In cases anyone missed it or misunderstood, here’s what the tiers mean. I’ve reworded them in case this makes more sense: S tier - I very rarely take these off, and if you want to play a meta loadout these are an absolute requirement A tier - very good gadgets that are a little more interchangeable than S tier, as they tend to have more specific situations B tier - fairly powerful effect but more of a focused use case and not as versatile C tier - niche picks usually good with a certain build or made to counter a specific team comp. This does not mean that a C tier gadget is bad, it’s just not versatile D tier - it needs a buff/rework to see more play in general. This doesn’t mean you can’t find value or do well with D tier gadgets, just that they should probably get improvements in the future. I should also mention I’ve been seeing some convo around thermal vision and smoke grenade. I still don’t like thermal because it hides things like gas and landmines from your screen, which can end up being very bad in some games. It does counter light invis, but that’s about it so I still would rather run sonar almost every time. Smoke grenade is be ok with moving up to C because it counters fire and sonar, but I still think I would rather run a lot of team utility gadgets over it
6:09 quick tip for gas mine: my favorite way to use it is to place it on a lower level below the cashout and camp down there. Once an enemy attempts to steal you can detonate it manually by shooting it and it'll still go through the ceiling, allowing for a great stall.
Vanish Bomb is S tier when used correctly. The cooldown is super low, it gets you out of most certain death situations, you can cloak injured teammates and, with a coordinated team, you can all push while invisible! And on top of that, you are free to use grappling hook or dash (hook + vanish combo is OP)
Data reshaper is indeed niche, i rarely see players use it. I use it regularly just because i hate mines and turrets and data reshaper is a god-send to me, being able to erase them with a click. Its especially strong in power shift and terminal attack to clear out the terminals which may be infested with mines and turrets.
@@96kami31I always want that to be the case but you kind of need a glitch grenade to be thrown in first or you will usually take a bunch of damage from the turrets
@@hairbear243 the damage is negligible, or you can just delete the turret outside its view range. I mean of course you're gonna play it smart, I won't rush forward to a turret
Thermal vision is top tier in high rank games if there are many light players. Most of them play the meta build with cloak + xp and thermal completely bypass cloak. Since that's the only reason to slot thermal it's kinda situational, but that doesn't mean it's trash you claim it is.
That right there is the issue - the meta build is definitely not cloak + XP54, the light meta rn is evasive dash. Plus you can just run sonar which helps you with everybody instead of 1 specific class. It might be helpful in lower ranks where cloak lights are more plentiful but once you start getting higher up you start needing things that help your team like glitch nades and such. Also not being able to see landmines is reeeeeeally bad sometimes
@@ronin_fps it honestly depends of your rank, but I would argue that cloak is def superior to dash at some point since it makes both scouting and surprise glitch much easier. It's just a free card for your team to engage and pick up someone. Meta for light imo is cloak + xp, gate, glitch, and last slot is flex. Usually I either go HE grenade or stun gun. Regardless, I always have thermal in my reserve. I change it for gate whenever I'm facing a lot of lights. Sonar nades are good too, but limited in range so they're better used to defend an area. Thermal on the other hand allow you to track cloaked lights super easily. This is honestly very useful, especially when you catch lights about to flank your mates. Also, dash won't save you against a good player in 1v1 since he can just predict it. By experience, I've seen way more evasive dash played at lower rank where teamplay isn't as important. Ofc, I'm talking only about cashout, not other game modes. btw I do agree about land mines, which is why you gotta be careful of the audio cues.
Yeah cloak is not a bad option by any means, but since evasive dash is one of the best ways to survive winch claw heavies a lot of people run that now. At least, that’s what I’ve noticed in emerald rank, but perhaps there’s also regional differences. If thermal had a longer range to highlight enemies + highlighted landmines and gas specifically I think I would raise it up a tier or two
Yes, Cloak and Xp-54 is meta but not because it's OP or its so great to have. It's because of ease of use. Counter play in TheFinals isn't always being done which allows a large majority of players to escape from being punished by the players who do what it takes to counter these tactics. The more players who do counter play, the more likely light players will drop cloak for a mobility ability that can allow them to get another advantage. Cloak being countered effectively nulls and voids the ability slot while the other two abilities have soft counters instead of hard counters like thermal vision. Most players don't want to take thermal vision, sonar, or motion sensor. (This is apart of why Mediums seeing everything was so powerful.) They opt for lights playing out their advantage in cloaking by tanking it so they can take something else which is greedy. Tanking a lights damage is possible with most light weapons except for the higher skill required ones. This here is where the balance problem of lights are weak vs heavies starts. A player skill issue that either makes or breaks light players. This also plays into proving ranked players are a participation joke in TheFinals instead of a skill climb honor. Same as relying on a team to carry the player up there vs a bunch of solos in the Q.
Flash bang and LH1 are a fun combo to run, if your on a map with a lot of foliage and just clutters, you can throw a flashbang and itll act like an instant sonar telling you where players are in a really large area. I definitely reccomend giving it a try... not on powershift though, too many normal snipers :(
Honestly I recently added the smoke nade to my load out and it works wonders because of how rare you encounter it I guess no one is used to play against it
Goo grenade definitely an A tier comparing to dome shield now, you can throw two of them and get the heavies with mele weapons stuck in them for an easy kill on them too
The smoke is great for cover for cashout stealing (not perfectly but it can make a difference), it helps as sword when I'm running a sonar grenade especially, and it puts out fire. I'd argue it's at least a C tier, especially with 3 smoke grenades on hand.
Ehhhh I guess, but it seems to me if I’m running sword I’d rather have almost anything else. Gateway, stun, frag, goo, etc. all seem like better options IMO
Putting Heavy's C4 in A tier is crazy. Heavy has so many destructive options that it seems like an unoptimized slot. You likely have rpg and mesh shield, meaning you have only one other option for a gadget and you would easily find more utility from grenades, any mine, or additional shield over something that only really serves in delaying a cashout if it isnt instantly shot first.
