Why does the B18 have to be so garbage?

[caleeb101]

I know it has probably been talked about to death but why?

The grenade launcher is good but has so many damn issues. Ammo shortage is the biggest one. Why do you get punished for bringing a second weapon? If you don't bring the grenade belts, you run out of ammo after 1 bombard. But if you don't bring a secondary weapon you can't follow up and finish stuff off. And even if you do bring the belts, they're filled with more than useless incendiary grenades which basically make you the reject weed clearing specialist when the flamer runs out of green flames and make up about half or more of the grenades you can take.

And the armor itself, what is up with it not having boots? The hell? You have gloves and a helmet specially made, why not boots? And why is it not explosive resistant at all? If it's main weapon is meant to use explosions then why wouldn't the armor protect the user from them?

Also, why does it feel like being in the heaviest armor still protects you from nothing? You can still die all the ways those regular PFC scrubs die. Just because RNG sometimes allows you to live through like 30 more slashes, doesn't mean the armor is worth a damn. If you're getting slashed an extra 30 times you're probably also getting stunned so you can't do anything about getting slashed.

And lastly, what the fuck is up with NO BUILT IN MAG HARNESS?!

[Steelpoint]

The B18 kit has long been needing a dev update. In my opinion it's been left in the dust ever since the B18 and Grenade Launcher were combined.

[TheMusician321]

If you're getting slashed an extra 30 times you're probably also getting stunned so you can't do anything about getting slashed.

or grabbed by a warrior.

[Royal Griffon]

It shoots like a minigun though with about the same effect.
The way I used it was to flank or break frontlines. You are hunting squishy xenos such as the boiler and carrier, hunt for them and don't waste ammo on things you can't hit either.
Plus that armor is just supposed to keep you alive if you nade yourself, you'll figure out that hitting yourself with a painstop and then a first aid autoinjector usually is good enough if you misfire one grenade or have one thrown on you.

[Vampmare]

It makes me sad that you would mention the B18 like this and completely forget about my dear SADAR.
B18 is still somewhat viable if you drop the grenade launcher and pick up a HPR/beef'ed up rifle. You're a frontline man, but it doesn't matter how much armour you have when you get stunned and dragged off.

[Gnorse]

Nah, B18 and SADAR were both the best picks when the queen wasn't immune to explosives and xenos didn't have the explosive-stun resist.
now though, they're just trash, best used to kill T1s, T2s and the occasional boiler.

[Avalanchee]

Nah, B18 and SADAR were both the best picks when the queen wasn't immune to explosives and xenos didn't have the explosive-stun resist.
now though, they're just trash, best used to kill T1s, T2s and the occasional boiler.

Defenders will laugh at you and T2s? Pffffft

[Ttly]

Dude, the GL is god-tier.
As long as you are not cockblocked by a dumb PFC you can stun T2s, Praes, Boilers, and then whoever is following you can delete them.

No other spec aside from SADAR (which has even MORE ammo problem) can do this. Scout has impact ammo sure but the stun is short and it's a bullet, not an AoE explosion.

That being said a horrible B18 spec (one that hasn't gotten used to the GL firing lane which is different than bullets usually) can DESTROY the marine side.

Oh and you can deflect SMG bullets reliably and the nades goes over cades, it's awesome on HvH assuming you don't get deleted by M56 placements admemes love so much.

[caleeb101]

Dude, the GL is god-tier.
As long as you are not cockblocked by a dumb PFC you can stun T2s, Praes, Boilers, and then whoever is following you can delete them.

No other spec aside from SADAR (which has even MORE ammo problem) can do this. Scout has impact ammo sure but the stun is short and it's a bullet, not an AoE explosion.

That being said a horrible B18 spec (one that hasn't gotten used to the GL firing lane which is different than bullets usually) can DESTROY the marine side.

Oh and you can deflect SMG bullets reliably and the nades goes over cades, it's awesome on HvH assuming you don't get deleted by M56 placements admemes love so much.

Like I said, the grenade launcher is good. It's the armor that is gahhhhhhbage. And the ammo for the grenade launcher. Nobody worries about M39 (SMG) bullets anyways.

