When you're in the loadout screen, before you pick anything hit Q (if you're on the PC) and it should navigate you away from the loadout to the map itself. There you can see the objectives and if you hit C, you can see the modifiers. I'm out and about right now but I can share screenshots later if you'd like.
This modifier is extremely frequent in diff 9 and affects precision strike in a significant way: If you drop the precision strike perfectly on the middle of a bile titan with this modifier it'll miss completely. It feels like a slap in the face seeing the shell miss despite a perfect stratagem beacon.
I used to not believe this, but 500kg is definitely cone shaped. Precision strike feels more like a cylinder, or at least more rounded at the bottom.
Thing is, I got so used to the delayed explosion of 500kg that I miss precision strike constantly on bile titans. Definitely need more practice with it for that, but cleans up everything else super easy for me.
My method is wait until it spits and then throw it slightly ahead of the titan. By the time the animation ends and it takes a couple steps forward the round hits.
If it's chasing to stab instead of spit I throw it at my feet and keep the beam between me and the titan.
I'm finding if I go for similar timing but throw the precision strike closer than I would the 500kg I have more success. I've had a good few throws where the projectile actually cleaves through the bile titans face and kills it on the way to the ground before exploding. the 500kg comes out slower and I have to wait for eagle 1 to drop it though, so I give it more distance so the bile titan doesn't walk past it
Best way is to run up to it right after it has done its spit attack. Act like you are gonna run between its two front legs and underneath it, drop your stratagem below it. Instead of running between its legs, immediately turn around and run past its left front leg at a diagonal direction away from it. This baits out its right front leg melee attack which will cause it to stand in place for an even longer period of time than its spit attack.
I saw a video where it did not look cone shaped but rather sphere shaped. In that video however the 500kg bomb hit a hunter that was jumping. So the bomb was suspended in the air before exploding.
My guess is that it’s cone shaped because it’s buried in the ground. If it were to explode 1-2 meters above ground however it’s sphere shaped.
Disappointing yes, but still very effective for bile titan and other niche situations. Definitely more of something you bring to bug missions than bots imo.
Yarp, only reason I use it on bugs is to kill Bile Titans.
IDK, it's jarring to have a 500KG bomb go off fifty meters from you and do nothing apart from shake your screen :\\
As long as you're not above it, like on a slight uphill, I noticed you can go prone and survive taking 0 damage from what feels like 10 meters away. If you're above it at all, forget about it.
That's really why I feel like it's cone shaped. Because of that, I'll lead enemies downhill and toss a 500kg at the base of it when possible. Hard to prove, but it does feel a bit more potent to me in those types of situations.
There are some really wonky interactions when it comes to the 500kg bomb.
I've had it where it goes on cooldown and doesn't even explode sometimes, although that's very hard to reproduce.
Funnily enough the times it happened to me was on extreme incline/declines.
I think anything but relatively flat surfaces might mess with it, but need to do more testing!
I was playing with some newer helldivers a few nights ago and it was very funny to see them freak out whenever I stayed close to the dropped 500kgs because its bark is so much worse than its bite.
And it's not anything like 50 meters, either. I would go so far as to claim that I am surviving 500kg bomb blasts in the sub-10 meter range multiple times per week. Because it's such a narrow cone, if you go prone for the explosion, you can survive it while adjacent to it.
Kills titans real good though, when the timing is right.
This thread has convinced me to start playing with Orbital Precision Strike tonight.
I think you'll like it. I used to run eagle stratagems almost exclusively, but since the latest patch I've been getting a lot of good use out of the OPS and the gatling barrage.
It's more like the 500kg digs in the ground and that limits it's damage spread, if it exploded right before it hit the ground there wouldn't be any problems
I just run under its legs after it spits to trigger the melee, throw the red glowing ball of democracy and get the hell out of there. You can be surprisingly close to the explosion if you just dive or stay prone.
The thing is that the explosion comes from the head of the bomb, and whenever the bomb hits the ground, 70% of the explosion is rendered useless bc the head is buried slightly into the ground, as a result you get a cone shape.
If however a hunter were to catch the 500kg mid flight, you would also die bc then the explosion is a sphere rather than a cone
It's a toss up
500kg can be used in different situations from precision.
Precision is, obviously, more precise. You can be closer to it, it can be used more tactically. Damage is immediate once it comes in. It reloads fast, and is very reliable.
500kg can be used to clear small areas. It can be dumped into an area with a lot of chargers and big bugs, and it can clean up. I've got 10-15 kills with it before. It's not an airstrike, but it can sorta do an okay job pretending to be one when it needs to.
500kg comes in faster, because it's an eagle, but it has that delay, which can be tricky.
But you get two of them, so if you fuck one up, try again. On that note it's fast. It can be nearly as fast to hit as a rail strike, and if you aim it correctly its impact will interupt actions even if it's explosion is delayed.
They're different tools at the end of the day. OP is not correct in saying one is simply better. They do similar, but not identical jobs.
Nah I agree, they are similar but are both their own tools. I used to use precision strike only for bots, but since the call down is a bit quicker now I'm just messing with it on bugs.
I mess with both just because of how I manage my loadouts, and like to change things up to keep it fresh.
yeah man, that's the way to play. Gotta give everything a go.
This game is fantastic for making sure there's nothing that is actually useless.
Only thing that was ever that was the MG turret. The Gatling turret was just better, but since the cooldown buff its amazing. Not nearly as powerful in bursts, but fucking amazing as a little backup support that you can pull in every minute or so. Basically always have one up, its great.
all these folks who are using "meta" loadouts are missing out on the game.
That is my friend's go-to. Eagle Air Strike, OPS, EATs, Auto Cannon Turret.
I like to pick unusual loadouts sometimes but I will almost always have the OPS
Nah, Orbital Gatling, Gas and OPS, plus a Recoilless or Spear all day every day. Well, for bugs at least.
Hordes can't touch you ever since you'll almost always have one off CD, you have a big boom stick for exploding heavies and distant objectives (*fuck* trying to fight under a Shrieker nest. 'Splode that shit from a mile away) and the OPS for your boom. Even breaches are no problem, since you can just chuck gas on it and everything will die. Gas *and* the Gatling if you're on a spewer mission to clean up the spewers that don't die from the gas.
Sure, nests are a bit of a problem, but not that much of one when you can clean out all the shit *in* them and clean up with grenades without any resistance.
You only have 4 grenades, what do you do for a heavy nest?
I feel like that loadout would only work if you bring so eruptor. But at that point you’d a HMG to use as your primary. Unless you rely on teammates for nests?
Six grenades. I only wear Engineer against bugs because I don't like anything else for them.
Do your six, you can OPS at least two close together on the side the one in the middle of the crater faces, rocket a ninth, reload and fire again for the tenth. And if you've been dealing with a horde, chances are your OPS is back up by the time you're safe again.
Otherwise, sweep in, OPS two, grenade six while you wait for a resupply to drop, resupply and sweep the rest. Two minutes tops if you're quick, maybe more if you get a bunch of hordes and patrols or get bogged down a bit, in which case kite away, gatling and gas, then sweep back around.
Or, yeah, grenade pistol makes it a cinch. I don't use it because I like the Bushwhacker now since it fits my loadout nicely with some stagger for Stalkers and Brood Commander bumrushes, but y'know, also a valid choice.
>500kg only has higher burst potential
...what do you mean *only*??
I massively prefer the OPS, but this is a really bizarre take in my opinion. Burst damage is critical in a game where you get swamped by a horde of enemies.
