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| Geth Trooper |
First off i should say, I'm a big fan of Flamer and it's because of this that the two current Vorcha characters are a couple of my favourites to play as. I also like the bonuses that come with using Hunter Mode, though again like most people i hate the visuals (talk about headache inducing!), so needless to say i was quite looking forward to trying out this new character in game. On paper it looks as though you could spec the GT to do some serious damage with Flamer, seeing as both Fortification and HM provide bonus damage to powers. The reality is that yes, you can produce a really damaging Flamer but in order to do so, you're probably going to have to sacrifice some Fitness, which means you're pretty fragile. Neither of my other Geth characters have full Fitness but the GI has Tactical Cloak and the GE has his turret, both of which helps to keep me alive, even when using HM. The GT however, doesn't have anything to offset the disadvantages of having low health/shields, especially while in HM and in my first couple game, i found this really frustrating.
This leads me nicely onto the third power, Fortification. Despite the different name it's basically like any of the other armour/barrier powers of other characters. It's primary purpose is damage reduction, while also being able to be provide extra power and melee damage, should you chose to spec it that way and of course have it active. Fortification can not be detonated, instead it can be "purged" and in doing so, grants the player an increase in melee damage for a short amount of time. Personally, i don't usually detonate my armour/barrier at all and in general i don't melee a lot either, so this power is a moot point for me, i turn it on and that's that. As i mentioned earlier, i felt the GT was a bit more vulnerable than the other two Geth characters because he didn't have something to offset HM, i stand by this point even though the GT has Fortification at his disposal. When i was playing, it felt as though the armour was doing very little to keep me alive, in fact at times i wondered whether it was doing any damage reduction at all.
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| Vorcha Soldier |
OK, so now I've covered the powers, we can move onto the character comparison side of things. As i said earlier, there are two other characters equipped with Flamer and they're both Vorcha, except one is a soldier and the other is a Sentinel. Seeing as the GT is classified as a Soldier, i think it makes sense to pick the Vorcha from the same class, so for the purposes of this discussion, we're comparing HM with Bloodlust and Fortification against Carnage. Yes, i know Carnage is an physical offensive power and Fortification is a passive defensive one but just roll with me on this. To begin with, both HM and BL offer some form of power damage boost but while HM gives this bonus as soon as it is activated, BL requires kills before it comes into play. When it comes to something as deadly as the Flamer however, i think these bonuses are only really noticeable when dealing with bosses, so assuming you charred some basic level troops before going after a boss, you're looking at comparable damage in both cases. HM can increase weapon accuracy and damage, which is nice but not a
massive selling point for the GT, seeing as you'll most likely be using
the Flamer more than often than not and if you aren't, you should be.
The biggest advantage of using HM is of course the ability to spot enemies in cover, behind walls and through smoke, this let's you plan a stealth attack and hit the enemies from behind. But i should mention that while HM can give you an incredible edge over unsuspecting enemies, it's only really useful on small CQC maps or those with lots of corners. Additionally the reduction in shields when being used can be a death sentence, especially if you accidentally get overwhelmed in tight spaces or get caught out in the open by a barrage of enemy fire. I suppose if you choose to spec for max Fitness with the GT, using HM might be less of a concern but if like me you end up skipping some Fitness, you'll find that the GT is more fragile than the Vorcha. BL is an amazing ability and while it doesn't allow you to track enemies from safety, using it means you don't have to worry about taking the occasional hit to your health because if you can get to safety, you will fully heal over time.
When we look at Fortifcation and Carnage however, you'll find some significant differences between the characters in question. Fortifcation is a passive defensive power, it reduces the damage you take from enemies while it can also provide a boost to your Flamer. Carnage on the other hand does straight up damage when you hit an enemy with it, it can be used across all ranges but it's damage isn't that great, so if you're within Flamer range it becomes redundant and outside of Flamer range, you'll probably deal more damage with your weapon. It's hard to compare these two powers based solely on their purposes because they are inherently different but from my experiences of using characters with Flamer, it's definitely nice to have some sort of ranged attack. If we take both existing Vorcha for example, if I'm outside of Flamer range, i could use Carnage or Cluster grenades to keep enemies occupied while i close in. The GT only has Fortification, which doesn't affect enemies at all but i guess could help keep you alive as you get within Flamer range, though in practice it's not advised to rush enemies directly.
Anyway this brings me nicely onto the next topic, what gun to use on the GT? Well your main plan of attack is to burn everything, so with this in mind, you need something light to keep your cool down times low. At first i equipped a shotgun, the Piranha and at first it worked out pretty well; i was able to finish off enemies still alive after the BBQ and soften up bosses in between Flamer burst. Then i realised that i was quite vulnerable when it came to longer range firefights, especially if i had HM activated, the reduced shield and short range weapon mean i was getting dropped quite easily in some cases. I later tried a couple assault rifles and even the Indra sniper, this worked out much better and i found myself going down a lot less. The game plan is pretty simple to be honest, Flamer if the enemy is within range and shoot from safe cover if they're not. I didn't try any of the heavy pistols but i imagine they would be just as effective, if you follow the same plan of attack.
