Humbaba's guide to killing stuff.
humbaba
That Exciting Tales From the Frontline Guy Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 86Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
That Exciting Tales From the Frontline Guy Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 86Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
<div class="IPBDescription">Probobly obvious, but what the hell.</div>I'll talk about different ways to engage multiple enemies in this thread and just go into my general tactical advice. Forgive me if I wind up rambling, I'm not setting into this with any particular outline or idea.
First of all, weaponry.
Shotgun: My weapon of choice is the shotgun, because it is ALWAYS useful, and is indispensable in the early game. A shotgun is a must in any squad. In the early game, it can handle ANY threat that you will encounter. Skulks are the most vulnerable, and will die 9 times out of 10 to a skilled shotgunner. Lerks are more mobile, but weaker than skulks. They have the ability to engage you from a distance, but doing so requires them to sit still for soem period of time, leaving them vulnerable to Accurate pistols and Light Machine guns. When using a shotgun in the early game, wait for the enemy to apporach you and dont fire until you are certain you will kill him. If that means suffering one skulk bite before you squeeze the trigger, then by all means, take your lumps.
In the mid game, the chracterizing difference is that lerks will stop getting close to you (they can support with Umbra instead) and a new class makes an appearance, the Fade. Dealing with Fades is a hairy affair. If they can, they will engage you with their acid rocket and not get their hands dirty. Whenever I can, I attempt to close the gap with a fade while unloading shells with my shotgun and strafing. If you are close enough to a fade, you will be more likely to be hit, but Acid rocket has a very large splash. I have had countless fades wind up killing themselves when I charge them down, simply because they cant deal more damage to me as I can to them with the combination of a close range shotgun shell and their own splash damage. However, it may seem like suicide charging down a fade, with its huge claws and massive build. The alternative is to fire your shotgun from so far away that you are unable to damage him as fast as he acid rockets you into oblivion. By being a moving target, you also decrease the likely hood that the fade will blink, as it costs such tremendous energy and he will be unable to find a viable place to blink to. On one occasion, I charged into a hive and got 2 consecutive kills with a shotgun on Fades. I did this by running right at them with my shotgun blazing.
The shotgun should be used with Delay against Skulks, a perfectly timed finger against Lerks, and an Aggressive stance agains Fades.
LMG: The Light Machine gun is actually a better choice to take against lerks over the shotgun. Additionally, the Light machine gun requires less timing and I recommend not picking up a shotgun in the early game unless you are SURE your on your toes.
Knife: The manual recommends against Knifing and advises avoiding Melee with the Kharaa as much as possible. I disagree. ALl that is required is that you read your opponent's reactions and you can be carving Kharaa like christmas turkey's in no time. The knife does 30 damage per slash. In 2 quick slashes (about 1 second or so), you can do 60 damage. It may be pitiful compared a skulks bite, but it is nothing to laugh at. Its MUCH quicker than a shotgun shot, and if your enemy starts to retreat, odds are he has less than 60 hitpoints. He wont expect you to run at him with a knife, after all, your a Marine. So throw that fade a curve ball. After he starts running away, chase after him slashing. I have gotten quite a few knife kills just by being a tad aggressive and applying this idea.
Pistol: I use the pistol in favor of the LMG for enemies which are ridiculously far away and for retreating enemies in the same manner as the knife.
My rule is that if an enemy survives a full shotgun round or LMG clip, he wont have enough hitpoints to live through a Pistol barrage or a few slashes.
The Heavy Machine gun is pretty straightforward. Point and shoot.
I dont recommend using a grenade launcher unless your the kind of person who enjoys and knows how to fight in Friendly Fire servers. You cant harm your teammates, but unless you aim flawlessy around all obstacles, including players, and are capable of judging bounce in an instant, you should let someone who KNOWS how to use the grenade launcher pick it up.
Additionally, the grenade launcher is an invaluable base defense tool. Having a single grenadier by the armory constantly reload his weapon and fire grenades into base entrances serves as a sizeable deterrent for sneaky skulks and other enemies.
In any circumstance, avoid attacking the enemy unless you have to. When you do attack the enemy, attack quickly. The longer or more often you appear on hive sight, the more likely it is that the next corner you round will have a fade. Pick your battles.
ALWAYS balance your squads with many different kinds of weaponry.
A scanner sweep is one way of telling the enemy "I'm coming". It may be very useful, but remember that they WILL know your coming.
Mines are a very viable alternative to turrets. They cost MUCH less and are just as effective or more effective than turrets at keeping out skulks. Their only failing is their inablity to keep out Lerks. Use mines extensively in the early game and when securing hives.
Welders: as soon as you have Heavy armor, use Welders EXTENSIVELY. Every other Marine or more should have a welder. A Heavy Marine without enough armor is a two fold waste of RPs. He will need health more often and if he dies, you lose 20 resources. Suck it up and pay for the 10 rps for a welder. Also, if your bases are under attack, have a "welder monkey" run back and forth between them and have him be constantly repairing structures. It wll prolong the life of your investments GREATLY.
More when I think of them.
First of all, weaponry.
