How to use spores?

PaniohitusPaniohitus Join Date: 2012-11-09 Member: 168790Members
And then with good results...
I played now around 110 hours, so i know how to play the skulk, lerk and onos ( fade still learning). I also get the kills with those three lifeforms, but i don't understand how to use the spores ability with effect.

(1)The first problem is that they get researched very late, and most of the time, if they are there, it's mostly already gg for aliens.
(2)If they are researched on time (mid-game i guess) my problem are the shotguns. I play now with more care and uses spikes more and getting not to close to get shot. If i try to use them my lerk is at a great risk...
(3)the only time when i can use them is in a team rush, but with or without the spore-usage, the aliens mostly came already to far to win those challanges. And then, mostly i find myself in a role chasing jp'ers and not spraying those spores.

I like to see to use the spores more mid-game, but for me this isn't possible atm, ( skills, playstyle? I dunno)
It isn't a very big issue, but i have memories in ns1 and spores and that were great times... i think the spores in ns2 are somewhat sad and only for real pro-lerks mid-game,

Comments

  • DeadonstickDeadonstick Join Date: 2013-04-17 Member: 184877Members
    Spores are primarily used for area denial. For example if Marines come in through a corridor towards one of your hives. Spore up the hallway as far as you feel comfortable to prevent them from moving through effectively. Also note that Spores block line of sight for Marines so firing at you or team mates becomes harder, as does navigation.

    My preferred use for Spores however is blocking critical Marine structures. Putting Spores over and around an Armory can prevent Marines from healing. Putting Spores around Infantry Portals and Phase Gates makes them:

    1: Disoriented, the Spores will block their view while they're taking damage from both the Spores and any aliens that might be attacking and that the Marines can't see.
    2: Hurt, so they're easier to pick off with Spikes, a bite or a fade slash.

    It's also great to put over a power node when they're trying to repair it. The possibilities are endless really. Just think to yourself: "Where do Marines need to be?". And then Spore the shit out of that area.
  • PaniohitusPaniohitus Join Date: 2012-11-09 Member: 168790Members
    edited April 2013
    @deadonstick: yes, i agree with you that the options are endless, but how effective is it vs losing your lerk. If it's fast, then you have spores when the first shotguns are bought by marines. If you could spore the powernode that needs repaire you can only do this once... (if it is inly one or 2 marines, spiking is better, also then they are not relaxed in repairing a powernode)
    Same with armory, they ony have to wait 5 seconds, the second time you show up, you are mostly screwed becaue they are waiting.
    Still, on the most situations, using spores is not very effective and you can spend your time doing other things, like umbra the onos or chasing the jp'er. I found myself using the spores never very effective. And that is weird if you know it could be a very fun ability
    Now it is something that can be used, but why should be used? You can loose the 30pres very fast, the effect of the spore is small ( not a whole area, only a small stroke), the marines only need 1 sidesep and wait for some seconds and continue in what they were doing with 1 eye in the direction you flew away. Next time..., dead lerk if it are good shooters
  • SquishpokePOOPFACESquishpokePOOPFACE -21,248 posts (ignore below) Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165262Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    It's all about pushing them up against corners, not straight up killing them.
  • DeadonstickDeadonstick Join Date: 2013-04-17 Member: 184877Members
    I disagree Panio. It's quite hard for most players to hit a Lerk with a shotgun in public. Spores can stick for quite a while and are a harass ability, as the Lerk is a harassing lifeform. Usually when you Spore and armory or IP or PG it's when your team is attacking regardless and can help the extra support. If you can spike marines you can also first drop a cloud of Spores before you start spiking and biting. Spores are for added annoyance, they're a smoke bomb and poison in one.
  • BicsumBicsum Join Date: 2012-02-27 Member: 147596Members, Reinforced - Gold
    edited April 2013
    You either need to either wait untill the marines are busy fighting other aliens or you start sporing the hallways infront of the marines to block their view.

    Start sporing the hallway in front of them horizontally > dodge in the clowd for a moment > fly a little closer > spore a little more again > repeat

    You should never straight line into the marines (especially not into shotguns). Keep dodging when sporing.


    Spores can be devastating in team fights.
  • current1ycurrent1y Join Date: 2003-12-08 Member: 24150Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester
    Top 3 uses I have found for spores are the following:

    1) When attacking a phase gate do a quick spore around it then focus on spiking the phase gate while saving enough energy to spike people who come through.
    2) When attacking a group of marines spores are very useful when there is 3+ marines you are attacking and their attention is directed at skulks/fades. With 3 or less I usually spike or bite if they are occupied.
    3) A bluff to bide time for reinforcements. If you see 5 marines rolling in on a location sometimes sporing up the next "doorway" they need to walk through will put a halt to them temporarily.

