General Marine Strategy
Savant
Join Date: 2002-11-30 Member: 10289Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
Join Date: 2002-11-30 Member: 10289Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
Just some general tips from my experience as a tester. Here are some general concepts that I think people should always keep in mind in 2.0:
Every chamber has a counter the marines can use.
If they get sensory first, then marines should build obs RIGHT away. You want that obs charging so you can scan and scan often. Build a second obs when you can afford it and use the two to uncover the sensory chambers so they can be destroyed. Forward built observatories are also good to negate sensory when they are in areas you can't get to.
If they get movement first then you'll want to get motion tracking and then push with phase gates. Their fast response time will mean you will have to out spawn them if you launch an attack, and to do that you need to be able to get to the area beiung attacked quickly. Get a phase and second IP up and use that to your advantage.
If they get defense first then lean heavily on your Arms lab. Level 2 arms lab upgrades will all but completely negate the added armor of carapace. A few shotties given to skiled handlers can also be an effective counter.
Other tips:
-Use corner hives to your advantage. If they have started in Eclipse hive, have your guys rush maintenance and lock it down. The aliens will be too busy on the other side of the map to provide an effective counter
-Double nodes are your friends, but if you make a couple rushes and can't take it, then don't waste time on it. You should secure other nodes and then come back to it. The time you waste trying to take a double node is time you could be using to cap single res nodes and increase your res flow.
-Don't forget the arms lab. Too many people seem to ovrlook the arms lab when it is a very powerful force in the game. The armor upgrades alone can make a <b>huge</b> difference in the early game.
-Don't be afraid to save res for large attacks. Yeah the marines may complain that you have nearly 200 res and you're not spending, but those complaints will vanish when you equip the team with HA/HMG or HA/GL and send them out to clean house.
-Don't overlook jetpacks. Yeah they aren't the owners that they used to be, but they are a great counter to Onos in the right hands. They take getting used to though.
-When you have a group of HA moving out and you know an Onos is about, make sure you put a couple LA/LMG in front and/or in back to act as a physical shield. The Onos is deadly, but they can't run though a human body. LA/LMG marines can server as disposable shields which give the HA marines time to kill the Onos or press on to the hive.
-If you have a skulk biting a res node and the res node is between you and the skulk, do NOT try and kill the skulk with the LMG. It's a waste of time since the res node shields them from most of the bullets. Get out your pistol and aim, you'l take them out easily. That goes with ANY early alien. A clip of pistol ammo is enough to own any skulk, lerk or gorge.
-Shotguns are killers, and are cheap. With 17 damage per pellet that 170 damage PER SHOT. Add the ROF in and you have your Onos counter. When that first Onos shows up, pass out shotties liberally and watch the Onos die quickly.
-Lastly, TEAMWORK! Marines who don't operate as a team are marines that lose the game. The greater your level of teamwork, the greater your chances to win ANY game.
Regards,
Savant
Every chamber has a counter the marines can use.
If they get sensory first, then marines should build obs RIGHT away. You want that obs charging so you can scan and scan often. Build a second obs when you can afford it and use the two to uncover the sensory chambers so they can be destroyed. Forward built observatories are also good to negate sensory when they are in areas you can't get to.
If they get movement first then you'll want to get motion tracking and then push with phase gates. Their fast response time will mean you will have to out spawn them if you launch an attack, and to do that you need to be able to get to the area beiung attacked quickly. Get a phase and second IP up and use that to your advantage.
If they get defense first then lean heavily on your Arms lab. Level 2 arms lab upgrades will all but completely negate the added armor of carapace. A few shotties given to skiled handlers can also be an effective counter.
Other tips:
-Use corner hives to your advantage. If they have started in Eclipse hive, have your guys rush maintenance and lock it down. The aliens will be too busy on the other side of the map to provide an effective counter
-Double nodes are your friends, but if you make a couple rushes and can't take it, then don't waste time on it. You should secure other nodes and then come back to it. The time you waste trying to take a double node is time you could be using to cap single res nodes and increase your res flow.
-Don't forget the arms lab. Too many people seem to ovrlook the arms lab when it is a very powerful force in the game. The armor upgrades alone can make a <b>huge</b> difference in the early game.
-Don't be afraid to save res for large attacks. Yeah the marines may complain that you have nearly 200 res and you're not spending, but those complaints will vanish when you equip the team with HA/HMG or HA/GL and send them out to clean house.
-Don't overlook jetpacks. Yeah they aren't the owners that they used to be, but they are a great counter to Onos in the right hands. They take getting used to though.
-When you have a group of HA moving out and you know an Onos is about, make sure you put a couple LA/LMG in front and/or in back to act as a physical shield. The Onos is deadly, but they can't run though a human body. LA/LMG marines can server as disposable shields which give the HA marines time to kill the Onos or press on to the hive.
