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Exploding Penguin -> BM Focus Build Guide/Analysis (6/24/2014 23:50:34)
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I actually started working on this a long time ago, and never found the urge to go back and work on it more. This is as far as I got; hopefully it'll help a lot of people and/or provide some interesting insight on what I believe is one of the only viable and very successful builds on BM. And so, here it goes!
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So since lots of people doubt that BM can actually get stuff done and it's been a great long while since I last made a post of a larger magnitude, I figured I'd go and analyze BM as in-depth as possible, while providing something similar to kind of a guide on how you can really utilize BM well.
Similarly to all my other posts, this is mostly opinion, however the opinion is backed up by in-game numbers and logic. If you disagree with something PLEASE comment and state your reasoning because I love to see other people's viewpoints. Feel free to post with comments, questions, and any ideas you have.
I will be focusing mainly on BM focus in the higher level range of 35+ because most forum posts are relevant only to higher levels, and there are very few BM builds that host as high a win rate in 1v1 as BM focus. I think it's safe to say that BM focus is currently its most solid build.
And so, to begin the analysis!
=Introduction=
So a little about me (because you all obviously really want to know about whoever is writing such a big post). I have been playing since beta, but I hit my peak of playtime during late gamma through mid delta. I've really ramped down on the playtime these days, but I was an extremely avid player back a few years ago. My overall win rate is only mediocre, but I'll leave that to the low and mid-levels to blame since it's hard get wins simply from outplaying then. I also blame the fact that I was constantly testing different builds seeking an extremely unique, fun, and interesting one (hence why I'm always short on credits). I have not yet reached the level cap and don't intend to for a long time, but nowadays when I do play I have an absurd win rate that I estimate around 90%. I frequently go on win streaks that are 10-15 long.
-Pros and Cons of BM Focus-
PROS:
-Extreme adaptability, able to handle almost any opponent's build
-Comes out on top if you can outplay your opponent. Basically, skill plays a much stronger role on BM focus than on most other classes and builds.
-Hard to predict, and very flexible to manage a huge range of in-game situations in case you get screwed by consecutive blocks or crits.
-Has an efficient skill tree, meaning you won't have to meaninglessly invest skill points into skills to reach the higher-tiered ones like many TMs had to do for deadly aim in previous phases of the game.
-The most unique and versatile energy flow skill, and synergizes extremely well with BM's skills. Also unbelievably annoying.
-Very few holes for your opponent to exploit.
-Overall not very used, which makes it harder for opponents to know how you play
CONS:
-Maxing energy parasite is pretty much a 99% must. Even level 9 skill point investment is pushing it.
-Concerning other builds aside from focus, you will probably end up swearing Energy Parasite's support requirement off
-The caster skills are trash. They don't deal the amount of damage that you need for the energy cost, and Energy Parasite doesn't reliably grant enough energy to abuse them comfortably.
-Has a tendency to run out of energy if you're not careful with it. Also cannot really regain a large amount of energy instantly.
-Not much build flexibility, thanks ENTIRELY to energy parasite. You can't run strength because of the high support requirement, you can't play caster because it doesn't give enough energy instantly and is predictable, and support falls off in damage output.
-Lacks the ability to "burst" opponents; this is even more so without azrael's will. You will hate it when your opponent has a high field medic and/or critical heal.
-Much like how if you outplay your opponent you will reap huge benefits from BM focus, if you cannot outplay consistently you will come to think that the class is really bad.
BM focus should be played with the kind of mindset that you want to deal CONSISTENT damage while staying in a relatively safe zone where you don't reach dangerous levels of health. BM's entire skill tree helps you do this with intimidate, reflex boost, and energy shield all costing fairly low amounts of energy. There's actually a lot more to it than these 3 skills, which I will go into later.
=Skill Breakdown=
Here I will break down all the skills and analyze their use.
-Field Medic-
You will LOVE this skill. And if you don't for some reason you should. you literally cannot play a good BM focus without running a high field medic, and critical heal just makes it so much better if you have that core. The reason for this is because mark of blood actually doesn't heal you for too much, can be stopped very easily by hatchling rush, defensive buffs, intimidate, or other forms of forcing you to use non-damaging moves. Field medic will be your primary healing source, and if you have it high enough then you can loop with it pretty well. The point of BM focus is to consistently deal damage while not losing much health overall, and being able to heal repeatedly with a very strong amount will definitely help you.
