Today in the episode:
Counter-Meta: surviving the Flute onslaught!
Voice Of The Wasteland: we read your messages and choose the craft of the episode!
And we start with:
Workshop: one hit kills with no weapons whatsoever!
Good day, fellow Survivors!
This is our new guide on a very cool weapon called…
nothing.
What do you mean “nothing”?
Not even a Chord this time?
Does this even work?
Apparently it does.
And to be clear, when we mean no weapons, we do mean it:
if something is an armament, we don’t put it on our car, as simple as that.
You may remember that we touched upon this subject before —
and even designed a special, and very cute, vehicle of this type! —
but today it’s going to be all serious.
Let’s have a proper talk about combat vehicles
that are built without spending a single point of energy on a weapon of any kind.
You must have seen it.
You must have fought it at least once.
Yeah, we’re talking about a Tusk Ram — a melee vehicle built around the Tusk cabin.
This type of car is known for its crazy durability…
extreme speed…
and, most importantly,
its ability to almost immediately delete almost any opponent from the face of mama Earth…
once you get some speed going.
Design-wise it's pretty straightforward: boosters…
the Cheetah engine with a Chameleon…
a radar detector…
and a car jack.
We’re serious, by the way, don’t forget the car jack, it’s essential for our survival.
Drop a few layers of good, chunky armor on top of that…
and we’re done.
By the way, this bladed contraption mounted on our roof is not just for looks.
Far from it, in fact: this is an important part of the design, built specifically to punish those pesky hovers.
Works…
like a charm.
We certainly need something like that!
On a Tusk Ram, there are two main factors determining whether you’re going to be successful or not.
First thing that helps is having lots of experience driving a melee vehicle.
Yeah, it might seem easy — just go as fast as you can and ram the hell out of the first guy you see —
but in reality it’s rather tricky to land a good blow with your car.
You see, the problem is that enemies aren’t... blind.
When there is a Tusk coming their way,
they usually get this uneasy feeling that they’re going to die and start maneuvering like crazy.
That means that we have to get clever, and sneaky.
Engage them from the flank, wait for a good opportunity to strike — and only then fall on them like a hammer.
You also have to get used to hitting targets specifically with your cabin and nothing else.
You will deal damage either way, but if you want to hit hard, you must hit with your Tusk.
The second major thing affecting your performance is…
what your teammates are doing.
The thing is, sometimes even a small innocent thing can seriously mess up your day.
A bolt hitting your target with unfortunate timing…
an ally falling on you two when you’re this close to deliver a blow…
or a teammate simply getting in the way — that’s just something that happens.
No hard feelings, combat is chaos…
but if you want to remain sane and effective, stay away from the crowd.
Try to get a drop on your enemies, avoid head-on confrontation whenever possible.
Choose your prey very carefully as well.
The easiest targets for you are Goliath tanks…
and sideway hovers.
The best-case scenario is that you hit the side of an enemy vehicle at a right angle.
Even if you fail to destroy them outright, your blow will certainly deal a lot of damage to their chassis —
and in the Wastes that’s a death sentence on its own.
One last thing.
Prepare to be shot at, HARD.
This vehicle is incapable of returning fire,
and that’ll make a lot of your opponent think that they can bully you.
News flash: they can’t bully a death ram coming at them at the speed of light.
Even after half of your vehicle is gone, never stop rammin’!
It feels nice to have a good weapon lying around.
Even better, if it’s a weapon that deals tons of damage...
doesn’t require a lot of energy…
and fits into the smallest of spaces.
But what if this weapon is used by another Survivor?
And that’s not just one Survivor we’re talking about: it seems like everyone is going around firing those ATGMs!
Yeah...
let’s talk about the Flute.
First, a few words about its strengths.
Well, not really a few — it really is a very impressive weapon.
One thing that is immediately apparent is its small size.
The Flute is no bigger than the Pyre or the Locust, which means that it can be installed basically anywhere…
and then fired off from all sorts of unexpected places.
Sneaky weapon, this one.
The other big thing is that it doesn’t require much energy to work: only two points!
Given the weapon’s miniscule size,
it is definitely possible to make a car that’d be just chock full of missiles…
but most Survivors don’t go overboard and get five or maybe six of them,
leaving some energy for modules that are beneficial to their build on the whole.
Then we have this: the missiles are laser-guided.
At first glance it might actually seem as more of a disadvantage,
especially when compared to convenient fire-and-forget missile systems like the Pyre…
but experienced Survivors know that homing missiles have their limitations.
