Phantom worth playing?

(Demonic_Muff1n) #1

So i was recently thinking about buying phantom. My question is that is phantom really worth playing as or should i skip out on him?

#2

I recommend you a different merc.

New players tend to swing around their Katana while rarely if ever taking their gun out.
That’s a huge mistake. That technique works fine until someone with decent aim shows up who will absolutely shred you before you come too close. His effectiveness in a more competitive environment is questionable as well.

(xSil3nt) #3

No!, phantom should be the last merc you buy, he is not useful at all in competitive and he is only good when playing against people who are below level 10. He is quite hard to play because experienced players will see him even if he is using the cloak. I would recommend buying Pheonix, Bushwaker, Proxy or arty rather than him. Try him out next time he is on free rotation, if you like him, you should buy him.

(Corppet) #4

Personally, I think that stretches the line a bit too far. Phantom is definitely not recommended for new players, but saying he’s absolutely useless might be a bit harsh. With Phantom being one of my most played mercs, he has a lot of potential for tactical and priority strategies. As a recon, he specializes in disabling deployables and taking out important targets, however, he requires good knowledge of map layouts and some parkour. Phantom is a matter of skill. If you’re good with him, he can be annoying and deadly. If you’re bad with him, he’s just another dumb teammate.

(Dr_Plantboss) #5

Phantom plays like an assault merc more than a recon. Here’s some of what I think you need to know:

Phantom requires a lot of skill.

Being not quite as hard to see or tough as he used to be, Phantom definitely requires an experienced player to do well. If you don’t have a lot of experience (or are just bad, like me), then don’t bother to waste your sanity on him.

You need to be smart.

Phantom isn’t completely invisible, so don’t just walk right in front of people. Stay on outer parts of their FoV, and don’t move too fast. If the enemy team has 3 recons, don’t try to be sneaky, and use your cloak as more of a shield.

Use your gun.

I lot of new players who play Phantom don’t realize that guns have a higher DPS than melee weapons. While this isn’t a problem with <90 HP mercs, you still have to surprise them. A melee kill is very satisfactory, sure, but just pulling out your primary and popping a few into their head when they aren’t expecting it is a far safer and more reliable tactic. You should be using your gun more than your katana.

Using loadouts without a katana.

Most of Phantoms non-katana loadouts have pretty crappy Augments, but there are a few with some decent stats (ex; CR51 Enhanced Operative G1). If you use one of these, and you’re using the above tips, it shouldn’t phase you at all.

TL;DR:
Phantom needs to take people by surprise, and use his gun more than his katana.

BEFORE BUYING ANY MERC, TRY THEM ON FREE ROTATION!

(MrMaiketh) #6

Phantom was the 1st merc I unlocked “admittedly because I could not shoot a Rhino in the ass from 5m away”.People hate Phantom just like people hate ALL recon.Unless you are on the top of the board even the scrub healers with 1000xp on the 2nd round of stopwatch will tell you to switch and “help the team”.If you want to play Phantom because you want to cut motherfuckers down with a sword get a Kira she is a better suited for the sprinting into battle and die playstyle you’re looking for.Phantom is a "shark on land w/ a gun " he makes buttholes pucker and raises the overall blood pressure of anyone that hears that sweet stealthy sound.The Shield/Cloak is a tool that ignorant teammates don’t respect because it’s hard to see it work. Med stations and sensors don’t really do anything right?A mine, sticky, turret has never stopped your team from completing an objective? WRONG they are always there and they can all disappear with a Phantom.
Phantom in Ranked… I use him …for about 45secs to escort the engi thru the minefield the 4 proxys have turned the map into then I look at the respawn timer <5s hit K .

For more help with Phantom please stay off Youtube and ignore any advice/thread seeming toxic in nature or you will never build the self confidence needed to play Phantom.

(henki000) #7

I think Phantom is my least successful merc. I have all the mercs and have played with Phantom over 15 hours, making it my 11th played merc. Learning curve with Phantom is something different. I have seen bad performance and average performance. Especially in those aura station disable situations it shows its best appearance. But I have never seen a great undefeatable phantom, like those great fragger/sawbonez combo that we have. Perhaps it is because Phantom isn’t so popular in long term pick. Sure everyone wants to try cloak, but failed hide attempts quickly alienates first impression. It just feels so wrong to play so differently than other mercs and there will be strange deaths. Usually you think you are hidden, but then if you aren’t, you get played pretty badly. It might work as a best pick, if enemy team uses a lot of deployables like aura stations or sticky bombs. But it requires a lot of skill and patience to master hidden tactics.

You should buy all the mercs, my first merc to buy advice would be sawbonez. But dont play phantom too much, because it might make you too defensive and you might play solo more often.

“If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles… if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.”- Sun Tzu

(RaspberryChewy) #8

I actually main as Phantom. He is a VERY hard to play merc. His disable helps a ton tho, but once you hit Silver+ he becomes incredibly hard to play… Seeing as he is too slow (They owe him 10 speed) To Rush enemies Like Proxy kinds of speed and his cloak was Nuke Nerfed to the ground he just doesn’t work… I mean I play him anyways… Go round behind the whole team then Take out the Squishies… Phantoms job is to make it so your team has less deployables/Medics to kill.

(Cordyceps) #9

Phantom can be a very difficult merc to play, especially if you’re trying to mainly use his Katana. When playing him there are two main things you should remember. The first is that you are not completely invisible. There will be a shimmer where you are, and it’s more prominent when you run. The second thing is that you have GUNS. A lot of people prefer to use only his Katana, but there will be a lot of time where using your guns is much more effective than using the Katana.

(Your worst knifemare.) #10

This thread is pretty old to be revives.

(Mc1412013) #11

Phantom is great for noob stomping. But at same time is anoyi g as fuck to play against. I love playing with him but hate going against.

(HadronZodiac) #12

Short Answer - no

Longer Answer - kinda (assuming you a good card AND the katana actually hits your enemies if you use katana) He is wierd, cuz hes useful and not at the same time. Sure disabling deployables is kinda useful, but hunter actually does it better imo. And kills with phantom arent that easy, as most mercs have an ability that can actually aid in battle, but he only has an ability to get close to the enemy, from there its just melee and primary, while the enemy has more tools to kill u

(HadronZodiac) #13

@Cordyceps said:
Phantom can be a very difficult merc to play, especially if you’re trying to mainly use his Katana. When playing him there are two main things you should remember. The first is that you are not completely invisible. There will be a shimmer where you are, and it’s more prominent when you run. The second thing is that you have GUNS. A lot of people prefer to use only his Katana, but there will be a lot of time where using your guns is much more effective than using the Katana.

Agreed, but even then your still mostly at a disadvantage, plus i got a ranked phantom with bat and kek10, i never even use the bat cuz its useless on phantom

(Swagger24904) #14

He not worth your credits anymore since the last update. He become more visible and very easy to be spot. But if u know how to hide he will be come a perfect merc for u. Just dont get in front of the line just sneak around enemy and stab them

(Mc1412013) #15

@Swagger24904 said:
He not worth your credits anymore since the last update. He become more visible and very easy to be spot. But if u know how to hide he will be come a perfect merc for u. Just dont get in front of the line just sneak around enemy and stab them

yeah he was better before they nerfed him but nownthat they gave up on him looks like we are stuck with his current state.