Sol's Prominance underrated?

[Tex_Arcana]

I'm gonna have to do some specific testing cause I haven't been seeing any chain reactions happening even when firing into groups of enemies that all have shields that should break. Maybe it's because I generally use a det for that. Have to check it with single target weapons. Of course I often get an explosion that doesn't cause a stun as well. The electric proc works in that I can see the electricity on their bodies; but they don't dance for me.

Grunt 99: I'll have to try setting up a rig for that and see how I like it. I used to have a prime evolver with four or five squares and third level reserve feed I think; but got rid of it due to space issues. I'll keep on the look out for a replacement; thanks for the advice. I've recently been branching out to different nano's to have a more well rounded arsenal; got a spinal tap bio AR with .8 reload and I have to say having near uninterrupted fire is pretty nice. Kept me alive quite a few times during some of those midsummer majors where I'm fairly certain only a handful of us were still alive at one point. At least once I am convinced I was the only person alive judging by the fact that every enemy on my radar was headed directly towards me. That electric det came in handy there making bulwarks shimmy and enforcers do the shake.

Remembering that Volge do not get locked into the dance like other mobs; but Dark Matter sure do.
And the "Cascade" I refer to is achieved by stripping target #1's shield, then target #2's, then target 3's. -Not focus-firing a single target; but actually going after their shields one after another.
A bunched group is great for it...having an electric nano OJ Sol's AR (OJ Damage) helps of course.
While Rad does impact plates and health better: Nothing makes shields disappear faster than Electric. And in this case it really does help when going for as many "cascades" as possible.
Heck; I had one in a Dark Matter Major this morning that proc'd and killed all the mobs. And that was at TL10 (I had OC and the Boost from the terminal going)

[Valethar]

That sounds like it could be fun, Tex. And I think I got an electric nano Det from the MSM event too. I'm going to have to see if I have enough mods to deck it out.

EDIT: Bah.. Figures I'd have everything but the bloody stock, so I'm one short of getting the full syn.

[AngryCaveman]

So I'm thinking this syn from recent event may be a bit underrated.

It gives you -10% Accuracy and Recoil to start which is as good as Run-n-Gun.
Then you get +10% Damage to shields and it seems more enemies have shields these days so thats a nice boost.

+10% Crit Multiplier is better than you can get from Assassin syn.

And finally the biggie, Causes enemy shields to explode and electrocute nearby enemies when broken.

This last bonus is where I'm really seeing this synergy shine as it can wipe out whole mobs at one time.

Go to Silicon Valley and watch 99rs, Chosen, and Hellbugs all get flash wiped in bunches. Hit an Afflicted Siege and start clearing entire waves at a go.

Previously my OJ Radient Solstice GL-1 Ground Pounder was my weapon of choice for mob clearance gun is a beast.

Considering the Sovereign Grenade launcher drops only a single blast compared to the triple blast of the GP I wasn't expecting it to hold up well in comparison.
However that exploding shields thing can give the the Sovereign Det a much higher effect radius than its listed blast size.
In fact it can reach truly staggering size in large mobs where it goes into chain reaction, so much so that it can become a threat to your own safety.
In a Chinatown siege I dropped a 5 round cluster of grenades ontop of the Vaccine Synthesizer in street heading up the steep hill. I was on far side of intersection with this huge mob starting to move my direction. The initial blast cleared the Vaccine Synthesizer nicely then came the chain reaction flash that killed 2/3 of afflicted between me and synthesizer before completely blowing out my shields, scrubbing off two plates of my armor (yay for bio det ) taking half my health and leaving me with poop shoes.

As a mob remover this Synergy may not have an equal in the game, just be cautious not to get to close to your targets.

You had me at "poop shoes". Yes seriously I agree totally, the shield explosion can be really helpful, especially in expeditions too at higher tiers, get one guy to use a radiation or bio sol det and the others clean up with ar's after shields drop and it is quick work.You won't get the most score but a handy guy to have on the team for sure.

[Cobra Crusher]

I'm gonna have to do some specific testing cause I haven't been seeing any chain reactions happening even when firing into groups of enemies that all have shields that should break. Maybe it's because I generally use a det for that. Have to check it with single target weapons. Of course I often get an explosion that doesn't cause a stun as well. The electric proc works in that I can see the electricity on their bodies; but they don't dance for me.

