Apologies for the lateness: C: Correction I: Additional Information O: Opinion Crystal Nucleation (0:33) C/I: Unlike sticky flames, the crystals left behind from Crystal nucleation can be destroyed by bugs walking through them (& also from melee damage), where as sticky flames last for the duration no matter how many bugs walk through. It's still good for CC, but not at the same level as a sticky flames build. Ice Storm (0:47) I: To make the most of this OC, you'll want to use T5 B (Cold Radiance). The typical 1, 1, X, 1 build has 5 freezing power. Taking T5 B reduces bugs temperature by 60 per second in a 4m radius. Note that this is unaffected by flow rate, so is actually more efficient with a slower rate of fire (flow rate). Ice Spear (1:11) I: I'm including this just because it wasn't demonstrated in a clip. The direct damage this OC does is affected normally by the frozen condition (3x direct damage, or 2.5x vs Dreads). Snowball (1:41) O: The radius is 4m, so I'd argue it isn't small. Improved Thermal Efficiency (2:22) I: After Tuned Cooler (formerly Perfectly Tuned Cooler) was nerfed, this was considered the best Cryo OC (Although time will tell if it has been dethroned by Crystal). The x0.75 pressure drop rate means you can fire for a long time, especially pared with T1 A for a total of 24.8% drop rate. This is an easy OC to overlook. Tuned Cooler (2:42) I: Unfortunately, while the increased flow rate is listed as a buff, if you are using T5 B (Cold Radiance), then it is a nerf. This is due to using more ammo per second (the trigger time of Cold Radiance). Flow Rate Expansion (3:10) O: This OC needs to be changed. Imo this is just bad Improved Thermal Efficiency. You have to get used to burst firing the weapon due to the faster pressure drop (& to make use of the faster re-pressurization) & the flow rate increase is a nerf (see above). It would be interesting to see this as a mod for the weapon (just the increased drop rate & increased re-pressurization) for use with OCs like Ice Spear & Snowball. Overcharger (3:35) I: While this OC is required to 1 shot a grunt using regular charged shots (requiring at least 1 damage upgrade, & even then only just beyond the 1.25m maximum damage radius), if you use burning nightmare, an unmodified charged shot (60 damage) + the following fire damage is enough to 1 shot grunts it comes into contact with. However, to 1 shot slashers in this manner you either need both charged shot damage upgrades or to use this OC. O: Both with the existence of the Thin Containment Field (TCF) & the other OCs this weapon has access to, I definitely thing this is on the weaker side. Magnetic Cooling Unit (4:10) O: If you are trying to learn to use TCF (either to mine or offensively), this is the OC I'd recommend starting with to get used to the timing. Heavy Hitter (4:35) O: I would not recommend using T5 C plasma splash with this OC, since your primaries are infinitely better at dealing with small enemies. This OC is very good for either igniting good puddles (for the extra DoT damage or for use with combustive goo) or shooting at frozen targets (for that juicy x3 damage). I: This OC with T5 A allows the ignition of goo puddles with 2 shots (rather than the usual 3). It's also arguably drillers best defense against sniper turrets (as it can ignite them relatively efficiently). For both use cases, you don't need T1 damage. Persistent Plasma (5:13) C/I/O: Assuming you're using regular charged shots (not TCF, which is what I'd recommend using) you lose 15 initial direct damage to 1 target & up to 15 area damage to however many bugs are in the area. You will make up all of this damage within 1 second of the field being created, as it deals 8 fire damage every 0.2-0.25 seconds (so 4-5 times per second, or 32-40 damage per second). This OC is very strong & is probably drillers best source of crowd clear in his secondary slow (while still dealing respectable damage to larger targets). Heat Pipe (5:37) O: I do not recommend ever running this. The -2 ammo cost to charged shots is not worth the downsides of 1. possibly being unable to release a charged shot because you held it too long & 2. being unable to chain charged shots (or even charged & then normal shots). It was nerfed a while ago because it was the go to OC to use with TCF (& has now been replaced with Persistent Plasma), but I feel like the nerfs went way too far. What's more, the faster charge speed is worse than the clean Energy Rerouting. Energy Rerouting (6:11) O: A favorite build of mine for this is 3, 2, 2, 3, 1 paired with the cryo cannon, using burning nightmare on frozen targets. It's also the most reliable way of using burning nightmare on frozen oppressors (which thaw very quickly), although axes are the better option.
Think this is the first time I've ever seen anyone willingly use plasma splash on EPC, lol. It's not a great use-case (you'd do 50% more damage against frozen targets without it), but it does reinforce my belief that it's still not the worst gear mod out there.
