A few new strategies for 190!
acid_rain
NS2 NAPT MascotAustin, TX Join Date: 2010-02-16 Member: 70588Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester
NS2 NAPT MascotAustin, TX Join Date: 2010-02-16 Member: 70588Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester
Hey guys!
I wanted to share some cool information and strategies with you all regarding the new 190 patch! Some of these things you may/may not have figured out on your own, and I'd love to hear your feedback or additional strategies in this thread!
Right now, we all have noticed that marines seem a little overpowered, but I want to help lessen this feeling by giving you some tips and hints that will help you improve your game as an alien and as marines too!
The first thing I wanted to share is the Nano-Shield, also commonly referred to as the "Dubstep Ball" (You'll know why when you hear it!). Fades are very difficult to kill, especially when there's one marine versus a Fade, so as a commander you'll want to pay close attention to your "wanderers" and ensure that even though they may not be playing as a team, they are still able to contribute effectively. You can give someone the Nano-Shield by selecting the Command Center and A+Mouse1 to give the shield to a marine. This greatly reduces the damage taken by the marine from any damage source! Giving this to a marine while they encounter a Fade is a great way to give that Fade a run for their money, and hopefully causing them to back out of the fight. Try not to use it too much for these situations, as it costs quite a bit of energy to use, and you'll want to save that energy for extremely important situations! This shield can be given to multiple marines, and can really change a fight! I use them to shield all my marines while their assaulting a Hive so they can maximize their damage and worry less about what's around them.
The second thing I wanted to share with you guys is a new feature the Lerk contains. Lerks seemed to have a great role in harassing marines, whether it be by sporing them to death, fly-by shootings, or snipes from an unknown or well-hidden area. They are essential to the harassment of marine bases, but what else can they do that's important? Before patch 190, Lerks didn't really have a way to set up an attack for other alien classes. This is no longer true. Lerks can now spore over sentry turrets rendering them to become much less accurate, and confusing their ability to aim correctly. As a Lerk, you'll want to get a team of a few skulks together, and arrange an attack on a marine base by flying by the sentry turrets facing those skulks and sporing them. This will provide visual cover and protection for those little guys as they swarm into the base and chew on everything that moves! It's important to have a Gorge hiding in the back of this assault so the lerk can return to be healed if needed and can continue to confuse these turrets. Using this strategy, your team can really put out some effective damage to those marines and their structures and keep the pressure on!
Switching back to marines. Mines are in the game! At this current time, they can be spammed just about anywhere, and they're such a nuisance to skulks! As a marine, you don't want to buy mines and just spam them everywhere. These things (just like any weapon) cost personal resources, and you'll find out soon that spamming them everywhere doesn't always yield you a kill. Instead of spamming these mines everywhere, place them tactically around a corner's edge. When a skulk runs down a long hallway, they'll naturally want to take the shortest route to get there. This includes corners. When the skulk rounds the corner, they'll most likely hug the wall. If you place the mine just out of sight of a skulk around a corner, you'll see that you get some really good results! This is because they had no clue this mine was right around the corner. Instead of placing mines all over the floor and on walls, use them to protect your essential structures, like your Armory, Infrantry Portal, and Power Nodes. Mines can be placed just about anywhere, so imagine you're a skulk chewing on a power node, and place those mines on the sides and just below that node!
As I've mentioned, aliens tend to feel mines are extremely spammed, and while this might be true that there's no limit on how many you can buy and place at this time, it doesn't mean you can't get rid of them! If you're on an alien team who is getting obliterated by mines all over the map, consider asking your commander to research Bile Bomb sooner. Gorges have an extremely powerful attack on mines with Bile Bomb and can heal themselves if they trigger one! Lerks also have a nice advantage with the snipe ability and their default attack, Spikes. Have a lerk fly around, taking out these mines one-by-one, and show those marines that spamming all of those mines are a huge waste of personal resources! Likewise, imagine you are a marine, and know that these mines will be placed in areas of significant importance! As an alien commander, infesting the areas where mines are present will de-activate these mines, allow your team to move forward without any issue.