For example, they can’t be directed to an enemy hiding behind the corner...
or used against cloaked vehicles.
The final nail in the coffin is that Flute ATGMs hit like a damn truck.
1000, 1500 points of damage with a single barrage?
Yup, that’s doable.
In most cases, there’ll be quite a few missiles coming your way…
even if your armor is top-notch, that’s not something you want to be hit with.
Are we all doomed then?
Nope.
This cursed joke of a musical instrument has quite a few flaws as well.
First, missiles are pretty slow…
and follow a visible laser beam.
These two factors lead to our first piece of advice: be vigilant!
Having spotted the beams, determine the position of the attacker…
and then either find some cover, or prepare to shoot missiles down with machine gun fire.
We all know Survivors that get too excited in the heat of a battle
and fail to see anything that isn’t their immediate target.
Don’t be that guy.
Another thing to remember is that Flutes have a kind of a blind spot.
Missiles are incapable of making a hard turn immediately after being fired off,
so if you approach a flautist from the side…
or from the back…
you can send them to Wasteland Valhalla with barely any fuss.
If, for whatever reason, you are forced to attack head-on, maneuver as hard as you can,
all the while shooting at the Flute enthusiast with everything you have.
Okay, got it.
But what do I do if the enemy is so fast and agile that I simply can’t close the distance?
That’s fine.
Just maintain the distance needed to consistently deal with incoming missiles...
or at least to dodge them — all the while helping your allies in teamfights and securing the objectives.
If there is a whole orchestra of flute lovers, then it’s all about team coordination and careful target prioritization.
In other words…
pile on them like crazy!
Full team, all guns blazing, as hard as you can.
Incapacitate and wreck all those sideway hovers, wedges, plasma warriors…
anyone who’s stupid enough to stand in your way.
Burn them, burn them, BURN THEM ALL!
And now — a short commercial break.
The first question comes from Terry Reed:
Could we get new locomotion parts?
I'd really like to see a new mech leg, so that we could make humanoid mechs with two legs!
Hi, Terry!
We can’t promise you a new mecha leg,
but there will be new locomotion parts coming into the game in the future, 100%.
Keep your eyes peeled!
The Survivor that goes by the name of quartzc writes:
Got myself a little idea I'd like to spitball: It would be interesting to see some sort of ‘mini weapons’.
Like maybe they have a very low energy cost, but have limited uses and little to no firing angles…
More weapons to the god of weapons!
On a more serious note,
at this point in time there is no plan to introduce an alternative line of mini-weapons to the game.
This is a pretty interesting concept, though, — props to you, man!
Then there is a message by ALPH Kripi:
Hey!
I have a very simple question, why can't we have boosters facing downward like in "big black scorpions"?
Hi!
The reason is pretty simple.
This kind of configuration does allow for some sick plays,
but it became evident that experienced players can use it to have a massive advantage over other players.
And even in the hands of a less experienced Survivor,
this configuration provides a lot of easy options for dodging and getting out of combat,
and that changes the dynamics of a fight A LOT.
In other words, it’s better left in BBS!
There is also this message, sent by Kristian Froelich:
I’m seriously afraid to use my Helioses.
I‘m so good with them that if I use them too much the devs will nerf them…
Is this… is this a dare?
Guys, you heard him!
Nah, we’re joking.
OR ARE WE?!...
Hi, Kristian!
We’re happy you’re having fun with Helioses,
just as we’re happy when any Survivor uses any of the guns that we spent so much time making.
The game changes constantly,
and sometimes we have to buff or nerf things to make combat more fair and fun for most players —
but it’s always about big data involving lots of players,
not about individual Survivors that are really good with their Helioses.
We’ll keep an eye on you though!
Finally, we come to the last and, arguably, the most important part of our show,
where we pick a single craft from the Exhibition that stole our hearts this week
Today we’re proud to show you a vehicle called Shop Cart, built by SaDMassStaB.
This talented Survivor managed to create a replica of a real…
combat chariot from the bygone days of the Great Cart War
that people used to have every November before the end of the world…
or something along those lines.
On a more serious note, it’s quite an achievement to make a shopping cart from parts available in Crossout.
And such a sexy looking one to boot!
Thanks for this design!
Finally we have something to haul our ammunition in.
That’s it for today!
Tell us what you think in the comments below, ask us questions…
and, if we can stop riding this beauty of a shopping cart just for one whole minute,
we’ll return with some new crazy content in a couple of weeks!
If you like what we’re doing, consider subscribing, leave a like…
and good luck!
