1) Introduction
Everyone's starter bot, and also arguably the least useful light bot around. You start the game with a molot and a spiral attached to the bot, which is useful enough at midrange but you should never go into melee with anyone else.
Probably what makes the Destrier useful for players in their first few games is the fact that the Destrier has a respectable amount of health, which will undoubtedly allow players to capture beacon and survive some hits from enemies, especially useful as new players usually haven't learned the importance of using covers yet.
Unfortunately, this same trait, coupled with no knowledge of how beacons and the beacon bar acts, also means that new players also forgo the beacons and instead busy themselves with fighting the enemy instead, which may or may not set a bad playstyle for them when they go into silver tiers, especially when all they do is focusing on damaging the enemy and not capping beacons, even the ones in front of them (Causing no end of frustration to their more experienced teammates at the same time).
New players will probably want to buy the other bot options for their next bot expenditure, and maybe even swap the Destrier for a better bot. New players, as was the case when I started WR, sees the Cossack's HP and only one Medium hardpoint and think the Destrier is the better bot. Unfortunately, this is not so as I shall point out in my Cossack Review post. For players who want to progress down the road of competitive gaming by going up the tiers, then the Destrier is not a bot for longtime use. Like their namesake, the Destriers are not a common sight once you get into high-Silver tier. That said, until new players have gotten used to better beacon capper bots, the Destrier is still a solid beacon capper for Bronze tier.
2) Setups
Most players will probably use the double Molots and double Punishers setup for the Destrier for their first time. Both are solid setups, but may need tweaking once you get into higher tiers. However, once players level up a bit, a most useful setup would be the double Pinatas, which might take time for new players to get used to as the rocket's damage has some lag, and may need for some 'leading' when aiming. Nonetheless, it should be a good setup to last until the time when you swap it for a better bot.
I am no fan of Spirals -as they do not have much stopping power- but yes, a Destrier with double Spirals is actually a nice setup for beacon capping while staying under cover. Just don't expect it to stop enemy bots from capping your beacon. Use it for capping exclusively, the Spirals being just slight damage bonus while capping.
Why do I not list Magnums? Partly because when players have access to the workshops, a Destrier is probably not a good bot to have in their lineup, apart from the situation in below section.
3) Miscellaneous
That said, they are not entirely useless. More experienced player, especially those who are intent on farming gold, have often used the Destrier on lower levels, with weapons such as Pinatas and maybe even the Magnums to farm gold. Most would argue, why not use the more useful Stalker? A stalker will actually bump you up to silver, even at the lowest level, hence the use of the Destrier.
In an experienced players hands, a Destrier on Bronze tier can dominate a battlefield by beacon capping and surviving most encounters... unless a Thunder comes up (Usually on an Schutze) of which the player's piloting skills will have to come into play.
Some would argue that the Destrier is a useless bot, and needs to be buffed to be useful. I say the Destrier is a useful bot for the new players to get used to the first stages of the game. While not exactly the most useful bot to train one's piloting skills, it's a solid one for a starter bot. Afterall, if a starter bot is overpowered, why use any other bot.
Thank You,
Izumabakumatsu
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