I usually play on my Connery NC main, so I don't really play my VS and TR character often. ( I only play them when the NC is over- zerging. ) However, I'm close to getting 1000 certs on my VS charcter, so I do want to get the best "Vanu experience" out of my 1000 certs. Lasher and Lancer are both weapons that I would really like to use. I like HA, and It seems like they are the most fun and distinctive weapons for VS. It would take a long time to get another 1000 certs, so what should I try first? ( I have max med gun and lvl 5 repair tool, and most basic equipment, not gonna buy more boring stuff that I already have on NC. )
There both VS must haves IMO but the Lasher is much more useful in more situations. The Lancer is good fun but it's only really useful for taking out distant Sunderers or AA/AV turrets. You'll get very few kills on mobile targets unless there are a team of you or you are mopping up damaged vehicles from range. So get the Lasher. I just got one last week and already have 70+ kills, I've had the Lancer for over a year and have got 7 kills (admittedly I have not played much over the last year). Look at Wrel's Lasher video for some tips because it is not a true 1v1 LMG.
Both. I think they are must have, useful teamplay situational asset. I think VS HA package must have as minimum: Lancer Lasher Eidolon (Its so superrior to Flare/Ursa, its great in forced CQC with practice , its awesome and cheap) - and it works for Engeneer too Default guns (S1 and Orion) (Eridani as more CQC weapon which works for all other classes) So if you want Vanu experience, while having anything you need - better get first 3. Eidolon is cheap. Its Warden without bullet drop. Taking other LMGs than Orion and Lasher (its not LMG per se) will provide bad Vanu experience to you after NC LMGs. Lancer really great asset in teamplay, you can kill things with it solo here and there, but that wont happen much.
Personally, I think most 143 LMGs provide a different Experience to NC lmgs, and I can recommend the Polaris in that respect. But as for the question: Kinda tough choice, it's human nature to regret what you missed, so hard to get a happy outcome here. If you often play in a squad, I would say Lancer, it's long range capability is great in a team. If you don't, or you quickly want the certs back, Lasher. For larger fights, Laser or Ammo (neither is necessary) and an IR sight so you can see what you're shooting at. The Spotter Implant will help I got Auraxium on the Lasher and while I weep for the days of old, when it had amazing hipfire, it's still a fun gun to use. Just.... expect everyone to shoot at you. Everyone.
Though choice... I'd go for Lancer if I were you. Both weapons are situational and usually requires you traveling in group and being more of a supportive role than the usual "rambo-ing" HA style play. Lasher will help you suppress that peculiar door or spawnpoin but you'll need friendlies to stay alive while you camp (can't really go around killing with a lasher, sorry, you can't). Lancer will help you snipe those pesky tanks/sunder right at rendering distance but you'll need friendlies to help you kill them and not just scare them away. Anyway, I usually find Lancer more useful than Lasher, even if the Lasher is more funny to use (the few times you actually get to use it). So, if you want fun go for Lasher. If you want usefulness, go for Lancer (but mind that sniping a flying mosquito mid-air can be funny too... )
If you want the real VS experience, get the PPA for your magrider or harasser. Otherwise, I'd go with the Lasher.
Both the lasher and the lancer are highly dependant on your "fps intelligence" for lack of a better term. Giving sensible advice is rather difficult without having a better idea of who I'm giving it to in this case. Though for most people, I'd say lasher first. Lasher's an absolute delight once you learn its nuances, and viable pretty much all the time. Lancer is also a delight, but really only viable versus armour and maxes (ludicrously powerful vs maxes, but dont tell anyone or it'll get nerfed!) - which obviously restricts its usage a bit if you like to slug it out and take points. For purely aesthetic weightings... it's very close between the two, but I'd think lasher wins by a bit due to the lighting effects on the orbs. Also a quick tip to hopefully help you find your way to being effective with the lasher; don't be afraid to lay on a trigger (though bursts will be your primary output), but if you're just spamming cover or doorways you're doing it completely wrong - use it offensively.
