Upgrades Discussion: Foot Soldier Upgrades!
Hello and welcome to the Foot Soldier upgrade discussion! Unique Upgrades Ranger (2 upgrade points): When you are aiming your weapon, you get increased zoom, which means you are more effective in a...
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Ah Foot Solider, the workhorse zombie since GW launched back in 2014.
Ranger: Essentially discount camo ranger, but with the regular weapon.
Ammo thing-a-ma-bob: Extra ammo, never bad. Works well with the next one.
Bottomless: Getting 22 ammo every time you vanquish an enemy is a great upgrade and as usual, even better in PvE where there are lots of low health targets to vanquish in rapid succession.
Rapid Fire: This is straight up extra DPS and it also doesn't work right as it doesn't maintain a constant fire rate and instead accelerates its RoF and then slows back down again. This is one of the most busted upgrades in BfN as it is too good to not use, even if I only have it on 1 of my 3 soldier builds since I like to mix things up.
Smelling Salts: Like the nightcap version of this, it's a great idea but again, if plants know or even just suspect you're in the cloud, they're going to fire into it. Now foot soldiers have significantly more health than Nightcaps but they can't use stealth to throw the enemy team off as to if you ran into the cloud or not.
Sticky!: I rather like the idea of this one, but I see a lot of complaints about it to. I don't actually see it all that often in the game, but I've definitely been on the receiving end. It makes the stink cloud far more effective at damaging plants if you get a direct hit on one, and it is difficult to deal with as you can't see very well as the targeted plant!
Liftoff: Decent damage when using it near plants, especially against weeds for obvious reasons. It is a rocket blast so it makes sense it hurts nearby plants as well. Nothing bad to say about this one really.
Rocket Leap: Interesting that they use the alternate ability name from GW and GW2 but you don't lose vertical height and don't get a 2nd use of it unlike the GW games.
Propellant: Faster projectile means less time to react to getting hit by it. Since the time it takes to actually launch it hasn't changed, I don't mind this one. Had it shortened activation time it could be a problem as part of makes ZPG powerful but not oppressive is that it's obvious when a foot solider is launching it, something Imp Punt needs in the next game.
Shockwave: Is alright. Nothing amazing although nothing to be too worried about as a plant either. Useful to knock plants you don't vanquish with it off of objectives.
Biggest problem I have with these is that even with its firing rate issue, rapid fire is so good that it feels essential and you can feel its lack on other builds. Any time you have an ability that good it behooves you to use it more or less all the time.
These will be my thoughts for the upgrades:
Ranger: The increased zoom will be useful if you want to play somewhat like a sniper or when you attack at long range, although to get full effect of the upgrade, keep a distance from you and your enemies.
Ammo-Thing-A-Ma-Bob: The name is cool and I enjoy it, having extra maximum ammo is always useful in combat as you can keep firing without taking a break for longer. I have managed to vanquish enemies just before needing to reload because of this.
Bottomless: This is a useful way to gain ammo quickly while in combat. As it does not matter how you vanquish enemies, you can use your primary weapon or abilities to get a vanquish and restore ammo during combat. Great for maintaining Trigger Discipline.
Rapid Fire: Can be sort of annoying to set up, but once you get it going, the additional fire rate will allow you to deal damage much more rapidly, along with more efficient vanquishes. This is even more useful if you can increase your maximum ammo or restore ammo in a fight.
Smelling Salts: Super rad when you revive allies, although if reviving is not your thing, not really worthwhile. Move around when reviving an ally inside your Super Stink Cloud to make enemies think no one is in there if they miss their shots on you. Combo this with Refreshing Revive for improved results.
Sticky!: When you are affected by this as an enemy, it is super annoying. When you use this upgrade, it will become much easier to vanquish an affected enemy, or you can use this time to attack their allies while they cannot see and attack them after. Sticking it to surfaces can be useful near objectives or where enemies group.
Rocket Jump: Your Rocket Jump now becomes an effective form of mobility at no additional cost, so it is great when you need to get out of a battle or to get back more quickly. It is useful and can be utilised in many different situations that you could find yourself in.
Liftoff: Giving your Rocket Jump the ability to deal damage is useful and your enemies would not expect it. Use this when you are surrounded by enemies to escape and deal lots of damage, or it could be hiarlious if you vanquish an enemy with this when at low health.
Propellant: This is great, especially when your enemies do not see you activating your ZPG. Your enemies will have less time to react to it and it is more likely that you will get vanquishes with it. Your enemies probably will not know you have this upgrade so that can be useful.
Shockwave: The knockback on your ZPG could prove to be useful in some cases, although may be redundant as you will either vanquish the enemy or the knockback will be unnecessary. You could use it to keep enemies away from you or to scatter enemy groups when you deal splash damage.
Some of these upgrades combo great with each other, such as having extra ammo capacity and the ability to restore ammo. Trigger Discipline is an event that triggers when you vanquish multiple enemies without reloading, and it can give you great XP, so use ammo buff upgrades to assist with earning this additional XP.