There’s a way to knock the cashout on top of the c4 so that it can’t be shot or glitched, allowing for a guaranteed delay of the cashout up to a minimum of 14 seconds if done right, which is really good. I’ll probably make a video at some point explaining this strategy and why it’s so powerful but that goes into part of my ranking
@@ronin_fps The method you cite is not reliably consistent, is better done by your allies, can be done in cheaper ways, and not generally useful in better lobbies. Ergo the C4 is no where near as useful as the other A-rated Gadgets for Heavy. I will explain each point below if you are interested. First, this strat of dropping the cashout isnt consistent. It is not at all uncommon to find that either the cashout gets stuck and wont fall because of some strange geo, or that the capturing enemy falls with it and does not get their steal interrupted. Worse is that enemies in higher lobbies commonly think of breaking the floor first anyway in order to drop the cashout to a better defended floor. Second, your allies do this better, in every way. A single medium with the dematerializer does this strat better than anyone as they can then seal the hole and force a whole team to relocate. A light also has their thermal bore and their own c4 that has 2 charges so they generally have more usages and a light gadget is never as crucial as a heavy's. Third, you can drop a cashout to a lower floor using far less expensive resources such as the slug shotgun which can do this for free (granted you have to "prime" the ceiling with a few shots first). Or other heavy primaries (granted they are not as good for pvp). You can also do this via a fire barrel placed next to the cashout or even below the ceiling. Lastly, this strat is one of the first things you expect once you enter higher leveled lobbies. It is never uncommon to see a team break a cashout to the bottom floor before even depositing their cashbox. In addition, higher level teams almost always prefer to attack a cashout from below where your defenses are thinner and they can then re-enforce the area with their own before dropping your cashout themselves. Over all, this just doesnt add up in my head. I respect that this likely works quite often in casual and might be fun, but I think this narrow strategy isnt worth the slot cost that could have been used on additional shields, mines, or grenades.
I think I disagree here - only the last point here is really valid. The whole point of running the c4 is so that you can fight a ways away from the cashout without having to be literally on top of it. There’s no point in having a demat medium atm when heal beam is so powerful, and dropping it with the slug requires you to use that gun and not the SA12 or the Lewis gun, which are usually better picks, and once again requires you to be on the cashout. Pre-dropping a cashout is a valid point, but once again forces the enemies to waste their time and resources to do so buying you time once again. So I still think that C4 is far better. There’s a reason why the C4 is consistently used in high level lobbies and NOT in casual games - almost every high level player will recommend using this when you have heavy. Currently in the rank I’m at right now, which is 4 wins away from emerald 1, I see it all the time, and I consistently see top heavy players using this strat. I would argue that the demat strat and the KS23 are far more casual strategies than the pure efficiency that is the C4 strategy. And yes, sometimes a cashout does get stuck, but with a lot of hours in the game and some pattern recognition you’ll be able to tell which areas are issues for the C4 drops and which are really good. TLDR C4 allows you to play further away from the cashout than normal and gives you guaranteed stall time and allows your medium to run heal beam (a much better spec atm) than demat
@@ronin_fps Most of what you say here doesn't carry too much weight to me, however there is one point you make that actually does really stick. And that is how higher level lobbies almost always want to defend as far off the cash out as they can. That is incredibly true, and any gadget that helps make distance more comfortable is def worth having. Admittedly C4 does help with that which gives me something to think about. I disagree with your take on demat for sure though. The heal beam is stronger without question, but people often run 2 medium 1 heavy comps at highest ranks and it isnt at all uncommon to see a medium roamer using off-meta choices like the demat and ESPECAILLY if they are all in a discord team. High communication around a demat player is incredibly good in high ranks as third-party fights are constant and need you to avoid wiping. I am honestly surprised you havent seen more of them as I do. Anyway I see your point but I still see C4 as more of a B when deciding between it or reinforcing gadgets like shields, but if your team is kitted around you, I guess I could see it at low A now.
Invis lights aren’t really that hard to deal with and any other grenade (besides smoke) is soooo much better for your team in most situations. Not that you can’t find value or do good with any of the gadgets in the lower tiers, just that there are usually better options .
@@ronin_fpsfoggy morning or afternoon at Monaco with the cash out on the forest an your on the roof tops. One flash is all I need. Also smokes cancel our sonars for all who don't know
imo, anti-gravity cube is best used for defending cashouts. especially if theyre exposed to the sky, it makes any enemy stealing a sitting duck, and if you destroy the cube while they are stealing in it, it stops the steal. one more thing, if the cashout station moves a bit while someone is stealing, it will eventually move out of their reach and stop it. i love anti gravity cube so much!!!!! (it does need a buff though)
Great video! I like using the smoke grenades in Power Shift while on the platform. Helps to create more cover against snipers, puts out any fires that happen, and gives Medium classes more chances to defib/players in general to revive.
Personally I prefer running goo nades when using heavy spear. It's much more reliable than barricades in that situation. Depending on your surroundings, barricades sometimes cannot be deployed immediately due to placing restrictions but goo does not have that weakness. The cooldown is also shorter (I think? Dunno but I kinda feel it after all these times with goo nades). It's also a movement tool for heavies. Given enough time when defending cashout, you can even double the goo height in open spaces. I've also used it multiple times to block RPGs mid fight 😂 seal off holes in building, make a long barrier to prevent being tailed in tight spaces, immobilizing enemies, forcing enemies to go certain path that leads them to you, trolling, make goo walls in tighter spaces to bake enemies by burning it... the possibilities are endless.
I don't use tracking dart very frequently, but I feel like the benefit of tracking 1/2 people on a team is extremely huge, even if they're far away just because it's a way to keep tabs on potentially, problematic players. Like, tracking a sniper on a team or the heavy, perhaps the healing medium giving your team info on where these players are could be huge. I do agree though, I feel it was better on medium
As I mentioned, I can see it being ok for accessibility purposes but in general you shouldn’t need it. I actually find it slightly harder for me in particular
Tracking dart is very good in Terminal Attack, because each round is only 2 minutes and you essentially tag one person for half the round, or two people for a quarter. But nobody likes TA so fair enough putting it in C tier. I actually love Pyro mines as Heavy. You can throw them on trophies and when they explode they will set the trophy on fire meaning it can't be carried. They're also great for blocking off doors - flamethrowers and pyro grenades are fairly common so gas can be circumvented quite quickly, but nobody carries smokes so fire is OP.
