**UPDATE** With the small patch on 9/15/2021, the Phalanx now had a larger hit detection cone on its shield and no longer puts away their shield when hit. The build however will remain this build until we get a dedicated taunt mechanic. Interested in more Aliens: Fireteam Elite videos? Be sure to subscribe - bit.ly/2HMw6zc And don't forget to join us on Discord - discord.gg/U9QJk2J
Thoughts on phalanx how come they dont have more acid resistance maybe the shield or something lol i been playing round and ended up using basic shock with the static ring and tons of recharge.
Should have the shield do like a microwave heat damage in a cone in front of it to generate some level of threat.. doesnt have to be a lot of damage as the tanky role is more about mitigating and absorbing damage but it would give it kind of a makes sence why the ailen would want to kill the shield guy sort of vibe..
@@CoffeeTablemmm I was wondering the same. My Lancer build uses Particle Wave with as much recharge and damage multiplication as I can fit in the grid. It works great. I can one-shot anything weaker than a Warrior, and Warriors and Praetorians go down pretty quick after one with some accurate focused fire.
Spot on! So much potential here with just a few tweaks. Taunt, shield blocking acid and grapples at least on prowlers/drones would encourage team to let Phalanx lead the stack.
I agree for the prowler as someone who plays phalanx. But I’m not sure about the drone only due to the fact they are as big as a warrior and drones can man handle people both in the comics and in the movies as well as predators with just their tail. But taunting hell yes definitely shield blocking acid yes definitely tho the area of effect still exists just gotta move outta there
The fact that your shield gets taken down so much when hit is what hurts this class the most right. I can understand losing the shield when you get knocked down or grappled but it's too hard trying to keep enemies in front of you. I would trade off only getting half damage reduction as long as the shield stays up even when hit from the side or behind. There's some good shield up perks that get lost every time it's put away.
I kinda went the other way and didn't bother with any extra movement at all and didn't put anything on the shield. Everything went to personal buffs or making the shock skill better. As it is, this class is by far the most confusing. They made a healer that can't heal unless you really work at it then they gave us a tank that you can't tank with...
Still kinda wish some the the classes have more health than others like the phalanx at least put it to 2000 health and add perks that reduces acid damage and a little bit on reduces melee damage from xenos because this class is only really good when fighting synths at this point
I agree partially because I can single handedly fight any orange one on one even on extreme difficulty on my own with just the pistol of the phalanx and his shield not extra required unless you include rolling to dodge grapples
So I was playing with Doc, Technician, and a Phalanx and we realize there was a combo that we didn't know. If you all have a defense boost like a Technician has the turret defense with allies, the Doc has his healing drone defense boost, and your Phalanx defense boost if you're behind him and his shield has to be up to take another 10%, you are talking about stacking of 60% of defense. and it was insane. Every time we got hit was like very small percent damage. And since you got a doc to heal you, it works all together very well. Yes, you will be getting hit a few times but you can last longer in a battle and the healing drone won't take as much to heal you so it will last longer. As long your killing the aliens, I think this is pretty cool combo
This is how I would change up the shield: Make it so that the shield has a much bigger model, and in turn a bigger hitbox, that surrounds your sides as well, leaving only your back exposed, which your team can cover for you. Then, add a passive that when your shield is up, enemies are more likely to target you, not all the time, but more often than not. With that, add a perk that causes enemies to focus purely on you so you can build up Bulwark and fit the tank role better, but make it so your shield only stays up for 10 seconds after it takes enough damage to get you to 2 stacks of Bulwark. IDK the cooldown timer on the shield (if there is one), but if it's short, should be good for using it during large swarms or when the elites spawn it. I feel like given the general complaints about the shield, I think this would sit right for a change to make the classes biggest flaw go away.
As great as the Overloaded Rounds are on the pump shotgun, I've stopped using them on anything above standard difficulty, as you'll do massive friendly fire with them if you try to save a teammate, or if you shoot something point-blank - you'll sometimes do 100+ damage to yourself with the explosion, even on intense difficulty. Much more than that on higher ones. Unfortunately the 30% fire rate buff after reloading from the Priming Magazine seems to do nothing on the pumpgun, so I'm just going with Field Reserves for the massive ammo boost.
When I first came across the PHALANX class, I was hopeful that it would help me out a lot. It helped with the damage, but unfortunately found myself moving pretty slow - I totally agree that you should be able to move a lot faster with the shield equipped. Great video, it gives plenty of insight into the PHALANX class ! !
I would like if the shield had a taunt, and if the second ability also made that little circle area safe from acid. Like the electrical power disintegrates the acid before it can hit a surface. Qnd maybe some acid resistance perks. That would be cool =).
I really wish we could save loadout because we could easily make use of bulwark modifiers on synth missions. Being able to immediately swap between that and a xenomorph/pathogen missions would be lovely.
So as of recent I've been using a double shotgun build. Using a the Kramer sawed off, and the Medvedev which while has only 120 round in ammo in total gives me a decent load out for mid to close. The Medved with its 2 shots act as a nice mid range dmr with the right perks. Add that with the 4 shot s I. The Kramer for close range and you've got a nice set up for helping qith enemies in a distance while still having enough power to put most hordes down. I haven't tested it out in harder difficulties yet but been working really well in standard
*[[[MASSIVE EDIT BELOW!!!!]]]* The update this morning gave the Phalanx a couple of buffs: - Increase to the Shield ability blocking angle, making it easier to block attacks from enemies that are not directly in front of the shield. - Change to the Shield ability so that it no longer easily gets interrupted by being stumbled. It still needs an aggro effect, but... it's a start. *EDIT:* After testing it out, the coverage is much better without being unrealistic- but better than that, being struck from the sides or from behind no longer unequips the shield! So now you don't need to keep re-equipping each time a xeno nips at your butt. Mind you, it still unequips if you dodge, which makes sense; It still needs an aggro element to be better; and it still doesn't seem to block acid shots from spitters. But this is a better start than I was expecting.
