Know Your Enemy
Learning how to counter an enemy relies on knowing their strengths and weaknesses. While the Sunbreaker is incredibly powerful, it does have its faults.
Strengths:
- Incredibly high armor; capable of surviving a headshot from a high impact sniper rifle.
- Ability to heal on kills; Cauterize perk keeps health and shields up after kills with Super.
- High mobility: Titans are perceived to be all about strength, but can move faster than most classes if the Control jump is utilized correctly.
Weaknesses:
- Reduced visibility; if a Sunbreaker hits a target or surface in front of them, their explosions can create a visibility issue when trying to hit a target far away
- Hitting aerial targets; the Hammer relies heavily on area of effect. A target in the air becomes much harder to hit.
- Loud activation sound
Strategies
Evading, Dodging, and Baiting
Each subclass has its own unique way of moving quickly. It’s tough to concede ground and hightail it outta there, but running away is truly the strongest method of surviving a Sunbreaker Titan’s attack. Moving in an unpredictable pattern and making use of vertical space will ensure a hard target to hit; staying high up can play against the Hammer of Sol’s weakness when it comes to attacking enemies in the air.
When evading, it’s important to avoid panic and maintain a strong sense of map awareness. Knowing what objects to put between yourself and a flaming hammer, and when to veer off left or right will keep you alive and frustrate that Sunbreaker. If you can evade for long enough, you can force the Titan to run out of super and trap them by setting up in an advantageous position.
Baiting can be an effective way to turn the tide if you know how long the Titan has been in Super. If a Titan is pursuing, cutting off visualization is the best way to bait them. If the last image they see isa Guardian’s back, they will likely consider it safe to pursue. So getting out of eyesight, turning around and waiting for the approach will give you a leg up once their Super has been exhausted. Consider location and surroundings when setting up a trap; bringing a Titan into a tight space will make it more of a challenge to get off a clean and straight hammer throw.
Countering with Supers
Certain Supers put up a strong fight against Sunbreakers if used correctly:
Shadowshot: Getting pulled out of a Super by a Nightstalker can be one of the more disheartening experiences in the Crucible. If you’re going for the Void bow shut down, be sure to consider the time it takes for the snare to proc. The initial hit will not pull a Sunbreaker out of Super; one must allow for the additional second or so for the snare to activate.
Nova Bomb and Fist of Havoc: These one-shot, area-of-effect Supers have enough power to kill any enemy no matter the armor strength or buffs active. The only drawbacks to these Supers is the fact that both only get one chance at landing a hit, and both can require a Guardian to be up close, which is not fun against a Sunbreaker. Utilizing vertical space is once again key when hitting a Titan with a Super.
Stormtrance: the Warlock’s new moves can be effective against a Sunbreaker with the proper approach. It takes a solid amount of time to kill an enemy with the Stormtrance, but Warlocks have some incredible movement tools up their sleeve. Using the speed boost glide and Ionic Blink, vertical and horizontal movement can keep a Titan reeling while you zap them into submission. Just make sure to keep moving and plan out your approach.
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Get Creative
While it may not be a good idea to let an enemy’s super dictate your loadout, some abilities and armor pieces can be helpful when fighting a Sunbreaker.
It’s been mentioned a few times: vertical space can be your best friend against the hammer. The Sunsinger’s Angel of Light perk, or the Exotic perk on the Titan helmet Empyrean Bellicose allow for a player to stay in the air on a level plane for a short moment. This can be enough to juke a Titan, causing them to misfire a hammer, or even allow you to shoot back and take them out. Just watch out for low ceilings!
Strong sniper rifles like Her Benevolence or 1000 Yard Stare do not have enough impact to kill a Sunbreaker with a headshot, but will bring down a large chunk of their health. If a headshot lands, quickly switching to primary for the clean up shot can be enough to defeat the Titan. Highest impact snipers like Efrideet’s Spear and Black Hammer have the potential to kill a Sunbreaker based on the Titan’s armor level. Any sniper with a mid to low impact level will require 2-3 good shots to kill.