What’s up guys, Rogue-9 here and in this video, I want to give you my first impressions
of playing the new defender for Operation Wind Bastion: Jalal “Kaid” El Fassi.
I will also be releasing a video in parallel to show off the new attacker “Nomad” so
look out for a link to that video in the end card.
Kaid is a 1 speed / 3 armour operator who’s gadget will significantly boost the defender’s
ability to slow down the attack.
But let’s maybe take a look at the details of his loadout first, before moving on to
my thoughts on his gadget.
He comes with the choice of two primary weapons and one side arm.
First up, he has access to a Steyr AUG A3 9mm sub machinegun.
In the pre-release version of the season I that played, there still seems to be a little
confusion over the capacity of this gun.
The description correctly mentions that it has a 32 round magazine (just like in real
life) but the in-game capacity is only 31+1.
So somehow we’ve lost a bullet there… a minor issue for sure but hopefully we will
see the capacity adjusted to 32+1 at some point in the future.
The baseline damage of only 27 points and a listed fire rate of 700 RPM are both lower
than the stats for most other SMGs in the game and that results in a maximum damage
per second output of a measly 315 DPS.
That is the lowest of all primary weapons with the exception of Glaz’ rifle and yes,
that means even lower than Caveira’s M12 and Valkyrie’s MPX.
If we want to be effective with the new AUG, we will have to go for those headshots and
luckily this will be made a little easier for us by the gun’s extremely manageable
recoil and of course let’s not forget it’s mobility rating of 50.
In terms of attachments, we get the standard 3 optics, 4 barrel attachments (including
the suppressor, flash hider, compensator & muzzle brake), both grips and the laser.
Given the manageable recoil of the gun, I would suggest that it could be worth trying
out the angled grip at first and I would say that either the flash hider or muzzle brake
should also suit the gun very well.
So, it appears that we have another pea shooter on our hands.
Low damage but great control and if you are confident on your headshots, this gun will
work for you just about as well as the MPX.
The alternative primary weapon available to Kaid is the TCSG12 semi-auto shotgun and this
gun could make Kaid very interesting to play indeed because it will be loaded with 12 gauge
slug rounds instead of the normal buckshot and it has access to an ACOG.
All of you spawn peekers out there, do feel free to pause the video while you go to put
on a fresh pair of pants, don’t worry…
I understand.
A hard hitting single shot weapon with ACOG capability is something that some players
will absolutely love, while many others might be worried now but before we all get too excited
(one way or another) let’s keep in mind that this is still a shotgun and not a DMR.
I fully expect the damage drop-off to start quite early (similar to the BOSG) and that
might be a limiting factor on the long range capability of the TCSG12.
Once the test servers go live, I will be able to look into this issue further but for now,
I would say the gun will probably still require a good dose of skill and experience to be effective.
In terms of the stats, the baseline damage is 84 (making this gun a 2 shot to kill weapon
at close ranges, against all types of armour) and the capacity is 10+1.
Attachment wise, we will be getting all four NATO style sights, a beast of a suppressor
that lowers the baseline damage to 71 points, both grips and the laser for awesome hip fire accuracy.
But here’s the thing, as tempting as it might be to run this absolute meme canon,
you may not even need it because the GIGR sidearm fulfils pretty much the same role!
With a close range damage of 74 points, the .44 Mag Semi-Auto is only a touch less powerful
than its .357 calibre competitors (the Keratos and the LFP586) and that makes it able to
2 shot all enemies apart from 1 speeds with Rook plates.
And not only is this gun super powerful but at long last, we see the return of the pocket
sniper since this handgun comes with a fixed low power scope pre-attached.
So at the end of the day, you may actually want to choose your primary weapon for close
range fighting and pick the .44 Mag for longer range engagements.
A capacity of 7+1 is lowish compared to most sidearms but compared to the other high powered
pistols, it’s actually still quite good.
