Having a hard time with the Rift Walkers

General discussion about the game.
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5thHorseman
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Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2013 2:29 am

Re: Having a hard time with the Rift Walkers

Postby 5thHorseman » Tue Jan 15, 2019 1:42 am

Early Rift Walkers can be hard, especially on Hard mode. They're pretty weak compared to the Vek they face.

Initial placement is important in Hard mode. In addition to "don't get webbed" (which isn't a terrible thing, really) I also like to bait vek that aim at multiple targets to aim at my mechs only, so I can ignore them on the first turn by simply moving my mechs (which I was going to do anyway). But the vek are crafty, and there is never a perfect place to set your guys where they won't find a way to screw you over. And even if you do find it, that's the round where the Tide I mean time pod will come down in the EXACT WORST SPOT ON THE BOARD and ruin everything.

Really your goal on the first island should be to look for 1- or 2-hp enemies and one of the basic bosses (avoid the spider and bot, essentially), and avoid the armor or healing psions for your first island (though that's not as important as 1hp enemies. If they're dead they don't heal). Also look for islands with no fliers, as RW has a lot of push potential to drown and drop enemies into pits. Doesn't matter if that alpha has 5hp when it's plummeting into an RST abyss.

I like to start with a pilot with +1 reactor (always, but on RW it's particularly good) and put them on the artillery so I can shoot buildings. Then as soon as you get the reactor from the pod, move that pilot to the prime mech for dash, or the brute mech so you have 2 people who can do 2 damage each.

Look for opportunities to bump and block spawns. punching a 3-hp vek into a 1-hp vek kills them both, and punching it onto a spawn kills it and blocks the spawn.
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Casual42
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Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 5:20 am

Re: Having a hard time with the Rift Walkers

Postby Casual42 » Wed Jan 16, 2019 5:24 pm

5thHorseman has good points, but I kinda disagree on a few things :
- being webbed might be harmless sometimes, but it is potentially very bad, and trying to prevent that is usually beneficial.
- Healing Psion is the best candidate for 1st island, as you can usually finish Veks in 1 turn since they are low on HP. All the other Psions are dangerous :
* Explosive is always dangerous (I keep it for 3rd or 4th when I have my dream team set up).
* Armor and Soldier (+1HP) both give a fixed bonus to Vek's durability. Since Vek's durability increases after each island, the bonus is proportionnally weaker the later you face it. +1 HP to a 1HP Vek is huge. +1 HP to a 5 HP Vek is negligible. Therefore, they should be faced on late islands if possible.
What remains is Healing Psion.

Of course, the island comes into account too. RST is usually tricky. Detritus Acid is great for neutralizing Armor Psion or for killing high HP Veks, so if you can keep it as 4th island it's usually the best. Pinnacle usually has many opportunities of freezing enemies and therefore the safest island, good pick for 1st if you're unsure.

@Jasonpaul Good idea trying to keep away your mechs from webs at start. You know what's even better ? Putting Camila Vera on the front so that webbers target her. It wastes their turn and you can protect other mechs by landing them behind. 2 birds with 1 stone.
Btw Camila Vera is completely OP. web immunity is good enough, smoke immunity is the cherry on the top.