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Tactics The SWAT's role?

flashn00b

Grizzled Veteran
  • Feb 1, 2011
    912
    104
    Correct me if i'm wrong, but I can't help but scratch my head about what the SWAT contributes in a team setting. He really just feels like a tankier commando minus who can't detect stalkers and quite frankly, it seems as if he really only exists so that Sharpshooters, Demolitionists and Firebugs can carry their respective Tier 4 weapons, a Medic Pistol and an automatic weapon.
     
    SWAT's role is crowd control; a more accurate but less affective (& therefore as a tradeoff more reliable) bullet-based Firebug. Firebugs are kings of trash killing melting anything but Scrakes, FPs, & Husks in seconds but they have to be careful not to aggro the big Zeds; SWAT on the other hand can engage a Scrake or FP, have it rage, stun it with a flashbang & finish it off.
     
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    SWAT is very effective against trash ZEDs. Unlike Commando, he's got two paths to easily destroy a Scrake without ever being in danger of being hit once:
    1) Just fire the Kriss into the Scrake's head, he'll stumble before he can get to you giving you plenty of time.
    2) Flashbang at his feet. Use any weapon to demolish the head at point blank.

    I at least can't solo a 6P Fleshpound without getting hit at suicidal/hoe difficulties though. Best attempt is to flashbang the FP while he's NOT enraged. You then empty a Kriss in his head and you'll be mostly done reloading by the time he whacks you a good one. A second clip finishes him off. For comparison, the Commando has the option of grenade dumping the FP to death.
     
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    In my opinion, SWAT's primary roles:

    1) trash clearing
    2) mid-tier zed killing whenever possible (bloat, siren, husk)
    3) zed time damage spike on key targets (when level 25, preferably with the Vector)

    Secondary roles include flashbanging key targets and killing big zeds if no better class is around to do the job. Between SWAT and Commando, I prefer the Mando for its ability to spot stalkers. Mando also feels better at killing mid-tier zeds while still having good trash-clearing potential. That would probably be the main difference: SWAT should look more to clearing trash, while Commando should focus on clearing the mid-tier zeds. Both classes can perform both roles, though.
     
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    I usually cover my team's back on Swat, so the other 5 players can deal with the zeds infront and mostly can deal with it. Because they wouldn't get distracted when getting attacked from the back and it's mostly deadly if they did. While I'm covering their backs, I simply start off using the dual 9mm pistols for the first 3 waves under these skills.

    -Heavy Armor Training
    -Close Combat Training (110% 9mm and knife bonus damage)
    -Supression Rounds (Extra ammo doesn't work for 9mm)
    -Assault Armor (At FIRST wave then change it to Cripple)
    -Rapid Assault

    So the task is to try and get 1.5k dosh or more until the 4th wave. So you can purchase the Vector and if you have a little more left, buy some extra ammo and then you'll slowly build up more dosh and you're aswell ready to kill off some scrakes (They do appear in the 3rd wave in HOE) Also, shift all your skills to the right side if you bought the vector.

    Some tips to build up dosh to the 3rd wave
    - Only buy 9mm ammo and stun grenades (If you threw any)
    - Try not to get hit, spare your armour to the 3rd wave
    - Do use the MP7 when necessary (Gorefiends or Bloat are too close for example and be free to use it on the 3rd wave)

    After you've got the vector, be free to run around now but getting your team's back is preferrable but it may be boring over the time. You'll also slowly build up more dosh to buy a P90 or UMP and etcetera. But your priority would be mostly stun nades and ammo for the vector and sharing it of course! Over the time, use your stun grenades wisely! Use it when a swarm of trash zeds are surrounding a team mate of yours or use it on scrakes and fleshpounds.

    You can easily kill a scrake with a single mag, depending on what level you are and what difficulty you're playing (On HOE, a Level 22+ has enough ammo on the vector to kill a scrake with a single mag) To kill scrakes, is an easy task but be sure to:
    -Be on the right level on the right difficult
    -Stun the scrake using a stun grenade
    -Walk up close quickly, directly aim at the scrakes head and spray your entire magazine into it

    And the job is done. For fleshpounds, leave it to the stronger perks. Fleshpounds are more difficult to kill but do try damage it as much as you can while he's raging.

    That's it, I'm not good at making guides but I try my best to explain out of my experience!
     
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    One of the SWAT's strengths is dosh efficiency. It'd be an good plan to always start the game as one for the free stuff, and when you're killing trash with one shot, it's hard for other perks to compete with the cost/kill ratio. Also, picking up ammo boxes benefits you a lot due to the large magazines.

    So, in a team setting- money and covering fire.
     
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    flashn00b;n2313928 said:
    Correct me if i'm wrong, but I can't help but scratch my head about what the SWAT contributes in a team setting. He really just feels like a tankier commando minus who can't detect stalkers and quite frankly, it seems as if he really only exists so that Sharpshooters, Demolitionists and Firebugs can carry their respective Tier 4 weapons, a Medic Pistol and an automatic weapon.

    Commando and SWAT are both great trash killers. Where they differ is Commando does more damage and can blow up groups of trash quickly while SWAT has more survivability and crowd control. Not just with the flashbangs, but also with the perk skills.
     
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    Well, SWAT has it's specific things: Flashbangs that are effective to non-raged zeds, high rate of fire with bigger magazines. Best tactics is to throw the flashbang to non-raged zed like scrake for example, it will stun him temporarily, then load your high magazine weapon onto him and if it's upgraded fully and you aim to the head, most likely it will be enough to kill without changing a mag. It's also very effective if teammates are nearby, because they will also hit him, while he's stunned. Also SWAT is good for cleaning small zeds. It's like a firebug, but instead of fire, it uses lots of bullets.
    I like SWAT perk very much, one of my favorites. Favorite weapons - upgraded HRG nailgun & UMP.
     
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    Correct me if i'm wrong, but I can't help but scratch my head about what the SWAT contributes in a team setting. He really just feels like a tankier commando minus who can't detect stalkers and quite frankly, it seems as if he really only exists so that Sharpshooters, Demolitionists and Firebugs can carry their respective Tier 4 weapons, a Medic Pistol and an automatic weapon.

    You're a trash clearer (which applies to most perks) but you also should be focusing on stunning Scrakes for your teammates.

    Align yourself with a sharpie on higher difficulties to dispatch groups of Scrakes quickly for your team.

    In general, I prefer playing Mando in the current state of the game.
     
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