Commander Basics
Eviscerator
Join Date: 2003-02-24 Member: 13946Members, Constellation
Join Date: 2003-02-24 Member: 13946Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">Want to try it out? Read this.</div> There is a shortage of good commanders out there on the public servers. Far too often, I'll play as marine and no one wants to be comm. I've been playing pretty heavily for a few months now and have been commander of a online team at least 75 times now. I have some recommendations for new players wanting to learn, so I thought I'd throw out some of these basic rules so newer players have some idea as to what to expect and where to go.
1. First things first, do not try to be comm until you have at <b>least</b> ten serious rounds of playing as a marine grunt under your belt. You need to learn how a competent commander operates before you can really be one yourself. You learn this by watching what a good commander does, says, and builds. Remember matches where you've won as a marine. Remember what the commander did to achieve that. Then try your best to emulate it. I spent at least a week of playing before I even tried to be a comm, and even then I was <b>way</b> in over my head. Lost that one in 15 minutes, even though I knew how to play and had some idea as to what to do. A newbie jumping into the comm chair the second map he's played is sure death and very frustrating for all of the other marines.
2. Understand and learn how to plant and upgrade structures and purchase research levels before ever attempting to be a commander online. You can do this by creating your own LAN game offline and turning sv_cheats to 1 (go to console and type <b>sv_cheats 1</b>.) There is a topic here somewhere that explains how to do this and what all of the cheat commands are, but I can't find it now. With sv_cheats turned on, you can join the marines, be a commander, and actually build stuff without having any other players. You cannot do this on a public server unless someone else is in the game with you. If you're in the game with someone else, they will expect you to know how to play.
3. Listen to experienced players who know how to play the game (and understand strategy) when you first try to comm on a public server. These experienced marines will likely give you pointers on where to place structures to be the most effective, and what areas to control for strategy purposes. Identify key marines that follow your orders. Reward these players by giving them weapons and equipment. Tell them you're a newer comm, and you respect their experienced advice. They will most likely respond positively to that ego stroke and try to help you out even more.
4. Bind all of the commander hotkeys and <b>write them down</b>. Nothing is more frustrating to a marine in danger than a commander who cannot assist him in a short amount of time. The most important bind you need to remember is the one for health kit. A dead marine is a useless marine, and if you've got your team members out in the field working towards an objective, you have to make every effort towards keeping them alive. Clicking through the menus is okay for uncommon things, but for those items most often used, you need to use the hotkeys. Hotkeys only work when the appropriate menu is up, so you need to bind and remember the three menu hotkeys, too.
5. <b>Get a microphone and make sure it works.</b> This is absolutely invaluable. A good commander does not have time to type or explain his goals, objectives, and strategies. Time spent typing is better spent building, researching, and directing your marines. I have <b>never</b> been on a winning marine team where the commander was unable to use his mic. Plenty of losing teams. You can use the voice_tweak program in your Half-Life folder to test your microphone levels. Make sure the volume is high enough that you can hear and understand yourself clearly, and then make sure the mic volume slider in your Half-Life config menu is high enough. Make some test announcements as a grunt marine first to make sure your mic levels are loud enough and that people can understand you clearly. If your mic is cheap and comes across poorly, invest the $20 in a decent one. I like the headset variety, as it is independent of head movement.
6. Do not be afraid of failure. You are <b>going to lose</b> a lot the first dozen or so times you play as a commander. If the alien team is even slightly competent, this is almost a guaranteed thing. A commander in training simply cannot do things fast enough and in the right order to succeed. You will learn over time how to be fast and in what order things need to be done. It's called experience, and you need a lot of it to be a really good commander. Keep jumping in the comm chair and keep practicing. My first time as comm was horrible. My second time was marginally better. I did not win a serious round until my 7th or 8th time as comm. By serious I mean one in which the game lasts for more than 10 minutes and doesn't end in an "F4." Even today, after so many rounds as being comm, I still probably only win 40% of the time. This is due mostly to the fact that public servers are predominantly biased towards aliens, as most of the newbie players go marines. Public servers also typically have rounds with fewer than max players, which is very heavily in the aliens favor. If you get a good, full team of marine players all the time, you can win closer to 50% of the time, which is the sign of a well-balanced game.