Flamer aside the two characters actually have quite a few of their own unique differences. True, your goal is to burn everything to cinders but how you go about achieving that is the real difference. The GTs Flamer fully specced for damage is more powerful than the Vorchas but in order to achieve this you'll need to have HM active and leave some points out of Fitness, so while you're able to smoke enemies pretty fast, they can down you almost as fast (faster, if we're talking about bosses). The Vorcha is much more agile than the GT and the fact that he can regenerate health means that even in the most dire situations, he could escape, heal and then return fully fit to the fight. The GT does have HM to avoid those sticky situations but as i said, unless the map is small and has a lot of cover, you might struggle to stay alive, let alone get in close enough to toast the enemy forces. So in summary; if i were to pick a character with Flamer as my character of choice, it probably would be one of the two Vorchas, unless I'm playing on a small/CQC map. I don't mind using the GT but for me, being able to regenerate via BL is just too useful, especially when the Flamer requires you to be in close proximity to enemies. As of now the GT just doesn't fill a role that doesn't already exist; Vorchas are still king of the Flamers because they can afford to take a few hits and if you're planning to use your weapon primarily, then there are several better candidates out there.
The biggest advantage of using HM is of course the ability to spot enemies in cover, behind walls and through smoke, this let's you plan a stealth attack and hit the enemies from behind. But i should mention that while HM can give you an incredible edge over unsuspecting enemies, it's only really useful on small CQC maps or those with lots of corners. Additionally the reduction in shields when being used can be a death sentence, especially if you accidentally get overwhelmed in tight spaces or get caught out in the open by a barrage of enemy fire. I suppose if you choose to spec for max Fitness with the GT, using HM might be less of a concern but if like me you end up skipping some Fitness, you'll find that the GT is more fragile than the Vorcha. BL is an amazing ability and while it doesn't allow you to track enemies from safety, using it means you don't have to worry about taking the occasional hit to your health because if you can get to safety, you will fully heal over time.
When we look at Fortifcation and Carnage however, you'll find some significant differences between the characters in question. Fortifcation is a passive defensive power, it reduces the damage you take from enemies while it can also provide a boost to your Flamer. Carnage on the other hand does straight up damage when you hit an enemy with it, it can be used across all ranges but it's damage isn't that great, so if you're within Flamer range it becomes redundant and outside of Flamer range, you'll probably deal more damage with your weapon. It's hard to compare these two powers based solely on their purposes because they are inherently different but from my experiences of using characters with Flamer, it's definitely nice to have some sort of ranged attack. If we take both existing Vorcha for example, if I'm outside of Flamer range, i could use Carnage or Cluster grenades to keep enemies occupied while i close in. The GT only has Fortification, which doesn't affect enemies at all but i guess could help keep you alive as you get within Flamer range, though in practice it's not advised to rush enemies directly.
Anyway this brings me nicely onto the next topic, what gun to use on the GT? Well your main plan of attack is to burn everything, so with this in mind, you need something light to keep your cool down times low. At first i equipped a shotgun, the Piranha and at first it worked out pretty well; i was able to finish off enemies still alive after the BBQ and soften up bosses in between Flamer burst. Then i realised that i was quite vulnerable when it came to longer range firefights, especially if i had HM activated, the reduced shield and short range weapon mean i was getting dropped quite easily in some cases. I later tried a couple assault rifles and even the Indra sniper, this worked out much better and i found myself going down a lot less. The game plan is pretty simple to be honest, Flamer if the enemy is within range and shoot from safe cover if they're not. I didn't try any of the heavy pistols but i imagine they would be just as effective, if you follow the same plan of attack.
Flamer aside the two characters actually have quite a few of their own unique differences. True, your goal is to burn everything to cinders but how you go about achieving that is the real difference. The GTs Flamer fully specced for damage is more powerful than the Vorchas but in order to achieve this you'll need to have HM active and leave some points out of Fitness, so while you're able to smoke enemies pretty fast, they can down you almost as fast (faster, if we're talking about bosses). The Vorcha is much more agile than the GT and the fact that he can regenerate health means that even in the most dire situations, he could escape, heal and then return fully fit to the fight. The GT does have HM to avoid those sticky situations but as i said, unless the map is small and has a lot of cover, you might struggle to stay alive, let alone get in close enough to toast the enemy forces. So in summary; if i were to pick a character with Flamer as my character of choice, it probably would be one of the two Vorchas, unless I'm playing on a small/CQC map. I don't mind using the GT but for me, being able to regenerate via BL is just too useful, especially when the Flamer requires you to be in close proximity to enemies. As of now the GT just doesn't fill a role that doesn't already exist; Vorchas are still king of the Flamers because they can afford to take a few hits and if you're planning to use your weapon primarily, then there are several better candidates out there.
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