The description has the Scout suggested playstyle; FAQ and clarifications for the video; all the links for the players who helped with my research; mods used and much more! A huge thank you to everyone in the Gaming Existence Discord server who gave feedback on my test videos and information for the video, link to join in the description. And thank you for watching! Rock and stone!
Rock'n Stone Brother. Nice Video, but i honestly feel the build suggestions for Costum Casings and Gas Recycling are both a bit off. I wouldn't recommand faster reloads on eigther of them. Costum Casings comes with realy big magazines, so we have to reload less often to beginn with. And also we kinda want the higher rate of fire on the 2nd modification level since it's a fixed increase so it makes the RoF decrease of the overclock itself quiet negetable. On Gas Rycling you also wanna take the increased Rate of Fire realy badly! Less time spend shooting means less time spend slowed down from the OCs slowdown. And if you run it with "Get in, get out" you can even increase the distance between you and the incoming bugs again while reloading so the OCs slowdown will hardly ever become an issue.
I use the zhukovs to take out big targets like oppressor butts at close ranges so the accuracy doesnt matter too much, as well as to quickly tear up frozen enemies if I've used a frost grenade on a horde. I've used the miniclips for that but this makes me consider gas recycling. The embedded explosives require too much thought and Im dum. Beyond that it's an emergency secondary, most of the time I rely on the hipster m1000 to take out both high value targets and a line of grunts with blowthrough rounds. Also if I'm playing with a group Im more likely to take the crossbow, but solo I need the horde clear potential of the zhukov, as I play on haz 5.
actually, now that i've watched the entire video i have to say... my favorite part were the inclusion of high-level player comments/notes & the usage stats of different overclocks further categorized by different playerbases. well done, and actually useful information!
Something to keep in mind with embedded detonators is that the more players there are, the more valuable damage now is vs. damage later. Chances are, by the time you emptied your magazine and can explode a praetorian, someone will have already shot it with hyper prop and you end up overkilling a ton.
Damn. Incredibly impressive video production for such a niche, focused topic. Can’t imagine a video like this really blowing up just because of how specific it is in interest but you’ve got the bones for a MASSIVELY successful channel. If you apply this degree of deep analysis and quality video production for topics with wider appeal, I’d be shocked if you didn’t blow up in popularity. Seriously good work dude
i thinks it's worth stating that taking fire rate in tier 2 with custom casings does offer for a set of zhuks that is comparable to minimal magazines, and, imo, offers a better overall balanced weapon for single target and swarms. a favorite set up of mine that aims to basically have scout constantly putting out damage is a 2-3-2-1-1 hipster m1k paired with 1-2-2-X-1 custom casings zhuks and born ready. you basically spend your entire clip with hipster, trying to any guards in the pack first with it, then swap to the zhuks and use those to clean up whatever damage you dealt with the m1k until born ready reloads the m1k, at which point, you swap back to it and repeat. obv ifgs pair best with this strategy, and can be used either to make swarm clearing easier or to increase the single target damage.
Heads up - when running embedded detonators, if you use supercharged feed mechanism (row 2 col 2 ROF buff) and get in, get out then the speed buff lasts exactly as long as a mag dump + reload. You can get 100% uptime with no need to hold off for a half second, and no missed buffs because it was already up.
I use embedded detonators for elimination paired with born ready. Fun fact: Born Ready doesn't count as a "reload" so the detonators stay until you press the reload button.
Great stuff as always! No pressure either way of course, but are you planning an update to the M1K and GK2 overclock analysis in the wake of the rebalancing season 3 brought? Personally, SCC still feels bad, but the GK2 feels surprisingly usable, even in haz 6 and 6x2 to me, at least with AISE and BoM.
You didn't include how Gas Rec + IFG + T5 Conductive can shred pretorians/dreads from behind (or using Ele Reload on GK2 to proc T5 conductive). It really gives Emb.Deto run for money as GS is just better all arounder.
Scout's secondary weapon choice is quite easy: Does it give you complete protection from falling/messing up a hook/the game deciding that you don't fit into the dug hole and ejecting you out when playing as client? -> No? Don't use it. -> Yes? Use it. Nicely produced video tho.
**me watching videos about scout's secondaries**: wow, i can't wait to never use any of these because of my crippling addiction to special powder (this can be very easily be taken out of context)
To be honest been trying to get this video done and not played season 3 a ton yet! Also I have not seen what Axis has said. I have done 15 missions using gas recycling EFS and some GK2 runs enjoying some of those changes. As for the seasonal stuff. I think it may well get old quite quickly but I can tell you more when I get some more games in 🙂
@@madmonty4761 Not played enough to comment. The grenades were always going up against established roles. It takes time to see how they all stack up. I will judge more once I get some actual games in.
