Easy one: I don't
Because you scurb 
Smashguard is one of my fav kit. The way I play him has already been suggested by others here.
So basically, Talon, charge with bonus power, Biotic Smash, no lash, and just play him aggressively. Don't forget to roll 
Guest_IamBECKY_*
Skip Smash, go melee. SHOCKBAT!!!!
buzz bat-in
Smashguard is the best vanguard in my opinion (some will disagree with me on this, but who cares). Since many have already given you many (either bad or good) advices on how to spec him, I'll just say one thing in terms of the gear; Geth Scanner is your best friend when it comes to Smashguard and make sure you use corners to you advantage.
I suggest trying Lash and Biotic Charge combo on Phantoms, I think you might enjoy it.
I have tried that. I just don't like the character for up close combat. Imo he is too squishy for that, but singularity and lash work really well together imo.
Mantis
that is the only word I saw and it sent me into a dimension of hate and anger I am still unable to crawl back out of.
that is the only word I saw and it sent me into a dimension of hate and anger I am still unable to crawl back out of.
What's wrong with the Mantis? It's easily the best Common weapon.
What's wrong with the Mantis? It's easily the best Common weapon.
And so it begins...
Liked because Indie.
I like your build, Awakened_Pyjak, but I would probably go for the Talon in place of the Hornet, as a personal preference. I'm not a big fan of burst fire weapons.
This is the most fun i've had with this character. Can use this guy off host if your careful.
http://kalence.drupa...!34L52364!F8E.G
I like your build, Awakened_Pyjak, but I would probably go for the Talon in place of the Hornet, as a personal preference. I'm not a big fan of burst fire weapons.
I really don't understand people who skip Lash. It's a very powerful and useful tool :
- enough force to stagger shittons of things
- prime and detonate BE against all non-armored mooks (INCLUDING SEEKER SWARMS, which is extremely useful against collectors), and has an evo to make somewhat powerful BE (it's not warp->cluster but still it's good)
- good trolling potential with a-bombs
- style points
- very short cooldown
Imho it's the best vanguard after the Drellguard. Very fun and unique playstyle (how many vanguards can do their own BE against everything ? he's the only one).
I just don't get why so many people dislike him, or skip half of his powers.
The main thing about Lash on the Phoenix Vanguard is that the stagger half of things is already covered by taking your full passives with Biotic Charge. Without your passives you wont break the 1000N threshold without having Power Synergy up which doesn't let you stagger a number of things, including Phantoms on Gold/Platinum, unless it's within 10 seconds of a previous charge.
The guy is already a stagger machine, so there's no real need for the added CC that comes with Lash.
As far as damage goes, Charge -> Smash -> Heavy Melee already does an insane amount of damage. With 1 or 2 targets, I'd possibly even say that it's more than the BE would do.
It's a nice ability, but the Phoenix Vanguard doesn't really need it.
1) Give your phoenix bro a green and purple paint job
1.5) Spec into electrical smash for the vanguard (good, stacking DoT), biotic smash for adept
2) Smash all the things
The main thing about Lash on the Phoenix Vanguard is that the stagger half of things is already covered by taking your full passives with Biotic Charge. Without your passives you wont break the 1000N threshold without having Power Synergy up which doesn't let you stagger a number of things, including Phantoms on Gold/Platinum, unless it's within 10 seconds of a previous charge.
The guy is already a stagger machine, so there's no real need for the added CC that comes with Lash.
As far as damage goes, Charge -> Smash -> Heavy Melee already does an insane amount of damage. With 1 or 2 targets, I'd possibly even say that it's more than the BE would do.
It's a nice ability, but the Phoenix Vanguard doesn't really need it.
I think the Phoenix Vanguard is my least favorite class on the game. I just hate Charging into a group of enemies and then not knowing if I'm going to be able to Smash right away or not. I die more often with this class than any other.
Anyway, to answer a question that was asked: Lash does prime for biotic explosions, and even though it only primes for a little while, its cooldown is also really short. So Lash + Charge can make for some very quick and decently powerful biotic explosions, and Lash + Charge + Smash can do a lot of damage in a really short time. Probably not the best way to play the class though.
I really don't understand people who skip Lash. It's a very powerful and useful tool :
- enough force to stagger shittons of things
- prime and detonate BE against all non-armored mooks (INCLUDING SEEKER SWARMS, which is extremely useful against collectors), and has an evo to make somewhat powerful BE (it's not warp->cluster but still it's good)
- good trolling potential with a-bombs
- style points
- very short cooldown
Here is my build :
http://www.code-rage...4/GethScanner5/
- Biotic charge : radius, power synergy, bonus power
- Smash : biotic combo, force and damage, armor/barrier damage
- Lash : detonate, DoT, shield penetration
- skip passives (it doesn't improve biotic explosions anyway, and this build is about making as many BE as possible)
- full fitness
Since he is kinda squishy and since you need to play him very agressively, he need every fitness point possible (except if you are a BSN god who can solo platinium while sleeping). Geth scanner is almost mandatory to increase your survavibility, and you'll probably want to use cyclonics (or adrenaline mods or shield power cellls). And with bonus power, biotic charge only refill half of your shields, so be careful, use soft cover and roll all the time to avoid ennemy fire when you can't use your powers.
