[205] Alien comander tactics

Floodinator

<div class="IPBDescription">, post yours!</div>After playing alot of rounds now as Alien com I developed a good tactic for the Aliens in bigger games on PUB.

Before I start with it there are some infos that are important to know as Aliencomander.
1. Cysts cost Tres
2. Mist activated beside the Hive also affects the Hive
3. Gorges can build hives
4. You can place 1 Hive and 1 RT with starting res.
5. Mist speeds Maturing
6. 1 Hive has a very slow Eggrate especually on 8vs8
7. Gorge is your best friend

Considering all those important factors I started the folowing tactic.
In the beginning you need to find out where Marines start, thats your job as commander. Then order 2 players to the hive location furthest away and tell em to go gorge. In the mean time you send 2 Drifters to that Hivespot and drop the Hive and the RT there (minicysts from gorge). The gorges will build the Hive (1.40min mark) and you Mist the starting Hive all the time. As soon as the 2. Hive is up use its energy to Mist the starting hive and also get a 3rd RT (if it is possible via mini-cysts from the gorges)and save 25 Res to upgrade your Mature hive.

From this point on you should focus on essential Crag upgrades or a shade, depending on situation, and a 4th RT.

This is just 1 option to start a Alien round but effective in costs regarding the 2. RT.
pros and Cons:

<b>Pros</b>

• Faster Egg spawn rate
• Fast Mature Hive
• "Cheap" 2. RT
• Gorge needed
• More hive energy for Mist
• 2 Hives for heal really early
• Faster Alienmovement (Can choose between 2 starting Hives early in the game)

<b>Cons:</b>

• Late Upgrades
• Less pressure because of 2 Gorges
• Slow Pres\Tres income the first 3 mins

What openings do you ppl do?

DJPenguin

aside from the big changes like Augmentation, needing to wait for hive to mature for upgrades etc, my "strategy" hasn't changed at all. same old laying cysts to RT's, wait for res for hive, etc. i prefer my team to <i>not</i> go gorge. more skulks keeping marines away from my RT's is in most cases much more helpful.

Wheeee

1) teamstack
2) go afk
3) ???
4) profit!

Floodinator

<!--quoteo(post=1928165:date=Apr 21 2012, 05:29 PM:name=DJPenguin)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DJPenguin @ Apr 21 2012, 05:29 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1928165"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->aside from the big changes like Augmentation, needing to wait for hive to mature for upgrades etc, my "strategy" hasn't changed at all. same old laying cysts to RT's, wait for res for hive, etc. i prefer my team to <i>not</i> go gorge. more skulks keeping marines away from my RT's is in most cases much more helpful.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Sure, those gorges are only needed in the beginning to build the Hive.
I tried to older ways like getting fast RTs but the fact that cysts cost Tres makes RTs alot more expensive.

Xarius

My strategy hasn't really changed either, though I tend to prioritise augmentation before a second hive, depending on how good the res flow is. 25 T.res for augmentation is ridiculously cheap by the way, really hope they bump it up to 50 or something. (I mean, fade blink, skulk leap, onos stomp AND bilebomb, think about it, what a ridiculous bargain that is for 25 t.res)

The alien commander still misses depth and choices to the tech tree imo, though at least they've taken a step in the right direction

elodea

After playing a while it looks like there really isnt alot of options since you don't unlock leap etc from simply having a 2nd hive. You don't exactly need a 2nd hive <b>at all</b> except for silence + cara. The best strategy is literally to just mist spam main hive and just get res and stuff. Not alot of tradeoff or decision making tbh.

0+0=0

I roll my face across my keyboard as marines struggle to get res for the 1 building they get to pick any upgrades from before lerk balancebombs the base while flying in circles overhead. Believe it or not, my job is harder.

Floodinator

<!--quoteo(post=1928193:date=Apr 21 2012, 06:52 PM:name=elodea)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (elodea @ Apr 21 2012, 06:52 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1928193"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->After playing a while it looks like there really isnt alot of options since you don't unlock leap etc from simply having a 2nd hive. You don't exactly need a 2nd hive <b>at all</b> except for silence + cara. The best strategy is literally to just mist spam main hive and just get res and stuff. Not alot of tradeoff or decision making tbh.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

With 2 Hives you can get a Mature hive faster, so you already have 1 desicion you can take.

JuCCi

If you do everything right you can have a mature hive plus cara. plus 4-5 res towers and a team of lerks with bile boom out at 5:45-6:15 mark :D Then lerk rush and call it a day. But marines can have a gl rush up on about 2:15 :P Hummm

Xarius

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->With 2 Hives you can get a Mature hive faster, so you already have 1 desicion you can take.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

That's not even a decision then, it's just a no brainer. The alien khammander is still without true tech tree depth and choices unfortunately. They took a step in the right direction but they really need to take many more if they want to khamm to become as interesting as the marine one. Personally I would love to see every alien second and third ability as a 'tech' that needs to be unlocked, rather than a cheap and easy 'augment all' button. At least that way you'd be able to prioritise certain lifeforms over others, work out a general alien strategy, have a bigger t.res sink for the khamm (matches marine on more closely), etc.