Just got your channel reccomended, really love the depth, style, and especually the fact that you got data for the analysis! One thing, for me, the visual effects can sometimes clutter up the screen, so maybe speeding them up when there are more or they don't stay on the screen for long might help with that. Another small thing was when showing the screens that compare TTK, ammo use, etc, switched between screens very often - maybe you could condense showing the screens into one scene, with fewer transitions. Overall though, I really enjoyed the video, especially the depth you went to, showing ammo, TTK, ammo%, use case vs percieved use case, and even getting pick data - that's not something i've seen in any other channel, and the visual style of your videos (minus the slight clutter) is really nice! Excited for the comparison videos!
Welcome and thank you for the constructive feedback. Always trying to balance info/content/video length. I will ponder what you have said and consider how to improve for the next one. Rock and stone!
Amazing breakdown as always good sir. Glad to see scout getting so many buffs. I've honestly always run cryo minelets the most due to freezing utility. But i will definitely be trying to switch it up more!
Thanks for another in-depth vid. I'm no scout main but out of the 3 secondaries zhukovs is the least I use. When playing scout I mostly ignore the hoard and let my team handle it I just focus on high priority targets like trijaws and acid spitters. The one I'm using the most even in EDD runs is Specialist taser in a prolong duration build. 1 normal shot can kill both types of spitters and 2 taser shots can neutralize pretorians, oppressors and makes dreadnought missions a breeze. Special powder is still good but I got to the point that I'm good enough using the grappling hook that I don't need a secondary mobility tool to save me.
Yeah I might finish the Scout series then do one on each class before starting a new series. I should have done the first Scout video on the suggested play style as it helps frame the simulations. Lesson learnt!
Always glad to see another vid! I've always loved the feel of the zhukovs, and with the gas recycling buffs have been enjoying them again for the first time in a while. Thanks for the breakdown!
I absolutely love these videos! I think that an important thing to test as well would be how the different events can be easier depending on your OC. The main reason I run Embedded Detonators is for the versatility. You gave prime examples of the damage it can do to bug and high value targets, but whenever I fight koroloks, prospectors, cartakers, BET-C, nemesis, the meteors on escort missions and stabber vines, the explosive damage from embedded detonators just annihilates them all so quickly that I feel like I dont have a choice but to pick it over any other OC. That's just from my experience of course. The worst drawback of it is for sure the ammo, but I feel that it's well worth it for the insane damage you can bring as a scout. R&S
I like the zukhov as it disperses a large amount of damage over a short period of time. Its perfect for running and gunning oppressors and gliphid but i find it struggles more on swarms and fast moving enemys as it main focus is to flank and exploit weak spots.
sadly axe power attack is not taken into consideration when talking about embedded detonators. NUK are the last piece of the puzzle that allows scouts to effectively defuse the entire bug spawn menu. it is also the only OC that pack actual single target damage.
Do you have plans to cover the rest of the weapons? I realize these are high effort high research investment videos, but they're so dang informative and I've watched all of them at least 3 times 😂 Would love to see more. For my own particular interest I'd be most excited to see videos like this for engi. Thanks for the scout videos just the same. I'm an 80 hour green beard scout main and I want to get into engi more. Rock and stone brotha.
A question I've long had but never gotten a straight answer to: with the actual ammo of the Zhukov and Minigun being half of its displayed value, do these guns make up for that by doubling their damage compared to the description? So would we, for example, get 500 bullets of 20 dmg each rather than 1000 of 10 if thats what the game tells us? Or do we instead only get 500 shots of 10 damage each?
One instance of normal damage that is stated in the game, but... Half ammo. If you go back to that section you see me display one tap fire. It deals the damage but two ammo is consumed. Unfortunately it is literally half ammo, half rate of fire, normal damage 😭
@@GamingExistence Thats very good to know then, but feels like the kind of thing youd wanna adjust as a dev then since it kinda destroys any damage calcs your players wanna do when you only give them half the ammo and rate of fire...
6:55 I love custom casings just because it feels badass to unload so much ammo into praetorians without reloading. 22121 goes great with Electrocuting Focus Shots M1000 or IFGs
5:47 If your building this to use with a supercooled m1000 big target damage doesn’t really matter as much because you would usually be using your primary for big game (just figured I’d point this out because In my first watch I didn’t think about It so I’m assuming someone would be like me)
It has taken me awhile to build up to this level of editing. Also takes me ages to research and edit them together I only manage to get a video out once a month if I'm lucky. January I had 400 so it is going up ❤️
I usually avoid reload OC's, not sure why just not having specific numbers on the effects makes me question how useful they may be. But I've recently tried embeded detonators and its so much fun. Great for both group clearing and single targets. Pairs very well with AI stability engine GK2.
