Conquering Tau Volantis

Sorry for this nerd post, but I'm still not over Dead Space 3's weapon crafting system. It might be a throwback to my RPG days, but there's just something about customization that pulls me in and guarantees a greater level of immersion in games.

It's nice that many modern shooters now allow players to assemble their loadouts, and it could be seen in more mainstream titles these days - most notably with the Black Ops 2 series. It allows players to bring whatever they think would be best for the incoming level - or at times challenge themselves by voluntarily carrying minimalist loadouts.

Anyway, like I said, Dead Space 3 is no different - as Visceral introduced the weapon crafting mechanic. I just wanted to share the stuff that my Isaac Clarke built from the bench.

It's funny that I decided to stick with my workhorse (for the lack of a better term) from the first two games - the pneumatic torch (or a flamethrower, in layman's terms). While it tends to be a close quarters weapon, the torch is still incredibly ammo efficient and still makes necromorphs automatically drop whatever resources that they carry. Unfortunately, its relatively quick fire rate ensures that one would have to reload quite often, which is obviously not ideal during those numerous situations where the game decides to throw swarms of necromorphs at the player. I've chosen Stasis Coating as the second attachment, because it complements the fire rate of the torch and slows down everything it hits.

I found that adding a panic button, a missile launcher (with a Safety Guard attached), dealt with this problem pretty well - and works wonders against the occasional heavies that appear from time to time. Note that the blueprint below uses basic components, so feel free to swap it with the MKV parts or other whatnot.

Adeptas Sororitas (Blueprint)
Frame: Heavy Elite Frame
Upper Tool: Pneumatic Torch
Upper Tool Tip: Compressor (Magnesium Afterburner)
Lower Tool: Survey Charge
Lower Tool Tip: Directed Suspension Field (Rocket Launcher)
Attachment 1: Safety Guard
Attachment 2: Stasis Coating
Upper Circuits: (3 DMG, 3 RLD) x 4
Lower Circuits: (3DMG, 3 RLD) x 4

Obviously, the biggest problem with this setup is that it doesn't work well against ranged enemies in open spaces. This is what I've been running with as of late, because it's fun and quite useful in co-op play.

Classic Javelin Gun (Blueprint)
Frame: Heavy Elite Frame
Upper Tool: Telemetry Spike
Upper Tool Tip: Repeater (Javelin Repeater)
Lower Tool: Electrocution Module
Lower Tool Tip: n/a
Attachment 1: Damage Support
Attachment 2: Medic Support
Upper Circuits: (3 DMG, 3 RLD) x 4
Lower Circuits: (3DMG, 3 RLD) x 4

Like the torch, it's also ammo efficient and works well in both tight corridors and huge rooms. The lower tool doubles as crowd control and takes out most necromorphs in one volley.

I know that both blueprints miss the point of strategic dismemberment (which was the first two games' main selling point) but screw it, they've turned it into an action game anyway. It's interesting to note that I've never seen anyone play with this mechanic whenever I did online co-op, which sort of proves that the game has strayed far from its roots.

In any case, I guess different people play differently - whatever works.