Should I buy Phantom, the dissuadening

(Ctrix) #1

I got 50k. Which merc should I get. I am highly inclined to get Phantom, since I already have the loadout in question.
I have seen the scrubs, the suicide ninjas, the “what’s a gun” …guys. But I feel like if you play him as an actual Sniper role, he might be kinda good still.
Second on my list would be Arty because that’s a thing.

http://i.imgur.com/ipX53X1.jpg

Tell me all about why I should get the merc of your choice instead of Phantom, and why that’s a great/terrible idea.
Only firsthand experiences please. Saying “Phantom is bad because noobs can’t play him” will get you a slap on the back of your head.

(Izzy) #2

Phantom is bad because n… Woooow. Should have read it through before posting.

More serioulsy, as a team play game, I usually focus on teamplay mercs. Stoker is one of them. easy to learn, harder to master, but well, as every merc.

His molly is extremely usefull when well used. Ammo gives you some XP, therefore money to buy the next merc.

Can’t see anything wrong with Stoker, except maybe future FF. But who wouldn’t enjoy burning the whole enemy team and friends, right?

(Faraleth) #3

Arty, Fletcher or Stoker are all fantastic picks here - but it all depends on personal preference. I’d say mercs like Phantom are worth getting once you have all the main ones you would use on a regular basis - so if you think Arty would be “your thing”, I’d probably suggest getting him first :wink: But that’s just my opinion :stuck_out_tongue:

(Ctrix) #4

I feel at this stage I already have mercs for every occasion. Stoker sure is OP on metro, but I played him when he was on rotation and I felt the cooldown was awkward and I am bad at high impact skill shots (I prefer Nader over Fragger by a seamile).

I like Kira, and I feel Arty would be the Nader to her Fragger.

Also Fletcher will be on rotation next.

(Borganism) #5

Arty is a great alternative to skyhammer on EV maps. His quicker cooldown means you can attack players and the EV with your strikes instead of saving them for an EV strike. If you like a gun on Kira, get that gun on arty and get this party going.

(SereneFlight) #6

I use Phantom mainly for harassing (played execution for the mission yesterday, killed the guy who was arming the c4 and ran around the pylon while other 2 enemies had no idea what they should do trolololol… it was fun to watch them not being able to choose between going after me or for the c4) and ambushing the enemy (enemy spawns and rushes towards the C4 -> cloaky cloak kek fun time).

However, Arty, Fletcha and Stoker would probably be better choices.

(gg2ez) #7

I’ll put it simply. Phantom isn’t worth choosing over those mercs because they are simply more useful to your team.

Arty gives ammo, Fletcher is an Objective Specialist (who can also throw around explosives), and Phantom is just, well, Phantom. All he does is kill, and he isn’t great at it either (he has no abilities to help him with it). Even Fletcher, an engineer, has more luck killing people.

As a player who has spent many hours on Phantom, I’d advise you to go with Fletcher because he can actually provide utility to your team whilst doing Phantom’s job as well.

(Ctrix) #8

@gg2ez Wouldn’t Phantoms job be killing medics and such for the most part?

(SteelMailbox) #9

Thunder.
He is Thunderrated

(gg2ez) #10

Phantom’s job is killing whatever you want him to. Same with any other merc, except most of them do a better job than him and come with extra goodies.

Here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11h0wXm-3QC_4Mzfqr0Hlp6SrdpBlnJ12H_I4dPIKwuQ/edit?usp=docslist_api

(Ctrix) #11

I don’t feel you talking like you’re getting the way he was intended to be used.
If you can consistently shoot a Sparks in the back, without having to first chew through the other teams frontline, that’s a big deal. Like, you know, a Sniper could snipe them through the frontline mercs. That’s why he’s a Recon.
Taking out turrets and Egineers. The squishies who hide around corners. High value target elimination.

(gg2ez) #12

[quote=“Ctrix;122926”]I don’t feel you talking like you’re getting the way he was intended to be used.
If you can consistently shoot a Sparks in the back, without having to first chew through the other teams frontline, that’s a big deal. Like, you know, a Sniper could snipe them through the frontline mercs. That’s why he’s a Recon.
Taking out turrets and Egineers. The squishies who hide around corners. High value target elimination.[/quote]

Maps have flank routes. Use them as any other merc and you can eliminate those high-priority targets AND their lackeys. Phantom’s invis is easily seen by players with atleast 20 minutes of dealing with him, you can’t waltz through enemy front lines, Phantom has to use flank routes too if he wants to do what you’re suggesting.

What matters is the fact that anything Phantom can do, others can do better.

(Ctrix) #13

I’ve seen people use cloak and crouch and just sit in a straight hallway and people actively looking for them and not seeing them (once).
Everyone’s just always sprinting with the cloak on. It’s not as visible if you’re moving slowly.
I just never tried it myself and it’s hard to judge.

(Naralin) #14

As a medic player (Aura) I am supposed to the perfect target for Phantom, yet it is quite rare to get backstabbed by him because:

  1. He has to go all the way around to reach my back without being noticed (it’s not so hard to see him under his invis mode) not to mention some mercs detection abilities
  2. If I stand under the healing station he is kind of forced to use his katana to one-shot me. If he tries to gun me down I also have a good chance of killing him
  3. To completely disable me, I have to be dead and the healing station destroyed as well. Since it’s usually put near other mercs he’d be probably dead by the time he destroys it
  4. If he can’t finish me off I can even have a revive

It’s the first merc I bought. I had fun playing with him but even if you focus on killing the weak mercs you are not going to be useful on a long run.
I’d say take him if you just want to chill out and have a different kind of play style.
If you intend to have an impact on your teamwork, buy another one.

(Ctrix) #15

But maybe everyone who’s playing him is just bad D:

(gg2ez) #16

OK, so you seem to really want Phantom to be a good investment. Go ahead, buy him. If you honestly like playing him, he’s worth it.

(watsyurdeal) #17

Phantom is fun sure, but then when you play against people with good eyes, aka, good players, you’re gonna have a rough time.

(Ctrix) #18

I dont know if I’ll like playing him, thus this thread.

(watsyurdeal) #19

Then that’s a sign isn’t it? That’s your masochism speaking to you, “maybe this is a bad idea brah”

(Izzy) #20

From what I have seen, others play him boringly. Refractive armor, stay in a corner and wait for a victim to pass by. Knife and run away.

Now, someone good might have some fun with him, but hard to tell. Only way to know is wait for the free rotation. now, it is easy to gain credits by doing missions, so you ll eventually have all mercs. Just buy the one that you feel like right now.