The answer is simple: the Frontpig (FP) weapon kit.



It offers both offense and defense.

• Triggers an automatic attack in melee range by bumping into enemies with a cooldown of just a few seconds
  
• Provides minor lifesteal (5-25 per kill)
  
• Increased movement speed to outmaneuver attacks and projectiles

FP Demolisher demonstration:





U12: Rocket Run has been retired and replaced with Explosive Run
- An essential mobility perk for avoiding danger
- Hold down Shift to trigger a powerful explosion using Seismic Resonator charges
- No longer uses Resonator charges - the explosion simply depends on the perk cooldown
- Provides slight damage reduction via armor bonus when active



- Self-explanatory



- Melee finisher and a consistent source of Plating

Utility Abilities

Field Rations


- Each deployment provides 2 charges which can be picked up by standing in the circle
- Decent healing, although recharges on boss kills aren't frequent enough. Use it in one level and it's gone.
- U13: Fixed Bugged in co-op, sometimes heals only 1 player (may not even heal you, although you deployed it)

Supply Box

- You barely need ammo anyway. Seems like it would be a much better fit for Heavy gunner.

Plating Pack

- A Get Out of Jail Free card
- ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE
- Inspires a false sense of self-confidence and may lead you into into trouble

It's so ridiculously good I don't even know why other options exist.

Invulnerability on demand thanks to Ion shield with multiple charges that are returned at the end of the level AND also heals you for a small amount (the heal is received on teleporter usage, cannot be triggered manually).



Other perks (C4, Missile Burst, Seismic Impulse) are not even worth considering. Doesn't seem like they do anything, although feel free to prove me wrong.


Your main sources of survivability are: positioning (it's when you press movement buttons), Ion shield and armor.



Ion shield triggers whenever Plating is consumed, granting you complete invulnerability for a few seconds. It can be used to retreat or to advance. It can completely or partially negate DOT effects (burning, radiation).

Armor negates a % of any damage received. The class starts with a +15 Armor buff, and further upgrades make you even tankier.


Wrong!

The first enemy you hit will be stunned, while the Explosive Run will trigger a powerful explosion that leaves enemies with a tiny sliver of health where they can be finished off with the Power Kick or a few shots from any weapon. A single Resonator charge is usually enough to clean up survivors.

Run into enemies in a zigzag pattern to avoid initial shots, ambush them from behind cover, and they will have no time to react to you before the Explosive Run explosion one-shots small units and leaves heavy units with little to no HP.


You're not required to use launchers or explosives!

This is perhaps the best part of the build, as almost any weapon in the game can be viable for you.




U11: Triple kills have been fixed, and they should be credited to you correctly now. I've noticed item/summon kills are not always counted, however this is a small issue.

Solo enemies and "crowds" of 2 are a bit annoying as they don't give you the Triple Kill bonus and waste your Explosive Run. Just shoot them.

Up until the arctic level (Chrono Squad), you can completely rely on starting weapons/Explosive Run/Power Kick/melee to deal with almost any threat (except Bosses).

Maximize Triple Kills - try to accumulate as much money as you can for future items/upgrades.

Look for groups of enemies, lead them into choke points, and Explosive Run into them. Shoot/kick any survivors. Be aggressive and decisive, but don't be stupid. Watch your cooldowns.

Avoid single-shot weapons, including launchers. They do not synergize with this build and will get you killed. Bosskiller weapons like X1500 Ion Accelerator or heavily upgraded X1000 Heavy Rifle are viable late-game.

Avoid weapons requiring continuous firing (beam weapons and LMGs). LMGs can be viable when used in short bursts, however you absolutely cannot stand still and facetank enemy damage like Heavy gunner would.


There are three good options:

Shooty


- The easiest to use and most versatile of the three
- 15 rounds mag/320 rounds total. Magdump away!
- Continues being viable as a backup weapon throughout the entire game

X500 Ion Pistol


- Pocket sniper rifle
- Low mag size, low total ammo count, high damage, high heat
- Ion damage, penetrations can grant triple kills

Be careful as Ion pistol overheats easily.

H200 Heavy Pistol


- High damage, high single shot accuracy
- Poor accuracy when shooting quickly
- Spammable in point blank range

This gun is beastly on Riot guard who uses it up close and it will also work for FP Demo.

