How to play as a Phantom that can attack points with the team instead of camping on the roof and getting back-stabbed by a Dahlia that ran the whole map to kill you.
Contents
Guide to Aggressive Phantom
All credit goes to Bottle of Acid!
Phantom Base Stats
Phantom comes with 4 Speed and 2 Toughness.
Obviously as a fragile sniper she is going to die very fast from direct engagements, so open field trades are not recommended. At 4 Speed you can afford to be very dodgy, which is how you will have to play. Constantly use the roll key to avoid fire, and roll between walls, cover and any object to break line of sight from the enemy.
Ideally, you only want to be spotted in the open when you are going to take a shot within the next 2-3 seconds.
Phantom is the fastest sniper in terms of movespeed, this is a strength that is crucial to playing Phantom. If you prefer to hang back and snipe from a spot, Runway and Trench are better suited for that.
This means that you can afford to play very aggressively, key being to understand your positioning on the field. You do not want to be directly in the centre of the capture point (strikeout will be the mode we will use). Keep close to the point but stay a little bit further to give you room to retreat.
Abilities
Nano Smoke is pretty self explanatory. Its essentially a smoke grenade that scans enemies as they enter, and is a full opaque visual obstruction.
The smoke area of effect isn’t too large, and enemies can just skirt the exteriors to avoid the scan. This is best used not as a traditional smoke tool to block the view, but rather as a way to deter enemies from using a particular tight corridor or flank for a while, since most players will not willingly step into the smoke and get scanned. The other use for the ability is during a duel, where you can throw the smoke on yourself to conceal and provide a sort of safe haven. The enemy will likely blind fire into the smoke, so don’t rely on it too much. During a duel if your smoke is down you restrict the opponent’s move space, while allowing you to roll in and out of the smoke.
You can use it to check flanks or block them off for a while. When playing with public players without voice comms you can nano smoke a cover you know someone is hiding in to alert your team of their location, since pinging sometimes don’t always go well.
Overall the smoke itself isn’t as powerful as some of the other rogue’s abilities, but the power is in having both your nano smoke and a scanner on cooldown rotation which provides you with a lot of intel.
Your passive Grievous Wounds is not something you will usually think of, since it doesn’t really affect how you play the game. In most cases enemies that are tagged with grievous wounds will already get finished off or are able to be rescued or healed regardless of it, save for a few times where pushes are forced. I would have preferred Fixer’s passive, or Sigrid’s which will allow you to fight Fixers and Trenches better, but that might make Phantom too OP perhaps.
Arsenal
Phantom has a choice between two snipers (Fullbody default or Tyr) or any of the Assault Rifles, with the Nightshade being the default AR.
While the TYR is more enticing due to the forgiveness of missing a shot allowing a quick follow up, the Fullbody is the better choice if you are good with your aim, due to a larger magazine capacity and slightly higher damage which exploits weakened enemies better. Both sniper rifles will one shot most rogues in the head, or two in the chest.
For playing an aggressive Phantom, a Fullbody is recommended, due to the nature of where you will be in the heat of battle, you will not have time to reload.
Assault rifles are not your primary choice, and really the reason you take Phantom is because of her sniper rifle. There are better AR characters out there. If you have to swap to an AR due to the map being a tight room, the default Nightshade is decent, but its DPS is too low to help you survive a trade. If possible, grab the Hydra from Runway’s kit. The Hydra has a very high DPS and works well as a magdumper at close range.
Her pistol is almost always, a finisher tool. Do not attempt to use the pistol as a main weapon when you sense an enemy closing in on you at full health. You will lose the trade. Instead, peek out and perform a quick scope on the target that is rushing you. It does not have to be a headshot. In such a situation, speed is key. If you have to take 3 seconds to aim at the head, DON’T. Hit the body shot the moment you exit cover, roll back and switch to your pistol to finish the target off.
After the update that removed quantity from gadgets, many rogues got a buff.
Phantom can now liberally use her gadgets to scout areas and play aggressive. Throw your scanner device whenever possible, using it to check corners, over cover, into corridors where you suspect enemy presence. During a duel, you can toss a scanner over cover and throw your scanning smoke to the other side, which provides you with very powerful intel on where the enemy is.
Knowing is half the battle, and being able to catch the outline of your enemy before they come into view helps you line up that sniper shot.
Her grenade is honestly not going to be the strongest tool in your kit with this playstyle, so you will be using it more as a tool to finish off downed enemies behind cover.
As for your melee, it helps in finishing off enemies quick, although the situations in which you would have gotten shot down without your melee helping you finish off a downed and with your melee are going to have the same results anyway. Its a nice luxury tool to buy in case you get caught without rounds in your sniper, with the toss being a powerful one hit.
Purchasing Order and Perks
You should pace yourself to decide when to upgrade your sniper rifle. You do not need to spend on your sidearm. When the very first round begins, buy the Fullbody, and buy level 1 scanner. Intel is your friend. The sniper rifle can still one-shot decently at level 1, so you don’t have to prioritise upgrading it as much as some other classes do with their primaries.
Focus on getting your perks before upgrading your consumables. Infact, having the nade and scanner at level 1 are decent enough. If you have too much cash, upgrade the scanner to level 2.
As shown here:
Tracker Rounds
Intel, Intel, Intel. When you bodyshot someone, 3 seconds of wallhack allows you to know if they are pushing or hiding to recover. In either case, you can easily snuff them out.
Shredder Rounds (Optional)
This one is here as an optional purchase. It is very expensive, but absolutely crucial if the enemy team is running a very heavy composition. If the enemy are all running lighter rogues, you do not need to buy this perk.
