Postby Robert Scythe » Thu Mar 14, 2019 4:12 pm
Atomic Guardians assessment and run report. I expected these guys to be less effective than the Flame Behemoths, especially without the utility of the Swap, but it turns out that they have really good synergy with each other and radiation isn't just some silly wanna be fire. it is both more difficult to use for the feature of not doing damage until after the enemies finish their attacks, yet more effective with stacking the levels and manipulating the board. The Fission's main effect on its attack is the smoke cloud that cancels the target tiles attack. That and the radiation damage plus the 3 orthogonal push offer unique tactical plotting. The Projectiles upgrade make it even more painstaking with maybe not enough of an advantage for the 2 core cost but still feels like a decent upgrade. The Irradiation Mech is a utilitarian artillery push attack with limited range (that would be one of the least useful custom/random squad choices after the Meteor) and is very in-line with their playstyle of Rad. Damage and board manipulation with good upgrades. The Fusion, however, is the ace in the hole. With its double shot that both deliver push and can be fired in different directions, its damage output is way less important. Not sure if its upgrades are all that useful, though, since its 2 self damage effect seems rather meh because the damage it deals relies on radiation levels of enemies affected and is really just a Pulse Mech push that MIGHT do some damage, and the 3 core Combine Shot, though I did not test, looks, by description, to limit its fire to 1 bigger shot that may not be as tactically sound as its base attacks.
I played a 3 perfect isle hard run and was delighted at how their thoughtful attacks synergized. Their damage output was not quite as low as I expected and probably would compare well to the Rusting Hulks, though with even less direct damage. The Fusion's ability to push twice saved the day in the majority of maps even when the second shot was not used. I found a pull tank on the 2nd island that I placed in the Irradiation Mech that I took to the end, though never got to use on either level of the Volcano but proved itself useful up until then. At the end of the same island I bought a Force Amp that made the Fusion even more of a star even though its MVP move was on the 2nd level of the Volcano when it pushed a leader Vek onto an insta-kill tile and then shot an alpha scarab into the lava! I did not do the 4th island because it was late and I wasn't sure how I would fare with the Burrowers inhabiting that area. Wish I did, though, both to find out if they could be dispatched without easily acquired direct damage and if the radiation stays on them after they burrow as opposed to fire.
Only thing I would wish for is that the radiation damage happened before the Vek vacate the area, to help with minimum kill fulfillments and pilot experience but this is very minor. All in all another quite entertaining playthrough with an Arfy mod squad and Djinn sprite support. Thanks guys!
Last edited by
Robert Scythe on Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
