(250) - Commanding / Khammanding Tutorials

MaximumSquidMaximumSquid Join Date: 2010-07-20 Member: 72593Members
edited July 2013 in NS2 General Discussion
Played the new build long enough that I think I got a feel for whats works and what doesn't

Obviously lots has changed, but some stuff is still the same. . . lets get right into some build orders:

---
Marines:
---

Phase Gate Rush - (3 Resource Towers / 3 Minutes)
ibbOfDTcMWiAkN.png 90-100 res, LOW Risk
Team Tactics: Guerrilla Style; Small Teams Spread Out. . . a Very Aggressive Opener

Build rushes mines and then gets an Observation built for phase tech (45 second research) while your team pushes out in all directions
If a mass Skulk rush is scouted the Commander can jump out of the chair and drop Mines in base (a good idea to do so anyhow)

Once a high value room is taken the Commander can sell the Armory in base and re-drop it at the front line for Marines to put down forward Mines
If you are also dropping medpacks (hotkeys: E, S, Mouse1) money will be very tight, but it's very important to keep your team alive as you have only 1 Infantry Portal

If too many people die (3 or more typically) you will have to change the build order and drop the 2nd Infantry Portal first
It's usually best to get the Phase Gate that is away from base built first as the Marines in the high value room are typically on a clock the moment they get spotted there
You can preemptively have medpack selected ready to drop if you are fearing a Ceiling, Vent, or Phantom ambush from the Aliens


Other Tips:
● Having good aim matters on Marine Commander for medpack drops because spamming medpacks is really, really bad emot-f5.gif
● Dot not forget the 2nd Infantry Portal. . . Phase Gates automatically add a 2nd front line and move your troops closer to Alien Spawn increasing deaths dramatically
● Also do not forget to hotkey the Observatory as a separate Command Group. . . having a fast Distress Beacon and Scan hotkeys memorized can make or break some games
● Once both Phases are up periodically remind your team to keep mines near them, but spread out enough so they don't chain-fire (destroying all mines at once)
● Usually you want to spread all buildings out to avoid losing tons of stuff to Gorge's Bile Bomb, but Phase is the exception. . . Place your Infantry Portals close together with the Phase Gate between them; this way you shorten the distance to reinforce the Phase Room, and increase the likelihood your team will be able to save a room being sieged when they respawn (Screenshot Example)
● Other Phase Gates can either be hidden to not attract attention or placed in a way to force a Gorge to overextend if they want to attack it (Screenshot Example)
● Avoid placing a Phase Gate tight against walls or under low ceilings. . . this makes it easier for Aliens to trap marines coming out of the Phase which you don't want ever!
● Never face Phase Gates into walls or off of cliffs as you will risk losing your team's respect (and essentially their willingness to listen to future plans)

---

But how do I know what room is High Value?
Well lets have a look at map that Marines typically dominate if played well. . . I'm talking about Docking of course:
ibshfHqJBdKBpb.png

Maps in NS:2 are complex, but if you asked simply how do Marines win on Docking most would answer by saying "Take Maintenance"
The reasoning is simple. . . cut the map in half and Aliens are forced to give up map control due to the Cyst System
On top of this the adjacent rooms provide very little cover for Aliens and are essentially kill boxes
The Coop De Grace is that if there is a hive in either direction you're already setup for a multitude of Finishers
(If you have to kill both near hives it also means that you will not have to change tactics when you head over the other one)

Using the Phase Gate Rush on Docking to take Maintenance early will almost guarantee you the win
If the Alien team decides to lock it down hard with 2 Gorges Aliens will naturally give up map control elsewhere so use the Tactical Map and proceed accordingly

---

Exo Rush - (4 Resource Towers / 6 Minutes)
ibrxVLknbzuwmM.png 180-200 res, MEDIUM Risk
Team Tactics: Cautious/Defensive Style. . . Two Front Lines that advance slowly followed by an All-In Finisher

Build takes advantage of Marines abiltiy to sell buildings while maintaining the current level of technology to have Exos hit the floor extremely fast
The big advantage to this setup is the surprise factor stonk.001.gif if nobody spots the Prototype Lab it's usually a guaranteed "GG"

The downside is that you will be operating off of 1 Infantry Portal and essentially nothing else for the first few minutes
You are also required to tell everyone at the start of the game what you're doing so nobody wastes Personal Res
(or runs off rambo style like you'd expect to see with the previous Phase Gate Rush build)

Your team needs to stick together, move in rooms slowly, and stay alive at the start of the game
Once the Prototype Lab is online sell the Advanced Armory (90 second research) and use the 30 res to research Exos (90 second research)

In the mean time while you're waiting for everyone to get 40 Personal Res get a Robotics Factory, 1 MAC, and then the Arms Lab for Armor 1
Then start pumping out enough MACs for everyone to have one that will follow them. . . if you held 4 res you can also get Weapons 1 upgraded in time

Everyone pushes together and heads straight for the nearest Hive. . . the Metal Train won't be Denied!


