Best/ worst agents?

[✪︎DΞ︎AD_iwnw]

I just started playing this today and I kinda want to know which agents I should avoid using. It seems to me that Blueblood and Verge seem to be some of the best agents, while Axiom and Zephyr seem to fall short

[Artek [General]]

All agents become OP towards the end, but some of them do better in early / mid game.

Blueblood, verge, torgue, patchwork and terminal are S material.

Axiom, while underwhelming early game, becomes an amazing tank with levels. Can eat damage like nobody else.

Everyone else is okay.

The 2 agents I personally have issues with are Zephyr and Shelter.

Zephyr doesn't get any damage upgrades to her fists unless you take a specific skill on 2nd promotion, and she has major issues staying alive in combat. The whole running into the enemies face first often results in her eating bullets like mad.
She can become an amazing crowd controller with higher levels but... It's such a pain to get her there.

And shelter is... He's not that bad, it's just you'd expect more from his psionics. His swapping ability is worthless until 2nd promotion that allows it to give +50 defense.

His breach ability is pretty underwhelming by itself, but you can combine it with smoke grenade breaching item to make it very hard for enemies to shoot your squad.

And I think he only truly shines in a team with Blueblood with "ever vigilant" skill, because then he can swap with him for free overwatch shots, while also granting him that sweet defense bonus.

[talemore]

Cherub, because he only work with terminal and only if she is the only squad member alive. Cherub create shield on terminal and Terminal heals Cherub. Cherub create shield on himself and Terminal heal her wounds

But it only work if all other squad members have fallen

Cherub is his own enemy. Because bringing Cherub on your squad end you up with Cherub alive and all others down. The time any other squad member had saved the squad is wasted because Cherub has only one efficient way to deal damage and it's only functional if he has a charge. You end up with Cherub alive but everyone else are gone as Cherub did nothing on his turn to prevent it

[Daddy Shark]

Cherub works well with Axiom as well. Try to keep Axiom as your forward man closest to the enemies and use cherub to keep him shielded. He can tank all day long.

[TamTroll]

i'm a fan of Verge. keep expanding the network, use non-lethal measures on all your enemies, and the guy is basically guaranteed every shot will both land and be a crit at the same time.

[Freshmeat]

S – Blueblood, Patchwork, Claymore
A – Terminal, Torque, Godmother
B – Axiom, Verge
C – Zephyr, Cherub, Shelter

But don’t let tier lists fool you. None of the characters are bad. You won’t end up in an unwinnable position by choosing certain characters or building them incorrectly. All of the C tier characters are still perfectly playable. And some of the high-tier characters won't reach that state until they get the right gear or training.

So pick whatever characters you want. But if it's your first time, you absolutely want Terminal.

[Artek [General]]

Originally posted by talemore:

Cherub, because he only work with terminal and only if she is the only squad member alive. Cherub create shield on terminal and Terminal heals Cherub. Cherub create shield on himself and Terminal heal her wounds

But it only work if all other squad members have fallen

Cherub is his own enemy. Because bringing Cherub on your squad end you up with Cherub alive and all others down. The time any other squad member had saved the squad is wasted because Cherub has only one efficient way to deal damage and it's only functional if he has a charge. You end up with Cherub alive but everyone else are gone as Cherub did nothing on his turn to prevent it

This one is weird to me. What do you mean Cherub did nothing to prevent others falling? Blocking damage is his entire thing. If anything his only downside is that he cant ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ movie from his initial post-breach spot because he keeps giving shield to everyone and then shooting.

And after getting the "Shield gives +15 aim" skill he works great as a support unit, especially on such madlads as Blueblood and Torgue.

[Perplex]

Blueblood sucks. Use someone else over him. Reflex grip makes his gimmick pointless.

[Artek [General]]

Originally posted by Perplex:

Blueblood sucks. Use someone else over him. Reflex grip makes his gimmick pointless.