Finally, I wanted to go over the new skulk "wallhop" ability. While it's still heavily under debate as to how the wallhop ability will work later, the way it works in the current build is that a Skulk can climb on a wall or prop, and when they jump off that wall or prop, they get a small speed-boost. However subtle this may seem, it's really important to remember your role as a Skulk. Skulks are sneaky, quick, and a huge menace to marines -- more than almost any other class, especially when in a pack! You need to remember that while the Skulk is all these things, a tank... they are not. Every little speed boost matters, and every approach angle matters just as much. Don't forget that you are stalking your prey quietly and unnoticed. You watch from above the rafters, parasiting, and catching the marine's attention, while a Lerk runs in and catches them by surprise! Don't forget about mines! Become a better "skulker" will win you more personal resources, and allow you to upgrade to a class that deals a significant amount of damage. Lastly, don't forget to use your "walk" ability so marines can't hear you stalking them from a mile away!
Remember, Natural Selection 2 is a team-based game. It requires patience, understanding, and a ton of communication to get your team to work together! If you're new at commanding, it's a good idea to try it out on your own first before hopping in a public game and not building anything for your team. Ask a teammate when you're lost or need help understanding what something does. As a commander, having a microphone is almost necessary to keep your team informed of what's going on. You need to be able to respond quickly to requests and questions, and still be just as quick on building and giving instructions to your team. Don't forget to expand when the time is right! The last thing you want to do as a marine commander is have your entire team killing the last Hive, and then watching skulks pour into your base and eating your Command Center, power node, or Infantry Portal(s) down to nothing while you are all by yourself. Don't leave the Command Center unless you absolutely must do so, and be sure that before you plan an attack on a Hive that you have enough energy to give Nano-Shields to a couple marines if you need and that you can still Beacon (commonly referred to as "bacon") your team back before you lose everything in your base! If you expand to another area, you won't have to worry about losing immediately.
I hope that you'll use the tips I've shared with you here, and that you become a valuable asset to your team, whether it be as a skulk, a lerk, a commander, or a marine. Have fun!
I wanted to share some cool information and strategies with you all regarding the new 190 patch! Some of these things you may/may not have figured out on your own, and I'd love to hear your feedback or additional strategies in this thread!
Right now, we all have noticed that marines seem a little overpowered, but I want to help lessen this feeling by giving you some tips and hints that will help you improve your game as an alien and as marines too!
The first thing I wanted to share is the Nano-Shield, also commonly referred to as the "Dubstep Ball" (You'll know why when you hear it!). Fades are very difficult to kill, especially when there's one marine versus a Fade, so as a commander you'll want to pay close attention to your "wanderers" and ensure that even though they may not be playing as a team, they are still able to contribute effectively. You can give someone the Nano-Shield by selecting the Command Center and A+Mouse1 to give the shield to a marine. This greatly reduces the damage taken by the marine from any damage source! Giving this to a marine while they encounter a Fade is a great way to give that Fade a run for their money, and hopefully causing them to back out of the fight. Try not to use it too much for these situations, as it costs quite a bit of energy to use, and you'll want to save that energy for extremely important situations! This shield can be given to multiple marines, and can really change a fight! I use them to shield all my marines while their assaulting a Hive so they can maximize their damage and worry less about what's around them.
The second thing I wanted to share with you guys is a new feature the Lerk contains. Lerks seemed to have a great role in harassing marines, whether it be by sporing them to death, fly-by shootings, or snipes from an unknown or well-hidden area. They are essential to the harassment of marine bases, but what else can they do that's important? Before patch 190, Lerks didn't really have a way to set up an attack for other alien classes. This is no longer true. Lerks can now spore over sentry turrets rendering them to become much less accurate, and confusing their ability to aim correctly. As a Lerk, you'll want to get a team of a few skulks together, and arrange an attack on a marine base by flying by the sentry turrets facing those skulks and sporing them. This will provide visual cover and protection for those little guys as they swarm into the base and chew on everything that moves! It's important to have a Gorge hiding in the back of this assault so the lerk can return to be healed if needed and can continue to confuse these turrets. Using this strategy, your team can really put out some effective damage to those marines and their structures and keep the pressure on!
