for helping allies get whatever job they want to do done. Add in pure damage mitigation and he's not so bad. On Impossible I've found him quite useful especially if you're abusing the raw power of Blueblood as they do share a weapon.