BL4 Vehicle Combat Guide, Cyclone, Technical and Outrunner

So the Cyclone hoverbike is the fastest vehicle in the game and I love this thing it's a two-seater with a light machine gun and a boost ram that lets you plow through enemies the boost ram does surprising damage to mobs and vehicles best for scouting escape and hit-and-run on Promethea but the weakness is low HP and no cover so you kind of have to keep moving or you're toast in like two seconds flat

And then there's the Outrunner buggy which is what I use like 90 percent of the time balanced speed and firepower two-seater with a gunner position driver gets machine gun and rocket launcher gunner gets a grenade launcher best for general combat on Eden-6. You can mount heavy weapons on it too and it handles every terrain type way better than the other two

But if you need the big guns the Technical truck is the heavy option slowest but toughest four-seater with an open bed for gunners weapon is a heavy machine gun turret that shreds vehicles and badass enemies best for group transport ramming and area denial on Nekrotafeyo you can mount side weapons and stuff like that on it

Boost management is kind of the most important thing and nobody talks about it all vehicles have a boost meter use it for escapes ramming and speed bursts the boost recharges faster while not accelerating so don't drain it in straight-line travel you'll regret it when you actually need it

And gunner positioning matters way more than you'd think coordinate with your gunner the driver controls positioning the gunner controls fire communicate target priority. The gunner gets bonus crit damage from high ground which is pretty huge and I've seen coordinated teams delete convoys twice as fast using elevation properly

Also vehicles are strong against mobs but weak against badass enemies and bosses so dismount for boss fights use vehicles to clear trash mobs between objectives and don't try to run over a badass I've died to this so many times you'll just get wrecked

Customization is where vehicles get actually good find vehicle stations in hub zones and upgrade engine for speed armor for HP weapons paint and boosters priority is engine then armor then weapons then boosters you get the idea

I used to ignore vehicles entirely just fast travel everywhere and run between objectives on foot and for most of the campaign that works fine but once you start farming and doing open world activities vehicles become genuinely useful. The maps in BL4 are huge and some areas are designed around vehicle access and trying to walk from one end of the Splinterlands to the other is a nightmare I've done it multiple times and it sucks a fully upgraded Outrunner cuts that time by like 80 percent. And vehicle combat isn't just travel certain encounters and challenges are designed around vehicles the Hijack targets scattered around each map drop vehicle parts that permanently upgrade your ride the Convoy events give solid XP and loot and some boss arenas have vehicle phases where being on foot puts you at a massive disadvantage the vehicle combat system in BL4 is deeper than BL3's was each vehicle type has a distinct role now the Cyclone is for speed and scouting the Outrunner is for general combat the Technical is for group play and heavy firepower knowing which vehicle to spawn for which situation actually matters and the customization system means your vehicle gets stronger as you progress which makes open world farming faster and more efficient

The Cyclone hoverbike is the fastest vehicle in the game and the most fun to drive it's a two-seater with a light machine gun and a boost ram that lets you plow through enemies the boost ram does surprising damage to mobs and vehicles use the Cyclone when you need to get somewhere fast or when you're doing hit and run attacks on enemy outposts its weakness is durability it gets destroyed fast if you stand still. So the Outrunner buggy is the best all rounder two seats driver gets a machine gun and rocket launcher gunner gets a grenade launcher it's fast enough for travel and tough enough for combat the Outrunner is what I use 90 percent of the time it handles well on every terrain type and the weapon options cover both single target and AoE. But the Technical truck is the heavy option four seats with an open bed for gunners plus mounted side weapons it's slow but has massive HP and the heavy machine gun turret shreds vehicles and badass enemies use the Technical for convoy missions and group play where you need to transport a full team its weakness is maneuverability tight turns and narrow passages are a nightmare in the Technical

The vehicle upgrade system really matters in BL4 parts drop from Hijack targets which are marked vehicles you find around each map you hijack them drive them to a Catch a Ride station and the parts get permanently added to your collection each map has multiple Hijack targets and the parts are fixed per target engine upgrades increase top speed and boost recharge rate armor upgrades increase vehicle HP and reduce damage from collisions weapon upgrades replace your default weapons with better versions booster upgrades increase boost duration and add special effects like flame trails or shock bursts paint and cosmetic unlocks are also tied to specific Hijack targets. The best engine in the game drops from the monster truck Hijack in the Splinterlands heavy armor plates come from the armored convoy in Devil's Razor the rocket launcher upgrade is on a Technical in Carnivora a fully upgraded vehicle takes maybe 2 hours of Hijack farming and the upgrades are account wide once unlocked all your characters benefit. Also the upgrades affect the vehicle's Mayhem scaling a base Outrunner at M10 dies in two hits a fully upgraded Outrunner at M10 can actually tank some damage and contribute to fights

Boost management is the most important vehicle skill and nobody talks about it your boost meter recharges faster when you're not accelerating so the optimal movement pattern is boost in bursts coast to recharge boost again. Draining your boost in one long burst is almost always wrong. Also the gunner position on the Outrunner gets bonus crit damage from elevation if you're the gunner and the driver positions the vehicle on high ground your grenade launcher hits way harder so coordinate with your driver. The Cyclone's boost ram does damage based on your current speed if you boost before impact the ram damage multiplies a fully boosted Cyclone ram one shots most basic vehicles and staggers heavy ones it's a real combat tool not just a meme. And vehicle weapons have infinite ammo you can sit in a Technical turret and spam the heavy machine gun forever use this to soften up outposts before dismounting clear the trash mobs from a safe distance then go in on foot to deal with badass enemies that vehicles struggle against. The most important tip dismount before boss fights vehicles are not boss killing tools they deal reduced damage to bosses and badass enemies use vehicles for travel and trash clearing not for serious combat the one exception is convoy boss fights where staying in the vehicle is mechanically required

The Cyclone has a hidden air control mechanic if you jump and hold the handbrake you can rotate in mid air this lets you redirect mid jump to land on specific platforms or dodge incoming fire it's not documented anywhere but it's the difference between a good Cyclone pilot and a great one the Outrunner's rocket launcher has a lock on feature hold the fire button to acquire a lock before releasing locked rockets track targets and deal bonus damage most players just tap fire and miss the lock on entirely. For convoy missions the Technical's heavy turret deals bonus damage to vehicle weak spots aim for the fuel tanks and engines on enemy vehicles two shots to a fuel tank destroys most convoy vehicles instantly vehicle spawns at Catch a Ride stations are free and instant if your vehicle is about to explode drive to the nearest Catch a Ride and spawn a fresh one you don't need to wait for the cooldown if you're at a station this makes long distance travel with combat essentially risk free. And the most galaxy brain vehicle tech you can spawn a Technical mount the turret and use it as a stationary turret emplacement park it overlooking an enemy camp switch to the turret seat and clear the camp from complete safety the Technical has enough HP to tank return fire while you methodically delete everything it's the safest way to clear outposts on high Mayhem levels and I'm surprised more people don't do it