Countering the Retro Lancer

[Eco93]

Lately I've been running in a lot of Retro Lancer users, and was wondering how to counter them. For example, I know there is a guy behind the corner, I perfect active my Gnasher and run towards this guy so that I can down + kill him, only to experience I get downed because of his Retro.

I understand the Retro is very effective at close range and becomes less effective at longer range, which makes it a good target for the Hammerburst or Lancer. At long range, I can easily beat them with my Hammerburst, as long as they aren't hiding around corners, etc.

At very close range I can just beat them with the Gnasher, but at close(-semimid) range this doesn't work for me. The only thing so far that works at this range in most cases is using the Retro Lancer myself, but I don't like this weapon because I think it is kind of a cowardly weapon, it doesn't take much skill and is very effective. Not trying to flame Retro users but in my opinion the kills are less satisfying, I feel I just pressed a button, sprayed a bit and get kills, rather than having made smart use of the surroundings and aimed correctly with the Gnasher or triggered quickly enough with the Hammerburst.

The strange thing is this weapon hasn't really been a problem for me since release (it was overpowered in the beta), but lately it has become more of a problem for me.

So, if anybody has some tips on countering the Retro it would be much appreciated.

[DenyThisFlesh]

The key is movement. Wall bouncing and strafing help a lot. Even with that though, you have to be very accurate with your shots or you'll be dead.

[Eco93]

The key is movement. Wall bouncing and strafing help a lot. Even with that though, you have to be very accurate with your shots or you'll be dead.

Thanks, but I've tried this a lot already. The Retro seems to shoot all over the place (which is something the weapon is intended to do), and with a lot of damage, resulting in often going down before I even have the chance to get a down. Movement is very useful against Gnasher/Lancer/Hammerburst from what I experience, but less effective against Retro Lancer.

[Vintage Senshi]

If you encounter a good player with it they can become an annoyance, im usually the annoyance the best method would be keep your distance & time when to attack them, pairing ups a good way aswell, both come in at different angles. Apart from that i dont know, its a CQ AR & a useful one

[The Dude]

You still have other weapons. Trying to close the distance between you and a rifle user isn't going to work. I take people down with my Hammy faster than I do with my Retro but for some reason they never switch to another weapon. They always stubbornly come at me with their Gnasher.

Well, suit yourself. Medal progress for me.

But yes, in my opinion, the Hammerburst is the #1 weapon for dealing with rifle users. You'll eat Retro's raw because you have ridiculous accuracy with a high ROF (assuming you have a quick trigger finger) and they don't.

[OoPpEe]

Rifles were designed for playstyles in mind. The Retro is dominate up close, Lancer at medium, Hammerburst at long. If you are using a Lancer it's best to attack at a greater range or switch to your shotgun. If you are up close using the Hammerburst - you deserve to die as that's just plain stupidity.

[Sean_Lucas]

Try and get as close a possible, wait for them to empty their clip, then rush them with the gnasher.

When i use the retro thats how they get me, when im not quick enough, so the method does work.

[xTZAx]

Never go into a 1v1, try a 2v1 to give you a better chance. Drop back to long range if you're able to, it's definitely the safer option. Use power weapons as well. Scorcher is actually a really good option.

[Cobryza]

there's nothing cowardly about the retro, when using it you have to stand out in the open pretty much.

[Ko DESTROYER]

throw a smoke

[Fart]

At mid range and longer it has a longer downtime than the lancer or hammerburst, even with perfect feathering. Up close actives with the gnasher help a ton. Also never stop moving if you are out of cover. Retro is one of the least capable guns when moving vs any other AR because of the crazy bloom.

Ideally:

Get behind waist high cover, do "pop shots" with the gnasher. Your hitbox is half the size so it's really hard for the retro to land it's shots without going too low/high because of the bloom.

Get behind a corner (right hand preferred) and pop out to take a shot then walk back into cover between each shot. Makes you very hard to hit and it eats up the retro's dps.



Also don't forget the retro's reload is long and it's active is difficult to hit. When in doubt try for an active if you see one coming, chances are you'll have an active and the retro user won't.

[TheSafetyCatch]

As I always say, "I did tell you I'd fight back. I didn't tell you I'd fight fair." - If you have to fight someone 2 vs 1, there's no shame it in most of the time, or by using another weapon. If someone's using the retro, that's his way of fighting you, be him good or bad. If you feel he's not fighting fair, then yeah, he's still fighting back, but he's surviving!

