Kharaa Engagement Strategy
Ratfire
Join Date: 2003-03-31 Member: 15091Members
Join Date: 2003-03-31 Member: 15091Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Helping marines survive and attack</div> This guide is a basic overview for Frontiersman infantry engaging Kharaa on any map aside from the custom ones where the aliens start with three hives and you have to wait for the door to open. Yeah. Anyway, this is just strategy for the footsoldier. Again, please add, subtract, and criticize any comment on here, as long as you add constructive help for engagement procedure.
<b>Basic Strategy</b>
<i>Firing</i>
Especially early in the game, with smaller, quick targets like skulks and lurkers, marines should always be firing in short bursts, 10 shots maximum. This does a number of things for the individual soldier. It allows you to conserve your clip, so you don’t have to switch to the pistol at point blank range; it conservers overall ammunition so you’re not completely out after one or two minutes; and it gives you a greater ability to target, since your muzzle flash isn’t blocking a third of your screen.
<i>Grouping</i>
As with any rule, there are exceptions, however, the general rule for marine engagement is, engage in groups. You are much more vulnerable as an individual solider than you are as a strong group. Anyone who has played CS or other half-life mods, knows that when two people travel together, if the first one dies, the second one can usually kill the enemy. This works the same way in Natural Selection. Not only do you have a better chance at identifying and killing a Kharaa, the increased firepower of a group means you can kill them faster while expending less ammunition than you would have if you were alone. Grouping also allows for a defensive building strategy. This means that one or two people can build, while everyone else watches out for incoming engagements.
<i>Terrain</i>
Natural Selection maps were made with Kharaa in mind, especially the Skulks, there are hundreds of spots for the aliens to lie in wait on beams, or around corners, above doors, etc. ALWAYS, expect something to be around the next corner, and never forget that this is a 3 dimensional world, meaning things can be above you, even if you can’t see them.
Never forget the strategic value of the vents. Since Kharaa can use them right away, and they tend to be forgotten, if you’re in a vented room, make sure that the vents are covered as well as any other entrance.
When defending, always select the best possible defensive terrain against Kharaa. Ideal in early game is at the end of a long hallway where they have no place to run except forward and backward. Since all but two of the marine weapons are ranged, the advantage of distance, coupled with the long response time of a large hallway give the marines a defensive advantage.
<i>Motion Tracking</i>
This is one of the largest prediction advantages that marines can get. It allows you to track any and all moving aliens. Alien distance is defined in the size of the blue circle. If it is very large, they are very close, and you should definitely be watching any path or vent in your area. Marines have to remember however, that they are motion detectors. Unlike the alien parasite which tracks anything on hive mind at all times, the motion detectors can only see aliens that are moving. This means that motion tracking does no good for ambushes, so you can’t let yourself be off guard, even if all motion sensors indicate nothing in your area. The other thing to remember with motion tracking, is that it is on just over a one second time delay. This means that the blue circle you’re following is lagging a little more than one second behind a moving alien.
<i>Sound</i>
Aliens (as well as marines) make distinct noises when they are moving and building. Make sure when you are playing to turn off your music. Sure it sounds cool, but if it’s blocking you from hearing the vague sound of a skulk juuuuuuust inside hearing range, than it’s an unwanted distraction. Sound is especially important for ambushes, where the single foot click of a skulk can give away both direction and distance for the marines. Always learn to listen for those footsteps or wingflaps, etc., so you can be ready for whatever is coming at you.
