Gorge Guide, Take 2
greydmiyu
Join Date: 2002-11-18 Member: 9234Members
Join Date: 2002-11-18 Member: 9234Members
Ok, b00ted has a decent guide up top but here's an attempt to get another guide out there with a little more structure and meat to it. Oh, and where's the Lerk, Fade, Skulk and Onos guides? <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
Ok, first off, there is an excellent Gorge guide here:
<a href='http://nstactics.lanvancouver.com/gorge_tactics.html' target='_blank'>http://nstactics.lanvancouver.com/gorge_tactics.html</a>
Some of the tactics I'll drop here may be better explained there.
<b>When and when not to go Gorge</b>
As we all <i>should</i> know by now Gorges get more resources than others so a bad Gorge is one that is slowly killing the team. The first decision about being a Gorge is whether or not to be one at all. A short list:
If there are 2-3 Gorges already, do not go Gorge.
If there are 0 and noone is gestating into one, go Gorge.
If the level is unknown, do not go Gorge. Exploring as a Gorge just doesn't work.
If the basics of the alien game are unknown, do not go gorge. It is far better to remain a skulk and observe what others do than to to Gorge and ask what needs to be done. The others are too busy doing things. I learned all my Gorge tricks by watching others.
<b>The basics of building</b>
Gorges are builders. My rule of thumb for a Gorge is unless you're saving for a hive, already building something or moving to a new location and you have more than 20-30 resources, you are not doing it right. Clearly this doesn't pan out in the late winning game when the whole team has 100/100 and you're getting 10 resources in the time it takes you to spend 14.
What to build is a different matter. There are four different chambers. Offense, Deffense, Sensory and Movement. Henceforth I'll refer to them as OC, DC, SC and MC respectively. The OC you can always build while the DC/SC/MC require hives. The first time you build one of those it is assigned to a hive and from that time forward if that hive is lost you can no longer build that time. As a result the order one builds those three structures in the game is important. However, we'll leave that order for other threads as tactics change. Also they impart upgrades to the team which are best when there are three of that type of chamber.
OC: Attacks the enemy. Slow shooting, effective en masse.
DC: Heals fellow aliens and other chambers in proximity.
SC: Cheap, tags any frontiermen that wander into its line of sight.
MC: Instant teleportation to hives.
As you can imagine OCs you want to build in as many places as possible. DCs are just as important. SCs an MCs aren't as important but they have their locations. Also you cannot have more than 8 of any single chamber within a certain radius of one another so placement is very crucial.
OCs are best placed in corridors or similar choke points. Also backing them up with DCs is a must. DCs repair alien structures so an OC cannot be taken down easily by a lone frontierman popping back and forth from around a corner. A 1:1 ratio is good but for cheap outposts one can drop the OC:DC ratio to 1:2 or even 1:3. Always place the OCs up front so the DCs aren't killed straight away.
When SCs enter the game place them with every other cluster of chambers. They're cheap, provide crucial information to the hive mind and make excellent fodder.
MCs should be placed, as a minimum, one to a hive and in random corners throughout the level. This will allow quick escapes and concentration of forces.
Also, because of the three chamber rule on upgrades it is best to place 3 of each upgrade chamber type at every hive. Place them off in a spare corner or something. Since hives are heavily guarded the redundant nature of this will provide the upgrades at maximum efficiency in the event that a single hive (and the associated ability to replace new chambers of that type) is lost.
<b>Advanced building</b>
Chambers can be build atop one another. This is good to provide more firepowerin a concentrated space by stacking OCs on one another. However be wary as stacked chambers can prevent the passage of fellow aliens.
Chambers will also build without your intervention. This is important in to situtations: One where the enemy is close and one where the enemy is not. IE, most of the time. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
In both cases if you have a lot of RPs and want to build multiple chambers place all the chambers you wand to build first and then complete them in reverse order. Since chambers build themselves it is faster to build them this way as the first chambers down will often complete themselves before you're done building the other chambers. This is especially true for resource chambers which are notoriously long in building.
Along the same line if you're far from the action and just want to drop a random SC/MC or a couple of OCs with a DC in a corner, drop them and move on. Chances are they'll be built up before any frontierman trundles by.
You'd also want to do this if you know the enemy is nearby. Drop a couble of OCs, build them up, drop a couple of DCs and build them up. Giving the enemy multiple targets is not a bad thing.
