Rust buckets

[icepick]

Me: Oh I'll unlock this cheap squad and snowball up to more expensive squads.
Also me: I have no idea how to play this squad.

Any tips? I love the look and concept, I'm just struggling to gain traction. Could also have been that I started late, and was up WAY way past my bedtime by the time I was trying to play with them.

Would it be helpful to start where there are more dust clouds to really take advantage of the passive bonus? I'll probably try that tonight if I fall flat in my current run.

[5thHorseman]

Vek won't go into smoke, so you can lay it down next to buildings and on columns you don't want the Vek going to. Funnel them into helpless situations. Also, you can totally lock them down so they can't move or attack at all.

But watch it, you can also lock yourself down All in all it's a fun squad with a lot of potential if you can eke it out.

[ducky]

Played through all islands and won with them, love them. I focused primarily on getting the jet mech's movement speed and then damage increased. Staying toward the center of the map then with the smoke drop + movement increase allows it to effortless control the map disabling/killing problematic enemies. The rocket mech just played the role of normal pusher and eventually nuker as I was able to improve its damage. I used the pulse mech defensively to push things into existing clouds/away from buildings/into water until I was able to get my hands on a jump upgrade that dropped smoke underneath him which was a total game changer. Increase the smoke damage and then you can either aggressively go after the vek or you can defensively cover buildings with smoke since the vek won't enter it.

[Sleeper Service]

Yeah there are a couple more items that create smoke and therefore synergize really well with the squad. There is a smoke airstrike (any class) you can use anywhere on the map and smoke pallets that smoke all tiles adjacent to a mech (science class). If you can get your hands on any of these then the squad gets kicked into overdrive.

[Doogaroo]

Once you upgrade and unlock the +1 damage on Storm Generator as well these guys got a lot more fun for me

[icepick]

Great tips, thanks.

I did at least succeed in snowballing up the squad chain with achievements. I really am quite fond of the aesthetic and feel of this squad.

I bet the pilot with the smoke related ability will help as well.

[Redfoot]

Hi,

I unlocked them first too and proceeded to beat normal x2, x3 and x4 with it. I have everything unlocked now but these guys are definitely up there for me, as their style is a great combination of board control and accumulative damage. They get so much better in the later rounds, which tend to be the most hectic.
Rust Buckets are good right out of the box, even on an unlucky map with bad placement you never have any downtime. Can't reach an enemy? Lay down defensive smoke or shields, they will make all the difference in the last 2 turns.

jet is the damage dealer here obviously. double smoke per turn is bad ass. with a good mobility pilot (Chen Rong..) you can avoid all damage, so you can spend health & movement upgrades elsewhere.
rocket mech is similar to the rift walker artillery except that he isn't as bad close range, because you can always rocket fart that webber by shooting at an empty tile in the opposite direction. I do keep him on the back rows a lot though, trying to smoke in front of buildings when possible. He needs +movement asap.
science mech is your control bot, throwing up shields on buildings and pushing stuff into water/smoke/each other


For upgrades I go :

upgrade 1 - shield on science mech's push attack. It allows you to really get in the thick of it. Alternatively, your rocket mech could use +1 move if your pilots can't grant it.
upgrade 2 - try for +2 damage in smoke by the time you clear the end the first island (also, don't pick R.S.T first.)
upgrade 3 - the 2 square bombing on your jet is hella useful, wayyy more so than +2 damage in one square. Even if you aren't finding enemies clumped in rows of 2 it doesn't matter - you still lay down twice the amount of smoke per turn, which synergizes so well with the passive smoke damage buff and you can initiate your attack from further out, meaning less downtime.
upgrade 4 - shielding allys with science mech
after this I focus on rocket mech, prioritizing mobility then damage.

Hope this helps. This is definitely a great squad to learn the ropes with.

[DGM]

One good tip in general is to take a starting pilot that complements your squad. For the Rusting Hulks I had Vera (ignores smoke and webs) flying the jet.

[Stark3]

Was able to rack up my first finish with the Rust Buckets, they're my favorite squad. Like another poster mentioned, this squad becomes a lot more effective when you have Vera in it: you're no longer hampered by your own smoke.

One upgrade that I enjoy using with this team is the Smoke Bomb. It does no damage on its own, unlike the jet with its rockets, but with the measly price of two upgrade points, you're capable of laying down smoke on 3 squares! I put it on the science mech and pilot it with Vera; add the two square bombing on the jet and you're capable of neutralizing the enemy with just smoke.