Strategy:Tactical rocket launcher

The Tactical Rocket Launcher is a rocket launcher with an actual clip, so it can fire multiple times without having to reload, and it inherently has autohit, so it'll never miss its target regardless of accuracy. One may wonder though, what's the point of making a Tactical Rocket Launcher, when there are multiple guaranteed Missile launchers in the game, that you will likely reach before you can even assemble a Tactical RL? Indeed, for a rocket launcher that can fire multiple shots without reloading, the Missile Launcher already exists, and compared to the Tactical Rocket Launcher, it has better base firing speed (0.8 seconds vs. 1.0 seconds), allowing the Missile Launcher to fire off its salvo faster, while also having a base +10 accuracy that will make it almost never miss against enemies in sight. The Missile Launcher is additionally fully moddable, whereas the Tactical Rocket Launcher is limited to only a single mod (and only if you made it after getting Whizkid 2). However, the Tactical Rocket Launcher is by no means obsolete, as it does carry some significant advantages of its own.

Advantages compared to the Missile Launcher

The first major advantage, is that you can rocket jump with the Tactical Rocket Launcher, which you can't with the Missile Launcher. Rocket jumping is alone reason enough to keep a base Rocket Launcher on you after you get the Missile Launcher, so having a much more combat-viable rocket launcher that you can rocket jump with is very handy. You can also rocket jump multiple times in a row with the Tactical RL without reloading, making it even faster to cover large distances with.

The second major advantage, is that the Tactical Rocket Launcher reloads its entire clip at once, while the Missile Launcher has to painfully reload its rockets one at a time. On top of this, the Tactical RL has a faster base reloading speed (0.8 seconds vs. 1.2 seconds), and a larger clip size (5 vs. 4). So with the Tactical RL, you can get off one extra shot before reloading, and then after a single fast reload, be ready to pump out another 5 rockets. As a result, any fight that requires more than five rockets will have the Tactical RL pull ahead of the ML (with the Tactical RL firing six rockets in 6.8 seconds after the needed reload, while the ML takes 7.2 seconds), and the gap just grows for each additional rocket needed (to fire 8 rockets it would take the Tactical RL 8.8 seconds while it would take the ML 11.2 seconds, firing 10 rockets would take the Tactical RL 10.8 seconds while it would take the ML 15.2 seconds, you get the picture). So despite the ML's better firing speed, the Tactical RL will be able to shoot more rockets at a faster pace in fights that require more than a few rockets (and considering most high tier enemies individually take at least a few rockets to kill, you'll often find yourself needing more than a few rockets at a time when using a rocket launcher for combat). The Missile Launcher would need significant technical mod and bulk mod investment to match this firing output in bigger fights (which you would need Whizkid to do, so you might as well make a Tactical RL at that point), and a single technical mod on the Tactical RL would keep a ML from ever matching it.

A third lesser advantage, is the Tactical Rocket Launcher's smaller explosion radius, allowing it to be offensively used more safely at closer ranges, and better able to avoid inadvertently blowing up items, especially handy when just trying to blow a hole through a wall.

Then for a fourth advantage, the Tactical Rocket Launcher's inherent autohit means it never misses even against enemies outside your vision without the need for any sniper mods, whereas the Missile Launcher would need two sniper mods to get this ability to not suffer the 50% out-of-sight accuracy penalty, which you will be hard pressed to find even in an Angel of 100 run. This makes the Tactical RL especially handy to have when you got Intuition 2 or a Tracking Map to see enemy locations outside your vision, giving you the ability to fire on them without wasting ammo or dealing pitiful damage like shotguns will at such long distances. It should also be noted that even with maxed out accuracy, you still have a 2% miss chance without autohit, so the ML does still have a tiny chance to miss against enemies within your vision, an admittedly minor point but the Tactical RL's 100% reliability against enemies within your vision is still nice to have.

Is it worth building?

So as you can see, the Tactical Rocket Launcher has significant advantages to certainly merit its use. These advantages are enough that if you create a Tactical RL, you should ditch the Missile Launcher, as it's overall a better, more versatile weapon that does everything the ML does and more. However, do these advantages merit building a Tactical Rocket Launcher?

