I tried doing it for ten minutes last night and couldn't get it to work - melee never happened once the charge animation began. Apparently I'm doing it wrong.
If a Character requires a specific weapon to be any good then i stand by my statement that it is not a very good character
On host slayer doesn't even require a weapon to smash literally everything. You just charge spawns and spam the phase disruptor at the floor over and over until everything dies. Acolyte or Talon just enables him to do it that much faster, but you could literally not fire your gun with him and still do very well. PD even works well against armor with the right specs.
@Centurion Drake - last night I logged into one of my alt accounts and hosted a match as a Slayer, I pre-set Glacier, random enemy (got Cerberus), Gold. I equipped my Acolyte 1 and Disruptor rounds 1 (and Geth Scanner V). It was a curb stomping, fyi the on host Slayer is one of the most powerful things this game has ever seen, especially on a tight map against Cerberus.
What worked great, and I have never thought of it before, was another in our group was using a warp bubble Justicar which they did an admirable job of capturing whole spawns in. Wow, combined with a Slayer that was utter destruction. Shoot, Charge, BE, PD, PD, Shoot, Charge, BE etc.
Well, you can SHOOT YOUR GUN instead of waiting for the 3-4 seconds it takes Carnage to cool down.
Yeah, the "optimal" build for damage on the VSol is probably to take the Acolyte or Reegar, bump up your power damage as high as possible, and flame everything. But that's not really "optimal" because you can do better at the same thing with the Geth Trooper. So why would you use it anyway, if you're going for "optimal"?
Skipping Carnage on the VSol takes away the only thing that makes him interesting.
Spoken like a player with a near complete manifest 'Hey, I can shoot my level X UR combined with ammo mod IV while i'm waiting for the CD, it's really effective!".
IMO Carnage is completely useless on the Vsol, especially on a not developed manifest. And by the logic you intimate, there should only be 2 or 3 kits in the game, period.
The Vsol is a very powerful kit which is constantly overlooked because he's not the GT or Vsent, booth of whom are ridiculously powerful. It still doesn't stop the Vsol from being powerful also.
If a Character requires a specific weapon to be any good then i stand by my statement that it is not a very good character
There are no characters in the game which require a specific weapon to be any good, but some choices just make sense.
I can't play the Slayer. That doesn't make him 'not a very good character', it makes me 'not a very good player', though I will add that I know how to play the Slayer, but because I rarely host he's an absolute no-no. If I'm hosting, there's a very strong chance that there are other BSNers in my lobby, so the last thing I'm going to do is run with one of the most powerful characters in the game and risk sucking with him, given that I've only used him around a dozen times in 2000 hours. I don't care about score, but even I would suffer performance anxiety issues with him because he's potentially such a beast. It's clearly a L2Play issue, for both of us.
IMO Carnage is completely useless on the Vsol, especially on a not developed manifest.
What weapon would you go for with him on a weak manifest kit? And likewise with a maxed manifest?
I'm asking because I know you know what you're talking about, but I disagree on Carnage because I have no ranged attack with a BPP as my weapon of choice on him. He's fun as all hell, with one eye on meleeing all the things, even without a melee amp.
If we're going to judge kits by how PUGs play them, then the Juggernaut is the worst kit in the game, the damn things only ever spam siege pulse, even when they have a bunch of enemies on them, and I get my 15 revives medal super early in the game.
No, but seriously, though, the Slayer is a very versatile kit. Yes, you get a ton of idiots dying by spamming PD without ever charging to get those shields back, or idiots standing out in the open to BS when they should have charged to get shields back. But that isn't a good representation of what the kit is capable of. Are Kroguards squishy because people fire off Carnage instead of charging to get their shields back? Is the cabal gabage because people try to poison strike entire waves instead of a more tactically sound option? Are human engineers nothing but Spitfire/Javelin users who can send out a new combat drone once every 30 seconds?
If you dislike the acolyte (And I do personally feel it's horrendously overused - the slayer is one of the very few kits I actually field it on) The Arc Pistol is another substitute you can use; basically just good in general. The Talon also fits this role nicely due to it's Shield/Barrier damage, allowing you to spec PD for armor damage without any worries. Or, if you prefer SMGs, almost any SMG works well, since you can also slap on the Expert Package to reduce cooldowns a bit, even though I'd suggest the Geth Scanner just to Slash through walls.
