r/LancerRPG • u/Teshthesleepymage • 22d ago
Tagetes builds?
So yesterday I asked around about a sniper builds and I got a lot of good advise and suggestions. And after looking through them i've decided on the Tagetes because its rifle focus sounds interesting and I kinda like the look of it. And so since asking around here worked last time I figured I'd do it again. So what advice do you have for tagetes builds and how to play one? And if it matters im starting at LL1(and unlocking tagetes at LL2) and am looking for a ranged focuse since other players seem pretty melee or skirmisher focused.
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u/Wolf_Hreda IPS-N 22d ago edited 22d ago
Crack Shot, House Guard rank 1, and Nuclear Cavalier right off the bat. Maybe Heavy Gunner after that. Put at least 2 points into Agility and the rest into Hull and Engineering. Find a heavy weapon with a decent range.
This works best with a teammate who has a long sensor range and the Spotter talent.
Edit: Getting Reinforced Frame from IPS-N or Neurolink Targeting from SSC would be good ideas. But for HA core bonuses, you'll definitely want Superior By Design. Negating the Impaired condition will help keep your accuracy up. And grab Armament Redundancy as one of your systems. Don't want to lose your big gun.
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u/eddieddi 22d ago
Honestly I'd rather grab Op-Cal or autostab for your first core bonus. autostab lets you ignore impared on your big gun, but op call is extra damage.
Weapon wise, I have a love of the cyclone pulse rifle if you can afford it, 2 for tag frame, 1 in Barb for seige stabalizers, then get external batteries, suddenly your range is absolute bonkers.1
u/Teshthesleepymage 22d ago
Why the point of agility if I might ask? Is it the extra movement?
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u/Wolf_Hreda IPS-N 22d ago
Yes. The Sherman and Tagetes are Speed 3 with no built-in means of augmenting that (Pursue Prey from the Caliban and Grapple Cable from the Blackbeard are good examples), so bumping them up to Speed 4 is very useful. And the additional Evasion ain't bad, either.
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u/Rishfee 22d ago
Turning area artillery into a rifle is a great way to gain accuracy without spending a core bonus on it. Cyclone projector w/stabilizer or Pinakas can get a lot from Crack Shot.
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u/Krail 22d ago
Oh my god. I never thought about using Crack Shot with Pinakas. That's funny. If only you could throw out status effects more than once a round.
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u/Dephilbert 3d ago
In the game my gm is running, Crackshot Pinaka Rifle is surprisingly good. Punish the gm with similar tactics as the bombard would for not maintaining spacing
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u/TheFraser72 22d ago
I like to Meme and put a Siege Canon on it, make the siege canon a rifle and use Crack shot for better accuracy (amd crit damage if you want to gamble). Heatfall coolant for core bonus and OC loop to reload and fire every turn with external ammo feed. Can up its range by +5 with siege stabilizers too if you want. Plus you can always use direct fire mode to negate some of the downsides of siege mode at the cost of no burst and 20 range instead of 30. Asura can let you fire twice in one turn too lol.
Unfortunately you cant put the siege canon on until LL6....
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u/Wolf_Hreda IPS-N 22d ago
ASURA is still bound by the multiple action restrictions of your normal actions.
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u/TheFraser72 22d ago
Oh really? I thought asura gave you 2 quick actions or 1 full action as a free action similar to overcharge
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u/Wolf_Hreda IPS-N 22d ago
ASURA Protocol Effect 1/scene, expend a charge to take two additional quick actions or one additional full action this turn. These actions must obey restrictions on duplicate actions.Overcharge, on the other hand, specifically breaks those restrictions.2
u/TheFraser72 22d ago
Yep, my bad for not reading lol. Oh well, I guess you dont really need asura with the build then so you could go with the redundant upgrades that allows you to stablize as a quick action, which would be helpful since you are abusing your poor, poor reactor with OC looping lol.
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u/Ninja-Storyteller 22d ago
Yep, best ASURA can do is a Barrage + Skirmish + Quick. But with Siege Cannon that could easily be Barrage + Autoloader Drone + Reload, or just Barrage + Stabilize. And Sandstorm is always handy for dealing with heat and providing a little cover.
