I used to think conductive thermals was a mid overclock until I realized how OP it becomes when paired with lightning arrows. If you shoot two lightning bolts into the same enemy then switch to the drak and shoot it with CT it will melt big enemies in seconds, even dreadnoughts.
Happy to see this! Some addendums: 2 of the OCs talked about here have some sneaky tech / tips that completely change the game on them. Particularly, Conductive Thermals and Shield Battery Booster. Conductive Thermals might as well be the most busted damage oc in this game. It can buff every Boomstick OC (as long as you take phosphorus shells mod), nearly all of the Boltshark's special uses, and helps with zhukov on cryo minelets (i guess). But it shines on two fronts: Explosive shots on Conductive thermals procs both effects twice. That is, instead of adding 1 to the max 30 stacks of thermal vulnerability, it adds two (except on armor). That means that, if you shoot an opressors weakpoint / naedocite breeder anywhere twice, they get instafrozen from one cryo nade. (4 stacks = 2 from each shot = instafreeze) This also applies to the 5% bonus thermal damage, which stacks infinitely but each stack only lasts 10 seconds i think. Which means there is an effective cap, but you can get it upwards of 600% easily. That boosts jumbo shells immensely, and even just special powder gets to double tap a praetorian in haz5 4 player scaling (the fire ends it off). But the star of the show is taser bolts. Any big foe melts under it. Shoot a taser bolt, then spam their weakpoint with conductive thermals until born ready procs a reload. Then shoot a second bolt, repeat. It can kill a Bulk in 2-3 bolts plus slows them severely and can anchor other nearby bolts. This melts dreadnoughts while still allowing your team to chime in. Most pubs you'll have at least someone running elemental damage - driller's whole schtick gets boosted except goo, gunner's burning hell + volatile goes to the moon and is pretty common, and engi's love the fire + electric boosts with stuff like stubby and beam. At last, shield battery booster has a trick- you have to swap the armor upgrade for the one that makes your shield take longer to start recharging, but does so faster. The multiplicative bonus shears off a good 3-4 seconds on getting to full shield, and a good scout should ALWAYS be kiting - grappling hook is a survivability tool. Stacking this with the active shield perk and you can boost teammates + get a boost on proximity, which allows ludicrous survivability AND immunity to chip damage AND a lot more damage. While not as straightforward as other builds, it can be a difference maker on higher hazards. Stack it with special powder to get as close to broken as you can get in this game without putting on NTP on auto cannon. (Just remember shield disruption!)
@@jimbo491 Definitely fair! Although I will say, i felt the same before testing both - and eventually set on longer delay because chip damage on haz5 / haz5++++ is so ludicrous that taking longer delay ALWAYS means it's faster. (from 12~ seconds to 7-8~ seconds or something crazy like that, which allows for you to get the 50% damage bonus back faster). The way the multiplicative bonus from the OC works is that it stacks with regen IIRC, so the delay really doesn't matter much - plus if you need to regen quick, being near a teammate for like 2 seconds with shield link makes it so the delay is almost back to normal. Highly recommend you give it a spin!
Plasma splash far outdoes the damage penalty on CT because half of its damage gains the ramping bonuses. It’s also just insanely powerful in any semi-coordinated teamplay. Dreadnoughts become a joke and many other big enemies too, especially with a driller.
I recommend for OCs that penalize overheats on the Drak, opt for no upgrade on T5. Especially /w SBB. This makes managing heat easier/safer. SBB requires high mobility play. Chip damage costs you the bonus but the shield recharges fast. Treat like a high RoF mid range sniping option.
Conductive thermals is best played with plasma splash for a 2-fold synergy on its own. Plasma splash also applies the debuff stacks so thats double the build up rate, and plasma splashes damage is partially fire like most plasma weaponry in the game so that debuff for extra element damage feeds back in to the DRAK against bigger enemies. Besides if you take conductive thermals you generally build for elemental damage anyways to capitalize on it (fire boomstick or cryo/fire bolt nishanka with taser bolts)
overclocks like OPA and SBB are slept on, to be honest. Scout overall has enough room for skill expression in movement to avoid those downsides when it matters most and feel really stylish while doing it. I use one of the two virtually all the time and switch between them based on if I'm playing close to my team or not (since SBB benefits from shield link when you can proc it)
Love your videos, small note about conducting thermals though, it allows the application of elemental weaknesses against enemies that are normally highly resistant, as such when i combine it with white phosphorous shells on the shotty it blasts through enything including bosses... P.s. i don't know if you knew but plasma splash makes the debuff aply twice to allows not only stacking way faster but also higher as one part of the stack has a time limit not a stack limit even though it makes the base damage literally 1....
I used to think conductive thermals was a mid overclock until I realized how OP it becomes when paired with lightning arrows. If you shoot two lightning bolts into the same enemy then switch to the drak and shoot it with CT it will melt big enemies in seconds, even dreadnoughts.
