I am currently building a Druze force, but i keep hearing that they are underpowered and not "competative". I'm no rookie, but looking at the army lists i can make, i don't see anything that would make them lower tier. For those of you who have played with them, is this true? Are there issues that i'm not seeing?
Mostly the very limited unit choice. You have all building blocks for a good list, but very few alternatives should you want to try a different approach. Within their limitations they're pretty good, that is true.
DBS is a pretty solid army; you just will find that a lot of your lists are mostly the same. On the other hand, it's pretty easy to collect 100% of the faction!
They don't have any super awesome showstopper units like the Kriza, Swiss, or Spetsnaz, instead the power is kind of spread around so it's harder to spot. @TheDiceAbide has a great overview here https://www.thediceabide.com/blog/2018/1/16/druze-bayram-its-list-building There are also individual unit reviews on his blog, and a report from the Las Vegas Open where he came 3rd despite only having a month or two to practice.
For me they lack more Druze-specific options, like Druze HI or infiltrators, etc. It'd make sense for the company to buy some ORC or Zu Yong armour, then put their soldiers through a different training program and arm them with different weapons. Lack of higher levels of AD I can understand, Combat Jump probably requires more logistic support than merc company can provide while keeping operations profitable. But AD2 would make sense.
Oh yes, though I think we'd all prefer DBS to keep their own flavor instead of becoming more like Ikari. Some people already mentioned in PanO subforums that DBS has ties with PanO corps which use them as a deniable asset, so introducing some unique units based on PanO tech has some merit.
I disagree with them not being competitive, I played with them was the Las Vegas Open, placing 3rd overall and going 4-0. https://www.thediceabide.com/blog/2018/1/30/las-vegas-open-a-druze-recap As @colbrook mentions, their a distributed force, they don’t have any big power house units, but instead they can apply pressure on the opponent with just about anything in the army. I play ikari as well, and see Druze as the much more capable force for ITS scenarios, thanks to Saito, Hunzakuts, and Peacemakers holding down the midfield, which a highly resilient Druze link with plenty of redundancy. Furthermore, with more Jammers and E/Marats coming into the meta, having access to good Veteran troops is quite nice. I’ve already used that well in my favor making some Hecklers sad. It actually looks like I’ll be making Druze my army of choice for next years Adepticon, so I’m happy to get them back on the table.
I agree with @TheDiceAbide . I went 4/5 with them at Rumble, finished 4th in it, and only lost to Rob who won the event. They were competitive in season 9, and should be in 10. In the right hands they will do fine. Of course DBS would benefit from having just a little more variety, but they have what they need to win matches and events.
In my opinion they just hard. In infinity you can win with pretty everything. And if you're long enough in this game, some hardcore choices can be pleasant new addition.
Seems that the general consensus from those that play Druze is that they are perfectly competitive and do just fine.
I'm in a weird spot where I'm obsessed with sensor to combat the surge of overwhelming camouflage in my meta, so I rate Druze 3/3 sensor bots. Maximum score. Also, I really value the ability to mix an MSV2 troop into a fireteam that doesn't otherwise have visors. That said I have no practical experience with them...
The only time I felt DBS was sorely lacking was in playing missions with exclusion zones. Without the midfield presence and the speed bump tactics they provide, DBS is fairly vulnerable to template attacks. This could just be my playstyle, but it felt like a big part of their strength was missing when an exclusion zone is present. Some of that can be compensated for in list building, and FD 1 on Druze now can also help. Every faction seems to have issues with some scenarios, so it's not a big deal but something to be aware of.
Well, to give in my two cents, this was a list i used in a tournament i won with Druze, Biotecvore against JSA was the final match. There is no real midfield in my list, just a core, a haris and 2 solo men. I managed to pass my deploy rolls with Le Muet and Saito and put Le Muet in a great spot to shoot anyone pocking out its head. With some hard links, having to start in our deployment zones seems no problem to me neither :D Aniquilación-Biotecvoro ────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 SAITO TOGAN Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, EXP CCW, Knife. (0 | 39) Brawler Spec-Ops (WIP:13, Doctor, Minelayer, Holoprojector L1) Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16) DRUZE (CH: Mimetism) MULTI Sniper / Viral Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32) DRUZE HMG, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 29) DRUZE (X Visor) Shock Marksman Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 27) DRUZE (X Visor) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23) DRUZE (Fireteam: Haris, X Visor) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt, D.E.P. / Viral Pistol, CCW. (1 | 25) DRUZE Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 28) ARSLAN Lieutenant MULTI Rifle, Light Shotgun / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 36) ARMAND (Multispectral Visor L1) MULTI Sniper Rifle, Nanopulser, Antipersonel Mines / 2 Breaker Pistols, Shock CCW, Knife. (1.5 | 45) 6 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army PS: The Holo Brawler was used as a EM Grenade launcher druze to scare the enemy :p with that and the minelaying skill i put a mine in my deployment zone so the enemy could think its a Hunzakut, and i save my Le Muet for the final figure. When Saito pops up its a surprise! :D
Also minelayer is open info and so is how many remaining mines the unit has, so at that point you're just hoping your opponent doesn't ask too many questions. Edit: ahh holo hides it though... wasn't thinking... Order pools aren't formed until your active turn, so if you start reactive they won't see an order pool at all. Biotechvore is an oddball scenario as far as exclusion zones go, since both you and your opponent have to have so many movements to get out of the danger zone, the weaknesses inherent in losing midfield presence I was talking about in DBS don't really come into play. Also, it's clear that @foxrep built for the scenario, which is a perfectly valid strategy to overcome the problem of having no midfield presence. Comms center, Frostbyte, Armory, Unmasking... those are the ones I'm really talking about. I'd include Rescue but Saito has made that one so easy for me every time I've played it.
