Hi guys I’m a new player, and for my next merc I’m deciding between Sparks or Redeye. For Sparks I got a gold card (371 original agent) and that is why I mostly want to unlock her. I heard that she has one good load out only but I’m wondering if this gold card is worth the unlock for her. People say that she is a “necromancer” and I think her revive gun is pretty cool, able to revive and deal lots of damage.
I kind of like Redeye’s abilities, and I think they are pretty cool. I got an iron for him (072 power rifleman) but if I do unlock him, I might craft a bronze or silver for him. They say he is more melee than ranged even though he has a rifle.
New player- Sparks or Redeye
Daedber
(Daedber)
#1
MisterBadmin
(MisterBadmin)
#2
If you are a new player, I can’t advise unlocking either of those early.
My general advised order is your Engineer of choice, then Fragger, then Sawbonez or Phoenix. After that, pick up whatever you want.
The engineer is to make sure you always have your preferred way to complete the objective, so you aren’t reliant on the rotation. My personal choice is Fletcher, but he is a little harder to play effectively than Proxy and Bushwhacker.
Fragger is the no-nonsense Assault. He’s got high HP, great weapons and the ability to delete someone from halfway across the map with a properly cooked pineapple. It’s really hard to do poorly as Fragger if you can deliver even adequately cooked grenades. It’s even harder to do poorly if you have a pocket medic, so grab a friend, preferably with Sawbonez or Phoenix.
Sawbonez and Phoenix are standard frontline Medics that play fairly similarly. They both have access to one of the best SMGs in the game (SMG-9 for Sawbonez, KEK-10 for Phoenix), the Crotzni, and one of the “lesser” SMGs (Blishlok for Sawbonez, Hochfir for Phoenix). [I actually prefer playing Blishlok Sawbonez and Hochfir Phoenix over the others.] They both want to play up with the team and take ground, unlike the free medic Aura, who wants to hold ground. I recommend grabbing one of them to get a versatile medic. Aura is great, but a lot harder to play effectively on offense.
If you are deadset on grabbing Sparks or Redeye, I’d advise against Sparks, but that does not mean I advise Redeye. I’d suggest trying them on free rotation, but it will likely be a while before they are on rotation again.
Sparks is probably the hardest merc to play to any degree of effectiveness. She is currently the only Agent in the game, having machine pistols as primaries. They don’t hold a candle to primaries. She is still combat effective due to the REVIVR being absolutely crazy, but requires a lot of skill to use. Sparks only had one really good card in First Edition loadouts (the 383), but most of her Second Editions are usable. She’s called a Starfish Necromancer because her little healthpacks give her the ability to self sustain and escape (Starfish regrow lost limbs.) and the REVIVR lets her raise a zombie army. That Gold 371 of yours wouldn’t be my pick of loadout, but it is alright.
Redeye is probably the easiest Recon to play, but that doesn’t make him without flaws. His Smoke Grenades can hinder your team if poorly placed because they can’t see through it. (Side note: as an Arty player, whenever a Redeye drops smoke to cover his team, I drop them a Party Favor. It works pretty well.) He has access to the Grandeur, PDP and Dreiss, which are all semi automatic rifles. The PDP is his only rifle with a scope. A good Redeye will play as a frontlines marksman, rather than a traditional sniper, covering himself or his Engineers with smoke and spot and eliminate enemies. A bad Redeye (read: most new players) will play as a traditional sniper, sitting at the back and taking potshots, cover his frontlines in smoke in the middle of firefights and completely forget about the whole Red Eye spotting mechanism. That D72 would be my preferred loadout, because Quick Draw and Drilled with the Dreiss are great. Missing Focus is worth noting, but it isn’t necessary.
Redeye is not melee focused. He had a card in First Edition (G41) that had Quick Slash, Chopper and Try Hard, meaning he could cut people to kibble, but it was not viable outside of screwing around in pubs. (It was/is hilarious.)
Dr_Plantboss
(Dr_Plantboss)
#3
@Daedber To shorten @MisterBadmin’s very… long… post…
Don’t get either, get an engy. Any engy, although I personally think that Bushwhacker is the mosy newb-friendly.
