<!--quoteo(post=1988710:date=Oct 9 2012, 10:01 PM:name=Squirreli_)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Squirreli_ @ Oct 9 2012, 10:01 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1988710"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Just to give the discussion some perspective, here is a comprehensive article on comming I wrote for NS1 several years back. It still is mostly valid!
welders. Welders are often overlooked. Dropping a welder for a marine is 5 res rather than 10 for a new node or 10 for a new armoury. Designate someone welder in a group and if you ever get EXO then have someone on weld duty.
MACs are also great at healing exos automatically and at 5 points probably better than dropping a welder (as they do as they are told most of the time). Robotics labs make excellent blockades too. Depending on the team I bypass shotguns initially for armour 1. Armour 1 gives your team a couple extra bites and if there is an armoury nearby then initially you have a decent advantage for skulk rushes.
Dont be tempted to drop items for players willy nilly, weapons and armour upgrades will help everyone whereas that one shotgun or gl will only benefit the person with it (and it can be lost). That also goes for a pack of ammo and health packs. A 10 pt armoury may be better if you can ninja one in a powered corridor.
So I mainly saw Marine advice here. I've mostly played Khamm so far, and 80% of the time we somehow managed to win :D SO. Let me add my few grains of wisdom on the topic of general/alien commanding!
<b><!--coloro:#008000--><span style="color:#008000"><!--/coloro-->GENERALLY:<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b> <b>-</b>There is no shame in shamelessly stealing the winning strategy of a commander you've served under, or if you can decipher what they did, the enemy's! <b>-</b>Listen to your players! Chances are, someone has a good idea on how to proceed right now. If you decline a suggestion, for example when someone requests Leap while your second Hive is not yet mature, tell them just that. You cannot get Leap, but you'll get it as soon as the Hive is done, or for Marines, if someone asks for grenades - Well you can't yet, but you'll make an Advanced Armory right away! Remember that as comm, you serve your team as much as it serves you. <b>-</b>If your team is chaotic and no one listens to your orders, try giving orders by name. You ARE the commander, so <i>xXxDOOMGORGEKILLER3000xXx</i> better get his butt on that task you need done! <b>-</b>Of course, if you can, offer in-field advice. Maybe you're a new comm, but you know EXACTLY how to play out on the field - Share your experience!
<!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro--><b>AS FOR THE ALIENS:</b><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> <b>-</b>'Find out where they are and keep rushing' always worked out GREAT as a first order. Your team wont need orders for a bit, keep the Marines busy, AND tell you where they are so that you know where to expand to. Also, now no one has an excuse to lounge in the vents for no appearant reason. <b>-</b>Most Aliens prefer Shift or Crag before Shade. That has good reason: It takes skill and sometimes lots of luck to start on a Shade hive, seeing as the mutations it offers aren't *quite* as directly related to battle as Carapace or Celerity. Because of that, chances are that your expanding across the map will go rather slowly - Which is bad for an alien. If you REALLY are not sure, ask your team! They'll know best what they can play with and what not. <b>-</b>Experience shows that you have to get as many Harvesters as possible ASAP. Start cysting right after you told your team what to do(see point 1), try to memorize where nozzles are located so that you don't have to search for long. Do not get Whips before the second hive, and even then -- I dunno man, they're 15 Res, 30 with upgrade, and buy you some time at best. Your aliens are faster, stronger, and usually smarter. Save Whips for often-attacked chokepoints, if you really really want some :D <b>-</b>Be aggressive. Don't fear spending your resources. You're ALIEN now, and that means rushing and swarming. If you have two or three(depending on their proximity) harvesters going up - This hopefully hasn't taken long because if it DID, something went wrong somewhere - Get your first Hive upgrade somewhere in there so your minions last longer, and then keep spreading. <b>-</b> If you succeed and you have a lot(five or more) resource towers, go for a second hive. This is one of the times to save up. Make sure your team knows where it is, so that when you panic at a Marine attack, they'll know what's happening just by you yelling something about our second hive. <b>-</b>Try and know the enemy team as well as yours -- If you know that the marines you're dealing with are absolutely CRAZY for cysts, and your res-flow is steady, do not be afraid of doing a cyst spam in response to a ninja. On one occasion, I had two ninjas together going for a harvester and just kept placing cysts around them, and after they realized they couldn't keep up, they actually fled! :D Really, in the worst case they're persistant, but so long as they keep popping cysts, your harvester happily harvests on while your aliens have time to close in. <b>-</b>However, never EVER immediately replace any other building. Communicate with your team about that: Is the area clear? Any marines closing in? No? THEN it's safe to re-plop whatever you just lost. <b>-</b>On Cysts again: Intercyst. As soon as you have spare time and can afford it, make sure you connect your cysts in as many places as possible. Two hives help this, but what's important is that you don't lose an entire side of the map because xXxDOOMGORGEKILLER3000xXx went and popped a few cysts. <b>-</b>Drifters so far have only been kind of a treat and used in special situations. For example, on some maps - If you have an eye on the center parts of them, that's ALWAYS good. Nano Grid, Crossroads, Central Drilling, but also any area you know marines will pass through often are areas you may like to place a Drifter in.
...I think that's all I can come up with right now off the top of my head. Oh yeah, if ever you REALLY don't know where to put your resources, treat your players some free lifeforms by clicking on them for mutation.
