"I warned you! ... Did I warn you? I should have warned you! Consider this a warning. Sorry!": Toby Guide/Discussion

Guide

Intro

Engineering Genius. Mech Commander. Friendly(?) Penguin. Somehow in the ridiculous cast of Battleborn, Toby still manages to stand out. But how does one play and build a homicidal penguin in a mech? Following will be a summary of Toby and what he's capable of, and how I personally like to build him.

1. Basic Overview

Name: Toby

Faction: Rogues

Starting Health: 1388

Base Shield: 300

Base Damage: 50 - 203 (dependent on weapon charge)

Weapon: UPR H8-MS Custom Railgun (really more of a plasma cannon)

Main Attack: Railgun (plasma cannon) shot. Hold button down to charge, release to fire. Projectiles are powerful, but very slow moving.

Secondary Attack: N/A (Weapon Scope)

Quick Melee: Toby punches with the spiky arc mine on Berg's left arm. No special properties over other characters.

In lore: Toby wanted to join the UPR along with Benedict after his home star was consumed by the Varelsi, but while Benedict was shown to the armory, Toby was deemed "too cute" for combat. Denied his revenge for his home system, something inside Toby snapped. He got angry, and decided he was going to fight anyway. If the Peacekeepers wouldn't accept him, screw 'em. He'd find someone who would.

In game: Toby is a slow, mostly stationary ranged damage dealer, focused on engaging enemies at mid to long ranges.

2. Unlock Requirements

Toby is unlocked by winning 5 matches as a Rogue Battleborn (Orendi, Reyna, Shane and Aurox, Whisky Foxtrot) or by reaching Command Rank 24.

3. Lore Challenges

Oh boy, here we go. Toby's lore runs the gamut between simple and easy and incredibly obnoxious.

Pick On Your Own (Shield) Size!: Absorb 20,000 points of damage with Force Field. - Easy enough to complete. AI enemies in PvE will probably get this done faster.
Temper, Temper, Ta-Boom: Kill 20 enemies with Berg's self-destruct mechanism - Those of you familiar with Toby's kit may be confused with this challenge, as Berg has no self-destruct ability. This is a Helix Mutation unlocked at Character Rank 9. Once you get the mutation the challenge is easy enough, the wait's just a bit obnoxious.
Rejection: Hit 250 enemies with Railgun (plasma cannon) rounds accelerated by Force Field. - Again easy and self explanatory, and probably faster to complete PvE.
None Shall Pass: Detonate 50 Arc Mines with Toby's Custom Railgun (plasma cannon!). - Assuming you actually take the Level 1 Helix that allows you to detonate your mines, this is fairly simple.
Killing On Rails: Get 10 Double Kills with Core Discharge. - This one's the doozy. It should be noted that only the second kill actually needs to come from Core Discharge, the first kill can come from any action you perform. Obviously, because you can only earn Double Kills on enemy Battleborn, this challenge must be completed in PvP.

4. Abilities And Skills

Boosters (Passive): Double jumping while holding a direction grants Toby a quick boost in that direction. Boosters hold a total of 3 charges that recharge over 8 seconds. - A nice little boost when Berg's decidedly pokey movement speed is getting you down. Can also be used to retreat while still firing at an attacker, similar to Caldarius. Note that the 8 second recharge refers to one charge, meaning it will take 24 seconds to fully recharge your stock of boosters.

Arc Mine (Left Skill): Launches an Arc Mine, which arms after a brief delay, dealing 80 damage per second for 8 seconds. Afterwards, Arc Mine will explode for 90 damage. - Activating this ability will launch the mine in a straight line until it collides with an enemy/object or travels a set distance, at which point it arms. This is a decent AoE for helping to clear minion waves or dissuade enemies from moving through a choke point in PvP, or a nice little damage boost in PvE. Note that this is also Toby's CC ability. Which CC it provides depends on the Helix Trait you choose at Level 4.

Force Field (Right Skill): Deploys an energy field that blocks 510 enemy damage. Firing a Railgun (plasma cannon) shot through the field increases projectile velocity. - This skill serves two purposes. Firstly, it keeps you alive. Berg is a huge target and, even worse, Toby sitting directly in the middle of the mech means his crit spot is easy to hit and offers little of the normal headshot risk of missing your target entirely. With this in mind, try to fight from behind your shield as much as possible. Secondly, pay close attention to the second half of this skill. If you plan on using your plasma cannon outside a middle range, you need this extra projectile velocity. This extra requirement of shooting through his shield means Toby is less suited to engaging other snipers like Marquis and Thorn, who will eliminate your shield long before you can kill them and then simply walk left or right to avoid your incredibly slow projectiles. Instead, blast away at characters who can't remove your shield as easily. Melee and short range fighters, supports, and tanks are all viable targets.