Even with this build, Phalanx blows balls on Extreme and Insane. I'd much rather have the usual Tech/Demo/Gunner/Recon combos and leave Doc and Phalanx on the sidelines until they get buffed or reworked. The shield going down so often is an absolute deal breaker on higher difficulties.
Tech/Recon/Gunner is the only way I've managed to even beat the first mission on extreme. Doc still needs first aid kits to recharge his trauma station, demomolsher is a friendly fire factory, and phalanx is only good for dieing either from friendly fire or acid splatter/grapple attacks.
soo nice to see that you are listing perks that are not even availabel for some reason in the game while i have bought everything form the vendor for example the aftershock
Some perks and weapons can only be found in the hidden caches, it's even mentioned in the video. Keep grinding mission 1-1 on Intense difficulty and you will eventually find them all.
I mean if you've beaten the campaign at the end the final conversation with the 1st lt. Even says it that Wayland received a widespread message from Cynthia before you shut her down and the whole incident was sabotaged by a hyperdyne agent which is a competitor company trying to steal credit for the find on lv895. So plus tweets from the fireteam account have made vague posts of more content arriving in season 1 Putting all the information together its not hard to guess the next campaign if we get one which seems like it will be heavily involve synths. Another thing we can confirm from the account is that not every season is going to have a new class.
Awesome build video on Phalanx class.. It just got an update buffing the shield block radius & now getting attacked for the most part won't put your shield down anymore 👍
Thanks for the info on the Phalanx. I made it to level 3 and was like this class sucks! I cannot play it. But thanks to this guide I have a bit more fun with the shield and knock enemies with the Shock pulse. Thanks to you guys I am now at level 5 and I play him a bit more then before where I only played him if I had a daily on him only.
i use mine as a unshakeable medic. use speed revive on it and no stumble while in actions, you might be taking some damage while reviving but your shield does make sure you can get to them or cover teammates after you revive. kind of sucks that you cant revive with your shield up.
Instead of recharge speed I went with extended radius, with increased fire rate and stumble chance on the auto shot gun. Add combat inertia to the shield with best defense and shield bash the shields a great option when you're stuck on a reload and in-between cool downs on the shock pulse. Use the other perk spots to increase your shot gun, you're just stumbling large groups of enemies at you're feet and cleaning up the mess
Totally agree with the criticisms of the class in this video. I posted a thread on Reddit detailing my thoughts, and specifically noted the narrow arc of protection, and how that alone causes problems with the class in multiple ways - one being that it is not realistic to be blocking attacks consistently enough to be useful, but also since Bulwark only stacks by blocking attacks, most times you aren't going to benefit from that at all. Compare that to Demolisher or Gunner, both of which will almost always have full stacks during combat when played competently, and it just shows how poor the Phalanx is by comparison. Also, having the shield automatically go down when attacked even by a runner is a huge problem. If I want to take the role of a tank (ie clearing an area and drawing enemies), a Demolisher does it better. Blastwave and missiles are fantastic for clearing an area, while a smartgun (or Volcan on Standard or lower) is perfect for keeping enemies from getting too close. Personally, the way I would change it would be to give the shield a 90° arc centered in front of the user, so that sides and behind are still vulnerable, but you can still generally block a good amount of attacks with careful maneuvering. This would also reward more aggressive play tactics as you could actually countercharge oncoming groups without getting destroyed, thus solving the Bulwark problem. I also agree that a "taunt" ability tied to the shield is necessary. I had enemies that literally just sat idle rather than attack me.
The perk that adds damage resistance for your teammates if they are behind you should be reworked to have a bigger area and also add friendly fire damage resistance to yourself
Totally agree. Lacking in a lot of areas. Needs a taunt even if it's a light taunt. Shield needs to be a bit wider too. Bugs love to flank. And soon as you are staggered, stunned, roll, run, pick something up, revive someone, drop a hat, that shield goes down. That gets tiring. Then to top it off have to watch out for grabs. All that and the one ranged attack the Xenos have still manages to hurt you. I'd rather bring a medic then this guy. Class needs some love.
@@scottsocia7828 maybe test it more, works for me every time, I know hits trigger it and I will admit it doesn’t work every time but it works 70% of the time . It wouldn’t surprise me if it was “un-intentional”
@@scottsocia7828 maybe on most occasions the hit from them when they grab you registers early? I’m not sure. I do know it happens on rather frequent occasions. But it sounds like you did more testing than I did, so I’ll go with it.
@@cartharax4308 All I can say is everytime a prowler, drone, or warrior tried to grab me I'd let them and the just grabbed me like normal. Now perhaps if it's as you said it was poor rng but, i wouldn't know on that. The perk just says melee and doesn't specify grabs. Could be a wording error.
This class seem to be slapped together at the last minute without much thought. There's absolutely no reason to pick this because it does nothing special at all. One would assume this class would counter the prowler's pounce but nope, they can't even implement the most common sense mechanic to this class
They need to set a larger radius for the shield and give you some ability to attract enemies like every kill gives enemies in range 50% chance to attack you. Also why would I put down my shield if I receive damage, normally a person would just hold it tighter, so they should add abilities that every 100 damage you receive reduce 10% CD on shock wave etc.
I'm loving the phalanx, had two carry a random and a synth who both died in last part on intense 2-3 just a little bit in on the door opening encounter. I had to use the synths to fight the xenos while I picked them off (mostly the xenos as they are more dangerous) Best part is that I got grappled by a warrior and I could hear my random teammate sigh, but he started to cheer once I broke free and ran around letting it fight the shield synths, ended the encounter with 34hp Also: I would go with full radius and recharge for the shock pulse, if I didn't feel the need for the movement speed during shield up
You forgot a third thing happening while trying to play Phalanx: Getting shredded from the back in 0 time. Even if your team doesn't have a flamethrower, you WILL get shot, which you can kinda deal with on Intense, no saving you on Extreme and above though. If your team has a Flamethrower, just forget that you'll be doing anything or die
The whole reason I didnt use the buff that makes your allies take 20% less damage behind your shield is because using that perk and trying to make it work will result in exactly this lol.
While I can't keep Bulwark up 100% of the time against Aliens, I have no problem with Aliens coming right for me constantly. The other problem is that during the checkpoint or end points where you are defending against waves, a lot of things are dying before they even reach you. So then Bulwark isn't up against the aliens there either. But I feel like when you DO get attacked, and have the chance to have it up, it's a huge buff to you. It IS absolutely stupid that if I get smacked with my shield up, it forced me to put my shield away.
Really should use the melee stun perk as well as it really helps his cc ability, plus the best way to stop a warrior from grabbing you is to punch him in the face whenever he tries.
I know the line between games and unreality is very thin, but when I saw that you can wield in one hand a pump action shotgun and shoot, that line went on fire :D
Yeah I like the class an it’s a good idea but it needs wider block area and not to put the shield away and less you want too and he definitely needs an Aggro tool
It’s definitely a great idea, just not quite in line with the other classes in the game. I’m hoping they tweak things over the next couple weeks ahead of more new content to keep all the classes relevant, not just one or two
If you haven't watched Aliens 1986, there's a marine in the movie called Private Frost. *Watch it, find out what happens to him, and then you'll realize why I don't use Phalanx.*
hey guys i have 2 questions: first do you had a bug when you could not resuply ammo and skills not work (buttons q e f not working in game) why it can be happening? and second my friend we had made all missions 1-9 together cant start last campain because he had not power level or hasnt unlock a dificulty (dificulty is standard, ballte rating over 550) its this another bug or what???
i WANT to love this troop but it's tough, needs to be able to block acid attacks but when it comes to xeno's a shield to block the occasional melee doesnt compare to having a turret by your side and as both tech and this use the same weapons there is little reason to use Phalanx for xeno heavy missions, great for synth missions though just laughing off bullets. I will say although everyone loves it I'm not a fan of the pump shotgun, I dont like the longer reload time. I know you can shoot between reloads but when you are surrounded its not a big help, I like shotguns with a quick reload and I seem to work better even with the double barrel.
Two more problems: First problem is when you're on higher difficulties with randos who don't care about peppering you with friendly fire while you're trying to make sure they're safe. Second problem is xenos with a pinning attack. If you have your shield up then you've got a big barrier that can not only protect you from claws but can deflect physical force. Make it incur a shield cooldown for balance but conceptually if the shield only protects you from basic crap you're not using it right.
I never had problem with the boss attacking me he only grab me if I don’t pay attention I never had them hurt me with my shield but I do agree what you are saying
been waiting for this video, phalanx needs some work like the doc imo especially with threat generation like turrets have. I think that alone would make the phalanx much better. surprised you didn't go with the reloading mag for the pistol as in your other guides you say its the best hands down.
Also your perk grid is pretty similair to what I was using so it doesn't suprise me much lol. I know for awhile I didn't even run any of the shield perks or bulwark perks due to lack of consistency and just ran a massive cqw and shock pulse perk grid.
I think your critiques are fair, and your build has informed where I adjusted perks. I was going for CQW mods but I wasn't leaning into accuracy as much, but it really makes the difference. I found that the X43 was still a solid CQ option on top of the pump action, and naturally the incinerator works great, mostly because you're already at the front line and risk burning teammates less often, plus while the shields protective range is very minimal (a thing I think they should patch) its still safer to burn stuff as a phalanx compared to other classes. With pistol, if you opt for SMGs at all and want a solid handgun shotgun I cannot recommend the rapid responder enough! The kramer short-barrel is a tiny pump shotgun, with damage and +1 projectile star perks to match, but the output of RR makes up for any damage differences, not to mention if you compare it to the WY full auto shotgun from intense+ mission completions it does *more* damage per shot!
I actually prefer the Medved shotgun rather than the pump action. The Medved has better stumble chance, but less damage. With only 2 shots, the Medved sounds inferior in every way until you try it with the Phalanx. With the shield up, the Medved feels like there's never down time from reloading. The Medved reloads so fast and it still deals respectable damage.
Yo imagine if Phalanx triggers a map wide taunt ability that allows you to conga line the bugs safely away from your team. Even with a long cooldown it can be balanced to without being too cheesy!
I am super surprised that my build is almost 1-for-1 what this suggests. I'v tried like every combo of weapons and just nothing feel viable other than those two. And I've tried all of the perks but found most of the phalanx perks to be terrible and ended up with something similar to this. Usually I find a couple playstyle choices differences I just don't agree with, but unfortunately, I don't think there is really much room for that on Phalanx, a damn shame.
So survival in Aliens fire team elite like many games, is almost entirely dependent on damage out put and crowd control, a tank doesn’t really make sense in this game. The phalanx should have been another heavy weapon load out, maybe with defensive abilities instead of offensive/crowd control ones like the demolished. Maybe give him heavy weapons, pistols and temporary shields that look like the phalanx’s shock burst that absorbs 50% of damage or something like that
@@hassandabo6288 yeah I’ve been playing a bunch as the Phalanx and found a bunch of hidden caches and have not found it. My questions is legitimate. Do you have to be on a certain difficulty or what?
I mean, this is the only loadout (type 95, and pump shotgun) is what i began with too. so far and i did not even from the beginning pf playing this class, i did not really even think of other choices. thats a missed opportunity. and thats what bothers me with phalanx. There is no alternative for this class gun loadouts, and no other weopon combo that even matches up when you try it. maybe short barrel sometimes, but its still a desperate attempt to just go with anything else than the obvious weapons mentioned both in this video and in what i said previously. Its just these two guns and thats it, atleast what it feels like. that this is supposed to b an RPG shooter we talk about here is almost a joke, atleast for phalanx. same goes with the perks. There is like three or four shiled perks, and thats not much. good jobs from the devs there. The recon and the tech are class have had options from the beginning, and also Demolisher and Doc got good options that means you can switch between both diffrent perks and diffrent weapons each time you play. To make your game play feel diffrent each time you play though with phalanx dosent apply to thus class. phalanx dosent got none of those nice choices and partly because the weapons they added in this update was not even meant for phalanx to begin with! that is kinda strange to me since he's the new guy. Not a single new CQW, and only one new hand gun that is "okey". But oh yes, sure we got two new rifles. but phalanx cant use those! Whats the point of adding a new class if your not also adding atleast some new special wepons more than just one half decent hand gun. that means that right now, you cant play this class with the feeling of diffrent styles in your gameplay, nor diffrent kinds of experiences overall,. just better go with the old classes instead. Then u play phalanx you basically only have the two synth missions to play over and over again and that dosent feel very fun after 150 hours + I have speant so much time with this game, and the more i play it the more RPG Alien isolation feels if you compare. To be in open world environment is a key element if you wanna do the Alien/aliens experience the right way. not closed missions with small maps that dont even have altanative routes to go through. I wanna feel Katanga, and explore it. Because it looks so good, but thats all i can do with it. Look at it, and i wanna feel it and live in it. Explore it whitout being hammered by aliens non stop all the time. And the horde mode is so trash i dont even gonna talk about it. You just stand in one place, and there is nothing to explore, and no new rooms to unlock like Aliens colonial marines bug hunt had. It looks good, and the Endevour is cool as fuck. If they dont give anything new in november, im really worried about this game. People kept playinf Isolation for years. YEARS! This game dont even holds up three weeks. They must listen to the community more, and re invent them self. other wise they will set them self up for failure, and failure is the least thing i want for them. I love cold iron. I just wish they would expand, and keep "us" they players thirsty for more runs and more gameplay. I dont wanna feel anxity when i play aliens, but i do. because they just want us to do the same thing over and over again. time after time. christ. Give us the power loader and we can talk about coming back again, because new classes dosent mean shit if there is no new missions or new maps with new game modes. An exploration mode i think is the only way to go now since they already have done the "closed mission" type of experience. I was good with that in the beginning, but we need to look ahead. So please cold iron, step it up to another level, and dont stop invent new things, when the old things are not something that everybody wanna do over and over, its not how it works sadly, and new content that is rich is the only viable way to find a positive future for fireteam elite
You made some good points but trying to make comparison between this and Alien Isolation is like comparing apples and oranges. They are different genres trying to achieve different goals.
I find this update to be quite underwhelming tbh. I expected the Phalanx to be a magnet for enemies. Damn, I wish they could at least buff the least used classes first.
Two mates are coming over tonight with their playstation. We'll give this character a shot. Without having played it, the Model looks like it doesn't fit in the Alien universe esthetic wise
My favorite weapon to use with the phalanx is the flamethrower it's a really strong combination because it has amazing DPS and decent adclear you could stay close to your enemies and still melt everything with it pretty fun melting Red Bar enemies enemies that can't really do much about it cuz they can't break my shield
**UPDATE** With the small patch on 9/15/2021, the Phalanx now had a larger hit detection cone on its shield and no longer puts away their shield when hit. The build however will remain this build until we get a dedicated taunt mechanic.
Interested in more Aliens: Fireteam Elite videos? Be sure to subscribe - bit.ly/2HMw6zc
And don't forget to join us on Discord - discord.gg/U9QJk2J
Thoughts on phalanx how come they dont have more acid resistance maybe the shield or something lol i been playing round and ended up using basic shock with the static ring and tons of recharge.
Glad you gave this an update on phalanx and i do agree. Phalanx should have a built in taunt mechanic but atleast his a bit more viable now for sure.
Are you planning on doing a lancer build?
Should have the shield do like a microwave heat damage in a cone in front of it to generate some level of threat.. doesnt have to be a lot of damage as the tanky role is more about mitigating and absorbing damage but it would give it kind of a makes sence why the ailen would want to kill the shield guy sort of vibe..
@@CoffeeTablemmm I was wondering the same. My Lancer build uses Particle Wave with as much recharge and damage multiplication as I can fit in the grid. It works great. I can one-shot anything weaker than a Warrior, and Warriors and Praetorians go down pretty quick after one with some accurate focused fire.
Spot on! So much potential here with just a few tweaks. Taunt, shield blocking acid and grapples at least on prowlers/drones would encourage team to let Phalanx lead the stack.
I agree for the prowler as someone who plays phalanx. But I’m not sure about the drone only due to the fact they are as big as a warrior and drones can man handle people both in the comics and in the movies as well as predators with just their tail. But taunting hell yes definitely shield blocking acid yes definitely tho the area of effect still exists just gotta move outta there
we need new videos from Alien Elite @Legacy Gaming keep them coming boys!
The fact that your shield gets taken down so much when hit is what hurts this class the most right. I can understand losing the shield when you get knocked down or grappled but it's too hard trying to keep enemies in front of you. I would trade off only getting half damage reduction as long as the shield stays up even when hit from the side or behind. There's some good shield up perks that get lost every time it's put away.
I kinda went the other way and didn't bother with any extra movement at all and didn't put anything on the shield. Everything went to personal buffs or making the shock skill better.
As it is, this class is by far the most confusing. They made a healer that can't heal unless you really work at it then they gave us a tank that you can't tank with...
Still kinda wish some the the classes have more health than others like the phalanx at least put it to 2000 health and add perks that reduces acid damage and a little bit on reduces melee damage from xenos because this class is only really good when fighting synths at this point
I agree partially because I can single handedly fight any orange one on one even on extreme difficulty on my own with just the pistol of the phalanx and his shield not extra required unless you include rolling to dodge grapples
This aged well. I just got a perk that reduces acid damage
So I was playing with Doc, Technician, and a Phalanx and we realize there was a combo that we didn't know. If you all have a defense boost like a Technician has the turret defense with allies, the Doc has his healing drone defense boost, and your Phalanx defense boost if you're behind him and his shield has to be up to take another 10%, you are talking about stacking of 60% of defense. and it was insane. Every time we got hit was like very small percent damage. And since you got a doc to heal you, it works all together very well. Yes, you will be getting hit a few times but you can last longer in a battle and the healing drone won't take as much to heal you so it will last longer. As long your killing the aliens, I think this is pretty cool combo
This is how I would change up the shield: Make it so that the shield has a much bigger model, and in turn a bigger hitbox, that surrounds your sides as well, leaving only your back exposed, which your team can cover for you. Then, add a passive that when your shield is up, enemies are more likely to target you, not all the time, but more often than not. With that, add a perk that causes enemies to focus purely on you so you can build up Bulwark and fit the tank role better, but make it so your shield only stays up for 10 seconds after it takes enough damage to get you to 2 stacks of Bulwark.
IDK the cooldown timer on the shield (if there is one), but if it's short, should be good for using it during large swarms or when the elites spawn it. I feel like given the general complaints about the shield, I think this would sit right for a change to make the classes biggest flaw go away.
As great as the Overloaded Rounds are on the pump shotgun, I've stopped using them on anything above standard difficulty, as you'll do massive friendly fire with them if you try to save a teammate, or if you shoot something point-blank - you'll sometimes do 100+ damage to yourself with the explosion, even on intense difficulty. Much more than that on higher ones. Unfortunately the 30% fire rate buff after reloading from the Priming Magazine seems to do nothing on the pumpgun, so I'm just going with Field Reserves for the massive ammo boost.
Thanx for the tips , downloaded this GEM a FEW weeks ago .
When I first came across the PHALANX class, I was hopeful that it would help me out a lot.
It helped with the damage, but unfortunately found myself moving pretty slow - I totally agree that you should be able to move a lot faster with the shield equipped.
Great video, it gives plenty of insight into the PHALANX class ! !
I really wish that a true tank class existed id play it all the time I love being able to face tank damage and dish it back with some kind of counter
I would like if the shield had a taunt, and if the second ability also made that little circle area safe from acid. Like the electrical power disintegrates the acid before it can hit a surface. Qnd maybe some acid resistance perks. That would be cool =).
I really wish we could save loadout because we could easily make use of bulwark modifiers on synth missions. Being able to immediately swap between that and a xenomorph/pathogen missions would be lovely.
The phalanx class reminds me of Rogal Dorn for some reason which makes more fun to play as
So as of recent I've been using a double shotgun build. Using a the Kramer sawed off, and the Medvedev which while has only 120 round in ammo in total gives me a decent load out for mid to close. The Medved with its 2 shots act as a nice mid range dmr with the right perks. Add that with the 4 shot s I. The Kramer for close range and you've got a nice set up for helping qith enemies in a distance while still having enough power to put most hordes down. I haven't tested it out in harder difficulties yet but been working really well in standard
*[[[MASSIVE EDIT BELOW!!!!]]]* The update this morning gave the Phalanx a couple of buffs:
- Increase to the Shield ability blocking angle, making it easier to block attacks from enemies that are not directly in front of the shield.
- Change to the Shield ability so that it no longer easily gets interrupted by being stumbled.
It still needs an aggro effect, but... it's a start.
*EDIT:* After testing it out, the coverage is much better without being unrealistic- but better than that, being struck from the sides or from behind no longer unequips the shield! So now you don't need to keep re-equipping each time a xeno nips at your butt.
Mind you, it still unequips if you dodge, which makes sense; It still needs an aggro element to be better; and it still doesn't seem to block acid shots from spitters. But this is a better start than I was expecting.
Even with this build, Phalanx blows balls on Extreme and Insane. I'd much rather have the usual Tech/Demo/Gunner/Recon combos and leave Doc and Phalanx on the sidelines until they get buffed or reworked. The shield going down so often is an absolute deal breaker on higher difficulties.
Tech/Recon/Gunner is the only way I've managed to even beat the first mission on extreme. Doc still needs first aid kits to recharge his trauma station, demomolsher is a friendly fire factory, and phalanx is only good for dieing either from friendly fire or acid splatter/grapple attacks.
soo nice to see that you are listing perks that are not even availabel for some reason in the game while i have bought everything form the vendor for example the aftershock
Some perks and weapons can only be found in the hidden caches, it's even mentioned in the video.
Keep grinding mission 1-1 on Intense difficulty and you will eventually find them all.
Actually the devs said the next campaign involves weyland and hyperdyne showing up
Awwww yeah. You have a source on that?
I mean if you've beaten the campaign at the end the final conversation with the 1st lt. Even says it that Wayland received a widespread message from Cynthia before you shut her down and the whole incident was sabotaged by a hyperdyne agent which is a competitor company trying to steal credit for the find on lv895. So plus tweets from the fireteam account have made vague posts of more content arriving in season 1
Putting all the information together its not hard to guess the next campaign if we get one which seems like it will be heavily involve synths. Another thing we can confirm from the account is that not every season is going to have a new class.
Awesome build video on Phalanx class.. It just got an update buffing the shield block radius & now getting attacked for the most part won't put your shield down anymore 👍
Yep, just logged in tonight to see that! Great changes but the class still needs a taunt mechanic imo.
The block bubble is left of center. You can adjust and predictably blocking becomes much more effective against melee.
all they need to do, is add a taunt and make him acid immune.
I go for the stun melee. Stun locked a crusher and melee'd it to death all on my own while my pals where shooting the hoard. It was great.
Thanks for the info on the Phalanx. I made it to level 3 and was like this class sucks! I cannot play it. But thanks to this guide I have a bit more fun with the shield and knock enemies with the Shock pulse. Thanks to you guys I am now at level 5 and I play him a bit more then before where I only played him if I had a daily on him only.
i use mine as a unshakeable medic. use speed revive on it and no stumble while in actions, you might be taking some damage while reviving but your shield does make sure you can get to them or cover teammates after you revive. kind of sucks that you cant revive with your shield up.
Instead of recharge speed I went with extended radius, with increased fire rate and stumble chance on the auto shot gun. Add combat inertia to the shield with best defense and shield bash the shields a great option when you're stuck on a reload and in-between cool downs on the shock pulse. Use the other perk spots to increase your shot gun, you're just stumbling large groups of enemies at you're feet and cleaning up the mess
Love this build, going to grind the lvl and make that!
all they need to do is increase the degree angle of the shield to 100 and that will buff the kit immensely
Totally agree with the criticisms of the class in this video. I posted a thread on Reddit detailing my thoughts, and specifically noted the narrow arc of protection, and how that alone causes problems with the class in multiple ways - one being that it is not realistic to be blocking attacks consistently enough to be useful, but also since Bulwark only stacks by blocking attacks, most times you aren't going to benefit from that at all. Compare that to Demolisher or Gunner, both of which will almost always have full stacks during combat when played competently, and it just shows how poor the Phalanx is by comparison. Also, having the shield automatically go down when attacked even by a runner is a huge problem.
If I want to take the role of a tank (ie clearing an area and drawing enemies), a Demolisher does it better. Blastwave and missiles are fantastic for clearing an area, while a smartgun (or Volcan on Standard or lower) is perfect for keeping enemies from getting too close.
Personally, the way I would change it would be to give the shield a 90° arc centered in front of the user, so that sides and behind are still vulnerable, but you can still generally block a good amount of attacks with careful maneuvering. This would also reward more aggressive play tactics as you could actually countercharge oncoming groups without getting destroyed, thus solving the Bulwark problem. I also agree that a "taunt" ability tied to the shield is necessary. I had enemies that literally just sat idle rather than attack me.
Subscribed! Thank you guys for these videos!
The perk that adds damage resistance for your teammates if they are behind you should be reworked to have a bigger area and also add friendly fire damage resistance to yourself
yeah it sucks with them shooting you
and i wonder with 2 infront of you would the damage resistance stack
Have you tried using "Short, Controlled Bursts," with the Phalanx?
So the all black specialist helmets look dope with the wey yu elite armors gunner look slick in all black wey yu with the black elite guard helmet.
@6:54 you say the hybrid sight gives 30% stability but it actually gives 30% accuracy**
Totally agree. Lacking in a lot of areas. Needs a taunt even if it's a light taunt. Shield needs to be a bit wider too. Bugs love to flank. And soon as you are staggered, stunned, roll, run, pick something up, revive someone, drop a hat, that shield goes down. That gets tiring. Then to top it off have to watch out for grabs. All that and the one ranged attack the Xenos have still manages to hurt you.
I'd rather bring a medic then this guy. Class needs some love.
I would think it would have had a perk making the shield work in a way were it acts aa to the shield surrounds your hit box
If you use the other shock pulse itll insta stun enemies when they try and grab you or hit you or your shield, and give you a big def buff
This is false, Elites still grab you. It only applies to melee hits, not grabs.
@@scottsocia7828 maybe test it more, works for me every time, I know hits trigger it and I will admit it doesn’t work every time but it works 70% of the time . It wouldn’t surprise me if it was “un-intentional”
@@cartharax4308 I tested it on multiple missions with different enemy types. You still get grabbed. The point was to see what works and doesn't.
@@scottsocia7828 maybe on most occasions the hit from them when they grab you registers early? I’m not sure. I do know it happens on rather frequent occasions. But it sounds like you did more testing than I did, so I’ll go with it.
@@cartharax4308 All I can say is everytime a prowler, drone, or warrior tried to grab me I'd let them and the just grabbed me like normal. Now perhaps if it's as you said it was poor rng but, i wouldn't know on that. The perk just says melee and doesn't specify grabs. Could be a wording error.
They really needs to give him a perk to resist grapple, and consider the only class that can do it. He will be essential
This class seem to be slapped together at the last minute without much thought. There's absolutely no reason to pick this because it does nothing special at all. One would assume this class would counter the prowler's pounce but nope, they can't even implement the most common sense mechanic to this class
They need to set a larger radius for the shield and give you some ability to attract enemies like every kill gives enemies in range 50% chance to attack you. Also why would I put down my shield if I receive damage, normally a person would just hold it tighter, so they should add abilities that every 100 damage you receive reduce 10% CD on shock wave etc.
I'm loving the phalanx, had two carry a random and a synth who both died in last part on intense 2-3 just a little bit in on the door opening encounter.
I had to use the synths to fight the xenos while I picked them off (mostly the xenos as they are more dangerous)
Best part is that I got grappled by a warrior and I could hear my random teammate sigh, but he started to cheer once I broke free and ran around letting it fight the shield synths, ended the encounter with 34hp
Also: I would go with full radius and recharge for the shock pulse, if I didn't feel the need for the movement speed during shield up
Great videos. Love your channel. Thanks for your work!
Will y'all ever do a Lancer build guide?
You forgot a third thing happening while trying to play Phalanx:
Getting shredded from the back in 0 time. Even if your team doesn't have a flamethrower, you WILL get shot, which you can kinda deal with on Intense, no saving you on Extreme and above though. If your team has a Flamethrower, just forget that you'll be doing anything or die
The whole reason I didnt use the buff that makes your allies take 20% less damage behind your shield is because using that perk and trying to make it work will result in exactly this lol.
Sounds like bad teammates or bad positioning from you.
@@Bopiz787 not really
While I can't keep Bulwark up 100% of the time against Aliens, I have no problem with Aliens coming right for me constantly. The other problem is that during the checkpoint or end points where you are defending against waves, a lot of things are dying before they even reach you. So then Bulwark isn't up against the aliens there either. But I feel like when you DO get attacked, and have the chance to have it up, it's a huge buff to you. It IS absolutely stupid that if I get smacked with my shield up, it forced me to put my shield away.
Really should use the melee stun perk as well as it really helps his cc ability, plus the best way to stop a warrior from grabbing you is to punch him in the face whenever he tries.
any plans on a lancer build guide?
I can’t wait to get this game
I know the line between games and unreality is very thin, but when I saw that you can wield in one hand a pump action shotgun and shoot, that line went on fire :D
Shockwave is quite bad, has a long lag before activation, radius is quite small and cocussive wave does not always trigger properly.
I did notice this, when you need it the most everything seems to lag and nothing happens.
Are you guys doing a video for the new season 3
Yeah I like the class an it’s a good idea but it needs wider block area and not to put the shield away and less you want too and he definitely needs an Aggro tool
It’s definitely a great idea, just not quite in line with the other classes in the game. I’m hoping they tweak things over the next couple weeks ahead of more new content to keep all the classes relevant, not just one or two
I like his kit to but i really dont feel to play him. Only on mission with Sint enemy.
I hope he get some agro abylity or more better block.
phalanx might be useful for chapter one and four on insane because of tight corridors, not sure though
You had me at shields
Id love to get my preorder Dlc to DL on PS5....Smh. I keep trying to reach em but nothing lol
Trying to find overloaded rounds is driving me crazy lol. Will this drop from chests on standard?
If you haven't watched Aliens 1986, there's a marine in the movie called Private Frost.
*Watch it, find out what happens to him, and then you'll realize why I don't use Phalanx.*
He got burned and fell over the railing to his death but what does that have to do with the Phalanx?
So many moments playing as Phalanx and just going "what?" Everytime I got hit when my shield should've taken that hit
hey guys i have 2 questions: first do you had a bug when you could not resuply ammo and skills not work (buttons q e f not working in game) why it can be happening? and second my friend we had made all missions 1-9 together cant start last campain because he had not power level or hasnt unlock a dificulty (dificulty is standard, ballte rating over 550) its this another bug or what???
I built mine with over half the perks going to cqw boosting and the other half for movement speed
is the modifier phalanx only perk "Covering fire" an intense+ loot drop?
no, you can buy it from the shop
ODST helmet?
i WANT to love this troop but it's tough, needs to be able to block acid attacks but when it comes to xeno's a shield to block the occasional melee doesnt compare to having a turret by your side and as both tech and this use the same weapons there is little reason to use Phalanx for xeno heavy missions, great for synth missions though just laughing off bullets.
I will say although everyone loves it I'm not a fan of the pump shotgun, I dont like the longer reload time. I know you can shoot between reloads but when you are surrounded its not a big help, I like shotguns with a quick reload and I seem to work better even with the double barrel.
Where did you get that shotgun?
you start off with it
Two more problems:
First problem is when you're on higher difficulties with randos who don't care about peppering you with friendly fire while you're trying to make sure they're safe.
Second problem is xenos with a pinning attack. If you have your shield up then you've got a big barrier that can not only protect you from claws but can deflect physical force. Make it incur a shield cooldown for balance but conceptually if the shield only protects you from basic crap you're not using it right.
I never had problem with the boss attacking me he only grab me if I don’t pay attention I never had them hurt me with my shield but I do agree what you are saying
Is it just me or does the concussion pulse only work half the time it seems to only work every other time for me
been waiting for this video, phalanx needs some work like the doc imo especially with threat generation like turrets have. I think that alone would make the phalanx much better. surprised you didn't go with the reloading mag for the pistol as in your other guides you say its the best hands down.
Also your perk grid is pretty similair to what I was using so it doesn't suprise me much lol. I know for awhile I didn't even run any of the shield perks or bulwark perks due to lack of consistency and just ran a massive cqw and shock pulse perk grid.
I think your critiques are fair, and your build has informed where I adjusted perks. I was going for CQW mods but I wasn't leaning into accuracy as much, but it really makes the difference.
I found that the X43 was still a solid CQ option on top of the pump action, and naturally the incinerator works great, mostly because you're already at the front line and risk burning teammates less often, plus while the shields protective range is very minimal (a thing I think they should patch) its still safer to burn stuff as a phalanx compared to other classes.
With pistol, if you opt for SMGs at all and want a solid handgun shotgun I cannot recommend the rapid responder enough! The kramer short-barrel is a tiny pump shotgun, with damage and +1 projectile star perks to match, but the output of RR makes up for any damage differences, not to mention if you compare it to the WY full auto shotgun from intense+ mission completions it does *more* damage per shot!
I actually prefer the Medved shotgun rather than the pump action. The Medved has better stumble chance, but less damage. With only 2 shots, the Medved sounds inferior in every way until you try it with the Phalanx. With the shield up, the Medved feels like there's never down time from reloading. The Medved reloads so fast and it still deals respectable damage.
I agree with this, but how many times can you say MEDVED XD
@@giverortaker My bad. It does become grating after the second time, doesn't it? lol
Laser gun has a serious drawback. If its overheated, you cannot switch weapon and have to wait for the literal cooldown.
Yeah that's why we dont use it lol
I use Medved Double Barrel shotgun instead of M37A3 because of it reloads faster imo.
I’m actually a big fan of the Medved. Livid on the other hand, isn’t lol
Yo imagine if Phalanx triggers a map wide taunt ability that allows you to conga line the bugs safely away from your team. Even with a long cooldown it can be balanced to without being too cheesy!
What kind of armor and helmet combo are you using?
Weyland-yutani armor, you get from endeavor pass reward
Great video once again! Can someone tell me how you get the Twilight V.4
Keep progressing in the main campaign. It’s a standard reward for beating a certain level the first time
@@LegacyGamingUS Got it thanks 🙏
I am super surprised that my build is almost 1-for-1 what this suggests. I'v tried like every combo of weapons and just nothing feel viable other than those two. And I've tried all of the perks but found most of the phalanx perks to be terrible and ended up with something similar to this. Usually I find a couple playstyle choices differences I just don't agree with, but unfortunately, I don't think there is really much room for that on Phalanx, a damn shame.
So survival in Aliens fire team elite like many games, is almost entirely dependent on damage out put and crowd control, a tank doesn’t really make sense in this game. The phalanx should have been another heavy weapon load out, maybe with defensive abilities instead of offensive/crowd control ones like the demolished. Maybe give him heavy weapons, pistols and temporary shields that look like the phalanx’s shock burst that absorbs 50% of damage or something like that
I feel like the game adds enemies the stronger the class you choose. 3 demolishers you will fight way more enemies.
how to get Perk Shell Shock ?
I want to play, but stuck playing Pathfinder... it's a chore...
Should make the balls of the spitters bounce back of the shield
Yup, id main it if there was some way to aggro
Hey, where did you get the white armor from?
Owning the deluxe edition OR purchasing the Wey-Yu Armoury Cosmetic DLC Pack separately.
@@LegacyGamingUS ohhhh.. well, that's a shame, the game has so little customization anyway.
Not finding Aftershock. Do you have to be playing on a certain difficulty?
Cache perk
@@hassandabo6288 yeah I’ve been playing a bunch as the Phalanx and found a bunch of hidden caches and have not found it. My questions is legitimate. Do you have to be on a certain difficulty or what?
How do you get Weyland yutani guard colorway?
I believe that’s a random drop from hidden caches. Just double check to make sure it’s not part of the Wey-Yu cosmetic bundle
I checked it ain’t but thanks just means I got to grind them cache again
I got it as a end game reward not cache
how can you get that skin
How did you get stat decal for weapon?
Sorry I meant colorways
I mean, this is the only loadout (type 95, and pump shotgun) is what i began with too. so far and i did not even from the beginning pf playing this class, i did not really even think of other choices. thats a missed opportunity. and thats what bothers me with phalanx. There is no alternative for this class gun loadouts, and no other weopon combo that even matches up when you try it. maybe short barrel sometimes, but its still a desperate attempt to just go with anything else than the obvious weapons mentioned both in this video and in what i said previously. Its just these two guns and thats it, atleast what it feels like. that this is supposed to b an RPG shooter we talk about here is almost a joke, atleast for phalanx. same goes with the perks. There is like three or four shiled perks, and thats not much. good jobs from the devs there. The recon and the tech are class have had options from the beginning, and also Demolisher and Doc got good options that means you can switch between both diffrent perks and diffrent weapons each time you play. To make your game play feel diffrent each time you play though with phalanx dosent apply to thus class. phalanx dosent got none of those nice choices and partly because the weapons they added in this update was not even meant for phalanx to begin with! that is kinda strange to me since he's the new guy. Not a single new CQW, and only one new hand gun that is "okey". But oh yes, sure we got two new rifles. but phalanx cant use those! Whats the point of adding a new class if your not also adding atleast some new special wepons more than just one half decent hand gun. that means that right now, you cant play this class with the feeling of diffrent styles in your gameplay, nor diffrent kinds of experiences overall,. just better go with the old classes instead. Then u play phalanx you basically only have the two synth missions to play over and over again and that dosent feel very fun after 150 hours + I have speant so much time with this game, and the more i play it the more RPG Alien isolation feels if you compare. To be in open world environment is a key element if you wanna do the Alien/aliens experience the right way. not closed missions with small maps that dont even have altanative routes to go through. I wanna feel Katanga, and explore it. Because it looks so good, but thats all i can do with it. Look at it, and i wanna feel it and live in it. Explore it whitout being hammered by aliens non stop all the time. And the horde mode is so trash i dont even gonna talk about it. You just stand in one place, and there is nothing to explore, and no new rooms to unlock like Aliens colonial marines bug hunt had. It looks good, and the Endevour is cool as fuck. If they dont give anything new in november, im really worried about this game. People kept playinf Isolation for years. YEARS! This game dont even holds up three weeks. They must listen to the community more, and re invent them self. other wise they will set them self up for failure, and failure is the least thing i want for them. I love cold iron. I just wish they would expand, and keep "us" they players thirsty for more runs and more gameplay. I dont wanna feel anxity when i play aliens, but i do. because they just want us to do the same thing over and over again. time after time. christ. Give us the power loader and we can talk about coming back again, because new classes dosent mean shit if there is no new missions or new maps with new game modes. An exploration mode i think is the only way to go now since they already have done the "closed mission" type of experience. I was good with that in the beginning, but we need to look ahead. So please cold iron, step it up to another level, and dont stop invent new things, when the old things are not something that everybody wanna do over and over, its not how it works sadly, and new content that is rich is the only viable way to find a positive future for fireteam elite
You made some good points but trying to make comparison between this and Alien Isolation is like comparing apples and oranges. They are different genres trying to achieve different goals.
I find this update to be quite underwhelming tbh. I expected the Phalanx to be a magnet for enemies. Damn, I wish they could at least buff the least used classes first.
I suspect this build was already in the pipeline before release.
what armor is that and how do you get it?
Weyland Yutani armor. You get it from having the season pass. Or you can buy it using real money.
I’m sorry but is it only me but, I don’t see the aftershock perk?…
Best Phalanx build is not to choose him at all and instead roll Demo
I LOLed not gonna lie.
@@LegacyGamingUS Hard facts ;)
does anyone else have the problem that all things in the game have been reset (ps4)
How do u get that suit?
It’s a cosmetic bundle you can buy
Is this fixed?
Two mates are coming over tonight with their playstation. We'll give this character a shot.
Without having played it, the Model looks like it doesn't fit in the Alien universe esthetic wise
Thats just the Wey-Yu cosmetic set, the actual armor looks better
People just need to be careful as that extra shotty explosion can hurt teammates, so DONT use it on a grappling Prowler. Please.
My favorite weapon to use with the phalanx is the flamethrower it's a really strong combination because it has amazing DPS and decent adclear you could stay close to your enemies and still melt everything with it pretty fun melting Red Bar enemies enemies that can't really do much about it cuz they can't break my shield