Firefall BioEngineer Guide

Firefall BioEngineer Guide by Mewmix

Introduction

I am an avid gamer who loves firefall TO DEATH, and have been part of the beta for a very long time, nearly the beginning of beta. I play for the team VexX gaming who you can find out more about here: http://www.vexxgaming.com/ and are looking for more community members, and esports team members.

I main class BioTech, and secondary class Engineer as I prefer playing support. I have been playing competitive games since Starcraft Broodwar and now with Firefall coming closer to release and Esports becoming more of a focus I am looking to get a piece of the action.

I love helping people and teaching people as much so feel free to ask questions through PM, in game or through my stream at: www.twitch.tv/brutalitygaming

Intro:

The BioTech is a new class in comparison to the others, it came about from the remnants that was the Medic class, that was removed because it felt like it was too much of a necessity and gave less freedom of choice.

BioTech is a mixture of support with offensive capabilities which leads to some very exciting playstyles based on the abilities you choose.

First person or Third Person?:

Firefall gives you the option of playing in first or third person so really what is the best to use? First person is what many shooter fans will be used to, as it is super immersive as you see things through your character’s eyes. So why go into third person? Third person gives you better view of what is going on around you, and a bit of what is going on behind you, so it is much easier to tell when someone is shooting at you when you are running away so you can better dodge and get to cover. I have been playing in third person for a while and it feels much better than first person. My best advice, try both and see what works for you.

Weaponry:

Signature:

BioNeedler – this weapon is high rate of fire with super high accuracy. Your shots also have lifesteal to add to your self healing capabilities. For best results change your reticle to the TRIWEDGE, and the colour to whatever suits you. (I bounce between green and red based on day/night cycle, I find green is sometimes easier during the day, and red easier at night) The reason behind Triwedge is at the bottom left wedge is where your projectiles fire at if you are in third person (which is HIGHLY recommended), thus making it a lot easier to get headshots and kills. (I have posted below with a screenshot for reference)

Secondary:

Sub Machine Gun – one of the options the BioTech has access to, which boasts high rate of fire, decent spread but shorter range. For the most part I have found I pass over this weapon as you won’t really need this when you have your signature which is better accuracy, and has lifesteal to boot.

Assault Rifle – another one of the weapons the BioTech has, but like the SMG, not much point in picking this up with your signature.

Burst Rifle – this weapon is very similar to the AR but it has burst fire so the accuracy is high, range is good and has good damage. But again like the weapons above, you have your signature which is really amazing, use it.

Grenade Launcher – finally a weapon that gives the BioTech something that they lack, AOE! Most BioTechs run with Grenade Launcher, as it gives us something our Signature weapon doesn’t have which is the splash damage. If you are in a conflict with someone and “jousting” with them (mostly you will be engaging assaults by jousting), you can quickly change to your grenade launcher when your target is about to land, and drop a grenade right ontop of them when they land for an extra 300-500 burst of damage which is great. Also very useful for tossing around corners, or hitting corners when your target just ran around the corner.

Shotgun – a secondaryweapon which is best used in close quarters, as it has a giant spread to it at longer range. This weapon is extremly powerful at close range, and is one of the highest damaging weapons in the game when you can get a large amount of the projectiles to hit.

Abilities:

Many of the abilities you see in T1 carry over to T2, so in T1 I will list out the abilities, than in T2 I will list out the abilities that are new to that tier and which battleframe. When T3/4/5 are released I will do the same thing, and offer up what new things show up at each tier.

Tier 1

Healing Wave – an AOE heal which can have a knockback component to it. In PVE, the healing wave will not just knock back creeps, it will deal 500 AOE damage. In PvP it just knocks people back slightly which can get them off your buddy, or even push them off the side of objects so they have to jetpack back up.

Healing Ball – fires a green glowy ball out infront of you which can bounce off objects and will heal the first target it hits UNLESS you detonate it manually. If you hit the key for healing ball a second time it will explode healing only friendly targets in an AOE. In a recent patch you MUST heal a friendly target to get healed yourself.

Triage – a remnant from the medic, it gives the BioTech a 1 second resurrection on friendly targets, while the buff lasts which is a few seconds so you can get a few rezzes off during that time. The unfortunate part is, you will still be bent over rezzing so you CAN get shot at and potentially KILLED during that time so be careful. This is an ability you want to have available if you are running with friends. Getting that rez off, denies the enemy the point, but also means they are back in the fight sooner.

Poison Trail – the first damage ability that we get as a BioTech. This emits a cloud of poison where we walk for a few seconds. It has been recently nerfed for PvP, while PvE it remains the same. It slows down enemy’s movement speed, and does damage, every half a second while they remain in the cloud. For PvP you can cloud enemy’s vision while you go in for a rez, it can kill enemy bodies when they are downed and you can’t stand to execute them as the enemy is closing in, but also is a great escape mechanism through closed spaces. If you want to solo thump, this is a must-have.

Tier 2

Healing Frame – Dragonfly

The Dragonfly frame is denoted as the healing frame, it has multiple new healing abilities while doesn’t have that many damage abilities. It does have the same Poison Trail we picked up in Tier 1 which does help out immensely.

Healing Shot – the next shot will put a heal over time on your target (friendly only I think, haven’t actually hit an enemy with it yet). This ability is incredibly hard to hit at time of writing and the healing provided is rather lackluster, even crafted. You must have ammo for you BioNeedler to function. Feedback has been left and hope that it will be increased in the future.