Core Discharge (Ultimate): Transform Toby's mech to charge up a powerful laser that deals 250 damage a second for six seconds. - This Ultimate. I'm so conflicted. On one hand, it hurts. A LOT. It deals 1,500 damage total at base. The problem comes when trying to keep the laser on target. Keeping the laser on AI enemies isn't too difficult, especially any sort of large minion/boss you'd want to burn down with such a powerful ability. Trying to keep the damage up on other players, who are far more likely to attempt to dodge the giant death beam you are directing at them, is another matter entirely. Personally, I like using this ability to blast down larger minions, thrall camps, and the like in PvP until I hit Level 10, at which point you can get some CC on this ultimate in the form of a slow.

5. Helix Upgrades

Overall:

Bottled Anger (Left Helix): A path mostly focusing on mobility and damage.
Profound Self-Loathing (Right Helix): A path focusing on survival and damage.

Level 1:

Contingency Plan (Left): Shooting Toby's Arc Mine with a Railgun (PLASMA CANNON) blast will detonate the mine, dealing extra damage to nearby targets. +133 Damage - This adds a nice little bit of extra damage, but in the context of PvP, how often is someone going to stand next to your mine while you shoot it? In PvE this becomes a nice little area burst. Once you hit level 4, the CC on the mine will set this skill up for you, and it becomes significantly better. Plus, it gives you an extra mechanic to play around, and that's always fun
Me 'N My Magnets (Right): Railgun projectiles deal bonus damage when passing through a Force Field. ~~+25 Damage~~ +25% Damage. - Doesn't do enough, especially considering you need to set it up. Even if this was a straight upgrade and didn't require you to have your shield up, I still wouldn't take it. It doesn't offer enough extra damage compared to your other option. EDIT: So, screw IGN and their bloody typos, apparently this is 25% extra damage, not 25 flat. So at level 1, you're getting 50 extra damage, which will obviously scale. Remember to double check your sources, children! Still not sure if I'd take this. The difference it makes will probably be one less shot, and that's assuming they all fly through the shield. If you find yourself engaging at ranges where using the Arc Mine is inconvenient, this is worth considering.

Level 2:

Starting Line (Left): Allies who pass through Toby's Force Field are hastened for a brief time. +30% Movement Speed. - I like this option. It offers a nice bit of support for your team mates and if you're running away with your barrier off cooldown, you can toss it in front of you to help you get away.
Best Offense (Right): Allies standing behind Toby's Force Field are granted bonus health regeneration and attack speed. +14 Health Regeneration per second, +15% Attack Speed. - Two reasons you shouldn't use this trait. One, that healing is barely better than Eldrid passive health regen. Combined with the small area you need to stay in, it really doesn't do much. Enemies need to take down your barrier to actually damage your health, meaning you've already lost any benefit from it, and trying to use it to heal up between fights is far slower than just teleporting back to base in PvP or scavenging for a health pick up in PvP. Second, Toby gets no benefit from attack speed buffs, meaning this only helps your allies.

Level 3

Targeting Overlay (Left): While zooming Toby's Railgun (Plasma. Cannon.), all enemies (including cloaked enemies) are revealed in the scope. - A nifty little skill, it might be worth grabbing if a Deande, Oscar Mike, or Shane and Aurox are on the opposing team, but otherwise this is a skip.
Still Alive! Sorry! (Right): Increases Toby's maximum shield strength. +240 Maximum Shield Strength. - Simple and effective. I mentioned previously Toby has issues with how fragile he is, this is a much appreciated boost to survivability. I take this one every time.

Level 4:

Sorry I Broke Your Legs (Left): Enemies damage by Arc Mines are slowed. +3 seconds Slow Duration. - A decent bit of CC, this'll keep enemies in your Arc Mine for longer, and can set up a detonation from Contingency Plan. That said, what's better than slowing down your enemies?
Sorry I Broke Your Wrists (Right) Enemies directly hit by Arc Mines are stunned. +2 seconds Stun Duration. - Completely stopping them, of course! This trades one second of CC for a much more powerful effect. It should be said that you need a direct hit to cause the stun, unlike the slow, which applies when someone takes damage from the mine, meaning if you're having connection issues, you may benefit from an effect you can apply more often.
Arc Vortex (Mutation): Arc Mines now suck enemies toward them. - This one's interesting. It can keep enemies close for detonations, but I still say the stun is more beneficial since you can interrupt enemy skills and such.

