A well written guide for aspiring Citron players. Always makes me happy when I see someone besides myself playing one - hopefully this boosts his popularity slightly. He's amazing to play once you get a feel for the class.
Aside from learning to use his beam effectively, thing that makes him feel clunky initially (and usually is the hardest thing to get over) is learning to use both forms. I didn't play much Citron during the beta, as the form swapping felt super clunky back then. He just felt like one unnecessary gimmick to me back then. I gave him another shot when this game launched - and I was pleasantly surprised by how well I did compared to when I played him in the Beta.
The big thing I had to learn to do with Citron around launch was learning how to use EM Peach effectively. Once I learned rather quickly that the ability is an arcing projectile, it was just a matter of learning its capabilities to maximize it's potential. (And when to use the ability itself) As you said earlier, the beam does decent damage and is quite accurate. Combined with your peel shield, you can handle/deter most anything at mid range or beyond. EM Peach helps against Z Mechs, but it's also helpful at stopping Twister, Impkata, or even overconfident Scientist "ambushes".
You won't likely get the most points as Citron, but you'll certainly get a lot of glory if you play him right - especially if you get support from a teammate or two. The Citron is quite a presence to either side - a good Citron player can take an area and keep it, provided he doesn't get rushed too hard. (This applies on Offense or Defense) Since the Citron is fairly mobile, he shift his claimed turf easily. Citron players are annoying to remove off points, especially if they have backup.
"You won't likely get the most points as Citron, but you'll certainly get a lot of glory if you play him right"
Exactly my friend. My first moment playing this class i was used to do tons of mistakes.
Using shield when not necessary, Empeach wrong targets, using Beam wrong and not taking advatage of the Splash damage to kills imps, moving forward to enemy faces without thinking about my clunky animations, but once i figured the class i had many success.
Its not rare that i appear in top of scoreboard with the regular Citron.
With Frozen and Electro im more likely to take more assists, but that's fine since they are made for that.
