I do that everytime, something nice I saw on a stream once: put clogs around important upgrades like carapace shell. Also if you have a sensible team they will eject the person that stole the comm.
It seems like a perfectly logical thing to do, but it always seems to bite you in the ass. If 2 marines walk in and go straight for your crag, you really need to be a skulk. But yeah, why not drop those Hydras and evolve back. Its not like you're going to have the resources to do anything else anytime soon.
I don't mind being the comm, but I do not like being blamed for things beyond my control, like when the alien team is out played skill wise.. It's not my fault, as comm, that the team spends more time waiting to spawn than they do on the battlefield. My GUI doesn't have a button to fix that.
p.s. don't say "don't jump in and comm" because he will jump in. Yesterday I was so pissed off, we had a great plan - the whole team sneaking to the main alien hive while we're losing our main base, comm says NOT to shoot cysts, one d-head starts shooting cysts.
Not SureJoin Date: 2013-01-06Member: 177758Members
edited February 2013
Not a bad point, OP. And detractors, remember you can always just kill yourself after dropping the hydras if you want to stay skulk for biting and whatnot.
Also, giving yourself an onos later on makes for a lot of fun late game when marines try to sneak in.
As Alien comm, I always hop out to drop clogs around upgrades and some hydras as early warning. Never clog the power node tho, as marines can still build it, but your skulks would have trouble killing it.
When are you supposed to have time for this? When I alien comm I'm constantly cysting, getting upgrades, building structures, taking mist requests, etc. If I get out, that's going to hurt in ways that are more detrimental than the hydras are beneficial.
When are you supposed to have time for this? When I alien comm I'm constantly cysting, getting upgrades, building structures, taking mist requests, etc. If I get out, that's going to hurt in ways that are more detrimental than the hydras are beneficial.
You're doing it wrong. As in, you either waste too much res on stuff you can't actually hold OR you're playing on 24 slot servers. :P
When are you supposed to have time for this? When I alien comm I'm constantly cysting, getting upgrades, building structures, taking mist requests, etc. If I get out, that's going to hurt in ways that are more detrimental than the hydras are beneficial.
You're doing it wrong. As in, you either waste too much res on stuff you can't actually hold OR you're playing on 24 slot servers. :P
I am guilty of spending lots of res on extra unnecessary cysts. I just like to completely cover the ground so that marines can't build a phase gate without destroying a cyst and alerting me of their presence. I should build drifters instead to do the same thing, but I hate managing units. It's fun because it's like Starcraft where I only build the buildings and the marines play themselves. If I have to start controlling drifters, then it gets annoying.
My standard procedure in almost all games is this:
1. Cyst to nearest Harvester
2. Start Crag Hive upgrade
3. Jump out
4. Evolve Gorge
5. Place Hydras
6. Jump back in
7. Place Harvester
8. Place Shell
9. Jump out
10. Build Shell
11. Jump back in
12. Start Carapace research
13. Jump out
14. Build Harvester
15. Clog Carapace Shell
16. Jump back in
17. Send out first Drifter
This I can get done in under 60 seconds, unless I need excess cysts to reach the nearest Harvester (> 5), in which case I may need to wait for a resource tick or two.
I will then decide if it's going to be more beneficial for me to go back to Skulk (offensive Marine team), or to stay Gorge ready to build my own second Hive (defensive Marine team).
When are you supposed to have time for this? When I alien comm I'm constantly cysting, getting upgrades, building structures, taking mist requests, etc. If I get out, that's going to hurt in ways that are more detrimental than the hydras are beneficial.
Slightly off point, but: When you drop the second hive, you can go heal it up and it's okay even if your team res reaches 70 before it's done and you can command again - you will spend all that money instantly on leap, cara (or some other upgrade) and maybe bile.
You COULD of course stay comm and try to take an extra harvester or two, but that's always a gamble that won't benefit you much and comes with a delayed hive and delayed upgrades.
I used to do this when I commed but ever since release 9/10 if you're out of the hive long enough for the "no commander" message to hop in, someone is gonna snipe your chair and drop a bunch of whips or upgrade your hive to a shade or something stupid like that.
