Hive Lock Downs
serados
Join Date: 2003-07-29 Member: 18527Members
Join Date: 2003-07-29 Member: 18527Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Is it really useful?</div> ^^
As the topic description says, is hive lock downs really useful? I'm saying it's not really useful. Don't waste your res to deter one or two skulks entering the hive location, unless it's a vital chokepoint (i.e. Alpha Continuum - Eternal Requiem - Los Paranoias ns_lost chokepoint). Why is this so? You waste vital res that can be utilized much more efficiently by getting yourself res towers and teching up. Each lock down comprises of about 5 turrets, making it 65 res to complete (5 x 10 [turrets] + 15 [tf]). This 65 res can be used to make 4 rts (15 x 4 = 60) or other things like Motion Tracking and Armor/Weapons upgrades. Imagine you have a 2hld. That's 130 res already. The aliens might be secretly saving up for Onos/Fades. You won't have much res for techs because you blowed them on hive lock downs. The Onos/Fades come (1 Fade can take out a lock down without PG support) and your 130 res 2hld is blowed. Yu have absolutely nothing to counter them, maybe a few LA HMGs, which they would stomp and gore/blink and slash to death. If you had not used the res for hive locks, you could probably have RT domination and prevent them. A better method would be to get an electrified RT in hive locations. If they were to get a hive up, their natural reaction would be to attack and kill your RT. Then, you scan the hive to confirm it's status and make an outpost there and siege it to death. Most Kharaa teams won't check on their building hive, making it a perfect target, and wasting their 40 res, or another 15 more for the res node, and even more if they have defenses. This would be a serious blow to the Kharaa team, if you had RT domination, or even RT counts. Like this, you save resources and are able to know when the hive is built, and also cripple their economy. It's much better than spending 65 res to lock down a hive and see it destroyed by Fades/Onos, isn't it?
As the topic description says, is hive lock downs really useful? I'm saying it's not really useful. Don't waste your res to deter one or two skulks entering the hive location, unless it's a vital chokepoint (i.e. Alpha Continuum - Eternal Requiem - Los Paranoias ns_lost chokepoint). Why is this so? You waste vital res that can be utilized much more efficiently by getting yourself res towers and teching up. Each lock down comprises of about 5 turrets, making it 65 res to complete (5 x 10 [turrets] + 15 [tf]). This 65 res can be used to make 4 rts (15 x 4 = 60) or other things like Motion Tracking and Armor/Weapons upgrades. Imagine you have a 2hld. That's 130 res already. The aliens might be secretly saving up for Onos/Fades. You won't have much res for techs because you blowed them on hive lock downs. The Onos/Fades come (1 Fade can take out a lock down without PG support) and your 130 res 2hld is blowed. Yu have absolutely nothing to counter them, maybe a few LA HMGs, which they would stomp and gore/blink and slash to death. If you had not used the res for hive locks, you could probably have RT domination and prevent them. A better method would be to get an electrified RT in hive locations. If they were to get a hive up, their natural reaction would be to attack and kill your RT. Then, you scan the hive to confirm it's status and make an outpost there and siege it to death. Most Kharaa teams won't check on their building hive, making it a perfect target, and wasting their 40 res, or another 15 more for the res node, and even more if they have defenses. This would be a serious blow to the Kharaa team, if you had RT domination, or even RT counts. Like this, you save resources and are able to know when the hive is built, and also cripple their economy. It's much better than spending 65 res to lock down a hive and see it destroyed by Fades/Onos, isn't it?
Comments
If there's only 1 hive locked down, you're chances are slim as 2 hive aliens can cause serious damage already.
Plus I dont see why I can't use a couple of res in case my marines get injured/ need ammo. After all, they cost 2 res and meds cost 4 res to heal a marine back to full health, and that's like the cost of a welder.Ammo is a different issue, which is why it is getting a lower cost in 2.1 <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
And another thing if you do want to cover the chokepoit, why not just send a marine in instead of scanning?? Unless they have sensories I dont see why you have to scan at all.
Ah and of course....early Fades, only thing you can do is send a group of LA marines with mixed LMG/Shotty and fire on sight.
Early Onos?? Start praying that you have enough res for HMGs (which you hopefully have)
But if you really want to get 2 hives locked down and deny the aliens of res, you'd best try and take RTs along with aliens. Having only 1 alien RT is very crippling. Trust me, I've felt it before and it stinks to have a very slow flow of res. Shotguns do a very good job at taking out those alien RTs.
Lock down areas NEAR hives but which are easier to defend. That way you need only ping and siege. This method also allows you to cover a more strategic area, and setup base near several RTs rather than just the one in the hive.
Second, if you've locked down one, and have just killed number two, just rush straight to three. Giving aliens time to prepare is BAD. Second, the more time you waste laming up the second hive is more time for the aliens to attack the first, and if they find a way in then the hive will be up by the the time you're hitting what you believe to be the final one.