<i>Advanced Weaponry</i>
Chances are after you upgrade, unless the aliens are doing awful, you won’t be able to continually have a fully HMG/GL HA/JP equipped marine team right from spawn. Therefore, you don’t want to waste the 25 credits for an HMG or heavy armor, or the 33 credits for a grenade launcher by dying. This especially increases the need for groups. Anyone with expensive weapons should stick together, and if you don’t have an expensive weapon, don’t stay in base until the resources appear, go out with the man who has the HMG and back him up. The longer that the HMG stays active the better use of the credits, and if the HMG carrier should die, and someone can pick up his gun? Even better. Advanced equipment also brings up the need for welding. Heavy armor, or even fully upgraded armor benefits enormously from a full weld. If you’re not welding your heavy armors, you’re just wasting them. If you have a welder, always pop it out after a battle and make sure everyone is fully welded. If you meet up with a heavy and have a welder, make sure and weld him. If someone comes back to base, especially someone who’s hurt and you have a welder, go right over there and weld their armor up.
<i>Voice Comm</i>
This system is an amazing and almost required feature for Natural Selection. If you’re guarding, make sure and shout out a warning before engaging. If you hear something coming make sure you shout out a warning. If you are scouting out an area, make sure everyone knows where you’re going through voice comm, and point out any possible engagements along the way.
<b>Specific Aliens</b>
<i>Skulks</i> <!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='skulk.gif'><!--endemo-->
Skulks are the ultimate ambushers. They alone, have easy access to any portion of the map from the beginning of the game. Their bite does 75 damage and they can easily devastate unprepared marines at close range. The main point to remember with skulks is range. If you have a range advantage on the skulk, you should almost always win, or at least have the skulk run away. Single soldiers especially have to remember not to follow skulks, as it loses the advantage of range.
<i>Lurkers</i>
Lurkers, while annoying at the beginning of the game, are relatively insignificant. They are quite costly (33 resources) and have very little life and armor. While they do have a more damaging bite, 50 damage, and a ranged attack, it takes lurkers a long time to destroy buildings with their ranged attack, thus rendering them more of an annoyance than a danger. Later in the game however, their ability to fly and pinpoint their ranged attack makes them deadly to jetpackers, especially those less experienced in the air. As well, their umbra defense makes Fades exponentially more dangerous. When engaging lurkers, remember that they don’t have many hitpoints, and that many are inexperienced at flying. If you rush a lurker, you can very easily kill one at close range, and if they aren’t killed, you have a good chance to kill a clumsy flier when he runs into the wall trying to get away.
<i>Fade</i>
Fades are deadly. They have a large number of hitpoints, a fairly strong ranged attack, and deadly melee claws. Because of the cost of fades, (54 resources) they are usually expensive and valuable kills. Because of this, marines have to take in consideration a rush tactic. If marines rush a fade, they will usually die, however unequipped marines are worth 0 credits where as fades are worth 54, even if unsuccessful, if eventually the fade dies you have made a net profit of resources. Fades tend to peck away at defenses with their ranged attack. The positive here, is that the fade range attack can only be shot three or four times before they have to regen stamina. This gives marines a short window where they can hit a fade and only receive one or two shots back at themselves. Another thing to remember is never to pack attack fades. Two attacks that fades have, bile bomb and acid spore do splash damage, meaning your just asking to be killed in packs if you are standing shoulder to shoulder assaulting a fade.
<i>Onos</i> <!--emo&::onos::--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html/emoticons/tiny.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tiny.gif'><!--endemo-->
It’s generally accepted that once there are onos, the marines might as well sit there with a wide eyed look and peep "Mommy!" as the giant tank aliens charge at them with a huge horn. While it is possible, and incredibly satisfying to kill one, onos have an unbelievable 400hp as well as armor making them huge damage absorbers. On the plus side, they are huge making them nearly impossible to miss, and have only a small ability to shoot airborne attackers. Plus they have large blind spots making them easy to knife, for a while. But...Neh, you might as well just ask yourself, “Why did we let them get three hives!?!?!”
<i>Gorge</i> <!--emo&::gorge::--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html/emoticons/pudgy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='pudgy.gif'><!--endemo-->
Gorges are very weak attack wise however they have a good amount of hitpoints, and are quite costly early in the game, if you see one of these engage it if you can. However, later in the game, gorges tend to be centered around Offensive-Defensive tower emplacements, and if you rush to attack a gorge, you will probably just find yourself eating O-tower spit. Also, watch for good gorges who know how to offensively web, as then, even a weak gorge is able to slaughter a sole marine.
