Been using the lasher the last few days, mostly playing fire support with an organized squad and I find that it's really very useful in that role. I usually take up a position in the middle or rear of the group and let the people in front do the quick takedowns on targets in the open, and then if they either take cover or we come across an entrenched group I can take over and keep them supressed while the LA flanks. It's also good for pulling attention away from the other members of my group, when we're advancing under fire or crossing open terrain I flip on my sheild and start pumping out rounds. The glowing orbs of face melty plasma death mark you out and make you a magnet for incoming fire, letting the more squishy members of your unit get in and flank. My biggest question about the lasher are the usefulness of the grip/laser... Which works better over all (if at all) at decreasing the mid/long range spread of the shots?
Simply pausing for less than half a second every 6-8 shots is enough to reset the recoil. If you find that's not enough, maybe consider the attachments afterwards.
Lasher is the reason I play VS. With the missing special assault weapons from the original, the lasherX2 has filled that gap. You are indeed using it correctly it sounds like. No other empire has an automatic 75 round AoE suppressive fire weapon. All you need is 1 person in your squad to wield this and you are now able to advance much smoother as your forcing the opposition to constantly fall back. To answer your question I have found the lasher has virtually no need for a grip as the recoil is next to nothing. The orbs spreading out over time you can't fix with the grip either, and its only noticeable 25m out. The best thing you can do for yourself is put a laser dot on it. The advantage of this weapon is hip fire anyway. 6-8 round bursts at range from the hip with laser will be identical to aiming down the sight. Infact I even think its more accurate from the hip with laser period. Another thing adding the laser does for you is allow you to win 1v1 at close range. I know people are saying no way it sucks 1v1, but they are most likely treating it like an LMG. Old pside 1 VS know the lasher was a mobile HA weapon where your own personal dodging while spamming your target was what made it so threatening, since you could afford to miss a few orbs and still do dmg. While the lasherX2 basically requires this philosophy in order to prevail. Throw that laser on and aim for their knee caps and hip fire, all while bobbing and weaving to reduce their chances of headshots on you. You will be surprised how many people go down 1v1 to my lasher all because I'm able to shift into movement as my focus and let the lasher's splash dmg and direct hit dps stack up faster than most people can find my head 3 times. (Just don't jump) cheers!
Since today there was a good Biodome defense (enough people to use it well, but too many people that my FPS suffer) I've trialed the Lasher today. Half an hour isn't enough time to form a well defined opinion, but it left a good taste and when I adapted to the weapon's particular capabilities it performed acceptably, but perhaps not acceptably enough. For a weapon so specialized on what it does, when it does well doesn't feel it does well enough, but close. I don't see myself buying a lasher soon, but also won't say it's useless. Just not sexy enough to spend 1000 certs.
Yeah you gotta love it for 1k certs. Or more realistically not be running solo with it. I find it shines when you are in an organized outfit squad and using the lasher to flush your enemy out, damaged with no shields left to become fodder to your VX6-7 and shotgun users. My only complaints about the gun are that direct hits will splash nearby friendly terminals and cause grief. I still have never been weapon locked using this gun but I hate that grief noise anyway. And my only other complaint.. Where the heck are my medals? Being my primary gun it's a bit of a drag missing out on all those certs I would have had by now just from medals. Other than those 2 things I love my lasher
My only complaint about the Lasher right now is that it sounds ********. Otherwise, I find its area denial capabilities extremely attractive.
just made 7 kills in a row on indar on midrange with the lasher by firing into a narrow pass between two huge rocks. bought it a few days ago, and LOVE it! made it my maingun already. its high reach and rate of fire is very good for pushing back moving infantries. its flashing orbs also give your mates a kind of target indicator, so they know where to concentrate their fire on. im firing it shooting single orbs, by fast clicking the bousebutton gives me much xp with direct hits and lots of assistance it reminds me very of the plasmagun in good ol unreal
looks like the typical PS argument going on here. NC and TR saying its powerful enough and not many of the VS saying it does worth a damn. Here is my .02 cause I'm pissed I spent 7 dollars on an equalizer only to find I wasted my money. To reference first off, yes, I have low frame rates and this can effect the outcome, just as I had this same issue with the lasher in PS1. (still loved it there though) Here is what I notice. The projectile speed and dispersion seem awesome to me. It's supposed to be a powerful weapon, so I don't expect it to be a laser cannon. However, being the most expensive weapon at 1000cr or 700 sc, your getting Jipped. The only time I've had this gun be effective for me was where I got the drop on a few guys from behind, or when I had 3 other guys helping me shoot down one Light Assault guy. I've spammed crowds giving suppressing fire only to find myself dieing every time and barely doing any damage even though I witnessed multiple hits on people without any kills. I purchased the gun because I was getting tired of being smoked by everyone who had spent some money on a nice gun for their character and just give a quick burst fire and whamo, my engie is dead. Who also has a purchased weapon, but not an expensive one. Just 2 steps up from stock. So I said screw it. I'ma buy this sucker and I'ma wreak havoc on all! First guy wastes me. Okay, well i gotta learn it a bit. 2nd though 10th guy wastes me. 11th guy. I finally got a kill. Shot him from behind cover and found out he was AFK. Got a few kills later on as mentioned earlier. I've went toe to toe with infiltrators who waste me even when I'm running upgraded shields and spamming everything in site where they are at. Only to die and see they still had 80% health left after I fired 60 rounds into them. I'm pissed! I don't mind the slow projectiles, but pound for pound vs TR and NC equivalents this is supposed to be the VS's holy grail of arms. Yeah. I want to be able to equip this thing and clear people out like they are rag dolls. Just as they do to me with chain guns and other high quality arms. Situation specific my ***, what a waste of time! I dont want to be uber powered death god with this thing, but if I cannot beat somebody with a stock gun or no armor 1 on 1 with a high powered death machine, this thing is garbage.