Its happened several times in my fav server, and can drag out a game and sometimes even turn it around if the Aliens surprise the HA train with their 2 hive abilities when the marines expect only one.
If you HAVE 2 hives locked down, then obviously...you control all...or MOST all RTs on the map...which means...on failrly large servers...they wouldnt be able to go onos...and even if they did...it would be a waste.
They would need DCs.....and they would need cover...
Also...if the rines had a PG in the hive...just 1...1 (ONE) rine w/ an HMG could go in that hive and pwn that onos....
2 hive lockdown = WIN NO MATTER WUT.....unless the aliens team stack...and all of your team leaves for some reason <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
|337 PwN4g3 B4BY! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
2 hive lockdown = WIN NO MATTER WUT
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Rubbish. I don't think I need to say much more.
TFarms just buy time. This does it just as well for less price, and it also saves time in the form of phase. Then you can go try lockdown the next hive, or w/e.
Best bet is to reloacte to an easily defended position, in a hive, and then quickly go to the second...Now you have at most 3 RTs, but aliens are deined two hives.
No Mc/Dc, no bile, no stomp, no leap an no umbra...
If you rush phase you can have them both covered i no time, and eRT+Phase and eTF = non skulk friendly...
THEN you get RTs, and even if you can hold em, you deny the aliens...after you get 3/3 tech and MT, hand out SGs and build 3+ IPs
Now you will seriously outspawn the aliens and kill skulks in their hive with ease, to get res as well as denying fades/onos...(btw, lvl3 SGs own fades/onos')
Plus a regen skulk can take out turrets 1 by 1, due to their low health. 1 bite = 1 bar
And of course, even if you out-tech the aliens, they *STILL* might be able to take back 1 hive.
Plus, like Necro said, it is too easy to get in since it is alien-friendly territory. You WILL have to rush that 3rd hive as soon as you take the 2nd hive, or be prepared to have a repetitive game where aliens keep clearing out 1 hive and place a new hive there.
We didnt reloc cause fusion was main hive, so i did send some marines to sat to get rts and a hive loc.
They failed horrible,being unable to travel in packs,and from a team of 4 marines 3 did stand around in 2res screaming for rts (3 minutes!),WHILE I HEARD A SINGLE GORGE BUILDING A OC NEAR MY ELECTRIFIED RT IN CHEMICAL TRANSPORT.....
We were cut off from the sat and chem transport rt,which fell soon.
So i decided to play it slowly (with this team i had no choice,every one of them was his own lil commander).
And locked down waste,got pgs up/hmgs out (armory upgrade was finished).
Did build 2res (they finally DID shut up).
2res did soon fall,and with it the rt behind it.
So we had waste and m start, a team running rambo...
Then ONE marine who followed orders joined the game ,and took the guard in waste,givin me the chance to tech up to jps.
After 20 minutes or so (we had beaten back pretty much all u can think of,once a 3 onos assault on waste),i had enough res.
So i send the jpler through waste vents (i told the "good" marine to weld just the left vent) to the little vent chamber near fusion.Pulled up a pg,send some has through,build a eTF,a siege and turrets in the vent chamber.
Then we dropped one siege in front of the chamber exit (to reach the fusion hive) and rushed the hive with siege support.
The rest was easy...
My fazit is:
If u have a easily defendable hive (waste on tanith,engine/refin (correctly build) on bast,it can win the game,even if u have a **** team and they got a horde of oni.
And another thing i did learn:
If u want 3 marines to to go somewhere fusion,send all 7.
Fades get stuck... (the ceiling has those horrendous reinforcement beams) and if not those stupid beams, then on the turrets. Then the elec stuff zaps the heck out of them, and a LMG will finish them off...
Skulks have like no chance, if the manage to dodge all teh incoming fire, and do some crazy leaping, they still get shreded by the elec.
Lerk... Well... What did they ever do to a base.
Gorgs can't reach that platform with bile-bombs... And they're so slow, and the hive floor is so open, that they'll die too quickly. If they get past the floor, there's only one ladder...
Onos... like gorgs, only a little faster and alot tougher, but the ladder still kills them... If only 1 onos can go up at a time... God forbid if the commander is smart and blocks the top of the ladder with a turret or two.
It's so cramped that it's hard get in, and electricity and turrets don't miss. And once your in, you're half-dead, so you have to use that other half of your life to try to get out, or you die. Fade gangs just get caught on each other. Once they get HA, lerk spores go down from being annoying to being useless.
I'm rambling. But you get the point. Or maybe you don't.
Lock downs are useless, cause unless you spend ALOT of res, they fall too easily. Unless the map is messed up. Like Tanith... Grrrrr...