Ratfire
<b>Basic Strategy</b>
<i>Firing</i>
Especially early in the game, with smaller, quick targets like skulks and lurkers, marines should always be firing in short bursts, 10 shots maximum. This does a number of things for the individual soldier. It allows you to conserve your clip, so you don’t have to switch to the pistol at point blank range; it conservers overall ammunition so you’re not completely out after one or two minutes; and it gives you a greater ability to target, since your muzzle flash isn’t blocking a third of your screen.
<i>Grouping</i>
As with any rule, there are exceptions, however, the general rule for marine engagement is, engage in groups. You are much more vulnerable as an individual solider than you are as a strong group. Anyone who has played CS or other half-life mods, knows that when two people travel together, if the first one dies, the second one can usually kill the enemy. This works the same way in Natural Selection. Not only do you have a better chance at identifying and killing a Kharaa, the increased firepower of a group means you can kill them faster while expending less ammunition than you would have if you were alone. Grouping also allows for a defensive building strategy. This means that one or two people can build, while everyone else watches out for incoming engagements.
<i>Terrain</i>
Natural Selection maps were made with Kharaa in mind, especially the Skulks, there are hundreds of spots for the aliens to lie in wait on beams, or around corners, above doors, etc. ALWAYS, expect something to be around the next corner, and never forget that this is a 3 dimensional world, meaning things can be above you, even if you can’t see them.
Never forget the strategic value of the vents. Since Kharaa can use them right away, and they tend to be forgotten, if you’re in a vented room, make sure that the vents are covered as well as any other entrance.
When defending, always select the best possible defensive terrain against Kharaa. Ideal in early game is at the end of a long hallway where they have no place to run except forward and backward. Since all but two of the marine weapons are ranged, the advantage of distance, coupled with the long response time of a large hallway give the marines a defensive advantage.
<i>Motion Tracking</i>
This is one of the largest prediction advantages that marines can get. It allows you to track any and all moving aliens. Alien distance is defined in the size of the blue circle. If it is very large, they are very close, and you should definitely be watching any path or vent in your area. Marines have to remember however, that they are motion detectors. Unlike the alien parasite which tracks anything on hive mind at all times, the motion detectors can only see aliens that are moving. This means that motion tracking does no good for ambushes, so you can’t let yourself be off guard, even if all motion sensors indicate nothing in your area. The other thing to remember with motion tracking, is that it is on just over a one second time delay. This means that the blue circle you’re following is lagging a little more than one second behind a moving alien.
<i>Sound</i>
Aliens (as well as marines) make distinct noises when they are moving and building. Make sure when you are playing to turn off your music. Sure it sounds cool, but if it’s blocking you from hearing the vague sound of a skulk juuuuuuust inside hearing range, than it’s an unwanted distraction. Sound is especially important for ambushes, where the single foot click of a skulk can give away both direction and distance for the marines. Always learn to listen for those footsteps or wingflaps, etc., so you can be ready for whatever is coming at you.
<i>Advanced Weaponry</i>
Chances are after you upgrade, unless the aliens are doing awful, you won’t be able to continually have a fully HMG/GL HA/JP equipped marine team right from spawn. Therefore, you don’t want to waste the 25 credits for an HMG or heavy armor, or the 33 credits for a grenade launcher by dying. This especially increases the need for groups. Anyone with expensive weapons should stick together, and if you don’t have an expensive weapon, don’t stay in base until the resources appear, go out with the man who has the HMG and back him up. The longer that the HMG stays active the better use of the credits, and if the HMG carrier should die, and someone can pick up his gun? Even better. Advanced equipment also brings up the need for welding. Heavy armor, or even fully upgraded armor benefits enormously from a full weld. If you’re not welding your heavy armors, you’re just wasting them. If you have a welder, always pop it out after a battle and make sure everyone is fully welded. If you meet up with a heavy and have a welder, make sure and weld him. If someone comes back to base, especially someone who’s hurt and you have a welder, go right over there and weld their armor up.