Comments
<a href="http://www.ensl.org/articles/433" target="_blank">http://www.ensl.org/articles/433</a>
<a href="http://www.ensl.org/articles/433" target="_blank">http://www.ensl.org/articles/433</a><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ill add it to the list at the start
As a noob who just got the game on release (played NS1 loooong time ago) this guide is definitely very helpful to new players.
I feel bad for my teammates during my first alien commander experience haha. Should be much smoother now. Thanks!
MACs are also great at healing exos automatically and at 5 points probably better than dropping a welder (as they do as they are told most of the time). Robotics labs make excellent blockades too. Depending on the team I bypass shotguns initially for armour 1. Armour 1 gives your team a couple extra bites and if there is an armoury nearby then initially you have a decent advantage for skulk rushes.
Dont be tempted to drop items for players willy nilly, weapons and armour upgrades will help everyone whereas that one shotgun or gl will only benefit the person with it (and it can be lost). That also goes for a pack of ammo and health packs. A 10 pt armoury may be better if you can ninja one in a powered corridor.
SO.
Let me add my few grains of wisdom on the topic of general/alien commanding!
<b><!--coloro:#008000--><span style="color:#008000"><!--/coloro-->GENERALLY:<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--></b>
<b>-</b>There is no shame in shamelessly stealing the winning strategy of a commander you've served under, or if you can decipher what they did, the enemy's!
<b>-</b>Listen to your players! Chances are, someone has a good idea on how to proceed right now. If you decline a suggestion, for example when someone requests Leap while your second Hive is not yet mature, tell them just that. You cannot get Leap, but you'll get it as soon as the Hive is done, or for Marines, if someone asks for grenades - Well you can't yet, but you'll make an Advanced Armory right away! Remember that as comm, you serve your team as much as it serves you.
<b>-</b>If your team is chaotic and no one listens to your orders, try giving orders by name. You ARE the commander, so <i>xXxDOOMGORGEKILLER3000xXx</i> better get his butt on that task you need done!
<b>-</b>Of course, if you can, offer in-field advice. Maybe you're a new comm, but you know EXACTLY how to play out on the field - Share your experience!
<!--coloro:#FF8C00--><span style="color:#FF8C00"><!--/coloro--><b>AS FOR THE ALIENS:</b><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
<b>-</b>'Find out where they are and keep rushing' always worked out GREAT as a first order. Your team wont need orders for a bit, keep the Marines busy, AND tell you where they are so that you know where to expand to. Also, now no one has an excuse to lounge in the vents for no appearant reason.
<b>-</b>Most Aliens prefer Shift or Crag before Shade. That has good reason: It takes skill and sometimes lots of luck to start on a Shade hive, seeing as the mutations it offers aren't *quite* as directly related to battle as Carapace or Celerity. Because of that, chances are that your expanding across the map will go rather slowly - Which is bad for an alien. If you REALLY are not sure, ask your team! They'll know best what they can play with and what not.
<b>-</b>Experience shows that you have to get as many Harvesters as possible ASAP. Start cysting right after you told your team what to do(see point 1), try to memorize where nozzles are located so that you don't have to search for long. Do not get Whips before the second hive, and even then -- I dunno man, they're 15 Res, 30 with upgrade, and buy you some time at best. Your aliens are faster, stronger, and usually smarter. Save Whips for often-attacked chokepoints, if you really really want some :D
<b>-</b>Be aggressive. Don't fear spending your resources. You're ALIEN now, and that means rushing and swarming. If you have two or three(depending on their proximity) harvesters going up - This hopefully hasn't taken long because if it DID, something went wrong somewhere - Get your first Hive upgrade somewhere in there so your minions last longer, and then keep spreading.
<b>-</b> If you succeed and you have a lot(five or more) resource towers, go for a second hive. This is one of the times to save up. Make sure your team knows where it is, so that when you panic at a Marine attack, they'll know what's happening just by you yelling something about our second hive.
<b>-</b>Try and know the enemy team as well as yours -- If you know that the marines you're dealing with are absolutely CRAZY for cysts, and your res-flow is steady, do not be afraid of doing a cyst spam in response to a ninja. On one occasion, I had two ninjas together going for a harvester and just kept placing cysts around them, and after they realized they couldn't keep up, they actually fled! :D
Really, in the worst case they're persistant, but so long as they keep popping cysts, your harvester happily harvests on while your aliens have time to close in.
<b>-</b>However, never EVER immediately replace any other building. Communicate with your team about that: Is the area clear? Any marines closing in? No? THEN it's safe to re-plop whatever you just lost.
<b>-</b>On Cysts again: Intercyst. As soon as you have spare time and can afford it, make sure you connect your cysts in as many places as possible. Two hives help this, but what's important is that you don't lose an entire side of the map because xXxDOOMGORGEKILLER3000xXx went and popped a few cysts.
<b>-</b>Drifters so far have only been kind of a treat and used in special situations. For example, on some maps - If you have an eye on the center parts of them, that's ALWAYS good. Nano Grid, Crossroads, Central Drilling, but also any area you know marines will pass through often are areas you may like to place a Drifter in.
...I think that's all I can come up with right now off the top of my head. Oh yeah, if ever you REALLY don't know where to put your resources, treat your players some free lifeforms by clicking on them for mutation.
Power node required for ARCs, Is this still the case?
Thunder doesn't even play NS2 anymore.