Great video! It's good to mention that while the heat pipe nerf turned a lot of people away from it, it's still nuts busted if you learn how to time the TCF explosion. You can take heat pipe + the charge efficiency upgrade on the tier tree and all you need to leverage that is the Less Heat While Holding Charge Shot upgrade. Although very tough to learn, you have close to a second to actually get a charge shot out of the EPC and heat to spare another bullet without overheating, which allows you to do basically infinite tcf explosions without overheating. Since TCF is one of the most busted things in the game and instakills basically anything that moves while also chunking through big targets, mining efficiently and opening up caves while also being great for mining things in the ceiling while still shooting normal ass bullets that synergize with frozen enemies, there's a case to be made about Heat Pipe being the biggest Risk/Reward OC in the entire game. It's insanely strong but takes a good ear for timing.
While you can pull off TCF with heat pipe, what it does do is make it nigh impossible to chain multiple together quickly, which is frequently needed in higher difficulties. Combined with the insane utility that PP brings (at zero cost!), heat pipe doesn’t really have a place among the most powerful EPC overclock(s).
@@flapjackgd937 Yeah i can agree with that. Although you can take the "less heat while holding a charged shot" upgrade, it's competing with a charge efficiency upgrade which basically makes it a moot point. I always take it on Haz 5++++ but I can see it underperfoming on 6x2.
Thanks for the video, it’d be great if next time you cut the explanation of the overclock down and focus more on the combos with secondaries as a lot of this information is readily available through the inventory screen.
12321 Heavy Hitter is, in my opinion, the best EPC build after everyone's favourite TCF Persistent Plasma one. Oneshots frozen fodder like Grunts, Slashers and Guards up to H5 4P, and can ignite sludge puddles with just two shots, which pairs very well with Combustive Goo Mix.
@@syringebasedpotato Heavy hitter is really good, but if you are running cryo cannon I prefer skipping burning nightmare. You can do way more damage to large single targets by unloading on then rather than relying on temp shock, and you'll avoid temp shocking dangerous enemies that you'd rather keep frozen as well (like spittballers/barragers). If you're using combustive goo, then you're probably better off going for max ammo instead, since you don't need T1A to ignite puddles in 2 hits.
Apologies for the lateness:
C: Correction
I: Additional Information
O: Opinion
Crystal Nucleation (0:33)
C/I: Unlike sticky flames, the crystals left behind from Crystal nucleation can be destroyed by bugs walking through them (& also from melee damage), where as sticky flames last for the duration no matter how many bugs walk through. It's still good for CC, but not at the same level as a sticky flames build.
Ice Storm (0:47)
I: To make the most of this OC, you'll want to use T5 B (Cold Radiance). The typical 1, 1, X, 1 build has 5 freezing power. Taking T5 B reduces bugs temperature by 60 per second in a 4m radius. Note that this is unaffected by flow rate, so is actually more efficient with a slower rate of fire (flow rate).
Ice Spear (1:11)
I: I'm including this just because it wasn't demonstrated in a clip. The direct damage this OC does is affected normally by the frozen condition (3x direct damage, or 2.5x vs Dreads).
Snowball (1:41)
O: The radius is 4m, so I'd argue it isn't small.
Improved Thermal Efficiency (2:22)
I: After Tuned Cooler (formerly Perfectly Tuned Cooler) was nerfed, this was considered the best Cryo OC (Although time will tell if it has been dethroned by Crystal). The x0.75 pressure drop rate means you can fire for a long time, especially pared with T1 A for a total of 24.8% drop rate. This is an easy OC to overlook.
Tuned Cooler (2:42)
I: Unfortunately, while the increased flow rate is listed as a buff, if you are using T5 B (Cold Radiance), then it is a nerf. This is due to using more ammo per second (the trigger time of Cold Radiance).
Flow Rate Expansion (3:10)
O: This OC needs to be changed. Imo this is just bad Improved Thermal Efficiency. You have to get used to burst firing the weapon due to the faster pressure drop (& to make use of the faster re-pressurization) & the flow rate increase is a nerf (see above). It would be interesting to see this as a mod for the weapon (just the increased drop rate & increased re-pressurization) for use with OCs like Ice Spear & Snowball.
Overcharger (3:35)
I: While this OC is required to 1 shot a grunt using regular charged shots (requiring at least 1 damage upgrade, & even then only just beyond the 1.25m maximum damage radius), if you use burning nightmare, an unmodified charged shot (60 damage) + the following fire damage is enough to 1 shot grunts it comes into contact with. However, to 1 shot slashers in this manner you either need both charged shot damage upgrades or to use this OC.
O: Both with the existence of the Thin Containment Field (TCF) & the other OCs this weapon has access to, I definitely thing this is on the weaker side.
Magnetic Cooling Unit (4:10)
O: If you are trying to learn to use TCF (either to mine or offensively), this is the OC I'd recommend starting with to get used to the timing.
Heavy Hitter (4:35)
O: I would not recommend using T5 C plasma splash with this OC, since your primaries are infinitely better at dealing with small enemies. This OC is very good for either igniting good puddles (for the extra DoT damage or for use with combustive goo) or shooting at frozen targets (for that juicy x3 damage).