LOL For a light sniper I use flash, smoke, thermal vision, and dart tracker. It helps to use the smoke and thermal vision combo so no one can see you, but you can see them. And the flash grenade / darts is to just help my team a little more. It's pretty much a good camping loadout for the platform game mode.
For light running tracking dart, gateway, sonar is so good for all game styles. The tracking dart main power is to discourage ppl from pushing and make them uncomfortable thus separating them/ stalling them from their team so your team has the advantage.
Disagree on explosive mines - being able to set it up and then collect kills minutes later is just a pure joy. Also useful when trying to escape from enemies: just drop a mine in a doorway. S-tier
4:20 Moving cash out to open area is great. But another way to do it is to have your medium who likely already has jump pad in loudout place it, and then winch the cash out on to the pad. That way you don’t waste a space using anti-gravity.
This tier list is kind of iffy for me but I have two specific criticisms lol 1. Pyro mine is actually really good for denying people entry through doorways. The point isn’t necessarily to kill whoever steps on it (although it often does do that), but to take most of their health down and prevent anyone else from coming through to help them unless they also want to take free damage too. I would personally argue it’s way better than gas mines at doing this because the only counters to it are to destroy the wall and go around, or use a smoke grenade (which I’ll get to in a second ._.). I wouldn’t necessarily have a problem with pyro being in C tier as long as gas and explosive mines were also down there, but they’re not. I personally think all mines should be in A though. 2. Smoke grenades have no business being in D tier. They’re awesome. Way better than vanish bomb if you’re in a building or something. You can snuff out fire with it too which is a big deal. You can hide your whole team while defending a cashout and disorient enemies. It’s just a great gadget. It’s at least better than the redundant ass gas grenade lol. Put it in B where it belongs.
I can understand liking smoke grenade (see the bottom of pinned comment) but I can’t see it being better than vanish bomb. Also at the higher levels of the game, you put down smoke on cashout without wiping the enemy team and a few things could happen: 1. You get killed by rpg and nade utility 2. You get cash out dropped by demat or c4 3. The enemy team jumps on you and annihilates you I can see smoke being good in low-mid levels of the game, but in this HHM meta (especially in emerald) it’s a little redundant. Not to say you can’t do well with smoke or can’t find value, but I just find that there are better things to use instead like glitch nade or gateway, as it’s usually better to straight up wipe the enemy team instead of sneaking in a steal - at least in the elo I’m familiar with. Maybe there’s some regional differences in playstyle as well.
Maybe I was a little harsh, I’d be ok moving it to C tier. I wish it would get a buff though like blocking ALL scans (even tracking dart) and making the smokes bigger and more dense - it’d be cool to see some CS style strats in the game
I think putting the medium's mobility gadgets in A tier because it's a toss up is kinda ridiculous, not running mobility on medium with the exception of terminal attack makes your game substantially worse. I'd argue on average the defib and mobility have about the same amount of value and game impact, the medium needs one, the other or both to be truly effective. Both choices are S tier, it's usually up to preference beyond that but having at least one is massive compared to neither.
Thermal is incredibly useful for me. It's NOT for shotgun loadouts--it's for running a bow or scope rifle and keeping a sightline on the point. an unimpeded sightline that gas and fire doesn't ruin
Ronin! talking about explosive/gas mine : I'll put it in the B tier. *Procede to put them in A tier.* 😂 But more seriously, good video ! I agree with most of the tier list, even though I must admit I really like to use niche loadouts. 🙃 Anyway, keep up the good work ! 😉
Data shift can also shift Medium turrets even in groups, which can really reduce time to destroy them when all together, countering a full Medium loadout. Thermal vision is also really good when facing a triple Light team. Not many knows this surprisingly but you can see invisible units with thermal. I do carry it for specific purposes in places with a lot of shrubbery too like Kyoto.
I agree with pretty much the entire list except for the smoke placement. Running smokes + sonar nades is busted in a lot of situations. Cramped indoor space? You’re the only one who can see pretty much. Need to pass through a sightline guarded by snipers? Cut off their vision and your home free, especially with other movement options. I feel the most underrated use case though is to stop a team from pushing. Since fire isn’t as common, putting smoke on a choke usually forces a team to run in blind or waste gadgets to make a new route. This compounded with the high up time due to having 3 nades and their high duration means you can often force teams to play predictably by cutting of options. Best example I can think of is the hospital bridge. Granted that is already a incredibly easy spot to defend, but it becomes nigh impossible go a opposing team to cross when they can’t see and you can
I have been running smokes religiously for a couple of weeks, only things it's good for are rezing teammates, stealing cashouts (works surprisingly well honestly), and saving vanishing bomb/cloak usage. Smokes are fun imo but need a buff real bad
I sometimes don't even notice the glitch trap is beaming at my player because of how quiet it is compared to most gagets in the game. It's quite annoying. (turrets, explosions, glitch grenatde, flashbang)
anti gravity cube is really nice if you are running the ks23 because it gives you easy kills if someone walks into it during a team fight. you can also use it inside of some cashout spots to get high ground in the rafters and surprise enemy teams going for a steal
I think a lot of your placements were valid, except the thermal smoke combo. First if you run thermal and clok as a light, then you will never lose versus another cloaked light period. And the fact that ypu have 3 smokes now, each with decent up time, can guarantee cashout defense without much risk. This is exponetially increased when in tight spaces, as you can straight sit next to the cashout in a smoke. Also thermal allows you to see throigh gas or dust and explosions that happen through the match, helping you get that first shot. Which as a light, is necessary.