I gave him a Hornet because style points, and it's not bad if you hipfire it at point blank range. Power magnifier mod (because no passives, so it give your biotic charge 1000 newtons - and you can still stagger phantoms with lash anyway) and armor piercing mod ; smg amps obviously, and either cryo ammo (crowd control) or warp ammo. You'll have +185% cooldown, which allow you to use Lash as a biotic primer.
How to play it :
- Against non-armored mooks :
Lash-> Charge -> BE is effective and quick ; if your ennemy is still alive, Smash (if the bonus power trigger) or Hornet in da face (Dragoon style) or heavy melee to stagger him (and then smash).
It's very effective against crowd of mooks ; you'll probably want to Lash something that has shields/barrier, so it won't fly away and the charge/biotic explosion will affect nearby ennemies too. Even more effective if you Smash what's left alive, then Lasht it (BE) and charge it (another BE). Lash as a short cooldown, so it's an extremely quick and effective combo (and mega fun).
Collector captains will be your best friends, since they have enough barrier/health to stand a Lash->Smash->BE>Charge->BE combo that will stagger and utterly destroy everything near them. It's also effective against phantoms, rocket troopers, hunters... (as long you shot them first with your hornet, to be able to prime them with lash).
And as I said, you can prime and detonate BE with Lash on seeker swarms and seeker plagues, even if Lash doesn't seems to work on them.
- Against armored mooks and bosses :
Soft cover, geth scanner and smash are your best friends ; use the smash -> charge -> BE -> smash (or roll roll die medigel smash if no bonus power) > roll -> charge -> BE-> etc combo, and shoot your hornet as much as you can. Or just spam Smash behind a wall if there are too many bosses (3 possessed scions, 1 geth prime...) ; even better if you are in a biotic team.
It think it helps the team a lot when you dance with scions just like that, because they will be focused on you ; your long-range teammates will be able to shoot them with being carpet-bombed.
Smash has enough range to prime Pyros without being synch killed, and you can stagger them with Lash even if it won't prime/detonate on them.
Imho it's the best vanguard after the Drellguard. Very fun and unique playstyle (how many vanguards can do their own BE against everything ? he's the only one).
I just don't get why so many people dislike him, or skip half of his powers.
A thing to note regarding smash:
Smash primes banshees and phantoms for BEs through their power-blocking barriers and bubbles. Even though smash doesn't do damage, it primes them for a BE (provided you spec into biotic combo evo).
I am not sure if the electrical evo primes for TBs through power-blocking bubbles though (It's been a long while since I specced into elec. damage at rank 4). I am also unsure about praetorian bubbles.
The main thing about Lash on the Phoenix Vanguard is that the stagger half of things is already covered by taking your full passives with Biotic Charge. Without your passives you wont break the 1000N threshold without having Power Synergy up which doesn't let you stagger a number of things, including Phantoms on Gold/Platinum, unless it's within 10 seconds of a previous charge.
The guy is already a stagger machine, so there's no real need for the added CC that comes with Lash.
As far as damage goes, Charge -> Smash -> Heavy Melee already does an insane amount of damage. With 1 or 2 targets, I'd possibly even say that it's more than the BE would do.
It's a nice ability, but the Phoenix Vanguard doesn't really need it.
Plus Electric Smash DoT stacks, right?
The talon is of course way better than the Hornet, I might try it too. I only have a Talon II but still it could be nice.
Ah, I didn't realise the RNG gods had not gifted you with a fully upgraded Talon.
I tried your build in a match this morning. Stomped all over the Geth, even though I was off-host. Talon + Cryo Ammo was a good addition for survivability, making the Geth even slower than normal. When I wasn't eating rockets and GPS shots and Prime Pulse Cannons to the face and from seven different directions, I was pretty survivable.
http://kalence.drupa...!33N5..14!F8.DG
Used this build a few times, really effective. The phoenix classes are one of my favourites btw.
The ULM mod isn't really needed, just saves .2 seconds.
I run 0 in Lash with Bonus Power on Charge, Biotic / Damage spec on Smash, and Shields Melee Melee in passive (the shields probably doesn't do too much at 4, I don't remember why exactly I picked that).
I think if you love Lash it makes a bit more sense on the PA.
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