Which directive weapons are worth getting?

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by TheEmancipator, Dec 2, 2020.

  1. TheEmancipator

    For me, I'm looking specifically at Vanu, but this should be open to all 3 factions. Which directive weapons other than the Betelguese are worth grinding out to be able to use regularly? I am working toward the Chaos currently, but i've been reading that it sucks. I would like to get the view of a few directive vets. Which if any do you use as your best alternative?

    Thanks!
  2. JobiWan

    I don't have any on Vanu but I have a few on TR and they're all meh. The President (pistol) is not bad for stalking, the Shuriken (SMG) is ok but not as good as the Armistice.

    Most directive weapons are more about showing off than actually being that great to use.
  3. Liewec123

    The list of directive weapons worth getting is a lengthy one, so get comfy!
    OK let's begin!

    Betelgeuse.

    On a serious note though, NSO players actually have a goldmine,
    Kuwa is great, Kappa is great, even the pistol is good! (And directive pistols always suck,)
    The only one absolutely not worth the time for NSO is rocket launcher, it's a straight downgrade.

    But yeah, for every other faction nothing is really worth the grind besides Betelgeuse.
    Perhaps godsaw, if for some reason you'd rather tickle vehicles instead of using your rocket launcher.
    • Up x 3
  4. That_One_Kane_Guy

    Directive Bolt Actions are worth it, Battle Rifles aren't bad if you like the T1 rifles.
    • Up x 2
  5. JustGotSuspended

    the short answer is none. Seriously, I've unlocked every directive weapon multiple times, none are "worth" the unlock.

    The longer answer is it depends. How long does it take you to aurax a weapon? How long does it take you to finish a directive tree? For me I typically aurax my weapons in under 20 hours, which means directives take me less than a week to finish if I focus on them. At that pace, I can only say I've found the betelgeuse worth the grind, and actually offering a a reason to main with.

    The butcher is just a carv with 50 more rounds. You can main with it, but you can also just main with the carv just as nice.

    The chaos is just a thanatos with smart choke and slightly quicker short reload at the expense of a slightly longer long reload. Basically, the smart choke means your shots will have less spread (be more accurate) while ADS, at the cost of worse spread when hipfiring. Since shotguns are typically used in hit and run scenarios, you shouldn't be using semi auto or ADSing in the first place. So basically, the directive shotguns are shotguns that are bad at being shotguns, while still having the downsides of poor accuracy, lower hs multiplier, randomness and harsh damage drop-off. I would main with the pandora or the phobos, depending on your preference.

    The Scorpios is bad, simply because the sirius SX12 exists, and the fact the devs stuck HVA ammo on all the directive SMGs, which sticks us in the same awkward situation as with the directive shotguns, where the things are no longer suitable for cqc, but have no reason to be used past cqc. It's super frustrating to use them, especially the Shuriken for TR. Absolutely horrible, avoid at all costs.

    The Immortal is a cool flex, but the default pistols perform the same, and have 2 more rounds (which are more useful than you think). There's better pistol alternatives anyways, there's no point in using those things. Use repeater if TR, grab a revolver (commissioner) or the pilot if you're not.

    The Kraken is super cool. But it's just like a decimator (in terms of effectiveness), and definitely not worth the headache after the launchers nerfs. Stick with deci.

    Same goes for C4 ARX ^

    The Darkstar is special. It is dead accurate, but at the expense of having worse hipfire than the default. It's one you wouldn't regret grinding for (especially since all ars are good), but perhaps not one you would main for.

    The eclipse is in the same position as the darkstar. It doesn't suck, but there's not really a reason to use it as a main weapon. The pulsar or the serpent would be my go-to for light assault as VS. The underbarrel is just too situational and lacks the ammo reserves to make a difference, the infinite ammo while retaining the ability to reload is good, but it's built of the solstice model. It's not a bad weapon, but as camikaze explained in recent videos, the soltice has higher tkk and it's potential caps out pretty fast. Since the eclipse is built off that model, it's not the best "end-game" weapon so to speak.

    The sniper rifles have the highest damage output of the whole sniper arsenal unless you're nc. But I don't like or play sniper.

    The directive ARs are fine, but nothing extraordinary that would give a reason to use them over the other options.


    I would recommend you download the test server, you can use all the directive weapons there.

    If you want to try out VS directives on live servers, I can perhaps let you play on an account where I have all except the infil weapons unlocked. But generally, I would tell you not to bother with directive weapons.
    • Up x 2
  6. JustGotSuspended


    I can't wait for NSO to be free, finally some different directives to unlock!
    • Up x 1
  7. AlcyoneSerene

    For VS, from what I have and used sufficiently to form a personal opinion:
    - Eclipse VE3A carbine, cause having unlimited ammo, ability to reload it before or after overheat, and shotgun underbarrel actually provide enough utility to be worth it in some scenarios despite its overall accuracy being poor or unreliable

    For NC:
    - Godsaw lmg.
    - Fortuna carbine - still haven't unlocked it yet, but hear great things about it, and if it's anything like the excellent default Mercenary on which it's based, it fits the 'must have' categories.