Other Tips:
● Before selling the Advanced Armory the Commander can opt to buy a Grenade Launcher and/or Welder to deny potential skulk rushes
● You can optionally ask one Marine by name to hang back and guard base if you are expecting a counter attack
● It's also usually good to ask one Marine by name to lead the charge. . . this will avoid anyone getting lost since everyone will follow that person
● If you fear a second hive going up you can deny them by placing down an unbuilt chair
● Let your team know ahead of time that the it's almost time to buy; you can even encourage them to suicide in console if you built a 2nd Infantry Portal
● Since this is an All-In nothing else matters but 1 Chair and their Hive. . . I've won with this build on a single Res node before because we held the game till 40
● Remind your team that Exos can instantly kill Eggs by stepping on them
● If you know the map well ping the safest and farthest away place your team can stand to still hit the hive
● The Aliens will likely get Bile Bomb, but just remember. . . Gorges counter MACs. . . NOT EXOS!

---

Base Relocation - (2 Resource Towers / 1 Minute 30 Seconds)
ji0lcc2mSgu59.png 50-60 res, HIGH Risk
Team Tactics: Wolf-Pack Style; 1 Large Group of Marines, All-In Opener

Sometimes your starting base is bad, but other times there is just a superior tech point to stage operations from
Sorting Room on Cavern, Pipeline on Refinery, and on occasion Crossroads on Summit are common places to relocate your base to
Once you've taken these places map control is naturally seeded to your side and you can pretty well win by just overwhelming the Alien team with pressure alone

The tactic is very risky though. . . a botched Relocation means that you have basically thrown the early game away and it takes a long time to stabilize after that
Also since this is not a common strat it can be very difficult to get your team to understand what you need them to do
Having only 3 people show up at the right place alive might be all you got and if you miss your medpack drops it might be "GG" right there emot-ohdear.png

While it starts off rough following though offers the chance to end the game immediately
3-4 Infantry Portals can go up and offer a short walk away from the only Hive making nothing else on the map matter
Other Aliens will be building or patrolling the usually spots while your whole team just walks in and ends it


Other Tips:
● This is a great strat to combine with an In-Hive Sentry Push. . . 1 Sentry Battery per room means that you can sometimes double them up and have 6 in one spot
● If you sell one of the chairs you can also Rush Advanced Armory for a timed Flamethrower + Grenade Launcher push
● Take advantage of the Alien team being off balance by taking weird routes by building Boost Objects near Vents and breaking up Cyst Chains
● You may need to wall off one of the entrances to the relocated base to make it viable to hold should the Aliens hold out till late game
● This strat requires that your team can aim. . . if your Marines are losing 4 on 2 battles with skulks this absolutely will not work

---
Aliens:
---

Echo Rush - (4 Resource Towers / 6 Minutes)
jbgsW8sVVp9DeO.png 170-180 res, LOW Risk
Team Tactics: SHIFT Tech; Defensive Style. . . Team needs to Apply Pressure without Leaking Marines through

This build leans heavily on the Shifts ability to Echo targets away
You will essentially be your teams sole builder as you take on the role of Gorgemander

Start off by upgrading the hive to Shift Tech, place a Shift near your Resource Tower, and make 1 Drifter
Next Cyst as fast as you can to 4 other resources towers. . . with luck your team will be able to hold at least 3 of them

Next jump out of the Hive and turn yourself into a Gorge
When the Cysts grow over the nodes use the Shifts Echo Ability to Teleport the Resource Tower in base to a new location
Then replace the one in your base, jump out, and build it yourself (Rince and Repeat) iAUBhYkSPHiix.gif

Gorge Tunnels can be gotten immediately and when you feel it's safe you can drop the second hive and move the Drifter + Shift over
You will then have to run over to the 2nd Hive yourself and speed build it. . . it will take about 1 minute 15 seconds including the walk
(Be sure to setup the other end of your Gorge Tunnel when you arrive before you start on the Hive)

By the time it gets done you should have enough res to get 2 Biomass immediately followed by Bilebomb from a Crag, Leap from the Shift, and your first Spur