If your concern is people spamming Biotic Slash the whole game... I actually don't see the difference from literally any other kit. Every kit only has 3 active powers, often technically less if it's an activated mode like Bloodlust, Devastator Mode, Biotic Focus, etc, and at most, two guns. Every game already has a lot of repetition. There's a time to slash and a time to charge. The two rarely, if ever, overlap, so yes, you'll definitely have times where you slash 3 times in a row, but is that any different than unloading 3 clips of your gun?
Really, though? Like most vanguards, it DOES take skill to play the slayer well, doubly so considering it uses it's barriers to attack. It's good that more people don't play it, because like with literally every other kit, they'd suck. But in the hands of... well... someone who has enough common sense to take cover instead of standing out in the open using Slash when surrounded by Marauders? It's pretty damn good, and my easiest Gold solos ever were with this kit.
For me it is Phase Disruptor on a Slayer. It is such a cool power but it USES YOUR BARRIERS to do sub-optimal damage...i mean dammit that character is a Vanguard so it should be up close but it is so squishy plus both of it's other powers are useless in quick situations that it just makes no sense to have Biotic Charge but even without it you have PD which drains your barriers (which are also drained by dodging) while also having Biotic Slash which is like Smash and Shockwave but with the longest charge-up which gives the enemy time to kill you (instantly on gold with the Slayer's weak health/barrier) unless you spam it behind a wall which is just cheap and cowardly...now that i think of it that whole character is just awful in general...poorly optimized
the on host Slayer is one of the most powerful things this game has ever seen
Amen.
Yeah good luck with that...I have played the merc enough to know what i'm doing, I have tried various builds with the Merc including decoy use and I know I didnt find it optimal.Sorry, I'm going to have to try to convert you.
Combat Drone is better but it's not much better - they're effectively the same power, just with different range capabilities. Asking why you would need a decoy when you have all those other things is like asking why you need gravy on your steak - you don't, but it's a whole lot better with it. Fitness points are generally a placebo above Silver, and are particularly so on the Volus characters. I would honestly struggle to imagine or believe in a scenario on higher levels where 825 shields has any practical benefit over 500. The guy is already almost immortal, after all.
A Geth Prime doesn't need a turret and a drone, but he has them both, and a Volus Merc is one of the greatest characters for getting genuine payback on those cheap cheating scumbags. Two staggering powers and a stagger-capable weapon (if not using a Saber for style) with stagger-capable ammo is more fun than most other options in this game. Yo Dawg, yeah, I do like some stagger, especially against Geth. I'll admit that he does a little less well against the other factions, but damage output is always better than notional or imaginary survivability.
Imagine turning up at a Volus Merc Party. It needs 8 little guys for it to feel right. Do you really want to be the one there who doesn't have a +1 with him? Awkward....
Yeah goodluck with that...I have played the merc enough to know what i'm doing, I have tried various builds with the Merc including decoy use and I know I didnt find it optimal for me.
Yeah a prime has both but it doesnt have a shiney claymore that can take somones head off
Liked because I approve of the Claymore use. 
You're still wrong, though, objectively. 
I actually made a Lifting Shockwave->Nova biotic detonation build, just to try it out. It's pretty fun. :-)
I played with someone using a similar build once. it was pretty cool, and the guy scored first or second with it. I was impressed.
What weapon would you go for with him on a weak manifest kit? And likewise with a maxed manifest?
I'm asking because I know you know what you're talking about, but I disagree on Carnage because I have no ranged attack with a BPP as my weapon of choice on him. He's fun as all hell, with one eye on meleeing all the things, even without a melee amp.
Absolutely, when it comes to fun use whatever set up you want, optimization is clearly not required (and sometimes gets in the way)
For a brand new account, if I roll a Vsol in one of my first packs, i'll use the Predator (like I would on any power based class). Since I don't have any weapons of note, I focus entirely on powers, and in the Vsol case, that would be to maximize Flamer, Bloodlust and full fitness (IMO really valuable on all Bloodlust kits). On the one new account I did roll an Acolyte 1 in one of the very first packs, so it gets a lot of use and makes the Vsol super powerful.
