10 Tips To Being a Better Marine
Underwhelmed
DemoDetective #?! Join Date: 2006-09-19 Member: 58026Members, Constellation
DemoDetective #?! Join Date: 2006-09-19 Member: 58026Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">General Tips to Improve Your Gameplay</div>I see a lot of mistakes made often, and I thought I'd write this to guide people a bit.
1. Be aware of your surroundings. This includes other marines, aliens, possible ambush spots, vents, entrances and exits, and more. You should not only be looking around, but also listening to your surroundings. Expecting an attack and getting blindsided is often the difference between living and dying. You should be checking your minimap to see what the current game situation is - with the 3.2 update, you have access to the same information the commander does.
2. Weld. Each point of armor is worth 2 HP and is the only defense against focus. Check your inventory and/or your scoreboard to see if you have a welder. Welding structures is important, but most of the time, welding your teammates is even more important. In fact, welding your teammates is often more important than reloading.
3. Know your role. Heavy Machine Guns do only half damage against structures, making them as effective as a LMG. HMGs should be ready to shoot aliens that come in, and not waste ammo on a RT only to be killed while reloading. Grenade Launchers destroy structures from afar - you should not be shooting at fades with a GL. Shotguns are effective against both lifeforms and structures, but only at close ranges. If you have a LMG and somebody else has a SG, you should be the one building. IF you have a SG and somebody else has a LMG, you should be destroying structures while the LMG covers. Teamwork means everybody does what they're supposed to.
4. Watch your positioning. You should be close enough to other marines so that you have a line of fire to any aliens that might try to attack them, but far away that they have room to maneuver. You should not be straying from your group unless you have a good reason, such as breaking off to cap a RT. Marines fight best at long-medium ranges. Aliens rely on close fighting. You should be maximizing your distance from aliens, unless you are chasing something or pushing as a group. You want to be in open areas that aliens cannot transverse without being shot at. If you are sieging, you should be defending the sieges - that means putting yourself between them and the aliens.
5. Watch your fire. With the exception of the knife and welder, weapons require ammo loaded to fire. Do not fire unless your shots have a decent chance to connect. Aliens will easily kill you while you reload - do not spray wildly at a lerk that is far away when a skulk might pop in at any moment. Not only do you have to watch where you shoot, you should watch where your teammates shoot. Do not block their line of fire, and when you are under attack, maneuver so that your teammates also have a clear shot at the alien. When shooting structures, spread out your reloading times so you won't have the entire team reloading at the same time.
6. Do not hump the armory. Excessive ammo will not only slow you down, but also take up valuable time. You do not need to load up completely on ammo before you venture out - chances are excellent you will die before you are able to use even half that ammo. If you are low on health in the field, call for a medpack and/or a weld. Getting ammo, unless you have absolutely none at all, should never take priority over saving a phase gate or sieges under attack.
7. Prioritize. Sometimes finishing the last bar of a structure is more important than turning around to shoot an alien. Shoot the skulk biting at somebody's ankles, not the lerk safely sporing from a vent. Help save a phase gate instead of waiting for a shotgun in base. If a fade worth 50 resource is low and attempting to escape, you should shoot that, not the 0 res skulk
8. Don't walk backwards. If I unbound my backwards key, I probably wouldn't even notice it. When you are trying to dodge aliens, you should be strafing and jumping, not backing up slowly into your teammates. This will make you much harder for the alien to bite.
9. Stop throwing grenades at structures. The damage multiplier against structures has been removed for a long time, but I still see people throwing grenades at RTs and OCs before using their weapons. If you have emptied your weapon into a structure, you should reload and shoot again, not throw your grenades. Grenades are much better spent against aliens in vents and around corners.
10. Don't split up. Marine firepower increases for each marine present - two marines is double the firepower of one marine. Going around alone makes it easy for you to be picked off. Sometimes you will have to work alone due to circumstances, and that's fine, but whenever possible, stick together.
I'll probably write one for aliens later.
1. Be aware of your surroundings. This includes other marines, aliens, possible ambush spots, vents, entrances and exits, and more. You should not only be looking around, but also listening to your surroundings. Expecting an attack and getting blindsided is often the difference between living and dying. You should be checking your minimap to see what the current game situation is - with the 3.2 update, you have access to the same information the commander does.
2. Weld. Each point of armor is worth 2 HP and is the only defense against focus. Check your inventory and/or your scoreboard to see if you have a welder. Welding structures is important, but most of the time, welding your teammates is even more important. In fact, welding your teammates is often more important than reloading.