Lancer. Not even a competition. Lasher isn't bad, however. The lancer just opens too many doors to pass up. With the lancer you can -snipe AV maxes (two fully charged shots) -get plenty of air deterrence medals. Seriously, its not bad at all at scaring air away. Doesn't tend to dish out dps fast enough to finish aircraft off though -Excellent for fighting harrasers who would otherwise be hard to hit -Obviously, damages all tanks as well but some people are rightfully iffy on this as its dps is rather low conpared to dumb fires. The sheer range boost you get makes this mostly worthwhile but I do understand most VS players' misgivings on this point. -Lancer is the best teamwork based launcher in game due to the fact that its EFFECTIVE range is greater than other launchers at the expense of damage
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No, both are not must haves. The Lasher is great, but that doesn't mean you'll rack up kills. You will get some, but it is good for suppressive fire. The Lancer is NOT worth 1000 certs by any stretch of the imagination. It should be costed at 250 as far as usefulness as a weapon goes. It is not worth paying actual money for either. I did, and maybe at half price it might be considered (in fact sure why not) but even then it is a stretch. The lancer has one chief benefit. Because you can hit someone beyond the range of a Lock On launcher, or hit things like Turrets and Maxes for example which lock ons cannot really target (unless it can dumbfire). That aspect of the Lancer is nice and the charge up mechanic works great for it. Keep in mind, apparently turret kills do not add to the Kill for the Lancer on the Launcher Weapon Directive which is a bit sad and just makes this weapon even less viable, and close to impossible to get Kill's in the directive. Meaning, it is a struggle to get even a single Kill. You will get Kill Assist, and mostly (especially with long range where the weapon actually has some advantage) you do 150 damage with it, and have 6 shots and no you probably won't be doing any Kills, but you will add damage to targets which someone else can score the actual Kill and you might (but probably will not) get an Assist Kill and some XP. If you use the charge up and your aiming at an infantry (which is one of the benefits of this launcher) and they make the slighest move you'll probably miss, and because the designer thought more than 6 shots was OP you'll miss a lot of shots simply because you need to reload. The gun then can function much like a heavy infantries sniper weapon, but due to the fact it does such low damage, you again can literally go battle after battle with little to show for it as far as Kills or even Kill Assist and thus getting the Directive up for this weapon is like asking a blind person to walk a tight rope. It can be done, but is extremely hard and probably dangerous (and fatal). It is not recommended. Thus the bottom line is, this gun is a choice between a better weapon like the S1, and this, and you need to be committed to using it, and because of the nature of the launcher you will miss a lot of XP and kill opportunities other launchers will net you. Sure it has one small advantage, the long range, but you'll find unless your in the perfect spot and the right opportunity those are far and few between. Now, if the goal of the directives was to decrease the fun in the game. I say don't change this weapon at all. You achieved your goal. Using this gun makes the game less fun. Congratz person who thought this weapon up. But if your goal was not to lower the fun level in the game by adding directives then you do need to change this weapon and a few (but ONLY a few other weapons, like the NS Annihilator which also has severely limited ability to actually get a Kill, and thus you can spend probably 2 years and not achieve much with a weapon like that a far as moving its Directive Kill count up. I strongly recommend the Lancer have its Magazine count increased from 6 to 12. I have missed so many potential shots simply because you run out of ammo quickly, and unlike a Lock On, or even the basic S1 (which I am very good at using mind and aiming it long distances and netting XP, kill assists and kills with) as with those weapons you at least get like 1k damage which is heavy, though you still don' get a kill. Since it often takes like 6 solid shots with a 1k damaging launcher the damage of the Lancer is a joke. I get that it is like the NC and TR launchers) which I have used too. All three of these are really just gimmick weapons. They have a 'neat' factor but in the end a weapon like the NS Annihilator or standard launcher can probably get the job done. I do like the guided missile aspect of the TR's specialty launcher, but if you notice it does like 750 damage which is comparable to a 3 charge for the Lancer, and ONLY the TR specialty launcher does more but only if you actually hit with 4 or 5 rockets due to its low damage count. I did like how you lock on once and then can fire rocket after rocket. So the TR and NC specialty rockets are better than the Lancer as far as overall useage (ie they are more worth investing certs in or paying real money for), but they are still have an element of the gimmicky to them (thus they are not worth 1000 certs, more like 750 probably) The Lancer, besides raising its damage level, and keep in mind the charge up is generally only useful to vehicles and stationary targets like turrets. 