Switching back to marines. Mines are in the game! At this current time, they can be spammed just about anywhere, and they're such a nuisance to skulks! As a marine, you don't want to buy mines and just spam them everywhere. These things (just like any weapon) cost personal resources, and you'll find out soon that spamming them everywhere doesn't always yield you a kill. Instead of spamming these mines everywhere, place them tactically around a corner's edge. When a skulk runs down a long hallway, they'll naturally want to take the shortest route to get there. This includes corners. When the skulk rounds the corner, they'll most likely hug the wall. If you place the mine just out of sight of a skulk around a corner, you'll see that you get some really good results! This is because they had no clue this mine was right around the corner. Instead of placing mines all over the floor and on walls, use them to protect your essential structures, like your Armory, Infrantry Portal, and Power Nodes. Mines can be placed just about anywhere, so imagine you're a skulk chewing on a power node, and place those mines on the sides and just below that node!
As I've mentioned, aliens tend to feel mines are extremely spammed, and while this might be true that there's no limit on how many you can buy and place at this time, it doesn't mean you can't get rid of them! If you're on an alien team who is getting obliterated by mines all over the map, consider asking your commander to research Bile Bomb sooner. Gorges have an extremely powerful attack on mines with Bile Bomb and can heal themselves if they trigger one! Lerks also have a nice advantage with the snipe ability and their default attack, Spikes. Have a lerk fly around, taking out these mines one-by-one, and show those marines that spamming all of those mines are a huge waste of personal resources! Likewise, imagine you are a marine, and know that these mines will be placed in areas of significant importance! As an alien commander, infesting the areas where mines are present will de-activate these mines, allow your team to move forward without any issue.
Finally, I wanted to go over the new skulk "wallhop" ability. While it's still heavily under debate as to how the wallhop ability will work later, the way it works in the current build is that a Skulk can climb on a wall or prop, and when they jump off that wall or prop, they get a small speed-boost. However subtle this may seem, it's really important to remember your role as a Skulk. Skulks are sneaky, quick, and a huge menace to marines -- more than almost any other class, especially when in a pack! You need to remember that while the Skulk is all these things, a tank... they are not. Every little speed boost matters, and every approach angle matters just as much. Don't forget that you are stalking your prey quietly and unnoticed. You watch from above the rafters, parasiting, and catching the marine's attention, while a Lerk runs in and catches them by surprise! Don't forget about mines! Become a better "skulker" will win you more personal resources, and allow you to upgrade to a class that deals a significant amount of damage. Lastly, don't forget to use your "walk" ability so marines can't hear you stalking them from a mile away!
Remember, Natural Selection 2 is a team-based game. It requires patience, understanding, and a ton of communication to get your team to work together! If you're new at commanding, it's a good idea to try it out on your own first before hopping in a public game and not building anything for your team. Ask a teammate when you're lost or need help understanding what something does. As a commander, having a microphone is almost necessary to keep your team informed of what's going on. You need to be able to respond quickly to requests and questions, and still be just as quick on building and giving instructions to your team. Don't forget to expand when the time is right! The last thing you want to do as a marine commander is have your entire team killing the last Hive, and then watching skulks pour into your base and eating your Command Center, power node, or Infantry Portal(s) down to nothing while you are all by yourself. Don't leave the Command Center unless you absolutely must do so, and be sure that before you plan an attack on a Hive that you have enough energy to give Nano-Shields to a couple marines if you need and that you can still Beacon (commonly referred to as "bacon") your team back before you lose everything in your base! If you expand to another area, you won't have to worry about losing immediately.
I hope that you'll use the tips I've shared with you here, and that you become a valuable asset to your team, whether it be as a skulk, a lerk, a commander, or a marine. Have fun!
Comments
Shield was good idea, armour reduction was good idea but went to far. Aliens dropping like flys now. Current status - no alien strat works cause you just ran over a mine or got pistoled. Would like to see less defensive abilities and more offensive abilities to make game faster pace. Nothing breaks a turret mine setup at all. But cheers for all the other fixes and updates the game is coming along nicely. Looking smooth and feeling better.
