Need Advice: Mk2 vs. Mk4-5

I'm new to BB and am having some difficulties that I'm hoping you guys have some insight with. First the background: I'm currently level 13, running mk2 boats, and bouncing around 600 to 900 infamy. I prefer Shooter or Fixer and have yet to really settle on a build yet. Usually in a shooter and I have gotten an epic swift torp and std mortar so those are usually heavy in the mix with the third spot whatever the hell guild quest I'm working on. Running a rare turbo and small shield for blues.

Ok, so the question: What the hell do I do about *constantly* facing >mk4 boats and the associated weapons? In some games I can only take 1-2 hits and then I'm done. I've put as much speed as I can on the turbo (30% boost ATM with perks and whatnot) to avoid the hits as best I can and that works...except when it doesn't (looking at you jerks with the sniper cannons) . I've also tried switching to nearly completely long range to snipe at a distance but it absolutely tanks my average damage. Also, I'm such a nice little juicey slow moving nugget of low HP that as soon as red sees me I obviously become the low hanging fruit no matter where I am. So what the hell am I supposed to do? I hate the idea of tanking/floating, but currently the matches I'm in are not fun because I'm a liability to the rest of the team and end up in flames 1/3 of the way through the match.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Sadly, from what I've heard, the beginning stages of the game seem to be pretty bad nowadays. I'd say fixer is your best bet if you're free to play. Once you hit mk4 things will start to become more fun and you can actually compete with the other guys

 

Lol, and then I just become a SUPER low hanging fruit and attract mortars/torps/cannonballs like flies to political promises... At least in my shooter I can sometimes fly under the radar for a time.

 

I'm reasonably new also and it wasn't that long ago I was facing similar problems. I still am, just at higher levels. The difference is that this time I have invaded the higher level's infamies. They belong there, I do not. I can't complain. For you, the higher infamies are invading your rightful spot and you ought to complain.

When I was in your M2 shooter I put on dual turbos. My ship speed was 1.52. Couple that with learning how to drive to avoid being hit and... well... an awful lot of shots went into the waves and an awful lot of mortars exploded behind me. As you say, everything is a one-shot or two-shot for you. So the only answer is to not get hit. Speed and skill can do that for you within limits. Yes, you'll be the "juicy low-hp target". I turned that to my team's advantage. I'd deliberately go out in front and draw the attention of the unfriends, trying to sow confusion and chaos in my wake. Believe it or not, I used short-range weapons... almost exclusively cannons... and fought in among the unfriends. Then, while they were all lusting after the easy kill I represented, with any luck the rest of my team will have actually gotten out of the spawn spots and might take advantage of that.

You're going to run into two types of M4's and M5's at that level.

Tanker: This is someone who is deliberately losing to keep their infamy low. That'd be me in an M4 if I hadn't abandoned guild quests for this week in order to push into master league if I'm able. That means my actual skill and boat put my proper infamy range at something like 1000-1250. Here you have no hope. if I've been questing so I'm down at some stupidly low infamy and I want to win that match I probably will. So you'd best hope I'm in "losing" mode. If I'm not then just chalk it up to "conditions of the battlefield" like any other and move on to the next combat. That's what I do when someone on my team does it to me. Rovio has tried to fix this and the behavior is a "grievous offense" under the rules which makes it bannable. They have treated the symptoms but not really attacked the disease itself so the problem remains.

Causal: Consider the person who just picks up the game every now and then to pot a few toy boats. They'll have little skill or ability and they don't really care either. They might actually belong in low infamy levels and they aren't a problem. Big bullets cause 0 damage when they hit the water. I've fought and killed guys racking legendary guns at that infamy.

Good luck. Try to remember that the combats themselves are usually fun and ANY combat is going to have random factors (like, for instance, just plain really good or really bad players) which are challenges you must overcome in order to advance. That's what I tell myself while I wait for Rovio to address the issues.

 

Yeah idk what it's like at mk1-3 now but in the future, fixer and speeder are the best F2P boats

 

The implication is that Rovio has allowed damage to overpower defense at later levels so speed both protects and kills. Is that right?

Down here at 1200 infamy, you can still take a punch.

 

Yes thats part of it, these boats have higher skill caps too imo. Also, as speeder your team relies less on you for damage, and more on your ability to sneak around and get important hits/kills and run distraction routes, which doesnt necessarily require op gear. Fixer is just good F2P for some reason not rly sure why xD

 

Thanks guys for the comments. Since I posted I somehow manged to get up to 1.1k infamy and then got resolutely stomped back down to 800 where I seem to have leveled off. In another couple days I should finally hit 16 and at least be fielding Mk3's.

