Pointers For Commanding
detta
Join Date: 2003-08-19 Member: 19941Members
Join Date: 2003-08-19 Member: 19941Members
hi,
This is my first post but I've been playing NS for a while and enjoying it every time. There are some glaring problems with the comming on pubs that shouldn't be popping up. It's as if people from v1 completely forgot the basics when 2.0 came out. So here's a list of comming tips (some are obvious but seem to be forgotten by many in the rush of 2.0) that I use:
- Turret placement - putting down 10 turrets in front never helped in v1. It's not gonna help in v2. Fundamentals: surround all sides of your turret factory and cover as many buildings as you can. Use turrets wisely, not in excess. 3-4 turrets surrounding the TF should be enough against anything less than a full alien team onslaught. THAT'S ALL YOU NEED.
- The game is won by taking hives, not res nodes. Go for the hives. If you deny aliens their abilities and their upgrades, no amt of resources can help them.
- The game is won by speed. DON'T stop by every res node, wait for enough res to build a RT, turret spam it to hell and then move on. If anything, just run past open res nodes and go for the hives first. If you have mines, put some around the open nozzles to leave a nasty surprise.
- PHASE GATES. their usage have become pitifully rare yet they are the marine's absolute best tool. Usually, I will drop a phase at a hive BEFORE any res towers, any TFs, or any turrets. An endless stream of marines is always better than 1 turret. Once again, speed is the key.
- The best defense is a killer offense. I see and play too many games where the marines start off turreting en masse and holing up in the base. Always be on the attack, control the pace, and it won't matter if a lone skulk took down a res node somewhere. You already got their hives.
- Motion Tracking. use it. always.
- DON'T electrify. It's not worth the 30 res you could wisely spend elsewhere. If you really want to protect the RT, drop a few mines around it. same punch, less cost.
- Never store more than 50 unused res. If you see more than that, there's always researching to be done.
- Hotkeys for health and ammo. They're there for a reason. And they will extend the lives of your marines in a hotspot indefinitely. ('s' for health, 'a' for ammo)
- If able, always inform your marines of your plans and actions. For example: "we're going for middle hive next...motion tracking being upgraded...main base phase going up..."
that's all for now. Feel free to add your own. Let's bring the commanding back to the level it should be.
happy hunting <!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif'><!--endemo-->
This is my first post but I've been playing NS for a while and enjoying it every time. There are some glaring problems with the comming on pubs that shouldn't be popping up. It's as if people from v1 completely forgot the basics when 2.0 came out. So here's a list of comming tips (some are obvious but seem to be forgotten by many in the rush of 2.0) that I use:
- Turret placement - putting down 10 turrets in front never helped in v1. It's not gonna help in v2. Fundamentals: surround all sides of your turret factory and cover as many buildings as you can. Use turrets wisely, not in excess. 3-4 turrets surrounding the TF should be enough against anything less than a full alien team onslaught. THAT'S ALL YOU NEED.
- The game is won by taking hives, not res nodes. Go for the hives. If you deny aliens their abilities and their upgrades, no amt of resources can help them.
- The game is won by speed. DON'T stop by every res node, wait for enough res to build a RT, turret spam it to hell and then move on. If anything, just run past open res nodes and go for the hives first. If you have mines, put some around the open nozzles to leave a nasty surprise.
- PHASE GATES. their usage have become pitifully rare yet they are the marine's absolute best tool. Usually, I will drop a phase at a hive BEFORE any res towers, any TFs, or any turrets. An endless stream of marines is always better than 1 turret. Once again, speed is the key.
- The best defense is a killer offense. I see and play too many games where the marines start off turreting en masse and holing up in the base. Always be on the attack, control the pace, and it won't matter if a lone skulk took down a res node somewhere. You already got their hives.
- Motion Tracking. use it. always.
- DON'T electrify. It's not worth the 30 res you could wisely spend elsewhere. If you really want to protect the RT, drop a few mines around it. same punch, less cost.
- Never store more than 50 unused res. If you see more than that, there's always researching to be done.