-Fireball-
If you can find and have successfully tested that this skill actually has a use, I'll like mail you a trophy or something. This skill was once really broken, then it got nerfed and is now like rotting meat: no one likes it and it's just terrible. It also reeks and I don't know why you can stand to be anywhere near it. Bottom line: please never invest in this skill unless you're running like massive amounts of strength and no dex (which you should never be doing in the first place).
-Energy Shield-
A really great skill cause it shields from tons of damage, costs a fairly low amount of energy, and needs only a couple skill points to become one of the most useful skills BM focus has to offer. This is somewhat common sense, but if you get hit by malfunction, instanttly activate this unless field medic is needed to survive or the malfunction is pathetically weak. You can also use this against caster builds that don't have malfunction because it really annoys them when they spend over 200 energy to hit 150 damage on you.
-Plasma Cannon-
The energy version of bunker buster, except it's bad because it doesn't work well with energy parasite unlike how bunker works well with static smash. You shouldn't invest in this skill because your skill points are better off somewhere else, unless you're going full-tech focus, in which case level 5 should be sufficient. But in general, this is pretty much your only good "Burst" skill and falls off in damage anyways given its energy cost. Can be useful but best avoided
-Mark of Blood-
This thing is overrated and I honestly don't think it's as great as some make it out to be. It can actually be quite useful if you need a bit of heal in a pinch, especially if you rage with it, but using it condemns you to using damaging moves for 4 turns, and makes you extremely predictable. I prefer to only put 2 skill points into this because it does have pretty decent on-hit healing effects if your in a really tight pinch, but not worth higher skill point investment compared to other skills. It's low energy cost is a HUGE plus because anything with low energy cost is great for BM due to the way that parasite functions
-Overload-
Another caster skill. Therefore it's bad. You don't have a reason to run a staff on BM, especially BM focus. If you do, however, for whatever crazy reason, picking up a skill point into this wouldn't hurt if you desperately need a stun. It actually has fairly low energy cost and decent damage, so putting maybe around 4-8 skill points into this on a dex 2v2 caster build would work nicely, although dex 2v2 caster doesn't boast an impressive win rate like how BM focus does.
-Bludgeon-
One of BM's only reliable damage skills. The damage boost doesn't change no matter you strength, only your primary weapon's damage boost. Therefore it's always a better option to run a sword. Deals set physical damage which is nice because it allows you to be a bit more free with your itemization in terms of damage types. Its low energy cost is a godsend, just as any low-cost skill is on BM and can actually hit surprisingly large amounts even with only mediocre strength and a 100 energy cost. It's not efficient to put skill points into this and you have better places for your points to be invested into, but 1 skill point in this goes really far. You shouldn't spam this skill because even with its low cost it can still burn through your energy pool, and is great for KOing or using with mark of blood if you do come by the rare occasio where you mark your opponent.
-Intimidate-
Thank the heavens for this skill. It's one of your main survivability skills because so many skills, cores, and forms of incoming damage are strength-based. It was already a pretty decent skill, but the buff that reduced energy cost scaling per skill point investment just made this one of the best skills on BM focus's tree. Its low cost and huge damage mitigation is extremely useful, and synergizes well with so many different items/skills that it's honestly ridiculous. Intimidate is a lifesaver and you will find yourself rarely getting into danger-zone health levels with this. Oh, it's also a huge plus that you get 100% strike damage while using this, AND the fact that rage gain is based off of source damage (the damage before defense/resistance is applied) so intimidate will actually lower opponent rage gain on strength-based moves. Go for AT LEAST 4 skill points into this no matter what BM focus build you are using, and it's definitely a good idea to invest in almost any other BM build too. I run 7 on it and it's just great, but since the cost only increases by 15 per skill point investment you should be more willing to go for 6-7 skill points rather than 4-5 in this.
-Plasma Rain-
Your "multi" skill. Deals decent damage and scales with dex, which is quite nice because it just so happens to be on the same "branch" of the skill tree as overload. NOT nice that it costs a somewhat meaty amount of energy, especially in 2v2, while only dealing decent damage. Avoid this skill unless you plan on going MASSIVE dex caster 2v2, in which case (as stated before) BM focus still has a higher win rate in both 1v1 and 2v2.
-Reflex Boost-
Another essential skill to playing a tankier BM focus build. The base energy cost is actually quite high, but it scales well with skill point investment so I would encourage taking a healthy amount of skill points into this skill. Overall still costs a fairly low amount of energy, and is your main way of countering smokescreen. Lasts a nice, long 4 turns, and will normally out-buff smokescreen. While it seems like this skill would work well with caster dex 2v2, it actually doesn't from my personal experience. Mainly because it lost its previous unique effect of converting 15% damage received into energy. However, the skill is still extremely important on any BM build with decent support and an average amount of defense.
