Marine Strategy Question.

TheOldBoiler

<div class="IPBDescription">What order do you research?</div> I've gone both ways... but the question is. which order do you go for marine research?

Most of the times I've won, I actually didn't bother with ha untill the very end of the game. I just researched hmg's and all the armor and weapons upgrades to the max level first. My theory on this is: the weapon and armor upgrades and free for every marine, so if they act stupid or whatever, that's not lost rez, as opposed to giving them ha and watching them charge solo into death.

However, I'm not sure as to the exact amount that the armor and weapons upgrades help, they seemed pretty effective, but mabye I had just gotten lucky....

Any thoughts?

Tyrsis

It really all depends on the type of game it has turned into. If aliens have a second hive secured, then HA is pretty important. Fades are really tough with regeneration. But in general the armor and weapon upgrades are also important. I usually favour those upgrades at least up to level 3 before I go for HA. (Since HA research is 50, and level 2 armor / weapons is 40 each). Weapon upgrades are VITAL. An LMG goes from doing 10 dmg per hit to up to 16 at level 3. Also the turret fire is upgraded as well. 6 damage per hit goes a long way in stopping fades and skulks.

Tyrsis

XiaoXiao

Jetpacks, Jetpacks, Jetpacks! HA is slow but hard to kill. A skilled person with a Jetpack(armed with a HMG) can take out a hive! Just fly up and land ontop of it <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> It takes 1 clip(not sure) to kill that hive with a HMG. A HAM(heavy armor marine) can't take out a hive unless it takes out the oc's and all. Try the jetpacks...

FlatlineUTD

Motion tracking first, every time.

Other than that, it varies depending on how the game is progressing. Typically though, I tend to get 2 armor upgrades before I start on the weapons.

Mindmeldme

yea, motion tracking...followed by armor and weapons. When I start on HA I upgrade the armory then to. I usually have 2 weapon and armor upgrades done when I drop HA and HMG's. First one though is always motion tracking...first 5 minutes of the game if I can.

Trevelyan_006

HAM... i like that...

Narfwak

I either get the observatory for motion tracking, or armory for armor and weapon upgrades. These are the most vital upgrades in the game, by far. Then, it depends on circumstance. I get the advanced armory if we really need to siege an area (we can get gren launchers as we already have the armory), or get prototype lab if we really need mobility. I never get HA in the early game, and I ban players that ask for it repeatadly in the first fifteen minutes of a game (or anytime in a game; "GIMME HMG/HA! NOW!!" ad naseum is very annoying).

Another advantage of getting the armory and observatory initially is that you can get phase gates right away. Phase gates are super useful, and rather underused ways of linking completely seperate areas easily.

MrPink

i always get the 1 armor upgrade cuz then a marine dies in 3 skulk bits instead of 2, but even if u max out armor he still dies in 3 skulk bites. then i get weapon upgrades cuz that makes all my turrets more effective

Big_Game_Hunter

Personally, I find the weapon upgrades to be much more useful as they cancel out the aliens carapace advantage. That is the biggest problem in the early game; at first a marine group (or even one) has no trouble dispatching skulks but then as the skulks get carapace, it becomes ever more difficult to cover builders or to hold ground at all. Even the 1st weapon upgrade helps tremendously. As for armor, if a skulk has already surprised a marine enough to get 2 bites in, chances are the extra bite won't help him much.

ShuflY

I agree with scarface, I'll try and get the first armor upgrade, then the first gun upgrade. Now that the cost to upgrade either of those has become 40, depending on what the situation is and what will help out the most, I can choose to spend our next 40 resources on either the next gun upgrade, the next armor upgrade, motion tracking, or spend 5 extra to get the prototype lab up. I like doing this because it gives me a range of options to suit the needs of the particular battle we are fighting.