Art of the Boot

Your boot (Power Kick) does 900+35% enemy HP in damage, which makes it viable throughout the whole game. Upgrading the boot can increase its damage slightly, however in practical terms there is no real difference. It is a great finishing move for wounded enemies and low HP summons that can reward you with Plating.

Power Kick has a few curious properties that can be used to your advantage:
- it does extra damage to turrets and it's best used against heavy armor
- kicking robots that explode on death WILL kill you - possible to do safely at a distance
- it works around corners and sometimes through edges of solid objects
- it has a small AoE, so kicking a high HP enemy will usually instakill nearby lower HP enemies due to percent based damage
- it sometimes misses point blank - try to anticipate enemy movement and kick ahead of them
- although robots have no feelings, it's extra insulting

Whenever FP kit procs, it grants minor lifesteal (5-25 hp on average). While this isn't a real source of healing, consistently winning fights with no damage taken will allow you to regain a few hundred HP per level.

It is important not to get carried away with kicking into mid-late game where it will eventually end your run. However there will be opportunities to do it safely, especially if you were able to obtain Dodge and defensive items.

FP Demo is not particularly item-dependent, however certain items will make you much more effective late game and improve your survivability even further, granting some room for error.

Any defensive item will supplement your stats and give you more time to react, or to make mistakes such as running into a group of enemies too big to handle.


Offensive items

• Sapper Shovel - stacks with your melee attack. Not viable mid-late game - sell it.
  
• SAT masterkey - will annihilate the first enemy you touch, however scales poorly. Recycle later.
  
• Heat Spreader - damages all nearby enemies to help remove shields and playing. Makes you look like you're going Super Saiyan.
  
• Unstable Current - another source of damage in melee range, can multi-cast by itself. Great base for upgrades as it procs quickly.
  
• Maverick, Sidewinder, etc - can soften up groups of enemies. The damage isn't particularly high, but they create resonance targets.
  
• Shock Conductor - stuns are good. Helps deal with shields.
  
• Incubus - not only viable, but actually useful with this build. High damage output means you will stay at full health constantly and you'll be able to come back from setbacks easily. Upgrade it to 150% power to instantly refill your HP on Explosive run.

Defensive items

• M54 Plating Printer - GOD TIER and must have if you see it. Replenishes your plating for free on taking damage. Extremely strong synergy with Reactive Plating.
  
  
• Guardian - a good budget defense option. Provides another target for AI.
  
• Taser Drones - can stunlock solitary targets (heavy enemies and bosses), distraction.
  
• Mil-Grade Attack Drones - distraction/DPS. Rare.
  
• Power Ration (box of donuts) - automatic healing at low HP
  
• Lifeline - buy at the Healing terminal. Activates automatically.
  
• Safeguard - an excellent rework of Swift Revenge. Grants armor when hit and returns HP% based laser damage.
  
• Any items that give healing, armor, or other defensive buffs.

Items to avoid:

• Heatsink - running into your own flames can instakill you when things get tough. DOT burning damage can pop Ion shield when not needed. However, it can be worthwhile if triggered manually.
  
• Super Bounce Grenades - self-damage risk, and they tend to miss. Not good for melee.
  
• Precision Strike - another great way to unalive yourself by walking into a mortar target. Viable late game when melee is no longer used.
  
• Obrital Ion Cannon - fires powerful shots on consumed plating. Seems like it could be good, but it's not. Too slow to recharge, and not necessary - damage is not an issue.
  
• Endless ammunition belt - standing still does not work with this build. It would be great for a classic launcher Rocketeer/Grenadier Demo though.

Class Evolutions

U12.2: Each Class Evolution can only appear once per run.


- Versatile, all around great


- GOD TIER. Free, nearly 100% uptime Power Array


- Another kind of multicast and a slight disable. Versatile and always useful.


- Synergizes with upgraded Scavenging. Ammo is very plentiful, so you will have nearly 100% uptime on this.
- Weird interactions with some weapons (e.g. lasers), further testing needed


- Very strong defensive buff.
- GOD TIER when used with M54 Plating printer. Also provides a visual warning your shield and plating are gone, similar to Shield Core


- Augments an aggressive playstyle
- Additional damage is barely noticeable, but may be useful early game


- Situational, depends on items
- Generally most useful with offensive items


- Also situational, best taken when you have high quality weapons that get 2-3 perks


- Increases the power of your boot by 75%. Not particularly useful - % based damage remains consistently good. Even 400% power on the boot doesn't make a big difference.


