I’ve seen a lot of people complaining that banshees are too strong, and too hard to kill because of the flip/evade. I’m a pretty good banshee pilot, but here are the weapons that are most likely to take me down and/or keep me scared and prevent me from having total control of the map. Against average players I can wreak havoc in my banshee, but good teams will take me down very fast if I’m not super careful. Here are the best ways to take down a good banshee pilot, in order of best -> worst. Hope this is useful!
Methods 1-4 are strong enough to solo-kill an ultra / temple banshee, but with the weaker ones it will take longer, and usually some help from teammates.
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Hannibal Scorpion (L8). Absolutely melts banshees, including ultras, and can withstand a lot of damage too. Has insane range and damage output, and there’s no warning laser that prompts the banshee to flip/evade. - Endgame (L5). Fast charge time so they don’t see it coming, thus have a harder time flipping or boosting away. Does tons of damage, has lots of ammo, has long range. One of the best REQs in the game because it’s so good but only L5. - Oni Scorpion (L7). Fires very fast shells, so you can hit airborne targets, and can withstand a lot of damage. - Hannibal Mantis (L7). Both weapons on this thing absolutely melt banshees. - H2 Beam Rifle Delta (L7). No targeting laser to give you away, and actually does a lot of vehicle damage. It’s also awesome against phaetons (especially if you snipe their weak spot). - Arclight (L5). The second best option at L5 after the Endgame. You can hold a charge and then fire once the banshee stops flipping. Its only weakness is the lower damage output which means it takes several shots to kill an ultra/temple banshee. - Sniper / beam rifles (L6). You actually can do a ton of damage by sniping banshees. And there’s no laser to give you away. Especially for paper/sword banshees, you can cause them big problems using a sniper. The nornfang has the most damage output, but the rapid fire beam rifles are also pretty good. If you snipe banshees in the rear end weak spot, it will do double damage. - Selene’s Lance (L6). Does tons of damage if you get a direct hit, but the recoil makes that very hard. Also has a longer charge time than the endgame, so they see it coming and try to flip away. Endgames/Arclights are better and cheaper. - Phaeton Helios (L8). The beam weapon will hurt banshees bad, but you’re also very vulnerable… everyone will be gunning for you, from ground and air, and you don’t have a ton of health/armor. Ultra banshees will wreck you if they hit you with a banshee bomb or two. And if there are multiple banshees in the sky, they can also melt you. Don’t risk your helios if they have a lot of banshees up. - Whiplash (L4): Doesn’t do nearly as much damage as an Arclight/endgame, but can still cause significant problems for paper/sword banshees. And they don’t see it coming since there’s no targeting laser. - Sentinel beam (L3): probably the best “cheap” way to do damage to banshees if you’re stuck at low REQ level. It fires continuously so they can’t always flip away, and no lock-on is required. - Spartan Laser (L4). Does tons of damage if you can actually land a hit, but good banshee pilots will usually be able to evade because of the long charge time. It helps to stand behind a wall, start charging while aimed at the wall, then pop out at the last second so they don’t see the targeting beam beforehand. - Barbed Lance (L4): It’s a step down from the other options, but still can deal a lot of damage-per-second against air vehicles. You MUST zoom in (more damage in that mode). Has tons of ammo. You probably can’t kill a good pilot with this, but you can annoy them enough to prevent them running amok. On the plus side, it’s hard for them to evade since there’s no targeting laser warning, and you can rapid fire shots. If you haven’t unlocked the barbed lance yet, the Lightriflle is okay… but fires much slower so you do less damage. - Blood of Suban (L4): It’s better than the barbed lance IF you can hit them 5x in a row for the supercombine, but if they’re flipping/dodging that’s harder. Depends how good the pilot is… against weaker pilots this thing is awesome, and has tons of ammo. - Gauss Turret / Oni Chaingun Turret (L5): Can hurt a banshee badly, but you move so slow that it’s hard to get good position and stay safe. - The Answer (L6): Deals a lot of damage, but doesn’t have great range. So you can really only injure banshees that are nearby. But if they get close and don’t see you… you will wreck them. - ProPipe / Nade launcher (L3-L4); Use the EMP firing mode - detonate near the banshee and you’ll get an EMP. Downside is that you’ll usually need teammates to help finish it. - Plasma pistols: They are really only good against weaker banshee pilots who don’t flip a lot. Plus, you will need teammates to help kill/board it once EMPed. - Kinetic Bolt Longshot AR (L2): If you only have L2s to fight a banshee, you’re going to struggle. But this thing has tons of range in smart-link, and you can really do a lot of damage to a banshee with this. But you’ll need help from teamshot. - Kinetic Bolts BR / DMR: Doesn’t cost any REQs, and can definitely hurt a banshee. But you’ll need help from teamshot.(Also, you can call your own banshee.
But if they have multiple banshees up already, you’re better off sticking to the ground and trying to kill them all)