You can literally remove turrets with data reshaper as someone who mainsdemet and data reshaper I'll vouch for it it gives real good value to the team play
I used to use thermal vision A LOT back in season 2 mainly on power shift cuz I 1. Thought it was cool but 2. Mainly ran into a lot of other lights who always ran invis so it made it a lot easier for me to hunt them down and kill them. I don’t use it much now n days but for its time in season 2 I did help a good bit.
Oh yeah they can def be helpful, also good against MMM teams. I just think that if you aren’t using flamethrower, it’s usually better to run explosive mines so they go in C tier (niche tier). They def have a use though
I guess if that ends up being an issue for you, but the goal should be to be able to use LH1 without any visual assistance eventually. Relying on thermal to be up to use the gun will make you a lot more inconsistent
Glitch trap is easily S tear NGL. If Ur playing meta you run the glitch or in some cases double movement with almost zero exception. The only time I wouldn't have a medium running glitch is sometimes when Im running HHM. I'm sorry but the ability to prevent teams reviving or taking cash boxes is so important.
I totally agree with the loadout choices, I just think there’s room for change, as you can run double movement or movement + glitch trap like you said. S tier is kind of the “you should have this equipped no matter what” tier, while A tier has more flexibility to be interchangeable
Defib is way lower imo just because it mostly causes team mates to defib you infront of 3 other players and then run off because for some reason they decided to tun it with demat
Just because players use something poorly doesn’t mean it’s a bad gadget. An S tier gadget in the hands of a D tier player is going to be D tier unfortunately but that doesn’t make it bad for people who know how to play the game
@ronin_fps yea, that's y I said in my opinion as a solo q'r ,like I'd rather my team mates not run it for that reason. not to mention if you move the statue, the time to hand rez is the same as being defibed and having to wait to start regen. In a pre-made with comms tho ur absolutely correct in its placement
9:46 😂😂😂😂I bet you didn't know that it keeps the enemy team from seeing you through sonars 😂😂😂😂😂😂 I swear people make videos an haven't done things for science just to see how they Interact with each other. Your a meme😂 literally the most underrated an most underused in the game.
I’m sorry but that’s borderline useless. Maybe in TA it’s good, but you could run so much team utility instead of that. You yourself could run sonar, or glitch nade, or gateway, or stun, all of which your team will appreciate way more. They need to do more with it than just that
They’re interchangeable so top of A. Sorry if that wasn’t very clear, but one of them is definitely mandatory on mediums, just not a specific one of them. So because you can pick either of them, or swap to glitch and APS in one slot, they go in A, unlike defib which should never be taken off ever - hope that makes sense
I have an older one that’s still up to date from around a month ago or two, but a new one probably won’t be out until season 4 as I don’t think enough has changed from my last list to warrant a new one :)
I like having barricade so I can have cover if I need it, goo would also be acceptable. As for RPG it’s just too strong not to run and dome shield helps you close distance
I just started using the spear a lot recently, and I find the charge and slam to be very helpful to clear distances when I need to run and to get closer to enemies when necessary
In cases anyone missed it or misunderstood, here’s what the tiers mean. I’ve reworded them in case this makes more sense:
S tier - I very rarely take these off, and if you want to play a meta loadout these are an absolute requirement
A tier - very good gadgets that are a little more interchangeable than S tier, as they tend to have more specific situations
B tier - fairly powerful effect but more of a focused use case and not as versatile
C tier - niche picks usually good with a certain build or made to counter a specific team comp. This does not mean that a C tier gadget is bad, it’s just not versatile
D tier - it needs a buff/rework to see more play in general. This doesn’t mean you can’t find value or do well with D tier gadgets, just that they should probably get improvements in the future.
I should also mention I’ve been seeing some convo around thermal vision and smoke grenade. I still don’t like thermal because it hides things like gas and landmines from your screen, which can end up being very bad in some games. It does counter light invis, but that’s about it so I still would rather run sonar almost every time. Smoke grenade is be ok with moving up to C because it counters fire and sonar, but I still think I would rather run a lot of team utility gadgets over it
Tracking dart is S tier in the final round. Getting to see where two of the enemy team is for like a 10 seconds is amazing.
Sonar better
This and also: tracking dart is hitscan AND doesn’t need ads for precision. Just hip fire it and it goes exactly where you’re pointing
15*
I mean pinging exist and it also track enemies spot for free if you see them once.
6:09 quick tip for gas mine: my favorite way to use it is to place it on a lower level below the cashout and camp down there. Once an enemy attempts to steal you can detonate it manually by shooting it and it'll still go through the ceiling, allowing for a great stall.
Vanish Bomb is S tier when used correctly. The cooldown is super low, it gets you out of most certain death situations, you can cloak injured teammates and, with a coordinated team, you can all push while invisible!
And on top of that, you are free to use grappling hook or dash (hook + vanish combo is OP)
exactly, cant say how many times its saved me or my teammates. Even ivis teammates when they are stealing cashout, op must not use it
I really want to geek out about Data Reshaper but at the same time I don’t want other people using it lol. 😅
Same but with Goo-nades
Data reshaper is indeed niche, i rarely see players use it. I use it regularly just because i hate mines and turrets and data reshaper is a god-send to me, being able to erase them with a click. Its especially strong in power shift and terminal attack to clear out the terminals which may be infested with mines and turrets.
@@96kami31I always want that to be the case but you kind of need a glitch grenade to be thrown in first or you will usually take a bunch of damage from the turrets
@@hairbear243 the damage is negligible, or you can just delete the turret outside its view range. I mean of course you're gonna play it smart, I won't rush forward to a turret
Finally someone that rates gadgets in the finals. THANK YOU 😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏🙏
A couple people have already done this lol
@@_Sloppyham yea buts it’s rare 😂
Ottr have video about this
Thermal vision is top tier in high rank games if there are many light players. Most of them play the meta build with cloak + xp and thermal completely bypass cloak. Since that's the only reason to slot thermal it's kinda situational, but that doesn't mean it's trash you claim it is.
