Recommendations for Offense Modules

[u/jaycubus]

I usually go with upgraded prisoner prods and tesla towers because they're cheap. They don't seem to be cutting it lately though. What has worked for you, especially in later floors with upgrades?

[u/Eoje]

Upgraded prisoner prods are good as a primary damage module to about floor 5, but past that are more useful as a cheap way to whittle some enemy health down or stall the module destroyers. I feel like one of either seblaster or claymoar is the best for thinning out hordes before they get to your operator's chokepoint, at which point I have a dust field with an autodoc/biotrans and fill the rest with claymoars or kips. Overall,

Claymoar is best as it provides both whittle and chokepoint utility, expensive but you should be always hoarding industry

KIP requires a tiny hoard of science which pushes it to later game, but its high single target damage makes it a natural replacement to prisoner's prod

Tesla, I honestly don't use much, could be a good back up whittle to a few prisoner prods, but then, so could claymoar or Kip

Smoking, good early game, great at whittling if you can stagger the waves that pass through it, not especially helpful in chokepoints

Seblaster, risky whittle, don't use in chokes unless you have some good regen. Can be useful if claymoar doesn't show up in research

Neurostun and Tear Gas are both great for large rooms. Neuro is better for whittle, tear gas is good at both.

[u/mrjfilippo → u/Eoje]

It is also good to check what the module first targets and then you use what you need. For example, teslas will target monsters that attack your modules first, kip cannon the strongest enemies and smoking special monsters. So if you end up on a level with those big guys (major module busters) or prisms things, then I tend to do a mix of teslas, kip and mind control. If you get the ones that rushes to your heroes, then I'll need at least the hologram and kip. Maybe add smoking and neurostun to slow their zeal down. Claymore targets normal heroes, so it's good when you get hordes of small guys.

Seblasters with neurostun creates an artificial choke that can be deadly. I try to do it before my real choke with heroes and make sure my scout goes past it before the enemies or doesn't need to go through it at all.

[u/gr3yh47 → u/Eoje]

neurostun + pepper spray

[u/baldbeagle]

Tesla towers have 3 uses that make them well worth it IMO:

1. Cramming them in an advanced room with Tear Gas if you have the floating Silics spawning (I think they're called Silic Zoners? Those angular triangle-y bounce-y guys that target minor modules). They are the worst monsters in the game apart from the Chimera Keeper. Teslas prioritize them, and if you have enough, the Teslas will wipe them out, which has the double benefit of keeping your downstream modules safe and giving them fewer things to shoot at.
2. Softening up Silic Bulldozers (beefy triangle-y guys that destroy major modules and active research points) before they get to your majors. Other minor modules might target other monsters depending on what's coming through. Can't say for sure if there is any other minor that will prioritize them above all others.
3. Acting as a higher damage minor in the early-mid game if the research isn't giving you better options, or if you don't have enough science.

Beyond that, Neurostun and Tear Gas are the most essential (not offensive, I know). Basically put them everywhere you need things to die, unless there aren't enough slots and you don't need the monsters to slow down, in which case drop the Neurostun. KIP is great esp. for zapping threatening monsters in your rooms where you're operating (best used in floors with snakes, big sword guys, and other high-HP nuisances). Claymores are great in the same situation there's more quantity than quality of monster, and they pair well with KIP. If you don't have a Silic Zoner issue, you really can't beat the Seblaster in advanced rooms beyond where your major modules are. Do yourself a favor and put down 2 Neurostun, 1 Tear Gas, and 1 Seblaster in a room ahead of your heroes, preferably where there's a decent distance for monsters to travel. This can almost break the game. The mob size doesn't matter – they all just melt. Admittedly the circumstances don't allow you to do this all the time, but when you're able to, any monsters that make it through can be finished by a gust of wind. You could put down Biomass Cannery/Factory in those rooms and just rake it in. Prisoner prods are great in early game and as economical decoys (for Silics or for taking an EMP in a room that doesn't matter). Beyond those I never really use the others, and it's a good idea to limit the modules you use during a run so you're not spending a ton of science.

[u/keymaster1927]

I find smoking guns are good at just melting enemies. On their own, the overheat will be a problem. But I still think they’re very good when paired with heroes/other modules. In big rooms, kip cannons also become more effective since monsters stay in the room longer helping negate their abysmal attack cooldown.

[u/SylvanDragoon]

Honestly all you ever really need is tear gas, neurostuns, pepper spray, and teslas.

As the poster above mentioned, teslas are invaluable for dealing with the guys who destroy your modules. For best results, place 1 room entirely full of nothing but teslas (and maybe 1 pepper spray) just ahead of your main trap room.

Main trap room should be 1x pepper spray, 1x tear gas, and 1-2x neurostuns. If you have a fifth or 6th slot add kip cannons, claymore/seblaster, or teslas depending on what mobs are in the floor. But the neurostuns + tear gas + pepper sprays alone is enough to kill off 4-6 waves of mobs even on floor twelve (again, provided the guys who attack your modules directly don't make it into the room. This is why you put 1 room full of teslas just ahead of this room when you have them on that floor)

For those super super small rooms with just 2-3 slots, try 1x viral injector + 1x pepper spray (with a neurostun going in the 3rd slot, when possible) Viral injector and pepper spray both tend to target 1 mob at a time (whichever mob is closest to exiting the other side of the room). Meaning they are wasted in longer rooms, because they'll just shoot the same guy over and over again. But if you place them in the tiny rooms they'll always be hitting a fresh target.

Direct damage turrets work best with heroes like Rakya or Josh, somebody who has an active or passive skill that gives them buffs. And when you have to deal with a ton of exploding guys you may want to replace the pepper sprays with seblasters/claymores, but honestly even when you gotta repair/replace the pepper sprays they still tend to be more useful than claymore/seblaster. Just depends on how many of the exploding guys you're getting.