-Supercharge-
Since it's a caster skill, it's essentially useless. Costs a very high amount of energy since it hits hard, and lifesteals a pretty nice amount. But since the cost is so high and it requires a staff, you will probably never use this since a sword is almost always better. Tech caster might seem plausible but the energy costs of plasma cannon and this are just way too high unless you invest tons of points into your base energy, which really doesn't help you at all, especially since other BMs will parasite you and benefit from it. Not even worth 1 skill point 99% of the time.
-Energy Parasite-
The bread-and-butter trademark and underrated skill of BM. If you put 7 or less skill points into this and expect to win with a balanced/focus BM build then you're insane. 8 is also extremely situational and that 2% really hurts to not have compared to max skill point investment, and I would personally never go as low as 8. 9 is also pushing it, but can work if you really need 1 more skill point in heal or something. You should generally be running max skill points into this 95% of the time because it's absolutely essential you have the most energy you can possibly get. Nothing sucks more than needing that rage mark of blood to help you in a real clutch moment, and you're 5 energy short. Why is investing max skill points essentially a necessity and extremely important? Because this is your staple skill and a huge majority of your strategies which will let you outplay your opponent revolve entirely around using energy parasite in conjunction with other skills and moves. Check the Energy Parasite chapter of this analysis for an extensive explanation of tons of different applications of this skill.
You can reference to the provided picture of my build for a general idea of how your skill spread should be on your tree for a successful BM focus build. You don't need to clone the skills exactly, but the general idea of where most of your skill points should go is presented by the picture.
http://tinypic.com/r/11qu002/8
==Energy Parasite will be your new favorite skill on BM==
So here I'll go over numerous applications of energy parasite in a BM focus build. I'll also explain in-depth why this skill is so essential and deserves its own entire section. I will be giving names to some strategies, techniques, etc... just for the sake of making it easier to address them in other parts of the analysis.
Energy parasite, in general, is your best tool for outplaying your opponent and using in conjunction with the rest of your skill tree. This is because when used correctly, it can give you complete control over the energy flow of the battle. It also funds the costs of all your essential skills very efficiently (save for heal, which unfortunately costs a ton of energy but is necessary). Neglecting extremely high investment in this skill will be your downfall because by doing so, you simply throw away the best tool a BM has for winning fights. The overall use of Energy Parasite is very tactical and hard to master, but there are some easier and some more advanced strategies that can be used with it.
=Basic strategies and usage=
-When to use energy parasite in general?-
Generally speaking, here are some times when it would typically be a good idea to use this skill:
-When your opponent has a lot of energy and you aren't close to your max amount
-When your opponent needs energy to use field medic, and this field medic will foil your win
-Right after your opponent uses battery backup, static smash, or static grenade. Popping parasite off on them at this time will often just reverse the effects of what they just used on you, while also dealing a bit of damage and giving you rage.
-Your opponent has 50 HP or less left. Energy parasite always hits 50 as a minimum instead of 30 so it can actually kill if you're extremely afraid of getting blocked or deflected by a ridiculously tanky person.
-Energy parasite can actually work quite well if you rage with it, but make sure it is timed to work with the above mentioned uses since aimlessly raging with it won't get you anywhere.
-You desparately need 10 energy or less. Energy parasite will always give you at minimum 10 energy, so even if you use it and your opponent has 1 energy you will still gain 10.
Do NOT use energy parasite in these situations unless you really feel that it's necessary:
-Opening move. This is just silly. If you go first you probably want to start off with a bot attack for damage or intimidate to shut down the on-hit damage from debuffs, mark of blood, etc... You also get no energy since you already have max.
-When you have max energy at almost any given point in time. Energy parasite gives more energy to you than it drains from your opponent, so it's a huge waste of energy efficiency (the creation and destruction of energy during a fight. Energy parasite, battery backup, and static charge have positive efficiency while static grenade, static smash, etc... have negative). BMs thrive when there's more energy in play, and really fall off when both players have extremely low energy, so you always want to make sure there's a large amount of energy in play. I'll get more into this concept later.
-Just in general, really obvious situations. Like where you could get a kill but don't since energy parasite hits very little.