Other Tips:
● Be careful not to accidentally move your Shift with Mouse2; you might have it still selected, and if it goes off infestation it will likely die before you notice
● If you a fearing an attack while building the second hive take time to setup Hydras and attach Babblers to yourself
● Do not run away if overwhelmed . . . call for back up via the Gorge Tunnel and die trying to save the Hive as Gorge if necessary
● Alert your team when milestone Personal Resource is reached. . . 25 for Lerk, 40 for Fade, 60 for Onos
● If you have the choice of two different Hives go for the one that is farthest from your base since you have Gorge Tunnels
● Echo is a great way to take full advantage of Whips by dropping them in on top of unsuspecting Marines or to Siege Bases
● Early Shift tech will also net you the Storm Ability on Drifters

---

Phantom Rush - (3 Resource Towers / 3 Minutes)
jbteX4KkjEfEvU.png 80-90 res, MEDIUM Risk
Team Tactics: SHADE Tech; Guerrilla Style. . . Team will Split Up, Camp, and Ambush the Enemy near their Base

This build rushes Veils for their Phantom and Aura abilities to allow your team to completely outplay the Marine team during the opening minutes
The build comes at a medium risk; however, since any player on your team that is unfamiliar with the quirks of Stealth Gameplay will be dead weight

The up side though is that you only need to take a couple of Resource Towers
If your team is well adept to the evolutions you may be able to keep the Marine team on 2 Towers for quite some time

Marine movement can sometimes slow down to a crawl as Players wait for large groups to respawn before they move out emot-tinfoil.gif
Playing this build can essentially shut down almost every build order the Marines can throw at you if done right

Other Tips:
● 2 Veils is not enough. . . you will need all 3 to max out Stealth to totally mask your Team
● Midgame Bile Bomb rushes can be easily pulled off with the aid of Stealth netting itself as one of the only midgame Alien strats currently
● Shades can be places strategically to cloak Drifter Scouts on the other side of walls and cover Hives from ARCs via the Ink Ability
● If you do not feel your team is capable the setup can be easily changed to Shells and accompanied by a few Gorges to heal at the front line
● The following Hive is almost always Shift Tech for gaining adrenaline and movement speed
● Early Shade Tech will net you the Hallucination Ability on Drifters

---

Gorge Rush - (2 Resource Towers / 1 Minute 30 Seconds)
jAOXQDBPtPbxG.png 50-60 res, HIGH Risk
Team Tactics: CRAG Tech; 1 Large Group of Gorges, All-In Opener

Before the round starts you will need to tell everyone that you are doing a Gorge Rush
Ask everyone to place 1 Hydra at the starting Hive to prevent a Marine Counter Attack when it's Defenseless

All Gorges should also drop two Babble Eggs and attach them to themselves using the Pheromone
They then make a V-Line for the Marine Base while building a Cyst Chain along the way and drop their 2 remaining Hydras in view of the Chair
(There's different methods on this, but usually if everyone alternates every shot between Spit and Heal Spray you can get the most done)

As the Commander you will need to send a couple of Drifters along to build 1 Resources Tower along the way
The other Drifters will use Mucous Membrane to keep Armor topped off on Gorges and Hydras
It's also Important to use Nutrient Mist to rapidly Mature the Hydras increasing their Maximum Health and Armor

If your Cyst Chain makes it to the base you can then drop in a Shift and a Crag to seal the deal


Other Tips:
● There are many variations to this strat. . . you can rush Bile Bomb instead emot-barf.gif(60 second research after getting crag tech and building a crag)
● Crag is usually the best bet though because if the rush fails everyone will be on Skulks and Carapace might be your only salvation
● If you can pressure enough to keep the Marines in their base you can essentially take over the whole map even if you can't win just yet
● If you want to try and spike the Chair down quickly everyone can throw their Babbles at the Command Station
● If you decide to drop in whips instead of a Shift + Crag remember to Nutrient Mist them twice so they get Bombard quickly
Whips will not use Bombard if they are too close to the target, but this may not be so bad as I think the Slap Damage is higher DPS

---

This took a while to write. . . I'll be back later to finish formatting and add in anything I forgot
Following this next week I'll also see about getting some videos up Commanding in first person, more tactical maps, and additional combos / strategies

Edits: updated Alien Build Order Pics to Include Drifters, Added into additional Tips like why Nutrient Mist is so good, and Updated Formatting
Edits: added in a few smilies to keep such a long post interesting

