Titanfall 2’s Frontier Defense is one of the many reasons it’s a contender for thebest FPS of all time.Choosing the best Titan to support your team in Frontier Defense requires a different mindset than its PvP counterpart. Instead of fighting a team of enemy pilots, you and three teammates will be holding out against waves of AI-controlled enemies that are hell-bent on destroying your Harvester. Figuring out the best ways to hold the line and protect your teammates shifts from being a pleasantry to an absolute necessity.

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Another layer of complication to this mode are Aegis Ranks. These level ups reward players for sticking with their favorite Titans by upgrading them with powerful passives. By the time you reach the highest difficulty, the Titans you’ve come to know and love in PvP will have evolved into hyper efficient, mob-slaying blenders on legs. With these upgrades in mind, here are the best Titans you should use in Frontier Defense for the best chances of success.

Titanfall 2

Aegis Rank Upgrades For Monarch

Rank Required

Energized Smoke

Monarch’s Electric Smoke heals her for 100 shields per second.

XO-16: Sniper Configuration

Reduces the spread of XO-16 and gives a variable zoom.

Energized Smoke Level 2

Allies can now benefit from Energized Smoke.

XO-16: Critical Hit

XO-16 deals 1.75x more damage on Critical Spots instead of 1.5x.

Apex Titan

Monarch starts with a random Tier 1 Upgrade.

Monarchs have a tough time in Frontier Defense. The first few waves will have Monarch playing more of the team’s support, keeping friendly titan shields healed up with electric smoke and getting kills where she can to get Upgrade Core asap.However, unlike her PvP self, once Monarch reaches Upgrade Core level 3, she still lacks a relevant niche compared to the other titans.Legion and Scorch are better tanks with more damage, and every other Titan is capable of dealing more damage than Monarch unless she catches enemies in her Electric Smoke and her XO is fully revved up.Monarch is a decent healer, but at higher difficulties, enemies start hitting for far more damage than Monarch can realistically heal.

The problems really slam home when the Monarch player loses their Titan.Not only do you lose all your upgrades, once you call back your Titan, you’re heavily reliant on the rest of your team to handle threats while you frantically attempt to stall for time and recover your abilities. Doing this in later waves when you’re up against tougher foes can lead to your team being overwhelmed if you’re not careful.

Titanfall 2

Aegis Rank Upgrades For Ion

Split Shot Power

Split Shots deal more damage and consume less energy.

Energy Storage

Ion’s max energy is increased to 1250 from 1000.

Laser Shot Power

Laser Shot now deals 2x more damage against critical spots rather than 1.5x.

Energy Regen

Energy recovers 25% faster.

Reflex Cannon

Kills extended the duration of Laster Core.

Ion is in a tough spot in Frontier Defense. While it’s fairly bulky even at harder difficulties,Ion struggles to have a niche outside of Laser Core.Laser Shot is a worse version of Northstar’s Rail Gun, and Ion has to put herself in danger to make the most of Splitter Rifle’s increased damage. Her resource management can also be a hindrance when she has to choose between her own safety and contributing damage to her team.

However, that isn’t to say an Ion isn’t welcome on a Frontier Defense team. Much like Ronin, this Titan is well-suited for filling up gaps in your defense. Ion moves faster than Legion, has more survivability than Ronin, and has a toolkit that’s relevant against a larger variety of enemies. Trip Wires are great against infantry like specters and grunts, and Laser Shot is still useful at damaging Titans and chunking a Reaper’s HP bar.Once Laser Core comes up however, Ion becomes one of the best Titans at clearing out an entire hallway.Feeding enemies into the furnace of Laser Cannon’s Reflex Cannon upgrade is where Ion is at her best, and having her watch over a straight hallway with Laser Core will make the final few waves much easier.

respawn-entertainment

Aegis Rank Upgrades For Ronin

Sword Master

Increase Sword damage to 781 from 625, and Sword core damage to 2531 from 2025.

Ghost In The Machine

Phase Dash now has 2 charges.

Kinetic Transfer

Blocking damage with Sword Block charges Sword Core by 7% for each point of damage blocked.

Travel 50% faster in Phase Dash.

Blademaster

Sword Core attacks generate shields and Sword Core now lasts 24 seconds from 12 seconds.

Ronin is the best Titan for hunting after Mortar Titans and Mortar teams.With three dashes, Phase Dash, Sword Block, and increased sword damage, Ronin is able to precisely cut into a horde of AI-controlled enemies like a scalpel and excise threats to the Harvester before they become a problem. If there are no such threats and your team is holding a position, Ronin becomes the perfect Titan to act like a first responder in the event that something goes wrong for the team such as Titans dropping into an undefended area, or a teammate dying and letting a wave of enemies through.

What keeps Ronin from being the best TItan on Frontier Defense is simply his weak health pool and lack of range.Ronin’s Sword Core is where the majority of its damage lies, and with Blade Master, he can survive for a long time with just sword swings. However, while Sword Block and Blademaster can keep Ronin alive, the close-quarters nature of Ronin’s tools means he’ll always have to keep taking risks and taking damage in order to do his job.

Ronin currently has a bug where you can turn invisible to the enemy AI. For ranking purposes, this glitch isn’t taken into account.

Aegis Rank Upgrades For Tone

40mm: Splasher Rounds

40mm Cannon Rounds now explode over a larger area.

Sonar Weak Points

Enemies highlighted by Sonar Pulse take 25% more damage.

40mm: Extended Ammo

40mm Cannon now holds 24 rounds instead of 12.

Signal Strength

Sonar Pulse now highlights targets for 10 seconds from 5 seconds.

Salvo Core Barrage

Salvo Core now fires 72 missiles instead of 48 missiles.

