I love the new Replication mode.

Obviously it is funny to have 5 identical agents, but I feel the mode also adds an extra layer of strategic depth and novel experiences with the economy and how that impacts shields and guns. (Not to mention it being useful for the full variety of daily tasks for exp.)

In rounds 1 & 2 we see credit amounts we rarely see in normal matches, and an incentive to buy up all you can because you can't save credits. I find this more interesting than Spike Rush guns because everyone has the same sort of tier of equipment, but it isn't perfectly identical.

With that in mind, what do you think of the economy and the gun meta in replication?

For reference, in each round you get this many credits:

1. 900
2. 2,400
3. 3,900
4. 6,000

In round 1, the intuitive answer is light shields and a 500 cost pistol. You can't afford heavy shields, and a sheriff seems weak against ghost+half shields unless you have a wallbang plan. Of course, you have to consider the bucky, but I find the lack of range too much here.

We'll come back to round two and tackle the simpler rounds 3&4 first.

In round 3, well, rifle+full shields seems obvious.

In round 4, you can get rifle+full shields, or get Operator+full shields + a pistol from an ally going for a rifle.

Therefore, I think round 2 is the most interesting round, where all sorts of crazy buys happen. Ares+half shields seems common, but full shields with a weaker gun (like sheriff, marhsall+bucky, stinger) seems common too. I wonder if you should even buy an Ares for someone so they can buy full shields?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the economy for the Replication mode. What do you buy?