Step 1) Put on blindfold (after looking at awesome concept art ofcourse) and press random button hoping you hit Q or W as quickly as possible so you can start doing the important things such as putting down cysts. It doesn't really matter which one you hit because its not worth it either way and its a coin toss whether you picked the right one to counter marine strat or not.
Step 2) Build two RT.
Step 3) Watch youtube in steam browser
Step 4) Place Hive
Step 5) Now you can evolve to gorge and kill mines. Once you kill all their mines and sentry turrets, your team will now win.
30 res for armour 1? Yea, not when hive is 75 res..
One other thing I'll toss in: instead of an Observatory with Bacon before an attack, try a 2nd Command Station. If you save up energy there, you can get extra Nano-Shields.
Been doing this since Nano-Shield's come in, not many marine commanders realize this is something that helps towards a marine win. I've only lost one or two games being marine commander in pubs out of about 15 keeping this kind of play-style in mind. (note: During the times aliens were "overpowered")
With added dubstep, hopefully more commanders will do this!
As a marine commander it's inevitable that your jardhead grunts will utterly, utterly fail you. When they do, hit that bad boy above, clean house, then tell the marines the similarites between the phase gate's dimensions and their mothers' rude bits is remarkable.
I've found that it really helps to address marines by name when giving orders. If you do that, and give them a waypoint, AND are flexible enough to respond to what they're doing (ie, giving them "easy" orders like heading to a nearby room instead of going a different direction far away), then you are going a long way towards having that well-oiled marine machine.
<!--quoteo(post=1893963:date=Jan 12 2012, 10:52 PM:name=sherpa)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (sherpa @ Jan 12 2012, 10:52 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1893963"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/710/logoutjz.png/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/3595/logoutjz.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
As a marine commander it's inevitable that your jardhead grunts will utterly, utterly fail you. When they do, hit that bad boy above, clean house, then tell the marines the similarites between the phase gate's dimensions and their mothers' rude bits is remarkable.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The image of fana raging at you jumping the CC comes to mind here, jim.
The image of fana raging at you jumping the CC comes to mind here, jim.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<img src="http://www.ninelegends.com/images/features/ensl-s5-road-to-the-final4.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
<b>SHERPAAAAAAAAAAAA</b>
<b>SHERPAAAAAAAAAAAA</b><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Furious maneouver. That's what happened when you weren't around.
Seeing that you've copied that it makes me feel a little awkward...
Seeing that you've copied that it makes me feel a little awkward...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It bothered me that you would say that after posting this tutorial..
The whole convo:
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Chat All - acid_rain: matso
Chat All - Grimjck: Yea?
Chat All - acid_rain: you know better than to join aliens
Chat All - ArcL!ght: especialy 6v4
Chat All - Grimjck: lol
Chat All - Grimjck: the usual game; aliens take over the whole map, then the marines move out and crush them, eh?
Chat All - acid_rain: pretty much<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I also strongly disagree with your friend.. there were many opportunities. It's people like you that make me never want to play.. I just hope you know that. (Which is also potentially why I was able to bring this up.. because this is the last thing that was saved in my log file)
Gorge Spit attacks significantly disrupt Sentries' aim, making it much easier for other Aliens to attack lightly defended bases (1-2 Sentries).
(Evil) Cloak Drifters (Flare researched) with Shade, then blind unsuspecting Marines with Flare.
I really hope Kharaa Pheromones are coming in the "Gorilla" patch.
I'm really looking forward to the pheromones as well. I think that'll be really sweet!
all you do is while you are on the ground, strafe up on a wall slightly then jump off.. instant mini-leap
make yourself land near a ground/wall and you can keep doing it again and again
another tip on wall jumping (again, havn't mastereD)
jumping onto another 'wall' surface, and jumping off it again gives you even more increased speed (think of it as a mini double-leap)
now.. to find all the places where you can hop off a wall onto another wall surface :p
. . . ?
Cool stuff ogz! Glad to have your tips on board! Do you have any more for alien teams?