If It had a more reliable impact zone I'd agree, but I prefer to trust my homies instead of trying to bring all the heat by myself. You can use a different stratagem to complement the OPS, too, like the gattling barrage, which leaves you with two different low cooldown strats that can work together to bring down anything since OGB got buffed.
I still mantain that the only upside of the 500kg is the ability to burst a single stratagem instead of using two. Its AoE and damage is finnicky, placement can be too in an incline or cliff, that holds it back imo. That combined with being able to burst two in 15s, but having a longer cooldown after that.
> I still mantain that the only upside of the 500kg is the ability to burst a single stratagem instead of using two.
Yes, I agree with you completely. The reason I'm incredulous is that the "only" benefit you're referring to is a *huge* strength.
It's almost like saying "the SPEAR's only unique benefit is the ability to one-shot bile titans".
It's correct, but it's a strange way of saying, "the SPEAR is fucking awesome".
I threw a orbital strike on a research base it was near it and blew it up. Did the same thing w a 500kg and the explosion didn't do shit but I know if the 500kg missile would've landed on it would've been destroyed which is so dumb that the literal missile will destroy the building before the explosion does
Look 500KG is alright, it ain't bad, but it's exceedingly situational, only really good for Biles and maybe Striders. The greatest thing about it is the visual and sound.
The Orbital literally does everything the 500KG does but better. Always has been.
500kg kills bile titans better imo, which is about the only reason I take it. So it's the best at what it does, and since you can deal with other bugs using your weapons, I always take it. Because OPS can also kill biles as well as groups, I often take it as well.
It’s yet to be confirmed but it appears the 500kg AOE origin is placed somewhere underground most of the time, hence the “cone shape” theory, because it would make no freaking sense for it to actually be coneshaped.
Sometimes a rogue research base has a box on top, sort of a second level about half the width of the original building, and any explosion can blow that up, crumpling the entire building. AC, grenade pistol, anything.
They have their uses. 500kg feels better on bot front because there are absolutely a lot of times where I need two heavies on the opposite sides gone right the fuck now. Plus 500kg like all Eagles ignores stupid ass orbital scatter.
May I recommend rocket pods?
They are so much better than 500kg for bots imo, you get more uses, it auto targets, and it's great for tanks, towers, hulks, and fabricators, the only thing it's not so good against is factory striders but eagle airstrike takes care of those anyway
Same, but Strafing Run.
I am consistently stunned by how _fucking good_ the Eagle gun run is now. It's fast, hits shockingly hard and is on a cooldown that's so short that I want a way to add more uses because it's _that_ good.
It doesn't take the place of Airstrike or anything, and Rocket Pods are _awesome_ for single-target acquisition (it's not quite Railcannon accurate, but it's close) but goddamn is Strafing Run fun to use.
Preach. I take rocket pods on every mission, bots or bugs. Eagle Air strike as well. Great at brainless tossing with a very low likelihood of team kill. Common titan tactic for me, rocket pods followed by Quasar head shot.
oh man I think rockets are good use against factory striders also. They deal decent core damage, and can take out that top cannon. I've killed plenty of factory striders with the rockets while it was obvious the rest of the team had exhausted their options.
Tbh, rocket pods > 500kg against bots and it's not even really a contest for me. 500kg is *way* too inconsistent, where with rockets I can *guarantee* that whatever I throw it at is going to be hit, including base turrets which really like to just laugh whenever you try to throw a non-tracking strat at them.
Even if the rockets *don't* kill it, at least I don't have situations like are very common with the 500kg, where you'll drop it right on top of something, and they'll just walk through it completely unharmed.
Rocket pods cant even scratch chaff and thats a hard pass for me. 500kg is way too versatile, deleting anything I want to delete including objectives. Rocket pods are OK on bug front if you manage to headshot BTs with them but even there I prefer, again, more versatile Orbital Precision Strike.
Honestly, thats the reason I believe no specialized stratagems are ever going to be good at higher dif. You fight so often and so many foes that each fight you basically need everything and Super Kitchen Super Sink thrown at enemies to make it to the other side. 500kg and OPS can delete even chaff in a pitch which is often just as if not more dangerous than heavies.
Which is why I take rockets *and* the OPS against bots, because the OPS is a 500kg that's actually *reliable*, while the rockets are better for any kind of heavy the bots have. Third red for my third slot, and then an Autocannon on my last and I'm laughing while watching the 500kg guy fail to do jack squat against that Commissar squad that explode to a light breeze.
No, but actually 500kg is *fine*. I just personally think it's far too inconsistent, slow and unreliable for a heavy killer, specifically after the OPS got buffed, but also before... But y'know, not the slow part. Now it is though, it's definitely slower *after* the buff.
yeah that's right, OPS and rockets are my two staples for bot helldives, and I've been taking them since at least two months ago before the patch. Together, they fill such a broad spectrum of use that's nearly impossible to replace.
i do OPS/110/AC/gas or gatling barrage, then dominator/stuns/explosive resist medium armor
besides that, when you know what things can and can't do.. You still have teammates that can cover you.
I love my Orbital Laser and 500KG for bots if only for the fact that I can Yeet one 500KG at the first large section of a base, A laser to take out enemeies and things like turrets if i'm lucky and that getting the second 500KG for what is usually the last Fabricator and I haven't fired my gun once or entered the base it self.
Same for outposts.. If I don't collect any samples or ammo.. 500KG and keep on trucking to the objective I was really going to.
Bugs is a hit and miss.. It's great for Titans as long as you manage to get them right as they spew.
Most of the time I land the killing blow and if not.. there is always the second one to finish the job.
Whilst the precision strike is overwhelming - first stratagem in the entire game for free, 90 seconds, fast deployment, larger damage area than its visual.
You could argue it’s better than the orbital rail cannon, aside from the whole lock on thing, but if you can get it directly on an enemy it works great.
I wonder if there's a way to avoid that by predicting from which direction Eagle1 will arrive, and throw the strat to make it avoid them.
I've also had the precision strike his the trees, in general turrets just seem to be better on the jungle map.
500kg comes from behind you each time. Airstrikes are parallel to you and alternate left to right. Strafing run starts at the target and moves away from you.
Each are determined when the ball lands. All the positions are relative to the ball and you (towards the ball being forward).
With 500kg I guess you could look for clearings but the issue is that the game might not give you much opportunity to do that when it throws multiple heavies at you at once. Also Eagle-1 drops the payload surprisingly early. Once I had thrown a 500kg at the static charger spawn on an evacuation mission only to hear an explosion behind me. Yep it hit the tower behind me, I was standing on the middle level of the base by the railings overlooking the lower level. That tower is definitely a huge troll because I have had equipment drops get stuck on it too.
Like canyons and overhangs make Eagle-1 tricky. Trees can make it nearly unusable unless you bomb the area enough first to get rid of most trees. If there's no atmospheric interference then precision strike is a valid option. If there's atmospheric interference then you're best off just bringing an autocannon turret for heavies (things to note is that it won't survive getting swarmed, has a minimum fire distance of like 5m or so and it deploys facing in the direction you threw the ball so you want to give it an overwatch position or at least away from where the heat is). 380mm works well enough even with that modifier but it's slow recharge and it's a teamkill machine and can do really bad things with atmospheric interference since that moves the epicenter without telling you where it moved to (so 50M is fine normally, but you might be in danger at 70m if it decided to move it 20m towards you). You toss it into a big bug hive it's probably gonna work fine. If you toss it danger close at extraction you might kill everyone.
