Not necessarily. Bear in mind the following; - Charontid is cheaper by a whopping 15pts - Charontid has higher BS - Charontid has a Hacking Deice Plus whereas an Anathematic has only an EI Hacking Device, meaning it gives access to Cybermask and White Noise (both extremely powerful programs made better by the Charontid's highest-in-game hacker WIP) I like the Anathematic a lot, but the Charontid's considerably lower price tag and greater versatility makes it a strong contender, and I think it surpasses the Anathematic by a small margin if you're running two combat groups.
I think the biggest reason is coordinated order cybermask! If I'm taking more than 2 HDs that have that program, I am definitely trying to fit an E-drone in there.
I also like the Anathematic Hacker, no doubt. But the thread was asking about Charontids, so that's the answer I gave.
Correct, it's also a 6-4 specialist with Marksmanship level 2 and the ability to break a link team through a repeater and that let's you re roll all your hacking Edrones: actual bulls**t
This is the list I used on a large tourney last year here in Brazil: Combined Specialists ────────────────────────────────────────────────── GROUP 1 10 2 CHARONTID Lieutenant (Multispectral Visor L3) HMG, Nanopulser / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (2 | 79) SHROUDED (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25) MED-TECH OBSIDON MEDCHANOID (Journalist L1) Submachine Gun, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 22) SLAVE DRONE Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) SLAVE DRONE Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) Q-DRONE HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26) DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 14) DĀTURAZI Chain Rifle, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 14) IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9) IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9) ÍMETRON . (0 | 4) ÍMETRON . (0 | 4) GROUP 2 3 1 CADMUS-SOLDIER Hacker (EI Killer Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 24) NOCTIFER Missile Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32) NOX Hacker (EI Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Zapper / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 22) LIBERTO (Minelayer) Light Shotgun, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 10) 6 SWC | 300 Points Open in Infinity Army Used it to Win Supplies 8x0 vs another CA player and Acquisition 9x3 vs a very competent IA player. In both cases the Charontid did a lot of heavy lifting in the first turns, using smoke+MSV to eliminate vital threats and, in the case of IA, diminsh the effect of his defensive fireteam (he had both a Haidao MSV sniper and a Missile Launcher drone on the same team, so being able to engage each one separately was very useful). All in all, I think I prefer the MSV HMG charontid because of how violently offensive it is. There are plenty of competent specialists to choose from in CA. Of course, the MSV does skew the list a little. I don't see myself running an MSV and not having 2 daturazi in the list.
I've had spectacular success with the plasma rifle + sepsitor + tinbot charontid. He shines on dense tables and on mission with deep deployment zones, not to mention Biotechvore. With a tinbot, he's almost unhackable really, his plasma rifle kills anything it touches, and the sepsitor is just...awesome. I can't argue that this profile is better than the MSV3 of course, it absolutely isn't, and it's such a shame that he has to chose between a MSV and a sepsitor, but it's a profile that actually has some merit. Plasma rifle suppression fire is also way more brutal than the HMG one.
I just tried the Charontid Hacker Lieutenant on Highly Classified...man, what a beast he is on that mission. Pair him up with Ko Dali, and you've got 15 out of 20 classifieds covered, and add Dr Worm to that, and you have all of them covered. His WIP 16 is an insanely great asset when it comes to White Noise, Cybermask and all the classifieds, and with Sucker Punch and Breakwater, not even enemy killer hackers dare go up against him. He's strong enough to rambo through the field almost single-handedly, and with a proper repeater network in place (as you'll likely have to anyhow to get those sweet Ikadron and R-drone orders), he's an absolute beast. And if he dies? You just transfer his willpower to Ko Dali or Dr Worm or another hacker, so they can do the classifieds at WIP 16... To be honest, I feel the Charontid hacker covers so many bases, is so versatile, and saves you all the points you might otherwise invest in Victor Messer or the Nexus hacker or something just in order to boost your Q-drone, that I wonder if he isn't even better than the MSV3+HMG profile.
Glad you're getting the hang of Combined! I find that the Charontid Hacker is very strong, especially on missions with lots of WIP-based mechanics. I do still like the MSV HMG as a pure firepower piece, however. It really depends on what role you want to fill in your list.