Tone’s damage isn’t the most impressive out of the Titans, butthe versatility and mob clearing ability of the 40mm Cannon shouldn’t be underestimated.A few shots are able to mangle most infantry including Specters, and with a full lock-on, Tone’s missiles are able to blast through Reapers at a fairly decent rate. In fact, besides Scorch, Tone has the easiest time dispatching groups of Reapers. But more than anything else,Tone’s ability to increase your team’s damage by 25% while also providing a solid wall for teammates to hide behind is an incredible asset for any team of defenders.Sonar Pulse allows Scorch, Northstar, and Legion to turn almost any number of Titans into scrap with just a few shots. With Particle Wall at your disposal, you can also provide some protection for these Titans as they do their jobs of handling any major threat the game can throw at your team.

However,Tone is extremely dependent on cover and Particle Wall to keep itself alive while scanning for enemies and unleashing missiles.A wrong peek or a momentary lapse in situational awareness can lead to Tone getting caught out on her own without any defenses and just her two dashes to save her life with.

3Northstar

Aegis Rank Upgrades For Northstar

Explosive Traps

Tether Traps deal 1000 damage when it breaks.

Plasma Railgun: Quick Charge

Plasma Railgun charges faster (2.25 seconds to 1.35 seconds).

Trap Mastery

Tether Traps now have 2 charges instead of 1.

Plasma Railgun: Critical Hit

Plasma Railgun deals 2x damage on a critical hit instead of 1.5x.

Twin Cluster

Cluster Missile now fires 2 missiles instead of 1.

An amazing Titan to have when you just need long-range damage from a safe distance. While Scorch and Legion have to get close to deal their damage, Northstar can burst targets from the safety of the Harvester.A good Northstar should be able to soften every single Titan on the map and also demolish Reapers that come her way.Her hover jets also allow her to take pot shots at dangerous threats like Mortar Titans or Nuke Titans without fear of reprisal, and with her upgraded Traps and Cluster missiles, Northstar is no slouch when she’s caught off-guard or if an enemy is too close.Her Tether traps can act like additional Arc Traps and buy precious time for your team to respond to a threat from a flank they weren’t watching.

The biggest weakness for Northstar is her low health pool, and relatively slow damage compared to the other Titans.You have to play safe, and find the right time to charge your Railgun. On top of that, you’re able to’t miss a shot without your DPS taking a horrendous dip. But once you can land Critical Shots consistently, Northstar becomes a powerful force on the field that can burst down any problem thrown at your team.

Aegis Rank Upgrades Legion

Piercing Rounds

Predator Cannon rounds pierce through enemies.

Executioner

Close Range Power Shot bypasses Doomed State.

Damage absorbed by Gunshield now heals your shields.

Drill Shot

Long range Power Shot deals 50% more damage with each enemy it pierces through.

Dreadnaught

Legion is equipped with all of its kits.

Legion’s ability to instantly kill Nuke titans without triggering their explosion is invaluable at higher difficulties.Since Nuke titans also spawn in clustered groups and move fairly slowly, Legion gets an even easier time lining up Power Shots, allowing him to defuse two or more nukes with just one shot. This is particularly amazing if several Nuke Titans have slipped past your lines and are too close to the Harvester for comfort.

Beyond that amazing utility, Legion’s Aegis upgrades make it a bastion of gunfire for his teammates can hide behind. Redirect gives Legion a way to refresh his shields, and having every single kit option equipped makes him a much better frontline machine for taking care of every kind of enemy.Up close, there are almost no targets that the Predator Cannon with two power shots can’t make short work of.

However, Legion has to be careful with his Gun Shield.Since Gun Shield disables Legion’s ability to sprint and melee, this leaves him vulnerable to attacks that require him to dodge like enemy Scorch titans and Nuke Titans.As Legion’s teammate, ensure you do not Doom a Nuclear Titan near a Legion with its Gunshield up. This is the last thing any Legion wants since he cannot get out of the way easily.

Aegis Rank Upgrades For Scorch

Double Threat

Thermite Launcher now has two shots instead of one.

Hot Streak

Flame attacks fill a meter. Once the meter is full, you gain 1.5x more charge to Scorch’s core.

Roaring Flames

Increases Thermite damage by 20%

Triple Threat

Thermite Launcher now has three shots.

Explosive Barrels

Gas barrels now explode for 500 damage when ignited.

Unlike ourbest Titans list, Scorch takes the top spot as the best Titan to use in Frontier Defense.Few titans can match the sheer damage output Scorch can unleash upon his victims, and Frontier Defense further buffs him into a hulking, pyromaniacal monster.With three Thermite Launcher shots, Flame Core on a fast recharge, and explosive Gas Canisters, Scorch is given more than enough firepower to melt through any group of enemies unfortunate enough to fight against this Ogre-class Titan. Hot Streak and Flame Core deserve a special mention here since Frontier Defense will usually have players watching over several hallways that will naturally clump up enemies, making them the perfect targets for Scorch’s large AoE.With that in mind, as long as Scorch is destroying large clusters of enemies, he can charge Flame Core at absurdly fast rates.Once Flame Core is charged, Scorch can single-handedly delete large groups of enemies with just Gas Canisters and his Core.

The only thing Scorch may struggle with are the flying drones that will spawn in some waves. However, that can be fixed with turrets or the right positioning with Flame Shield. The next hardest part is managing your cooldowns to make sure you aren’t out of options when you need them the most.

Flame Shield is both your best close combat tool and only form of defense when you’re getting shot at by multiple Titans, so be careful with its usage. This is particularly important in Frontier Defense, where keeping your HP high is extremely important.

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