<b>Some other Gorge tatics</b>
Webbing is important. When that second hive is up, web everything. Anything to slow down the marines between your batches of OCs is a good thing. Not only is NS a game of resources and teamwork but also of time. The longer it takes the other side to do something is more time for you to complete your goals.
Web low to the ground so it isn't as likely to be seen. Also web at angles. A nice thing to do is to run down a hallway and web one wall, point to the other side, web again, point to the first wall, web again and so on. This covers the entire corridor with a minmal amount of webbing and is something that can be done while going from place to place.
When one has all three hives up the babblers come into play. Dumb, to be sure, but fun to fire around a corner to prey on an unsuspecting frontierman or outpost.
Also, never, ever, EVER build a chamber when you know a Seige Cannon is close when it is a choke point. This prevents your team from passing without taking damage. If you suspect that a Seige Cannon is close build one test chamber and back away. Wait about 20-30 seconds. If it isn't fired on, build more but don't go past that line. If it is, web the area, let it die and move on.
Ok, first off, there is an excellent Gorge guide here:
<a href='http://nstactics.lanvancouver.com/gorge_tactics.html' target='_blank'>http://nstactics.lanvancouver.com/gorge_tactics.html</a>
Some of the tactics I'll drop here may be better explained there.
<b>When and when not to go Gorge</b>
As we all <i>should</i> know by now Gorges get more resources than others so a bad Gorge is one that is slowly killing the team. The first decision about being a Gorge is whether or not to be one at all. A short list:
If there are 2-3 Gorges already, do not go Gorge.
If there are 0 and noone is gestating into one, go Gorge.
If the level is unknown, do not go Gorge. Exploring as a Gorge just doesn't work.
If the basics of the alien game are unknown, do not go gorge. It is far better to remain a skulk and observe what others do than to to Gorge and ask what needs to be done. The others are too busy doing things. I learned all my Gorge tricks by watching others.
<b>The basics of building</b>
Gorges are builders. My rule of thumb for a Gorge is unless you're saving for a hive, already building something or moving to a new location and you have more than 20-30 resources, you are not doing it right. Clearly this doesn't pan out in the late winning game when the whole team has 100/100 and you're getting 10 resources in the time it takes you to spend 14.
What to build is a different matter. There are four different chambers. Offense, Deffense, Sensory and Movement. Henceforth I'll refer to them as OC, DC, SC and MC respectively. The OC you can always build while the DC/SC/MC require hives. The first time you build one of those it is assigned to a hive and from that time forward if that hive is lost you can no longer build that time. As a result the order one builds those three structures in the game is important. However, we'll leave that order for other threads as tactics change. Also they impart upgrades to the team which are best when there are three of that type of chamber.
OC: Attacks the enemy. Slow shooting, effective en masse.
DC: Heals fellow aliens and other chambers in proximity.
SC: Cheap, tags any frontiermen that wander into its line of sight.
MC: Instant teleportation to hives.
As you can imagine OCs you want to build in as many places as possible. DCs are just as important. SCs an MCs aren't as important but they have their locations. Also you cannot have more than 8 of any single chamber within a certain radius of one another so placement is very crucial.
OCs are best placed in corridors or similar choke points. Also backing them up with DCs is a must. DCs repair alien structures so an OC cannot be taken down easily by a lone frontierman popping back and forth from around a corner. A 1:1 ratio is good but for cheap outposts one can drop the OC:DC ratio to 1:2 or even 1:3. Always place the OCs up front so the DCs aren't killed straight away.
When SCs enter the game place them with every other cluster of chambers. They're cheap, provide crucial information to the hive mind and make excellent fodder.
MCs should be placed, as a minimum, one to a hive and in random corners throughout the level. This will allow quick escapes and concentration of forces.
Also, because of the three chamber rule on upgrades it is best to place 3 of each upgrade chamber type at every hive. Place them off in a spare corner or something. Since hives are heavily guarded the redundant nature of this will provide the upgrades at maximum efficiency in the event that a single hive (and the associated ability to replace new chambers of that type) is lost.
<b>Advanced building</b>
Chambers can be build atop one another. This is good to provide more firepowerin a concentrated space by stacking OCs on one another. However be wary as stacked chambers can prevent the passage of fellow aliens.
