SPARKS worth it?

[Valaska]

Yes. NEXT QUESTION.
%.

Valaska I love the idea of a three man spark team but how do you manage the repairs and maintenance? The only things I have been able to work out is using my repair power to repair the deployed damaged sparks in the early game so they will survive. In theory I have been thinking on building a support team around them so they take far less damage but this is more forcing them to work within the repair and maintenance penalties.

To me the bigger focus for "SPARKS worth it" is what do you need with them to synergize well and how do you manage the repairs and maintenance mini game?

I use 3 only in emergency situations. Typicall they have enough armor and other targets in the area they'll not take EVERY shot. The extra armor perks and overwatch build are really handy, and they are fairly long ranged and accurate too. But a powered bit has more than enough healing to pull an injured spark back. If you have been too shredded... Well, now its time to pull it back and use it as a supportive role unit.

Again those Phase canons do so much damage and Spark's are reasonably accurate. They are front line units until they're shredded which takes quite awhile lol.

[Shadow86]

Haven't gotten to SPARKs yet in the campaign since getting Shen's Last Gift DLC, but I think I'll follow the overwatch build and employment.

...once you can path Wrecking Ball through most of the enemy pod's covers....

Though once I read the Wrecking Ball description, this is how I imagined a SPARK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qko6wTN_DA&t=10s

Wondering how it is in the insurance business on ADVENT Earth.

I can't help but think this is the main inspiration behind the perk's name, and it always comes to mind.

I just finished the story mission that gives you the first one, and the antagonist kept sounding like Neil Patrick Harris. Can't confirm, though.

Anyway, I'll see how tanky or flanky I can make my SPARKs, handling them with the same care I did HWPs back in the old days.

[Dwarfling]

I love SPARKs. If only they were a little easier to train, but you can have them do all sort of Retaliations and get exp that way.

This is what I did with mine:

1. Combat Awareness
2. Bulwark
3. Cool Under Pressure
4. Intimidate
5. Holo-Targeting
6. Hunter Protocol
7. Sacrifice

So you have a decent tank that just sits around in Overwatch with +15def +10 aim, +20def with Sacrifice active, plus +20def with Aid Protocol, has +3 armor (+5 during Sacrifice) plus his innate, and whoever targets it has a chance to panic. And any reveals have a chance of getting shot at.

They still suck at infiltration tho

And try my best not to count on their regular shooting abilities.

[wadeanthony]

\

1. Combat Awareness
2. Bulwark
3. Cool Under Pressure
4. Intimidate
5. Holo-Targeting
6. Hunter Protocol
7. Sacrifice
\

Why Intimidate over Guardian? Wouldn't you want to use it with cool under pressure? Or does Intimidate proc enough for it to be worth it?

[Goumindong]

\

1. Combat Awareness
2. Bulwark
3. Cool Under Pressure
4. Intimidate
5. Holo-Targeting
6. Hunter Protocol
7. Sacrifice
\

Why Intimidate over Guardian? Wouldn't you want to use it with cool under pressure? Or does Intimidate proc enough for it to be worth it?

Because your spark will be shot at a lot (being a big thing in the middle of the map) which means it legit has high chance to proc even if the actual chance per shot is low. Guardian gets you little.

Overwatch actually helps you here because it incents enemies to shoot at the unit (to cancel the overwatch). Combined with aid protocol or smoke your robot will have enough defense to not get hit consistently

[KevlinTallfellow]

The Bulwark skill alone can make a SPARK worth taking in some squads.

Got some overwatch Rangers or Specialists with Ever Vigilant? Dash them up to flank a pod, then move the SPARK up to provide cover at the most strategic (or just the furthest) location they could reach. If it's an overwatch SPARK, even better!

Got a firebug Technical that you want to be *really* aggressive with? Put him where he needs to be to maximize his flamethrower use, then park the SPARK to give him good cover where he needs it most. If you have Burnout, you even cover the SPARK with the smoke after you're done melting faces. A nice little bonus here is that the smoke makes enemies even more likely to run up and take cover on your SPARK, who will just step aside on the following turn and let all your other guys shoot them in the face.

Did your scout get revealed by some faceless goop monster in the crowd on the street, leaving them exposed to enemy fire? Did you do something *really* aggressive with your CQB Assault and activate more enemies? SPARK to the rescue! Just run up and stand there, buddy!

Having high cover on demand is very useful in a lot of situations, especially when that cover is a lot more durable than most of the things you'll find out on the street. And it shoots back!

[stefan3iii]

I like sparks, and would probably use one on my A team just for fun if I could level one. The issue is they come rather late in the campaign... leveling one from scratch when your other soldiers are hitting SSGT or higher is a pretty big downside. This is similar to the issue with Psi.

In LW1 you had MECs which were hard to unlock, but on the other hand they were incredibly powerful, worth something like 1.5 bio soldiers. SPARKs aren't more powerful than a gunner/sharpshooter/assault in a combat situation. So either they need to be stronger, or they need to be cheaper and easier to get in the early campaign.