Level 5:

Boosted Boosters (Left): Toby's Boosters gain one additional charge. +1 Charge. - You have one more charge in reserve. This is a question of how often you use your boost. If you find yourself with your boosts constantly at full charge, this will give you one more in case of an emergency.
Panic Mode (Right): Toby gains increased damage resistance while his Boosters are out of charges. +30% Damage Reduction. - I love this one. 30% is a lot of damage reduction. You can either spam your boosts in a retreat to help you get away and end up with a bit of extra toughness to keep you alive, or you can use my strategy, constantly expending my last boost when I get it to maintain constant damage reduction.
Upward Boost (Mutation): Toby's Boosters can now propel him upward. On many characters this would be an instant pick up. But this is Toby, constant repositioning and moving around the map doesn't really play to his strengths. I prefer Panic Mode

Level 6:

Beam Splitter (Left): Toby's Railgun (PLASMA. CANNON.) projectiles split into three blasts when fired through a Force Field. - This is a decent choice in PvE to deal with crowds, but actually hitting multiple targets with this in PvP doesn't happen very often. I say skip.
Plasma Mine (Right): Arc Mines deal increased damage to enemy shields. +50% Bonus Damage to Shields. - The exact opposite situation to Beam Splitter. Extra shield damage is great in PvP, less so in PvE.
Overcompensating (Mutation): Increases the size of Toby's Railgun *(It's a ***ing Plasma Cannon!) shot when fired through his Force Field. +25% Projectile Size - Hit those shots you would have just barely missed before! The Plasma Mine is probably still better in PvP, but personal preference sees me picking this one up more.

Level 7:

Riding The Rail (Left): Decreases the time required to fully charge Toby's Railgun (No rails. No magnetic projectile acceleration. It's a cannon that shoots plasma energy balls). -20% Charging Time. - This is effectively an attack speed boost when such things don't actually work for Toby. 20% more plasma blasts! What more could you want?!
Heartpiercer (Right): Fully charged Railgun (Ugh. I don't even care anymore.) shots penetrate walls, objects in the world, and enemies. - Good for clearing minion waves, but I find the faster charging/fire rate more helpful in all modes.
Self Destruct Sequence (Mutation): On death, Toby's mech explodes, dealing damage to nearby enemies. +500 Damage. It does a lot of damage, but ideally you want to be living through your battles, not killing your opponent when you're already dead. Grab it for the lore challenge, then never take it again.

Level 8:

Room For Improvement (Left): Enlarges Force Field's effective range. +50% Force Field Radius. - Your barrier is now almost a semi-circle. This becomes progressively more effective the closer you operate to your enemy. Look at how close your engagements are ending up and make a call in regards to this one.
Room for Mistakes (Right): Increases each Force Field's total health. +100% Force Field Health. - Again with the survival boosts, and again, I find myself picking this one up. Just be careful no one circles around your barrier, or you'll find fights quickly swinging in the enemies' favour.

Level 9:

What's Mine is Yours (Left) - Increases the range that Arc Mines can deal damage. +50% Area of Effect Radius. Arc Mine becomes better against crowds. If you took the slow or vortex mine back at Level 4, this will increase your area of effect for your CC as well, and is worth considering.
Primed Catalyzers (Right): Increases Arc Mine's base damage. +15% Damage. Arc Mine hurts more. I like this one better, especially with the stun.
Mines, Mines, Mines! (Mutation): Reduces the cooldown of Arc Mine. -20% Cooldown Time. - This level has some pretty straight forward augments, huh? 20% more mines. I rarely run into a situation where I desperately need the mine and it's on cooldown, but if you're more spammy with it than I am, this will help you have it when you really need it.

Level 10:

Triple Charge (Left): Rather than a single focused beam, Core Discharge charges up three blasts firing one after the other, dealing 250 damage per blast. - Refer back to the abilities section, and you'll see why I hate this augment. You now deal half the damage, and the ability is still obnoxious to aim. You can't control when the shots go off, so you end up holding your crosshair over the enemy the entire time anyway, except now when you miss, you've lost a third of your already halved potential damage.
Endangering Species: Enemies damaged by Core Discharge blasts are slowed. +3 seconds Slow Duration. - This is what you want to pick. Now with your slow keeping you on target, you can melt opposing Battleborn with (relative) ease. You might even end up with a few Double Kills for the lore challenge just from your Core Discharge!

6. Gear

Just a short spiel on gear options before closing out.

Toby's Legendary Gear is called "The Double Hug", a watch which, along with decreased cooldowns and increased movement speed, allows him to set two Arc Mines at once, at the expense of 40% less damage. I'll admit I haven't used it (still missing a few double kills), but it seems better for AoE damage and worse for single targets, so keep that in mind..

Besides his Legendary, your best bets for gear options are Gauntlets for attack damage, Watches for cooldown, and Shoes for movement speed. Remember, he doesn't get any benefit from attack speed, so there's no point in building Daggers on him.

Conclusion

There you have it, all the tools to get out there and teach the Varelsi/other players that cute certainly doesn't mean harmless. Any questions, differing opinions to my own? Sound off in the comments! I'd love to spark a discussion!

EDIT: Thanks to (I assume) one of the mods for flairing this for me! I actually started wrote this piece meal several hours before the new flairs were implemented, so I didn't even know that was a thing now until after I posted this.

Posted May 11, 2016, 9:19 PM UTC · edited

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