- Useful for every build, essential for aggressive playstyles

Android upgrades by priority:
1) Scavenging - GOD TIER - take just 1 level. An extremely valuable upgrade which allows you to find Plating much more consistently.

2) Dodge, Movement Speed - your main sources of survivability. Dodge is a great supplement to high armor. Around 25 Dodge total greatly increases your survivability, which is a lot more effective than just stacking Armor.
3) Armor - combat effiectiveness and further survivability.
4) Health (you have a lot already), Health Regeneration - items should help with that
5) Item Cooldowns, Shield upgrades - if there's nothing else

Keep in mind Health and Healing buffs are greatly reduced on Escalation 3, making them only half as effective. Even though the tooltip says e.g. 400hp, you will only get 200. Consider shields or other buffs as they're unaffected.

If there's a Forbidden upgrade for e.g. 16% Dodge/800 HP/500 shield, etc., take it.


Dodge, Armor and "effective HP"

Over time I've come to recognize the importance of Dodge. All classes have a small amount of dodge by default (3 Dodge). The more frequently you get hit, the more important Dodge is.

Dodge grants a chance to avoid 100% of damage from an attack as if it never hit (even if the projectile/AoE effect collides with you), while Armor reduces the amount of damage taken.

Both Armor and Dodge are necessary, however stacking Armor by itself will not make you invulnerable (see Riot Guard and his 115 front Armor from the shield). So it's a good idea to get at least 1-2 Dodge ugprades, aiming for 15-25 Dodge total.

Having high Armor and high Dodge will greatly increase your "effective HP". Not only does attack damage gets reduced by Armor, you also have a chance to avoid damage entirely with Dodge. This will increase your "effective HP" in combat way beyond the value on your HP bar.

Class ability upgrades by priority:
Explosive Run
1) Cooldown reduction
2) Dodge and Power (increases listed bonuses), Mobility power (increases actual speed) for survivability
2) Overload - GOD TIER, rare.
Grants 1sec of 70% chance for no ammo spent/no heat. Spamming Explosive Run grants you a free, infinite Heatsink + Hyperfeed all in one with no penalties or risk of self-damage. Synergizes with laser weapons.

By late game your Explosive Run should look something like this:


Seismic Resonator
Since Explosive Run no longer uses Resonator Charges, anything goes.
- Max charge increase, multi-cast

If you get Max charge increase right away, Seismic Resonator can be ignored for the rest of the game. Further upgrades aren't really necessary.

Power Kick
1) Ability power - increased damage, not bad.
2) Increased overall damage for 2 secs / +1% power increase on kills - not necessary, but nice to have.

If you want to upgrade items, prioritize defensive and low cooldown items.

Black Market Terminal - Armor-Up



One thing that FP Demo needs every run is the Plating upgrade to increase the limit to 2 Plating. This is a GOD TIER upgrade that almost guarantees a win.

- No longer requires a keycard, just money

Once the first Plating pops, Ion shield will be triggered so you can collect another Plating buff from the ground at no risk to yourself.


- Mind controls a unit on melee attack. Controlled enemies can be killed, however damage reduction applies (considered a friendly summon).
- Rare, but a great distraction
- Typically procs on enemies that are charging you, providing a defense against melee

Gambler's Den


- Upgrades the power of your weapon kit (Frontpig), not your boot
- Not essential, but useful

Medical terminal

- More health is always good, and you're in melee range all the time


- Cheap, great value
- Most useful early game


- Ion perk bonus and improved deviation

One of the greatest strengths of this build is the ability to use almost any weapon in the game, whereas regular Grenadier/Rocketeer launcher Demo is limited to launchers and explosives.

Since this build plays like Raider (quick movement and melee attacks), avoid single shot weapons and launchers entirely. Focus on fast shooting weapons with big DPS and quick reloads.

Your starting weapon doesn't matter that much. I recommend the Shooty / H200 Handgun / X500 Ion pistol, however anything goes. The first few levels can be cleared with any starting weapon by relying on Explosive Run/Power Boot.

Try to find and upgrade fast shooting weapons that are good at close range, such as:

• Competition Dual (GOD TIER) - the best pistols in the game, they can carry you all the way to the end with upgrades. Shreds groups and heavy units alike. Demo class perks apply to pistols.
  
