Hybrid Build Guide
Update: We now have a section on general tips & tricks sent to us by the QA team at 5th cell as well as level guides coming soon.
Welcome to our Hybrid build guide! This guide will provide builds to use throughout each of Hybrid‘s modes and are designed to account, collectively, for a good 90% of the game. Hybrid is designed with a lot of variety, in fact it’s one of the things we liked in our review, so ultimately you and your team mates will deviate from builds, even the ones we have made for you here. However, it’s important to have a starting point, especially if you’re not familiar with Hybrid regarding what actually matters and what doesn’t. For instance, most shooters don’t subscribe to the idea of “suppression”, it’s usually not very effective, but it works in Hybrid and it works well.
Do enjoy the builds we’ve provided for you here, but keep in mind that these are starting points! Add your own flare or personal preference to really do well with them. If you have any suggestions, feel free to comment on the guide and in a few weeks we’ll add good ones to a community section at the bottom of the guide. While the builds we’ve created for you here are more general, feel free to get ridiculously specific- all the way down to map and mode.
Enjoy the guide, and enjoy the game!
P.S. Variants represent clan tag [XF]
Tank
- LMG/SMG
- Siphon
- Armored
This build is one of my favorites and is incredibly potent when combined with high-damage builds from other team mates. The tactics of it are simple: approach heavily fortified positions guns blazing and flip on siphon. This will allow you to bullet sponge long enough to either overcome the cover single handedly, or for your team mates to swoop in unopposed and clean house- ideally before you die.
Strengths: Getting lots of damage on fortified enemy locations and forcing them to be at least semi-exposed for a prolonged period of time.
Weaknesses: You may die if your team does not properly follow up or if the enemy has multiple shotguns.
Instakill
- Shotgun
- Teleport
- Spec Ops
Can you guess what this build does? I bet you can. Pick a cover, kill everyone in two shots. The idea here isn’t to try to push the main front with this build, however. Use the teleport’s extreme flexibility to take out snipers, artifact holders, overlords, etc. It’s also very effective when used en masse (or even just with two team mates).
Strengths: Massive damage out of no where, removes danger of airtime.
Weaknesses: This strategy can get predictable and you can easily be killed before firing a shot off if the enemy is looking for you.
Frag Out!
- Accurate, mid-range weapon of any kind
- Frag Grenade
- Assassin
The frag grenade is an obvious choice for pushing since it’s an insta-kill ability. However, it’s very easy to see and easy to dodge as well. As such, combining it with a mid range weapon and high damage output is the perfect way to force a lasting retreat. Either the enemy stays and blows up, switches cover and is vulnerable (in most cases), or advances/retreats through the air and is vulnerable. Quick, accurate response should make this a very powerful build.
Strengths: This build is very versatile and doesn’t require anything fancy; just a good shot and good grenade placement. It’s also almost impossible to ignore.
Weaknesses: Frag grenades don’t work so well on wall or ceiling cover, consider switching to a fusion grenade in these situations.
Wall
- Assault Rifles
- META Shield
- Spec Ops/Armored
This build is pretty straightforward: stand somewhere that’s incredibly important, then don’t leave. It’s not as great for defending other people since you don’t have as much damage output, but it’ll definitely force the enemy to try and brute-force you out of your defended location. As far as picking Spec Ops versus Armored specialities, play it based off the enemy team. If you’re taking a lot of constant fire you’ll need the armor, if it’s sporadic, take the cooldown reduction.
Strengths: Great for capturing locations which require you to stand in a dangerous zone.
Weaknesses: Still doesn’t stop grenades, also vulnerable to flanking.
Reaper
- Model N6 Semi-Auto Shotgun
- High Impact Rounds
- Commander
Killing the crap out of everyone is always entertaining, right? Right. This build is designed to just run the map. Get up in the air, taking advantage of strafing and the boost, attack the enemy or catch them mid-flight with powerful shotgun rounds. That shotgun specifically works best since it can lay down a pretty heavy amount of damage but has enough rounds to deal with multiple people if you miss etc. You’ll be running on kill streaks, fighting around your own bots to throw fights in your favor, or just picking up kills with bots- it’s a pretty potent build, but it’s not recommended if nobody has your back.
Strengths: Damage. Pure damage and constant killstreaks make this build very powerful, and fun to play.
Weaknesses: This doesn’t work quite as well on larger maps due to longer lines of sight. Switch to a mid-range weapon.
Support
- Mid-long range weapon
- Satellite
- Spec Ops
Another straightforward one. Satellite is a very important ability to have, especially in objective game types. However, without an ability to help you survive/kill, it’s very dangerous to be running around on the front lines if you’re taking that ability. Hence the support role. This is a great build to bring a sniper rifle with- anything long range really, map dependant. In fact, if you want, bring the rocket launcher!
Strengths: Helpful! It’s nice to be helpful, and it’ll help your damage/push-related team mates succeed, or at least give people a better heads up when it’s time to retreat.
Weaknesses: If you’re not a good shot with the sniper, it may be tough to remain useful to the team. In the event of poor shooting skills, take out drones! This is very helpful and still grants killstreaks.
Suppressor
- LMG / Swarm
- Infinite Ammo / Venom
- Spec Ops
These two weapon/ability combos are ridiculously annoying suppressants. For the most part, you’ll never use this build, but even the most aggressive team can be held back or forced to move with a constant stream of pain being delivered to their faces. Combine this build with pushers, anyone who’s attacking the enemy head on. This build is also very potent for defending Overlords/Artifact carriers by making approaching dangerous/painful.
Strengths: Really great build if you’ve got a good team who listens and is aware of when you’re suppressing an area. Can stop rampant enemy progress in objective games.
Weaknesses: Neither of these builds have much survivability, especially if you take the Swarm. You can suppress an area, but defending your own face may prove difficult. Know when to retreat.