7. Learn all of the maps in the cycle. Learn where named locations are in your overhead view. This is essential for marine grunts, but absolutely critical for the commander. Experienced players are going to refer to hives and locations by name. If you don't know where those are in your overhead view, you will not be able to assist them quickly in time of need. Shaving off a second or two from your overhead map movements by remembering locations can mean the difference between life and death for a marine in need. For marines that try to give you pointers on hive strategy, you have to know where that hive is at before you can start thinking about how to get there. You can do this by playing every map as a marine, or just browsing around as comm in offline LAN mode.
8. For experienced comms and marines, waypoints are a waste of time. This goes with #7. It is far easier and faster to just tell someone "go to South Loop and wait for the res tower" than to find the player, click on them, move to the location, and right-click to set the waypoint. With voice comm, you could be off doing something completely different and give verbal directions to your idle marines waiting for something to do. Waypoints are only useful for newbie marine players, as they do not know the maps well enough to navigate to locations by name. But even then, some newer players cannot navigate to anywhere but the closest and most simple waypoints. They can see a waypoint, but they can't figure out how to get there. Or they don't understand waypoints at all. Do not set waypoints completely across the map for newer players. Give them shorter, easier waypoints that guide them towards the final destination.
9. Never <b>ever</b> place a structure without at least one marine in the direct vicinity, and preferably two. Never place a structure without telling someone you need it built or select them to give them an order to build it. Until you have motion tracking researched, you cannot tell where the aliens are unless your marines are also in the area. So if you place down a resource tower far off in the map, hoping the marines will just walk to it and build it later, you will most likely lose that structure to marauding aliens. An unbuilt, freshly-placed structure is incredibly easy for an alien to take down, and you <b>cannot recycle it</b>. This is a total waste of resources that you will not recover. So wait for marines to get to the area first and make sure there aren't any aliens nearby. Then place the structure and watch them as they build it. There might be aliens lying in the rafters waiting for you to place the structure and the marines to start building, as marines become very vulnerable when they start building. Verbally warn them when you spot an alien entering the area, and give them health if they start to be attacked. If you have multiple marines in the area, tell one to build the structure and the others to guard the area. A group of marines all building a structure without anyone guarding is a favorite alien delicacy.
10. Learn and understand the upgrade tree. Experienced marines are going to ask for things like "weapon upgrades", "motion tracking", "HA", or "JP." None of these things are directly available when you first start the round. In every case, you need to build a structure first then research the appropriate technology. If you don't understand how to do this, it will be very difficult for you to learn while "on the job." Refer to point #2 on how to do this. You need to understand what structures will give you what benefits. An observatory will give you the ability to create phase gates, research motion tracking, scan locations, and purchase a distress signal. Most structures are only available after you've built some other structure. An armory is only available when you've built an infantry portal. A prototype lab is only available when you've built an arms lab. Turrets only after a turret factory. Some structures can only be placed in proximity of its controlling structure. Infantry portals and turrets are the two main ones. All of these things need to be learned before you will be able to win as comm during a serious game.
11. This is more of an advanced topic, but something useful to think about. Try and gauge the skill level of your marine team very early on in the round. If you have very skilled marines, you can get by with fewer structural/mine defenses at home base and spend those precious resources on upgrades. One skilled shooter can defend home base in ns_eclipse with a single mine pack. If your team has mostly skilled shooters, get them weapons upgrades first, as they'll be able to take out skulks faster with fewer bullets. If your team has mostly poor shooters, get them armor upgrades first, as they'll need the armor to survive multiple bites. They can't hit the skulk anyways, so it doesn't matter how strong the bullets are. As you gain experience, you will be able to judge your team's skill level after the first few minor alien encounters. From that, you can plan your strategy.