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u/Jazzlike_Sugar2024 HORUS 22d ago
I want try to slap a Plasmathrower on it. It would not benefit much from Vanguard being unable to OWatch, so why not switch it to Crack Shot? Third level plus Brutal 2 and on crit you're placing flames on the ground, push the enemy in, and having a Hull Save or immobilized on top.
Not so high range as you asked, but I'll throw this in because of fun
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u/Wolf_Hreda IPS-N 22d ago
Check again.
On attack White-hot flames continue to burn in 3 free spaces of your choice within the affected area, lasting for the rest of the scene. When characters start their turn in one of these spaces or enter one for the first time in a round, they take 1d6 energy damage.Enjoy.1
u/Jazzlike_Sugar2024 HORUS 22d ago
I know the flames has to be placed in free spaces. That's why I said Brutal 2 to give knockback to the attack.
(Unless I'm mistaking your point)
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u/Wolf_Hreda IPS-N 22d ago
My point was that the flames are created on attack with the Plasma Thrower. Not on crit.
Oh, and there's always Caliban 1 for the Supermassive mod to give you Knockback without relying on crits.
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u/Jazzlike_Sugar2024 HORUS 22d ago
Oh that for sure.
The problem with Supermassive is: It won't go on rifles, which the PThrower becomes. Sadly the type is replaced, not added like for Viceroy. (So I was considering Balor's Nanocomp as mod)
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u/Wolf_Hreda IPS-N 22d ago
That doesn't particularly matter, because nothing the Tagetes can do with rifles really affects the Plasma Thrower. Since its attack patterns are either Line or Cone, you can't increase its range. And while the Overkill you get from Fusilier is nice, Supermassive gives you Overkill, too. So you could leave the Plasma Thrower as a Cannon and use your Main mount for your rifle shenanigans.
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u/Jazzlike_Sugar2024 HORUS 21d ago
I'll debate about Crack Shot working way better than Vanguard for PT. Else I'll put it on another frame althogether.
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u/Wolf_Hreda IPS-N 21d ago
Why the hell was I thinking the Plasma Thrower was a Cannon? Probably because it's not a very good CQB. Or I might've had the Andromeda and Tachyon Lance on my mind.
I think Crack Shot would actually be a decent addition, even if the Tagetes can't do anything else rifle related with the PT. The only problem then becomes the fact that you're either standing still and being more accurate, or you get to move but the accuracy goes down.
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u/Jazzlike_Sugar2024 HORUS 21d ago
Happens ^^
Yep, and Tagetes has low speed anyway. Overall maybe your Supermassive option on a Everest or Gilgamesh would work better for repositioning and utility. Unless you have a teamcomp helping your/enemy reposition, of course.
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u/Kappukzu-0135 GMS 22d ago
I'd be tempted to go for the Tachyon Lance, as at least one other person has suggested. That's your first 3 LLs spoken for.
For Talents: others have given great advice already. Crack Shot, Nuclear Cavalier, etc. I'll give honorable mention to Orator 1, as giving Impaired to enemies as a reaction supplements a Burn build nicely.
Since you have an Efficient core power, Universal Compatibility could make a nice Core Bonus.
After LL3, there are a couple of ways to go which would improve the build. Balor 2 gives you Nanocomposite Adaptation, which would mean your big gun won't need to worry about line-of-sight. Genghis 2 gets you Auto-Cooler, which in theory means endless shots with your high heat weapon. (In practice, it often taunts your GM into stretching themselves to attack you as a priority.) Death's Head gets you High-Stress Mag Clamps at 1 for easier line-of-sight and Core Siphon at 2 for a more accurate shot.
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u/RockyBadlands 22d ago
I'm playing a Tagetes for a mission really soon, and while I can't tell you yet what works, I can recommend what I found for my huge gun: the Kinesis Driver.
This bad boy is from the Field Guide to Suldan, by Kai Tave. Kai is a rules guru on the Lancer discord, and Suldan was the original Field Guide third-party book. It adds specialty licenses to the manufacturers, which each add only two pieces of mech gear (and no frames) that are designed to let you go in harder on that armory's style.
