Today I'm gonna talk about Vanguards. Now, Vanguards' core ability is biotic charge. Since it is a power that puts you in melee range with the enemy, lots of players are afraid to use it on sync-capable opponents.
Those who play vanguards more are aware that most sync-capable enemies are perfectly safe to charge, so long as you know their animations and are capable of charging at the right time. Since I guess that most of those who are reading this are at this level or above, I am not going to delve into explaining how to safely charge say, a Brute.
But, even those players and bsners who regularly play Vanguards usually advice not to charge two enemies: Praetorians, and Banshees in teleport mode.
With this thread, I hope to be able to show you that it's indeed possible to safely charge a teleporting Banshee, under some quite general circumstances. It is also possible to charge Praetorians, but that requires more know-how and, in some cases, that you play a Slayer, so I will talk about it later.
How is it possible at all to charge teleporting Banshees? Aren't they primed for a sync-kill when they teleport? If they are, then it should not be possible to charge them safely when they teleport.
The point is... They are not. I think I understand why people have always believed, from the start of the game, that Banshees are primed for syncs when they teleport. It is because their sync-kill-primed stance actually happens sometimes during their teleport phase, and they are capable of switching to it surprisingly quickly. As a result, people have always mistaken the teleport phase as a whole for the sync-kill priming.
But the truth is different. Have you ever seen a Banshee teleporting around and then stopping for a while, walk a bit, and then start teleporting again? I'm sure you have. Well, that is their sync kill stance. When they walk around while in teleport phase. Do not, I repeat, do not approach them when they do that, it's the recipe for spectator mode.
So, when do they switch to the sync-primed stance? It's pretty easy: whenever there is a player in sync-kill range. But, and here is the key point, it takes a while for them to do that. Mind you, a very short while. But still, it takes time. If you dodge as soon as a Banshee teleports next to you, for example, you won't get synced, at least on host.
The time being so short is the reason why everyone has always believed they are primed when they teleport.
But, thing that is more of interest to us, the fact that there is a time, even if very short, is what actually allows us to safely charge Banshees while they teleport. Let me show you how.
It is safely doable under the following circumstances:
- you use a dodge-capable Vanguard
- you host.
Failure to follow either of these two requirements usually leads to spectator mode, although there are exceptions.
I will not take any responsability for the sync kills that happen if you fail to meet those prerequisites!
A word of warning: timing and reflexes are quite important, in order to do this correctly. Although if you dodge immediately the Banshee cannot grab you the first time, she might teleport again, next to the place where you dodged to, putting you in the position of risking a sync. If that happens, you need to have quick reflexes and dodge again. However, if your timing is good, that almost never happens. The "right" time is hard to describe, and it's something that can only be learned by doing it over and over again, I guess. I hope the video shows that enough for people to get a hang of it.
Obviously, you should not, under any circumstance, charge a Banshee while she walks during teleport mode. This is what happens if you do
Now, onto Praetorians.
I have not talked about the ways to charge Bansees while they're in warp-mode because well... It's fairly easy honestly
But for Praetorians, I will give a quick explanation of when it is safe to charge them, always assuming you play a dodge capable Vanguard on host. Basically, it's safe to do so whenever the Praetorian is engaged in some form of animation apart from the melee one.
That includes lazoring, missiling, sync-killing someone, lunging forward, becoming possessed and, mostly, hovering around. Yes, when they float you can charge them without worrying to get synced, if you dodge back fast enough. You won't damage them because of the lolbubble, but you'll still replenish your shields, plus force them on the ground if you need it.
Those are the only moments when it's safe to charge them with "normal" Vanguards. They account for a very big part of their in-game existance anyway, so it's mostly possible to do that.
But there are some moments in which they just walk on the ground, without performing any animation. In those moment, there is only one Vanguard that can (somewhat) safely charge them, and it's the Slayer.
If your dodge timing is good enough, you'll dodge out of the sync range before getting staggered by the melee, which will make it impossible for the Praetorian to sync you. Still, you will take damage from the melee since it's super quick, and the damage will be quite substantial too. Depending on your build, consumables, and the situation, charging them in this state might, or might not, be good for your shields.
However, there is always a slight change of getting synced when you try this, and you should be aware of that. I estimate it as no more than 5-10%, so it's pretty low, but it's still there, and it's noticeable. It's not exactly clear to me what causes these syncs, but I'm guessing that when the timing of the dodge becomes so essential, even one slight derping from the engine can result in something that does not usually happen.
The video includes a part where I show how to charge Praetorians with a Slayer. Some charges happen during animations, but some of them happen when they just walk around too.
Finally, I apologize for the low quality of the vid and the audio being slightly un-synced in some parts. It's because I recorded the different footages at different times, and some of them are quite old and at the time I still recorded at a very low quality. VDub also had some problem with the audio sync while putting the vids together, so... I hope it doesn't annoy you too much.
Well... I think that's all I had to say, really. I hope this can help some people to improve theire handle of Vanguards, and of the game as a whole :happy: If you have any question, comment, or constructive criticism please, do post a reply here. I will answer to the best of my abilities and/or take note of it.
Also, as a separate note, I have decided to change the settings of my YouTube channel so that my videos are now public. Some people asked me to and I realized there was really no reason not to comply. I hope people enjoy the vids as much as I enjoyed making them :happy:
Edited by Deerber, 06 August 2013 - 09:07 PM.
Back to top
Nice guide. Listen to this guy...he knows vanguards....and he's my DrellGod brother:devil:
