I was half-joking sarcastically, but I actually did have someone argue with me that turrets are good, even though I told him we need the res for other things, and then he wanted to eject me but the rest of the team wouldn't. It was a LOLgame. We won actually :-P . No robo factories, no exos.
Whilst 'throwing bullets' at an Onos is non answer (as it is extremely obvious) there are several good ways to take down an Onos.
Firstly, you need others near to you because solo doesn't work. But there are two types of gameplay when it comes to the Onos.
These are as distraction or support.
Typically when I see an Onos (without stomp) or know it is coming, I try to put as much distance between myself and it and typically away from other players. I love using railings, as even though an Onos can jump them they sometimes do this awkwardly and it takes vital seconds away from his attack.
I don't accept that I am 100% doomed, and if I have good notice I tend to get away from them. Either by running around an obstacle or hiding in a space that the Onos can not fit into, or just good positioning. Lava Falls on Refinery has some great places for this, I use the base railings on Veil to give myself time, or just run around buildings in base to stay alive as long as possible. Or I hide so he chases someone else, and then jump out and lay down fire.
This distraction tactic works extremely well if you have others around, firstly because you are buying time for everyone else. Secondly because the longer the Onos is chasing you, the longer others on your team have to lay down fire on a target they themselves are not having to avoid. Or dealing with skulks who are coming up the rear.
So if you can delay your death and the others around you, you'll typically get a retreating Onos. If his health is low enough and you can chase him down, you can usually take him.
The only place you are in a 100% dead zone are tight corridors with no crates/barriers/etc. Open spaces are typically much harder for Onos, and if you are a bad Onos it is best to haunt corridors until you are good enough and aware enough to move into open spaces frequently.
I was playing on Veil the other day and the marines were all turtled in the base. It was obvious an Onos was coming, but for some reason 2/3 marines at a time would run up to the entrances to the base and run backwards whilst firing their lmgs. Because they were all tightly packed into a group the Onos took them all down within a few seconds, whilst I stood behind the railings and fired clip after clip into it. I think I took down 2/3 Onos in the space of 3/4 minutes.
If those marines had just stayed in the base and spaced themselves out - there are some very good dead end corridors in Veil's marine start to hide in, and a wall at the back of base to run around - we would have taken them down a lot quicker.
I think the fact that HMG's are missing from the game, which would give a huge benefit to marines in helping them take out oni, is causing a lot of the balance issues.
I'm sure I missed all the HMG discussion as I wasn't here for beta, but can anyone point me to the thread or what the dev's were thinking by taking away HMG's? In NS1, you could drop HMG without HA, so why can't we decouple HMG from EXO?
I haven't won a marine round yet in the new patch.
<!--quoteo(post=2025656:date=Nov 16 2012, 01:18 PM:name=JKooL)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JKooL @ Nov 16 2012, 01:18 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2025656"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I think the fact that HMG's are missing from the game, which would give a huge benefit to marines in helping them take out oni, is causing a lot of the balance issues.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Whilst an LMG+ isn't a bad idea, IMHO marines are not supposed to be 'taking oni out' and should certainly not have the HMG.
The marines have multiple routes of progression - robots, GLs/flamethrowers/shotguns, equipment upgrades, exos, jetpacks. - if they cannot kill a hive with GL marines, they can use exos. If that doesn't work they can use arcs. If that doesn't work they can use jetpacks (etc).
The aliens have 1 linear progression route. Skulk<lerk<fade<onos. - if they cannot kill a base with onos, they will lose.
The onos is a problem, not necessarily too powerful, but achievable in the wrong manner and a bit too important.
<!--quoteo(post=2025687:date=Nov 16 2012, 02:44 PM:name=dumbo11)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dumbo11 @ Nov 16 2012, 02:44 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2025687"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Whilst an LMG+ isn't a bad idea, IMHO marines are not supposed to be 'taking oni out' and should certainly not have the HMG.
The marines have multiple routes of progression - robots, GLs/flamethrowers/shotguns, equipment upgrades, exos, jetpacks. - if they cannot kill a hive with GL marines, they can use exos. If that doesn't work they can use arcs. If that doesn't work they can use jetpacks (etc).
The aliens have 1 linear progression route. Skulk<lerk<fade<onos. - if they cannot kill a base with onos, they will lose.
The onos is a problem, not necessarily too powerful, but achievable in the wrong manner and a bit too important.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Actually a combination of lifeforms works best for Kharaa. Gorge bilebomb, Lerk spore/umbra, hit and run fade, Onos to stomp/quickly knock out powernode/obs/arms lab.
I would really like to see a graph from somebody who knows the numbers better of how quickly marines can get to w3 and jetpacks assuming there is 0 alien interference (like the entire team runs straight to tech 2 and builds 2nd cc without stopping, absolute best case scenario) and how this graph adjusts based on RTs owned, 2nd arms lab, etc.
I think one of the reasons why early onos is so hard to deal with is because many comms put an armory, a sentry farm, a pg and an obs in every techpoint and possibly a doubleres when they are capping the map. Of course, once the onos is up, sentries, detection and healing wont help much because he is the siege breaker he was designed for. If they would put those res into rushing upgrades oni might be easier to deal with.
<!--quoteo(post=2025687:date=Nov 16 2012, 07:44 AM:name=dumbo11)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dumbo11 @ Nov 16 2012, 07:44 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2025687"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Whilst an LMG+ isn't a bad idea, IMHO marines are not supposed to be 'taking oni out' and should certainly not have the HMG.
The marines have multiple routes of progression - robots, GLs/flamethrowers/shotguns, equipment upgrades, exos, jetpacks. - if they cannot kill a hive with GL marines, they can use exos. If that doesn't work they can use arcs. If that doesn't work they can use jetpacks (etc).
The aliens have 1 linear progression route. Skulk<lerk<fade<onos. - if they cannot kill a base with onos, they will lose.
The onos is a problem, not necessarily too powerful, but achievable in the wrong manner and a bit too important.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You can't compare the progression of marines to that of aliens, they're entirely disparate in that regard. The HMG was never a problem in NS1, so I don't understand why it was removed from NS2. And yes, marines certainly should be "taking oni out". The question is how many options should there be and how viable should they be.
IMO it's still kind of a problem how the aliens only need 2/5 tech points and 4/10 RTs to get an onos on the field in 6 minutes. It's even worse because all that stuff builds itself, while the marine team has to run around and build everything. That's not even half the map, for a short duration. If the marines hold 2 tech points and 4 RTs, how long does it take them to get proto lab tech?
I do miss the HMG, simply because it could give a sidegrade to an otherwise linear tech tree for marines.
I'd love to see the flamer improved, because currently it is quite boring. It needs better options, perhaps setting eggs on fire prevents them from spawning... etc.
I hear that it now leaves fire trails on the ground, but I can't play the game still because the server list does not refresh at all.
<!--quoteo(post=2025836:date=Nov 16 2012, 08:41 AM:name=umphrey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (umphrey @ Nov 16 2012, 08:41 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2025836"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->It's even worse because all that stuff builds itself, while the marine team has to run around and build everything.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
+ Marines get buildings much quicker up than aliens + every marine is a builder + macs in mid-late game. + marine RTs are much cheaper than alien rts(cysts) + marine RTs have much more HP + Marine RTs can be recycled to decrease the loss + stop crying about buildings as a marine plz :>
Simple: weapon upgrades, stick together, focus fire. If you lack any of those three you won't kill an Onos.
/incoming rant separate from actual answer above
Marines naturally have a bit more of a difficult time on pubs compared to Aliens. I'd chalk this up to requiring more coordination from the team in terms of listening to the commander in order to establish and maintain a healthy node economy. Since Aliens are naturally very mobile, responding to an RT under attack -- one that no player had to build themselves -- is much easier. And if it goes down? Someone mop up the room while I throw the RT back up, not "can someone please stop what they're doing and get to the RT so I can rebuild it? A second person wouldn't be bad either, it's a bit hot over there they need some cover."
I've been comming about 20 games straight now, to the point where I've changed my steam name to Commander because it's all I do. I can tell you from experience, when I'm comming on Marines, I'm on the mic for 90% of the game telling people what to do, constantly updating my team and barking orders at specific people. It's absolutely 100% necessary or else nothing will get done <b>on time</b> and the aliens will outpace your economical growth. As an Alien commander I don't talk nearly as much. I inform my team when upgrades are going up/about to be finished, where and when I'm dropping a hive, I spread creep like crazy and I make calls to protect certain rooms as early as I can to give someone enough time to get over there. But with Marines I am HEY YOU HEY STOP NO STOP OKAY TURN AROUND YEAP NOW HEAD TO SYSTEM WAYPOINTING OKAY GREAT NOW SOMEONE ELSE -- NO NOT WHO I WAS JUST TALKING TO YOU KEEP GOING -- SOMEONE ELSE GO TO TOPO WHILE THREE MORE OF YOU -- YEAH YOU THREE FOLLOW THE WAYPOINT -- GET TO DERP DERP HERP DERP I'M EXHAUSTED BY 15 MINUTES IN.
I do love comming Marines so much more than Aliens though because when you have a team that works together and listens to you it's super satisfying, the best RTS I've played just because all my units are...people! And I can talk to them!
Rush W3. Chase him down. Deny resources to aliens. Maintain an eye for second hive, and rush it with everything you got when it appears. Phasegate and armoury nearby, then pour marines out. Make sure have second IP to replace them and keep pressure.
My favourite marine players are the ones who pro-actively go searching for harvesters to kill and scout for new hives. I try to do it as marine, since I see how useful it is as a commander.
<!--quoteo(post=2025904:date=Nov 16 2012, 12:36 PM:name=Haze)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Haze @ Nov 16 2012, 12:36 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2025904"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I do love comming Marines so much more than Aliens though because when you have a team that works together and listens to you it's super satisfying, the best RTS I've played just because all my units are...people! And I can talk to them!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think I enjoy both, and both seem to have people listening to the commander. As marine commander your orders are from god himself, while as alien commander you are more an intelligence agent - I tell people where marines are going, what I think their stratagy is, how generally we should counter it, etc.
As marines I don't tend to know since no drifters, so I directly am ordering marines to explore, build, etc.
<!--quoteo(post=2025534:date=Nov 16 2012, 05:29 AM:name=Swiftspear)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Swiftspear @ Nov 16 2012, 05:29 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2025534"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->In the mid game the big strategical trick is pretty much to have weapons 3. That's the one major trade secret I see people really dropping the ball on. After that, rush jetpacks. Ignore exo's at first, they cost too much, and are too weak against onos to rush for them.
The reality is, in NS2 at this point you really can't expect to kill the midgame onos immediately. You want to less so rely on outright killing the onos, and more so rely on denying the onos ability to kill you. Onos mostly die when they overcommit. They overcommit when they're desperate to do damage. The fewer marines in the field and valuable structures they can kill, the more desperate they become.
In terms of tools of the trade, shotguns do ok, AR is probably the best, and flame throwers are decent, GL is very bad against onos but good for clearing the gorges and skulks away from the onos making your jetpacks better against them. The big winner is when you can grab jetpacks, but even then, bad jetpacks tend to die pretty easily to onos, and there aren't a whole ton of players who are good jetpacks in pubs right now. There's no thing, like the jetpack HMG in NS1, where a good player with a JP HMG could very reliably 1v1 an onos and pretty much be better for every situation. Because there's no ideal tool, it's less about having the right gear, and more about treating the onos properly.
You just have to not get frustrated, and be aware that it's less that you can forcibly kill the onos, and more that you have to force the onos to make a mistake that kills itself. It's a psychological game. Do things to surprise the onos. Beacon jetpacks on top of him, let him run into a base and grab a dual exo just as he gets in. March dual exos across the map such that they show up in unexpected areas. As an onos, if I know how much crud is in the room, I basically never die. If I get surprised, that's when I get threatened. Don't worry too much if you can't immediately kill an onos. Onos costs a LOT, he has to do quite a bit of damage to justify his existence. Purely in kills he basically has to kill a whole marine team to be worth it. The happiest onos is the onos that can kill a base, but it's not too hard, if you're doing things right, to make that impossible. Keep an obs in every tech point you've got a comm chair and have a very itchy beacon finger ready. Don't let too much of your team go exo either. Exos are strong in direct combat with onos... but that actually makes them a bit generally weak to onos. If an exo is somewhere on the map, the onos wants to be somewhere else doing damage. Exo's can't phase, they can't beacon, while in transit they are basically useless. You should really only be getting exos when you have secured an area and need to attack an alien stronghold (either a repair station they've set up to try to kill one of your tech points, or directly into the alien hive).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Another thing you can do is hide with a team mate somewhere along the Onos entrance/escape route. Let him enter the base and just wait for him to come running back. Most Onos players are not conservative enough with their health to survive another two lmg clips + two pistol clips.
If the rest of the marine team sucks too hard to do any damage, then of course this isn't an option.
HMG... gosh. It'd be like a bandaid on a severed limb.
The problem with the 5min onos is that it appears WAY too early. Exos have to be researched, so they're delayed by time. What is more, the commander can't even drop a dual exo, ever (right now anyway). With oni, the problem is they shouldn't even appear before at least 10:00. At 5:00 people barely have ~35-40 res, on both teams. All commander equipment drops should be delayed until people have p.res to afford them, or close to that time anyway, so there aren't disruptions to gameplay like having to face a carapace onos with 3 gorges with a0w0 or a1w1 and no jetpacks.
Comments
Firstly, you need others near to you because solo doesn't work. But there are two types of gameplay when it comes to the Onos.
These are as distraction or support.
Typically when I see an Onos (without stomp) or know it is coming, I try to put as much distance between myself and it and typically away from other players. I love using railings, as even though an Onos can jump them they sometimes do this awkwardly and it takes vital seconds away from his attack.
I don't accept that I am 100% doomed, and if I have good notice I tend to get away from them. Either by running around an obstacle or hiding in a space that the Onos can not fit into, or just good positioning. Lava Falls on Refinery has some great places for this, I use the base railings on Veil to give myself time, or just run around buildings in base to stay alive as long as possible. Or I hide so he chases someone else, and then jump out and lay down fire.
This distraction tactic works extremely well if you have others around, firstly because you are buying time for everyone else. Secondly because the longer the Onos is chasing you, the longer others on your team have to lay down fire on a target they themselves are not having to avoid. Or dealing with skulks who are coming up the rear.
So if you can delay your death and the others around you, you'll typically get a retreating Onos. If his health is low enough and you can chase him down, you can usually take him.
The only place you are in a 100% dead zone are tight corridors with no crates/barriers/etc. Open spaces are typically much harder for Onos, and if you are a bad Onos it is best to haunt corridors until you are good enough and aware enough to move into open spaces frequently.
I was playing on Veil the other day and the marines were all turtled in the base. It was obvious an Onos was coming, but for some reason 2/3 marines at a time would run up to the entrances to the base and run backwards whilst firing their lmgs. Because they were all tightly packed into a group the Onos took them all down within a few seconds, whilst I stood behind the railings and fired clip after clip into it. I think I took down 2/3 Onos in the space of 3/4 minutes.
If those marines had just stayed in the base and spaced themselves out - there are some very good dead end corridors in Veil's marine start to hide in, and a wall at the back of base to run around - we would have taken them down a lot quicker.
I use bad players a lot on pubs.
I'm sure I missed all the HMG discussion as I wasn't here for beta, but can anyone point me to the thread or what the dev's were thinking by taking away HMG's? In NS1, you could drop HMG without HA, so why can't we decouple HMG from EXO?
I haven't won a marine round yet in the new patch.
Whilst an LMG+ isn't a bad idea, IMHO marines are not supposed to be 'taking oni out' and should certainly not have the HMG.
The marines have multiple routes of progression - robots, GLs/flamethrowers/shotguns, equipment upgrades, exos, jetpacks.
- if they cannot kill a hive with GL marines, they can use exos. If that doesn't work they can use arcs. If that doesn't work they can use jetpacks (etc).
The aliens have 1 linear progression route. Skulk<lerk<fade<onos.
- if they cannot kill a base with onos, they will lose.
The onos is a problem, not necessarily too powerful, but achievable in the wrong manner and a bit too important.
The marines have multiple routes of progression - robots, GLs/flamethrowers/shotguns, equipment upgrades, exos, jetpacks.
- if they cannot kill a hive with GL marines, they can use exos. If that doesn't work they can use arcs. If that doesn't work they can use jetpacks (etc).
The aliens have 1 linear progression route. Skulk<lerk<fade<onos.
- if they cannot kill a base with onos, they will lose.
The onos is a problem, not necessarily too powerful, but achievable in the wrong manner and a bit too important.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Actually a combination of lifeforms works best for Kharaa.
Gorge bilebomb, Lerk spore/umbra, hit and run fade, Onos to stomp/quickly knock out powernode/obs/arms lab.
Regen Onos can get spiked down very quickly by +3 Marines with mostly LMG
For multiple Onos you must have Prototype Lab equipment out or have people in vents/high ground
The marines have multiple routes of progression - robots, GLs/flamethrowers/shotguns, equipment upgrades, exos, jetpacks.
- if they cannot kill a hive with GL marines, they can use exos. If that doesn't work they can use arcs. If that doesn't work they can use jetpacks (etc).
The aliens have 1 linear progression route. Skulk<lerk<fade<onos.
- if they cannot kill a base with onos, they will lose.
The onos is a problem, not necessarily too powerful, but achievable in the wrong manner and a bit too important.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You can't compare the progression of marines to that of aliens, they're entirely disparate in that regard. The HMG was never a problem in NS1, so I don't understand why it was removed from NS2. And yes, marines certainly should be "taking oni out". The question is how many options should there be and how viable should they be.
I'd love to see the flamer improved, because currently it is quite boring. It needs better options, perhaps setting eggs on fire prevents them from spawning... etc.
I hear that it now leaves fire trails on the ground, but I can't play the game still because the server list does not refresh at all.
+ Marines get buildings much quicker up than aliens
+ every marine is a builder
+ macs in mid-late game.
+ marine RTs are much cheaper than alien rts(cysts)
+ marine RTs have much more HP
+ Marine RTs can be recycled to decrease the loss
+ stop crying about buildings as a marine plz :>
/incoming rant separate from actual answer above
Marines naturally have a bit more of a difficult time on pubs compared to Aliens. I'd chalk this up to requiring more coordination from the team in terms of listening to the commander in order to establish and maintain a healthy node economy. Since Aliens are naturally very mobile, responding to an RT under attack -- one that no player had to build themselves -- is much easier. And if it goes down? Someone mop up the room while I throw the RT back up, not "can someone please stop what they're doing and get to the RT so I can rebuild it? A second person wouldn't be bad either, it's a bit hot over there they need some cover."
I've been comming about 20 games straight now, to the point where I've changed my steam name to Commander because it's all I do. I can tell you from experience, when I'm comming on Marines, I'm on the mic for 90% of the game telling people what to do, constantly updating my team and barking orders at specific people. It's absolutely 100% necessary or else nothing will get done <b>on time</b> and the aliens will outpace your economical growth. As an Alien commander I don't talk nearly as much. I inform my team when upgrades are going up/about to be finished, where and when I'm dropping a hive, I spread creep like crazy and I make calls to protect certain rooms as early as I can to give someone enough time to get over there. But with Marines I am HEY YOU HEY STOP NO STOP OKAY TURN AROUND YEAP NOW HEAD TO SYSTEM WAYPOINTING OKAY GREAT NOW SOMEONE ELSE -- NO NOT WHO I WAS JUST TALKING TO YOU KEEP GOING -- SOMEONE ELSE GO TO TOPO WHILE THREE MORE OF YOU -- YEAH YOU THREE FOLLOW THE WAYPOINT -- GET TO DERP DERP HERP DERP I'M EXHAUSTED BY 15 MINUTES IN.
I do love comming Marines so much more than Aliens though because when you have a team that works together and listens to you it's super satisfying, the best RTS I've played just because all my units are...people! And I can talk to them!
/wowwhatarant
<!--quoteo(post=2025460:date=Nov 16 2012, 02:47 AM:name=Sheadon)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Sheadon @ Nov 16 2012, 02:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2025460"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->WTB HMG JP<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo(post=2025460:date=Nov 16 2012, 02:47 AM:name=Sheadon)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Sheadon @ Nov 16 2012, 02:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2025460"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->WTB HMG JP<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo(post=2025460:date=Nov 16 2012, 02:47 AM:name=Sheadon)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Sheadon @ Nov 16 2012, 02:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2025460"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->WTB HMG JP<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
My favourite marine players are the ones who pro-actively go searching for harvesters to kill and scout for new hives. I try to do it as marine, since I see how useful it is as a commander.
<!--quoteo(post=2025904:date=Nov 16 2012, 12:36 PM:name=Haze)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Haze @ Nov 16 2012, 12:36 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2025904"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I do love comming Marines so much more than Aliens though because when you have a team that works together and listens to you it's super satisfying, the best RTS I've played just because all my units are...people! And I can talk to them!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think I enjoy both, and both seem to have people listening to the commander. As marine commander your orders are from god himself, while as alien commander you are more an intelligence agent - I tell people where marines are going, what I think their stratagy is, how generally we should counter it, etc.
As marines I don't tend to know since no drifters, so I directly am ordering marines to explore, build, etc.
The reality is, in NS2 at this point you really can't expect to kill the midgame onos immediately. You want to less so rely on outright killing the onos, and more so rely on denying the onos ability to kill you. Onos mostly die when they overcommit. They overcommit when they're desperate to do damage. The fewer marines in the field and valuable structures they can kill, the more desperate they become.
In terms of tools of the trade, shotguns do ok, AR is probably the best, and flame throwers are decent, GL is very bad against onos but good for clearing the gorges and skulks away from the onos making your jetpacks better against them. The big winner is when you can grab jetpacks, but even then, bad jetpacks tend to die pretty easily to onos, and there aren't a whole ton of players who are good jetpacks in pubs right now. There's no thing, like the jetpack HMG in NS1, where a good player with a JP HMG could very reliably 1v1 an onos and pretty much be better for every situation. Because there's no ideal tool, it's less about having the right gear, and more about treating the onos properly.
You just have to not get frustrated, and be aware that it's less that you can forcibly kill the onos, and more that you have to force the onos to make a mistake that kills itself. It's a psychological game. Do things to surprise the onos. Beacon jetpacks on top of him, let him run into a base and grab a dual exo just as he gets in. March dual exos across the map such that they show up in unexpected areas. As an onos, if I know how much crud is in the room, I basically never die. If I get surprised, that's when I get threatened. Don't worry too much if you can't immediately kill an onos. Onos costs a LOT, he has to do quite a bit of damage to justify his existence. Purely in kills he basically has to kill a whole marine team to be worth it. The happiest onos is the onos that can kill a base, but it's not too hard, if you're doing things right, to make that impossible. Keep an obs in every tech point you've got a comm chair and have a very itchy beacon finger ready. Don't let too much of your team go exo either. Exos are strong in direct combat with onos... but that actually makes them a bit generally weak to onos. If an exo is somewhere on the map, the onos wants to be somewhere else doing damage. Exo's can't phase, they can't beacon, while in transit they are basically useless. You should really only be getting exos when you have secured an area and need to attack an alien stronghold (either a repair station they've set up to try to kill one of your tech points, or directly into the alien hive).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You're like the Onos Whisperer.
If the rest of the marine team sucks too hard to do any damage, then of course this isn't an option.
The problem with the 5min onos is that it appears WAY too early. Exos have to be researched, so they're delayed by time. What is more, the commander can't even drop a dual exo, ever (right now anyway). With oni, the problem is they shouldn't even appear before at least 10:00. At 5:00 people barely have ~35-40 res, on both teams. All commander equipment drops should be delayed until people have p.res to afford them, or close to that time anyway, so there aren't disruptions to gameplay like having to face a carapace onos with 3 gorges with a0w0 or a1w1 and no jetpacks.