12 ammo in the Magazine count before reloading would make the gun more viable, without any other change such as increasing its damage per shot. Keep the overall Ammo the same, 36 is fine. That is not the issue, it is firing, and then running out, reloading and the target is moved and at long ranges, where the weapon has only a marginal benefit, that makes the weapon truly flawed to miss so many shots at that range. Is the goal that you can only achieve 750 damage with 3 shots? If so that limits this weapon, and since a Lock On can often be better I don't think that limitation is justified. Or, how about a dumb fire rocket? Again, using the Lancer especially up close is a great way to get yourself killed quick. It won't net a kill, not like a standard S1 launcher will and thus using it up close is folly at best (but you can risk it and see if you roll the dice and get lucky, or most likely die a lot more than you otherwise would because you insisted on using this weapon up close). So only at extreme ranges does it even have a benefit, and that benefit is only marginal at best. It is a support weapon at best, ie you'll add some damage to the enemy targets, but your team mates will get the Kill and more than likely will get Kill Assist ,and you'll just add to that overall damage to the other side, but with little or no benefit to you. Again you can do much more with the standard S1, Hades, or Nemesis. If it were me, besides raising the shot count to 12 (but keep the overall ammo reserve 36). Increase the damage: 250 single shot, 500 damage 2 charges, 1000 3 charges. What!!!! OP, that will break the game and shatter the minds of even the gods!!!. Or, no it will make the weapon at least viable to use, and not dread using it, and it would have a real niche. When your S1 is great but your at distance and don't to aim and lob missiles extreme distances, you can use this, and since more than likely most targets will move, your ability to get 2 or 3 charges is possible, but unlikely much of the time This weapon then would function sort of like the Battle Rifle as far as single shot minimum damage and that weapon is not remotely OP, and if you get 2 charges, you probably could get a Kill Assist and right now I get 2 charges and often I don't get any Kill Assist listed and I know the target dies as I watch them die. And 3 charges would not be more than any other standard launcher. Again, this is for ranges beyond Lock On and unlike Lock On you must fire and can miss (though with Lock on you can still miss as flying vehicles fly behind stuff, and often you fire into a mountain or building as it moves as the missile follows their path). So relative to that, the suggestions I have made are nothing but sane and reasonable and make the weapon at least viable and playable (and possible fun). So if you are considering this weapon and are going to spend 1k in hard earned certs or heaven forbid real money, you're better off not doing so (unless changes like I am suggesting were made). You are much better off just buying the Hades or Nemesis with certs. They are nice weapons, and basically the S1 with the ability to lock on for either vehicle OR air target, and the fact they can still dumbfire is great. I also bought the NS Annihilator and yes it is cool to use as you can fire at either one, but the ability NOT to dumbfire is a real downside and thus it is really only good in a combined arms game where you face both vehicle and air targets and don't face a horde of infantry bearing down on you, otherwise just use Hades or Nemesis which are in fact not gimmicky weapons. Yet, the ability of the NS Annihilator is also severely limited to net you actual Kill for directives. You will get shot after shot on your target and Surface to Air damage xp bonus, and possibly a Kill Assist now and then, but getting an actual Kill is almost impossible as more than likely someone will damage it and you won't get he Kill (only the Kill Assist), and it takes often 3+ shots to kill even the lightest ESF and the lock on is not as great as you think it is. It takes 5 full seconds and all manner of things mess that count up. So the NS annihilator I wish they could change the directives so you can get like 2 Kill Assist = 1 Kill on its directive Kill count, OR move the weapon so it can net you Air Deterrence count. With those weapons you merely need to get a hit and so many of those hits nets you a Bing on that count, much like getting Resupply, and if you look at the Max it has that count. So move the NS Annihilator to the Heavy Infantry Directives with the Lasher (the heavy weapon). OR just allow certain weapons (like the NS Annhilator) to get a ratio of hits (or scoring Kill Assist) to count as one Kill on the directive count. Say 2 Kill