-"T2 Parasite"-
The beginning of the game is typically where it's extremely safe even if you mess up a bit. I call this very basic strategy T2 Parasite, which stands for "Turn 2 Parasite" because you, well, use it on the second turn you get. If you don't go first, this is almost always the case. People will debuff you, you will reflex or energy shield to counter it back, and then they will proceed to steal your energy or do something else. 99% of the time this situation is the optimal time and place to use energy parasite since it'll be safe to use, gives you back that energy you lost, and drains some of their energy which they just recovered after using their drain move. I almost always do this and it works very well because following up their energy steal with parasite reverses the effects of their steal, and, most importantly, energy parasite will consistently come off of cooldown the turn after their steal does, so you can repeat this multiple times to annoy them and gain better control of the energy flow. If you go first, you still might end up using T2 Parasite depending on how you start. Your best two options for starting a fight when you go first is either intimidate or your robot, mainly because most starting moves are strength based (ironically enough, intimidate itself qualifies as so), or you just want a high damage start that lets you use your bot the most. Occasionally, you can start with energy shield against caster builds to shut down their early damage, then proceed to drain their high base energy with parasite.
-"Sustained Energy Consumption" (SEC)-
Sustained energy consumption is normally a strategy that follows up with a T2 Parasite. Basically, it's where your parasite will consistently return you to max energy, and so in order to make the best use of it you will try and consume energy every turn. Thankfully, you have a good range of tools at your disposal to help prevent the waste of energy.
-"Energy Chasing"-
Mentioned this strategy a lot before. Basically, Energy Chasing happens when your opponent will steal your energy with static grenade, static smash, EMP, and sometimes assimilation (if it's strong enough), and you will follow up and "chase" the energy stolen by using your parasite, effectively dealing a bit of damage while draining back most of the energy you lost. Fortunately for BM, all other energy flow-related skills got recently nerfed to have 1 turn of increased cooldown, EXCEPT for parasite. This makes energy chasing so much easier. You want to make sure you are consistently energy chasing and parasite is up almost every turn of a battle because 1) you need energy and 2) your opponent can never have the energy they want. It's unbelievably annoying and locks their skill use to be limited to a few select choices, making them very easy to predict.
=Advanced Applications=
-Endgame Parasites-
Near the end of the battle, people will be grasping for those tiny bits of energy they need to pull that game-changing field medic or high-damage skill. Here is where you need to be a bit more wary of parasite's use because it will possibly turn against you if they time their drain right. Parasite also hits very low, and come lategame dealing consistent damage is very important. Typically, don't pop your parasite unless you're energy chasing or you really need that energy drain and are safe from their drains following up into an enemy field medic.
-"Forced Drain"-
Sometimes you don't necessarily NEED the energy, but you can make your opponent think you need it or make them uncomfortable with the idea that you have enough to pop another high-level intimidate, a bludgeon, or a generator > field medic combo. IF it's safe to use your parasite lategame, you can use it and essentially force your opponent to use their drain on you even if it doesn't give them any benefit aside from disabling you from using a skill. Not really good against TMs, but can be very effective against mercs and BHs because static grenade and static smash do no damage while your parasite does. A well-timed lategame parasite will lead into a "Forced Drain" and give you a free 50 damage on your opponent, as well as a bit of rage.
-"Consistent Enemy Pool Control" (CEPC)-
Yay, more complicated abbreviations for you guys to remember. Basically, CEPC is where your parasite is used more of a "zoning" tool than to give you back energy. While the energy return definitely benefits you greatly, the amount of control parasite can have on your opponent's energy pool is just incredible. People really don't like the idea of giving you tons of energy, so they will do what common sense tells them and burn their energy as fast as they freakin' can. Energy chasing will most typically enforce your CEPC, especially on battery backup users. Many BMs will subconsciously enter the state of CEPC since the common sense use of parsite typically activates this state in the battle. However, if you understand the potential mindgame that parasite has on the opponent, you can use your CEPC to completely dominate your opponent and make them never want to have enough energy to cast their higher-level skills in case they give you enough for your high-level field medic. If you parasite, and on the second turn of drain your opponent knows you will get enough energy to use a skill they don't want you to use, they will also try and burn off their energy, typically needlessly or inefficiently. This is probably one of the most important strategies that involves parasite, as many of BM's other strategies that revolve around other skills require a state of CEPC to be used frequently.
-Parasites are annoying-
This is more of an unsupported concept, but pretty much parasite is one of the most annoying things you will ever play against if you aren't a BM and have to deal with a good parasite user. Pretty much, you never feel safe having ~70%+ of your max energy at one time, and your opponent always has enough energy to cast whatever the heck he wants. And the stuff he casts is really annoying since it seals your debuffs and intimidate really makes it hard for you to use your coveted strike, gun, and primary/gun cores. And when people get annoyed, they tend to play really poorly. This isn't really supported by any facts, but if you think about it, it's really hard to play at your best when you're annoyed so you can't think the same thoughts you do when you're calm and collected.