I'll try throwing another turbo on and seeing where it gets me. I had thought about it but I felt a little better with the shield as the proverbial fig leaf. Well, that and it does help me survive non-crit sniper hits. The speeder play style really isn't my thing but I'll give it a shot. Speaking of - would switching to a speeder be a similar and potentially better option in the whole "just don't get hit, distract, etc." strategy?

Yeah, I'm well aware of the practice of tanking. I'm playing BB now because I'm a refugee from Pixonic's War Robots where tanking is a problem. Great game that I still love so much, but don't start playing it - it will only break your heart.

 

I'm currently working up my speeder. My M4 shooter performs adequately right now, but I can see the writing on the wall. Until it has a LOT of turbo boost the shooter is a lumbering mortar platform. I want something more responsive so that my own skill can have more effect for better and worse. If the game EVER gives me another turbo I'll try again on my shooter.

If you're not into the twitch gaming aspect, then perhaps the "lumbering mortar platform" is the way to go? Load up on mortars. Put range perks in them. Loiter behind your larger team mates taking pot shots when you can. In my experience even as a brawler it's all about timing. When you get aggressive and when you "RUN AWAY!" is what determines your fate. I try to be as conservative as I can make myself be remembering that I'm so fragile. And then when there's an opportunity... an isolated opponent, a wounded fixer, etc., I close in for the kill.... with an exit strategy already in mind or else the solid decision that a kamikaze is called for here.

One thing I learned is that when you make your exit, you need to go FAR. The enemy isn't stupid. If you duck behind a rock then re-enter battle from that same rock they will be waiting for you and they will kill you. If you kill one of them, they WILL notice so that's an automatic flee. Take the 20 seconds to find a different approach back to the main mayhem. By then they will all be busy with someone else with any luck so when you re-engage you'll be hitting them by surprise. A solid strategy for retreat and regroup helps keep me alive.

 

Lol I am thinking of putting a second turbo on my speeder- need to find an epic one first though with three nitros so I can go in and out easily with carronade. Also I need to build a big torp but as I dont save- I have no items lol

 

Or theres just the low skilled ones like me - who knock around 1300 infamy with a legendary carronade- doing 8k damage per battle but still not going up. Often 2 speeders have to gang up on me but I am easily ambushed by the whole entire team- I just nitro into them.

 

In my next noob to noob post there's a choice segment when I miss my [short range] heal bolt then overboost right into that big torp that I was boosting to avoid. Purely pro top to bottom

 

I go to scout and nitro expecting to find the speeder but end up running into three shooters with cannons. Very messy ending. its just me changing my build completely do to the carronade- so I need to practice a lot to get the hang of it.

 

Moi?



At least at my infamy that's an unhappy surprise for most speeders.

 

Lol ur weapons are highly upleveled for mk4- atleast compared to where I was then. But I recommend for u to choose between blast or sniper. When u get to my level even explosive cannon messes up the other talents.

 

I completely agree on both counts. The up-leveled weapons are probably a result of the current situation in low infamies. I HAVE to grind out better weapons in order to advance because I'm fighting E40 gear.

The ex/blast combo was strictly a result of me using what i had in inventory. I needed more burst damage than I had... badly. When I hit mark 5 that'll probably turn into

Std Cannon, Exploding Cannon, sniper rifle, railgun, LRM.

The std cannon will be swappable with a high level flare I'm building up for my speeder. I have enough for a maxed rare on flares. The blast cannon will then fit nicely into the speeder. I've been avoiding flare on my shooter because the entire purpose is to make an assassination right now and then get out again not linger around hoping for a kill. But as I get experience with flare (and I get that flare built up) I might reconsider. With a big enough flare the opportunity exists to just hit them with it then leave them as the floating dead and get out.

 

How do u find enough pieces for all this- I need to build combos but have already scrapped everything for parts.

 

Well, so far it's been nip & tuck but I play a lot and buy every blue piece in the shop. I've scrapped a few blue items but not many. Whether I can keep that up as the part requirements go up is highly questionable. It's already becoming problematic.

To level the speeder I'm playing my shooter but not investing in it. All the investments are going to the flares right now. So the shooter has become a grinding platform.

 

I never grind lol