12. Do not let annoying players distract you from your objectives. You will often run into players on public servers that spend the entire round asking for a better weapon or equipment. They are unavoidable. Arguing with them or telling them to lay off is a pointless endeavor. Some players come in expecting NS to be just like CS, and they don't yet understand it is a team game. If you hear someone ask "why can't I see my score?" you know you're probably going to have some difficulty with them. Just try to ignore them and stay focused on your objectives. If you've got a ton of resources and you just can't take it anymore, buy the goof a shotgun and tell him not to lose it.
13. Do not purchase expensive guns and equipment if your resources are not coming in fast. Just because you have 35 res does not mean you should spend it on a grenade launcher. Guns and equipment cannot be recycled. Equipment cannot be re-used after the marine that had it dies. Guns, unless claimed by another marine fairly quickly, will disappear from the map. You need to be able to sustain a steady resource flow first before purchasing advanced weapons and equipment. My general rule is to not buy HMGs, GLs, or HA unless I have at least 3 res towers, an obs, an arms lab, and 75+ res. There are exceptions to this, of course, depending on what is happening in the game and the strategy.
Those are the main points I'd like to make. Strategy is a <b>whole</b> other discussion, and varies from person to person. This is mainly for those just starting out, wanting to know how to start playing as comm. This foundation should apply for any strategy you then decide to develop or use. Comments from other experienced players welcome. Questions from newer players also welcome.
Evis
1. First things first, do not try to be comm until you have at <b>least</b> ten serious rounds of playing as a marine grunt under your belt. You need to learn how a competent commander operates before you can really be one yourself. You learn this by watching what a good commander does, says, and builds. Remember matches where you've won as a marine. Remember what the commander did to achieve that. Then try your best to emulate it. I spent at least a week of playing before I even tried to be a comm, and even then I was <b>way</b> in over my head. Lost that one in 15 minutes, even though I knew how to play and had some idea as to what to do. A newbie jumping into the comm chair the second map he's played is sure death and very frustrating for all of the other marines.
2. Understand and learn how to plant and upgrade structures and purchase research levels before ever attempting to be a commander online. You can do this by creating your own LAN game offline and turning sv_cheats to 1 (go to console and type <b>sv_cheats 1</b>.) There is a topic here somewhere that explains how to do this and what all of the cheat commands are, but I can't find it now. With sv_cheats turned on, you can join the marines, be a commander, and actually build stuff without having any other players. You cannot do this on a public server unless someone else is in the game with you. If you're in the game with someone else, they will expect you to know how to play.
3. Listen to experienced players who know how to play the game (and understand strategy) when you first try to comm on a public server. These experienced marines will likely give you pointers on where to place structures to be the most effective, and what areas to control for strategy purposes. Identify key marines that follow your orders. Reward these players by giving them weapons and equipment. Tell them you're a newer comm, and you respect their experienced advice. They will most likely respond positively to that ego stroke and try to help you out even more.
4. Bind all of the commander hotkeys and <b>write them down</b>. Nothing is more frustrating to a marine in danger than a commander who cannot assist him in a short amount of time. The most important bind you need to remember is the one for health kit. A dead marine is a useless marine, and if you've got your team members out in the field working towards an objective, you have to make every effort towards keeping them alive. Clicking through the menus is okay for uncommon things, but for those items most often used, you need to use the hotkeys. Hotkeys only work when the appropriate menu is up, so you need to bind and remember the three menu hotkeys, too.
5. <b>Get a microphone and make sure it works.</b> This is absolutely invaluable. A good commander does not have time to type or explain his goals, objectives, and strategies. Time spent typing is better spent building, researching, and directing your marines. I have <b>never</b> been on a winning marine team where the commander was unable to use his mic. Plenty of losing teams. You can use the voice_tweak program in your Half-Life folder to test your microphone levels. Make sure the volume is high enough that you can hear and understand yourself clearly, and then make sure the mic volume slider in your Half-Life config menu is high enough. Make some test announcements as a grunt marine first to make sure your mic levels are loud enough and that people can understand you clearly. If your mic is cheap and comes across poorly, invest the $20 in a decent one. I like the headset variety, as it is independent of head movement.