Grunt 99: I'll have to try setting up a rig for that and see how I like it. I used to have a prime evolver with four or five squares and third level reserve feed I think; but got rid of it due to space issues. I'll keep on the look out for a replacement; thanks for the advice. I've recently been branching out to different nano's to have a more well rounded arsenal; got a spinal tap bio AR with .8 reload and I have to say having near uninterrupted fire is pretty nice. Kept me alive quite a few times during some of those midsummer majors where I'm fairly certain only a handful of us were still alive at one point. At least once I am convinced I was the only person alive judging by the fact that every enemy on my radar was headed directly towards me. That electric det came in handy there making bulwarks shimmy and enforcers do the shake.

I have mastered 4 guns and didn't see any explosion yet. Enemies just disengrate as normal.

[Cobra Crusher]

Finally saw it when i used the pistol lol. Its easy to miss. So far sniper with bio is my favorite. I have a det with electric but the damage is weak.

[crasher]

Finally saw it when i used the pistol lol. Its easy to miss. So far sniper with bio is my favorite. I have a det with electric but the damage is weak.

Weapon balance has always been screwed.
You could solo and take down an arkfall with a Wolfhound, but a mag of det to a raiders face left him still shooting at you.

I always thought that heavy weapons like rockets and dets ought to do a whole lot more damage, but their availability, and the ammo for them, should have been in much tighter supply.
Not that you couldn't carry the ammo, just that it wasn't in the ammo caches as often, and not in an unlimited supply.

That way - a det would do a lot of damage/blast, but you had to be careful what you wasted the ammo on. Use it up early on the skitts, and you had none left when you needed it for the Monarch or Matron.

The game ought to have taught aim and ammo hoarding was important, and spray-pray left you empty with less resupply.
It should have been more about skill and tactics and less about shooting with a firehose hooked to the reservoir.

A Sol Prom syn proccing would have been epic.

Naturally just my opinion....

[tig3r]

BB all the way B-)

[Soul Binder]

BB all the way B-)

Big Boomers are overrated, they just get all the popular press.
A Ground Pounder can cover an even larger area and do equal or greater damage. Add in the special versions like my OJ Radient Solstice Ground Pounder that adds Radiation nano and forget BBs.

That said even those pale in comparison to the damage area a Sovereign Grenade Launcher can achieve with the shield break blast, the more targets in impact zone the greater the blast, and that can set off a cascading chain reaction as nearby shields get broken. And again these Dets likely have a nano effect which can boost their effectiveness even without the shield break special.

While generally not as cataclysmic in proportion you can get similar results from other Sovereign weapons as well making it a great force multiplier.

[Arcade]

You know, I honestly was not impressed by this syn at all until a few days ago when I decided to test an elec assault rifle against Ark level 99ers... it held up surprisingly well, so I decided to keep that one around for 99er infested co-op maps. After reading this thread I decided to try it in Dark Matter arkfalls as well and got great results. If anybody is still unsure about the sol ar's, the elec version gets my recommendation since it's the best one for cutting through shields quickly and the nano is good for crowd control even before you factor in the level 4 syn bonus.

I'm not so sure about the Sol det and sniper rifle though... my old weapons seem to be a bit more useful. I rarely use dets against shielded foes and I've never been a huge fan of the ranger. Those will probably be vended or harvested for t3 mods when I get sick of carrying them around.

[crasher]

You know, I honestly was not impressed by this syn at all until a few days ago when I decided to test an elec assault rifle against Ark level 99ers... it held up surprisingly well, so I decided to keep that one around for 99er infested co-op maps. After reading this thread I decided to try it in Dark Matter arkfalls as well and got great results. If anybody is still unsure about the sol ar's, the elec version gets my recommendation since it's the best one for cutting through shields quickly and the nano is good for crowd control even before you factor in the level 4 syn bonus.

I'm not so sure about the Sol det and sniper rifle though... my old weapons seem to be a bit more useful. I rarely use dets against shielded foes and I've never been a huge fan of the ranger. Those will probably be vended or harvested for t3 mods when I get sick of carrying them around.

The sol sniper and det mods aren't going to do you any good as anything but generic mods on anything besides Sol weapons. As it is, the mods take up less space on a single weapon than they do if you retrieve them as 4 separate mods.

I wish I could get my paws on a few more Sol sniper stocks and scopes, to give the packages to a few friends, but it doesn't look like it's gonna happen.
I don't have the dozen I need for the 'toons I regularly play as it is.