Assist = 1 Kill. Then the Annihilator would be fun to use and you might actually get your directive count up. Unlike the S1, Hades, Nemesis, getting the NS Annihator up is near impossible. I'm sure someone did it, but if so it was Herculean. Was that the goal for the directives? For me it seems like the goal for the directives was to make the game less fun with using weapons like this. If so, don't change it, your goal was achieved. But, for those who actually bought the NS Annhilator or the Lancer, please alter them, or make them be able to score Kill count on their directive IF they get 2 Kill Assist (or perhaps 3 kill assist) to count as one Kill as it is god impossible to achieve. Is the NS Annihator worth buying? It can be, but if you want to get kills for directives, no your buying a weapon that will probably take you months or years to achieve that, but when you want to aim and add damage to both land and air vehicles sure it is good. In that way it is not gimmicky. One last reason why the suggestion for the NS Annihaltor should get Kill Count for each 2 Kill Assist? You cannot shoot at anything OTHER than vehicles you lock on and since I already describing getting a KILL in that way is extremely difficult and nearly impossible much of the time, thus you cannot get kills on infantry. It means when it comes to directives this weapon sucks compared to your standard launcher. Your better off not using it. It is ONLY viable as a situational weapon, but since the NS Annhilator and Lancer are both launchers a VS heavy might use to achieve 5 directives, the chances of achieving them is very slim indeed compared to NS or TR (since their faction specific launchers are much more viable in netting 'kills'). Perhaps if the Lancer was changed, and not the annhilator it would be possible to get the 5 directives and not need to get the NS annhilator up in directive kill count (as you only need 5). Keep in mind getting 1,000+ kills with this weapon is mind boggling out of reach so having it be necessary just to get 5 directives achieve is sadistic on the part of the designer. Please consider these changes, and if you are considering these weapons. the Annhilator is ONLY worth it, and I stress ONLY, if you get it at half price. If so, yes it can be nice to have in some situations, but in others will be like a death wish on your part. I would still recommend it. The lancer, on the other hand is a poor choice of weapon, and then paying money for it when you can spend it on so many other weapons means you probably wasted your money or certs. I do own and use all of these weapons, and have played TR ans NC with their weapons so I am speaking from experience, even though it is only my experience so if someone wishes to add they are the master of all masters with the Lancer and they have a 2k count Kill ratio cuz they are literally godlike, then by all means share it. But, again, was that the purpose of the directives so that ONLY godlike beings could finish them? or someone who had fun and dedication, and earning those directive completions with the Lancer is NOT fun, and practically impossible to get a directive completion with. Post your experiences with these weapons and how they have worked with achieving directives.
Well the Lasher is one of the more unique weapons in Planetside 2. It's basically a mini-grenade launcher with no drop and a massive magazine. The Lancer is a good long range RL and is pretty handy for dealing with Liberators as well. If you have ever said to yourself "damn, I wish I could hit those tanks over there, but I'm just too far away to get the job done." go with the Lancer. If you don't have that problem go with the Lasher.
Would you say the Eridani is Better in some situations than the Orion? I used the eridani and its gold variant for 50 or so kills on my vanu (orion is addictive lol). I can see the naturally better smg hipfire being an advantage though. I use the cyclone on my NC and its an absolute beast. Also what attachments would you recommend for the eidolon?
Lancer is excellent for taking out moving vehicles, especially aircraft since the final charge level moves so quickly, although the charge up time is kind of extreme. You can also 1-shot a MAX if you headshot them. And if you're super desperate, it's sort of a mini-sniper rifle, although don't expect to get a whole lot of kills with it that way.
To give an unsubstantiated opinion: The Eridani is a good SMG, but on a VS heavy, I don't really see the point; 0.75 ADS allows you to aim and be mobile, and the shield negates it anyway. At 5 meters you can just spray anyways. For the Eidolon, Compensator, grip, HVA, at least that's what I'd recommend. YMMV. And yeah, I'm aware you didn't really ask me.
If you are in an organised Outfit or do a lot of team play in general go for the Lancer. Otherwise go for the Lasher. Idealy get both. 6 heavies with both Lancer and Lasher, 2 burster maxes, 1 medic and 1 engineer. This squad set up can utterly destroy an armour column from a hill side. If the Lashers have a x6 scope and forward grip they can make whole areas a no go zone.
