With the release of the brand new Warbond named “Cutting Edge”, many players are wondering how the new weapons, armor, and grenades work with their unique firing modes and function. I have tested out the new gear and, with enough testing, have made my conclusions about the pros and cons of the Warbond weapons. Before making your decision about purchasing Cutting Edge, do note that Warbonds will never expire so that there is no need to worry about FOMO
LAS-16 Sickle
First up on the Warbond page is the LAS-16 Sickle. It costs 20 Medals to unlock. This weapon shoots like a minigun, as there is a short delay on trigger pull, spooling up for half a second firing a barrage of lasers. As part of the Heat Energy weapon subtype, it theoretically has infinite ammo since this weapon uses an overheat mechanic instead of traditional ammo. However, once the weapon overheats, it must be reloaded like any other gun.
For it’s overall stats, it has the following:
- 55 Damage
- 9 Capacity
- 750 Fire Rate
- 2 Recoil
- Light Armor Piercing
- Heat
- 6 spare magazines
For comparison, the AR-23 Liberator assault rifle shares the same damage profile but fires slower and has higher recoil. When using the LAS-16 Sickle, make sure to pace out your shots with short bursts as this weapon can easily overheat withinroughly 8 seconds of constant firing. Surprisingly, this weapon has a lot of range thanks to the near zero recoil it has as a laser weapon, as well as the adjustable scope zoom built in to the frame. After testing this weapon on Suicide Mission and beyond, the weapon is a chaff clearing powerhouse that is highly “ammo” efficient.
When using this weapon, don’t be afraid to overheat the weapon if there is a massive group on your position since you have 6 magazines and have the same reload time as the Liberator. Against Automatons, this weapon is very effective against them with their smaller group sizes. It can also make very short work of Devastators and Berserkers byy putting enough shots on their heads.
Overall, the LAS-16 Sickle is a strong, versatile primary weapon in the sandbox and should be the first thing you spend your Medals on when your purchase the Warbond
SG-8P Punisher Plasma
Found on the second page of the Warbond, the SG-8P Punisher Plasma shotgun is an unorthodox weapon that breaks the mold of being a “shotgun”. You will need 60 Medals to purchase this weapon. Instead of firing pellets or slugs like the other shotguns in the game, it instead fires a ball of explosive plasma. This projectile is shot in an arc, meaning that you will need to aim upwards to compensate for the projectile drop if you want to fire this weapon in longer ranges. Many players compare it to a grenade launcher with a smaller blast radius, which is the intended function for the SG-8P Punisher Plasma.
As for its stats, here are the numbers and traits:
- 100 Damage
- 8 Capacity
- 110 Recoil
- 80 Fire Rate
- Explosive
- 12 spare magazines
As a plasma weapon, it is magazine fed much like the Breaker shotgun family despite belongng in the Punisher class with its per-round reload, so make sure to make the most of your shots before reloading. SG-8P Punisher Plasma excels at breaking up groups of chaff enemies with the blast radius it has, but struggles against single targets since the weapon only has 8 shots per magazine. However, with its explosive trait, it deals more damage against weakspots and is particularly effective against Automaton Scout Striders as the blast radius will be able to hit the pilot riding it. This is a double edge sword as shooting this weapon while near a wall or an enemy will also kill you with its blast radius. Despite being explosive, it cannot destroy objectives like broadcast towers, Bot Fabricators and Bug Holes, which means you’ll have to bring in an Autocannon or Grenade Launcher.
The SG-8P Punisher is a unique weapon, but requires getting into specific scenarios in order to be anywhere as effective as other weapons of its category. It’s a fun weapon but it may struggle on higher difficulties.
ARC-12 Blitzer
Found in the third page of the Warbond, this unconventional weapon is the last primary weapon that can be obtained on the Cutting Edge Warbond. It costs 80 Medals to obtain this weapon. The ARC-12 Blitzer has actual infinite ammo like the Arc Thrower support weapon and can also hit multiple targets within its range in a wide cone. It also shares the same chain lightning effect that makes it letha; against clumps of enemies.