After an engy, you should probably get an assault merc. My take, however, is that… Redeye is kinda like an assault merc…
Sparks is very good at keeping herself alive, and very at reviving teammates. However, she isn’t very good in combat unless you can get a REVIVR shot off before the fight really begins.
Redeye is the easiest Recon to play, but if you don’t use him right you could end up hindering your team more that helping.
My personal take
DO NOT GET SPARKS. I got Sparks as my first unlocked merc, and I regret it. You aren’t me, but still don’t suggest getting such a skill-based merc as your first unlock. If you really want to get Sparks, instead of getting Bushy as your first engy, you should get Fletcher. This is so that you can get used to using MPs, which Sparks uses as her primaries.
All for now!
MisterBadmin
(MisterBadmin)
#4
@Dr_Plantboss
Please don’t TL;DR my posts. I’m not angry or insulted, just surprised and a little confused.
I make walls of text for a reason, they are the best way to flesh out reasoning in a structured manner. When I give advice, I avoid saying “Do X.” and leaving it at that, because it isn’t helpful. “Do X because Y.” is much better, but I still avoid them. “I would suggest X, because Q, W and E, but if you would prefer Y, it is A, S and D. I don’t advise Z because C, V and B.” gives all the information I care to convey, in the form I want it in. I don’t give TL;DRs because I don’t find it an acceptable way to give information.
I also have this thing about people inserting their opinion into others’. In your summary of my advice, you include Bushwhacker as your recommendation, which I never said. (I don’t actually disagree that Bushwhacker is the easiest Engi to learn, but there’s no way you could know that.) You also say that “Redeye is kinda like an assault merc…” which is not something I’ve ever said, and certainly not something I believe.
By all means, use my (or any) posts as a jumping off point for discussion. Agree or Disagree with suggestions and explain your own. Restating mine when they are the only other post doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Apologies for the derail, but threads in New Players don’t tend to get a lot of traction, so this will probably be lost to the ether.
Ptiloui
(Ptiloui)
#6
And don’t do like, and as many others i think did : unlocking Vassili first. You can’t play sniper in DB as in other FPS. I would recommend acquiring a complete knowledge of every maps and how to play each mercs (not perfectly but to know what they are able to do) before playing him.
And imho, i don’t feel Redeye is the easiest recon to play. The Vassili’s recon ability is way easier to use as it can just be thrown at tactical point and give huge info about the enemy team positioning (instead of activation Ir goggle and aiming at enemy). Furthermore, Redeye’s weapons are : Dreiss (which is not easy to play with as a beginner), Grandeur (even harder), and PDP (which Vassili has too).
Dr_Plantboss
(Dr_Plantboss)
#7
They’re not that hard to play any more, summer squash part 2 buffed them both substantially. They are still not very newb friendly, but they’re better than the REVIVR IMO.
Bluesquid0630
(Bluesquid0630)
#8
Personally I don’t recomend either for newer players but if you are determined to get one of these mercs I recomend Sparks
Homu1124
(Homu1124)
#9
If you like to be precise, then it would be best to go Sparks since you can practice aiming at your teammates rather than going toe-to-toe redeye with that nerfed grandeur rifle that kicks like a mule. For new guys I highly recommend support roles like medic and engies so that other players can cover you while you focus on healing downed allies or repairing the ev, both of which don’t require aim (unless you count the buggy hitboxes DB has but that’s a different issue).
Mr.Cuddlesworth
(Mr.Cuddlesworth)
#10
Sparks is good for sniping enemies and reviving your teammates from afar on Chapel.
ItsOro
(ItsOro)
#11
I wouldn’t recommend those 2 for a new player cuz both of them are pretty difficult to master or understand the play style when you haven’t have a clue what they can do, I recommend more simple mercs such as Nader, proxy and Arty there more straight forward and way more simple to play, but it depends on you if your will to grind your time with learning sparks or red eye.
znuund
(znuund)
#12
with sparks you want to have the get-up and quick charge perks, so your card has at least one of these so it is ok. the getup perk is essential for a revive-centered merc like sparks.
unlike you stated, the revivr has not that much dmg, except for the head. the more you charge, the more you make damage. that’s why you need quick charge.
i personally would rather play sparks 99 out of 100 matches, but as the other stated, there are easier mercs to play.
But it is a good practise to aim for the head, when you pick sparks.