If i'm playing Gold or below I would use an Acolyte on the Vsol, if Platinum on a tight map I would use the Reegar (i know, i know). If Acolyte I carry a side arm with piercing
^ To add to that, I got the Vsol as one of my first characters on my new account (Second to the Juggernaut from my free packs) and I actually regretted speccing into carnage simply due to the cooldowns. Granted, I also got BS lucky (Already have a goddamn harrier) so maybe I'd feel differently if I was still just using common weapons, but I don't need carnage with my Reegar.
Was it an off-host issue? I love when I HS a Praetorian in the middle of the IMA FIRIN MAH LAZOR!!!!1111 animation just to become brain slurpie.
That's quite likely. I rarely host, and HS mis-fires/delays are a common delight.
What weapon would you go for with him on a weak manifest kit? And likewise with a maxed manifest?
I'm asking because I know you know what you're talking about, but I disagree on Carnage because I have no ranged attack with a BPP as my weapon of choice on him. He's fun as all hell, with one eye on meleeing all the things, even without a melee amp.
Acolyte, as Max said. Executioner is another good one, especially because Lore (but it meets your range requirement, and if you throw Phasic on it its actually a pretty damn good shield stripper). Talon too (good modifier vs. shields/barriers). Really any high damage weapon (shotguns, paladin, arc pistol, etc.) you have access to works pretty well on either of the Flamer vorcha, stagger is also good (i.e. so Graal, Venom, GPS should be considered, especially for U/U or vs. Cerb or Geth).
There are no characters in the game which require a specific weapon to be any good, but some choices just make sense.
I can't play the Slayer. That doesn't make him 'not a very good character', it makes me 'not a very good player', though I will add that I know how to play the Slayer, but because I rarely host he's an absolute no-no. If I'm hosting, there's a very strong chance that there are other BSNers in my lobby, so the last thing I'm going to do is run with one of the most powerful characters in the game and risk sucking with him, given that I've only used him around a dozen times in 2000 hours. I don't care about score, but even I would suffer performance anxiety issues with him because he's potentially such a beast. It's clearly a L2Play issue, for both of us.
"But how can I find a solution that works for me?"
Talk to your doctor about Slayer Cialis®.
If a Character requires a specific weapon to be any good then i stand by my statement that it is not a very good character
The Slayer can destroy stuff with a Falcon, Venom, Talon, etc. I've run plenty of weapons on the character and he's fine with a lot of them. Acolyte just is really effective on him,
"But how can I find a solution that works for me?"
Talk to your doctor about Slayer Cialis®.
My sword seems to work fine, doc, at least it does when I solo. It just lets me down when I take it out in public. 
Overload on the TGI.
Who needs it when you have 21 points in Raw Accuracy?
First time I played the Batguard I got the business from a Phantom while doing this
Which is another reason that Lash is quite useful. It's not just for the 180 degree board tricks (though obviously that's the best reason to put points into it).
If a Character requires a specific weapon to be any good then i stand by my statement that it is not a very good character
Charge/PD Slayer absolutely doesn't need the Acolyte to be good. It's the only kit that I feel really comfortable playing on platinum, and I hardly fire my weapon while playing it. And that weapon is an Eagle.
I think the window of opportunity is to mash down that heavy melee button a split second after impact. If you time it exactly right you can get a headsplat on Phantoms before they can sync-kill you back.
Okay, cool. I'll give it another shot and see if I can get it working - if I can rock two different kinds of surftech on that guy, I'll have a hard time bringing myself to play anything else...
Guest_DeckardWasADrunk_*
actually I'd like to redact the suggestion of Sabotage on quarksman. It may be pretty bad on the optimal weapon platform build but it's the most important part of his melee build, which is great fun.
has anyone mentioned ES/BS on the mall ninjas? Sure you can kill with those if you tailor the build around them, but everyone hates those builds anyway.
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