[Vispain]

Not sure about it currently but the grenade launcher may be bugged with its fast firing speeds. Usually it was slow firing but...hey...mabye it got changed (for the better) and that "bug" is no bug.

Since xenos love to meme you and the nade launcher has been crap recently in my experience, I've been experimenting with using a rifle with a UGL and other attachments as well as AP ammo on the side to make up for the fact I have low ability to hold larger amounts of ammo.

By themselves nades are good for pushing a position, downing temporarily and (in cases where xenos are bold and in the open and get downed by a nade or two) killing a xeno here and there. Having M41A ammo in your rifle and two nades in your UGL isn't necessarily a bad idea. You still basically are fulfilling the Grenadier Spec role and the xenos aren't even going to be able to realize you have Grenadier capabilities.


The armor is fine. You can take hella hits and slashes. The problem is xenos use : Acid shots, Acid spray, Acid Gas, Warrior Grabs, etcetra, which one way or another bypass the armor.
Example: I once withstood four plus spitters/sentinels, a drone or two and the queen all slashing me at once. I ended up not only getting up and walking away but on orange health. (Read: the chest armor is OG good. Head pretty great. Hands meh. Xenos usually aim head or hands when slashing and other attacks bypass your armor in other ways hence armor feels weak).

Example Two: FF/HvH
A marine shot me pointblank with a shotgun. I had no major injuries, IB or anything else that impaired me longer than five minutes. Only needed a minor bandaging.

In short, the days where I could get five plus kills in a row with the B18 is over. Now I just get spit or spray memed (more than usual) and grabbed.

[Royal Griffon]

Not sure about it currently but the grenade launcher may be bugged with its fast firing speeds. Usually it was slow firing but...hey...mabye it got changed (for the better) and that "bug" is no bug.

Since xenos love to meme you and the nade launcher has been crap recently in my experience, I've been experimenting with using a rifle with a UGL and other attachments as well as AP ammo on the side to make up for the fact I have low ability to hold larger amounts of ammo.

By themselves nades are good for pushing a position, downing temporarily and (in cases where xenos are bold and in the open and get downed by a nade or two) killing a xeno here and there. Having M41A ammo in your rifle and two nades in your UGL isn't necessarily a bad idea. You still basically are fulfilling the Grenadier Spec role and the xenos aren't even going to be able to realize you have Grenadier capabilities.


The armor is fine. You can take hella hits and slashes. The problem is xenos use : Acid shots, Acid spray, Acid Gas, Warrior Grabs, etcetra, which one way or another bypass the armor.
Example: I once withstood four plus spitters/sentinels, a drone or two and the queen all slashing me at once. I ended up not only getting up and walking away but on orange health. (Read: the chest armor is OG good. Head pretty great. Hands meh. Xenos usually aim head or hands when slashing and other attacks bypass your armor in other ways hence armor feels weak).

Example Two: FF/HvH
A marine shot me pointblank with a shotgun. I had no major injuries, IB or anything else that impaired me longer than five minutes. Only needed a minor bandaging.

In short, the days where I could get five plus kills in a row with the B18 is over. Now I just get spit or spray memed (more than usual) and grabbed.

Basically
You're a striker not a frontline unit, as much as that armor may seem like you are, it's only for you to be able to push in deep and live. By survivability from slashing or from friendly buckshot.
You don't spend 20 minutes on the front slowly pushing, strikers push hard fast and painfully, you flank around and make the enemy pay dearly for not covering it, in this case, kill their carriers, hivelords, and boilers, and any drones you may find, the B18 wiped these castes up quickly and effectively and the xenos quickly freak out and think a OB or something just magically wiped their support and basically you play mind games and such as well. I don't care how good xenos do, it's hard to play and see that your entire support team just got wiped in 1 second by something and not know what.

