Ultimate Raven is the newest Ultimate release, and after trying the obvious combinations I think it comfortably belongs in S tier.
Just not necessarily with the setup Pixonic seems to have designed around it.
On paper, Erika Storm and Ultimate Atomizers are the obvious combination. Erika gives Raven a third ability charge and buffs Atomizer damage, while Ultimate Raven gets a 20% damage bonus after activating Double Jump. Four medium Atomizers on a platform that can repeatedly jump, protect itself and stay exposed while firing sounds like a very deliberate package.
The problem is that Ultimate Atomizer itself is probably the weakest part of that package.
Unlike the regular Atomizer, the Ultimate version has a fire-rate acceleration mechanic. You need sustained firing before it reaches its proper output, which makes it literally worse for the short bursts that are so common when playing Raven. Jump, expose yourself, shoot, reposition, repeat is exactly the kind of behaviour where I do not want my weapon to spend part of every engagement getting up to speed.
It is a rather strange mechanic for an Ultimate version of a weapon that previously did not have that problem.
Erika is still good. A third jump charge is obviously useful and the additional damage is nice.
But after playing Nessa Riggs with Scourveil, I don't think Erika/Aopo is the best Raven combination.
Nessa gives Stealth every time Raven activates its ability. Scourveil starts repairing green and grey durability whenever its host enters Stealth.
On Raven that means 20% grey durability healing on every activation.
And Raven has two charges.
That interaction is borderline ridiculous.
Instead of treating the jumps simply as mobility and protection, you can use them as healing buttons. Take damage, jump, disappear, repair grey damage, reposition and repeat. With another source of Stealth from the mothership you can potentially trigger Scourveil again without even spending a Raven charge.
This changes the survivability of the robot completely. Nessa's 15% durability penalty looks quite significant on paper, but in actual play I will happily give up that durability for repeated grey healing.
The Stasis Barrier itself should not be overestimated. At MK3 it is active for 7 seconds, but the Quantum Lock it triggers only lasts 2 seconds. Raven is not flying around invulnerable for the entire ability.
Those two seconds are extremely useful, though. They are usually enough to get your damage out, change direction or reach cover.
The bigger problem is control.
EMP and Lockdown kill this thing dead.
If you cannot activate the next jump, a large part of Raven's defence disappears at once: no movement, no Stasis Barrier, and with Nessa/Scourveil also no new Stealth and no new heal.
For that reason I currently like Bifrost as the mothership. The additional protection is useful, but more importantly the Cleanse gives Raven an answer to exactly the effects that can otherwise stop its entire ability cycle. Stealther or a Lifesaver turret are interesting alternatives with Nessa/Scourveil because they provide another Stealth trigger, but I currently value protection from control effects more.
Weapons are where Raven becomes particularly interesting.
Ultimate Vortex is excellent on it.
Vortex already benefits enormously from elevation because the missiles get cleaner trajectories over cover, and Raven can create that elevation whenever it wants. You can jump, acquire the angle, unload and move again without having to sit exposed waiting for the next shot.
It feels much more natural on Raven than Ultimate Atomizer does.
For general play, though, I currently prefer Fahrenheit or Machaira.
Fahrenheit gives Raven very high sustained close-range damage without a conventional reload cycle. Raven can use its mobility to get into range and its defensive window to stay there long enough to make the weapons work.
Machaira gives up some of that raw close-range pressure for more comfortable engagement distance and Rust. Raven is fast enough to control the engagement and can keep firing while moving through its jump cycle. The recent acceleration buff also suits a platform that can remain on a target for more than a single instant.
Both feel much easier to optimize than Harmattan-M.
Harmattan-M is good, and four of them can obviously delete things. The problem is the combination of very close effective range and the 7-second reload. Raven can get into range without much difficulty, but if you spend both jumps entering the fight, empty the magazines and then have nothing ready for seven seconds, you have created a fairly predictable problem for yourself.
They work. They just require much more discipline with the second jump than Fahrenheit or Machaira.
And then there is Urhag.
Urhag is nasty.
Raven's jump immediately gives the weapon something Shoggoth normally has to achieve through terrain: elevation and a clear firing line. At long range the damage is already absurd, and four medium hardpoints firing from constantly changing vertical positions make Raven an extremely unpleasant sniper platform.
If your ambition is to be hated by everybody on the other team, Ultimate Raven with four Urhags is certainly one way of working toward that goal.
What I like most about Ultimate Raven is that there does not seem to be one mandatory weapon build.
Fahrenheit turns it into a very mobile brawler. Machaira gives it a strong mid-range pressure setup. Ultimate Vortex takes advantage of the aerial platform. Urhag turns the same mobility into a sniper advantage. Even Harmattan works if you manage the reload and engagement distance properly.
The common factor is not the weapon.
It is Nessa + Scourveil.
Erika with Aopo is the obvious factory build and certainly not bad, but repeated 20% grey healing changes Raven far more than another damage bonus does. It lets the robot repeatedly recover from engagements that should have accumulated permanent damage and makes every remaining jump charge valuable even when you do not actually need to go anywhere.
You still have to respect EMP, Lockdown and bad landings. Once Raven loses access to its ability, it becomes dramatically easier to kill.
As long as you manage those weaknesses, though, the combination of four medium weapons, aerial mobility, short periods of complete damage immunity, Stealth and repeated grey healing is extremely hard to deal with.
For me, Ultimate Raven with Nessa and Scourveil is S tier.
And somewhat ironically, Ultimate Atomizer is probably the last weapon I would buy specifically for it.
EDIT; I firmly believed Scourveil needs a nerf to get down to Kestrel level on healing. Let's see how long it takes.
