Sine Javelins release many players have complained about her being OP, being a better fragger or just outright annoying to fight.
However, there are some easy ways on how to fight her and not die to her pesky rocket launcher all the time.
This guide focuses on explaining them in a quick, detailed and not single-merc-focused way.
Who or What is Javelin?
All credit goes to M4TT!
Javelin is Dirty Bomb`s 21st merc and 120 health and a speed of 400. These stats are equal to the other fire supports Arty, Skyhammer and Stoker.
She wears Smart Ammunition Armor, which makes her a walking ammo station for her team. However, this doesnt mean she has infinite ammo like the other fire supports. Her passive will activate when she has less then her max ammo. It will grant her a maximum of one magazine per weapon and then goes on a cooldown of 30 seconds.
This means during long, intense fights where she has to shoot all the time she can run out of ammo without the help of an additional fire support.
So Why are So Many People Annoyed by Javelin?
Javelin primary ability, the Rocket Launcher, deals impact damage of 400hp. This means a direct hit will instagib any merc, including rhino, and force them into the next spawnwave.
However, the launcher will also deal alot of splash damage around the point it hit, which makes it as effective as fraggers grenade when it comes to clearing groups of enemys.
The launcher can be fired in two different modes, standart and guided.
Missiles in standart mode are faster and will straight forward to the point they where aimed at when they were fired.
Guided missiles are slower, but their movement can be influenced by javelin, thus allowing her to guide it behind a corner or to hit a moving target.
The ability has a rather long cooldown of 30 seconds (27s with her exclusive perk that reduces her cooldowns by 10%).
How Do I Fight Javelin?
To begin simply, to fight Javelin you need to identify who you are facing. This is a very simple task since all mercs have distinct models that allow you to identify them even at longer range.
So you now know you are going to fight Javelin. You know she has that rocket launcher that will kill you if she hits you with it.
Now you need to read your opponent, think about what hes going to do. Will he fire the rocket at a lone target or at a group?
Lone target: if you are playing a tanky assault such as fragger, thunder or rhino, the answer is most certainly yes. If you are playing a merc that is more squishy and easier to fight you should not worry about rockets, since javelin will rather rely on her gun to engage you.
If you are in a group of 2-3 players and encounter a javelin you can be asured shes going to use her launcher to quickly wipe you out.
So now we come to the most important part: how do I prevent getting completely wrecked by the launcher.
If you see a Javelin and she sees you but doesnt fires with her gun at you, it means she is charging her rocket. To prevent getting hit you need to move behind cover as fast as you can. The best way to cover a distance in a short time is by chaining a longjump with a walljump. If you have no way of avoiding getting hit ( this means you are usually very close to her), try to get very close. You will die from the rocket, but the explosion will kill her aswell if you are close enough.
If you are in a teamfight ( two camps of 3-6 players shooting at each other) and you know the enemy team has a javelin/you know shes there in the other camp, take that as a warning and make a few steps backward from your group for safety reasons. If you communicate with your team you can also bait javelin to waste her rocket this way. The chance to get multiple kills at once is usually enough for most players to use abilitys such as the rocket.
Should you have a turtle in your team, stick to the shield as will block even a frontal rocket. However, also keep an eye out on your environment, as javelin can guide her rocket around the shield to still deal damage.
You can also shoot the rocket. It has 20hp (so the easiest way to hit it are fast firing weapons like the Hochfir or MK46) and will net you 50 combat xp for destroying it.
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