Happy to see this! Some addendums:
2 of the OCs talked about here have some sneaky tech / tips that completely change the game on them. Particularly, Conductive Thermals and Shield Battery Booster.
Conductive Thermals might as well be the most busted damage oc in this game. It can buff every Boomstick OC (as long as you take phosphorus shells mod), nearly all of the Boltshark's special uses, and helps with zhukov on cryo minelets (i guess). But it shines on two fronts:
Explosive shots on Conductive thermals procs both effects twice. That is, instead of adding 1 to the max 30 stacks of thermal vulnerability, it adds two (except on armor). That means that, if you shoot an opressors weakpoint / naedocite breeder anywhere twice, they get instafrozen from one cryo nade. (4 stacks = 2 from each shot = instafreeze)
This also applies to the 5% bonus thermal damage, which stacks infinitely but each stack only lasts 10 seconds i think. Which means there is an effective cap, but you can get it upwards of 600% easily. That boosts jumbo shells immensely, and even just special powder gets to double tap a praetorian in haz5 4 player scaling (the fire ends it off). But the star of the show is taser bolts.
Any big foe melts under it. Shoot a taser bolt, then spam their weakpoint with conductive thermals until born ready procs a reload. Then shoot a second bolt, repeat. It can kill a Bulk in 2-3 bolts plus slows them severely and can anchor other nearby bolts. This melts dreadnoughts while still allowing your team to chime in.
Most pubs you'll have at least someone running elemental damage - driller's whole schtick gets boosted except goo, gunner's burning hell + volatile goes to the moon and is pretty common, and engi's love the fire + electric boosts with stuff like stubby and beam.
At last, shield battery booster has a trick- you have to swap the armor upgrade for the one that makes your shield take longer to start recharging, but does so faster. The multiplicative bonus shears off a good 3-4 seconds on getting to full shield, and a good scout should ALWAYS be kiting - grappling hook is a survivability tool. Stacking this with the active shield perk and you can boost teammates + get a boost on proximity, which allows ludicrous survivability AND immunity to chip damage AND a lot more damage. While not as straightforward as other builds, it can be a difference maker on higher hazards. Stack it with special powder to get as close to broken as you can get in this game without putting on NTP on auto cannon. (Just remember shield disruption!)
I prefer faster shield recharge delay. SBB’s biggest weakness is chip damage and 1 second recharge delay feels sooooo good
@@jimbo491 Definitely fair! Although I will say, i felt the same before testing both - and eventually set on longer delay because chip damage on haz5 / haz5++++ is so ludicrous that taking longer delay ALWAYS means it's faster. (from 12~ seconds to 7-8~ seconds or something crazy like that, which allows for you to get the 50% damage bonus back faster).
The way the multiplicative bonus from the OC works is that it stacks with regen IIRC, so the delay really doesn't matter much - plus if you need to regen quick, being near a teammate for like 2 seconds with shield link makes it so the delay is almost back to normal. Highly recommend you give it a spin!
Conductive Thermals is slept on
Plasma splash far outdoes the damage penalty on CT because half of its damage gains the ramping bonuses. It’s also just insanely powerful in any semi-coordinated teamplay. Dreadnoughts become a joke and many other big enemies too, especially with a driller.
I recommend for OCs that penalize overheats on the Drak, opt for no upgrade on T5. Especially /w SBB. This makes managing heat easier/safer. SBB requires high mobility play. Chip damage costs you the bonus but the shield recharges fast. Treat like a high RoF mid range sniping option.
I like the shield battery booster simply because it makes Scout the tankiest character in the game, outside of the % mitigation Gunner build
Conductive thermals is best played with plasma splash for a 2-fold synergy on its own. Plasma splash also applies the debuff stacks so thats double the build up rate, and plasma splashes damage is partially fire like most plasma weaponry in the game so that debuff for extra element damage feeds back in to the DRAK against bigger enemies. Besides if you take conductive thermals you generally build for elemental damage anyways to capitalize on it (fire boomstick or cryo/fire bolt nishanka with taser bolts)
overclocks like OPA and SBB are slept on, to be honest. Scout overall has enough room for skill expression in movement to avoid those downsides when it matters most and feel really stylish while doing it. I use one of the two virtually all the time and switch between them based on if I'm playing close to my team or not (since SBB benefits from shield link when you can proc it)
SBB is definitely a bit underrated. The main issue, though, is that TEF is right there and gives more benefit for less cost
Love your videos, small note about conducting thermals though, it allows the application of elemental weaknesses against enemies that are normally highly resistant, as such when i combine it with white phosphorous shells on the shotty it blasts through enything including bosses...
P.s. i don't know if you knew but plasma splash makes the debuff aply twice to allows not only stacking way faster but also higher as one part of the stack has a time limit not a stack limit even though it makes the base damage literally 1....
Yayyyy new derpy kat5 OC video!!!
glad i got here early