-"Azrael's will-Hole Sealing"-
Probably the worst name by far. I won't reference this strategy that much and therefore I won't put an abbreviation on it. Anyways, you need azrael's will to utilize this strategy. Basically, people will try and find that 1-turn hole where parasite stops draining so that they can get enough energy to use the skill they really need, such as field medic or their high-damage skill/debuff. Azrael's will effectively seals this hole that can be exploited in parasite because, if you count your turns, you can force them to strike you (bonus points for you if they're intimidate making their strike hit nothing), and then apply parasite again. You may not think it's worth it to use energy on azrael's will and consume it on such a situation, but this is honestly the most troll thing you can do to your opponent. They think they finally have the field medic they desparately needed the entire match but couldn't use, and you just stopped them from using it. This strategy seems costly at first, but can remove any game-changing threats that your opponent can still pull on you.
-"Cooldown Counting (CDC)"-
As the name suggests, CDC is where you keep track of exactly how many turns your opponent's skills are on cooldown for so you know when they're back up and pose a potential threat. In general, you will be paying more attention to skills like energy drains/recoveries such as battery backup and static grenade, and the ever-prominent field medic which is a game-changer if the player is allowed to use it. Timing the cooldowns just right and preparing for it will enable you to outplay opponents who don't pay attention to your CDs and let you field medic whenever you please. CDC also refers to when debuffs or buffs where off. Debuffs and buffs almost always have a 1-turn gap in which you are left without their effects before they can be cast again. In terms of debuffs, use this gap as an opportunity to exploit enemy weaknesses that are not apparent while the debuff is active. In terms of buffs, make sure you know how much longer your buff is going to last (ESPECIALLY energy parasite's drain) because you may be relying on getting 10 energy that you actually won't get for another 2 turns rather than 1. You can prepare for when their field medic or whatever other skill gets off cooldown by consuming any energy you don't want them to drain before they can do it, or by draining their energy at just the right time to catch them off guard, therefore disabling them from using whatever skill they were planning on using and causing them to reorganize their strategy. Can be amazing when used in conjunction with azrael's will. Hole-sealing (the strategy just above) incorporate CDC into it.
That should cover all the strategies and applications I can think of at the moment. If you have any more then feel free to tell me.
=Intimidate Strategies=
Intimidate is really underrated and actually has tons of different ways you can use it. Just like the energy parasite chapter, I'll make some abbreviations to make references easier. This chapter'll be a bit shorter, though.
-Intimidate Start-
Basically, if you go first, particularly against classes or builds that like to open with strength-based moves such as smokescreen, an intimidate start isn't a bad idea at all, but if you start with it you should almost always follow up with a T2 Parasite. Dont' underestimate a robot start though, because it's also great at dealing solid damage. I typically like to consume energy ASAP so that I can get parasite out as fast as possible.
-"Intimidate + Chomp" (I+C)-
If you have the highest damage yeti with explosive chomp (omega (dark) yeti, golden yeti, (I think) pink yeti) then this is a great way to use intimidate. Basically, you use intimidate when you know your opponent's next move is going to be a strength-based attack, then you use chomp, effectively forcing them to either cast more skills or use a strength-reduced strike. It really hurts them since they'll hit barely anything on you. Oh, if you also have CEPC and zone your opponent into extremely low energy, then they're legitimately screwed for 3 turns with no damage output and no rage gain. Explosive chomp actually does fairly decent damage too.
-"Forced Intimidated Strike" (FIS)-
This requires azrael's will. Basically, you intimidate and then use azrael's will at a good opportunity to make their forced strike pathetically weak. Good opportunities for using azrael's will include hole-sealing your energy parasite or using it as a combo with a rage follow-up to surprise burst your opponent. Do NOT use this pointlessly; you must have another reason to use azrael's will, and the intimidate is just an added bonus that really helps.
-Impervious State-
As mentioned near the beginning of the analysis, BM focus is a build that has the potential to take barely any damage while dealing out a fair amount consistently. You will sometimes reach what I call an "Impervious state" where you take less than 100 damage per turn for multiple turns. There are multiple ways to achieve this, although intimidate is needed in almost any one. Some ways of entering this state include reflex boost to counter smoke followed by intimidate (or energy shield if hit by malfunction), or I+C. Because energy parasite gives you tons of energy back if you energy chase and use it appropriately, you can effectively enter the impervious state to stall your field medic out while your opponent simply can't heal due to CEPC.
