Continuing on the theme of control vs. mixed control + protection (and inspired by RedCaesar’s excellent vids!, I’ve been playing around with a control-focused CQC-oriented Puppet Master (PM) Engineer. The basic idea is to mirror the dual physical control of a Stasis Adept (Stasis + Singularity) with a more “mental” control of Drone + Dominate/AI Hacking. Although Dominate/AI Hacking does not work on protected enemies directly, it does so indirectly by distracting protected enemies adjacent to the thrall, creating windows of opportunity to move in and pummel:
Most of the puppet builds I’ve read about focus on ranged combat, not CQC. This is logical, since enemies generally focus on the nearest threat, so if you get in close, an enemy will tend to turn its attention toward you rather than the thrall. Also, one must first strip an enemy before it can be dominated, and then it takes a few seconds for the thrall to become active. For these reasons, it usually easier to orchestrate what is going on from range.
So…to make this work, I had to do two things: 1) add an extra stripper on the squad to perform instant on-the-fly strip + Dominate combos, and 2) position Shep close enough to rush enemies, but far enough away that they will be distracted by the thrall prior to getting rushed. I would liken this to soccer or hockey, where you want to be as far forward as possible without going offside. This vid shows a mix of CQC + mid-range combat (depending on number of enemies and whether I am defending or assaulting a position).
Unlike RedCaesar, I’ve been respeccing skills according to enemy. For organic-only or geth-only crowds, I reassign points out of AI hacking or Dominate (at the same time adjusting Overload vs. Incinerate). Squadmates are Miranda + X, depending on enemy. For Collectors, a natural choice for squadmates is Samara, since she has Reave to instantly strip barriers and also pull to set up WB with Miranda. This requires giving up squad incendiary ammo (Jacob). Also, since the Collector Ship falls early in the mission order, I had to use the Normandy Crash Site exploit to first complete Samara’s loyalty mission.
Aside: I notice that enemies with a nearly full health bar sometimes seem to disappear after being dominated. They fall down behind cover, and then don’t reappear. Has anyone else observed this? Also, there seem to be fewer husks on the last part of the Collector Ship for Engineers - do the scenarios differ somewhat among classes? (see correction below - there are 17 husks for everyone!).
CQC Puppet Engineer
#1
Posté 07 avril 2014 - 05:56
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#2
Posté 08 avril 2014 - 12:15
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Aside: I notice that enemies with a nearly full health bar sometimes seem to disappear after being dominated. They fall down behind cover, and then don’t reappear. Has anyone else observed this? Also, there seem to be fewer husks on the last part of the Collector Ship for Engineers - do the scenarios differ somewhat among classes?
I watched your vid. I have never noticed enemies disappearing like they did. Very strange.
I have never ran any tests, but I do not think there are fewer husks depending on class. Could have to do with spawn points. Looking at it, I do not think you faced any fewer husks than you usually would, but I am not sure how many husks there are supposed to be at that point.
Regardless, some really good stuff.
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Posté 08 avril 2014 - 08:28
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#4
Posté 08 avril 2014 - 01:33
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Here's another take, slightly slower (fewer warp bombs), but somewhat heavier use of Dominate to control protected enemies via thralls. Examples of using thralls to distract enemies during a CQ takedown at 3:03 and 5:02.
Comment: It's actually not that hard to possess Harbi. He tends to occupy the most weakened mook somewhere near you. So if you get to that mook first…ha!
