Favorite Weapon (Includes Experimentals)

[UpperKEES]

I find anti-creeper to be rather lackluster. Even at 4x production you simply don't make enough creeper to make much of an impact. The anti creeper is also so slow to spread and move unless you make a TON of repulsors, and if you are going to make that many, you might as well just make blasters or launchers instead. It seems "ok" until you run out of ore, which happens rapidly.

I agree you shouldn't use the makers for their killing power. Their maximum damage is 120,000 units of Creeper per second, which is nothing compared to the blaster (552,000/sec without upgrades) or the launcher (3,833,333/sec without upgrades) and upgrades don't apply to the maker. Their strength however lies in their defensive support abilities. They allow your weapons to move closer (in)to the Creeper and still receive ammo packets, thus making bunny hopping unnecessary. They allow your blasters to be more effective by taking care of the thinnest (least dense) Creeper and the maker is the only weapon that can block enemy build packets. Makers also come in handy when trying to contain an outburst of Creeper to the surface of a map. Finally good Creeper damages drones, allowing a blaster to kill a regular drone with 4 shots (instead of 5 because drones heal as well). Just see them as convenient support during your assaults. The fact that they hardly require energy (only a tiny bit for the ore rigs) after being built is also nice on energy tight maps. I'm sure you'll find some good use for them on future maps.

I'd suggest you need to sharpen up your game play. There hasn't yet been a map I've run out of Anti-Creeper. For some emitters that "sparkle" with strong emissions, you can blanket them in AC and then it makes it a lot easier to build the nullifier.

I rarely need a "TON" of either repulsors or blasters - thought I did early on.

Oh, I thought you also played Day 16 & 18 and Cubic.... :P You don't literally needs tons of weapons, but several dozens is pretty common. On the other hand I hardly ever build more than 2 makers, even when I would have enough ore to sustain them. This has nothing to do with sharp gameplay. Makers just aren't powerful killers, while upgraded blasters and launchers are.

[mthw2vc]

*snip*

You have forgotten perhaps the most important attribute of makers, they do not consume any energy on their own once built. As long as you have the ore, you can run them continuously at no cost.

[Emmote]

My problem with Makers is that Ore seems to be very sparse on most maps. I usually end up thinking "I really should save my ore for the next bit" and just never get around to using them.

As for my favourite weapon, it is without a doubt, the Launcher. It's extremely effective at destroying huge quantities of creeper.
The bonus is that you can use mini-rifts to shorten their missile path. Coupled with a Blaster or four for protection, Launchers can do some hefty damage.

Edit: Saying that, I love the Repulsor too. Saved my butt on many occasions.

[UpperKEES]

*snip*

You have forgotten perhaps the most important attribute of makers, they do not consume any energy on their own once built. As long as you have the ore, you can run them continuously at no cost.

I'm afraid you *snipped* too much:

The fact that they hardly require energy (only a tiny bit for the ore rigs) after being built is also nice on energy tight maps.

:P

[Karsten75]

I'm going to add something about ore and makers to my strategy guide.

[Omegatron]

I just love makers. I'm only half way through the single player campaign but I think I have built at least one maker on every mission. I find them to be more effective than I first thought.

[Yelik]

I haven't gotten to the experimentals but so far I would go with blasters. They are effective and quick, especially when fully upgraded, and are pretty inexpensive.