Thoughts on the various perks/modules

I have been playing this game a ton, and unlocked and used most of the perks. Here are my impressions of the ones I have used so far-


Armor Modules
Really, none of these seem to be that great. I like the Armor Enhance the best, as at level 2 you move almost as well as unarmored.


Air Stomp - Lame perk in my opinion. Even if it worked better than it does, how many times in a game is it useful? I guess the no falling damage would be OK at level 2, but again- how many times do you take falling damage in a game?
Default = Perform a powerful downwards attack when in the air.
Upgrade II = No Damage suffered from falling long distances.
Upgrade III = Faster Recovery After Air Stomp Attacks.

Threat Tracer – I’ve used this a lot to level up, but really it is not very good. It’s only particularly useful for finding long range snipers, and then only useful if you survive the sniping attack. Not one I would invest in.
Default = Highlights Incoming Bullet Paths.
Upgrade II = Highlights Incoming Grenades.
Upgrade III = Highlights Explosives Nearby.

Proximity Alarm – I didn’t find this useful either, as the range is very small. The enemy is basically on top of you before it goes off, and by then they are shooting you in the back. Plus, I don’t seem to hear it very well. I also do not think it works vertically, as I have had people above and below me and the alarm never signals. It’s either that is only works in a plane, or the distance is so pitiful it doesn’t pick someone up on a platform 5 feet above.
Default = Automatic Warning when an enemy is nearby.
Upgrade II = Increased Warning Frequency when an enemy is nearby.
Upgrade III = Maximum Warning Frequency when an enemy is nearby.

Armor Enhance – My perk of choice in the Armor module. Again, the added speed at level 2 makes it worth it alone, besides having the decreased energy drain.
Default = Reduces Drain Speed of Energy when in Armor Mode.
Upgrade II = Increase Movement Speed in Armor Mode.
Upgrade III = Protects Against the Nanosuit Jammer Bonus.

Nano Recharge – One that seems pretty good. I just unlocked it last night, and when I survived a close fight I could tell there was some advantage to having it. I’m thinking it will be much better when leveled up. Your energy recharges pretty fast in this game, so I don’t know how huge of a difference it will make in relation the having your energy drain slower with Armor Enhance.
Default = Faster Health Recharge.
Upgrade II = Faster Suit Energy Recharge.
Upgrade III = Shorter Delay before Health Starts Recharging.

Energy Transfer – Not too good at first, but becomes a powerhouse for sustained battles later one. You have to kill the enemy to get any energy, and it’s not a ton (20-25%) at level1. It can help if you have your armor mode engaged and are taking on multiple enemies. The max upgrade is nice you instantly recharge stealth with a kill if you start the fight firing while in stealth mode. To me the energy recharges so fast anyhow, I don’t know if this is worth having over the slower drain and additional perks of Armor Enhance, but does come n handy when fighting multiple enemies..
Default = Restores Nanosuit Energy with each Kill. (25%?)
Upgrade II = Restores additional Nanosuit Energy with each kill. (50%?)
Upgrade III = Restores Full Nanosuit energy with each kill.

Detonation Delay – A perk I have not used, but really have no interest in. I am rarely killed by grenades anyhow, so I don’t see a big use for it. It might help when holding down a point when the enemy is spamming grenades, but I would rather have my armor last longer using the Armor Enhance perk.
Default = Delays the detonation of nearby Grenades.
Upgrade II = Delays the detonation of enemy explosives.
Upgrade III = Provides an automatic Defenses against enemy missile attacks.



Stealth Modules
There are some good perks here. I still haven’t tried them all out, as my stealth is the lowest of my ranks as I run more in Armor mode.


Stealth Enhance – Not too useful at the first level, but by level 3 is awesome. The one to use if you spend the majority of the time in stealth mode.
Default = Faster transition in and out of stealth mode.
Upgrade II = No shadow cast in Stealth mode.
Upgrade III = Reduces Energy Drain in Stealth Mode.