Comments

  • Ghosthree3Ghosthree3 Join Date: 2010-02-13 Member: 70557Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    You make good threads.
  • CrazyEddieCrazyEddie Join Date: 2013-01-08 Member: 178196Members
    ● Never face Phase Gates into walls or off of cliffs
    Write this with a Sharpie across the forehead of every commander who does this even once.
  • bizbiz Join Date: 2012-11-05 Member: 167386Members
    it's much easier for base rushes to win with the marine nerfs

    for most teams, anything that isn't mines + 2nd IP is high risk imo
  • Cannon_FodderAUSCannon_FodderAUS Brisbane, AU Join Date: 2013-06-23 Member: 185664Members, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
    Great post MaximumSquid. Can I include some of these Strats to the Wiki? I will reference your post ofcourse.
  • NeokenNeoken Bruges, Belgium Join Date: 2004-03-20 Member: 27447Members, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver, Subnautica Playtester
    Awesome stuff.

    btw: The two pg example screenshots show thesame image twice. And it's Sorting Room on Mineshaft. ;)
  • DC_DarklingDC_Darkling Join Date: 2003-07-10 Member: 18068Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver
    ive favorite this and will read later.
    (recent operation, so I dont spend eons behind a pc yet)

    I will update my own guides in the near future also if need be. Perhaps mix em? (ill read in a week orso me thinks)
  • MaximumSquidMaximumSquid Join Date: 2010-07-20 Member: 72593Members
    edited July 2013
    Thanks everyone. . .
    It really took a lot longer to post than I thought
    I think the Tactical Map alone was a good hour by itself since I had to go into the map and test a few things I wasn't sure about

    ---

    Cannon_FodderAUS:

    Yeah be my guest. . . I somewhat rushed the build order images so hopefully they won't look too bad, but you may need to retouch some of them
    I was in a bit of a rush near the end so there's some info missing (Can't believe I forgot to mention Nutrient Mist for the Gorge Rush)

    ---

    Neoken:

    Thanks for the catch. . .

    ---

    DC_Darkling:

    There's tons more viable strats, especially for Aliens, but things might start to get cluttered If I try to list everything
    I do plan to have a section at the bottom where I Link to other info though so once you update I'll be happy to reference you

    Biggest thing I'm missing right now is videos since I didn't record anything while I tested all of this out initially

    ---

    Roobubba:


    Whips still bug out completely on occasion and won't attack unless you re-plant them
    If it wasn't for that though a Whip Rush probably would of gotten on the mainboard

    Echoing in Bombard Whips is crazy good right now though even if some of them do mess up

    -
  • RoobubbaRoobubba Who you gonna call? Join Date: 2003-01-06 Member: 11930Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    Very nice post! I can also recommend the gorge/whip rush, which is highly entertaining :)
  • joshhhjoshhh Milwaukee, WI Join Date: 2011-06-21 Member: 105717Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester
    You forgot the @Locklear 'spawn-entire-team-into-gorge-eggs-strat'

    ggwp
  • DrNoDrNo Join Date: 2006-11-09 Member: 58489Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    Thats some nice strats, i wish more wannbe commanders would read this kind of info.
  • maD_maX_maD_maX_ Join Date: 2013-04-07 Member: 184678Members
    Your gorge rush is all wrong...

    AS fast as you can...
    1A) evolve biomass 1
    1B) drop crag
    1C) build drifter
    1D) go gorge build crag faster

    2A) evolve bile
    2B) cyst to nearest RT
    2C) move drifter to nearest RT

    3A) have whole team attaack with bile!!!
    3B) Drop RT

    4) If rush fails encourage team to bile down all their RT's and harass constantly

    If done ASAP, Bile bomb can be done at 1:10 and second RT can also be building
  • DC_DarklingDC_Darkling Join Date: 2003-07-10 Member: 18068Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver
    @MaximumSquid
    My guides are more basic, you seem to dip into the advanced section with strategy. Something I had on my todo list for my guides for a long long time. (but ya know.. time)

    We cant merge the forum topics but my guide is also on the wiki. If you put yours on the wiki also, we can hotlink them to each other.
    No worries, I will update the guides sometime soon to 250 or higher versions. :)

    Its what the wiki is for right? :)
  • DaxxDaxx Join Date: 2002-04-16 Member: 460Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    CrazyEddie wrote: »
    ● Never face Phase Gates into walls or off of cliffs
    Write this with a Sharpie across the forehead of every commander who does this even once.

    Or for that matter place them near anything that acts like a wall, makes it REAL easy to turn into a meatgrinder with a couple aliens.
  • aeroripperaeroripper Join Date: 2005-02-25 Member: 42471NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Constellation
    Wow nice job, that must have taken some time to type up.
Sign In or Register to comment.