Hydra vs. Neptune Community Challenge!

[fallen]

contributor - I wanted to confirm -- the scoring for "Neptunes deployed before Turn Goal" is just about getting them onto the field. I got 5 out before the Turn Goal, but I wasn't able to beat the level in the turn goal ... I still get 5?

[contributor]

Yes, you don't have to beat it in the turn goal, it's just that only Neptunes deployed before that count. I had to come up with some way to keep people from camping and pulling out as many as TP's would allow you.

[fallen]

contributor - yes, it was a good solution, but wanted to be sure I was posting fair scores.

[fallen]

I love battle reporting, especially the nasty stuff. Tunnel Complex ended my perfect run.

I made the decision to stick to my TPs and to lead a further assault against the eastern one. This put amazing stress on the team's HP and Heat, but we pulled it off.



Three turns later, bless the Neptune and very high level Capture Talent (one of the best Talents in the game).



However, the curse of the Heat came back to haunt us. By the time we took the third TP, Team Neptune was looking ragged.



The retreat to the extraction point was plagued by six different Templars including our Captain, Paladin and 4 Neptunes overheating to the point of critical shutdown. This made getting off the map very challenging.

In the end, Corith got stuck in a position I couldn't dislodge her from. If you look in the fog of the screenshot, you can see the 3 Goliaths coming down the pipe. They didn't kill her -- we gunned them all down, but she exploded from Overheating only seconds later. Shalun remembers the brave.



And so, while I posted a +5 for the level, I took my first death.

Loving the challenge -- thank you again contributor for putting this on. Really making some exciting play!

[xdesperado]

Might just be I'm a bit dense but.
Trying to figure out the point of taking so much time trying to bring out large numbers of a given Templar so you end up way over the turn limit. This becomes even harder to see how it proves anything when you also start losing Templars during all that extra time, especially due to heat.
This isn't aimed at anyone in particular and your all having fun with the challenge, just starting to think this isn't really going to prove which is "better".
Then again it's a good sign of the great balance that's been achieved in BF.

[fallen]

xdesperado - I if you look at the squad I had out, I used 8 of 12 available slots. I wasn't camping or taking extra time. I was on Nightmare and playing as fast as I possibly could. My choice was to retreat to 1 TP and ball up for a while, or to push harder and try to just go forward.

I was just clarifying with contributor about the intended rules.

I honestly think Neptunes will win this challenge because with OW, they can replace any squad member. Hydras lack the same kind of "I can do everything" that a Neptune brings to the table. As you said, the challenge is looking more at can you run an entire Neptune / Hydra squad? It is not examining, in their specialist role of 1 or 2 on the field, who is more effective?

I love the challenge and am +1 contributor every day. I've had an absolute blast, and it is making me sweat bullets every time I play now (as you can see in the screenshots!).

[contributor]

xdesperado I would like to reiterate that this will prove everything. That is a statement of faith and requires no proof, it simply is the way things are.

fallen, epic battle. I'm surprised you were able to get 5 Neptunes out. My Hydras set a new record on that level. We had the third TP bagged by the 6th turn. The rest was the afterparty barbecue. I honestly think Hydras will win just because they are more awesome than Neptunes by a factor of 3.7. They can light the world on fire which, I would like to remind you, is something Neptunes can't do.

[fallen]

contributor - lol and +1.

I disagree with your math, but I am very impressed you took that level so well.

I have been struggling a lot with pushing too hard too fast and should have pulled a second Engineer instead of a second Neptune.

Loving it. 3.7 my sass

[wascalwywabbit]

Mar 30, 2016 11:42:00 GMT -5 contributor said:

...I honestly think Hydras will win just because they are more awesome than Neptunes by a factor of 3.7. They can light the world on fire which, I would like to remind you, is something Neptunes can't do.

Mmm teammate barbecue for dinner smothered in awesome sauce factor 3.7...

Seriously cool watching you guys duke it out, but wouldn't you need to play on both sides of the debate otherwise your testing player skill and luck as much as hydras v neptunes? ... Full statistical significance obviously isn't practical for player # and time restraints.

[En1gma]

I'd be up for participating in the same challenge, but using the opposite specialist... What does everyone think?

[Deleted]

Wooo! Tunnel Complex down with 6 Neptunes and still no deaths! Had the third TP on turn 7 and then hung out for a couple turns just bringing the pain and the reinforcements.

I am just on Brutal, but I'm counting on no deaths to make up the difference.

I think my favorite thing about having 2 or 3 Neptunes on a front is that I can lay down Full Auto as much as I need and still protect the lane with OW. I also like that my Neptunes are starting to specialize. I've got one brave soul in the Obliterator Legion Relic. He doesn't even bother to gun down the scitterings because they can't dent him. I get to hold my fire until I get enough xeno and then wipe the floor with everyone.

I've got my first guy going with stabilizing platform and excited to see how it pans out.

As far as an alternate challenge running Hydras, I would probably be out, but I'm open to other thoughts on BF challenges for both Hydra/Neptune grudge matches or other challenges in general.

[fallen]

@rearick - very nice play! Team Neptune is making a hell of a showing. Keep up the no deaths and let's win this thing!

The Obliterating Legion Relic ... wow, that is fun to have on

I would highly suggest Full Vent Saving my team every level.

Muhahaha, rarrararara Team Neptune!

[Deleted]

fallen Wouldn't leave home without Full Vent for these guys. My new favorite tactic with it is to spam 4 or 5 uses on a single turn to go as low as I can with heat instead of doing it piecemeal. This has worked since I haven't been overextended and has helped me move quickly too. I just get to where I need to be then hunker down with Full Vent and OW.

The linchpin of my team is honestly my engineer with high level capture and the cyclone reactor. On TP assaults, I'm in and out quickly and then the xeno AI mostly bypasses my TP in favor of Templars so I don't have to use heat or Templar lives to defend on most maps. Looking through the rest of the challenge it looks pretty similar for mostly assault type missions.

Very excited about team Neptune taking the cup on this one. Looks like if we can avoid more deaths we could both be on pace to pass contributor

Still the best moment of this whole thing was reading about how he toasted his entire team.

[fallen]

@rearick - yep, it is clutch to use it 4 or 5 times in a Turn. The Ordnance to refill is only 200.

Lol, great similar tactic -- Cyclone Reactor + high level Capture = Winner!

Go Team Neptune! Just posted a 4 for my run in Artifact Vaults

The whole team just stepped up to MK18 Dominants.

[contributor]

Hey everyone, we're coming into the homestretch here. I'm not seeing En1gma or Brutus Aurelius on the spreadsheet yet. How is everyone doing?

And fallen, how did you get 4 Neptunes out in Artifact Vaults? I was thinking that wasn't possible given the turn limit. They have to come out on the last turn before the limit. So on turn 9 if the limit is 10. Maybe you were killing enough xenos though to make it work (can you tell I'm starting to get nervous?).

Also not to burst anyone's bubble, but I didn't actually fry my whole Hydra squad. I did self-immolated one Hydra, but guess what, you don't actually take damage from being in the AOE. You do gain heat from it though, which would be a major problem for a Neptune. What really killed me was not killing the incoming predators.