-If you have a skulk biting a res node and the res node is between you and the skulk, do NOT try and kill the skulk with the LMG. It's a waste of time since the res node shields them from most of the bullets. Get out your pistol and aim, you'l take them out easily. That goes with ANY early alien. A clip of pistol ammo is enough to own any skulk, lerk or gorge.
-Shotguns are killers, and are cheap. With 17 damage per pellet that 170 damage PER SHOT. Add the ROF in and you have your Onos counter. When that first Onos shows up, pass out shotties liberally and watch the Onos die quickly.
-Lastly, TEAMWORK! Marines who don't operate as a team are marines that lose the game. The greater your level of teamwork, the greater your chances to win ANY game.
Regards,
Savant
Comments
If you have a sizable team, this should be a requirement for ANY chamber. Heck, I've gone as high as 5 in the late game before (however, that's not recommended unless you're using really weird tactics).
Some other notes, the onos should always be your primary target in a firefight. Even is a skulk is biting at you, you (and the rest of your teammates) should all be shooting at the onos. True, losing a hev armor/hmger to a skulk is depressing, but it is better then losing a whole squad of armor/hmgs because an onos stuned you all. Also, if an onos is able to eat one of your teammates, target that onos. Save your teammate at all costs (even your own life) because if you kill the onos you teammate will come out unharmed (more or less), since he will have lost no armor while in the onos belly.
Regards,
Savant
Mines still work: dont be afraid to drop 2 packs early on, they are still cheaper then that TF/4 sentries, and equally as effective. You really need 1 marine staying in base early on to build once the initial buildings are completed, give him a shotty, and 2 packs of mines, that is cheaper, and more effective then that tf along with sentries. You cant afford to get rt's electrified until AFTER that first upgrade is working (advanced armory, MT, or +1 wep's) or you fall to far behind the tech race, so spend your res wisely.
Aliens do not rush as much now, so you only need 2 marines to stay in base and build early on, the rest need to move out in each direction from the marine start, and cap a node and defend it right away. Know why you always see "res nodes, 1 v 3" 1 minute into the game? because 7 marines stayed in base to build 4 structures, and kill 1 or maybe 2 skulks. If those other 5 marines were out capping a node in the first 20 seconds, instead of standing to try and build, that counter would say, "res nodes, 3 v 3". Imagine how that shakes aliens up? By the time that is done, you have an idea what upgrade the aliens have, what you need to build as comm to counter it, and what hive they started with, so you know where to send your marines with the smallest chance of them running into many skulks. If those marines die protecting that node, it's worth it as you can recycle, respawn your marines, and send them to get uncontested rt's, and make part of the map yours, thus setting yourself up with a good "jumping off point" to exploit your tech choice.
It is worth your time and the 5 res to weld things open/shut early on.
The marines who are giving you RFK's, give them ammo and med's whenever they call, no matter the res situation, or what you are saving for, they pay for it plus with every kill they get.
Seige and obs go hand and hand now, do not risk marines being eaten or oc'ed to spot something for you, scan is your friend, 4 sentries, 2 seiges, obs is a solid seige set-up now, anything less is a waste of res. Also have marines use sentries as shields for onos. Block doorways/hallways with sentries now, then elec the TF.
Lastly, dont turret farm with 25+ sentries in main when things look bad, it ends up delaying the game longer then necessary, and generally annoys everyone.
Mines are also easily detonated by skulks, whereas a well placed TF requires more attention to dislodge - time spent away from harassing the marines.
So always use the right tool for the job.
I open with marines... Then a tf/3 sentries, increase only once them Khaara be on their heels, yo.
I remember in 1.04, 90% of the team would instantly rush to secure res or a known reloc area/siege location while the rest built at spawn. As we get more 2.0 experience under our collective sleeves I think we'll see more marine sides actively securing res and important locations right from the word go, instead of locking down base straight away (although a TF in base is definately a valid strat, I think it's overused just a tad). This will help to reduce the rapid rate of alien res expansion and subsequent quick climbing of the alien tech tree.
It definately won't nullify the alien's acknowledged advantage, however it will help pub marine teams at least have a chance.
The choke point stops skulk movement, and turns 3 turret farms all beside each other into one BIG turret farmed choke point. Weld any vents. Area denial. In a single strategy change you save a stack of res and force the aliens to attack one point on YOUR terms.
Gentlemen, you create a miniendgame at your choke point. And since marines can hold an endgame for 30 mins against teams of Onii, then an earlygame choke against skulks should be childs play.
From the choke, push to nearest hive, and create another choke/area denial near it. Rinse and repeat. Capping res is all very well but you will NEVER do it as quickly as an Alien. So rather than grabbing res, grab the routes that lead to res, so you're defending several rts at only one area.