Shotgun: My weapon of choice is the shotgun, because it is ALWAYS useful, and is indispensable in the early game. A shotgun is a must in any squad. In the early game, it can handle ANY threat that you will encounter. Skulks are the most vulnerable, and will die 9 times out of 10 to a skilled shotgunner. Lerks are more mobile, but weaker than skulks. They have the ability to engage you from a distance, but doing so requires them to sit still for soem period of time, leaving them vulnerable to Accurate pistols and Light Machine guns. When using a shotgun in the early game, wait for the enemy to apporach you and dont fire until you are certain you will kill him. If that means suffering one skulk bite before you squeeze the trigger, then by all means, take your lumps.
In the mid game, the chracterizing difference is that lerks will stop getting close to you (they can support with Umbra instead) and a new class makes an appearance, the Fade. Dealing with Fades is a hairy affair. If they can, they will engage you with their acid rocket and not get their hands dirty. Whenever I can, I attempt to close the gap with a fade while unloading shells with my shotgun and strafing. If you are close enough to a fade, you will be more likely to be hit, but Acid rocket has a very large splash. I have had countless fades wind up killing themselves when I charge them down, simply because they cant deal more damage to me as I can to them with the combination of a close range shotgun shell and their own splash damage. However, it may seem like suicide charging down a fade, with its huge claws and massive build. The alternative is to fire your shotgun from so far away that you are unable to damage him as fast as he acid rockets you into oblivion. By being a moving target, you also decrease the likely hood that the fade will blink, as it costs such tremendous energy and he will be unable to find a viable place to blink to. On one occasion, I charged into a hive and got 2 consecutive kills with a shotgun on Fades. I did this by running right at them with my shotgun blazing.
The shotgun should be used with Delay against Skulks, a perfectly timed finger against Lerks, and an Aggressive stance agains Fades.
LMG: The Light Machine gun is actually a better choice to take against lerks over the shotgun. Additionally, the Light machine gun requires less timing and I recommend not picking up a shotgun in the early game unless you are SURE your on your toes.
Knife: The manual recommends against Knifing and advises avoiding Melee with the Kharaa as much as possible. I disagree. ALl that is required is that you read your opponent's reactions and you can be carving Kharaa like christmas turkey's in no time. The knife does 30 damage per slash. In 2 quick slashes (about 1 second or so), you can do 60 damage. It may be pitiful compared a skulks bite, but it is nothing to laugh at. Its MUCH quicker than a shotgun shot, and if your enemy starts to retreat, odds are he has less than 60 hitpoints. He wont expect you to run at him with a knife, after all, your a Marine. So throw that fade a curve ball. After he starts running away, chase after him slashing. I have gotten quite a few knife kills just by being a tad aggressive and applying this idea.
Pistol: I use the pistol in favor of the LMG for enemies which are ridiculously far away and for retreating enemies in the same manner as the knife.
My rule is that if an enemy survives a full shotgun round or LMG clip, he wont have enough hitpoints to live through a Pistol barrage or a few slashes.
The Heavy Machine gun is pretty straightforward. Point and shoot.
I dont recommend using a grenade launcher unless your the kind of person who enjoys and knows how to fight in Friendly Fire servers. You cant harm your teammates, but unless you aim flawlessy around all obstacles, including players, and are capable of judging bounce in an instant, you should let someone who KNOWS how to use the grenade launcher pick it up.
Additionally, the grenade launcher is an invaluable base defense tool. Having a single grenadier by the armory constantly reload his weapon and fire grenades into base entrances serves as a sizeable deterrent for sneaky skulks and other enemies.
In any circumstance, avoid attacking the enemy unless you have to. When you do attack the enemy, attack quickly. The longer or more often you appear on hive sight, the more likely it is that the next corner you round will have a fade. Pick your battles.
ALWAYS balance your squads with many different kinds of weaponry.
A scanner sweep is one way of telling the enemy "I'm coming". It may be very useful, but remember that they WILL know your coming.
Mines are a very viable alternative to turrets. They cost MUCH less and are just as effective or more effective than turrets at keeping out skulks. Their only failing is their inablity to keep out Lerks. Use mines extensively in the early game and when securing hives.
Welders: as soon as you have Heavy armor, use Welders EXTENSIVELY. Every other Marine or more should have a welder. A Heavy Marine without enough armor is a two fold waste of RPs. He will need health more often and if he dies, you lose 20 resources. Suck it up and pay for the 10 rps for a welder. Also, if your bases are under attack, have a "welder monkey" run back and forth between them and have him be constantly repairing structures. It wll prolong the life of your investments GREATLY.
More when I think of them.
Comments
Remember the hivemind wants YOU!
Good summary though. <!--emo&:D--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'><!--endemo-->
Shotgun: My weapon of choice is the shotgun, because it is ALWAYS useful, and is indispensable in the early game
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I hear ya humb!!! Couldn't agree more <!--emo&:D--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'><!--endemo--> !
Hmmm maybe you should scan sweep one place and while there going to go help there fellow aliens who just told everyone about the scan sweep, You attack somewhere else....
(note: Very poor sentence structure by me)
"always avoid attacking the enemy" - thats no fun : (
It might be useful if it could actually hit something. The spread on that thing is so big, you get a 1/2 chance to even hit the wall you are facing, two feet in front of you. IMO the LMG is better if you have good aim, as more shots hit the target, and if you are close enough for the shotgun spread to be small in the first place (less than two feet), the aliens should be able to kill you in a second or two if they have any skill whatsoever.
Shotty=useless.
20 RUs? Even more so.
It MIGHT, and I stress the word MIGHT be useful if it cost like 5 RUs or less...