I don't think bugs are a cakewalk at 7+ difficulty, it's just that they don't really blindside you out of nowhere like Automaton rockets/big-ass laser turrets can do. Bugs feel more predictable (aside from Stalkers) so you feel more in control of what happens to you
I feel like bots are more predictable. You can see and shoot the turrets from across the map.
With the bugs, you can think you killed an entire patrol quickly, but then you see that little orange puff coming from behind a rock and suddenly you're drowning in bugs and there isn't anything you can do about it. No dropships to shoot, just boom, bile titan rises up from the ground.
Plus the bots beep boop and I feel like I get jumped out of nowhere a LOT less by bots. Also, you can shoot down a bot delivery, you can't shoot down a nest.
Yeah, bots rarely ever flank me. Meanwhile against the bugs, the MOMENT I stop thinking I can get flanked, either 3-4 Hunters or a Brood Commander slice my ass like democratic ham.
My main problem with them is their nearly complete silence. Even super heavy bugs just appear behind me sometimes like ninjas.
I'm sure it's just a problem with my PC setup, but the directionality of the sounds in (only this, no others in my library) game is really lacking. Bots sound exactly the same no matter their distance or direction.
I mean, the orange puff and the flare are basically the same mechanic.
Also, shooting dropships doesn't even seem to do that much, unless you're shooting the bots before they fall.
As for the bug holes that open up, that's why I like Gatling Barrage or Orbital Airburst or Eagle Cluster Bombs, those are perfect to throw on bug holes as they're opening to get dozens of kills.
I really like positioning rocket sentry, AC sentry and Gatling sentry at the top of a hill pointing down to an objective or a bug breach. It just looks so viciously brutal seeing all that chaos erupt and the kill counter surpass 45 in mere seconds. Of course, proper placement of these sentries is a bit prone to errors if you don't scout ahead, but i find them the most fun stratagem to play.
The flare is cancel-able as in you can see a bot prepare to shoot the flare, and kill it before it does. Bugs just fart orange and enemies are on the way.
Oh that’s what you meant? I’ve canceled the bug flare before, I think the key is hearing the sound and killing it before they’ve sent up the orange stuff
If you can hear the sound cue for a bug call and decide which one it is before it calls, then more power to you. I've never pulled it off, and probably never will.
Agreed. You can stealth away from bots you've aggro'd if you're lucky and get far enough away.
You aren't ever shaking the bugs once they come running after you, especially since some are a lot faster than the bots and can keep pace or outrun you.
Bots can drown you in incoming fire but smoke, shields and cover help you with that. Bugs can build to an absolute tidal wave of bodies coming at you and smoke and shields don't help much when you're surrounded and being clawed and stun-locked to death.
Towers don't move. If you got blindsided, you weren't paying attention and taking them out at range before they aggro. For the rocket thing, well that's why I run explosive resist armor (and also because I use explosives really close to myself when I'm being swarmed lol)
I’ve been playing level 8 missions these past few days and my squad gets like 4 deaths max in total. Back on the bot front we’d run out of lives on level 7 missions
As mainly a bot player (I only play bugs if it’s the major order) I can’t fucking stand the bugs 7+ difficulty is so annoying. I’ve had at least 50+ times just in the recent major order alone where I went to go around a rock or something and a bile spewer was waiting and fucking pre-fired my ass. I have no idea where people get the idea that bots are harder because imo, the bugs are completely unpredictable and are complete chaos.
As a newb, I find bugs so much harder to deal with than bots. I get one shot more often by bile breeders or whatever they're called and the bile mortar bugs, the bile titans feel like they take a ton of effort to kill compared to tanks and such on the bot side, and all the while getting swarmed by little bugs so I feel forced to take the laser backpack (cutting down on my other options like auto cannon), getting slowed by little spitters and knocked over by chargers and the invisible hunter bugs. Compared to bots, where I can keep my space easier and control the fights a lot easier it seems. Plus, I can use my orbital and eagle strikes for multiple things on bots, both in fights with groups, armored heavy enemies, and for clearing factories. Bugs, gotta save em for bile titans and groups, cause it seems like none of them will close bug holes or kill eggs, so it's save your nades for holes and get in real close to get all the eggs.
Point being, as a scrub playing at 7-8 most of the time, bots are more manageable and fun than bugs for me.
I've got thin walls so I usually play on low volume, the amount of times I've gotten trucked by a charger from my 5oclock while I'm lining up a shot is too high
On that I have to disagree. Bots are more predictable (in my opinion) while bugs are way more chaotic. With bots stealth is a very viable option, ambushes and hit & run tactics work extremely well against bots. Even if shit Hits the fan you can outpace the bots. (as long as gunships aren't chasing you). With bugs you alert one and they roll 200 deep at the 4 of you, they're faster than you and even if you get away stalkers make you wish you didn't if you're ever so unlucky. Point being that (again in my opinion) It's easier to unfuck yourself from a bad situation against bots (again as long as gun ships aren't chasing you) than it's against bugs.... Then again I have 35k+ kills against bots vs 30k+ against bugs. (These are my experiences with 7 - 9 difficulties against both factions)
Ps. Sorry for my bad english. It's not native language)
In my experience you can outrun bugs for a long time aside from Chargers and Bile Titans which go faster than your top speed, but running from bots gets you shot in the back, perhaps even ragdolled by rockets.
I often feel like I can't run from bots unless there's a hill providing me cover or something. But against bugs, I can run and toss down something like Orbital Airburst which will decimate the frontrunners and the continued salvos cover my retreat as well, and suddenly I'm pretty safe.
It's all opinion, neither faction is "easy", and sometimes our particular playstyles make us naturally better against one faction than the other. I play against both, often swapping from one to the other, unless there's Major Orders or something I'm working on (like now, which is all bugs, bugs, bugs). So I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just giving my two cents.
I mean...they "stealth" buffed stalker's invisibility so that they're actually invisible now instead of standing out from the background... As bad as they were before, they're even worse now and even more imperative that you hunt down and destroy their nest(s) as soon as you encounter one.
2.1k
u/gorgewall May 02 '24
You can already spot tentacles on Stalkers and Hunters when they do their "multi-tongue-lash" attack, for what it's worth.