Attachments for this gun are limited to only the laser and even though the recoil chart
makes the gun look quite challenging to master, I thought it actually handled quite well in practice.
Maybe that’s down to the mobility of 45… who knows?!
And that’s the guns covered: two hard hitting single shot weapons with magnified optics
and one really, really weak looking SMG.
But guns are only half the story of any given operator and we also need to take the time
to examine Kaid’s gadgets, the Rtila Electroclaws.
Interesting bonus fact, rtila is Moroccan Arabic for spider who would have guessed?
But for the sake of not wanting to do about 12 re-takes for the voiceover of the next
couple of paragraphs, I am simply going to call these gadgets claws.
The easy way to describe them is basically a mixture of Ela and Bandit gadgets.
Similar to the Grzmots, you can throw them anywhere on the map (and pick them up again
if required) and they will stick to any surface before taking around 4 seconds to power up.
Once powered up, any reinforcement (walls or hatches) any barbed wire or even deployable
shields within the area of effect of the claw, will become electrified.
This means that Kaid will essentially play a similar role to Bandit but the claws are
much more versatile.
You can electrify multiple objects with a single and either you or teammates can even
add gadgets to a claw that is already placed and they will also be electrified.
And the power of this deployment flexibility is significant.
Look at this example here.
I am not really under pressure from defenders and even though I can see that the wire in
front of me is electrified, I simply cannot spot the claw at all.
For all I know, it could even be on the other side of the wall, in the stairwell or maybe
stuck to the ceiling below!
This kind of sneaky versatility will make the claws much harder to deal with compared
to Bandit’s dumb old car batteries.
IQ (with her ability to sniff out these gadgets) could become a very important counter to Kaid
and so could Thatcher because he doesn’t really care where the exact location of the
claws is, his EMP grenades just need to land somewhere close by.
Twitch can also take the claws out but finding them won’t be easy and I would actually
say, that Kaid is more of a counter to Twitch than Twitch is to him.
Think about it, Twitch drones can’t jump, so electrocuted wire or a shield would be
a perfect barrier and if you manage to hide the claw on the other side of a wall or even
on the ceiling below, there is nothing that the drone can do about it.
Yes, the claws only have a very limited area of effect but I am almost certain at this
stage that we are going to see some very powerful setups with these devices hidden away in almost
unreachable places.
And with that in mind, the important question is: What happens to poor old Bandit now?
Do we have to take him out behind the barn and put him out of his misery?...
“Come over here, boy.
That’s a good boyyy!...
I’m really sorry old chap… but no one loves anymore.
You’ve lost your ACOGs… your batteries are kind of crap…
The truth is that Kaid is superior to you in just about every way.
Trust me; this is better for all of us.
But before we take any drastic measures, there is one aspect to consider and that is the
activation time of the Electroclaws.
Yes, they are quick and easy to deploy but their slow activation means that they need
to be pre-placed and cannot be used to Bandit-trick a wall.
So we end up with this intriguing set of vulnerabilities to counters.
Bandit is very vulnerable to Maverick but can deal with Thatcher quite well.
Kaid on the other hand can be very difficult to deal with for just about anyone except
for Thatcher who will take down the defences really easily.
Whether you are playing with pick ‘n ban or without, guessing which electro defender
will be used the opposing team will be important in terms of the operator choices the attackers
have to bring and vice versa.
Bandit may be overshadowed by Kaid to a certain degree but I don’t think he is completely
obsolete quite yet.
So there we have it.
Kaid is a 1 speed defender who’s gadget would make him a great anchor but who’s
guns look to make him the king of all spawn peeks and long angles.
Will you spend the setup phase prepping the site against the advancing attackers or will
you be rushing off to find the nearest window to get in those early kills?
And going by what you know of the new operators, will you be playing more Kaid or Nomad?
Let me know in the comments section below!
And with that, thank you so much for watching, a link to Nomad’s video is coming right
up in case you have not seen that yet and as always, I hope you enjoyed the video and
I will see you in the next episode!