If you are intentionally gimping your HVT killing efficiency to rely on your teammates, you're not really a high-level player. The higher level you get, the more versatile your loadout should become in dealing with any type of enemy.
GE's said several times in the video that scout should focus on HVTs and use builds that are good against HVTs, so I'm not sure what you're on about here. Do you have a different definition of HVT?
@@VorpalSword9 You've completely misunderstood what I said. What I said is that, as a high-level player, your loadout should be getting more and more universal, to effectively counter any kind of enemy.
@@guardian-angel615 ok, that makes more sense at least. GE is going to get into it more in his next video but this has a lot to do with your skill level and the difficulty. Since most people watching are playing a difficulty that presents a challenge to them and they're probably not capable of carrying, this advice would be awful. You'd get scouts using twice the ammo of anyone else to accomplish very little. So yeah, if you want to be able to carry you'll have different priorities. I'm not sure it changes the answer, though, since boomstick is excellent swarm clear and still excellent even if you never have to swarm clear. In any case, I will say that carrying in haz 5 is not the only avenue available to a skilled player. Multiplayer with difficulty mods, like the 6x2 EDD that GE did, essentially force you to specialize even if you're a very good player. Taking 4 generalist builds into 6x2+ is a recipe for a much worse experience.
Gas Recycling, in my experience is best employed with "Get in Get out" mod, for one reason: difficulty balance. Gas recycling is useful for some armored enemies, but especially in mixed armoured hordes of grunts, at higher haz levels, like 4 and 5. However, at those levels, the bugs are MUCH faster than usual, and you will be screwed by the lower movement speed if you don't equip "Get in Get out" mod. Sure, the IFG can also be used, but it will only save you if you are in "hallway" scenario. On open fields you will be Bug chow. I would also reccomend the GR OC on the Zhukov's if you are doing Dreadnaught missions because those babies will shred through Lacerator/Arbalest armor like a knife through butter. It really helps out the whole team to break that armor.
In my opinion, Cryo Minelets are useful when dealing with "High Hp targets" and "High Value Targets WITH high hp". Using them "specifically" for hordes is kind of a waste of ammo imo. They excel against big, meaty and annoying targets that are not moving too much. Not only that, but freezing big dangerous enemies makes your team instantly flip their focus to help end such threats.
I run these with Gas Recycling 13211, with AI Stability Engine GK2 and IFGs. This combination gives me a great long range weapon for HVTs (though very weakpoint focused) and a nice secondary for quickly clearing out grunts that dare interrupt my resource gathering.
gas recycling is so good to generally spray into mobs with blowthrough & the armor break from the OC, also a great way to rip away armor on preats to then use e.g. AISE gk2 I play it on 21112 - generally I get up close and personal with my enemies as scout, throw a iFG and go ham. if one playes a more long ranged scout, I defo can see why T3 2 is superior though while yes, T5 1 gives you that extra damage, I often feel its overkill and the movement speed helps you keep kiting and firing while as close as possible to the enemy without getting hit. For reference: a single magazine nearly kills a Haz4+, with 4 players, preatorian, only reason it doesnt is because the first few bullets break down the armor. with IFG you do kill, you can also just power pickaxe or have some teammate damage finsih them off. And for macetera you got AISE
is there a way to reliably electrocute big enemies like praetorians or oppressors without IFGs? i'm running the zhukovs with the buff against electrocuted, but i can't seem to do it against big targets
@@GamingExistence not quite. dreads share this apparent immunity to being shocked by, say, the drak or stubby, but they feel stronger sources like turret arc ot the charge crystals in the crystalline caves. i wonder if there is a threshold to pass for being electrocuted or it's just tagged to be like that...
I got Gas Recycling a few days ago and I really like pairing it with an Aggressive Venting DRAK to deal with big targets. DRAK allows you to tag big targets with electricity, manually dump your heat to trigger Venting + Hot Feet, and then switch to your Zhukovs to shed a target. In effect, you're setting a target up for Conductive Bullets, pressing a "get off me" button for hordes, and counteracting the movement speed penalty of the Zhukovs all in one fell swoop. I also pack the obvious IFGs for horde clearing (because I'm bad at milking Venting for all it's worth) or for if I need a big target dead 10 minutes ago.