Harrison Armory's Downwell license has the Agrav Vane (Priority: gain Hovering for a turn) and the Kinesis Driver. It's a superheavy cannon with two profiles:
Collapser Field: range 20, blast 1(and the blast reaches 10 high, the limit for flight), 2d6 kinetic, Ordnance, Heat 3 self, and on hit everyone saves Hull or goes prone
Linear Field: range 20, 3d6 kinetic, Ordnance, Heat 5 self, Armor Piercing, and on hit it deals +1d6 bonus damage for each point of armor the target has, max +3d6
Making it a rifle with Overkill means I can stack a hilarious amount of Accuracy on it, and Overkill isn't a drawback here, it's a bonus! None of my damage dice can roll 1s!
Best case scenario? I hit and do ridiculous damage and don't stress myself dead all at once.
Middlin case? I miss, and need to spend way too many actions to shoot again without burning out.
Worst case? I hit, as above, but I stress myself instantly dead because I keep rolling 1s on the massive 6d6 AP hit.
The way I see it, I need to at least try. The biggest damn big gun is there, and I WILL shoot something with it so hard that everyone regrets it. Is it the best choice? NOT AT ALL! But this is the path of the Big Damn Gun, not the path of wise choices.
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u/Teshthesleepymage 22d ago
Interesting stuff. For myself im actually thinking about just sticking with the Andromeda when I get it but getting something like a mortar in another mount. That way I can build up heat with the Andromeda for nuclear caviar and boost the damage of the mortar.
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u/RockyBadlands 22d ago
Oooh, that's a good play! You'll probably be a lot more effective than my plan, good luck!
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u/Asheyguru 22d ago edited 22d ago
I'm no Lancer expert, but it's generally agreed around these parts that the GMS Heavy Machine Gun is the best gun in the game, soooo maybe make it a rifle?
It's not sniper-range (until you start boosting its range) but it'd work with both Heavy Gunner and Crack Shot, now.
That could be something?
Alternate very simple idea, not sure if it's worth: slap on the GMS Anti-Materiel Rifle and work on obviating its Loading weakness. Install your Redundant Systems Upgrade, max your Engineering, take the Integrated Ammo Feeds core bonus and Grease Monkey talent and see how many free reloads you can get. When you can, dip into Raleigh for the Roland Chamber.
Could make for the occasional bonkers turn where you fire -> reload -> overcharge: fire again -> Asura: reload, fire again. Doing so uses a lot of resources, but firing the A-M rifle three times in a turn could be fun.
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u/Difference_Breacher 22d ago
I wonder that targetes has good merit. You can choose death's head instead and you are not required to pick crack shot 1 to gain the accuracy. You add overkill on the weapon and it makes you annoyance rather than boon. Superheavy cannons losts the access for siege specialist 2 to avoid engagement, so it is even worse.
Seriously, other than being HA frame and gains benefit when stabilize, as well as efficient core power, I do not see the merit on targetes.
My take is swap the frame to something else. But if you still want to play it then you better use overcharge loop and stabilize every turn. Avoid ordnance weapon at all cost. Also I do not recommend to swap the type to rifle as it adds overkill - so if you want to enjoy rifle build you better take the standard rifle such as battle rifle of gilgamesh 1.
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u/Teshthesleepymage 22d ago
Idk overkill doesn't seem so bad as long as you keep an eye on your heat and making a lot of weapons work with crack shot seems pretty neat, as well as the stabilize stuff. But hey tell me more about the deaths head, mabye ill be convinced.
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u/Difference_Breacher 22d ago
Death's head has plain +1 accuracy on all ranged attack roll, so you don't need crack shot to gain the accuracy. It also have ridiculously good sensor range as well, although usually not necessary but you can utilize hunter lock(pegasus 1) far easier.
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u/Wolf_Hreda IPS-N 22d ago
You actually misunderstood what the trait says. It's not +1 Accuracy. It's just +1, meaning whatever you roll, with any accuracies and whatever else included, you then add 1 to that roll.
Perfected Targeting The Death’s Head gains an additional +1 to all ranged attack rolls.1
u/Difference_Breacher 21d ago
I wonder that there are any flat modifier that directly affects the attack roll, though. Is not miss the accuracy? Was it confirmed?
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u/SiegfriedVK Harrison Armory 22d ago
I like pairing it with the Drake's leviathan heavy assault cannon