    For TR:
    - Butcher lmg - there's definitely scenarios where it's useful, and I find it good in its own right even if hard to use with the crazy horizontal recoil to try to control with bursting

    To avoid at all costs: TR's TRAC-Shot carbine, whoever designed it had no understanding of the excellent default Trac-5. I'm glad few TR ever use this worthless trap (like the Trap-M1). Needs a rework.
  8. TheEmancipator

    Thanks everyone! Very helpful information here. I think I will get the chaos for the flex and then switch back to my phobos. I wish Vanu has something like the Godsaws AV mode because it seems to be useful as an AV secondary at range when lockons aren't an option.
  9. JustGotSuspended


    it's pretty much useless. The damage it deals to vehicles is negligible, and there's no point in shooting any vehicle with it past lock-on distance.

    One more thing, get accustomed to using the decimator, it's much more rewarding and better that a lock-on launcher.

    If you want some AV gimmick as VS, you can try using the spiker, they revamped the pistol so the charged shot pierces armor.
  10. InexoraVC

    For AV scenarios I use Hunter QCX + explosive bolts. It does significant damage to vehicles. My anti-vehicle and anti-Max program looks like: abusher jump to target, c4 it, fire rocket rifle, fire 3 Hunter explosive bolts.
  11. AlcyoneSerene

    I make use of godsaw AV mode to finish off vehicles on fire, to deter valks and other armor a bit, and to support friendly armor. Still unsure how it interacts with different armor types, Maxes, etc. Spiker on the other hand I've never found a reason to switch to just for that purpose.
  12. Botji

    +1 for Eclipse its a good one for LA, pew pew at range and if you are outnumbered back out of the room and wait with the 1 hit kill shotgun... or start with the shotgun after getting close to a group to delete one of them before you pew pew the rest.

    Shotgun underbarrel reloads reasonably fast as well and whoever said the limited ammo means it doesnt make a difference is clearly a god or doesnt know what they are talking about, its a 1 hit kill shotgun you can use 3 times, most people would be happy if they killed 3 people per spawn and the mind games you can play with it is well worth it(the whole shoot a bit to show you have a carbine then blow their head off with a shotgun when they come around the corner scam).
  13. Campagne

    Personally I'd say only the LMGs are really worth the effort for any faction.

    The rest are underwhelming and aren't strictly useful, with the SMGs and pistols kind of just being overall much worse.
    • Up x 1
  14. Nassaria

    For the TR the Bighorn is amazing, the DMR-99 is super beast, and even the Shuriken is a monster despite what others say.. You just need a tanky build and you'll win most of your fights at ease. nano armor and nano weave with assimilate maxed.
  15. OneShadowWarrior

    Betelgeuse for VS and Godsaw for NC for LMG are about it. Maybe the Kraken and camos.
  16. JustGotSuspended


    unlocking the kraken post nerf was the worst 2 weeks ever. Maybe if you're not f2p and you but 3 decimators, you'd only have to aurax 2 doodoo launchers, but otherwise, seriously, don't consider doing it unless you're hardcore and are just doing it as your last objective. The kraken looks super cool, it's the only auraxium weapon that keeps the plating textures on low graphics, however the explosion itself will be barely visible on low graphics, and it'll just end up being a cool looking deci.

    I love it, but it's definitely not worth losing your sanity over
  17. JustGotSuspended


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    What did I just read. In no way is the shuriken good. It's a armistice with high velocity ammo and extended mags. That means you're basically screwed past 4 meters, AND you can't rely on hipfire! Armistice with soft-point, suppressor, and laser will be much more effective in every scenario. I'll assume you're trolling, but don't mislead people who aren't sure about directives.

    Bighorn is whatever, the dmr-99 is just an amr-66 with high velocity ammo, forward grip and compensator, again, it's whatever. Why grind for it when you can buy the same thing (without shiny camo ofc) for under 700 certs?
  18. Thalestr

    I'm an infiltrator main and I own and have Auraxed the Parsec (VS Directive bolt action sniper). The large damage output over other VS BASR's is certainly something I appreciate, especially coming from the Phaseshift which was my other bread-and-butter sniper rifle. Being able to OHK a heavy assault with his shield up has saved my bacon more times than I could count.

    The only downside to the Parsec is that the bullet velocity is extremely high but the damage falloff starts rather short (around 150 meters, I think). So, you might be tempted to use it at super long ranges, which you totally can, but you lose the juicy damage if you do longer ranges with it. This means you can't OHK shielded heavies at longer ranges, but heavies don't normally have their shields engaged unless they're fighting people close-up, so not a huge issue.

    But it glows purple, so all of its faults can be forgiven :p
  19. That_One_Kane_Guy

    That is the practical limit to long range combat anyways unless you're shooting at stationary targets, by in large the Directive rifles are a flat upgrade from the T3 rifles.
  20. JustGotSuspended

    Oh also a decent thing to get that I forgot to mention is C4 ARX. If you only have C4 unlocked for one class, say the light assault, once you unlock C4 ARX, you will get 2 bricks universally on every class that can equip C4, even if it wasn't unlocked. This means you can save 2100 certs. Not much, but its a bigger payoff than most directives.