- Hotkeys for health and ammo. They're there for a reason. And they will extend the lives of your marines in a hotspot indefinitely. ('s' for health, 'a' for ammo)
- If able, always inform your marines of your plans and actions. For example: "we're going for middle hive next...motion tracking being upgraded...main base phase going up..."
that's all for now. Feel free to add your own. Let's bring the commanding back to the level it should be.
happy hunting <!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif'><!--endemo-->
Comments
your primary objects are group Q
special upgrades, obs, etc. are group W
health and ammo are group E
weapons are group R
seeing a pattern here?
in ammo and health
the ammo is A
the health is S
health being Q then S and
ammo being Q then A
so even if you dont have your specific keys bound for health etc it is VERY easy to work out what the hot keys are if you know where they are on the command screen
MT is less good now. It doesn't show up on comm minimap <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo--> And as its rare less marines are good with it.
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<!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> I like this bit very much. I'll have to use it next game.
<!--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-->- PHASE GATES. their usage have become pitifully rare yet they are the marine's absolute best tool. Usually, I will drop a phase at a hive BEFORE any res towers, any TFs, or any turrets. An endless stream of marines is always better than 1 turret. Once again, speed is the key.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Agreed.
<!--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-->- The best defense is a killer offense. I see and play too many games where the marines start off turreting en masse and holing up in the base. Always be on the attack, control the pace, and it won't matter if a lone skulk took down a res node somewhere. You already got their hives.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Agreed ten fold! This is the key to marine victory in 2.0 - speed!
<!--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--> DON'T electrify. It's not worth the 30 res you could wisely spend elsewhere. If you really want to protect the RT, drop a few mines around it. same punch, less cost.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'm going to have to go ahead and sort of disagree with you here. Mines aren't as effective a tool as they once were and I think electrification will hold you up a lot longer in the early game. Mines just can't cover as well as electrification.
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uhhh... no. i can't remember the last time where mt was a priority. if you can't hear the skulks coming from 50 miles away, you need some better speakers. i have HK-695/Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, all middle of the road stuff, and i could tell you how far away and where the skulk is. EAX/A3D anyone?
<!--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-->- The game is won by taking hives, not res nodes. Go for the hives. If you deny aliens their abilities and their upgrades, no amt of resources can help them.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
hives don't matter nearly as much as they did in 1.04. even an onos with redemption can take down most small turret farms, and spores tear apart LA squads holed up behind turrets. sure, hives are nice, but res is more important. if you take hives instead of res you will end up fighting onii with lv2 lmg's. not exactly an ideal situation.
<!--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-->- Turret placement - putting down 10 turrets in front never helped in v1. It's not gonna help in v2. Fundamentals: surround all sides of your turret factory and cover as many buildings as you can. Use turrets wisely, not in excess. 3-4 turrets surrounding the TF should be enough against anything less than a full alien team onslaught. THAT'S ALL YOU NEED.
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i laugh at outposts with 4 turrets. there is always a blind spot, and if you and a buddy skulk attack the tf you will only take fire from one turret, 3 skulks and one of you won't take any fire. i usually put 3 up front, 2 to guard the tf, and one or two in the blind spots. once the skulks realize that they can't take it down they will flat out leave it alone. + it takes a fade about 7 seconds to destroy one turret, with only 3/4 you now have a massive blind spot and your outpost is garbage. the extra res will ensure that you don't go down because you lost one turret.
<!--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-->- DON'T electrify. It's not worth the 30 res you could wisely spend elsewhere. If you really want to protect the RT, drop a few mines around it. same punch, less cost.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
mines never worked on res, and never will. (climb on the ceiling over the res tower, press crouch, and fall onto the res tower. or better yet, just jump over the mines. no matter how many mines you put, you will never secure a res tower with mines alone. never. the server will crash before you even get close.
"- Turret placement - putting down 10 turrets in front never helped in v1. It's not gonna help in v2. Fundamentals: surround all sides of your turret factory and cover as many buildings as you can. Use turrets wisely, not in excess. 3-4 turrets surrounding the TF should be enough against anything less than a full alien team onslaught. THAT'S ALL YOU NEED."
Try to place your turret factories flush against a wall. This way most of the turrets can cover every angle of it.
"- PHASE GATES. their usage have become pitifully rare yet they are the marine's absolute best tool. Usually, I will drop a phase at a hive BEFORE any res towers, any TFs, or any turrets. An endless stream of marines is always better than 1 turret. Once again, speed is the key."
