1. Hornet Basic Info
Hornets are a Legendary Missile Weapon. Versions 6, 8, 10, 12, and 16 are available in the Gear Hub for Credits and A-Coins.
2. Hornet Mechanics
Hornet fires in a burst of 3 rockets with a base magazine of 15. You need at least 5 rockets to apply the Venom effect, a damage-over-time effect that lasts over ~2.0 seconds. If you fail to apply Venom in one try, the meter lasts 4 seconds before it depletes.
- Range: Rockets have a 110m range, with an 80m effective range.
- Bypass: Venom bypasses all personal shields and shield Mods.
- Barriers: Mechs like Blockhorn and Aegis do not have "personal shields," and thus Venom is unable to penetrate them.
- Venom DMG boost: There are currently only two ways to increase it - upgrading/ranking up the Weapon and the Legendary Venom DMG Implant. A Missile Pilot like Nicklas will only increase the Hornet's rocket DMG.
3. Hornet Tracking, Curvature - Comparison to Pods
Hornets have a far lower placement on the Mech than some other Weapons, such as Pod Gun (its direct competitor). Because of this, you often need to expose more of your Mech vertically in order to shoot over a rooftop or ground obstacle. This can be a disadvantage at times, especially on Hornet Lacewing, as it may leave you vulnerable.
Unlike Pods, if the first rocket in the burst tracks the enemy, then the rest of the rockets are guaranteed to hit. Hornets are a much more effective Weapon than Pods in terms of the exposure time-to-damage ratio.
4. Hornet Tips, Gameplay
Hornet should be played very similarly to Pod Guns. An excellent guide can be found on Platinum LTA's YouTube:
Hornet features Mag Size (Leg Only), Venom DMG (Leg Only), Reload, and Range Implants.
The Reload and Range Implants are both decent, but the first two should be prioritized for a dedicated Hornet build. Venom DMG is practically necessary for late-game builds or League 1 Hangar Showdown.
Any assassin-style Mechs do not pair well with Hornet's average burst damage. Any damage to boosting Mechs (Brickhouse, Stalker, etc) won't be terrible with Hornet, but do remember that the Venom DMG doesn't increase from their Abilities, so you are better off using a different build that can benefit from their DMG boost.
5. Where do Hornets really shine?
Hornets are best in modes with limited enemies. Most Hornet builds are dedicated to Hangar Showdown, where all equipment is maxed out, and Lacewing or Lancer is a popular choice throughout the Leagues.
Hornet is especially effective against the scout Mechs without damage resistance (Surge, Lacewing, Lancer, Killshot) and Blizzfrost (since Venom bypasses Blizzfrost resistance) because they rely on Mods for survivability, which Hornet bypasses.
Hornet is very effective against slow Mechs as its rockets have effective horizontal tracking capabilities that can maintain Venom easily. Hornet is surprisingly effective against Deathwalker, as it is very easy to keep the enemy at low HP from range and wait out its Ability.
6. What are the Hornets’ biggest counters?
Eclipse Burrow Beams is the hardest counter to any Hornet build.
Hornet also performs poorly against Mechs with the capability to heal or burst damage Mechs with resistance. Nomad or Vortex are both excellent counters to non-Lacewing Hornet builds, whereas Salvor and Mimicker essentially nullify any Venom damage when played well.
Special: What happens when you have two Hornets of different energy? Which one applies the Venom DMG?
If you fire both at the same time, the highest energy variant of Hornet will deal its Venom DMG.
If you fire in succession (i.e., one at a time), the Hornet variant that ultimately fills up the Venom meter will dictate the Venom DMG. Theoretically, this implies that Hornet 16+6 can have the same effective Venom damage as Hornet 16+16.
However, to keep your gameplay simple, you should aim to have two Hornets of the same energy variant.
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