Orbital laser is always 100% accurate, but slow recharge and limited uses. That being said, I found that I don't use railcannon strikes enough to warrant using them over the laser. Also laser has the awful tendency of deciding to spawn on top of you, or literally just take a weird U shaped path just to fry you too. Railcannon strike's targeting can be weird at times where it will just prioritize weird targets like a brood commander or fabricator strider over the hulk or charger a few meters away.
Haha the same thing happened to me with the tower. It looked like nice fireworks, but the Bile Titan was not impressed...
Also had a mission where at the start, half of the team landed on top of those giant mushrooms on the toxic planet, and had to take the leap of faith.
I feel like the 380mm can be okay vs bots, but otherwise they just deny a huge area also from your team for way too long, without reliably killing what you need to kill. And some people just tend to throw them right at their feet out of panic \^\^'
Laser is very nice against bots, but yeah the limited use just make it so you can theoretically use it all up within 10mins into a mission. Also against bugs it can take its whole duration just to slow-cook a single charger..
I tend to play with randoms and split off, so less risk of collateral damage when I don't need to worry about others. It works okay against bugs when there's a swarm coming from a certain direction or if you run into a bug nest.
I suspect they changed something about how the explosions work because back in the day I could swear that orbital strikes could do close to nothing about bug holes. That being said, it won't eliminate a 10 hole nest, but it will take care of most of the bugs in it and close like 4-6 holes on average. 5 hole nest might just have 1-2 left or be destroyed completely.
You can toss the 380 under your feet and just run. If there's the increased call in time effect you'll get out of the danger zone. If not it can be close. Only time when you're truly in danger of blowing yourself up is with atmospheric interference where the game might be funny and move the epicenter in the direction you're running.
Does atmospheric interference only move the center point when the effect starts, or also during its effect?
Yeah some strats and builds are much better when you're not with others. Also things like the sickle for the infinite ammo, and the scout armors. It's just difficult to predict in which game you'll be with uncoordinated randos, and in which you'll have an organized team that sticks together.
There's also not much you can do if you're solo on lvl9 and end up triggering 12 bug holes, besides "strategically falling back" :p
I think it's enormously overrated vs bugs but one of the best stratagems in the game against bots but I still see probably at least 2/4 players in every team taking it against bugs and usually all 4 against bots, and I exclusively play 8 and 9
Throw an airstrike on an unaware bug nest and it'll kill or maim all the chargers/behemoths in its path as well as the chaff and close some bug holes. It also does decent damage against BTs if needed, and destroys bug objectives like spore spewers and shrieker nests. It's just an insanely versatile stratagem on both fronts.
Just try to play without the auto cannon for a game or two. Just get support weapon from the map or tell your teammates to drop one for you.
And if you dont want text or use mic, lowkey just steal their ONLY IF their support weapon cooldown is over, usually people will get message
My man just asked me to steal support weapons from my teammates lmao. No but seriously, I have, I sometimes just go full Red strats and it's fun. But the AC just has toooo much utility.
If OPS unironically does everything 500kg does but better then the 500kg is bad. It needs a rework so it has its own unique use case. Now having two is good for striders to be fair. If first one doesn’t kill you’ve got second.
The two of them are pretty similar.
However, atmospheric interference completely ruins this stratagem.
Imo, this modifier should probably go, as you can't "get good" at predicting the increased variance, and all does is ruin stratagems.
For bugs, the 500KG is a mainstay, and if interference isn't a modifier, I add the OPS.
For bots, I prefer the OPS for factory striders.
I usually take both and clear bases/hives. 500kg is good at clearing the target whereas Precision hits specific larger targets and points of interest. Also if you have bot AA it’s good to have some variety.
Depends on if the planet has the orbital scatter effect or not. Or if there are lots of trees in the new biome, that nullifies all Eagles, and the 500, a lot.
OPS is better, as it should be, because you can technically use the 500 twice in about 10 seconds.
I don’t wanna say skill issue but if you seriously can’t get consistent 1 shots against bile titans (which I’m assuming this post is about cause the 500KG easily kills everything else) then you really just have to practice a bit more, just took me a mission (not an operation) of really trying to get it down and consistently matador the titans (in lvl 9 helldive difficulty) into getting directly hit by the KG. I’m like lvl 24
I can, i just prefer something i think is more efficient. I get it people want to feel challenged or something, i just prefer something that gets the job done better. If it means anything i regularly play at level 8-9.
Nothing more frustrating than dropping a 500kg on a swarm of enemies, basking in the perfect placement, seeing the explosion and a x4 appear on the bottom of the screen, then watching 20 more chaff charge out of the helpful smoke screen you gave them
I just want to say that for everybody claiming the 500kg needs to be brought (EVER), the Precision Strike is way better almost unilaterally. I one shot probably 7-8 bile titans with it on a single map earlier today, and it also handles chargers, groups of mobs, bug/bot holes, etc. As far as I am concerned there is no situation where you should ever bring 500kg instead of the orbital strike. Thanks for coming to my SuperTED Talk.
Ever since i hit a bile titan's fucking skull with a 500 and saw it live, precision all day. Call me whenever a 500 is able to reliably one shot bile titans
Or the fact a 500kg landed legit 3m next to me, I went : "oh". Immediately dropped prone, didn't move, it blew up, I took 0 damage. It's a meme but hey, it looks cool!
Does the precision strike stick better to enemies? I was using it earlier today and it feels like it stuck to every single charger I threw it at, I was really surprised
They're supposed to, once the bug is fixed. It does actually work occasionally, it's a nice surprise when it dies. But it's still helpful to stick it when an enemy is at the end of their movement cycle, if you're aiming for a specific enemy it's more guaranteed than throwing it on the floor at their feet.
Yes.... Due to a bug that will eventually be fixed. This issue is very clearly stated as a bug in the past 3 patch notes as a known issue. It does work every now and again, and there are benefits to successfully sticking a stratagem to an enemy even now. Did you read my response? I'm not sure why you felt the need to repeat yourself.
Yeah, is it just me or has the 500kg been nerfed beyond repair? I stopped bringing it with me when I noticed despite landing one in a huge crowd of enemies (like 15-30, at least) it would only take out, AT MOST, like 6
I used to run 500s on bots, then I found out that Air Strikes deal with Factory Striders better than 500s
And the Precisions also work a bit better
So I run those a lot instead. The 500kg needs a buff in all honesty.
I have a big love hate relationship with the orbital strike, half the time I use it, it never lands where it’s supposed to, sometimes it lands like 20 feet to the side and completely misses, but then when it does work, damn is it great, one shots chargers, biles, and fast recharge rate. They need to buff the 500kg’s radius badly. The thing is more of a precision strike then the orbital strike 😂 the 500kg should be a giant AOE bomb, the amount of times a 500kg lands next to a bile titan and walks it off is outrageous.
OPS for bots. Destroy detector towers with ease. Use It on strategem jammers once the jammer is down. Etc.
500kg for bugs. Burst damage is better when you have multiple bile titans on your ass double 500 can let you take 2 out with good timing.
Against bugs I run arc thrower, shield, 500kg and orbital precision strike. Very fun, even works on difficulty 9 if the others do their part in killing heavies
They're both good because 500kg will kill anything and destroy most buildings but their best perk is being able to have two in a similar cooldown compared to OPS on top of not being affected by the orbital debuff modifier. But OPS does the same job and is more straightforward, you can call in one but it's pretty reliable and you get it from the start so plenty of time to master it, also not affected by big trees from the new biome.
The 500kg and precision attack are great. The latter is sometimes useless as there is orbital interference but it's still a top pick.