Agreed. I've started research phase gates very early and found them effective. Just keep at least one marine at each phase gate until defenses are up.
"- DON'T electrify. It's not worth the 30 res you could wisely spend elsewhere. If you really want to protect the RT, drop a few mines around it. same punch, less cost."
Its nice to electrify a few out of the way resource nodes. I certainly don't electrify them all.
"- Never store more than 50 unused res. If you see more than that, there's always researching to be done"
Sometimes it is better to save up a lot of resources and equip an entire squad with heavy armor and weapons. Sadly on publics, if you hand out HA and weapons one by one people tend to wander off and get themselves killed. On the flip side try to keep your resources above 15. It's nice to be able to beacon or slap down a phase gate if a squad makes it to a useful location.
1/2 IP depending on game
1 Armory
1 Obs
1-2 Res node... while getting to hive.
TF, Turrets, Phase Tech, RT at hive.
Phase gate
Whatever comes after that is rt/hive/base defense/upgrades etc.. once you get a 2 hive lockdown with turrets/phases, it's just a matter of time since you can just turret up everything. Early rushes dont do anything if the marines know how to shoot and guard base from far away, and in mid game and end game, the aliens are far too preoccupied with trying to take second hive. Also, I always end up taking out tfs with 3-4 turrets around them since i just skulk/carapace and ask a teammate to come with me to take out 1 or 2 turrets, then hit the behind. Sometimes the team doesn't cooperate tho <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo--> I've seen 3 hmg/ha been taken out by 3 skulks.. bad luck for meh <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo-->
Hives are important but its more realistic to lockdown 1 and work from there. If you manage to cover 2 hives, push immediately to third before aliens get dug in.
Another tip on turrets, mentioned by someone else but further emphasised by me. Its not just the TF, but the turrets themselves. If you place a turret where it can be destroyed, then chances are it WILL be. And if that turret covered on side of the TF, then the TF is next.
Some think onos are overpowered and cheap? Jeeze, wake up and smell a phase gate people, use em!
A proper lockdown takes something on the scale of, say, 10 minutes to build and test against alien attack. You can do that with one hive easily. However the second hive will have constant pressure on it, as well as gorges building right outside the hive so that you can't break out to hive 3. 10 minutes of lockdown creation means 10 minutes of gorge activity at the final hive.
No, if you ask me, you need to nail the second hive then rush with a purpose to third hive.
Aliens on the other hand don't have to worry so much about their towers. They can almost immediately place down as many resource towers as they have members of their team. They have a very flexible offense which doubles as defence. They can hit your resources and still essentially be defending their own, without spending excess resources. This makes their offense more powerful, (due to higher lifeforms/hive evolutions available), and makes commanders even more hard pressed to defend.
Frontiersman need to push more on the offense. Instead of locking down hives, they need to attack active hives. Lockdowns are relatively easy to defeat, especially since marines should probably only be able to lockdown one hive in the time aliens get their second hive. Aliens only need 35 resources to put up another hive, and with their initial resource control that comes fast. Taking away a hive hurts more than locking down a hive. Aliens will likely only be able to trickle back to their hive in small groups. If most of your forces are there, especially with a few shotguns, there should be no large problem.
While the aliens are distracted with keeping their hive alive, you are much more free to expand, and also better able to defend your current positions. Battles can never be truly won when you are on the defense, and the only way to keep from being put on the defence is a powerful offense. I'm not saying that you should neglect defence, but put it to your best use. Turret factories, when placed properly, can guard important paths, defend at least one resource node, attack a hive, and deny aliens other resource nodes (through creative use of sieges). These should also be placed to attack what aliens currently have. Once defensive emplacements are up, they can be used to destroy what aliens currently have, and when you move on leave you with a decent defense while you busy yourself with attacking elsewhere.
Once the initiative is lost for either team, it is quite difficult to gather momentum to take it back.
True for now, but that's because of annoying exploiters. Normally, electrifying RTs can help... Heck, packing an electrified RT and an electrifed tfac next to each other even messes with onos.
In addition, I win plenty of games without ever locking down a hive... Mobility is definitely an option, keep knocking 'em down as fast as they go up. You can also win if you can get a serious offensive together while the second hive is going up... Knock down the first one, and start nailing aliens who can't respawn on your way to smack the new hive.