-Intimidate Spamming-
Just spam intimidate whenever it seems like you'll get something out of it. If you know your opponent likes to use strength-based attacks and their energy steal/stall moves are on cooldown, intimidate is a good way to deal damage, weaken their rage gain, and improve your own sustainability. The amount of rage that intimidate prevents your opponent from getting is pretty incredible. Intimidate also costs a fairly low amount of energy, so energy parasite can almost always give you enough for it, and since it costs so little can (as mentioned before) be a good start, then followed up with a parasite and SEC.
=More Strategies and Skill Applications=
Here are some more strategies BM is capable of that aren't focused around single skills in particular.
-Rage MoB-
You rage on mark of blood. Gives you a nice little burst of health that can really save you, and if you put as little skill points into it as I do, it'll probably be one of the only uses you have for the skill. Overall an extremely clutch and situational tactic, but it can be life-saving.
-Heal Stalling-
BM has the ability to stall unbelievably well in general. With CEPC, you can make it extremely hard for your opponent to use high-cost skills such as very strong field medics, while you can normally use them freely and loop them very well because you can reach the impervious state with ease. Heal stalling is essential to fight high HP builds and extremely tanky builds like caster because you simply outstall them while you deal more damage per turn.
-Bludgeon Kill-
The lack of use of bludgeon because it really isn't worth spamming makes rage bludgeon a really big surprise to your opponent. It can secure wins very, very easily, especially since it's way out of your consistent damage output range.
-Rage Masking-
Basically, your intimidate really messes up the opponent's rage gain along with the fact that energy parasite actually gives a bit of rage, making your rage extremely hard to predict. You can mask it unbelievably well then come out with a surprise rage bludgeon or bot for massive damage against an unsuspecting opponent who failed to take precautionary measures.
This list is kind of lacking. Any ideas you guys have would really be nice. My mind is blanking so I'll leave the list alone for now.
=Bot Selection=
As any focus build goes, you need a good bot because that's actually one of the only reasons you'd be attached to focus. Here's a list of bots and how they work on BM focus builds of all shapes and forms.
-Yeti (fully evolved, of course): Has the highest base damage compared to any other bot, instantly making it a strong choice. Its damage goes up even more if you have the omega promo core. Chomp works well with intimidate, but if you lack dexterity in your build you should avoid using this bot.
-Pyro Fly: A wonderful bot in general. If you hit your opponent's staple skill(s) it's gg. It also has a deflectable basic attack and mediocre damage making it good for focus builds with a decent amount of tech. If you're running dex focus then this isn't suggested, but is still more viable than trying to run yeti on a tech-focus build. After testing this myself for a bit, the only drawback to pyro fly is its low damage. However, the tactical utility it brings is amazing in conjunction with energy parasite, because you will either take away their energy flow skill giving you almost free CEPC the entire match, or you will take away their highest-costing skill(s) which will enable you to drain more energy since they have a harder time spending it.
-Bio Borg: Only reason why this is good right now is cause of all the strength builds running around. Doesn't really synergize well with your intimidate, but does have fairly strong base damage. Probably not your best bot choice.
-Infernal Android: Wow. This thing. I have mixed feeling for this bot in its current state on BM focus. If you're running an extremely tech-focused...focus build, then it's a primary source of your burst-kill damage since your bludgeon is likely to be blocked. BM focus is also great at drawing out long fights, enabling you to get your full potential out of this bot's special. However, its base damage is entirely trash. Not that good on dex-focused builds that lack a decent amount of tech, and overall does not have very good consistent damage output, but the fact that it bursts really, really high in a single turn can be a huge plus, especially with mark of blood applied if you decide to invest some points into that skill. Summary: If you're running very high tech, it's a good idea. If you're running high dex, not a good idea. But there are other bots that also work really well with high tech. If you find yourself getting the opportunity to win most of your battles but don't have enough burst, this bot can be very useful.
-Botanical Hazard: Also another interesting bot I have mixed feelings for. The poison does very nice cumulative damage and scales very well come lategame, with decent base damage to boot. Overall a reliable pick since having a state of CEPC shuts down the enemy's ability to use field medic. A strong pick for moderate-to-high tech focus builds, but you shouldn't choose this with lower tech. Also note that its cumulative poison damage is high but from what I know you don't actually get rage for that poison damage, only the on-hit damage which is minimal. Your rage gain will therefore be slower compared to other bots.
-Botanical Borg: A strong pick if you like very reliable bot damage on your higher-tech focus builds. The basic attack has very impressive base damage and is deflectable. However, this bot does not really have any special effects aside from the fact that its special in 1v1 is a 100% safe attack that does the same damage as your basic bot hit. If you can't seem to utilize other bot's specials to help you outplay your opponent and are running a fairly high-tech build, this can be a great bot. Rage in 2v2 also hurts.