    From what I see in pubs spores are overused and not used very effectively. Against 1-2 marines you are better off spiking and doing your poison bite assuming you take them buy surprise.
  • xen32xen32 Join Date: 2012-10-18 Member: 162676Members, Reinforced - Supporter
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    Press button to poop gas, yeah that's right this is an alien that poops gas, farting gas is so terrestrial...
  • DestherDesther Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165195Members
    Once the second hive is up I generally get the hive trait first, then leap, spores and bile. A notice a lot of commanders either take it too late or not at all. I have no idea why, because it's extremely powerful in both DPS and vision blocking.

    You just have to make sure not to fight alone and think that you fly over 2-3 marines on your own. The benefit really shows once you start using it along with skulks to rush armouries and phase gates.
  • ResRes Join Date: 2003-08-27 Member: 20245Members
    If I have 3+ lerks (or 2 good lerks) when I have the 2nd hive up (after i evolved the hive) I research spores first because area of denial is so much more important in large player servers. Lots of comms and even players don't realize how much more important it is on large player servers.

    Like Bicsum said, you also need to do some dodging while you are sporing as well so you don't die immediately. Also, no point in sporing out a base if you don't have any teammates attacking it or about to attack.
  • ellnicellnic Join Date: 2010-07-19 Member: 72559Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    If the commander has'nt reserched it yet then you might wanna ask him/her as they might then go ahead and get it for you and your team. Also when you are not using it for area denial you should use it on bigger groups on marines. This mean more of them will be taking damage and they will disperse. This will make it easier for skulks and fades to attack them, and quicker too with the damage they have taken from inhaling the spores in the 1st place and on top of that the marines vision will be blocked so they wont see your teammates coming at them as easy. Also they are good for when you want to get away while taking less damage as laying down spores while being shot at can increase the chances of them missing by a big factor. Also when attacking an enemy base I alwas find it a good thing to spore the armory they are using as I see a lot of people tend to 'Hug' the armory untill the spores have dispersed which mean for a few seconds they wont be shooting. Another thing is to use it in more effective areas. For example, I big room like Cargo, the marines can move out of the spored area. This is still denying them visibility and area denial but it might be better to bite and spike then spore. In a long corridor however, biting might not be the best idea and using spors might mean they might not be able to get out in time to save them selves and if there are multiple marines there, it would be a big win for you and a big loss for them. Also you might think sporing Exo's are useless as they are all armour, Well yes and no. True you are not gunna do much damage to an exo but if the exo is being welded and you have spored around the exo, then the marines wont repair untill the spores have gone. this might be the diffrence in helping kill an exo and the exo being repaied and killing some of your team. Also after sporing around the exo, if you are good enough with lerk movment, try getting a couple of bites in before flying off and then spiking from a distance.

    Just a few tips but people will probebly have better tips then me.

    Oh also if they have flamethrowers, they can burn away your spores. always keep that in mind.
  • PaniohitusPaniohitus Join Date: 2012-11-09 Member: 168790Members
    Tnx for al these tips, i think my problem is movement and dodging... Will practise this more
  • KattcattisKattcattis Join Date: 2013-01-31 Member: 182683Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    I remember I had a great time with spore on Refinery!
    We had our first hive as containment and midgame the marines tried to push in from heatsink,
    s big heap of them! I had only a skulk in the room so my thought went to; "Keep them in
    heatsink as long as possible until more of the team comes here". So I just started to spore
    the doorway into containment :D blocked it completely with spores, marines got so scared!
    And when one single marine dared to enter the room he died by the skulk :D
  • ezayezay Join Date: 2013-03-11 Member: 183899Members
    Squishpoke wrote: »
    It's all about pushing them up against corners, not straight up killing them.

    I also have that vision of Spores: area of effect skill, not designed to kill people, but to weaken all of them while other lifeform finish the job. In other words, you won't shine on the scoreboard, but you'll help your team alot.
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    edited April 2013
    One of my favorite things to do is crop dust over a phasegate in a straight line, in the direction marines would run out from, for a good 5 meters on either side.
    This makes marines choke on gas and lowers their health to quick spiking /biting levels, and often times creates enough chaos for the skulks to finish off the gate.
    In Base rushes i always circle crop dust the armory.. continuously if i can.

    I often find that those who don't often play lerk don't realize the value in some of these niche roles (there's many) and their importance in turning the tides of a game, at times.