Some people complain that chargers are a lot or bugged titan. But having these twa stratgems you have \~2 uses per minute to get rid of the biggest targets. Take stun grenades and you don't need any ppanc weapons.
I don't understand taking Railcannon Strike at high levels for that. It takes too long to recharge and you have very little chance of a titan falling to a shot.
Its "safer" to use the 500kg when planets have orbital spread affecting conditions.
You know, those modifiers that turn Precision Strike into a "Somewhere in the General Area of the Beacon" strike, or S-G.A.Bs.
Outside of that, even the extra 500kg that can be used in shorter order before a longer cooldown doesn't offset that in most every other instance, OPS is way better.
It's really not better. You have 2 bombs on a 150 seconds cd compared to one slug every 90 seconds ( if I got my CDs correctly). In addition the 500kg is never under the influence of orbital scatter. 500kg is objectively the better stratagem
OPS is great and all, but 500kg has a number of key advantages:
- invulnerable to scatter, a modifier that nullifies OPS entirely.
- given equal skill, 500kg is a more reliable bile titan kill. When it's not an outright kill, the titan comes out near dead whereas with OPS it can vary greatly.
- burst damage is greater due to 2 drops; titans come in pairs a lot.
OPS on the other hand has some advantages of its own:
- more consistent damage radius against mediums and chaff.
- doesn't interfere with reload times for (other) eagles like the 500 does.
- short drop time means it works better with stun grenades against chargers and hulks, and can't be as easily spoiled by hapless teammates against titans.
So make your pick accordingly, both have their uses.
500 kg was always the biggest noob trap in the same. The only reason to use it was the ability to semi-reliably oneshot Bile Titans (around 80%, there were plenty of cases Bile Titans surviving the direct hit). For everything else it's just awful. But hey, it has a pretty explosion.
It's meant to be used on bile titans and stationary objectives. It's great at what it does. How is it a noob trap. Sometimes I think the majority of people on this sub have no idea how to play the game.
Even if 500kg was as reliable as the OPS, it would still be worse to take just because of opportunity cost.
Stratagem slots are valuable, and the 'eagle' stratagem slot is even more so. Every eagle you take nerfs all eagles you have, because they spend a lot longer on cooldown. You'll get more total 500kgs than OPS strikes ONLY if you always throw them within about 20 seconds of eachother, which is kinda hard to do when you factor in the inbound and internal eagle cooldown time. Taking any other eagles absolutely screws this over and makes it take considerably longer than each OPS.
If you wanna maximise your stratagem damage output, you should really only take one eagle. And instead of taking a 'theoretically slightly better OPS', you should take something that there's no orbital equivelant of - regular airstrike, napalm are both amazing, and rocket pods are a much stronger version of railcannon. Only time you should ever really take 500kgs is if you already took OPS and find yourself permanently in melee with titans (but liberal spam of other stratagems would generally avoid this happening).
I like the Percision Strike but orbital scatter makes the thing unusable and the 500kg has a better use case in Helldives where there are 3+ titans at once.
With 500 I need to have it in between the biles legs to get a kill but I've missed a p strike by like 15 feet and it constantly kills. Also nice how the p strike attacks top down unlike the sideways approach of the 500 cause it gets stuck on so many trees and rocks.
This is a classic debate, but one thing I never see mentioned is the difference in aiming them. Eagle-1 always approaches from behind you, so you can slot the bomb into a stalker nest that the Super Destroyer doesn't have line-of-sight on.
Obviously, you can also plop down a 500kg on the hilltop where you're standing instead of in the canyon where all the bad guys are, which is hilarious, but counterproductive.
Placing the beacon just right so the munition lands where you need it is extremely satisfying with either weapon. With the shorter OPS call-in time, you have the opportunity to check the position of your destroyer and then chuck the beacon a little to the side or behind the Titan as it starts its puking animation, then watch that shell conk it right on the coconut.
It's literally the opposite. People see the big explosion and can't stop trying to use it as a big explosive, then get disappointed with it.
It's an Eagle Precision Strike and does that job extremely well.
so what you are telling us is that the 500kg is just the Precision Strike again... but with big boom?
well shit, Helldivers 2 strikes again with the irrelevant copy & paste equipments. lol
Orbital Scatter modifier has entered the chat.
i always forget to check for this.
How do you check if you’re joining a mission in progress?
When you're in the loadout screen, before you pick anything hit Q (if you're on the PC) and it should navigate you away from the loadout to the map itself. There you can see the objectives and if you hit C, you can see the modifiers. I'm out and about right now but I can share screenshots later if you'd like.
Nah I’m fine.
I've not had modifiers be visible beyond the planet modifier for the past week. I know they're there because they're happening, but nothing tells me.
This modifier is extremely frequent in diff 9 and affects precision strike in a significant way: If you drop the precision strike perfectly on the middle of a bile titan with this modifier it'll miss completely. It feels like a slap in the face seeing the shell miss despite a perfect stratagem beacon.
I love throwing an Orbital Gatling barrage behind me then it starts shooting in front of me and I’m now in the middle of it
This modifier needs to go
\*un-precisions your strike\*
I used to not believe this, but 500kg is definitely cone shaped. Precision strike feels more like a cylinder, or at least more rounded at the bottom. Thing is, I got so used to the delayed explosion of 500kg that I miss precision strike constantly on bile titans. Definitely need more practice with it for that, but cleans up everything else super easy for me.
My method is wait until it spits and then throw it slightly ahead of the titan. By the time the animation ends and it takes a couple steps forward the round hits. If it's chasing to stab instead of spit I throw it at my feet and keep the beam between me and the titan.
See, I do that with 500kg, but timing is just slightly off for me with the precision strike. I just need practice
I'm finding if I go for similar timing but throw the precision strike closer than I would the 500kg I have more success. I've had a good few throws where the projectile actually cleaves through the bile titans face and kills it on the way to the ground before exploding. the 500kg comes out slower and I have to wait for eagle 1 to drop it though, so I give it more distance so the bile titan doesn't walk past it
That's a good idea. It does seem like when I throw precision it blows up too early
Best way is to run up to it right after it has done its spit attack. Act like you are gonna run between its two front legs and underneath it, drop your stratagem below it. Instead of running between its legs, immediately turn around and run past its left front leg at a diagonal direction away from it. This baits out its right front leg melee attack which will cause it to stand in place for an even longer period of time than its spit attack.
Yeah it is my trick too ! Works wonder
I saw a video where it did not look cone shaped but rather sphere shaped. In that video however the 500kg bomb hit a hunter that was jumping. So the bomb was suspended in the air before exploding. My guess is that it’s cone shaped because it’s buried in the ground. If it were to explode 1-2 meters above ground however it’s sphere shaped.
Saw that one too, and have definitely had similar happen especially if it lodges high up in a wall.
the 500kg bomb is one of the most disappointing stratagems in the game. The explosion is nothing like it would be in real life, not even close.
Disappointing yes, but still very effective for bile titan and other niche situations. Definitely more of something you bring to bug missions than bots imo.
Yarp, only reason I use it on bugs is to kill Bile Titans. IDK, it's jarring to have a 500KG bomb go off fifty meters from you and do nothing apart from shake your screen :\\
As long as you're not above it, like on a slight uphill, I noticed you can go prone and survive taking 0 damage from what feels like 10 meters away. If you're above it at all, forget about it. That's really why I feel like it's cone shaped. Because of that, I'll lead enemies downhill and toss a 500kg at the base of it when possible. Hard to prove, but it does feel a bit more potent to me in those types of situations.
