I've seen a lot where a single cheap Harasser manned by 2 people charge in as the front-line to an attack blowing over dozens of anti-tank mines taking extremely minor damage, most tank shots miss because the darn thing is so fast, it runs over dozens of infantry while the gunner (especially TR Vulcan) shreds at least one vehicle before finally 1 tank shot hits it, or 1 heavy infantry bazooka round, or 1 engineer anti-vehicle turret round or just 50 different automatic weapons pelting it with added up DPS and it just blasts out to safety, repairs up in 30 seconds and does it again. I just can't think of a reliable counter to dealing with a Harasser. It appears to me to have waaaay too much HP for what it's capable of, but assuming all is working as intended, what do? Oh - I can't fly for beans... ground-only solutions?
Lots & lots of Lock-Ons, if you have some manner of open field or something. And lots of random tanks mines, mixed in. Or Harassers.
Just like aircraft, Harassers can easily disengage. So don't focus on chasing and destroying them, instead fortify your own position and pelt them. Generally go for weapons with high muzzle velocities for consistent hits. I tend not to use MBTs against Harassers, they are expensive, vulnerably sluggish and the driver's weapon has a low muzzle velocity. Infantry: use cover and or high ground Archer Engineer turrets - even the standard MG turret can annoy the fnck out of Harassers LMGs and lock-on missiles Ground vehicles: Sunderer with deployment shield or blockade armor, fire suppression and basilisks. Deploy, shoot, repair Lightning with Skyguard... not ideal as the Lightning is vulnerable, but the Skyguard can consistently hit
Simply shooting at them with whatever you have tends to be pretty effective. Harassers are fairly vulnerable to Small Arms fire, and while 1 guy shooting it wont kill it quickly, multiple sources of Small Arms add up really fast and can force the Harasser to retreat or die. I have had some luck using the Lightning as a counter. Equipped with AP, Fire Suppression and NAR (used to be Side Armor before CAI) with Rival. As long as I try to be aware of enemy Harassers and don't let them sneak up on me, you can keep pace with one long enough to take them out. Rival helps by making you able to turn faster and keep your rear away from the Harasser. If they get behind you, its over. That being said, awareness of the Harasser is a best practice. Harassers do the most damage when they manage to sneak up on you, whether on foot or in a Tank. Another fun "counter" I have found for Harassers is the Hardlight Barrier. Have a Harasser running over your mates? He will probably return for another run. Plop down a Hardlight Barrier in the path he is most likely to take and watch him crash into it and come to a dead stop if he doesn't manage to swerve. A stopped Harasser is a dead Harasser. For giggles, add AV mines in FRONT of the barrier so that they blow up when the harasser hits the barrier. Or alternatively if the area is very open, put the mines next to the barrier so if the Harasser does swerve, there is at least the chance they will do damage. And since you will be an Engineer for this, the Archer can be decently effective for plinking a fast moving Harasser. Also; the Crossbow with Explosive Bolts is really overtuned against Harassers right now, they deal obscene damage and can dish it out really fast.
MJ Harassers are special thing.. I use Lighting with HEAT, Reload 5, NAR, Fire suppression, Rival chasis and stalker with explosion bolts... Come to papa.. And try to lure them, you know, dont use any cosmetics(those MJ elitist are gonna think you are noob). Imagine their surprise when you blast two 120 BR...
Throw C4 between you and harasser if his driver wants to ram you. And then press red button. Crossbow is super effective (6 shots to kill stealth harasser, 7 shots to kill armored). Two guys with Hunter can kill almost every harasser. Archer is also fine, rocket launchers... not so much. Infiltrator: crossbow Light Assault: use jet pack, C4, rocklet on close range, crosbow Cobat Wombat: C4, crossbow Engineer: Archer, C4, crossbow, any turret, do not use mines (if you like to waste your nanites feel free to use) Heavy Assault: C4, Decimator, Lock-on launcher (the best in my opinion is Annihilator) MAX: AV weapons, do not run in the middle of the desert. Make use of covers. The easiest way is to use C4, becouse almost every time you will kill Harasser. And the most deadliest weapon is Hunter QCX with explosive bolts.
Getting into a high place that a Harasser can't reach for a roadkill and dusting off my old Annihilator has been my response. Hitting a Harasser at 300 m is great too and I have killed a few who thought they were safely out of trouble, fleeing away smoking or stopped for repairs.
Lock Ons Tankers with good aim Decent ESF pilots Other Harrys. Seem to be about the best options at the moment. Massed small arms can hurt as well.
After using the harassers extensively i can tell you two things: 1)Most people can't use the harasser propely (driver or shooter): The harasser is essentially a vehicle which strong point is using hit and run tactics, its main strenght is the element of surprise, and most people are oblivious to that, most gunners simple shoot at everything they see giving away their position, and most drivers can't flank the "hot zones" where the main firefight is taking place 2)Harassers are not as invincible as they seem Literally everything can counter the harasser, even by just deterring them, my best anti harasser infantry pick as TR is just the standard rocket launcher and mini chaingun, hide in the harasser's path and take it off guard, you can even get away with a kill sometimes with that setup, and with anti tank grenades you even improve your chances. As a TR main player i can say the prowler if taken off guard and alone, don't stand a chance against one harasser, while other MTB, specially the vanguard can easily counter them if they react quickly enough. The best way to counter an harasser is simply not ignoring it, harassers win only in two conditions: overwhelming advantage or none actively trying to counter them, such effective counters to harassers are lock ons, MBTs (not prowlers) and other harassers and in general people playing as a group, harassers prey on solo players, so sunderers or lightnings running alone without a group are the easiest prey. TLR if you lose awareness of enemy harassers they kill you.
Rocket launchers not so much? if only 3 people tried to shoot the harassers with rocket launchers it would go down very fast with just dumb fire afterwards, the main problem is that most people just rush for whatever they are doing and don't give a damn about the harasser mowing down their mates, i got away with so many kills just by using AI harassers on people running in the open, they literally don't care about you, even when not running stealth.
The worst part is that they only cost 150 nanites so spending tank mines or vehicle (except another harasser) nanites to kill one is a waste of resources. Even spending 2-3minutes trying to ambush one is a waste of resources. The problem is that if a squad doesn't spend the extra resources to defend against harassers, then that squad is going to be much less effective at taking or defending a base. Only well organized squads can effectively use gal drops, spawn beacons and medics to stay on base points without supporting sunderers. Bottom line, use them or they will be used against you.