Anyway, yeah, throwing smokes works if you feel the only way you can beat him is to get close, otherwise, hammerburst him down. I've been using the Hammerburst online more and more recently and I'm really liking it actually. It seems pretty cool against standard rifle users, and with a 20 round mag and a good trigger finger you can drop people, specially with an active. You can easily down a Retro Lancer user with this weapon, try it out

[Patholog1K4L]

If they have an active on the retro you're pretty much screwed at mid - close range even with wall bouncing. If they're corner camping your best bet is to throw a smoke or better yet an ink if youve got it to stun them then rush in with the gnasher. That or wait until their clip is almost empty, if theyre spraying I've noticed they will keep shooting til the clip is empty even if they dont have enough bullets to down you. Just have to be careful to not get too close bc they can melee you down with one hit if youre not at 100%.

[Eco93]

First of all, thanks everyone for your input, I will try some new tactics.

You still have other weapons. Trying to close the distance between you and a rifle user isn't going to work. I take people down with my Hammy faster than I do with my Retro but for some reason they never switch to another weapon. They always stubbornly come at me with their Gnasher.

Well, suit yourself. Medal progress for me.

But yes, in my opinion, the Hammerburst is the #1 weapon for dealing with rifle users. You'll eat Retro's raw because you have ridiculous accuracy with a high ROF (assuming you have a quick trigger finger) and they don't.

Hammerburst is my rifle of choice as well and it is incredibly effective, but not as much at closer range against Retro's.

Never go into a 1v1, try a 2v1 to give you a better chance. Drop back to long range if you're able to, it's definitely the safer option. Use power weapons as well. Scorcher is actually a really good option.

Haven't tested Scorcher yet against Retro's, will try that out. 2v1 is definitely making it easier to go against Retro's, but the problem is that I mainly play with randoms and often not the assisting kind.

there's nothing cowardly about the retro, when using it you have to stand out in the open pretty much.

Well it has to be the easiest rifle to get kills with in my opinion, Lancer is easy to use but harder to use effectively, while the Retro seems to be fairly easy to use while being very effective. Because of this I classify the Retro Lancer a weapon for people who want the easy way out, and therefore a cowardly weapon.

throw a smoke

I suppose I should do this more often, or at least try it. Thanks.

At mid range and longer it has a longer downtime than the lancer or hammerburst, even with perfect feathering. Up close actives with the gnasher help a ton. Also never stop moving if you are out of cover. Retro is one of the least capable guns when moving vs any other AR because of the crazy bloom.

Ideally:

Get behind waist high cover, do "pop shots" with the gnasher. Your hitbox is half the size so it's really hard for the retro to land it's shots without going too low/high because of the bloom.

Get behind a corner (right hand preferred) and pop out to take a shot then walk back into cover between each shot. Makes you very hard to hit and it eats up the retro's dps.

Also don't forget the retro's reload is long and it's active is difficult to hit. When in doubt try for an active if you see one coming, chances are you'll have an active and the retro user won't.

Cover is definitely useful but it's not always available, or at least not freely (like other people shooting you from different angles)

[Maker]

Ok, ive been here a lot. Gnasher / Retro user from Day 1 and my biggest problems are guys who are REALLY fast with the Hammy even in waist high cover and intelligent players.

What you need to do if your not going to bank on skill driven kills is to force the retro player to make a mistake via elevation or angles. Force him out of his cover That is the LAST place a retro user wants to be if he is fighting someone behind wasit high cover. Its almost a 90/10 disfavor.

What i normally do with other retro users is to get a teammate to lancer them as suppression or just try to make them waste ammo. Again this all depends on how smart the retro user is. If you can work as a distraction thats even better.

1v1 a retro user The best weapon ive found for this is the Gnasher IF and only IF you are active and a good shot. Wallbounce to cover near them play ring around the rosie a bit while you recover health and then drop the hammer so to speak. If they are smart they will run away to other cover and reset the situation, if not you have improved your chances by forcing them to take action.

[LilC18]

Step 1. Throw smoke.

Step 1.5 (Optional). Throw some rifle bullets at 'em

Step 2. Charge!

[Eliguy5]

Whatever man. The retro is cool and completely fair. If ur a run and gun cqc gnasher guy anyway, the retro kind of suits that style since its about as effect as the gnasher at close range.

[Best Bloody Day]

Mistake number 1: rushing without being secure about what are you exactly doing.

I use the Retro a lot and people makes the same mistake again and again. Some examples:

Big room, looking at the door. Enemy rushes blindly. Dead.
Waiting in cover, gnasher user rushes. Dead.
2 users confident because they outnumber me. But I only need 1-2 seconds to down them both. Dead.

And so on. If people throw smoke more often or at least stay close to cover just in case, they would die less.