Gold Solo Chronicles: Human Guardian and the Big, Huge Hydra! (Boss and Upload)

Kandros here with another Gold Solo tale. Today on N7 Day, we welcomed the Human Guardian and Commando to the Andromeda Initiative. Where they've been the past 8 months is anyone's guess. The Commando and the Guardian got into a fight last night, and the Guardian needed a place to let off some steam. Knowing that he's got quite the survivability going on with Shield Boost and Backlash, I wasn't surprised when he said he was taking the shuttle to Firebase Sandstorm. I asked facilities to load up the shuttle with some extra cans of paint, as it's seen quite the pounding the past few weeks. The Guardian agreed to painting the walls on the base, as long as he could re-number the buildings. 

Like clockwork, a band of Outlaws descended on Sandstorm soon after his arrival. How they know when our APEX Team members are alone on the Firebase is anyone's guess. Our Guardian defeated the big, huge Blaze Hydra during the first Boss objective and stood tall during the Upload as a Hydra, Berserkers, and two Adhis tried to ruin his time on the rooftop. The Guardian gave them a piece of his mind called the Cobra RPG!



Gameplay and build notes: bit.ly/2hlNZEp

Backlash: 4A 5B
Warp: 4A 5B 6B
Shield Boost: 4B 5A 6A
APEX Training: 3 points
Barrier: 4A 5A 6B

Originally, I just had 3 ranks in Backlash and 5 ranks in APEX Training. Decided to switch it up since he doesn't have any DR while hovering. Despite having at times 200% more shields:

100% Shield Boost 6A (Overcharge)
40% from Barrier 5A (Biotic Link)
40% from the Cyclonic Mod IV
20% from Stronghold Package

he still felt a little weak hovering above the enemies. Juggernaut he's not, but he's still pretty survivable. I used Backlash quite a bit to get out of hairy situations and to let the Outlaws shoot themselves. On console, it's harder to jump and turn around to face the enemies with Backlash, but I tried. I suspect that gameplay will be easier on PC. Otherwise, get used to running backwards with Backlash up as you retreat.

Still need to practice more with Warp. Didn't really see Escalation working, though the Berserkers did die pretty quickly. Was it the Incendiary Ammo, the Rozerad's head shots, or Warp's Escalation?

Objectives were Boss and the dreaded Wave 6 Upload. First target was tough because the Saboteur was in a crowd with his friends. Rocketed the boss, the Blaze Hydra, as fast as possible. For the Upload, I was concerned that the Human Guardian's lack of crowd control abilities would cause this to fail. Fortunately, rocketing the Hydra and the Berserkers did not result in them respawning after the first upload circle. I was able to ward off the Adhis from rushing into the next two circles to complete the mission.

I actually had another successful run on Icebreaker against Kett, but my video recorded crapped out on me. That one was fun at the end since I got picked up by the Ascendant right when the timer hit 00:00. Two other attempts ended on Wave 6 Devices where the second device was too close to the first device. I rushed in when I should have kited the enemies away. And, the a stupid Adhi grabbed me long enough for his friends to gang up on me.

If I have the time, energy, and patience, I think he'd be a very good character to do a Platinum solo. Backlash can take out those pesky Observers, and Shield Boost gets him out of tough situations. Verdict is still out on Overcharge versus Duration. Suspect Duration is always the better option like with the Operator. If the shields automatically went to +100% instead of increasing to +100% over the 4.5 seconds, it might be a better option.