Mines - Still Good!
Scout
Join Date: 2003-08-19 Member: 19989Members
Join Date: 2003-08-19 Member: 19989Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Not just for Onos, either...</div> As a marine, I find mines to be ultra super useful in the early game, and am surprised about how few commanders EVER drop them. If you give them to a player who knows where to put them, they can be an *awesome* tool for the pre-hive2 game.
Some great uses for mines:
1. Res denial-Send one or two of your marines stealthily to the alien side of the map (where you wont/cant actually hold the RTs) and simply have them place mines around/on the unoccupied res nodes that aliens are likely to want. Put a 10 res pack of mines on a node, and aliens will be unable to cap it until hive 2. You COULD build an elec RT there, but mining there is a fraction of the cost, your rines wont be killed while building, no chance of being destroyed while elec researches, and cant be defeated by a simple skulk/gorge combo. cheap and easy counter to early alien superexpansion
2. Quick, cheap static defense for rushing/expanding marines. Want to build in a hot area at the very beginning? You know there is a great chance your rines will be skulk food halfway through building that tfac...unless you give them mines to put on the entries of the room they will build in. Any situation where your rines will be vulnerable...building outposts, shooting a hive *wink*, mines can be their security blanket.
3. Movement impediment for aliens. Have your marines drop mines in important doors, hallways, and just under vents...crippling for aliens.
so....yeah...use mines.
Some great uses for mines:
1. Res denial-Send one or two of your marines stealthily to the alien side of the map (where you wont/cant actually hold the RTs) and simply have them place mines around/on the unoccupied res nodes that aliens are likely to want. Put a 10 res pack of mines on a node, and aliens will be unable to cap it until hive 2. You COULD build an elec RT there, but mining there is a fraction of the cost, your rines wont be killed while building, no chance of being destroyed while elec researches, and cant be defeated by a simple skulk/gorge combo. cheap and easy counter to early alien superexpansion
2. Quick, cheap static defense for rushing/expanding marines. Want to build in a hot area at the very beginning? You know there is a great chance your rines will be skulk food halfway through building that tfac...unless you give them mines to put on the entries of the room they will build in. Any situation where your rines will be vulnerable...building outposts, shooting a hive *wink*, mines can be their security blanket.
3. Movement impediment for aliens. Have your marines drop mines in important doors, hallways, and just under vents...crippling for aliens.
so....yeah...use mines.
Comments
Now that turrets are powerful, they seem to be worth the res. Nontheless I use mines on pg's and small spaces (vents).
Sending a rambo out to mine is either a minor annoyance to gorges (cuz often enough they can survive the blast in 2.0) or a complete waste of res as that marine gets chomped on, wasting your 10 res and giving the skulk 1-3.
And mines cost much more than they are worth now. They lost their laser function and got more expensive. Yay?
Mines have their places, but there are very very few things they can do that turrets can't do better. At least turrets don't become completely useless at 2 hives: they still shoot, even if they lose longevity. The mines become harmless unless used as an offensive/suicide weapon.
I may be mistaken, but the reason I stopped doing this is a gorge can survive a mine blast if he hops above it at an angle. He can then proceed to be healed, quickly clearing out the mines.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Any situation where your rines will be vulnerable...building outposts, shooting a hive *wink*, mines can be their security blanket.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
They can work for quick defense (I like my heavy squads to carry one to scare off oni and fades while they build), but are fairly easy to avoid, especially in the early game where skulks and lerks run circles around mines.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Have your marines drop mines in important doors, hallways, and just under vents...crippling for aliens.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Not if they have decent teamwork... If mines gave res, though, it'd be worth it.
Also, with 5 mines per node, the gorge will be hard pressed to find a way to detonate only one mine at a time, as they will be fairly close together.
And, agreed. Using mines is not a foolproof method of giving assaulting marines a way to protect themselves, but it can and usually does work quite well. 2-3 packs of mines can easily mean the difference between an early hive rush failing and succeeding, or between a HA train dominating or getting eaten one by one by Onos (best to give the mines to the LAs, as HA pretty much MUST have welder).
And, agreed as well on the 'mine as obstacle' thing being more useful if mines gave rfk, I think its still worthwhile if used in certain places, however.
I'm not going to tell you that mines are the end all be all of everything, simply that you should give them more of a chance, as they do still have their uses, even if not as many as in 1.04...
Mines are good, yes, but the big neon message is that they are TEMPORARY. Comms need to keep that in mind.