-Blood Hawk: I don't own this, but I think other bots are better. BM focus likes to avoid being dedicated to using certain moves because it specializes in forcing your opponents to dedicate themselves to certain moves, which gives BMs the ability to have high amount of control over a battle. Generator doesn't really get in your way that much unless it's used to heal tons of energy (same with piston punch), and it sucks to feel like you're obliged to attack your opponent because their defenses are debuffed. Overall I think you can better utilize BM's unique and special traits which makes them great with other bots.
-Bunny Bot: This is really funny. The bot concept seems cool and it's a fun bot, but I have not actually found a good use for this bot. It IS possible CEPC your opponent and force them to use strike or gun
(supposing their aux is on cooldown since it has a very lengthy cooldown) and have this bot work against them, but intimidate is typically a safer and instantly more rewarding choice that's less situational. I'd say avoid this bot in almost all cases. Fun fact: I have found a use for this bot. You can handle nightwraith and supposedly other NPCs unbelievably easily with this bot once they use up all their energy in the first 10 turns.
-Azrael's Borg: Good base damage and a useful special, although you will rarely ever need to debuff your opponent's buffs as BM. Can be useful against blood commander mercs because they actually hard-counter most of BM's kit by simply powering through your heal looping and endurance while lifestealing as well. However, azrael's torment is typically better even though it costs energy because heart attack is the only reason you should ever run azrael's borg, and azrael's torment simply is a better replacement for the other useless aux cores.
-Black Abyss Bot: Great for dealing slowly increasing damage to put your opponent in panic mode, although with its recent nerf you'll probably only be reaping good benefits from it in 2v2 when focusing a single target. Not really suggested for 1v1 but can be a decent pick.
-Lionhart's Avatar: Ridiculous base damage which by itself makes it an extremely good bot for BM because they lack many forms of increased damage to catch opponents off guard or to secure kills. However, the special is almost entirely useless in 1v1 because you're already getting rage with each use of energy parasite, intimidate, and your basic attacks which should be used majority of your turns in any fight. Nonetheless, a strong bot choice simply because its damage is massive for 1v1, and an even better choice for 2v2 teamwork plays.
-Gamma Bot: Strong base damage (only 10 under maxed yeti and 20 under lionhart) and very useful kit in general to reliably deal solid damage. However, at the current moment I don't think this bot is that useful because most builds have fairly balanced defenses and most often the difference between defense and resistance is around 20-30 when comparing their minimum values of their range. However, this bot is still good for reliable damage although it lacks proper utility for outplay.
-Assault Bots: There's absolutely no reason why you should ever use this bot on any build, even 0-focus ones. Pretty much all classes (not excluding BM) has strong defensive options that are way better than the assault bot's special even if they do cost energy, and the assault bots' damage is low.
=CORES: What to pick and what not to=
So there are obviously some cores that work amazingly well, some that only kinda work, and some that are detrimental to your build and playstyle. Here's an analysis of some of the more common cores:
-ARMOR CORES-
-Ninja Reflexes: Great core cause blocks mitigate huge %s of damage, and the current meta has lots of strength-based builds.
-Deflection Shield: +6% Deflect rate? Very good against focus builds and support builds (which barely exist right now) in general. This can deflect an opponent's pyro fly right when they need it. Deflections also take away a huge chunk of the bonus crit damage gained when landing a critical hit. I prefer ninja reflexes because it fits the current meta better but when support and focus builds get more popular (if support builds ever do which I hope) then this core will definitely be extremely viable.
-Nanotech Steel (or whatever it's called): Reduces crit damage, but you'll never get crit because people have 17 support in most cases and you have 45. Wasn't even that useful when people were getting hit by crits left and right.
-Critical Heal: Personally never used this, but it's less luck-based than ninja reflexes and deflection shield. Gives extra health from field medic when you're in a danger zone, so I'm supposing this is an extremely useful and viable core.
-Generator: Amazing core in general because it can patch holes in numerous different builds. I don't use it particularly often compared to when Omega first came out, but it can definitely be useful.
-Piston Punch: Never actually used this myself, but I think it can patch up BM's weakness of not being able to instantly drain a large amount of energy. However, to drain a lot you need more defense points in your armor, which doesn't synergize well since you need those clutch bludgeons and probably have blocakble bot attacks and intimidate spamming. Could also be used to recover lots of energy, but I think energy parasite is all you need given you have relatively low costs, plus you would have to prioritize more dexterity than technology due to increased resistance from the armor and focus builds like technology for more bot damage.
