Skulk speeds

Vetinari

Upon reaching a certain speed - with walljump - the skulk makes a certain noise indicating it's speed. Upon reaching even greater speeds - usually with celerity - you hear a different sound, indicating it's even greater speed.
I have rarely, and only for a single jump, heard the second sound without celerity. Is it possible to reach the second sound without celerity and maintain the speed?

Also, I heard read skilled players are able to maintain these speeds during combat. How? The sharp turns in CQB usually kill the speed for me...

Jekt

Yes.

ezekel

You can't keep the second sound for long without celerity, and yes you can maintain these speeds in combat using your surroundings/strafing, but mix in the collision you'll generally lose it with a minor mistake

Zalamael

Sorry for this minor derail, but I have a question regarding Skulks for anyone that knows the answer.

I was watching this video earlier:



And I noticed that Skulk bite damage is dependent on how close you are to the marine, and how much of the marine is centred in your field of view. I was wanting to know, is this still the case, now that marines have strafe jumping? There have been a few occasions where I was pretty certain I got 3 bites in (early game), but failed to kill the marine (and died as a result).

Jekt

Bite damage is a flat 75, for any landed bite. There's no variation, just hit or a miss.

Vetinari

Jekt wrote: »

Bite damage is a flat 75, for any landed bite. There's no variation, just hit or a miss.

Used to be different pre250, though.

Any suggestions on where to look to get an idea on how to maintain high speeds/speed during combat?

Achilles

I don't think Its Super Effective has made a new skulk video or if he's going to, but ezekel hit on some big points: don't collide, just do run-bys, and no sharp turns mid-air. Working on this myself, I've found that you'll start planning out engagements according to the surroundings to line up jumping paths and/or escape routes.

Also Since they removed near-miss bites, I think it's much easier to hit. Learn bite distances too, they're quite far, and have more distance than some realize, I think.

Sorry if I come off as a noob giving advice, been playing NS2 for awhile and just new to the forums. Wanted to drop my two cents in the bucket because I think about this topic often.

Blarney_Stone

Zalamael wrote: »

Sorry for this minor derail, but I have a question regarding Skulks for anyone that knows the answer.

I was watching this video earlier:



And I noticed that Skulk bite damage is dependent on how close you are to the marine, and how much of the marine is centred in your field of view. I was wanting to know, is this still the case, now that marines have strafe jumping? There have been a few occasions where I was pretty certain I got 3 bites in (early game), but failed to kill the marine (and died as a result).

So-called "glancing bites" that gave Skulks different damage numbers depending on where they landed the hit were removed in build 250, which was released near the beginning of July. Bites now always deal 75 damage if they register a hit. So either those marines had a commander who rushed armor 2, the commander medded the marines, or one of your bites didn't connect.

UncleCrunch

F0rdPrefect wrote: »

Jekt wrote: »

Bite damage is a flat 75, for any landed bite. There's no variation, just hit or a miss.

Used to be different pre250, though.

Any suggestions on where to look to get an idea on how to maintain high speeds/speed during combat?

Speed depends on directional maneuvers. If you turn "to much" you loose momentum. Maintaining speed is like a sequence in which you know you gonna turn here; WJ on that wall...etc.

So it is more : You build speed to get to places fast. Or rush on a marine from the back (if you get lucky).

In close combat the only thing you can do is make a "1,2,bite". 1 Jump on a wall, 2 jump close to the marine, then bite. Nothing of the sort of bunny Hopping/WJ. It gives a little boot but that's not the only interesting thing for a skulk.

Frozen

If you let go of all movement keys while mid-air you can turn all you want without losing speed.

Turning this into a 120 degree turn to bite then get back forward and bunnyhop is pretty challenging. Alot easier with the easy jump mechanic

SnX

Use diagonal movement to increase speed. So not only W (forward key) but W+A or W+D and use the mouse to correct your movement.

Vetinari

SnX wrote: »

Use diagonal movement to increase speed. So not only W (forward key) but W+A or W+D and use the mouse to correct your movement.

I already do

It's Super Effective!

That video was made some time ago, regarding one that is at least more up to date and that focuses on getting wall jumping, take a look at this one:



*Glancing Bites were removed some time ago, it's 75 regardless where you bite or how close. I also think the cone is a bit smaller too.

Still technicaly a bit behind, but it still works today

twiliteblue

I think the air control would become more intuitive and easy to learn, if:
1. Turning while holding Forward attempts to slowly "redirect" speed toward facing direction. Mouse-look turning in the air would not cause sudden direction change or speed loss.
2. Turning while holding Left/Right in the air has stronger tendancies to force changes in movement direction, (similar to NS air movement) at risk of killing momentum when turning too quickly.

With these changes, (newbie) skulks would be (much) less likely to stall their air speeds when turning quickly, and are more likely to discover, and practice optimal air movement on their own, thanks to the more intuitive controls.