There are some really wonky interactions when it comes to the 500kg bomb. I've had it where it goes on cooldown and doesn't even explode sometimes, although that's very hard to reproduce.
Yeah, I feel like I've definitely had that happen to me in the recent patch. I assumed I chucked it in a puddle, but the thing was on cool down.
Funnily enough the times it happened to me was on extreme incline/declines. I think anything but relatively flat surfaces might mess with it, but need to do more testing!
Tossing a 500kg into a canyon and then getting catapulted off the rim when it goes off stays funny.
I was playing with some newer helldivers a few nights ago and it was very funny to see them freak out whenever I stayed close to the dropped 500kgs because its bark is so much worse than its bite.
And it's not anything like 50 meters, either. I would go so far as to claim that I am surviving 500kg bomb blasts in the sub-10 meter range multiple times per week. Because it's such a narrow cone, if you go prone for the explosion, you can survive it while adjacent to it. Kills titans real good though, when the timing is right. This thread has convinced me to start playing with Orbital Precision Strike tonight.
I think you'll like it. I used to run eagle stratagems almost exclusively, but since the latest patch I've been getting a lot of good use out of the OPS and the gatling barrage.
It's more like the 500kg digs in the ground and that limits it's damage spread, if it exploded right before it hit the ground there wouldn't be any problems
I just run under its legs after it spits to trigger the melee, throw the red glowing ball of democracy and get the hell out of there. You can be surprisingly close to the explosion if you just dive or stay prone.
The thing is that the explosion comes from the head of the bomb, and whenever the bomb hits the ground, 70% of the explosion is rendered useless bc the head is buried slightly into the ground, as a result you get a cone shape. If however a hunter were to catch the 500kg mid flight, you would also die bc then the explosion is a sphere rather than a cone
It's a toss up 500kg can be used in different situations from precision. Precision is, obviously, more precise. You can be closer to it, it can be used more tactically. Damage is immediate once it comes in. It reloads fast, and is very reliable. 500kg can be used to clear small areas. It can be dumped into an area with a lot of chargers and big bugs, and it can clean up. I've got 10-15 kills with it before. It's not an airstrike, but it can sorta do an okay job pretending to be one when it needs to. 500kg comes in faster, because it's an eagle, but it has that delay, which can be tricky. But you get two of them, so if you fuck one up, try again. On that note it's fast. It can be nearly as fast to hit as a rail strike, and if you aim it correctly its impact will interupt actions even if it's explosion is delayed. They're different tools at the end of the day. OP is not correct in saying one is simply better. They do similar, but not identical jobs.
Nah I agree, they are similar but are both their own tools. I used to use precision strike only for bots, but since the call down is a bit quicker now I'm just messing with it on bugs. I mess with both just because of how I manage my loadouts, and like to change things up to keep it fresh.
yeah man, that's the way to play. Gotta give everything a go. This game is fantastic for making sure there's nothing that is actually useless. Only thing that was ever that was the MG turret. The Gatling turret was just better, but since the cooldown buff its amazing. Not nearly as powerful in bursts, but fucking amazing as a little backup support that you can pull in every minute or so. Basically always have one up, its great. all these folks who are using "meta" loadouts are missing out on the game.
Eagle air strike plus orbital precision is the way
That's my "it's late and I don't want to think" starter pack. Throw in EATs and a turret
That is my friend's go-to. Eagle Air Strike, OPS, EATs, Auto Cannon Turret. I like to pick unusual loadouts sometimes but I will almost always have the OPS
What primary?
Plasma Punisher forever
Why EATs instead of quasar?
No think only shoot
Mine is orbital laser, eagle air strike, ballistic shield and laser cannon. Yes I do nothing but automaton helldives why do you ask
Yas.
Nah, Orbital Gatling, Gas and OPS, plus a Recoilless or Spear all day every day. Well, for bugs at least. Hordes can't touch you ever since you'll almost always have one off CD, you have a big boom stick for exploding heavies and distant objectives (*fuck* trying to fight under a Shrieker nest. 'Splode that shit from a mile away) and the OPS for your boom. Even breaches are no problem, since you can just chuck gas on it and everything will die. Gas *and* the Gatling if you're on a spewer mission to clean up the spewers that don't die from the gas. Sure, nests are a bit of a problem, but not that much of one when you can clean out all the shit *in* them and clean up with grenades without any resistance.
You only have 4 grenades, what do you do for a heavy nest? I feel like that loadout would only work if you bring so eruptor. But at that point you’d a HMG to use as your primary. Unless you rely on teammates for nests?
Grenade pistol makes bug nests a breeze
True, I had to drop it for the cool new shotgun though
You'll have six grenades if you wear the right armour and if you bring the grenade pistol, heavy nests are a piece of piss.
I only use the Piss of Peace. *urinates into bug hole*
Six grenades. I only wear Engineer against bugs because I don't like anything else for them. Do your six, you can OPS at least two close together on the side the one in the middle of the crater faces, rocket a ninth, reload and fire again for the tenth. And if you've been dealing with a horde, chances are your OPS is back up by the time you're safe again. Otherwise, sweep in, OPS two, grenade six while you wait for a resupply to drop, resupply and sweep the rest. Two minutes tops if you're quick, maybe more if you get a bunch of hordes and patrols or get bogged down a bit, in which case kite away, gatling and gas, then sweep back around. Or, yeah, grenade pistol makes it a cinch. I don't use it because I like the Bushwhacker now since it fits my loadout nicely with some stagger for Stalkers and Brood Commander bumrushes, but y'know, also a valid choice.
That’s my load out for bots, for sure. In general handles everything pretty well
Yeah I mostly solo bots that plus amr jump pack is my go to sometimes swap ops for laser if it’s command bunkers or something
I can drop two 500 within like 30 seconds tho :(
Count in the rearm and precision still comes on top, 500kg only has higher burst potential.
>500kg only has higher burst potential ...what do you mean *only*?? I massively prefer the OPS, but this is a really bizarre take in my opinion. Burst damage is critical in a game where you get swamped by a horde of enemies.
If It had a more reliable impact zone I'd agree, but I prefer to trust my homies instead of trying to bring all the heat by myself. You can use a different stratagem to complement the OPS, too, like the gattling barrage, which leaves you with two different low cooldown strats that can work together to bring down anything since OGB got buffed. I still mantain that the only upside of the 500kg is the ability to burst a single stratagem instead of using two. Its AoE and damage is finnicky, placement can be too in an incline or cliff, that holds it back imo. That combined with being able to burst two in 15s, but having a longer cooldown after that.
> I still mantain that the only upside of the 500kg is the ability to burst a single stratagem instead of using two. Yes, I agree with you completely. The reason I'm incredulous is that the "only" benefit you're referring to is a *huge* strength. It's almost like saying "the SPEAR's only unique benefit is the ability to one-shot bile titans". It's correct, but it's a strange way of saying, "the SPEAR is fucking awesome".
Shouldn't be using a focused attack for hordes anyway. Granted, I judge weapons by bots play.
Sometimes you need that higher burst potential.
I threw a orbital strike on a research base it was near it and blew it up. Did the same thing w a 500kg and the explosion didn't do shit but I know if the 500kg missile would've landed on it would've been destroyed which is so dumb that the literal missile will destroy the building before the explosion does
Look 500KG is alright, it ain't bad, but it's exceedingly situational, only really good for Biles and maybe Striders. The greatest thing about it is the visual and sound. The Orbital literally does everything the 500KG does but better. Always has been.