Chambers will also build without your intervention. This is important in to situtations: One where the enemy is close and one where the enemy is not. IE, most of the time. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
In both cases if you have a lot of RPs and want to build multiple chambers place all the chambers you wand to build first and then complete them in reverse order. Since chambers build themselves it is faster to build them this way as the first chambers down will often complete themselves before you're done building the other chambers. This is especially true for resource chambers which are notoriously long in building.
Along the same line if you're far from the action and just want to drop a random SC/MC or a couple of OCs with a DC in a corner, drop them and move on. Chances are they'll be built up before any frontierman trundles by.
You'd also want to do this if you know the enemy is nearby. Drop a couble of OCs, build them up, drop a couple of DCs and build them up. Giving the enemy multiple targets is not a bad thing.
<b>Some other Gorge tatics</b>
Webbing is important. When that second hive is up, web everything. Anything to slow down the marines between your batches of OCs is a good thing. Not only is NS a game of resources and teamwork but also of time. The longer it takes the other side to do something is more time for you to complete your goals.
Web low to the ground so it isn't as likely to be seen. Also web at angles. A nice thing to do is to run down a hallway and web one wall, point to the other side, web again, point to the first wall, web again and so on. This covers the entire corridor with a minmal amount of webbing and is something that can be done while going from place to place.
When one has all three hives up the babblers come into play. Dumb, to be sure, but fun to fire around a corner to prey on an unsuspecting frontierman or outpost.
Also, never, ever, EVER build a chamber when you know a Seige Cannon is close when it is a choke point. This prevents your team from passing without taking damage. If you suspect that a Seige Cannon is close build one test chamber and back away. Wait about 20-30 seconds. If it isn't fired on, build more but don't go past that line. If it is, web the area, let it die and move on.
Comments
First, there is a limited amount of webbing a _team can have down at one time. Its annoying and occasionally fatal when people waste web in places the marines won't be going.
First, there are three kinds of web tactics. Offensive, glue and deterrent.
Offensive webbing is firing webbing at the marine. Normally followed by running up and spraying him, alternating with more web every few sprays. Yes, healing spray hurts marines, and you don't need to aim, just get close.
Not to mention its a horribly embarassing and frustrating way to die, for that marine. Death by the pudgy!
Glue is webbing laid _on the ground, to make it harder to see. Place 4 to 6 strands right at a corner, so the marine steps around the corner, is glued to the ground, and the offense chambers then blow him back to the dropship. Any strands the first marine misses will be waiting for the next marine.
Deterrent webbing is laid _off the ground, in plain sight. Lay only two or three strands max, the point is to make the marines stop and wait for a welder.
Tossing webbing off at random is a waste. You'll end up needing it to defend that 3rd hive, and get the dread 'your team has laid the maximum number of webs allowed' message : (
Actually you need to be touching the chamber in order to be tagged by it, and I'm talking practically standing on the thing.
[qoute]If the level is unknown, do not go Gorge. Exploring as a Gorge just doesn't work.[/qoute]
dont web everything
That is incorrect. I found out the hard way that you need at least one active hive to build OCs. It will not take up one of your upgrade spots for the hives but you still need at least one active hive.
Good web advice:
Place some webbing in the doorways and then switch weapons then switch back to webbing. Then move further away from your chambers (I usually only place webbing near my chambers of anytype) and place some strands on the ground. That will make marines get stuck because they will have their sites on the webbing infront of them and not the webbing on the ground.
Strategic locations that won't get noticed or affected by nade spamming. Such places include sub- or super- floors (i'm certain the server only checks for proximity on the XZ plane.)
In one map a hive is located at the bottom of a T junction of grate flooring slightly above the actual ground. I like to put at least one SC underneath the grating - it won't EVER be seen and it's can see the marines like it's up on the upper floor.
When I'm a Gorge and I have several Marines chasing me, my life DEPENDS on being able to shoot 3-4 webs within half a second to deter them. I don't have time to look at my screen and see the dreaded "Your team has too many Webs active". If some idiot newbie just spammed 100 webs defending a tiny little passageway that no one will ever go through, and a Welder could cut through in seconds, then I will die because of that newbie's stupidity. That's not the kind of death I tolerate.
There needs to be a huge, <b>bold faced</b> warning on Web:
<b>
Don't use more than 3-4 Webs in a single hallway! A welder can cut through 100 webs just as easily as 1, and your team will run out of web, which can SEVERELY screw over your fellow Gorges!
</b>