I: This OC with T5 A allows the ignition of goo puddles with 2 shots (rather than the usual 3). It's also arguably drillers best defense against sniper turrets (as it can ignite them relatively efficiently). For both use cases, you don't need T1 damage.
Persistent Plasma (5:13)
C/I/O: Assuming you're using regular charged shots (not TCF, which is what I'd recommend using) you lose 15 initial direct damage to 1 target & up to 15 area damage to however many bugs are in the area. You will make up all of this damage within 1 second of the field being created, as it deals 8 fire damage every 0.2-0.25 seconds (so 4-5 times per second, or 32-40 damage per second). This OC is very strong & is probably drillers best source of crowd clear in his secondary slow (while still dealing respectable damage to larger targets).
Heat Pipe (5:37)
O: I do not recommend ever running this. The -2 ammo cost to charged shots is not worth the downsides of 1. possibly being unable to release a charged shot because you held it too long & 2. being unable to chain charged shots (or even charged & then normal shots). It was nerfed a while ago because it was the go to OC to use with TCF (& has now been replaced with Persistent Plasma), but I feel like the nerfs went way too far. What's more, the faster charge speed is worse than the clean Energy Rerouting.
Energy Rerouting (6:11)
O: A favorite build of mine for this is 3, 2, 2, 3, 1 paired with the cryo cannon, using burning nightmare on frozen targets. It's also the most reliable way of using burning nightmare on frozen oppressors (which thaw very quickly), although axes are the better option.
Think this is the first time I've ever seen anyone willingly use plasma splash on EPC, lol. It's not a great use-case (you'd do 50% more damage against frozen targets without it), but it does reinforce my belief that it's still not the worst gear mod out there.
Great video! It's good to mention that while the heat pipe nerf turned a lot of people away from it, it's still nuts busted if you learn how to time the TCF explosion.
You can take heat pipe + the charge efficiency upgrade on the tier tree and all you need to leverage that is the Less Heat While Holding Charge Shot upgrade. Although very tough to learn, you have close to a second to actually get a charge shot out of the EPC and heat to spare another bullet without overheating, which allows you to do basically infinite tcf explosions without overheating.
Since TCF is one of the most busted things in the game and instakills basically anything that moves while also chunking through big targets, mining efficiently and opening up caves while also being great for mining things in the ceiling while still shooting normal ass bullets that synergize with frozen enemies, there's a case to be made about Heat Pipe being the biggest Risk/Reward OC in the entire game. It's insanely strong but takes a good ear for timing.
While you can pull off TCF with heat pipe, what it does do is make it nigh impossible to chain multiple together quickly, which is frequently needed in higher difficulties.
Combined with the insane utility that PP brings (at zero cost!), heat pipe doesn’t really have a place among the most powerful EPC overclock(s).
@@flapjackgd937 Yeah i can agree with that. Although you can take the "less heat while holding a charged shot" upgrade, it's competing with a charge efficiency upgrade which basically makes it a moot point. I always take it on Haz 5++++ but I can see it underperfoming on 6x2.
@@luhsvideodump1300no, the less heat when holding a charge shot is competing with projectile speed
Thanks for the video, it’d be great if next time you cut the explanation of the overclock down and focus more on the combos with secondaries as a lot of this information is readily available through the inventory screen.
This is an incredible video, you can see the amount of effort in the script and editing. Very impressive and entertaining.
1:14 This clip hurts my soul. Freeze the nexus first. Please...
6:15 Did you ever repair that defeated poor BET-C that's wailing and asking for help?
Nope :(
Lol, why the EPC instead of the Colette Wave Cooker, I demand that you do this video with the Colette Wave Cooker!
Patience. The Wave Cooker will be tested in full once I go over the third set of weapons.
just by seeing charged shot area of EPC mid being used in builds without burning nightmare… it is clear to me the vid is worthless and info is useless
On my opinion EPC is useless, unless you use it for mining.
Wave cooker ftw
12321 Heavy Hitter is, in my opinion, the best EPC build after everyone's favourite TCF Persistent Plasma one. Oneshots frozen fodder like Grunts, Slashers and Guards up to H5 4P, and can ignite sludge puddles with just two shots, which pairs very well with Combustive Goo Mix.
If you wanna use it as a secondary, TFC is phenomenal for the EPC. It does huge damage in an area and mines ores for you, like a portable C4.
EPC is good for burning goo puddles with new overclock. But without it, it outclassed by Subata
@@syringebasedpotato Heavy hitter is really good, but if you are running cryo cannon I prefer skipping burning nightmare. You can do way more damage to large single targets by unloading on then rather than relying on temp shock, and you'll avoid temp shocking dangerous enemies that you'd rather keep frozen as well (like spittballers/barragers).
If you're using combustive goo, then you're probably better off going for max ammo instead, since you don't need T1A to ignite puddles in 2 hits.