That right there is the issue - the meta build is definitely not cloak + XP54, the light meta rn is evasive dash. Plus you can just run sonar which helps you with everybody instead of 1 specific class. It might be helpful in lower ranks where cloak lights are more plentiful but once you start getting higher up you start needing things that help your team like glitch nades and such. Also not being able to see landmines is reeeeeeally bad sometimes
@@ronin_fps it honestly depends of your rank, but I would argue that cloak is def superior to dash at some point since it makes both scouting and surprise glitch much easier. It's just a free card for your team to engage and pick up someone.
Meta for light imo is cloak + xp, gate, glitch, and last slot is flex. Usually I either go HE grenade or stun gun. Regardless, I always have thermal in my reserve. I change it for gate whenever I'm facing a lot of lights.
Sonar nades are good too, but limited in range so they're better used to defend an area. Thermal on the other hand allow you to track cloaked lights super easily. This is honestly very useful, especially when you catch lights about to flank your mates.
Also, dash won't save you against a good player in 1v1 since he can just predict it. By experience, I've seen way more evasive dash played at lower rank where teamplay isn't as important.
Ofc, I'm talking only about cashout, not other game modes.
btw I do agree about land mines, which is why you gotta be careful of the audio cues.
Yeah cloak is not a bad option by any means, but since evasive dash is one of the best ways to survive winch claw heavies a lot of people run that now. At least, that’s what I’ve noticed in emerald rank, but perhaps there’s also regional differences. If thermal had a longer range to highlight enemies + highlighted landmines and gas specifically I think I would raise it up a tier or two
Cloak + XP54 is meta lol
Yes, Cloak and Xp-54 is meta but not because it's OP or its so great to have. It's because of ease of use. Counter play in TheFinals isn't always being done which allows a large majority of players to escape from being punished by the players who do what it takes to counter these tactics. The more players who do counter play, the more likely light players will drop cloak for a mobility ability that can allow them to get another advantage. Cloak being countered effectively nulls and voids the ability slot while the other two abilities have soft counters instead of hard counters like thermal vision. Most players don't want to take thermal vision, sonar, or motion sensor. (This is apart of why Mediums seeing everything was so powerful.) They opt for lights playing out their advantage in cloaking by tanking it so they can take something else which is greedy. Tanking a lights damage is possible with most light weapons except for the higher skill required ones. This here is where the balance problem of lights are weak vs heavies starts. A player skill issue that either makes or breaks light players. This also plays into proving ranked players are a participation joke in TheFinals instead of a skill climb honor. Same as relying on a team to carry the player up there vs a bunch of solos in the Q.
the flashbang is great for locating enemies since it has a wide area of effect where it can reveal enemy healthbars
as a level 8 pyro user, its good because fire both sets off explosives and screws up your screen. Also chip damage
Flash bang and LH1 are a fun combo to run, if your on a map with a lot of foliage and just clutters, you can throw a flashbang and itll act like an instant sonar telling you where players are in a really large area. I definitely reccomend giving it a try... not on powershift though, too many normal snipers :(
Honestly I recently added the smoke nade to my load out and it works wonders because of how rare you encounter it I guess no one is used to play against it
I can’t count how many times I’ve gotten free revives or cashouts with smoke
@@ecotanimate4149Thanks for the advice, I'll try it on the M
Goo grenade definitely an A tier comparing to dome shield now, you can throw two of them and get the heavies with mele weapons stuck in them for an easy kill on them too
The smoke is great for cover for cashout stealing (not perfectly but it can make a difference), it helps as sword when I'm running a sonar grenade especially, and it puts out fire. I'd argue it's at least a C tier, especially with 3 smoke grenades on hand.
Ehhhh I guess, but it seems to me if I’m running sword I’d rather have almost anything else. Gateway, stun, frag, goo, etc. all seem like better options IMO
Putting Heavy's C4 in A tier is crazy. Heavy has so many destructive options that it seems like an unoptimized slot. You likely have rpg and mesh shield, meaning you have only one other option for a gadget and you would easily find more utility from grenades, any mine, or additional shield over something that only really serves in delaying a cashout if it isnt instantly shot first.
There’s a way to knock the cashout on top of the c4 so that it can’t be shot or glitched, allowing for a guaranteed delay of the cashout up to a minimum of 14 seconds if done right, which is really good. I’ll probably make a video at some point explaining this strategy and why it’s so powerful but that goes into part of my ranking
@@ronin_fps The method you cite is not reliably consistent, is better done by your allies, can be done in cheaper ways, and not generally useful in better lobbies. Ergo the C4 is no where near as useful as the other A-rated Gadgets for Heavy. I will explain each point below if you are interested.
First, this strat of dropping the cashout isnt consistent. It is not at all uncommon to find that either the cashout gets stuck and wont fall because of some strange geo, or that the capturing enemy falls with it and does not get their steal interrupted. Worse is that enemies in higher lobbies commonly think of breaking the floor first anyway in order to drop the cashout to a better defended floor.
Second, your allies do this better, in every way. A single medium with the dematerializer does this strat better than anyone as they can then seal the hole and force a whole team to relocate. A light also has their thermal bore and their own c4 that has 2 charges so they generally have more usages and a light gadget is never as crucial as a heavy's.
Third, you can drop a cashout to a lower floor using far less expensive resources such as the slug shotgun which can do this for free (granted you have to "prime" the ceiling with a few shots first). Or other heavy primaries (granted they are not as good for pvp). You can also do this via a fire barrel placed next to the cashout or even below the ceiling.
Lastly, this strat is one of the first things you expect once you enter higher leveled lobbies. It is never uncommon to see a team break a cashout to the bottom floor before even depositing their cashbox. In addition, higher level teams almost always prefer to attack a cashout from below where your defenses are thinner and they can then re-enforce the area with their own before dropping your cashout themselves.
Over all, this just doesnt add up in my head. I respect that this likely works quite often in casual and might be fun, but I think this narrow strategy isnt worth the slot cost that could have been used on additional shields, mines, or grenades.