Blind Spot – This is good depending on how many radar bonuses the other team gets. I prefer perks that are useful most all of the time, but this is still a good one.
Default = Provides protection from enemy maximum radar bonus.
Upgrade II = Provides protection from enemy tagging.
Upgrade III = Become less visible to enemies in Nano Vision.

Covert Ops – Very nice perk, just like Ninja pro on COD. I use this a lot, and like not hearing my own footsteps as they always sound like they are coming from behind me. This is particularly useful if you have surround sound or nice headphones.
Default = Reduces the sound of Footsteps.
Upgrade II = Provides protection from the ceph Airstrike bonus.
Upgrade III = Enemy footsteps are louder within range.

Tracker – I like this perk and use it often, but it’s not that great. When enemies go into stealth, so do their footsteps so it is not as good as I hoped. I still like it, and the added direction of level 2 is nice. Bad thing is even the arrows direction is hard to see sometimes.
Default = Highlights the footsteps of the nearby enemies.
Upgrade II = Highlights enemy routes with direction.
Upgrade III = Highlights enemy routes with increased frequency.

Visor Enhance – Not great but good. Works any time you are aiming down the gun, even with the iron sights. Doesn’t seem to work on cloaked enemies. I know I have sighted some cloaked enemies in my scope and they didn’t glow at all, then I have also seen other times it appears they did. Maybe if they go to cloak while they were sighted in they stay glowing- I’m not sure. I’ve only used it a little and need to experiment more.
Default = Highlights enemies through weapon scope.
Upgrade II = Provides protection against flash bang grenades.
Upgrade III = Reduces energy cost of Nano Vision.

Jammer – I haven’t unlocked this one yet, but it seems to be OK. I always think it is a give away to your enemy that you are near, so I’m not a fan of the perk.
Default = Scrambles the radar of enemies within range.
Upgrade II = Provides protection against enemy radar jammer attacks.
Upgrade III = Scrambles the radar of enemies within an increased range.

Cloak Tracker – I used this in the demo and didn’t think it was that great. Of course here with the different upgrades it might be better as I only used it on the default level. I haven’t unlocked it for this play through.
Default = Identifies whereby nearby enemies enter stealth mode.
Upgrade II = Increase the visibility of the cloaked enemies.
Upgrade III = Maximum visibility of cloaked enemies.



Power Modules
This is where the good perks lie IMO. I like most all of them, and normally have trouble deciding which to use.


Side Pack – Extra ammo is always good, and at level 2 an extra nade or other explosive is even nicer. At level 3 an extra noob tube would be icing on the cake. I don’t find myself using this much, but it is a nice perk for those who survive long enough to need the extra ammo capacity. It does work with the extended mag on the weapon upgrades to give you even more ammo.
Default = Allows an additional magazine of primary ammunition to be carried.
Upgrade II = Allows an additional grenade or explosive to be carried.
Upgrade III = Allows additional attachment ammunition to be carried.

Point Fire Enhance- This is good for the run and gunners, and I liked it with the Feline when I was using it. At level 3 it would help when you dismount the turrets.
Default = Reduces the spread of Primary weapons when shooting from the Hip.
Upgrade II = Reduces the spread of secondary weapon when shooting from the hip.
Upgrade III = Reduces the spread from mounted weapons when shooting from the hip.

Aim Enhance – I like this perk for long range shooting with an AR. It doesn’t seem to take as much of the recoil out of the animation as I hoped, but it does look to keep the bullets more focused and in a tighter pattern when spraying. I’m interested in getting this to level 3, so I might be able to run and move more freely while aiming down the site like in R6.
Default = Decreases weapon recoil when aiming down sight.
Upgrade II = Reduces Aim Shake from explosives.
Upgrade III = Increases mobility when aiming down sight.

Loadout Pro – I like this a lot too, as it allows me to carry a close range weapon and a long range one (though I do run both subs with it sometimes too). Will be particularly handy once I unlock the grenade launcher now that I have it to level 3. The only kicker is the super slow animation to switch weapons. You switch to a pistol much faster, and the machine pistol is pretty darn good, making me second guess this one the more I use it.
Default = Allows an additional Primary Weapon to be carried in place of secondary weapon.
Upgrade II = Removes the weight penalty from weapon attachment.
Upgrade III = Increases mobility speed when carrying heavy weapons.