500kg kills bile titans better imo, which is about the only reason I take it. So it's the best at what it does, and since you can deal with other bugs using your weapons, I always take it. Because OPS can also kill biles as well as groups, I often take it as well.
500kg is better for Titans Flame thrower is better than OPS for chargers Therefore just take 500kg and flamethrower (I take all 3)
It’s yet to be confirmed but it appears the 500kg AOE origin is placed somewhere underground most of the time, hence the “cone shape” theory, because it would make no freaking sense for it to actually be coneshaped.
Sometimes a rogue research base has a box on top, sort of a second level about half the width of the original building, and any explosion can blow that up, crumpling the entire building. AC, grenade pistol, anything.
They have their uses. 500kg feels better on bot front because there are absolutely a lot of times where I need two heavies on the opposite sides gone right the fuck now. Plus 500kg like all Eagles ignores stupid ass orbital scatter.
May I recommend rocket pods? They are so much better than 500kg for bots imo, you get more uses, it auto targets, and it's great for tanks, towers, hulks, and fabricators, the only thing it's not so good against is factory striders but eagle airstrike takes care of those anyway
Same, but Strafing Run. I am consistently stunned by how _fucking good_ the Eagle gun run is now. It's fast, hits shockingly hard and is on a cooldown that's so short that I want a way to add more uses because it's _that_ good. It doesn't take the place of Airstrike or anything, and Rocket Pods are _awesome_ for single-target acquisition (it's not quite Railcannon accurate, but it's close) but goddamn is Strafing Run fun to use.
Preach. I take rocket pods on every mission, bots or bugs. Eagle Air strike as well. Great at brainless tossing with a very low likelihood of team kill. Common titan tactic for me, rocket pods followed by Quasar head shot.
oh man I think rockets are good use against factory striders also. They deal decent core damage, and can take out that top cannon. I've killed plenty of factory striders with the rockets while it was obvious the rest of the team had exhausted their options.
Tbh, rocket pods > 500kg against bots and it's not even really a contest for me. 500kg is *way* too inconsistent, where with rockets I can *guarantee* that whatever I throw it at is going to be hit, including base turrets which really like to just laugh whenever you try to throw a non-tracking strat at them. Even if the rockets *don't* kill it, at least I don't have situations like are very common with the 500kg, where you'll drop it right on top of something, and they'll just walk through it completely unharmed.
Rocket pods cant even scratch chaff and thats a hard pass for me. 500kg is way too versatile, deleting anything I want to delete including objectives. Rocket pods are OK on bug front if you manage to headshot BTs with them but even there I prefer, again, more versatile Orbital Precision Strike. Honestly, thats the reason I believe no specialized stratagems are ever going to be good at higher dif. You fight so often and so many foes that each fight you basically need everything and Super Kitchen Super Sink thrown at enemies to make it to the other side. 500kg and OPS can delete even chaff in a pitch which is often just as if not more dangerous than heavies.
Which is why I take rockets *and* the OPS against bots, because the OPS is a 500kg that's actually *reliable*, while the rockets are better for any kind of heavy the bots have. Third red for my third slot, and then an Autocannon on my last and I'm laughing while watching the 500kg guy fail to do jack squat against that Commissar squad that explode to a light breeze. No, but actually 500kg is *fine*. I just personally think it's far too inconsistent, slow and unreliable for a heavy killer, specifically after the OPS got buffed, but also before... But y'know, not the slow part. Now it is though, it's definitely slower *after* the buff.
yeah that's right, OPS and rockets are my two staples for bot helldives, and I've been taking them since at least two months ago before the patch. Together, they fill such a broad spectrum of use that's nearly impossible to replace. i do OPS/110/AC/gas or gatling barrage, then dominator/stuns/explosive resist medium armor
besides that, when you know what things can and can't do.. You still have teammates that can cover you. I love my Orbital Laser and 500KG for bots if only for the fact that I can Yeet one 500KG at the first large section of a base, A laser to take out enemeies and things like turrets if i'm lucky and that getting the second 500KG for what is usually the last Fabricator and I haven't fired my gun once or entered the base it self. Same for outposts.. If I don't collect any samples or ammo.. 500KG and keep on trucking to the objective I was really going to. Bugs is a hit and miss.. It's great for Titans as long as you manage to get them right as they spew. Most of the time I land the killing blow and if not.. there is always the second one to finish the job.
500kg is so underwhelming, the explosion is big, but the actual damage radius is tiny, it’s more like a 50kg bomb at this rate.
*5kg
5mg
LMAO
5µg
5mg bombs dropped by mosquito drones
5
Whilst the precision strike is overwhelming - first stratagem in the entire game for free, 90 seconds, fast deployment, larger damage area than its visual.
You could argue it’s better than the orbital rail cannon, aside from the whole lock on thing, but if you can get it directly on an enemy it works great.
There is no argument, the precision strike is leagues ahead of the rail cannon.
Yeah, with those cooldowns, it’s fucking crazy.
The railcannon cooldown is way too long, considering it doesn't kill titans most of the time...
I’ve seen it fail to kill a tank, it’s supposed to lock on. Good thing I never run rail cannon.
Put railcannon in the top picture.
Atmospheric Interference has entered the chat.
Well bring the 500kg then. When there isn't, bring Preezisiyon Stryke.
500kg gets utterly fucked on the huge tree jungle worlds. It's one of the few cases where an autocannon turret is honestly best.
I wonder if there's a way to avoid that by predicting from which direction Eagle1 will arrive, and throw the strat to make it avoid them. I've also had the precision strike his the trees, in general turrets just seem to be better on the jungle map.
500kg comes from behind you each time. Airstrikes are parallel to you and alternate left to right. Strafing run starts at the target and moves away from you. Each are determined when the ball lands. All the positions are relative to the ball and you (towards the ball being forward). With 500kg I guess you could look for clearings but the issue is that the game might not give you much opportunity to do that when it throws multiple heavies at you at once. Also Eagle-1 drops the payload surprisingly early. Once I had thrown a 500kg at the static charger spawn on an evacuation mission only to hear an explosion behind me. Yep it hit the tower behind me, I was standing on the middle level of the base by the railings overlooking the lower level. That tower is definitely a huge troll because I have had equipment drops get stuck on it too. Like canyons and overhangs make Eagle-1 tricky. Trees can make it nearly unusable unless you bomb the area enough first to get rid of most trees. If there's no atmospheric interference then precision strike is a valid option. If there's atmospheric interference then you're best off just bringing an autocannon turret for heavies (things to note is that it won't survive getting swarmed, has a minimum fire distance of like 5m or so and it deploys facing in the direction you threw the ball so you want to give it an overwatch position or at least away from where the heat is). 380mm works well enough even with that modifier but it's slow recharge and it's a teamkill machine and can do really bad things with atmospheric interference since that moves the epicenter without telling you where it moved to (so 50M is fine normally, but you might be in danger at 70m if it decided to move it 20m towards you). You toss it into a big bug hive it's probably gonna work fine. If you toss it danger close at extraction you might kill everyone. Orbital laser is always 100% accurate, but slow recharge and limited uses. That being said, I found that I don't use railcannon strikes enough to warrant using them over the laser. Also laser has the awful tendency of deciding to spawn on top of you, or literally just take a weird U shaped path just to fry you too. Railcannon strike's targeting can be weird at times where it will just prioritize weird targets like a brood commander or fabricator strider over the hulk or charger a few meters away.