I think I disagree here - only the last point here is really valid. The whole point of running the c4 is so that you can fight a ways away from the cashout without having to be literally on top of it. There’s no point in having a demat medium atm when heal beam is so powerful, and dropping it with the slug requires you to use that gun and not the SA12 or the Lewis gun, which are usually better picks, and once again requires you to be on the cashout. Pre-dropping a cashout is a valid point, but once again forces the enemies to waste their time and resources to do so buying you time once again. So I still think that C4 is far better. There’s a reason why the C4 is consistently used in high level lobbies and NOT in casual games - almost every high level player will recommend using this when you have heavy. Currently in the rank I’m at right now, which is 4 wins away from emerald 1, I see it all the time, and I consistently see top heavy players using this strat. I would argue that the demat strat and the KS23 are far more casual strategies than the pure efficiency that is the C4 strategy. And yes, sometimes a cashout does get stuck, but with a lot of hours in the game and some pattern recognition you’ll be able to tell which areas are issues for the C4 drops and which are really good.
TLDR C4 allows you to play further away from the cashout than normal and gives you guaranteed stall time and allows your medium to run heal beam (a much better spec atm) than demat
@@ronin_fps Most of what you say here doesn't carry too much weight to me, however there is one point you make that actually does really stick. And that is how higher level lobbies almost always want to defend as far off the cash out as they can. That is incredibly true, and any gadget that helps make distance more comfortable is def worth having. Admittedly C4 does help with that which gives me something to think about.
I disagree with your take on demat for sure though. The heal beam is stronger without question, but people often run 2 medium 1 heavy comps at highest ranks and it isnt at all uncommon to see a medium roamer using off-meta choices like the demat and ESPECAILLY if they are all in a discord team. High communication around a demat player is incredibly good in high ranks as third-party fights are constant and need you to avoid wiping. I am honestly surprised you havent seen more of them as I do.
Anyway I see your point but I still see C4 as more of a B when deciding between it or reinforcing gadgets like shields, but if your team is kitted around you, I guess I could see it at low A now.
Flash in D tier? It literally finds people behind foliage and shows their healthbars, and cancel invis lights
It’s still bad
Dome and jumppad not being in S tier is crime
Invis lights aren’t really that hard to deal with and any other grenade (besides smoke) is soooo much better for your team in most situations. Not that you can’t find value or do good with any of the gadgets in the lower tiers, just that there are usually better options .
if you want to find people just use a sonar
@@ronin_fpsfoggy morning or afternoon at Monaco with the cash out on the forest an your on the roof tops. One flash is all I need. Also smokes cancel our sonars for all who don't know
imo, anti-gravity cube is best used for defending cashouts. especially if theyre exposed to the sky, it makes any enemy stealing a sitting duck, and if you destroy the cube while they are stealing in it, it stops the steal. one more thing, if the cashout station moves a bit while someone is stealing, it will eventually move out of their reach and stop it. i love anti gravity cube so much!!!!! (it does need a buff though)
Great video! I like using the smoke grenades in Power Shift while on the platform. Helps to create more cover against snipers, puts out any fires that happen, and gives Medium classes more chances to defib/players in general to revive.
Jump pad is S tier. You omitted to mention how invaluable it is to escape a situation where you would have died without it
6:48 BRO REAL HOLY SHIT I'VE SCREAMED AT MY SCREEN SO MUCH DUE TO MEDIUMS DOING THAT
i find it wild i can do more damage to my self as a heavy with an rpg, than damage to a light shits wild
Personally I prefer running goo nades when using heavy spear. It's much more reliable than barricades in that situation. Depending on your surroundings, barricades sometimes cannot be deployed immediately due to placing restrictions but goo does not have that weakness. The cooldown is also shorter (I think? Dunno but I kinda feel it after all these times with goo nades). It's also a movement tool for heavies. Given enough time when defending cashout, you can even double the goo height in open spaces. I've also used it multiple times to block RPGs mid fight 😂 seal off holes in building, make a long barrier to prevent being tailed in tight spaces, immobilizing enemies, forcing enemies to go certain path that leads them to you, trolling, make goo walls in tighter spaces to bake enemies by burning it... the possibilities are endless.
I don't use tracking dart very frequently, but I feel like the benefit of tracking 1/2 people on a team is extremely huge, even if they're far away just because it's a way to keep tabs on potentially, problematic players. Like, tracking a sniper on a team or the heavy, perhaps the healing medium giving your team info on where these players are could be huge.
I do agree though, I feel it was better on medium
I watch one small RUclipsr and he uses thermal vision all the time. it greatly increases the contrast and it becomes 10 times easier to aim.
As I mentioned, I can see it being ok for accessibility purposes but in general you shouldn’t need it. I actually find it slightly harder for me in particular
Tracking dart is very good in Terminal Attack, because each round is only 2 minutes and you essentially tag one person for half the round, or two people for a quarter. But nobody likes TA so fair enough putting it in C tier.
I actually love Pyro mines as Heavy. You can throw them on trophies and when they explode they will set the trophy on fire meaning it can't be carried. They're also great for blocking off doors - flamethrowers and pyro grenades are fairly common so gas can be circumvented quite quickly, but nobody carries smokes so fire is OP.
The trophy strat is actually pretty good, even though I consider them niche I swap to them in final round if it’s a triple medium team
Honestly, flash grenade should be at least C tier. Its great for breaching and clearing cashouts
LOL For a light sniper I use flash, smoke, thermal vision, and dart tracker. It helps to use the smoke and thermal vision combo so no one can see you, but you can see them. And the flash grenade / darts is to just help my team a little more. It's pretty much a good camping loadout for the platform game mode.
Well sniper is definitely a meme loadout.
vanish bomb are really good if u use it while ur teammates are near you.
Imagine a heavy infront of you who is invisible like a light.
For light running tracking dart, gateway, sonar is so good for all game styles. The tracking dart main power is to discourage ppl from pushing and make them uncomfortable thus separating them/ stalling them from their team so your team has the advantage.