-Chairman's fury: No one uses this anymore for a reason...cause it's trash with the energy cost on it now. Maybe viable on adrenaline-using mercs (if those even exist), but definitely not on BM.
-PRIMARY CORES-
-Lucky Strike: Godsend of a core on celtic cleaver, but useless if you're using the 2% form on any other primary. 2% is nothing, and that's all that needs to be said. If you have celtic cleaver then I would say that's probably the best sword in the game right now.
-Primary Mastery: Only boosts your crit chance by 4% on strikes. Well, you won't be striking that often, and when you do you might get blocked. Crits also got nerfed so they deal not-so-much bonus damage. Over 7% lucky strike, not worth it. If you have no other options then why not cause a random crit could win a fight.
-Meteor Shower/Plasma Meteor/Any similar equivalent: Unblockable attack with slightly increased damage. Great for killing moves to secure that 100% kill chance. I use this myself because I find it nice to have a 100% ensured hit.
-Energy storm: Used to be very niche and an interesting core, but now that it costs energy, it's definitely trash like energy shot. You should also avoid draining energy without recovering it at the same time because BMs like the opponent having more energy for them to drain.
-Hatchling rush: Possibly useful with azrael's will. Otherwise not that useful because it's better on bursty builds that deal tons of damage over a short period of time. Your strike damage is also not that impressive and it deals slightly reduced damage so it won't hit that hard. Not suggested.
-Frost Shards: Kinda like a better version of energy storm, but I don't know why you would want to spend your own energy to drain your opponent's when you could be doing the same thing with parasite, except gaining energy instead of spending it while doing so. Not suggested.
-GUN CORES-
-Energy shot: I shouldn't have to say anything about how bad this core is and how it's probably the biggest waste of anybody's credits on ED right now.
-Aim Assist: Lucky strike but on a gun? Amazing core that makes your damage output more reliable. I'd say this is the best passive gun core in the game right now
-Azrael's will: Really great core, but costs a good amount of energy. In terms of focus BM, it's used more defensively like in the hole-sealing strategy mentioned earlier, but can be used to overcome a possible field medic and combo your opponent to death unexpectedly. Costs energy though so it's a bit tricky to use, but definitely your active core of choice. Most effective when a player grasps and fully utilizes the potential of CDC.
-Laser Sights: Boosts damage if you get deflected. Well, you're probably not gonna get deflected because tech casters are outdated and barely anyone uses them.
-Gun Mastery: Boosts crit damage by 4%. I have my primary and aux as energy weapons, and my gun physical, with my only other physical attacks being meteor shower, bludgeon, and my robot, so I often find myself using my gun, making this core a viable choice. Depends on your damage type comp: If you have celtic cleaver and an energy gun then this is probably wasted since your strikes would be more reliable in terms of damage. However, if you find yourself using your gun a lot, this core can be very useful to randomly crit for bonus damage, especially since BM lacks strong damage output and prefers to whittle down the opponent's health bit by bit.
-AUXILIARY CORES-
-Concussive shot: Luck, Luck, and more luck. Not to mention its damage output and effects aren't worth the energy cost it has.
-Azarel's torment: You get hard countered by blood commander. This hard counters blood commander. Probably your best active core choice
-Improbability gate: Deals bonus damage, but not really worth the extra energy cost since 5% is almost nothing, especially since people are getting less geared toward higher HP builds.
-Stun Blast: Will very randomly win you a fight or two every hundred or so, if not less often. A viable choice if you prefer those clutch and luck-based wins, but I personally like other passive cores better. The problem is that when you use your aux you don't expect it to stun so your planning is not very strong compared to if you were using overload or something on a TM. Still a useful core, though.
-Aim assist: Amazing core. More reliable damage output. Most suggested core and what I run
-Laser Sights: Like stated before, you probably won't get deflected in the current meta unless your opponent decides to run deflection shield.
-Auxiliary mastery: Not as useful as the gun one since you'll be using your aux less, but still potentially useful.
In general, take cores that:
-Increase the reliability of your damage output, not necessarily ones that increase your damage output potential
-Don't drain the opponent's energy. You like stealing energy cause you recover 150% of the drained amount with parasite...one of the classes that can create energy very efficiently
-Improve your tankiness or defensive options
-ALWAYS REMEMBER: Cores are best used to patch up holes in your build that you otherwise couldn't deal with. Keep this in mind when making any build, and customize your cores to fit your playstyle so that you can fill the holes and weaknesses that you realize you have in your strategies.
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