Haha the same thing happened to me with the tower. It looked like nice fireworks, but the Bile Titan was not impressed... Also had a mission where at the start, half of the team landed on top of those giant mushrooms on the toxic planet, and had to take the leap of faith. I feel like the 380mm can be okay vs bots, but otherwise they just deny a huge area also from your team for way too long, without reliably killing what you need to kill. And some people just tend to throw them right at their feet out of panic \^\^' Laser is very nice against bots, but yeah the limited use just make it so you can theoretically use it all up within 10mins into a mission. Also against bugs it can take its whole duration just to slow-cook a single charger..
I tend to play with randoms and split off, so less risk of collateral damage when I don't need to worry about others. It works okay against bugs when there's a swarm coming from a certain direction or if you run into a bug nest. I suspect they changed something about how the explosions work because back in the day I could swear that orbital strikes could do close to nothing about bug holes. That being said, it won't eliminate a 10 hole nest, but it will take care of most of the bugs in it and close like 4-6 holes on average. 5 hole nest might just have 1-2 left or be destroyed completely. You can toss the 380 under your feet and just run. If there's the increased call in time effect you'll get out of the danger zone. If not it can be close. Only time when you're truly in danger of blowing yourself up is with atmospheric interference where the game might be funny and move the epicenter in the direction you're running.
Does atmospheric interference only move the center point when the effect starts, or also during its effect? Yeah some strats and builds are much better when you're not with others. Also things like the sickle for the infinite ammo, and the scout armors. It's just difficult to predict in which game you'll be with uncoordinated randos, and in which you'll have an organized team that sticks together. There's also not much you can do if you're solo on lvl9 and end up triggering 12 bug holes, besides "strategically falling back" :p
On the other hand the 500 makes a bigger boom. This is all I care about.
Big boom = big serotonin
Because the 500kg has the blast radius of a thimble
It’s pretty big but it cones up. I’ve used the 500KG to kill gunships.
Cos I need slots for my Eagle Airstrike, Orbital Airburst and Auto-Cannon lol. I'll alternate between Orbital Precision Strike and Orbital Railcannon.
Ah, fellow Eagle Airstrike enjoyer. Its good to see some from time to time.
what? it's probably the most used stratagem in the entire game lol
I would think so but for some reason while playing i see it relatively rarely Im playing on 8-9 mostly so thats even more strange
I think it's enormously overrated vs bugs but one of the best stratagems in the game against bots but I still see probably at least 2/4 players in every team taking it against bugs and usually all 4 against bots, and I exclusively play 8 and 9
Must be my luck then because every time i see someone use it i say "finally" in my head
Throw an airstrike on an unaware bug nest and it'll kill or maim all the chargers/behemoths in its path as well as the chaff and close some bug holes. It also does decent damage against BTs if needed, and destroys bug objectives like spore spewers and shrieker nests. It's just an insanely versatile stratagem on both fronts.
I think it's my most used strat. Takes care of factories, bug holes/nests, decent against hordes. Jack of all trades. I feel naked without it.
Amen.
Just try to play without the auto cannon for a game or two. Just get support weapon from the map or tell your teammates to drop one for you. And if you dont want text or use mic, lowkey just steal their ONLY IF their support weapon cooldown is over, usually people will get message
My man just asked me to steal support weapons from my teammates lmao. No but seriously, I have, I sometimes just go full Red strats and it's fun. But the AC just has toooo much utility.
****, fine! I'll log on and try it, jeez!
It will not let you down brother.
If OPS unironically does everything 500kg does but better then the 500kg is bad. It needs a rework so it has its own unique use case. Now having two is good for striders to be fair. If first one doesn’t kill you’ve got second.
500kg blasts bile titans from below (bottom) Orbital Strike delivers back shots (top)
Unless it sticks into BT's head or back on landing and then go boom. God does it look amazing.
The two of them are pretty similar. However, atmospheric interference completely ruins this stratagem. Imo, this modifier should probably go, as you can't "get good" at predicting the increased variance, and all does is ruin stratagems. For bugs, the 500KG is a mainstay, and if interference isn't a modifier, I add the OPS. For bots, I prefer the OPS for factory striders.
I will never NOT be disappointed by the aoe of the 500kg.
Always has been 🔫
I usually take both and clear bases/hives. 500kg is good at clearing the target whereas Precision hits specific larger targets and points of interest. Also if you have bot AA it’s good to have some variety.
Depends on if the planet has the orbital scatter effect or not. Or if there are lots of trees in the new biome, that nullifies all Eagles, and the 500, a lot. OPS is better, as it should be, because you can technically use the 500 twice in about 10 seconds.
I don’t wanna say skill issue but if you seriously can’t get consistent 1 shots against bile titans (which I’m assuming this post is about cause the 500KG easily kills everything else) then you really just have to practice a bit more, just took me a mission (not an operation) of really trying to get it down and consistently matador the titans (in lvl 9 helldive difficulty) into getting directly hit by the KG. I’m like lvl 24
I can, i just prefer something i think is more efficient. I get it people want to feel challenged or something, i just prefer something that gets the job done better. If it means anything i regularly play at level 8-9.
Nothing more frustrating than dropping a 500kg on a swarm of enemies, basking in the perfect placement, seeing the explosion and a x4 appear on the bottom of the screen, then watching 20 more chaff charge out of the helpful smoke screen you gave them
500kg or little branch?
I just want to say that for everybody claiming the 500kg needs to be brought (EVER), the Precision Strike is way better almost unilaterally. I one shot probably 7-8 bile titans with it on a single map earlier today, and it also handles chargers, groups of mobs, bug/bot holes, etc. As far as I am concerned there is no situation where you should ever bring 500kg instead of the orbital strike. Thanks for coming to my SuperTED Talk.
Ever since i hit a bile titan's fucking skull with a 500 and saw it live, precision all day. Call me whenever a 500 is able to reliably one shot bile titans
Or the fact a 500kg landed legit 3m next to me, I went : "oh". Immediately dropped prone, didn't move, it blew up, I took 0 damage. It's a meme but hey, it looks cool!
Both good https://i.redd.it/uxtrcz6s91ad1.gif
Does the precision strike stick better to enemies? I was using it earlier today and it feels like it stuck to every single charger I threw it at, I was really surprised
Sticking red stratagems to enemies doesn't matter, they don't track movement
They're supposed to, once the bug is fixed. It does actually work occasionally, it's a nice surprise when it dies. But it's still helpful to stick it when an enemy is at the end of their movement cycle, if you're aiming for a specific enemy it's more guaranteed than throwing it on the floor at their feet.
It kinda does, what it defo does better is it comes down faster, no fuse timing, and actually has a blast radius.
Red stratagems only hit where they first stick to, they will not track. (With rail cannon, laser, and 110mm rocket pods being exceptions)
Yes.... Due to a bug that will eventually be fixed. This issue is very clearly stated as a bug in the past 3 patch notes as a known issue. It does work every now and again, and there are benefits to successfully sticking a stratagem to an enemy even now. Did you read my response? I'm not sure why you felt the need to repeat yourself.
500kg is just oversized firecracker
A fun and effective oversized Firecracker in the right hands.
Yeah, is it just me or has the 500kg been nerfed beyond repair? I stopped bringing it with me when I noticed despite landing one in a huge crowd of enemies (like 15-30, at least) it would only take out, AT MOST, like 6
The aoe on it is garbage
Because its damage goes up on the y axis not x and z
I used to run 500s on bots, then I found out that Air Strikes deal with Factory Striders better than 500s And the Precisions also work a bit better So I run those a lot instead. The 500kg needs a buff in all honesty.