<i>Voice Comm</i>
This system is an amazing and almost required feature for Natural Selection. If you’re guarding, make sure and shout out a warning before engaging. If you hear something coming make sure you shout out a warning. If you are scouting out an area, make sure everyone knows where you’re going through voice comm, and point out any possible engagements along the way.
<b>Specific Aliens</b>
<i>Skulks</i> <!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='skulk.gif'><!--endemo-->
Skulks are the ultimate ambushers. They alone, have easy access to any portion of the map from the beginning of the game. Their bite does 75 damage and they can easily devastate unprepared marines at close range. The main point to remember with skulks is range. If you have a range advantage on the skulk, you should almost always win, or at least have the skulk run away. Single soldiers especially have to remember not to follow skulks, as it loses the advantage of range.
<i>Lurkers</i>
Lurkers, while annoying at the beginning of the game, are relatively insignificant. They are quite costly (33 resources) and have very little life and armor. While they do have a more damaging bite, 50 damage, and a ranged attack, it takes lurkers a long time to destroy buildings with their ranged attack, thus rendering them more of an annoyance than a danger. Later in the game however, their ability to fly and pinpoint their ranged attack makes them deadly to jetpackers, especially those less experienced in the air. As well, their umbra defense makes Fades exponentially more dangerous. When engaging lurkers, remember that they don’t have many hitpoints, and that many are inexperienced at flying. If you rush a lurker, you can very easily kill one at close range, and if they aren’t killed, you have a good chance to kill a clumsy flier when he runs into the wall trying to get away.
<i>Fade</i>
Fades are deadly. They have a large number of hitpoints, a fairly strong ranged attack, and deadly melee claws. Because of the cost of fades, (54 resources) they are usually expensive and valuable kills. Because of this, marines have to take in consideration a rush tactic. If marines rush a fade, they will usually die, however unequipped marines are worth 0 credits where as fades are worth 54, even if unsuccessful, if eventually the fade dies you have made a net profit of resources. Fades tend to peck away at defenses with their ranged attack. The positive here, is that the fade range attack can only be shot three or four times before they have to regen stamina. This gives marines a short window where they can hit a fade and only receive one or two shots back at themselves. Another thing to remember is never to pack attack fades. Two attacks that fades have, bile bomb and acid spore do splash damage, meaning your just asking to be killed in packs if you are standing shoulder to shoulder assaulting a fade.
<i>Onos</i> <!--emo&::onos::--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html/emoticons/tiny.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tiny.gif'><!--endemo-->
It’s generally accepted that once there are onos, the marines might as well sit there with a wide eyed look and peep "Mommy!" as the giant tank aliens charge at them with a huge horn. While it is possible, and incredibly satisfying to kill one, onos have an unbelievable 400hp as well as armor making them huge damage absorbers. On the plus side, they are huge making them nearly impossible to miss, and have only a small ability to shoot airborne attackers. Plus they have large blind spots making them easy to knife, for a while. But...Neh, you might as well just ask yourself, “Why did we let them get three hives!?!?!”
<i>Gorge</i> <!--emo&::gorge::--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html/emoticons/pudgy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='pudgy.gif'><!--endemo-->
Gorges are very weak attack wise however they have a good amount of hitpoints, and are quite costly early in the game, if you see one of these engage it if you can. However, later in the game, gorges tend to be centered around Offensive-Defensive tower emplacements, and if you rush to attack a gorge, you will probably just find yourself eating O-tower spit. Also, watch for good gorges who know how to offensively web, as then, even a weak gorge is able to slaughter a sole marine.