6. Do not be afraid of failure. You are <b>going to lose</b> a lot the first dozen or so times you play as a commander. If the alien team is even slightly competent, this is almost a guaranteed thing. A commander in training simply cannot do things fast enough and in the right order to succeed. You will learn over time how to be fast and in what order things need to be done. It's called experience, and you need a lot of it to be a really good commander. Keep jumping in the comm chair and keep practicing. My first time as comm was horrible. My second time was marginally better. I did not win a serious round until my 7th or 8th time as comm. By serious I mean one in which the game lasts for more than 10 minutes and doesn't end in an "F4." Even today, after so many rounds as being comm, I still probably only win 40% of the time. This is due mostly to the fact that public servers are predominantly biased towards aliens, as most of the newbie players go marines. Public servers also typically have rounds with fewer than max players, which is very heavily in the aliens favor. If you get a good, full team of marine players all the time, you can win closer to 50% of the time, which is the sign of a well-balanced game.
7. Learn all of the maps in the cycle. Learn where named locations are in your overhead view. This is essential for marine grunts, but absolutely critical for the commander. Experienced players are going to refer to hives and locations by name. If you don't know where those are in your overhead view, you will not be able to assist them quickly in time of need. Shaving off a second or two from your overhead map movements by remembering locations can mean the difference between life and death for a marine in need. For marines that try to give you pointers on hive strategy, you have to know where that hive is at before you can start thinking about how to get there. You can do this by playing every map as a marine, or just browsing around as comm in offline LAN mode.
8. For experienced comms and marines, waypoints are a waste of time. This goes with #7. It is far easier and faster to just tell someone "go to South Loop and wait for the res tower" than to find the player, click on them, move to the location, and right-click to set the waypoint. With voice comm, you could be off doing something completely different and give verbal directions to your idle marines waiting for something to do. Waypoints are only useful for newbie marine players, as they do not know the maps well enough to navigate to locations by name. But even then, some newer players cannot navigate to anywhere but the closest and most simple waypoints. They can see a waypoint, but they can't figure out how to get there. Or they don't understand waypoints at all. Do not set waypoints completely across the map for newer players. Give them shorter, easier waypoints that guide them towards the final destination.
9. Never <b>ever</b> place a structure without at least one marine in the direct vicinity, and preferably two. Never place a structure without telling someone you need it built or select them to give them an order to build it. Until you have motion tracking researched, you cannot tell where the aliens are unless your marines are also in the area. So if you place down a resource tower far off in the map, hoping the marines will just walk to it and build it later, you will most likely lose that structure to marauding aliens. An unbuilt, freshly-placed structure is incredibly easy for an alien to take down, and you <b>cannot recycle it</b>. This is a total waste of resources that you will not recover. So wait for marines to get to the area first and make sure there aren't any aliens nearby. Then place the structure and watch them as they build it. There might be aliens lying in the rafters waiting for you to place the structure and the marines to start building, as marines become very vulnerable when they start building. Verbally warn them when you spot an alien entering the area, and give them health if they start to be attacked. If you have multiple marines in the area, tell one to build the structure and the others to guard the area. A group of marines all building a structure without anyone guarding is a favorite alien delicacy.
10. Learn and understand the upgrade tree. Experienced marines are going to ask for things like "weapon upgrades", "motion tracking", "HA", or "JP." None of these things are directly available when you first start the round. In every case, you need to build a structure first then research the appropriate technology. If you don't understand how to do this, it will be very difficult for you to learn while "on the job." Refer to point #2 on how to do this. You need to understand what structures will give you what benefits. An observatory will give you the ability to create phase gates, research motion tracking, scan locations, and purchase a distress signal. Most structures are only available after you've built some other structure. An armory is only available when you've built an infantry portal. A prototype lab is only available when you've built an arms lab. Turrets only after a turret factory. Some structures can only be placed in proximity of its controlling structure. Infantry portals and turrets are the two main ones. All of these things need to be learned before you will be able to win as comm during a serious game.