The lasher is a nub killing weapon, period. Any decent player with pretty much any other gun will kill you with headshots long before you do any meaningful damage. Unlike the old Planetside, PS2 is much more like a traditional FPS. Kills and accuracy are far more important that "suppressive fire", especially when that suppressive fire barely does any damage. You're much better off using turrets if your goal is to hold down a group, or tossing grenades. Only inexperienced players will be intimidated by the lasher orbs. All that time you wasted doing barely any damage while spamming orbs everywhere, you could have KILLED some enemies and weakened the group. Small amounts of damage that eat away at armor are especially useless now that armor regenerates automatically. The orbs need to hit twice as hard and have a much bigger radius to be worth using. They also need to lash in the air like they used to. Otherwise the lasher will forever be a waste of SC/certs.
That is a great post with great reasons. Having the lower frame rates really bugs me out in the long run cause I cannot go for those head shots 1 on 1 like I would in other games, so zip 3 or 4 bullets and nc and tr players (who are good) just waste me every time while I shoot my little plasma bullets at them with my engie. Though, I got a bit lucky yesterday and got some headshots, but we were not dualing, I was picking them off from a distance sorta. I really want my 7 dollars back to spend on something else. I figured I'd try and support the game a bit and buy some goodies to help me and to help the game, and .. ugh. I'd rather spend it on other stuff cause I don't even bother to use my HA because the lasher pisses me off so much. I have got kills with it, but its just so hard. Anyone saying they are clearing rooms with it are getting lucky with stupid players. A pistol headshot at close range will kill almost anyone. Dont' even bother trying to lash a max either, waste of time.
After trying it out for a while, I find it's still effective only in very specific situations. It's mainly useful to spam choke points like the Tech Plant back doors or some areas inside the Bio Lab. Even then, it's only really useful to suppress or flush people out of cover rather than kill them outright. You can get a few kills with it but most likely those were already wounded. In close ranges it's pretty hopeless even against pistols, especially since you'll start hurting yourself if the enemy gets too close. Similarly, it's pretty useless in open areas as well because the orbs are obvious and easy to dodge. Right now, I feel it's more of a tool to have for some circumstances rather than a proper weapon. I don't think it's worth its price though.
Tried it for a lot now. I HATE random players running in my fire. I hope they all have a heart attack. Other than that, yes, the Lmg kills notably faster, but I managed 23k score/hour on double XP yesterday, sitting at the small ACU entrance in a techplant. It could do with either slightly more direct damage or no team damage. I wouldn't say no to damage against flyers, as well. And different ammo types, and finally a 2x Reflex! Still, while subpar and maybe not worth the money, it has it's niches, and it really shines there.
The back door thing is the only time I've ever had it be useful. As for no damage vs fliers, if you can hit a flier with this thing, you deserve to do damage. Same with the other factions holy grail weapon. While we dont want a be all end all weapon, I want to at least take down 2 or 3 guys before getting killed by an infiltrator, not just add some support assist damage so everyone else can get the kills and really do the work after I do my 5% damage. Situation specific and 100% lucky for kills. You guys nailed it.
The Lasher is really good and does its job well. it's by far the best of the heavy specials. The only thing it needs is no friendly fire on the lash. I have found uses for it everywhere. You just need to hang back and fire in the enemies general direction while strafing back and forth. It's effortless and effective.
It takes less than 2 seconds to dispose of enemy infantry at a distance so long the enemy can run from one side of the expected explosion to the other and still be out of damage range before the lasher projectile hits. It's great fun using, but it requires no skill, and I've found that unless I can fire at a group of at least three enemies with impunity for several seconds, I generally get more points/hour and kill a lot faster with just about any other weapon, including the pistol. I mostly use it because it's a great lightshow, and because every 10th fight, the situation comes up where I would regret not having a Lasher with me. Sadly, that means I regret using it in the majority of other fights. I don't know how long I can keep that up. The Techplants, now changed, were the only area where it actually made sense. Compared to, say, an underbarrel Grenade Launcher.
Does it actually lash now, or is it still just an impact splash damage weapon? If it had the PS1 lash, it would be perfect.
Lasher now sounds like someone is going fist of the north star on some dodge balls. I approve of laser dodge balls.
