There are quite a few extremely powerful weapons, abilities, and characters in the RTS portions of the game.
That about sums up Gen 2 Sentinels.
- Sentry guns are basically automated railguns that can be deployed by 2nd Gen Sentinels. They don't require any micromanagement, last until the end of the stage or they`re destroyed, and their railgun shots will instantly destroy most enemies. With the right upgrades, all 2nd Gen Sentinels can place down an entire defense line of sentry guns that can hold off the enemy by themselves.
- Ryoko has special equipment that allows her to place two sentry guns at a time instead of one, allowing her to rapidly set down an entire network of them in short order.
- Sentry guns were drastically nerfed in the Switch version and are still one of the best tools in your toolkit.
- Nenji's skills all synergize together to make him one of the most powerful melee attackers in the game, as they all either increase the damage he deals to enemies or help him survive by staying up with 1 hit point if he takes lethal damage. With all cylinders running, he can easily solo the largest enemy units, including EX enemies.
- Megumi and Renya both get access to a version of the Interceptors that spawns an additional four drones. If both of them are deployed and use this skill, it can tear swarms of enemies to shreds with their armor-piercing guns, especially on maps where they employ Zerg Rush tactics.
- Megumi also has access to Forced Coolant, meaning that she’s 30% faster. Considering how fast 4th gens are, this means that she will often be able to get 3 actions before multiple other pilots even get one. This makes her an asset against horde based missions.
- The super large missile used by the 3rd Gen Sentinels can decimate large swarms of enemies over a huge area in one hit. If upgraded appropriately, the attack can kill so many units that the hefty cost becomes null, allowing you to use the move over and over again.
- The Switch version introduces unique unlockable attacks that are exclusive to each of the pilots in an attempt to incentivize players to switch up their combat options, especially after they greatly nerfed the commonly used Sentry Gun. However, some of these attacks end up breaking the game in ways that even the trusty Sentry Gun wishes it could do.
- Shinonome's Cyberattack Missiles. Any enemy hit by them is forced to fight on your side for 20 seconds (in a game where missions normally never last more than 2 minutes total and are usually resolved in less than half that.) There's no resistance, and you can attack them freely for the full 20 seconds without breaking it. They aren't even that expensive, so she can freely spam them again if the enemy manages to last long enough for it to wear off.
- Natsuno Minami was underwhelming in the PS4 version due to the lack of the Super Large Missile. The Switch version rectifies this by introducing Precision Machine Cannons, which are basically Rapid Cannons on crack. The weapon fires twice as many armor-piercing rounds as the standard default rapid cannon over incredibly long distances. What makes this attack even more game breaking is how efficient it is with it's low EP cost and quick wait time. And to top it all off, the attack allows Minami to move a bit before firing, triggering her rarely utilized "Warm-Up Run" pilot skill, further increasing the damage. Watch as Minami constantly gets MVP for sniping RPFs, Terra Carriers and Hi-Quads to death in rapid succcession.