I really hate how everything in this game feels rushed; fades and onos come out too quickly, as do some marine higher weapons, most tech is researched too quickly, you get second tier hive abilities too quickly, etc etc. The pace of NS 1 was much more enjoyable, not to mention the huge balance implications this holds, since marines have a hard time competing with quick alien higher lifeforms.

Floodinator

Sure you are right but compared to 204 you have alot of desicions you can take already.

You can go for fast hive but no tech low res, or going fast upgrades but delaying Mature hive, dropping early whips to get bombard or fast RTS delaying Mature Hive and upgrades alot (and taking the risk of loosing them really fast because of low hp).

Also the strategical dessicion to have a gorge or not is extreme. Atleast 1 gorge can speed up Upgrades so you don't need mist, wich is used for the hive.

Atleast we can do some dessicions now that can impact atleast the early to midgame alot.

Maukka

I personally usually attempt to get 2 extra RTs asap and then go for a fast carapace to establish statistical dominance over marines and then proceed to have tier 2 weapons and finally hive 2 for the rest of the evolutions. Works quite well on public servers considering the usual order of things with alot of 1v1 situtations happening between skulks and marines.

Luitjens

Mist hive from beginning
Have mature hive @ 5:53
from 1 second to 5:53 hold down as many resource towers as possible (3-4prefer) 5 if map control
Pop out both cara/regen before 5:53
Once at 5.55 tell everyone to go lerk and bile bomb their base (too much pressures!)
Drop forward crags for team near enemy base
Win the game
If not winning the game yet, drop another hive if you want and keep spamming structures, like whips and cyst into their base and end it

For marines to counter that, simply genade Launcher rush the hive


You can rush 2nd hive and have a matured 1st hive even quicker (4:0ish-5ish depending how many gorges to test), not sure how your upgrades will be though (probably late @5~ish) / risk involved dropping 2nd hive / relying on a gorge to heal the dropped hive

elodea

<!--quoteo(post=1928200:date=Apr 22 2012, 04:17 AM:name=Floodinator)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Floodinator @ Apr 22 2012, 04:17 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1928200"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->With 2 Hives you can get a Mature hive faster, so you already have 1 desicion you can take.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--quoteo(post=1928291:date=Apr 22 2012, 08:56 AM:name=Luitjens)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Luitjens @ Apr 22 2012, 08:56 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1928291"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Once at 5.55 tell everyone to go lerk and bile bomb their base (too much pressures!)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

exactly. What are you talking about flood? its clear by miles that one hive play is way stronger. 40 res for 3 seconds faster mathematically is negligible in a game, not to mention the risk.

Floodinator

<!--quoteo(post=1928345:date=Apr 22 2012, 03:12 AM:name=elodea)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (elodea @ Apr 22 2012, 03:12 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1928345"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->exactly. What are you talking about flood? its clear by miles that one hive play is way stronger. 40 res for 3 seconds faster mathematically is negligible in a game, not to mention the risk.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I said that you can get a 2. Hive really fast (<2min) that gives you extra mist for maturin you first hive and it gets you a cheat RT because cysts need Tres.
Sure its risky but if marines spawn close to the starting hive. IMO a fast 2. Hive is usefull then.

pRiNcEkAhUnA

Carapace, Augment hive. Sleep till the end of the round because aliens will win.

matfra

<!--quoteo(post=1928291:date=Apr 21 2012, 04:56 PM:name=Luitjens)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Luitjens @ Apr 21 2012, 04:56 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1928291"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Mist hive from beginning
Have mature hive @ 5:53
from 1 second to 5:53 hold down as many resource towers as possible (3-4prefer) 5 if map control
Pop out both cara/regen before 5:53
Once at 5.55 tell everyone to go lerk and bile bomb their base (too much pressures!)
Drop forward crags for team near enemy base
Win the game
If not winning the game yet, drop another hive if you want and keep spamming structures, like whips and cyst into their base and end it

For marines to counter that, simply genade Launcher rush the hive


You can rush 2nd hive and have a matured 1st hive even quicker (4:0ish-5ish depending how many gorges to test), not sure how your upgrades will be though (probably late @5~ish) / risk involved dropping 2nd hive / relying on a gorge to heal the dropped hive<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

This is my tactic too. In the first 5 minutes, comm drop RTs and Nutri-Mist the hive. As soon yo have augmentation, 3-4 lerks bile-bomb the base. The comm have to use that time to build a new hive, because if the tactic fail, the 2nd hive will be usefull. Its also very important that no one waist his res going lerk before have the augmentaion. If you die you loose 30 res. If you save you rez as skulk at beginning, you can lerk to the bile bomb rush, and if you die, usually you have enough rez to go lerk again. You have 2 chance of bile bombing and win. This all depend how many res tower the comm drop in the 5 first minutes. More RT you have, more time you can go lerk rush.