That's a pretty poor argument as to why he sucks. Its like saying his increased aim is irrelevant because superior scopes exist.
At the very least, you can use his 2nd weapon upgrade slot for something else besides our lord and savior reflex grip.

And he has more going on for him than being able to shoot twice.

[mosspit]

Best for me is Patchwork. Guaranteed CC on enemies not immune to mental effects that is further boosted by Storm Generator is stupidly powerful. She takes the RNG layer out of the tactical layer and is highly dependable to achieve a desired outcome. And she is so fun to use for me.

Worst is Verge. Even created a thread just to see what else he brings to the table. https://steamcommunity.com/app/882100/discussions/0/2802882333575235560/ I have given him a fair chance by using him to max level. But it seems hes needs a lot of action resource just to be effective. He becomes strong in a situation where it doesn't matter and he is weak at the crucial part of the encounter.

[Freshmeat]

Hard to believe you weren't convinced by this doozy of a strategy.

Originally posted by KKDragonLord:

The secret to using him well is to make him go first, or at worst second, so that he gets to act earlier, in the turn. Then you will usually stun the closest enemy in the turn order and use Preparation to speed up his turn. Making Terminal come next you use Cooperation to give him an extra stun, delaying another enemy, and if she has Pin Down, she can delay a third enemy, finally after Verge acts again in the first turn, and Preparation is on cool down, you can use Teamwork to give him another Stun and finally use Mindflay to auto-damage the 3-4 enemies you stunned in the first round.

[mosspit]

Originally posted by Freshmeat:

Hard to believe you weren't convinced by this doozy of a strategy.

Originally posted by KKDragonLord:

The secret to using him well is to make him go first, or at worst second, so that he gets to act earlier, in the turn. Then you will usually stun the closest enemy in the turn order and use Preparation to speed up his turn. Making Terminal come next you use Cooperation to give him an extra stun, delaying another enemy, and if she has Pin Down, she can delay a third enemy, finally after Verge acts again in the first turn, and Preparation is on cool down, you can use Teamwork to give him another Stun and finally use Mindflay to auto-damage the 3-4 enemies you stunned in the first round.

No I am not. As I mentioned, that is hidden behind the requirement to burn Teamwork and Cooperation in order to do all those things. Theres alot of action resource manipulation. Imagine having someone else like Patchwork receiving those nice action effects. You will get better mileage.

I have addressed my considerations including the abovementioned. Perhaps give my counter points a look as well. Instead of just cherry picking whatever that is striking to you. Again, I have actually played him sufficiently to form my opinion. While others like Axiom and Cherub have surprised me, Verge remains underwhelming.

[Freshmeat]

I figured the sarcasm would be obvious.

Mindflay is terrible and wasting so many actions and resources to set up a 12-16 dmg play several turns after combat has already started is the definition of underwhelming.

[mosspit]

Apologies, I missed out on the sarcasm. Usually there would be a /s at the end. I would never underestimated the capacity for posters to post something far-fetched that they are very adamant about. Hence the misinterpretation.

[Artek [General]]

Originally posted by Freshmeat:

I figured the sarcasm would be obvious.

Mindflay is terrible and wasting so many actions and resources to set up a 12-16 dmg play several turns after combat has already started is the definition of underwhelming.

I mean, just going by raw damage even 3 enemies tethered and mindflayed will deal about 9 points of guaranteed, armor-ignoring damage. Still a better action than shooting a rifle.

But yes, usually by the time the guy has 3 or more enemies in the network the encounter is already over.
Could be fixed by abusing that one action-granting grenade and Terminal's action-giving i suppose.
Verge goes first > Terminal gives him action > Throws the action grenade at him > Moves his turn with team work. That's... 2+1+2+1 (one action needed for mindflay) 6 enemies in the network. Lots of work and setup, but could be fun.

[goonerdu]

If I want a hassle free Impossible Ironman hardcore run, then I choose Claymore, Blueblood, Terminal and Patchwork.
For a more challenging run I would choose Shelter, Verge, Cherub and Zephyr. Still doable and arguably more enjoyable.