People make such science out of shade. I instantly loved it and when i basically started to play the game. It's probably the easiest skill to use. Stand still to be cloaked and attack when enemy is not looking at you (or just let the enemy go past). That's all it is to it. Later on you'll find that advanced players can spot light distortion of a cloaked alien, so it's good to be cloaked in badly lit places, preferably away from light sources (but you still need cloak because you'd otherwise still be spotted). Or on surfaces that don't give you away that much. And yeah, don't look around while you're cloaked, because that means player model will rotate in the world and will give you away. Something many people aren't aware of. But that's pretty much it.
you also remain cloaked while sneaking, i think thats the main thing some people are overlooking.
for gorges and i think also lerks, crouching will work.
i used to love phantom but now i'm more into aura, even as a skulk (except when on 1 veil ofc). if there are many enemies, you can just run instead of hiding, no risk of being spotted while cloaked. if there is only one enemy or some hurt enemies and you want to fight, you can time your attack with the moment they are entering the room / going around a corner.
it can also help to support your team and kham by warning them about pushes or sneaky rambo marines.
I still don't get how people are praising cloaking after all this time; you ARE visible even when not moving. It needs a bit of experience, but once you know how to recognize the shimmer you will notice it. And if you get noticed you are dead. You are taking a huge gamble by standing still cloaked, a gamble you do not have one once of control ( it is all on the experience of the marine ).
Aura is crazy good and is always my preferred choice. But you need 2+ to be effective.
Am I the only one who preferres aura on one veil? Even if it's short range, at least you get the full effect. A one veil skulk is neither properly cloaked nor properly silent.
I still don't get how people are praising cloaking after all this time; you ARE visible even when not moving. It needs a bit of experience, but once you know how to recognize the shimmer you will notice it. And if you get noticed you are dead. You are taking a huge gamble by standing still cloaked, a gamble you do not have one once of control ( it is all on the experience of the marine ).
Aura is crazy good and is always my preferred choice. But you need 2+ to be effective.
From my experience, 90% of ppl won't see you. If you hide yourself on a ground level, yes, but once you hide on mid level and ceiling, very unlikely. Especially if there aren't any direct light sources.
one veil isn't about not being spotted. it's about not being spotted for an extra 500 milliseconds. shade start is amazingly fun, because it makes marine's paranoid, and slows them down. not terribly good long term though, as it doesn't help pushes as much as the other hives... as has always been the case.
shade start is to dominate map control early, because good luck trying to take back territory with a scan down.
If two upgrade chambers never makes sense, the upgrade chambers should be rebalanced so that the gain from 0->1 is larger than the gain from 1->2, which is larger than the gain from 2->3.
The gain was choosen to scale the alien upgrades that way, that aliens get stronger the longer the match is in progress. A larger boost on the first chamber would make early game aliens maybe too strong and a weak 3rd chamber even less often build.
One way to look at it is that cloak and aura are polar opposites. Cloak hides your location while aura reveals the enemies location. Each have many different uses for many different scenarios.
One way to look at it is that cloak and aura are polar opposites. Cloak hides your location while aura reveals the enemies location. Each have many different uses for many different scenarios.
cloak on skulks, everything else gets aura. situational dilemma solved. lerks and fades can target, gorges need the awareness... and cloak on onos is hilarious but pointless.
Cannon_FodderAUSBrisbane, AUJoin Date: 2013-06-23Member: 185664Members, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
I actually get aura on a skulk often (if we have 3 veils). The wall hack nature of it means I can easily parasite marines for team mates (and helps me juke the marine as well).
Are their even tactics? All I see is: get chambers and bile and if we survive long enough, get the rest but ignore shadowstep. It feels strangely flat tactic wise since the beta ended. Ignore all upgrades and rush xeno research might be the only crazy thing I have seen lately.
The 'silence' means lonely marines wont start running away until they see you in most cases, its much harder to pinpoint your position via sound (and if they dont know you have shade, they might just think you're miles away).
Vanilla shade start is totally broken, and is improved in the comp mod at present. Phantom 3-veil skulks + hallucinations (which give both distraction and essentially health boost by being bulletsponges), plus aura on early game lerks and the marines are stuffed if they don't play perfectly.
The trouble is that most pub commanders don't use hallucinations (well, or even at all). Lerks with 3 veils and aura are devastating early game on pubs, and can be good in comp play as aura helps you avoid getting trapped so easily as well as prioritising targets. However, 1 or 2 veils is really unhelpful for lerks (IMO) as you simply don't have the range you need.
The down side of aura is 'that one last bite' that you need to finish a marine off: it's too much temptation sometimes where you would otherwise get out - then a medpack drops and it's bye bye lifeform
IF marines can hold the lines effectively and pressure at appropriate times, then shade starts can be truly awful - you can't close the gap on marines (because they see you coming even with cloak), and they don't need to hear you (you're holding the lines and can see the only places they can emerge from). This totally nullifies the shade start - hallucinations aside - and keeps skulks at vanilla potency until they can get a second hive up.
I'd always like that 3rd shell, spur or veil, but 2 shells or spurs is better than nothing. 3 veils though - no point in giving 1 veil, unless you're playing against scrubs, of course.
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for gorges and i think also lerks, crouching will work.
i used to love phantom but now i'm more into aura, even as a skulk (except when on 1 veil ofc). if there are many enemies, you can just run instead of hiding, no risk of being spotted while cloaked. if there is only one enemy or some hurt enemies and you want to fight, you can time your attack with the moment they are entering the room / going around a corner.
it can also help to support your team and kham by warning them about pushes or sneaky rambo marines.
Aura is crazy good and is always my preferred choice. But you need 2+ to be effective.
From my experience, 90% of ppl won't see you. If you hide yourself on a ground level, yes, but once you hide on mid level and ceiling, very unlikely. Especially if there aren't any direct light sources.
shade start is to dominate map control early, because good luck trying to take back territory with a scan down.
One way to look at it is that cloak and aura are polar opposites. Cloak hides your location while aura reveals the enemies location. Each have many different uses for many different scenarios.
cloak on skulks, everything else gets aura. situational dilemma solved. lerks and fades can target, gorges need the awareness... and cloak on onos is hilarious but pointless.
Are their even tactics? All I see is: get chambers and bile and if we survive long enough, get the rest but ignore shadowstep. It feels strangely flat tactic wise since the beta ended. Ignore all upgrades and rush xeno research might be the only crazy thing I have seen lately.
The 'silence' means lonely marines wont start running away until they see you in most cases, its much harder to pinpoint your position via sound (and if they dont know you have shade, they might just think you're miles away).
The trouble is that most pub commanders don't use hallucinations (well, or even at all). Lerks with 3 veils and aura are devastating early game on pubs, and can be good in comp play as aura helps you avoid getting trapped so easily as well as prioritising targets. However, 1 or 2 veils is really unhelpful for lerks (IMO) as you simply don't have the range you need.
The down side of aura is 'that one last bite' that you need to finish a marine off: it's too much temptation sometimes where you would otherwise get out - then a medpack drops and it's bye bye lifeform
IF marines can hold the lines effectively and pressure at appropriate times, then shade starts can be truly awful - you can't close the gap on marines (because they see you coming even with cloak), and they don't need to hear you (you're holding the lines and can see the only places they can emerge from). This totally nullifies the shade start - hallucinations aside - and keeps skulks at vanilla potency until they can get a second hive up.
I'd always like that 3rd shell, spur or veil, but 2 shells or spurs is better than nothing. 3 veils though - no point in giving 1 veil, unless you're playing against scrubs, of course.