Disagree on explosive mines - being able to set it up and then collect kills minutes later is just a pure joy. Also useful when trying to escape from enemies: just drop a mine in a doorway. S-tier
4:20 Moving cash out to open area is great. But another way to do it is to have your medium who likely already has jump pad in loudout place it, and then winch the cash out on to the pad. That way you don’t waste a space using anti-gravity.
my man really put the meta pick thermal in d tier lmfao
This tier list is kind of iffy for me but I have two specific criticisms lol
1. Pyro mine is actually really good for denying people entry through doorways. The point isn’t necessarily to kill whoever steps on it (although it often does do that), but to take most of their health down and prevent anyone else from coming through to help them unless they also want to take free damage too. I would personally argue it’s way better than gas mines at doing this because the only counters to it are to destroy the wall and go around, or use a smoke grenade (which I’ll get to in a second ._.). I wouldn’t necessarily have a problem with pyro being in C tier as long as gas and explosive mines were also down there, but they’re not. I personally think all mines should be in A though.
2. Smoke grenades have no business being in D tier. They’re awesome. Way better than vanish bomb if you’re in a building or something. You can snuff out fire with it too which is a big deal. You can hide your whole team while defending a cashout and disorient enemies. It’s just a great gadget. It’s at least better than the redundant ass gas grenade lol. Put it in B where it belongs.
I can understand liking smoke grenade (see the bottom of pinned comment) but I can’t see it being better than vanish bomb. Also at the higher levels of the game, you put down smoke on cashout without wiping the enemy team and a few things could happen:
1. You get killed by rpg and nade utility
2. You get cash out dropped by demat or c4
3. The enemy team jumps on you and annihilates you
I can see smoke being good in low-mid levels of the game, but in this HHM meta (especially in emerald) it’s a little redundant. Not to say you can’t do well with smoke or can’t find value, but I just find that there are better things to use instead like glitch nade or gateway, as it’s usually better to straight up wipe the enemy team instead of sneaking in a steal - at least in the elo I’m familiar with. Maybe there’s some regional differences in playstyle as well.
@@ronin_fps fair enough, but d tier?! Sheesh! Too low! lol
Maybe I was a little harsh, I’d be ok moving it to C tier. I wish it would get a buff though like blocking ALL scans (even tracking dart) and making the smokes bigger and more dense - it’d be cool to see some CS style strats in the game
@@ronin_fps that would actually be a pretty neat mechanic if they hid you from scans ngl. But I’ll take the upgrade to C tier nonetheless! 👍🏻 😂
I think putting the medium's mobility gadgets in A tier because it's a toss up is kinda ridiculous, not running mobility on medium with the exception of terminal attack makes your game substantially worse. I'd argue on average the defib and mobility have about the same amount of value and game impact, the medium needs one, the other or both to be truly effective. Both choices are S tier, it's usually up to preference beyond that but having at least one is massive compared to neither.
Thermal is incredibly useful for me. It's NOT for shotgun loadouts--it's for running a bow or scope rifle and keeping a sightline on the point. an unimpeded sightline that gas and fire doesn't ruin
Ronin! talking about explosive/gas mine : I'll put it in the B tier. *Procede to put them in A tier.* 😂
But more seriously, good video ! I agree with most of the tier list, even though I must admit I really like to use niche loadouts. 🙃
Anyway, keep up the good work ! 😉
Oops 😂 well, they’re B tier 😄
@@ronin_fps Fair enough. 😏
Data shift can also shift Medium turrets even in groups, which can really reduce time to destroy them when all together, countering a full Medium loadout.
Thermal vision is also really good when facing a triple Light team. Not many knows this surprisingly but you can see invisible units with thermal. I do carry it for specific purposes in places with a lot of shrubbery too like Kyoto.
I agree with pretty much the entire list except for the smoke placement. Running smokes + sonar nades is busted in a lot of situations. Cramped indoor space? You’re the only one who can see pretty much. Need to pass through a sightline guarded by snipers? Cut off their vision and your home free, especially with other movement options. I feel the most underrated use case though is to stop a team from pushing. Since fire isn’t as common, putting smoke on a choke usually forces a team to run in blind or waste gadgets to make a new route. This compounded with the high up time due to having 3 nades and their high duration means you can often force teams to play predictably by cutting of options. Best example I can think of is the hospital bridge. Granted that is already a incredibly easy spot to defend, but it becomes nigh impossible go a opposing team to cross when they can’t see and you can
I have been running smokes religiously for a couple of weeks, only things it's good for are rezing teammates, stealing cashouts (works surprisingly well honestly), and saving vanishing bomb/cloak usage. Smokes are fun imo but need a buff real bad
I sometimes don't even notice the glitch trap is beaming at my player because of how quiet it is compared to most gagets in the game. It's quite annoying. (turrets, explosions, glitch grenatde, flashbang)
anti gravity cube is really nice if you are running the ks23 because it gives you easy kills if someone walks into it during a team fight. you can also use it inside of some cashout spots to get high ground in the rafters and surprise enemy teams going for a steal
I may consider it niche but it definitely can still be good in the right situations!
If they return the c4 to 2 charges it would be pretty good My child will rise again
I think a lot of your placements were valid, except the thermal smoke combo. First if you run thermal and clok as a light, then you will never lose versus another cloaked light period. And the fact that ypu have 3 smokes now, each with decent up time, can guarantee cashout defense without much risk. This is exponetially increased when in tight spaces, as you can straight sit next to the cashout in a smoke. Also thermal allows you to see throigh gas or dust and explosions that happen through the match, helping you get that first shot. Which as a light, is necessary.
so just pop a smoke near my guy stealing i willl try it
Such a chill and informative video!
