Alternative Serpent hunting styles

[Renomaki]

So far, in all my time of playing as a hunter, I found that there is one really decent way to hunt and kill serpents that works 50% of the time. It involves the use of the Clan Sword and traps, and in countless hunts has proven insanely vital to my survival as a hunter of beasts. Not only does surprising a serpent with a trap prevents them from running away as easily, it also makes fighting them a bit easier, and the Sword's RNG stun ability can be very useful for shoving them back when you need space. This combo has helped me gain many serpent skins... But after awhile, it gets boring. Not only that, but traps are limited, and if you KILL a snared serpent, you lose that trap forever. And if it gets away? Chances are it'll be deep within their hive, and we know how dangerous that is.

As much as I love the sword, after awhile I want to try something new. But what works? Most weapons are designed with humans in mind (such as the glave's shield bypassing ability, or the whip's effectiveness against human feet). Let alone that I can't just rely on snares forever... Sometimes you have to fight a xeno without a trap handy, and they move fast. But what could do it?

What weapons could I use to honorably hunt Serpents without having to rely on my main serpent-killing sword and trap? Any tricks you might have to get out of my comfort zone? What weapons are the best alternative to the sword?

[Boltersam]

The glaive is pure damage, and can, and will, crush anything you put it up against. Even B18. It's seen me through a lot of hunts and Ravager battles, even beating Dave once. It can and will crush anything, and it does make up for lacking a stun ability or anything of the like.

That being said, while it's very reliable, the sword can be better, as stuns are invaluable, especially when they trigger on ANYTHING. The only thing the sword can't do that the glaive can is effectively go through B18, but the sword can have as much damage as the glaive or even more if you capitalise on the stuns, as well as striking faster. If you're getting bored of the sword, try the glaive, just be warned that even though you take a heavy weapon, you need to dodge a lot more as you won't be getting the RNG stuns for a breather.

The glaive makes Ravagers run in fear, and even made an "Honourable" Ravager need to call the hive to try fight me after he found out that the glaive wrecked his shit. The glaive is a very good T3 hunter, and if you can land a hit on a T1 or T2, they're going to feel the pain.

[Renomaki]

You know... I tried the glave, but it didn't really help a whole lot.

The glave is strong, yes, but you have to wield it in two hands. If you get pounced, you drop it, and once you pick it up, you have to rewield it, which requires you to wait a moment before attacking, so against aliens like runners or hunters (and even ravagers), you are going to have a much rougher time even IF they are snared.

They really oughta beef it up sometime, because for all I know, the damage is similar to the sword, but the sword's higher swing-rate and one-handed nature makes it much more viable compared to the glave when fighting xenos... Which is a shame, really.

[Nick123q23]

We need somekind of crowd control weapon. Maybe a fourth plasma caster setting, which does an area stun as opposed to the low setting's non-functional single stun?

[northcote4]

We need somekind of crowd control weapon. Maybe a fourth plasma caster setting, which does an area stun as opposed to the low setting's non-functional single stun?

Smart Discs are surprisingly effective at crowd control. People are afraid of them and will run away, rendering them fairly harmless, but still creating space.

However if a smart disc gets someone in a corner? Rip.

[Heckenshutze]

Act like you're scared and make them chase you, they'll ignore small details. Then drop a trap and when cuffed, plasma caster them. It will create a big amount of salt however.. apply only to xenos.