    My single advice regarding lerk play:
    Evasion is more important than anything you do. Duck, weave, be random and quick.. and realize your role isn't to kill as much as it is to be a force multiplier and a harasser.
  • PaajtorPaajtor Join Date: 2012-11-09 Member: 168634Members
    As a sporing Lerk, it's also great to team up with a good Fade.
    Advance away from the fade towards 1 or 2 marines, and back to the Fade, while sporing all the time...marines try to follow you, only to bump into the Fade, who won't have any troubles finishing them off.
  • meatmachinemeatmachine South England Join Date: 2013-01-06 Member: 177858Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
    - Spore every inch of the area so there are no gaps in the corners for marines to run to.
    - Sporeup their escape route (from behind if possible) before sporing around them, so when they run there is once again nowhere to hide. My max kills like this in a single spore run is 6 in a pub game. stupid fleshies rawrhawrhawr
  • deathshrouddeathshroud Join Date: 2010-04-10 Member: 71291Members
    edited April 2013
    during a base rush spore circle the armory regularly it can really hinder marines

    agaisnt 1 or 2 marines you really should be using bite and spikes, if 1 has a shotty then focus on him first but keep your distance and keep hitting him with spieks until he is distracted by something else then finish him, if you get the jump on a shotty marine then spike and bite him from behind then keep you distance and try to finish him with spikes. Trying to bite a shotty marine can be risky and you want to avoid enclosed spaces. Try to always assess the weapon loadout of the marine you plan to attack, lerk spores are onyl really effective against marines facing an attack from other lifeforms you can quickly decimate a group of marines with a couple of skulks and spores.

    Coms really need to get spores early game imo i usually go leap and spores, then bile. althoguh its dependant on how quickly we got the second hive but once they get jetpacks it can be to tricky to kill a strong marine position. Spores make it easy.

    when sporing a corridor full of marines, zig zag the corridor and always make a double pass to see which areas the marines are hiding in and spore them on your second pass before returning to get energy from a shift.
  • _Necro__Necro_ Join Date: 2011-02-15 Member: 81895Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited April 2013
    I'm pretty much a perma-lerk and also use spores very often if they are researched. They are incredibly powerful but underused.
    Some tips I think could help you:
    • Don't start evading when you get shot. Evade ALL THE TIME! (100ms latency will kill you before you know you are shot.) And use all 3 dimensions!
    • Talk to your team! Spores are not for killing. They are exceptional for opening battles. Gather up at a room with other aliens and get them ready for an attack. Than fly in first (Evading!) and spore the whole way into there. The marines will empty their clips trying to kill you and will not see the other aliens coming through the spores. I can't count how many marine controlled tech points I have freed this way.
    • When there is a PG in the base you are attacking with your team, spore around the PG in a spiral. Marines should see nothing when stepping out of the gate. This gives Skulks / Fades time to engage the newly arrived marine.
    • When attacking a (or the last) marine base, adrenaline comes in handy. You can spore the IPs and the armory in a wide range while the other aliens follow you into the base. ZigZagging all the time, sporing everything.
    • Overall the Lerk isn't the most exceptional killer. It is a teamplayer. Spores even more so. If you want to use them to great effect, couple them with at least 1 skulk. Get into the fight first sporing (and evading!) and the skulk will get a guaranteed kill.
    • You make no noise when gliding. You are very fast traveling the map. Try to attack from directions they don't expect.
    • Try to troll marines by flying out of the room (out of sight) but than turn around immediately and engage the marine again. If you get the timing right, he will probably be busy reloading, because he thought you would flee.
    • Oh, did I already write, that you should evade when sporing? Because it is important. You don't need to spore in a straight line.
    • Also, SGs are Lerk-counters. If you hear them, don't spore. Don't get close. Try to spike them over range. If you are finally good at evading (Because you do it ALL THE TIME!) you can try to spore with SGs near, but even than you will get instagibbed from time to time. It is really very risky.
  • joederpjoederp Join Date: 2012-11-02 Member: 165992Members
    Ditch spikes and bring back projectile spores! It was better suited for the lerk IMO.
  • CalegoCalego Join Date: 2013-01-24 Member: 181848Members, NS2 Map Tester
    A team of double lerks can be a mega annoyance at marine start. Even without spores, but with spores, oh man. I think myself and another lerk actually caused a beacon because of all the gas we were passing.

    If your team is about to push on the other side of the map and either you can't get to them or they really don't need another lerk, do strafing runs (crop dusting) through start. Good marines associate spores with incoming attacks, so you can fake marines out that way, just be careful not to overextend. The spores will also muddle the marines and weaken them as they run to a phase gate.

    But, as everyone before me has said, the main use is area denial. One lerk can deny a tech point from running marines after the phase was taken down. Simply gassing up the hallway in front of where the marines are clustered keeps them at bay. You have to time it so your spores shield you, it doesn't take much green to obstruct marine vision and make them hesitant to move through.

    And there's always the spores to cover a retreating life form. Onos running low on health? Spore up behind him to make the rines stop in their tracks and unable to see.
  • StardogStardog Join Date: 2004-10-25 Member: 32448Members
    edited April 2013
    Spores are pretty crucial.

    If you're attacking a base, sporing around the IP's (if people are spawning), then circling the Armoury is a good idea. Remember that spores drop to the ground over time, so you don't have to be low down when sporing.

    As some have said, sporing in front of a doorway will stop most marines from going through it.
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