In the standard game, it depends. If your build blocks Whizkid, then it's obviously out of the question. If Whizkid isn't necessary to get a vital piece of equipment for your build and you have no interest in farther modding your equipment, then the Tactical RL itself wouldn't be superior enough to the ML to merit getting Whizkid just for it (and if you're not interested in using rocket launchers offensively, it's probably not worth going out of your way to get Whizkid just for it either). If you're getting Whizkid really late in the game, it probably won't be worth lugging those bulk mods around that long to build a Tactical RL just to use it for a few levels. If you're getting Whizkid before Hell though, and can afford to carry a bulk mod or two around until then, then the Tactical RL can certainly be worth the investment.

In Angel of 100/Archangel of 666 however, the Tactical RL is invaluable even for those that have no desire to use a rocket launcher for combat. For one, the Missile Launcher isn't guaranteed anymore. For two, you should unquestionably be getting Whizkid here, so even if you do find a ML, you should be aiming to make a Tactical RL anyway. For three, rocket jumping, already very useful in the standard game, is invaluable in Ao100/Ao666, where you're pretty much guaranteed to run into bad situations eventually that rocket jumping will get you out of, or you have otherwise begun stair diving and anything that gets you there faster is valuable to save your time. Not having a rocket launcher that you can do several consecutive rocket jumps with and can more safely blow up walls with will be a huge loss over so many levels.

Modding

Since you need a level in Whizkid to build the Tactical Rocket Launcher, you often should go and take the second level before building it, so you can add a mod to your Tactical RL, unless it's too late in the game for it to matter or you really need the Tactical RL ASAP. For which mod to use, the Technical mod would be by far the most useful, as it helps alleviates the one shortcoming of average firing speed and allows you to pump out those rockets even faster, which both improves its DPS for offensive purposes and makes it faster for utility purposes like rocket jumping.

A Power mod would be decent, but the greater firing speed granted by a technical mod would give greater DPS overall and much more utility than firing slightly stronger rockets would. Plus power mods are probably better spent on your primary weapons and armor.

A Bulk mod gives very little benefit, as the Tactical RL's clip is already sufficiently large and can reload the entire clip fast as covered prior, and thus having an extra rocket in your clip would do little to help you pump out more rockets faster. In fact, even factoring in the needed reload and assuming you have no investment in Reloader nor Shottyman, a technical mod would still allow you to fire 6 rockets faster (taking 5.6 seconds total) than a bulk mod would (taking 6 seconds total). A technical mod is a completely superior mod investment here.

An Agility mod and Sniper mod would do nothing when the Tactical RL already has inherent autohit.

A Firestorm mod isn't compatible, as the Tactical RL's explosion radius is 2, while the firestorm mod requires an explosion radius of at least 3 to be usable. Though even if it was, it would be counterproductive, as one of the caveats of the Tactical RL was its smaller explosion radius making it safer to use in close quarters and around items.

A Nano mod would also be counterproductive. First it would prevent the Tactical RL's big advantage of being able to quickly reload its large clip entirely at once; if you run out of rockets while you have it nano-modded, you'll have to wait for your ammo to slowly regenerate rather than just being able to do one quick reload and have another full clip ready, making the weapon a lot worse for combat or for any long stretches of rocket jumping. Second, if you want a rocket launcher without worrying about carrying around rockets for it, you should build a Nanomachic Rocket Launcher instead of a Tactical RL; it requires the three Bulk mods you would have needed for the Tactical RL in addition to the nano mod, and would carry most of the benefits of the Tactical RL (with it missing the smaller explosion radius and inherent autohit), while not having to reload ever nor requiring any ammunition. In the very unlikely scenario in the standard game where you got a nano mod after having already built a Tactical RL, that nano mod would still be put to better use elsewhere. If it happens in A100/A666 and you have nothing else better to use it on, you still might as well find another Rocket Launcher and turn it Nanomachic instead of giving your nano mod to the Tactical RL, as you have plenty of time and bulk mods are plentiful.

So overall, absolutely use a Technical mod on your Tactical Rocket Launcher. Omega Tyrant (talk) 10:50, 27 September 2014 (CEST)