Stalker
While this perk is lower on the priority list for a traditional sniper, if you are playing an aggressive Phantom pushing points, being able to move in and out faster is always helpful.
Life Drain
This perk is great for when you are rushed or on the point where there are multiple hostiles. Being able to down one and immediately get 60 HP to survive long enough to down another is great. Its only lower on the list because of how expensive it is. And if you have bought Shredder rounds earlier its difficult to afford this one as well.
Nimble Hands
Reload speed helps, but not as much as the earlier perks. Fullbody has a decent amount of rounds to survive. This perk is okay because its relatively cheap.
Crackshot
While most sniper players will lap this perk up early game, its not as important as you think. Most rogues already die in one headshot even to an un-upgraded Fullbody. The real use of this perk is literally when you are headshotting heavy targets like Mack or Anvil. Even then, those rogues do not have the speed to rush you where you will need this perk absolutely and the tactics against them still remain the same.
Helping Hand
You are not Saint. It can be useful if someone goes down beside you, but your money needs to go elsewhere.
Gunsmith
Falloff range doesn’t matter for a Fullbody. Magazine size, well the Fullbody has quite a fair amount of rounds in magazine. Unless you are missing literally every round you fire, even then the extra rounds might not help you then. You get more shots as you upgrade the Fullbody anyway.
Headshots Are Not Always the Way to Go
One of the key takeaways is that while headshots are ideally what you should be doing and are able to instantly down rogues, the truth of the matter is that we are all not Shrouds. Most of us will have difficulties attaining consistent headshot rates above 80%. This is fine.
In Rogue Company, what is more important is always how you manipulate a situation to favour you. If an enemy is rushing you, the 4 seconds it might take to aim his head can often get you killed for overexposure. Additionally, missing the head is often a death sentence for Phantom. It is often better and easier to instead aim centermass, to secure a shot on the torso which has a higher success rate, putting the enemy in a very weakened state. At this point in time you can easily finish them off with a second shot or your pistol, or even melee.
While the Tyr rifle from Fixer’s kit allows you to complete a followup faster, the short ammo count means that any shot that misses is a death sentence, and you will not be able to take on multiple enemies without reloading.
As a sniper, your role is not only to assasinate enemies, but you are supposed to instil fear enough to make enemies think twice about pushing or playing aggressive. As a mobile sniper that is quick around the point, you are constantly moving this no-go zone, much more than the usual snipers who camp at one spot and leave entire flanks open.
Rogue Specific Counters
Primarily, Phantom’s best targets are slow rogues such as Saint and Anvil, who are often not only unable to return the amount of DPS you deal in a trade, but are also key targets which often hang in the back line as support. In the latter case of Anvil, Anvil will likely survive your initial shot due to his heavy armour, however even weakening him is good enough to give your team a chance to push him.
Umbra will try to use his spider to kill you, once he suspects you become a tough target to rush. In such cases, you can one-shot his spider with your sniper rifle, a luxury most rogues don’t have. Instead of dealing with his spider immediately, if you know he is alone, use your movement speed and rolls to quickly flank him out while he is in his spider mode. This lets you do a quick kill as he will not be able to respond in time while he is still in spider.
Your biggest threats are counter snipers. Fixer, Runway and Phantom are all your number one targets. They can one-shot you as you can them. In such cases, sniper fights can be difficult, down to reflex and accuracy. For duels, do not consistently pop out at standing height from where they last saw you. Chances are they are hardscoping or prepared to quick scope those spots. Instead, use your roll when engaging. It is more likely they will end up body shotting you, which weakens you however sniper rifles are slow firing which means you get a chance to pull a headshot after their shot. If they or you fail to down, take it slow and retreat into cover to heal up. In a sniper fight, both parties can’t really push each other or throw nades effectively. You can use your sensor against Runway, who will likely try to semtex you.
If you are fighting rushers like Lancer, Glitch and Scorch, take note of how they rush. Most of the time, they will approach from side flanks and corners. if you are fast enough, you can land the first shot which will severely weaken them. Arbitrator lancers are annoying, and will play very similar to how you are playing. If you can use your scanners and smoke to catch them before they turn the corner, you have an advantage. A rolling Lancer is hard to headshot, go for centermass and follow up.
Dahlia can be tough to fight due to her DMR DPS and her speed, with the MXR being able to down you quickly. However she is equally fragile, and a single sniper shot can put her in a very bad position.
Mack and Sigrid can be tough to handle as well, since they have high armor in Mack’s case and Sigrid with her shield and crouched is impenetrable from the front. For Mack, move back preemptively as you will need more time fighting him. When he charges you, you will have more DPS at range, don’t let him get close to use his claymore. Sigrid in shield mode and crouched cannot keep up with you. Roll away. The moment she opens, fire.
Vy will throw a fire nade at you, just roll. When she throws her poison, roll. When she rushes you, roll. If you can land the first shot there is nothing Vy can do to you. Chaac is dealt with similarly, with the added need to finish him off once he is down due to his rez.
If you are fighting a Juke, use your pistol against her sentries when she tries to pull you out of cover. She cannot win a direct rush at you without her LMG spam, and your sniper has better DPS in a cover fight. Her dodge roll keeps her at relatively standing height, and is worse for avoiding sniper fire.
Ronin pretty much dealt with the same as you would any other rogue. Just listen out for her knives.
Ultimately you have to understand that you carry the highest DPS in the game with your sniper rifle. You have to make it work.
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