11. This is more of an advanced topic, but something useful to think about. Try and gauge the skill level of your marine team very early on in the round. If you have very skilled marines, you can get by with fewer structural/mine defenses at home base and spend those precious resources on upgrades. One skilled shooter can defend home base in ns_eclipse with a single mine pack. If your team has mostly skilled shooters, get them weapons upgrades first, as they'll be able to take out skulks faster with fewer bullets. If your team has mostly poor shooters, get them armor upgrades first, as they'll need the armor to survive multiple bites. They can't hit the skulk anyways, so it doesn't matter how strong the bullets are. As you gain experience, you will be able to judge your team's skill level after the first few minor alien encounters. From that, you can plan your strategy.
12. Do not let annoying players distract you from your objectives. You will often run into players on public servers that spend the entire round asking for a better weapon or equipment. They are unavoidable. Arguing with them or telling them to lay off is a pointless endeavor. Some players come in expecting NS to be just like CS, and they don't yet understand it is a team game. If you hear someone ask "why can't I see my score?" you know you're probably going to have some difficulty with them. Just try to ignore them and stay focused on your objectives. If you've got a ton of resources and you just can't take it anymore, buy the goof a shotgun and tell him not to lose it.
13. Do not purchase expensive guns and equipment if your resources are not coming in fast. Just because you have 35 res does not mean you should spend it on a grenade launcher. Guns and equipment cannot be recycled. Equipment cannot be re-used after the marine that had it dies. Guns, unless claimed by another marine fairly quickly, will disappear from the map. You need to be able to sustain a steady resource flow first before purchasing advanced weapons and equipment. My general rule is to not buy HMGs, GLs, or HA unless I have at least 3 res towers, an obs, an arms lab, and 75+ res. There are exceptions to this, of course, depending on what is happening in the game and the strategy.
Those are the main points I'd like to make. Strategy is a <b>whole</b> other discussion, and varies from person to person. This is mainly for those just starting out, wanting to know how to start playing as comm. This foundation should apply for any strategy you then decide to develop or use. Comments from other experienced players welcome. Questions from newer players also welcome.
Evis
Comments
EDIT: Forgot to say - I didn't mean that as a criticism and I value everything else you said. I've never commed properly so I appreciate someone like you taking time out to give people like me good and easy-to-understand pointers. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
Yeah, that is one of the exceptions. Experienced comms will use it properly, but that is not something a novice comm will be able to grasp right away. I just wanted to say that a novice comm should not get hung up on having to set waypoints for everyone, especially the experienced players. Know the named locations first, and then just tell people to go there. Your experienced players will pick up on this right away and have no problem understanding what they need to do. "Defend Mess Hall" takes a second to say over voice comm and leaves little doubt as to your meaning.
About the only time I use waypoints are the following:
1. When a novice player doesn't know how to get to a location
2. When an area doesn't have a name
3. When I want more precise placement of mines
4. Targeting an alien to attack (as you mentioned)
5. Give some annoying person something to do
When you have a team of competent players, waypoints are almost never required, and can become a nuisance as the icon can interfere with their sight.
Evis
I have played as every class in the game and the only one I find still hard is being the COMM! I find that once the action starts and ppl start asking for things, I get freaked out and can't focus. I forget what keys to press and how to do things. Being the Comm is a hard **** job, would be nice if there were 2. One to build things and a Battle COmm to give out guns and health and Ammo!
Maybe in the future... Thanks aagain for your thread.. most helpful, even for a vet like me!