3. Know your role. Heavy Machine Guns do only half damage against structures, making them as effective as a LMG. HMGs should be ready to shoot aliens that come in, and not waste ammo on a RT only to be killed while reloading. Grenade Launchers destroy structures from afar - you should not be shooting at fades with a GL. Shotguns are effective against both lifeforms and structures, but only at close ranges. If you have a LMG and somebody else has a SG, you should be the one building. IF you have a SG and somebody else has a LMG, you should be destroying structures while the LMG covers. Teamwork means everybody does what they're supposed to.
4. Watch your positioning. You should be close enough to other marines so that you have a line of fire to any aliens that might try to attack them, but far away that they have room to maneuver. You should not be straying from your group unless you have a good reason, such as breaking off to cap a RT. Marines fight best at long-medium ranges. Aliens rely on close fighting. You should be maximizing your distance from aliens, unless you are chasing something or pushing as a group. You want to be in open areas that aliens cannot transverse without being shot at. If you are sieging, you should be defending the sieges - that means putting yourself between them and the aliens.
5. Watch your fire. With the exception of the knife and welder, weapons require ammo loaded to fire. Do not fire unless your shots have a decent chance to connect. Aliens will easily kill you while you reload - do not spray wildly at a lerk that is far away when a skulk might pop in at any moment. Not only do you have to watch where you shoot, you should watch where your teammates shoot. Do not block their line of fire, and when you are under attack, maneuver so that your teammates also have a clear shot at the alien. When shooting structures, spread out your reloading times so you won't have the entire team reloading at the same time.
6. Do not hump the armory. Excessive ammo will not only slow you down, but also take up valuable time. You do not need to load up completely on ammo before you venture out - chances are excellent you will die before you are able to use even half that ammo. If you are low on health in the field, call for a medpack and/or a weld. Getting ammo, unless you have absolutely none at all, should never take priority over saving a phase gate or sieges under attack.
7. Prioritize. Sometimes finishing the last bar of a structure is more important than turning around to shoot an alien. Shoot the skulk biting at somebody's ankles, not the lerk safely sporing from a vent. Help save a phase gate instead of waiting for a shotgun in base. If a fade worth 50 resource is low and attempting to escape, you should shoot that, not the 0 res skulk
8. Don't walk backwards. If I unbound my backwards key, I probably wouldn't even notice it. When you are trying to dodge aliens, you should be strafing and jumping, not backing up slowly into your teammates. This will make you much harder for the alien to bite.
9. Stop throwing grenades at structures. The damage multiplier against structures has been removed for a long time, but I still see people throwing grenades at RTs and OCs before using their weapons. If you have emptied your weapon into a structure, you should reload and shoot again, not throw your grenades. Grenades are much better spent against aliens in vents and around corners.
10. Don't split up. Marine firepower increases for each marine present - two marines is double the firepower of one marine. Going around alone makes it easy for you to be picked off. Sometimes you will have to work alone due to circumstances, and that's fine, but whenever possible, stick together.
I'll probably write one for aliens later.
Comments
12. Listen to the Commander. If you need to an explanation for this, seriously reconsider going marine.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yes and no. There are good commanders, and there are bad commanders. There are good orders, and there are bad orders. You wouldn't obey every order blindly in real life.
In real life, bad orders can be fatal. In ns, you respawn at an infantry portal.
It's just a game. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
In real life, bad orders can be fatal. In ns, you respawn at an infantry portal.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->I agree with this, to a certain extent...
...and yet, I disagree. In real life, I may very well follow a bad order. Not because it's an order, but because if I don't...more people may die. Now, I don't really have a high opinion of myself, but I have things to live for, as well. If I can save lives by giving mine, well...I hope they have an open bar at my funeral. At least then people would enjoy a good party. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/confused-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="???" border="0" alt="confused-fix.gif" />
Thats not always true, on pub servers with ff1 you will most likely lose as much hp from the guy shoting you in the as from the skulk, wich means you both will die.
"10. Don't split up. Marine firepower increases for each marine present - two marines is double the firepower of one marine. Going around alone makes it easy for you to be picked off. Sometimes you will have to work alone due to circumstances, and that's fine, but whenever possible, stick together."
Thats not always true, on pub servers with ff1 you will most likely lose as much hp from the guy shoting you in the as from the skulk, wich means you both will die.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Not to mention the tons of nades tossed at each other <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
I've been working on the backwards glidejump. It's usefull when you think there is a skulks trying to ambush you in a doorway, walk thru it then hop back to try and draw them out.
Being away of surroundings is always a good one, skulks can be anywhere!