Redneck Reviews: The Repair Plasma! (Part VI)

Welcome to part 6 of the Redneck Reviews series, where I review new ships, items, and other interesting tidbits that have been added into Battle Bay.
Series Library: https://forum.battlebay.net/threads/redneck-reviews-library.23565/

Today's update brought a fifth green item, the Repair Plasma, to the Bay... so that's what we're doing!
I found an uncommon plasma in my free uncommon crate, so I leveled it to 10, trained 5 talents, ground a duplicate uncommon to evolve from specialist achievements, evolved it, and gave it an extra green perk I had laying around. If you're gonna use a new item, you'll likely use it with some levels and talents on there, so I like to level up items before I review them.

Redneck's Review Build:
Ship: Fixer
Items: Blast Cannon/Swift Torpedo, Nitro, Repair Plasma/Repair Pulse/Duct Tape, Standard Shield/Turbo.

So, in case you aren't familiar with the Repair Plasma, it's essentially the child of a Napalm Launcher and a Repair Pulse. A two-point green item, the Plasma fires like a mortar and leaves an area which you and your teammates can sit in to regenerate HP over time. The duration lasts 15 seconds at base, after which the effect fades. Healing per tick is similar to a Repair Pulse of the same rarity/level. A point in the item's favor is that unlike the Pulse, a Fixer can sit in their own Plasma and regenerate the full amount of health that their teammates get.
Now, let's talk strategy. This item is NOT like the Repair Bolt, where you can fire it downfield and save someone from death's doorstep. The thing has a decent range, but flinging it across the map to help a solo teammate in enemy territory does not work, simply because they are usually not in a situation where they can sit still. What this is good for is setting up in a capture zone or behind friendly lines, as a safe zone for your team to group up and heal. If your team is pushing the capture point or an encampment of enemies, you can fire it ahead of your leading ship so that your team can heal as they drive through it, and fall back to heal if need be. As you've probably noticed, this item is very strategy-heavy... but learning to pull it out in the right place at the right time can be a major help to your team.
So is this better than the Repair Box Launcher, its close cousin? Maybe... it has a longer range and can heal more people. However, the Launcher can heal a large amount of HP instantaneously, whereas the Plasma needs time to do so.
Pairings: Due to the nature of this item, it is a smart plan to pair it with a pulse (as I did) so you can dish out some major heals to people in the Plasma. The pulse generally hits everyone, because its radius is similar to that of the Plasma. You could also experiment with using Repair Plasma in tandem with a Bolt or Box Launcher to get those single-shot, high-point heals in there as well. A spread of boxes, a Plasma, and a walling or pulsing Guardian can make a nigh-impenetrable fortification, as I found when I was teamed with a mining box Fixer and a dual wall Guardian during my games tonight... that was a bit unfair lol

Redneck Rating: An interesting newcomer, the Repair Plasma definitely has a place on a Fixer... however learning when and how to use it is a bit of a process. (I spent 10 games with it and I'm still figuring stuff out lol.) It is also a bit weak, requiring strategic uses to make the most of the healing it can provide.
3.5 stars. * * * * *

This concludes my review of the Repair Plasma. Thanks for reading, and I hope you found this review interesting and/or helpful.
See you on the Bay,

Redneck Messiah
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PS: Rovio, I love the pink heart effects for Valentine's day on all the supposedly "green" items... quite charming

 

I love it tooo! While aiming the repair plasma you also get such a nice heart ❤️

 

Good review!
I'm pretty sure the healing doesn't decrease as you move towards the edge, which is nice.

 

You are correct.

 

Item works well on a Reaper. Reapers generally make "attack runs" then fall back to heal. Get into the battle, take a few hits, pop off a duct tape while running like hell, and launch a plasma toward your backup teammates to which you fall back to, top off health with duct/plasma combo, then repeat.

 

The repair plasma is actually a pretty good item, especially for defensive players in my opinion. I used to run Pulse Double bolt, but now I'm going to run this. I can stay out of sight of enemies, and heal myself well at the same time with my teammates. You have to be smart when placing it though, and see what kind of weapons the enemies are using. Mortars are a hard counter, while torpedoes are more of a soft counter to it. I'll post some replays of me using it, it had some levels and a perk, but no training. I was actually kind of impressed, especially because the game doesn't show self heals in the end-screen.
https://replay.battlebay.net/QXWFPRWP#ZWPBFVQN "One of my first rounds with it, already I could tell I was going to like it."
https://replay.battlebay.net/HPYRRHHK#ZWPBFVQN "I was pretty inconsistent with my repair bolt shots in this one, but I got a pretty good one at the 3:40 mark! Also, the speeder on my team was incredible."
https://replay.battlebay.net/ZBPDKFCW#ZWPBFVQN "This round I messed up pretty bad in the beginning. I fired my repair plasma for no reason, basically giving it away I had one. With that said, I loved this round because my entire team was sticking with me, I could only imagine how this would've turned out if my plasma had more trainings and levels.
https://replay.battlebay.net/WKWWFMLX#ZWPBFVQN "Lastly, a 10 coin win while using the plasma. It also shows why I love running big torpedo."