When are you supposed to have time for this? When I alien comm I'm constantly cysting, getting upgrades, building structures, taking mist requests, etc. If I get out, that's going to hurt in ways that are more detrimental than the hydras are beneficial.
#1: I think you're spending too much money if you're that busy building
#2: You get like a minute and a half of free time after dropping your second harvester and before getting your first upgrade, so that's plenty of time to do a quick hydra/clog penis set up.
#3: It's a lot easier to bite a marine who's shooting a hydra than one who's shooting directly at the hive you need to exit.
addendum to #1: I completely agree with you that, contrary to popular opinion, there is always something to do as alien comm, but conserving your res and letting it build up to 60-100 isn't terrible, considering you can drop it all in three seconds once you get another hive up. Timely upgrades > cyst harassment, defensive structures, almost anything really.
And any egg that isn't a fade or onos or directly in the line of fire shouldn't get a mist. Total waste imo.
I do that everytime, something nice I saw on a stream once: put clogs around important upgrades like carapace shell. Also if you have a sensible team they will eject the person that stole the comm.
I first saw it on a stream also, and have been doing it ever since.
Comments
If you don't have a mic, you shouldn't be comm in the first place.
It seems like a perfectly logical thing to do, but it always seems to bite you in the ass. If 2 marines walk in and go straight for your crag, you really need to be a skulk. But yeah, why not drop those Hydras and evolve back. Its not like you're going to have the resources to do anything else anytime soon.
This is pretty much the reason I rarely hop out of comm in pubs.
I wanna play where you play.
I have to command 80%+ of games I'm in simply because nobody else will.
Sure it does. 'A' is the shortcut to that button.
10sec
Me again: <Mic> "I'm going to build the hive, I'm saving for upgrades meanwhile, no need to comm guys."
20sec
Random: <Chat> "We have no comm???"
Me: <Mic> "I'm commanding, I'm just healing the hive up."
30sec random jumps into hive starts dropping shit burning all my res.
Oh well. :P
Yup, normal. :P
p.s. don't say "don't jump in and comm" because he will jump in. Yesterday I was so pissed off, we had a great plan - the whole team sneaking to the main alien hive while we're losing our main base, comm says NOT to shoot cysts, one d-head starts shooting cysts.
Also, giving yourself an onos later on makes for a lot of fun late game when marines try to sneak in.
You can change back, to a skulk, rather than kill yourself. That way, you still gain pRes.
1. Cyst to nearest Harvester
2. Start Crag Hive upgrade
3. Jump out
4. Evolve Gorge
5. Place Hydras
6. Jump back in
7. Place Harvester
8. Place Shell
9. Jump out
10. Build Shell
11. Jump back in
12. Start Carapace research
13. Jump out
14. Build Harvester
15. Clog Carapace Shell
16. Jump back in
17. Send out first Drifter
This I can get done in under 60 seconds, unless I need excess cysts to reach the nearest Harvester (> 5), in which case I may need to wait for a resource tick or two.
I will then decide if it's going to be more beneficial for me to go back to Skulk (offensive Marine team), or to stay Gorge ready to build my own second Hive (defensive Marine team).
Truth or speculation?
Slightly off point, but: When you drop the second hive, you can go heal it up and it's okay even if your team res reaches 70 before it's done and you can command again - you will spend all that money instantly on leap, cara (or some other upgrade) and maybe bile.
You COULD of course stay comm and try to take an extra harvester or two, but that's always a gamble that won't benefit you much and comes with a delayed hive and delayed upgrades.
#1: I think you're spending too much money if you're that busy building
#2: You get like a minute and a half of free time after dropping your second harvester and before getting your first upgrade, so that's plenty of time to do a quick hydra/clog penis set up.
#3: It's a lot easier to bite a marine who's shooting a hydra than one who's shooting directly at the hive you need to exit.
addendum to #1: I completely agree with you that, contrary to popular opinion, there is always something to do as alien comm, but conserving your res and letting it build up to 60-100 isn't terrible, considering you can drop it all in three seconds once you get another hive up. Timely upgrades > cyst harassment, defensive structures, almost anything really.
And any egg that isn't a fade or onos or directly in the line of fire shouldn't get a mist. Total waste imo.
I first saw it on a stream also, and have been doing it ever since.