Being commander is definitely the most difficult task in NS. Which is why, on public servers, most players do not quickly volunteer for it. Some of that is due to the fact people sometimes want to play in first person and not bother with the "boring" task of being commander. Sometimes people are either afraid or have no confidence in their abilities to be comm. Which, unfortunately, is a shame. Far too often I will join marines and be forced to jump in the comm chair out of necessity, as no one else will want to do it. Being gorge comes in a <b>distant</b> second. While being gorge is an important role for the Kharaa, you spend most of your time alone and not interacting with anyone else.
While commanding is the most difficult task, it is also by <b>far</b> the most rewarding. Especially when you win. The most memorable matches I've played are the ones where I've been commander. You do not soon forget a round in which you commanded your team to victory in an hour-long game. You recall all of the events and battles over and over in your head. After a fun, rewarding victory against the Kharaa, I will replay the entire sequence of events in my head and lock those strategies that worked into my permanent memory banks. I still recall games that I commanded months ago.
For those of you wanting to be commander, but are just too timid to take the plunge, do not be afraid of it. Like I mentioned in my first post, yes... you are most likely going to lose, and probably lose bad. Very few people won their first time in the commander chair, and those that did probably won because they had a superior team against weaker aliens. This is a rite of passage, and every good commander out there today sans the NS developers went through it.
Be forewarned, some people do not take kindly to newbie commanders. Tell your marines ahead of time that you are new to it and they should be more receptive. They may decide to eject you, which is their prerogative. Just find another server or wait for a more accepting team and jump in again. Don't let other people's negative attitude affect your desire to learn and grow. Practice, practice, practice, and then practice some more. Then when you become competent at it, come back here and share your pointers, what you've learned, and your experiences along the way <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
You hit the spacebar to automatically go to where that player is. You can do this for other events, too... like when your base is under attack. It's not your "jump" key, unless that also happens to be bound to the spacebar.
Probably just a bug, then. Was the marine asking for health via his menu, or was he verbally saying/typing it? If the guy is in a pinch and screaming for health, he probably isn't using his menu, in which case you won't be able to use the spacebar shortcut.
Off-line I play as a commander with the Bots, and I normally win the game in 10-15 min, which leads to a doubt of mine.
If i'm confident with commanding Bots, would you guys say that i'm ready to get in the seat of the comm when playing on-line?
I'd recommend finding a server with only a handful of people on it first. Like 8-10. Tell them you're new to the commander role, and you'd like to hone your skills. Hopefully they'll be willing to play with you as their commander. If not, there isn't much you can do... either find another server or wait it out and try again after playing as marine and showing them you understand the game.
Some rules to follow to avoid early ejection:
1. Do <b>not</b> build turrets in the marine spawn area immediately. This is a classic sign of a newbie commander. Why? Because turrets without any weapon upgrades are practically useless unless you have an entire bank of them. Skulks can just zip right on by. They're also far too expensive early on to sustain. You need at least two turrets to protect the turret factory (preferably 3+.) 25 res for the TF, and 19 res for each turret. Those resources would be better spent on an observatory, or arms lab, and some kind of upgrade. Either motion tracking (incredibly useful early on) or weapon/armor. Turrets are fine once you've got a handful of resource towers going. Use turrets to defend places you can't afford to keep marines stationed (like hives in hive lockdown mode.) Use your marines to defend home base early on; not turrets.
2. Find the alien hive right away and tell everyone what it is. You can do this by listening for the alien resource tower "gurgle" sound that is made. The aliens, like marines, start with one resource tower. It's always the one closest to their hive. You'll learn pretty quickly which resource towers belong to which hives on every map. Then, just hover over those areas and listen for a few seconds to see if you can hear the gurgle. If so, that's their hive. The only map/hive that is hard to listen for is ns_nothing and viaduct. The resource tower is really far below the commander's view height, and the sound cannot be heard. You can still deduce it, however, by listening to both silo and cargo. You have to do this "resource tower sound" very early in the round, before the aliens have the chance to build another resource tower.