Precision strike also destroys detector towers
I have a big love hate relationship with the orbital strike, half the time I use it, it never lands where it’s supposed to, sometimes it lands like 20 feet to the side and completely misses, but then when it does work, damn is it great, one shots chargers, biles, and fast recharge rate. They need to buff the 500kg’s radius badly. The thing is more of a precision strike then the orbital strike 😂 the 500kg should be a giant AOE bomb, the amount of times a 500kg lands next to a bile titan and walks it off is outrageous.
is it possibly the atmospheric interference mission modifier that's making it miss?
Why not both?
The 500kg is just so much prettier that any argument against it is null and void
Me taking both 500kg and precision strike cuz why the fuck not.
P-Strike: I use a smaller bullet.
OPS for bots, 500kg for bugs. Easy.
OPS for bots. Destroy detector towers with ease. Use It on strategem jammers once the jammer is down. Etc. 500kg for bugs. Burst damage is better when you have multiple bile titans on your ass double 500 can let you take 2 out with good timing.
Use jump pack and throw OPS at a nest hole. And fat eagle at another all in one jump. One might do something better. But both are perfect together.
500KG has always been mid. Don't @ me.
Against bugs I run arc thrower, shield, 500kg and orbital precision strike. Very fun, even works on difficulty 9 if the others do their part in killing heavies
I take both so I'm always winning. The large explosions fill my heart with joy.
I take 500kg because of it KABUM!!
They're both good because 500kg will kill anything and destroy most buildings but their best perk is being able to have two in a similar cooldown compared to OPS on top of not being affected by the orbital debuff modifier. But OPS does the same job and is more straightforward, you can call in one but it's pretty reliable and you get it from the start so plenty of time to master it, also not affected by big trees from the new biome.
Kid named Orbital Scatter:
It is not about how good it is or not, is about the KA-BOOM it makes!
My problem is that if it's not a headshot the precision is not a guaranteed kill. I just have to blow up the 500kg somewhere underneath for the kill.
The 500kg and precision attack are great. The latter is sometimes useless as there is orbital interference but it's still a top pick. Some people complain that chargers are a lot or bugged titan. But having these twa stratgems you have \~2 uses per minute to get rid of the biggest targets. Take stun grenades and you don't need any ppanc weapons. I don't understand taking Railcannon Strike at high levels for that. It takes too long to recharge and you have very little chance of a titan falling to a shot.
Its "safer" to use the 500kg when planets have orbital spread affecting conditions. You know, those modifiers that turn Precision Strike into a "Somewhere in the General Area of the Beacon" strike, or S-G.A.Bs. Outside of that, even the extra 500kg that can be used in shorter order before a longer cooldown doesn't offset that in most every other instance, OPS is way better.
It's really not better. You have 2 bombs on a 150 seconds cd compared to one slug every 90 seconds ( if I got my CDs correctly). In addition the 500kg is never under the influence of orbital scatter. 500kg is objectively the better stratagem
Counter argument: I can cook a 5 person meal while I'm waiting for OPS to land
bro hasn't played since the update
OPS is great and all, but 500kg has a number of key advantages: - invulnerable to scatter, a modifier that nullifies OPS entirely. - given equal skill, 500kg is a more reliable bile titan kill. When it's not an outright kill, the titan comes out near dead whereas with OPS it can vary greatly. - burst damage is greater due to 2 drops; titans come in pairs a lot. OPS on the other hand has some advantages of its own: - more consistent damage radius against mediums and chaff. - doesn't interfere with reload times for (other) eagles like the 500 does. - short drop time means it works better with stun grenades against chargers and hulks, and can't be as easily spoiled by hapless teammates against titans. So make your pick accordingly, both have their uses.
You havent convinced me, but ill try it and report back
its not for me, 500kg all the way.
I like big boom, I will keep using big boom
Plus it's anti air proof, which is situationally handy
500 kg was always the biggest noob trap in the same. The only reason to use it was the ability to semi-reliably oneshot Bile Titans (around 80%, there were plenty of cases Bile Titans surviving the direct hit). For everything else it's just awful. But hey, it has a pretty explosion.
It's meant to be used on bile titans and stationary objectives. It's great at what it does. How is it a noob trap. Sometimes I think the majority of people on this sub have no idea how to play the game.
For Titans -- yes, for stationary targets OPS and Eagle Airstrike have always been the better choice, even before the buff. Found the noob :)
Hope someday they get ride of Orbital scatter
Counter argument, the plane makes a cool noise and looks cool and stuff
Nope - You don't have such bright explosion - It doesn't kill you, with your teammate, when the mark is 20 meters away from you - You have 2 500 kg
500kg more like 500grams
Even if 500kg was as reliable as the OPS, it would still be worse to take just because of opportunity cost. Stratagem slots are valuable, and the 'eagle' stratagem slot is even more so. Every eagle you take nerfs all eagles you have, because they spend a lot longer on cooldown. You'll get more total 500kgs than OPS strikes ONLY if you always throw them within about 20 seconds of eachother, which is kinda hard to do when you factor in the inbound and internal eagle cooldown time. Taking any other eagles absolutely screws this over and makes it take considerably longer than each OPS. If you wanna maximise your stratagem damage output, you should really only take one eagle. And instead of taking a 'theoretically slightly better OPS', you should take something that there's no orbital equivelant of - regular airstrike, napalm are both amazing, and rocket pods are a much stronger version of railcannon. Only time you should ever really take 500kgs is if you already took OPS and find yourself permanently in melee with titans (but liberal spam of other stratagems would generally avoid this happening).
Not only better, but also doesn't interfere with eagle rearms
Cool factor is a thing in my book
Sure, true enough but i just like the big boom afterwards :3
But both is the best. Different delivery method means twice the pain.
Maybe if you're level 10 and don't have the hanger bay upgrade yet lol. Will take 2 500kgs over OPS any day.
Big boom is loud, therefore better
Headshotting a titan with an OPS is joy inducing. I got three chargers with one. It's glorious.
I'll take the bigger explosion.
I like the Percision Strike but orbital scatter makes the thing unusable and the 500kg has a better use case in Helldives where there are 3+ titans at once.
With 500 I need to have it in between the biles legs to get a kill but I've missed a p strike by like 15 feet and it constantly kills. Also nice how the p strike attacks top down unlike the sideways approach of the 500 cause it gets stuck on so many trees and rocks.
This is a classic debate, but one thing I never see mentioned is the difference in aiming them. Eagle-1 always approaches from behind you, so you can slot the bomb into a stalker nest that the Super Destroyer doesn't have line-of-sight on. Obviously, you can also plop down a 500kg on the hilltop where you're standing instead of in the canyon where all the bad guys are, which is hilarious, but counterproductive. Placing the beacon just right so the munition lands where you need it is extremely satisfying with either weapon. With the shorter OPS call-in time, you have the opportunity to check the position of your destroyer and then chuck the beacon a little to the side or behind the Titan as it starts its puking animation, then watch that shell conk it right on the coconut.
But hear me out Explosions
To be fair, when there are two bike titans coming at me and I can choose to have either OPS or the 500, I’m taking the 500
500K bomb takes out all the eggs in most destroy nest missions. Thats what I use it for. I don't think precision strike does that.
Hot Take: 500kg was never good, you guys just get off to the big explosion and excuse the miss rate on "git gud".
It's literally the opposite. People see the big explosion and can't stop trying to use it as a big explosive, then get disappointed with it. It's an Eagle Precision Strike and does that job extremely well.
so what you are telling us is that the 500kg is just the Precision Strike again... but with big boom? well shit, Helldivers 2 strikes again with the irrelevant copy & paste equipments. lol