Healing Leash – high skillshot ability but has recently been changed so it is MUCH better than before. In testing the thing is crazy, lasts a decent while AND has a decent range. Problem is it is still breaking FAR too easy. Hitting someone in the head with this still doesn’t do much you have to hit center mass for it to work. If you can land it get ready for some major healing!

Healing Pillar – This drops something similar to healing ball which lands on contact with the ground, or a player. After 2 seconds it seems, it explodes providing a large heal to someone standing in the pillar of light when it goes off.

Damage Frame – Recluse

The Recluse frame is the damage frame, boasting multiple new damage abilities. While it does have the usual heals – Triage, healing wave and healing ball it doesn’t have any new healing abilities.

Creeping Death Dart – this provides the next shot will create a poison cloud where it lands. This is unlike poison trail, as anyone who touches the cloud will be poisoned and take damage for the full duration (3 or so seconds). This abiliy is going be buffed in the near future to be stronger than it is in the current version.

Kinetic Shot – very high skillcap ability, as your next shot will be imbued with power, making it deal significantly more power, based on the distance to your target. Essentially, the further away they are, the more damage it will hit for. It also has the headshot multiplier of many other abilities, which is higher than normal so trying to go for the headshot is important, but landing it is most important. Aiming it is the same as your BioNeedler, so should be fairly easy to hit.

Evacuate – this provides a reverse afterburner, it makes you jump backwards a decent amount, with a large vertical boost. Can be useful for going from the lower level of Oil Rig to the top level quickly. This ticks what feels like every half second and the cloud it leaves behind is very blinding. This lasts for only a few seconds though.

Loadouts:

Loadouts are based on personal preference, and there is about to be a change in crafting so here’s some suggestions for the moment, until the crafting system gets an overhaul.

Signature – Rate of Fire on Bioneedler is the best hands down. No question here, higher DPS = enemy dies faster = you are alive to fight someone else. It also means more healing/second from it.

Secondary – Grenade Launcher is great, most times I just go with stock Accord Grenade Launcher because of weight constraints. AOE radius would be useful, as well as reload speed as both are slow. Rate of fire is a possibility, but most of the time you will be using your signature and targets will be airborn, making hitting them with grenades difficult.

Ammo – If you can afford it, I try to use +damage ammo, with clip size. Max ammo isn’t much of an issue, if you are killing people you can pick up ammo powerups or you can find them on the map. But running out of a clip in the middle of a fight can mean your death. Hitting for nearly 100, instead of hitting for 75 is a BIG difference, so +damage increases your DPS dramatically.

Plating – A few options in this category, you have Health, which I am using and enjoying it. Regen, secondary stat, not that useful when you can heal yourself fairly often, and if you are shooting someone you get regen from that. Damage reduction (can’t bring myself to use it as I am not damage spongy enough, I leave this for dreads.

Servos – Hands down you are looking at Sprint Speed and Run Speed. Personally I am using Sprint Speed as if I am trying to escape, I need to SPRINT to get away, nobody can outrun a BioTech or an Assault (unless Assault is using afterburner then they outrun us)

Jetpacks – A few choices here again, you have Recharge Rate which is very useful on maps like Shanty Town where you will be bouncing around a LOT. You can also get Jetpack Cost which means you can fly longer, again on Shanty Town is VERY useful. You also have Thrust Strength which means you fly faster and can escape slow dreads a bit easier. In the current state of the game, if you jetpack in a straight line, you die so go with Cost with Recharge, or Recharge with Cost whichever fits you best. Generally if you can sprint around, it is going to be faster than jetpacking, and can usually provide better cover.

Abilities Loadout:

Depending on your tier and what frame you are running this will change, so I am going to discuss the different possibilities and you can pick and choose. I will give suggestions, but think before you pick.

Healing Ball – THE most important ability you will EVER have. You ALWAYS want this on your bar. No questions here, it is the strongest heal. As for modifications, you want a shorter cooldown, for more healing when you need it, splash radius is also useful. Healing ball already heals for a large amount so you don’t need healing strength on this (AT THE MOMENT!)

Triage – the next most important ability you will have. Getting off fast rezzes is VERY important to deny your enemy points, and getting your momentum back rolling. If you are running with an organized team, you want this no questions. If you are running a pick-up-group, you may not always have team who will cover you when you go for rezzes, so can be risky to use this over something else.

Healing Wave – my second ability most of the time when I am running T1 PUG PvP. I love the AOE healing of it. Most of the time I will be running under someone who is retreating and can land a healing wave on them for them to keep fighting. I usually run healing strength on this, because the difference between a 300 hp heal and a 500 hp heal is rather large. Having cooldown reduction doesn’t do much for this, if it heals for only 300 it is essentially worthless.

Poison Trail – as I stated above, there are some great uses for this. When I am running Dragonfly in T2 many times, if I am not running healing leash.

Creeping Death Dart – if you are running Recluse, you want this hands down. Damage and duration are two key things here. You can get the damage around 88 dmg/sec with a duration about 5 seconds. This provides area denial, drop it on downed enemies, or on a choke point and enemies do not want to pass through it because of the damage everybody will take, even for a single tick.

Kinetic Shot – haven’t played with this as much as I am running double heals and creeping death dart when I run Recluse. You probably want higher Velocity so you can hit shots easier but damage may be useful.

Evacuate – again if you are running recluse, you WANT this. This is a great escape but can also allow you to push in to enemies, and then evacuate, leaving behind a high damaging cloud as well as getting away.

Healing Leash + Healing shot – healing leash has its place in T2 finally! It is a wonderful ability but healing shot is still pretty lackluster unfortunately.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *