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Merits and Pitfalls: Satellite Beam

Discussion in 'Gunner' started by MasPan, Jun 2, 2010.

  1. MasPan Shi-SHAW!



    So, the Wrecking Ball's Awakening move: Satellite Beam. You'd think there would be nothing short of awe for the ability to obliterate enemies with your own personal Goldeneye satellite, yet it gets mocked more than any other awakening, bar the Hellcat's Poison Mist. Several PvE builds outright ignore it, and the moniker of "True Awakening" goes to X-1 Extruder instead because of its greater capacity to do damage. Admittedly, the damage is significantly lower on most targets than other awakenings, but don't fret - it more than makes up for it in utility.

    [IMG]

    [IMG]


    There are several things to take note of when deciding whether to include (and level, for that matter) Satellite Beam in your build:
    1. The satellite attacks independently of your own action once aimed, leaving the user free to use other attacks or flee as necessary
    2. The beam hits up to 21 times, with the initial hit being 2-3x stronger than the remaining 20.
    3. The entire attack is Light-attribute damage
    4. The beam is capable of juggling airborne enemies and pinning downed enemies
    5. The entire attack can be buffed by Eagle Eye
    6. The attack starts out at lv 2 because of Male Launchers' class-change passive
    7. The beam can follow a target, meaning it's very difficult for an enemy to completely escape it.
    8. The skill actually grows faster with each point - each point invested gives more return than previous points

    The usual mindset of "There's no kill like overkill" does not apply with Satellite Beam - that's what every other Launcher move does, so the Awakening needed something different to shine - utility, safety, and ability to attack from off the X-axis. While it still has respectable damage, that isn't the key focus of the skill.

    Probably the most important aspects of the skill are the hitstun and the fact that the beam moves independently of the Launcher once aimed/cast. This allows the user to unleash their most powerful skills in the meantime while the target is (hopefully) being hitstunned by the satellite.

    My recommendation is that you use Quantum Bomb immediately after Satellite Beam for the chance at electrocution - it doesn't last long, but it's still enough time to get about 5-10 hits worth of electrocution damage, which is a nice boost of 1-2k damage if electrocution is only doing a paltry 200 per tick. Following with Fire Pillar can further hitstun the target and grant another 5-10 hits of electrocution damage as well. Additionally, after the priest-patch, subweapons will be able to cause status procs from weapons, which they cannot do now - in this case, Satellite -> Quantum -> Fire Pillar is looking to be anywhere from 20-46 hits, which is a very high chance to inflict a status. BBQ can also be used in place of Fire Pillar to hold the target in place if they're too fast for Satellite Beam to lock them in hitstun. BBQ also sets the enemy up to be juggled by whatever is left of the beam at its finish, which can be pretty useful for you and your party members.

    Alternatively, Quantum Bomb -> X-1 Extruder -> Steyr/Charged Laser Rifle maximizes damage done to the target. Of course, Eagle Eye should be active before using Satellite Beam as well for a substantial damage boost to your entire attack chain.

    With good timing and the right mix of teammates, you can also use Satellite Beam to pin a target to the ground while your teammates curbstomp it. Good party members to do this with are Brawlers, Soul Benders, Mechanics, fellow Launchers, basically anyone that isn't hindered damage-wise by the target being forced onto the ground/immobile.

    Solo, I've gotten a lot of use out of Satellite on tough, fast enemies that normally give Launchers a major problem because of their ability to maneuver around attacks and quickly exploit vulnerabilities from subweapon afterdelays. Even if some of the damage potential is wasted, you'll hopefully be able to slow them down enough with hitstun to use Extruder or Charged Laser Rifle safely. Bosses like Sayoung, who lose defense (Keiga) from being hit multiple times and are extremely weak to Light damage are also prime targets. Stationary bosses also make prime targets for rather obvious reasons. Against a slower enemy or one without much Hit Recovery, you can pretty much use Satellite for damage as opposed to hitstun without much effort. In other words, different types of enemies will warrant different mindsets when using Satellite Beam - the hitstun is your goal against something smaller or faster, the damage against something larger or slower.

    Like most active Awakening skills, getting hit during the startup (in the case of Satellite Beam, aiming the initial blast) will completely cancel the skill and leave you cussin and yellin and all sorts of angry. It's important to watch out for shockwaves from knocked down bosses, AoE attacks, etc as you get ready to use your awakening. Treat it with the same precautions you would Quantum Bomb, as the aiming mechanism for the two is basically identical.

    It's also easy for mobs with Super Armor, invincibility frames, high hit recovery, etc to simply walk/run out of the beam and leave the satellite struggling to track the target and continue the attack (for an idea of the speed of the beam's movement, take a look at a Monk's Twister of Judgement). This is rather unfortunate when it occurs, though it's not as if this is the only Awakening skill to experience this problem - Sword Storm, for example, often has targets walk out of its AoE before the attack can actually begin. Giant Twister has to gather up targets, losing vital time chasing enemies. Fortunately for a Wrecking Ball, Satellite Beam is not an all-or-nothing attack, and the target escaping from it doesn't leave the user wasting time somewhere else.

    Another noticeable downside to Satellite Beam is the fact that it's purely Light-attribute damage - anything that resists it, or all elements, will present a problem. This isn't exactly helpful, considering Laser Rifle and Quantum Bomb, 2 of a Wrecking Ball's important skills for damage, are also Light-attributed, greatly reducing the effectiveness of a large portion of their aresenal. However, it's a mixed blessing, as there are more light-weak than light resistant enemies in late-game content atm, so this isn't an issue that will surface often.

    For a PvP build, you probably shouldn't be touching Satellite Beam - it's bad form to use an active Awakening skill in PvP, and most matches won't last long enough to do so anyway. For a PvE build, it really comes down to preference, but it's definitely not something to ignore just because the damage doesn't quite match up to other active Awakenings - I recommend at least getting a single point (+1 bonus point from Launcher passive) for its varied uses and to make soloing dungeons a bit easier.

    Finally, some damage calcs for lv 50:

    [IMG]
    1. Satellite Beam (10 hits) + Quantum Bomb + Steyr + Charged Laser Rifle
    37,188 total damage (I'll post my math when I finish)
    2. Satellite Beam (21 hits) + Quantum Bomb + Steyr + Charged Laser Rifle
    49947 total damage
    3. Satellite Beam (10 hits) + Quantum Bomb + Extruder + Steyr
    44211
    4. Satellite Beam (21 hits) + Quantum Bomb + Extruder + Steyr
    56970
    5. Satellite Beam (10 hits) + Quantum Bomb + (Electrocution for 3 seconds) + Fire Pillar (full)
    40000
    6. Satellite Beam (21 hits) + Quantum Bomb + (Electrocution for 3 seconds) + Fire Pillar (full)
    52759


  2. MasPan Shi-SHAW!

    Finished, you can comment now.

    -Edit-
    Well, not quite finished - I'm going to be adding in some damage calcs for the following:
    1. Satellite Beam (10 hits) + Quantum Bomb + Steyr + Charged Laser Rifle
    37,188 total damage (I'll post my math when I finish)
    2. Satellite Beam (21 hits) + Quantum Bomb + Steyr + Charged Laser Rifle
    49947 total damage
    3. Satellite Beam (10 hits) + Quantum Bomb + Extruder + Steyr
    44211
    4. Satellite Beam (21 hits) + Quantum Bomb + Extruder + Steyr
    56970
    5. Satellite Beam (10 hits) + Quantum Bomb + (Electrocution for 3 seconds) + Fire Pillar (full)
    40000
    6. Satellite Beam (21 hits) + Quantum Bomb + (Electrocution for 3 seconds) + Fire Pillar (full)
    52759

    Each calculation will use lv 3 Satellite Beam with maxed +1 (Launcher Passive) of the skills listed afterwards for a lv 50 Launcher. Electrocution will be treated as 250 damage per tick. Elemental attributes and defense will be ignored (since the focus is on raw damage possible), but so will STR bonus to fixed damage. The weapon used for calculations will be a +9 LV 45 purple Hand Cannon (because I'm lazy and it's middle-road enough to be a reasonable tool for calculation). Eagle Eye will be factored into the calcs as well (what idiot wouldn't use Eagle Eye before Satellite Beam or Extruder? Seriously...)
  3. flamedance58 Bloodied Holster

    Good Post; I do find so many snub the attack despite that knowing it's damage isn't comparable to other attacks that it still has a great use in utility and it's kinda like having your version of that Mech's cannon bot but it shoes lasers from the sky :)
  4. MasPan Shi-SHAW!

    Added some damage calcs for those interested (bottom of first post).
  5. ProJon Bloody Fists

    Once again, thanks for the very informative read :)
  6. Dante9898 ~Derail Master~

    Whats going to be the next hit maspan?
  7. MasPan Shi-SHAW!

    Probably Lunar Curtain (I hate the skill, but it warrants something like this, because it CAN have uses, particularly in certain party set-ups). Then maybe Flamethrower or Moonlight Slash (has surprisingly nice damage growth, but is generally left at 5).
  8. ArtSlay _________________________

    It's a great skill, only if it hit stuns better or moves faster. Wish extruder works the same way, aim and go.
  9. MasPan Shi-SHAW!

    For me, the important part is that it doesn't require any further action, unlike most Awakenings. It's probably the least risky Awakening.

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