Hopefully you do Driller primaries after you're done with Scout. Driller is the least straight forward class in terms of weapon builds because 2 of them are heavily reliant on DOT which is affected by all sorts of factors not in the stats and even Cryo cannon has some vague stats which really need to be tested thoroughly.
Cryo Minelets are best when combined with the Assault Rifle OC that grants extra damage to bugs affected by something. However, the pick has to be coordinated with the driller. If he picks Flamethrower, you work against each other. I'm sure, this loadout is what most people use, who voted for this OC as their favourite.
I'm surprised that RoF isn't really used by most people. I like it for dumping mags faster so I can get T5B faster and I don't need reload speed because I'm kiting better with the move speed buff
I prefer running reload speed and GIGO on cryo minelets not for the sustained damage, but to trigger GIGO faster with the reduced mag size and then using the speed to kite the hoard to maximize the number of targets frozen. Sure I usually just grapple over the hoard to kite them back over the minelets like how MosNothus does it in his guide on Drilling In The Name Of's channel, but the extra movespeed is a nice insurance to make sure I don't box myself in a corner trying to freeze everything.
Especially with the changes to SCC and gas recycling I’ve gone back to the NUKs, gas recycling having armor break by default makes it feel so good. SCC for deleting special bois and blow-through gas recycling for swarms/waves has been very enjoyable and effective in a team setting.
Crazy how this small of a channel has 4k quality settings available. I subscribed as well, you put a ton of valuable information in your videos it seems
I only use the zukovs in eliminaton missions, using the clean OC and all specs into damage and firing speed. The bosses usually change phases after dumping primary+secondary mag and for the precision its easy to get behind them as scout with a good grappling hook usage.
I'm actually not thinking of doing one like this for the Boltshark but instead feature it when I get to comparisons for while builds. I might change my mind though! Thanks for the kind comment 😊 Rock and stone!
Nice video! Before S3 for scout, I used M1K hoverclock and Zhukov dets. Since scout's original primary was buffed I've been loving G2K BOM 31212 Zhukov cryo 13212 and IFG. Can kill a lot at a quick rate and feels fun. Its two main weaknesses include flying enemies since you'll have to rely on other players to apply debuffs to them to maximise damage. Its not a make or break weakness but its something to factor for ammo, long range since you'll have to control your fire, this is the most manageable but don't go wasting an entire clip to get rid of something so far away. Finally, since the previous build I used allowed me to be more reckless when grappling on to things, I tend to fall and go down. Skill issue IG lol.
Hey there. Fantastic video, thank you for the upload. I just want to say that when you highlight the most popular builds, the dark purple outline is a little hard to see. Thanks and again great video.
Wow great work, subbed and looking forward to any new content even if (eventually) not DRG related. The quality of this is enough to convince me of that.
A great video. I was going to comment on how the power of Gas Recycling isn't properly shown in hypotheticals but then you demonstrated how good it is in a field test. It's wonderful since it doesn't require much concentration, it's easy to use and allows more freedom to plan your next move accordingly.
I just want to comment because I want the algorithim to pick up on this channel and see more of it on my feed. First video I watch of yours and holy shit man, this content is top tier. I watch ALOT of DRG videos, not just the meme ones but the ones that provide usefull info to help me "git gud" on the game and I can't believe this channel hadn't poped up yet. You keep up these sort of in depth analysis, soon enough you'll become the go to guy to watch for grey beards. I just gotta virtually shake your hand because this content is commendable. Thank you, subscribed and Rock n' Stone Brotha.
I'm surprised so many people use the Zhukovs for horde clear; they have so little ammo it feels like a waste most of the time. I was also surprised to see Custom Casings being so rarely used; I like to use it to magdump into a high value target that is electrocuted or under the effect of IFGs, in tandem with something like the DRAK with the electrocution mod, or the GK2 with Electrifying reload.
@@VorpalSword9 I rarely ever pull out the Zhukovs if I'm not in a position to reliably hit a weakpoint, and Embedded Detonators tend to feel like a waste of ammo in that case given their damage hardly benefits, not to mention a single magazine usually isn't enough to get me through a big target's health bar.
@@honestbenny Really depends what you want to do. The Mets is likely the broomstick as a secondary. But with S3 Has recycling for horde clear I feel is a real option now. Hope that helps!
@@GamingExistence I like broomstick but It doesn't pair well with M1000 which is my primary (though I love GK2 with Mercy Rounds) and broomstick doesn't work as well with sniper rifle as SMGs imo but that might be just my feeling. I am still new.
@@honestbenny I'm not a huge Boomstick fan either but it is very popular amongst my research players. Watch my video on it and it might help you with a build to try out in games. I used it a hell of a lot for that video and started to feel the power of it.