You can literally remove turrets with data reshaper as someone who mainsdemet and data reshaper I'll vouch for it it gives real good value to the team play
In terms of TA, thermal is S tier
I used to use thermal vision A LOT back in season 2 mainly on power shift cuz I 1. Thought it was cool but 2. Mainly ran into a lot of other lights who always ran invis so it made it a lot easier for me to hunt them down and kill them. I don’t use it much now n days but for its time in season 2 I did help a good bit.
subscribed because of the persona 5 background music
The only good buff smoke bomb can get is triggered on impact like the Vanishing Bomb...
Carrying glitch traps on a close range medium build is gaurenteed to make every dash-spamming light hate you. That's why I always carry them
I use smoke and thermal vision at high level with sword and it works well because nobody expect it
Throwing knives in a tier, however you got to be good with those
Forgot about dematerializer 😢 definitely S tier
Pyro mines are A+ Tier combined with the flamethrower though.
Oh yeah they can def be helpful, also good against MMM teams. I just think that if you aren’t using flamethrower, it’s usually better to run explosive mines so they go in C tier (niche tier). They def have a use though
thermal vision is a must for lh1 because of the visual recoil
I guess if that ends up being an issue for you, but the goal should be to be able to use LH1 without any visual assistance eventually. Relying on thermal to be up to use the gun will make you a lot more inconsistent
I did not know you can turn off sonar grenades with data reshaper.... lol sucks that they have two sonar grenades to hold but still interesting
I didn’t see the video but says smoke bombs are bad is a crime , with it me and my friend won a whole tournament with a missing teammate
nah the flash bang works b tier
Помню как старая мета шортов пугала меня в ранковых боях, даже неплохо что станган дебафнули.
Can someone tell me how to get the maps have red instead of yellow? I have seen it everywhere but can’t figure it out
you need to reach emerald in world tour
What makes the arena have the red accents in the buildings like it is in the beginning?
If you’re in emerald rank in world tour a lot of the yellow in the game turns to red
Finished video. And I agree with everything on the list!!
6:49 you mean when a medium rez you in a middle of a shootout with half hp and an unloaded weapon 😭😭
Right from the start liked the video for persona 5 soundtrack!
I think a lot of this depends on preference, I commonly find myself using a flash in my light loadouts
Vanishing bomb should be S tier as well
I LOVE the persona 5 music!!!
Great list!
Glitch trap is easily S tear NGL. If Ur playing meta you run the glitch or in some cases double movement with almost zero exception. The only time I wouldn't have a medium running glitch is sometimes when Im running HHM. I'm sorry but the ability to prevent teams reviving or taking cash boxes is so important.
I totally agree with the loadout choices, I just think there’s room for change, as you can run double movement or movement + glitch trap like you said. S tier is kind of the “you should have this equipped no matter what” tier, while A tier has more flexibility to be interchangeable
@@ronin_fps yeh I guess that was the whole point of Ur s tear maybe u needed a tear between S and A where the glitch would belong.
Smokes also extinguishes fires which could help in some situations
If fire becomes the new meta then smoke grenade stocks might go up
Defib is way lower imo just because it mostly causes team mates to defib you infront of 3 other players and then run off because for some reason they decided to tun it with demat
Just because players use something poorly doesn’t mean it’s a bad gadget. An S tier gadget in the hands of a D tier player is going to be D tier unfortunately but that doesn’t make it bad for people who know how to play the game
@ronin_fps yea, that's y I said in my opinion as a solo q'r ,like I'd rather my team mates not run it for that reason. not to mention if you move the statue, the time to hand rez is the same as being defibed and having to wait to start regen. In a pre-made with comms tho ur absolutely correct in its placement
Sonar should have been S tier as well
we need a loadout guide
how is your ziplines and stuff red?
Getting to emerald in WT
HERE IT IS 🔥
Smoke + Gas makes it unfireable
I have a question! Why is a lot of things red on Seoul?
If you reach emerald rank, a lot of the yellow in the game gets turned into red!
@@ronin_fps WHOA THATS SO COOLLLLLL. IM ON SILVER 1! (520
How do you get all the walls red?
You gotta get to emerald in world tour
@@ronin_fps ok
9:46
😂😂😂😂I bet you didn't know that it keeps the enemy team from seeing you through sonars 😂😂😂😂😂😂
I swear people make videos an haven't done things for science just to see how they Interact with each other. Your a meme😂 literally the most underrated an most underused in the game.
I’m sorry but that’s borderline useless. Maybe in TA it’s good, but you could run so much team utility instead of that. You yourself could run sonar, or glitch nade, or gateway, or stun, all of which your team will appreciate way more. They need to do more with it than just that
Dome shield is dead☠️
no way man didnt put jumpad or zipline in s 😭
They’re interchangeable so top of A. Sorry if that wasn’t very clear, but one of them is definitely mandatory on mediums, just not a specific one of them. So because you can pick either of them, or swap to glitch and APS in one slot, they go in A, unlike defib which should never be taken off ever - hope that makes sense
Here’s a tip for ziplone i guess this might help. While riddinh a zipline jump and then get back on the zipline again
Flash bangs need longer timing ill use a flash run instantly run in and 2 secs later everyone notices me 😂 quit using it real fast
weapon list when?
I have an older one that’s still up to date from around a month ago or two, but a new one probably won’t be out until season 4 as I don’t think enough has changed from my last list to warrant a new one :)
@@ronin_fps ohk alr i will check it out thanks
When season 3 will be release?
season 3 has been out for a while now, season 4 will launch in a month or so
@@ronin_fps ooh I meant season 4 🤦♂️😂 .... Anyway thanks bro
whats the best heavy special for spear?
I like having barricade so I can have cover if I need it, goo would also be acceptable. As for RPG it’s just too strong not to run and dome shield helps you close distance
I just started using the spear a lot recently, and I find the charge and slam to be very helpful to clear distances when I need to run and to get closer to enemies when necessary
what do u think is the best gadget loadout for medium
Jump pad, glitch mine, and defib, but swap out jump pad for zipline if you have Monaco suspended structures, Seoul, or Syshorizon
@@ronin_fps thanks i was using jump pad and defib but i didnt know what my third gadget would be