• Ninata sniper rifle - great early game for credit farming. Shoots in bursts.
  
• Super 90 / Police breaching shotgun (with Twin burst upgrade) / Road Warrior - shotguns are good.
  
• Stoner Carbine
  
• All SMGs, especially Two-Z (GOD TIER) and Evo Compact
  
• TKB-0111 (formerly AN-94 Deathstalker) - great weapon all around. Mediocre performance when running and gunning.
  
• KSVK - semi-auto sniper rifle, creates radiation explosions that leave resonance targets
  
• Industrial Breaching Cutter - upgrade for damage vs armor, a cheap boss-killer. It's a beam weapon that must be fired continuously and does not tolerate running and gunning, which exposes you to risk of damage. Keep it as a backup for high HP enemies.

Melee becomes increasingly dangerous late game, although it remains viable. You should transition from using it as a primary source of damage to a secondary one, i.e. for cleaning up damaged enemies and softening up big groups before shooting them.

As long as you have at least 1 Plating, you can charge into a group of any size and density and win. Only heavy and slow enemies will survive, and they can be easily kited.

Here sniper rifle-type weapons become very relevant. Keep one for bosses and dangerous enemies to pick off from afar.

Try to get a boss-killer weapon, such as:

• X1500 Ion Railgun / X1000 Heavy Rifle / PXR Fusion Rail - with upgrades, all GOD TIER. High damage vs armor, penetration secures triple kills.
  
• X1200 Particle Obliterator (formerly HIG-S) - boss killer, AOE, shots create resonance targets.
  
• Battle Hymn - Rare. Ammo can be an issue.
  
• O146 Future Command - if you have Overload, it's GOD TIER. Heat can be an issue.
  
• TKB-069 Azhdaya - GOD TIER. It's like a SMG on steroids.
  
• KS-23 - be VERY KINDA CAREFUL with the radiation cloud. Each stack deals around 200 damage and it can pop your shield and Ion shield unnecessarily.
  
• PH40 Vehicle Buster - multiple rocket launcher. Rare.
  
  Budget options
  
• Road Warrior (with upgrades) - although you will never get to the burst damage Breacher can put out, it's a decent alternative. Upgrade for armor penetration and critical damage.
  
• Industrial Breaching Cutter - Ion damage, armor penetration.
  
• ML10 Recoilless Rifle - relies heavily on stop-and-shoot, performs poorly when running and gunning. Can be viable with good upgrades.

FP Demo isn't afraid of anything. You can either avoid projectiles with positioning, or simply facetank the damage. However whenever Seismic Resonator and Power Kick are on cooldown, you're vulnerable.

Watch out for these enemies:

• Ballbots - massive shield requires hitting them at the right time. They can get you during downtime. Kick is semi-effective against them and it will 1shot them when the shield is down, and Ion damage isn't very good vs shields.
  
• K9 - only dangerous when you're low on health. Can be 1shot with the kick.
  
• Wheeled Mortar / Riot Foam Mortar - dangerous in close range, but low HP.
  
• Rocket Drones / Gun Drones - small hitbox, can kill you during downtime.
  
• Time Controllers / Chrono Engineers / Street Sweepers - any kind of slow is very dangerous for you, especially cryo.
  
• Chrono Squad teleporting enemies - can get you during downtime, again, but have low HP.
  Special mention: Hypertroopers. They can survive an Explosive Run explosion and still kill you.
  
• Suicide Drones - they aren't nearly as dangerous as in S1, however groups of them in lategame can instagib you. They have built-in Dodge so powerful weapons are more effective.

Melee is almost completely useless against Bosses. This is why you either need a highly upgraded budget weapon, or a specialized boss-killer weapon. Although I told you to avoid single-shot weapons, sniper rifles and launchers can be viable in late game for bosses and some Elite enemies.

Loop
If you got through the final boss and got to the Loop, whatever you've done in your run clearly works. Where do we go from here? Automating your character.

Pick a few low cooldown items (such as Power array or Shock conductor) and rig them up with as many ugprades as possible, such as:
- heat reduction
- reload part of magazine
- fire multiple times

This will do the maintaining of your weapons for you late game. You may get something like this:


Now imagine this but on multiple items. As soon as you start a fight, you'll notice your heat and and ammo are managing themselves. Now you're in truly in the Loop.

Good hunting, Androids.