Mobility Enhance – Another good perk. Pair it with the Armor Enhance or Stealth Enhance at level 3, and you can stay armored/cloaked up and sprint the field much more effectively. I don’t use it a lot as I like the other perks, but it is a really good on to have if you are constantly on the move.
Default = Reduces energy drain from sprinting and jumping.
Upgrade II = Increases Ledge Grab Speed.
Upgrade III = Faster Firing After Sprinting.

Retriever – My favorite perk. Allows you to play the parameter of the map without having to venture into hazardous situations to retrieve fallen tags and risk killing your streak. Having “hard-line” added to not venturing out to grab the fallen tags is going to be huge in rolling out the kill streaks. It’s also nice when you throw those blind grenades across the map!
Default = Automatically collect Dog Tags from killed enemies.
Upgrade II = Support Bonuses require one less Dog Tag to activate.
Upgrade III = Support Bonuses remain active for longer.

Weapon Pro – Perk I haven’t unlocked yet. Mainly I use the Feline and Scar, which both reload pretty fast. Still, I’m sure it’s a good perk and every upgrade (Faster ADS/Faster Weapon Switch) is going to be helpful. There were just other perks I wanted to try out, and seeing as this one is pretty much a given on its usefulness, I elected to save it for a later unlock.
Default = Faster Weapon Reloading.
Upgrade II = Faster Aiming Down Sight.
Upgrade III = Faster Switching between weapons.

Rapid Fire Pro – I don’t have this unlocked either, as I mainly use the Feline and didn’t think it was necessary. Plus it is one of those where you know what you are going to get, and I wanted to try the others first. I’m sure this is a good perk, and one I will probably use a lot later on.
Default = Faster Fire Rate on primary weapons.
Upgrade II = Faster Fire Rate on secondary weapon.
Upgrade III = Faster Fire Rate on mounted weapons.


Post up your thoughts and experiences with the perks. I will be updating as I use and upgrade more of them.

~mrmiller

What does "no shadow cost" mean on Stealth Enhance?

S7 Coolhand wrote:What does "no shadow cost" mean on Stealth Enhance?

I think that should have been cast not cost. I will change it.

~mrmiller

Oh! Yeah now thinking bout it I remember finding a cloaked guy because I could see his shadow - I will probably use that one.

I did notice that when you run extended mag you get a little more ammo. So with the SCAR start with 160 shells, 40 in the mag with 120 reserve. When running extended mag you start with 50 in the initial magazine with 120 in reserve, for a total of 170 and you net 10 more rounds. I decided to test this with side pack perk and found you gain even more rounds. Normally with side pack you get an additional magazine, so you have the initial 40 shot mag with 160 in reserve (120 + the 40 extra mag) for 200 total shells. If you are running extended mag, you get a spare extended mag, so you have the initial 50 shot mag with 170 in reserve (120 + the 50 extra extended mag) for a total of 220. So that's pretty cool that you normally would only have 160 shots, but with extended mag and the side pack you can get up to 220. It might not be such a big deal, but I would think if you are using something like the shotgun or sniper that have limited ammo it would be an even better.

I tested only with the SCAR and found:
Normal = 40/120 = 160
Extended mag = 50/120 = 170
Side Pack = 40/160 = 200
Ext Mag + Side Pk = 50/170 = 220

I made a note in the Side Pack listing above.

~mrmiller

Currently using stealth enhance lvl 3, mobility 3, and nanorecharge. Love the setup as I can run cloaked forever........

S7 Zalacious wrote:Currently using stealth enhance lvl 3, mobility 3, and nanorecharge. Love the setup as I can run cloaked forever........

Have you upgraded Energy Transfer yet? I finally got it up and love it. You can start shooting when cloaked without disengaging first, and you just end back up with full energy. Plus if you are fighting a large group with armor on, you can keep recharging to be the last one standing. Very good at the later levels. I need to level up the nanorecharge to the later levels to compare.

~mrmiller

Leveling nanorecharge is a major pain. Next unlock I might try energy transfer