Its stats are the following:
- 250 Damage
- Unlimited capacity
- 60 Recoil
- 30 Fire Rate
The weapon absolutely shreds chaff targets up close, but once the target is past 5 meters, the Blitzer’s shots will dissipate. Unlike the Arc Thrower, the Blitzer cannot penetrate armor, so don’t try to kill a Charger with this weapon. You do not need to hold down the trigger like the Arc Thrower to make you shots, but in exchange, it takes 2 seconds to recharge the next shot, which can be troublesome when backed into a corner by Hunters or other more agile enemies. This weapon is made specifically for close quarters combat and very much so since it will hit all enemies within range. Be careful when shooting at enemies chasing an ally in front of you because it as prone to unintentional friendly fire as the Arc Thrower.
This weapon is hyper-specialized in chaff clear but has very low range and rate of fire. If ammo conservation is your priority and you don’t want to use the Arc Thrower, the Blitzer is a fine weapon, but demands the best positioning to make up for its glaring flaws. With this, the weapon excels greatly agaisnt Terminids, but against Automatons, you will struggle a lot. If your back and flanks are secured, the Blitzer will delete groups of enemies easily.
LAS-7 Dagger
The last laser weapon on this list, the LAS-7 Dagger is a pistol variant of the LAS-5 Scythe that fires a continuous laser beam. This sidearm is meant to be an ammo efficient hold-out weapon for when you don’t want to be out of ammo when everything else is out. This weapon uniquely overheats fast but also cools down just as quickly, making it function like a pseudo-semi automatic pistol like the Peacemaker sidearm.
For its stats, they are:
- 150 Damage per second
- 5 Capacity
- 1 Recoil
- Heat
- One Handed
- Beam
- Light Armor Penetrating
- 3 spare magazines
As a secondary weapon, the Dagger is surprisingly decent at what it does. What it lacks in raw damage like the Redeemer, it makes up for in utility in longer fights. It shares the long range as its relatives and can be used while holding a Ballistic Shield or an SSSD. Consider the Dagger as a sidegrade to the Redeemer as most of the time, you would only use this when your primary weapon is out of ammo while there are still enemies nearby.
G-23 Stun Grenade
A surprisingly underrated grenade in the Warbond. The G-23 Stun Grenade is more of a utility item like the Smoke Grenade compared to its explosive siblings, yet it cannot be understated how much value the Stun Grenade has. Unlike the EMS Stratagems with their slight delay in stuns, this grenade will instantly stun enemies caught within the blast radius. This not only affects chaff, but even heavier targets like the Charger and the Bile Titan just as effectively. With this, you can buy yourself and your squad a lot of time in dealing in hordes and you can even use this to set up 500kg Bombs, Orbital Precision Strikes and Airstrikes against enemy elites by keeping them stunlocked. However, this grenade cannot close up Bug Holes or destroy Fabricator so you will need to either bring in a Grenade Launcher / Autocannon or rely on your teammates to do the job for you.
The numbers for this grenade are the following:
- 0 Damage
- 6 Penetration
- 10 Outer Radius
- 8s Fuse Time
On higher difficulties, the G-23 Stun Grenade is a potent life saver as this lets you control the battlefield and dictate the way a battle goes. With a bit of coordination, even the hardiest targets will be easy prey with the Stun Grenade as the snare that keeps them in place.
Armor
The Cutting Edge Warbond comes with 3 new armor sets with the unique perk, Electrical Conduit, which reduces all incoming arc damage by 95%. These armor sets are named the EX-03 Prototype 3, EX-16 Prototype 16 and the EX-00 Prototype X. The first two armor sets share the same stats of:
- 100 Armor
- 500 Speed
- 100 Stamina Regen
The EX-00 Prototype X however is classified as light armor with
- 50 Armor
- 550 Speed
- 125 Stamina Regeneration
The best way to use this armor set is to call down a Tesla Tower near a crowded area and standing near it. This way, enemies will be drawn to your position, but will be hit by the Tesla lightning while keeping you safe from being one shot by it.
New Booster: Localisation Confusion
The description for this booster is unclear, but we will elaborate further on it. The description on the booster states that it “Increases the time between enemy counters”. What it actually does it that it decreases the likelihood of Bug Breaches or Bot Drops to occur, which is actually very useful on harder missions, as those events will spawn more enemies the higher the difficulty. This will save you precious ammo and resources needed for objectives that matter.