[Slduggy]

I almost exclusively play B18 spec as I feel its the only one I can really contribute as. Almost all the problem you mention can be solved with quick trip to req. Every time I roll spec first thing I do is throw out all the HIDPs I have, four in the belt and one in the gun. Than load all your suit slots and gun with HEDPs. Ask req for an explosives pouch and a box of HEDPs and attachments for whatever gun you want on your back. (plus a magharness for your nade launcher). You have enough grenades for about 3.5~ barrages, plus a gun on your back and hopefully 4 AP mags. Plus alot of grenades to refill yourself.

Yes the biggest issue is keeping yourself supplied with HEDPs but you can make your one box of HEDPs go a long way. You should only be using the grenade launcher on Praes, Boilers, Hivelords and Ravs. These casts are to slow to run away from well placed grenades (with the exception of Ravs, but you can fuck them if they make a bad charge, same goes for the slower tier 1s and tier 2s if they are out of position). Most of the time I have my pulse rifle out. The Armor is useful against the runner cast Xenos as they can't hit and run you into crit as easily.

In conclusion I think B18 is still viable as a spec. Considering you are the only specialist who can AOE stunlock any Xeno with the exception of crushers and queens.

[caleeb101]

I almost exclusively play B18 spec as I feel its the only one I can really contribute as. Almost all the problem you mention can be solved with quick trip to req. Every time I roll spec first thing I do is throw out all the HIDPs I have, four in the belt and one in the gun. Than load all your suit slots and gun with HEDPs. Ask req for an explosives pouch and a box of HEDPs and attachments for whatever gun you want on your back. (plus a magharness for your nade launcher). You have enough grenades for about 3.5~ barrages, plus a gun on your back and hopefully 4 AP mags. Plus alot of grenades to refill yourself.

Yes the biggest issue is keeping yourself supplied with HEDPs but you can make your one box of HEDPs go a long way. You should only be using the grenade launcher on Praes, Boilers, Hivelords and Ravs. These casts are to slow to run away from well placed grenades (with the exception of Ravs, but you can fuck them if they make a bad charge, same goes for the slower tier 1s and tier 2s if they are out of position). Most of the time I have my pulse rifle out. The Armor is useful against the runner cast Xenos as they can't hit and run you into crit as easily.

In conclusion I think B18 is still viable as a spec. Considering you are the only specialist who can AOE stunlock any Xeno with the exception of crushers and queens.

3.5 barrages pales in comparison to the large amounts of ammo the Pyrotech kit brings and the varied ammo of the Scout/Sniper kit. The Demolitionist suffers from the same problem though. It's meh most of the time, okay at best. The problem is, things can bypass your armor so it doesn't matter about how many hits you can take when you're devoured with no way to escape, or you get stunlocked and slashed to death.

[Vispain]

3.5 barrages pales in comparison to the large amounts of ammo the Pyrotech kit brings and the varied ammo of the Scout/Sniper kit. The Demolitionist suffers from the same problem though. It's meh most of the time, okay at best. The problem is, things can bypass your armor so it doesn't matter about how many hits you can take when you're devoured with no way to escape, or you get stunlocked and slashed to death.

Ammo wise the B18 has the biggest problem.
When I go all-out B18 I found I could pack around 40-50 plus nades. In short that's one nade box plus my normal nades and whatever else I scrounge up equaling around 6 plus barrages. However, I sacrifice virtually all other combat capability.
Lets say Req gets 4 nade boxes (which is not normal. That's really High pop I think) > 1 may get used at the lines. 1 may get given to you (but you almost can't even fit it all). The other two? WELL, Lets say Req actually decides to send down a nade box or two. Most of it might get used up/taken unless you are at the supply drop.

In contrast, the RPG Spec can get lots of rockets pretty easily sent down, the Pyro Spec can virtually go a whole round never needing more fuel unless it is Type X or Type B, the Sniper and Scout can stock up on lots of ammo pre-drop and then get more easily. Furthermore, none of those aforementioned specs have a gun with ammo that other marines can use.


While the B18 does stunlock decently with its Grenade launcher no way is it as good as it used to be at getting kills. Furthermore, like I've and others have mentioned, lots of xenos have ways to bypass your sweet, sweet armor.