Ratfire
Comments
When covering a team-mate, don't stand directly behind them. If you do this you're much more likely to waste ammunition on your team-mate and provide much less usefull covering fire as a result. Also, if you line up right behind the marine in front, it is easy for a skulk to kill you as they pass by your team-mate. Cover from a position that gives you as much ability to cover as many attack points as possible. This will ensure that your little team can drop a target much faster and with as little waste as possible.
Another thing, when rounding corners, or approaching openings, pass/enter these from as far away as possible. This gives you more time to shoot approaching skulks and allows your team-mates to give more efficient covering fire. If there are fades, reverse this to minimise splash damage taken from acid rockets hitting the wall behind.
Skulk and lerk bite damage are both 75.
Also, gorges are not weak, they are actually the toughest 1-hive alien. You could say that they have relatively less ability to defend themselves from attack though.
As a marine as well you will notice that if you try moving backwards you are much slower than if your walking forward.
You can bypass this to give you that extra agility you need to escape bites by strafing in a circle fashion around your target jumping as you go along. You move to the side just as fast as if you were moving forward, you can confuse if not be able to get in knife hits on a skulk if it comes to that time when you used up everything in your pistol and lmg clip. Strafing to your side and tracking your enemy as you go along does take a little getting use to, but eventually once you have built up your skill in tracking your enemy while you are moving it just gives you that extra edge you need to overcome that close quarters battle you will be in eventually.
Skulks
Although it sounds crazy you can use your pistol as your primary engagement tool against these vicious SOBs. Per shot the pistol is the weapon dealing mammoth aside from the expensive guns like shotty and others. A quick load of around 5 to 6 shots will easily bring them down. Just shoot as fast as your finger will allow and aim as best as you can... If you can keep your sites for half a second or one second on them you can have gotten off your 10 rounds and have dealt a pretty good amount of damage atleast around 2 - 4 shots would have hit their mark, when you run out quickly change to your lmg and shoot until dead. You deal out much more damage initially with the pistol and if they are still alive you can use your lmg to end the farse. The closer they are the more accurate the lmg becomes especially when you need that extended "panic" fire. It comes with preference but I personally find it more accomodating if I have a full clip of lmg as compared to 10 shots when they are that close.
Lerks
If you are engaging a lerk it helps to use a pistol first. The pistol does a heck of alot more damage per shot than your lmg and has pinpoint accuracy. Your lmg does 10 damage per shot, your pistol does 20 damage. To kill a lerk requires 5 clean shots by the pistol to bring that annoying SOB down(if they have no carp). It is especially recommended to use the pistol when the lerk is attempting to use his range to take out structures. Most lerks you will find will stay stationary while using their spike attack on a structure or will move in a strafe fashion. Use this time to quickly pump him full of lead when he is running out of adrenaline.
Question how many shots by the pistol does it take to kill a lerk with level 3 carp?
Answer - 9 shots... (That is kinda too much in my opinion but what th heck...)
30 lvl 0 LMG bullets to kill a lvl 3 cara lerk.
9 lvl 0 Pistol shots to kill a lvl 3 cara skulk.
Standard lmg damage is 10 when using the manual in truth against level 3 carp is does 4 damage to the health of any creature.
50/4 = 12.5 or 13 shots to take it down using an lmg.
This is using the data from the frontiersman manual. Of course, when looking at the kitsune table the grenade does not do 200 damage on impact like the old manual stated... So I have edited the post above to comply with kitsune's table which is for version 1.04 anyway.
Damn For 33 res you would want the nade to do that much damage...!
Don't stop moving though. While it is possible to take out a skulk as an emplaced knife wielding pillbox, you always have a better chance if you make yourself the harder target to aquire.
Also, always remember that the pistol, aside from being a powerful backup weapon, has near pinpoint accuracy, as Moronic said. This means, that it becomes your basic, unzoomable sniper rifle. It can be used like the Lerk spikes attacking from a distance with fairly little noise to a hard to see target. If nothing else, it freaks the Kharaa out to be attacked by something they too can hardly see.
Ratfire