[Recounted]

B18 always could use some love with a boot addition instead of the regular boot

[Arbs]

Its not garbage. The B18 is capable of barraging and holding back a whole horde of incoming xenos if you are in the correct position. It is also a boilers and praetorians worst nightmare. And using M15s in the UGL is CAS tier.

Just make sure to have the squad follow behind you so that they can go in for the kill.

The thing with soec kits in general, both RPG and B18 is that explosions lost some of their relevance in combating xenos.

Nowadays xenos have more resistance to explosions than they used to. Queens are also immune to explosions. The RPG and B18 used to be queen slayers back in the day and could make the difference late in the round or so.

So perhaps the specialist kits do need a rework. But the B18 is still quite viable.

[Pogo92]

It could be much better if the Devs just made incediary grenades actually useful. Right now flames in general, unless it's the Pyro kit, are nearly useless.

[FearTheBlackout]

To be honest, it's not the worst loadout. That distinction would belong to the M5! I've seen people get kills with both, though, so I guess it's just how you use it.

[Steelpoint]

B18 is definitely one of the more powerful spec kits, I'd rank it at number 2.

I feel one solution to the ammo issue is to change the ammo for the Grenade Launcher to a unique form of ammo that cannot be hand thrown, and extra ammo must be ordered via cargo (Think RPG rockets but its a clip of grenades you reload into the launcher akin to my old fav from Killing Floor 1).

► Show Spoiler

If something like this was done, you could justify being a bit more liberal with GL ammo without upsetting the balance of letting marines have access to too many grenades.

[Ttly]

If something like this was done, you could justify being a bit more liberal with GL ammo without upsetting the balance of letting marines have access to too many grenades.

No. Most marines use nades by hand throwing them without cooking, and with the ridiculous fuze time, the benos rarely if ever, get caught.
The rare times some uses the UGL seems to be unfamiliar with the firing lane either, resulting in grenade FF which is worse than regular FF.
So yeah, more nades doesn't really help the marines.

[RaidenFTW]

Well, while playing as a b18 on big red, we were evaccing and a huge group of xenos were attacking from the t-comms. When i wanted to shoot b18 once, my mouse stuck and i shot 2 m15 and 4 HEDP. Which resulted in killing 5 of the Xenos which was a ravager, a crusher and three smaller xenos.

The thing with the b18 is its all or never. When you use it to a large group of xenos, you can do some serious damage. Earlier that incident i killed another ravager with basically bombing myself and ravager at same time. Guess what? I lived, it died! So b18 isn't that bad if you use it when necessary.

[caleeb101]

Well, while playing as a b18 on big red, we were evaccing and a huge group of xenos were attacking from the t-comms. When i wanted to shoot b18 once, my mouse stuck and i shot 2 m15 and 4 HEDP. Which resulted in killing 5 of the Xenos which was a ravager, a crusher and three smaller xenos.

The thing with the b18 is its all or never. When you use it to a large group of xenos, you can do some serious damage. Earlier that incident i killed another ravager with basically bombing myself and ravager at same time. Guess what? I lived, it died! So b18 isn't that bad if you use it when necessary.

There's no way you killed a crusher with that. And that's just situational.

[Surrealistik]

Well, while playing as a b18 on big red, we were evaccing and a huge group of xenos were attacking from the t-comms. When i wanted to shoot b18 once, my mouse stuck and i shot 2 m15 and 4 HEDP. Which resulted in killing 5 of the Xenos which was a ravager, a crusher and three smaller xenos.

Obvious lie detected.

-50 rep.

[Bulaven]

Only beef I have: No armored boots.

[Kesserline]

Well, while playing as a b18 on big red, we were evaccing and a huge group of xenos were attacking from the t-comms. When i wanted to shoot b18 once, my mouse stuck and i shot 2 m15 and 4 HEDP. Which resulted in killing 5 of the Xenos which was a ravager, a crusher and three smaller xenos nading myself and other marines around me, allowing Xenos to flank LZ1 in matter of seconds and we had to abandon the sad cunts that were defending the cades and not Tcomms. Good times.

Here you go mate ! Don't worry, I got your back.