3. Pick a strategy and let everyone know early on. These are just some examples: a) tell them to constantly attack the aliens' hive. Or b) tell them you're going for a tech rush. Or c) tell them you're going for a two-hive lockdown, and by the way fusion is the first hive you'll be trying for. This will give your marines some kind of idea as to what they're going to need to do. You can't possibly direct them all of the time, so telling them what your plan is far in advance will give them their own set of instructions to follow.
4. Homeland security. Designate someone on your team to defend home base at all costs. Tell them not to leave or wander off. Their job is to protect your critical assets in marine spawn. Like #3, giving someone a direct order that leaves little room for judgement or opinion will inspire them to have confidence in you, their commander. Which is very critical in the opening moments of the round. If they have zero confidence in your abilities, you may get ejected.
Those should help you get by the initial commander evaluation. If not, stop by my server and I'll let you comm <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
Uhm.... was that good or bad for a first time? <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo-->
Even if only 1 NS player starts being a comm (which has happened) it was worth the time to type!!!
Now I better pull my finger out and get in that chair as I am the classic case of giving good suggestions as a marine but never sitting in the chair!!! <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo-->
MOTION TRACKING <!--emo&::marine::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/marine.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='marine.gif'><!--endemo-->
This should be your first Upgrade
Nothing, is more helpful, then being able to use the Kharaa Ambushes to your advantage, by catching them off guard hiding in a dark corner!
Newbs will find this perticularly helpful, because they will know where not to go, due to all the blue circles!
WEAPON UPGRADES/ARMOR UPGRADES <!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif'><!--endemo-->
This depends on your team, if you have skilled ppl, who are good @ aiming, give them the L2 and L3 wep upgrade as fast as possible, if you find that your team is respawning consistantly, try giving them better armor.
I personally would always give better guns over better armor.
"If they can't get near to you, they can't hurt you!"
WHINERS AND CRY BABIES <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif'><!--endemo-->
I choose to ignor ppl who spam "Give me a Shotty, give me a welder, give me, give me, give me".
I focus on the guys who go out , waste 2 Skulks and ask for more ammo!
People who bug for HA and Shottys and JP's are always the first to go and lose them... seems like a waste to me!
Watch what ppl listen to your orders and work as a team, give them everything first and make them your most strong ppl, they will be even more LOYAL once you give them things to help them!
The others who are being cry babies will see that, the ppl who listen are the ones who get the stuff and will start to listen them selves!
MINES
These are VERY usefull early on, but I find that alot of ppl use them STUPIDLY! Don't place all the mines on the left side of the wall and DON'T place them in an open area, whats the point of a mine if a skulk can pass through the beam and not be killed! Place them on doors and vents, use the laser as a deterant, they might decide that running into the laser mines to get the base isn't worth it and hold off the attack.
THE BEST USE: PLACE THEM ON THE FLOOR AS A TRIP MINE! As trip mines, place them on the floor around your equipment, the main things are Infintry portals and Res towers, place them down halls and in darn areas. there is no laser to give them away and they will most times catch a charging Skulk off guard and BOOM! Place your mines in a nice patern, it maximizes the effective coverage and uses up less mines, giving you more for other places!
TURRETS/TF's <!--emo&::sentry::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/turret.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='turret.gif'><!--endemo-->
Once your team is stronger, start putting up your defences, NEVER PLACE a TF in an area that can be Lerk sniped, place them at 90 degree anges and in hidden areas, that way they won't be able to wipe all your guns out by just targeting 1 things. Place your Turrets around your equipment, make sure that all sides are covered
<!--emo&::sentry::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/turret.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='turret.gif'><!--endemo--> _____ <!--emo&::sentry::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/turret.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='turret.gif'><!--endemo-->
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<!--emo&::sentry::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/turret.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='turret.gif'><!--endemo--> _____ <!--emo&::sentry::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/turret.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='turret.gif'><!--endemo-->
SIEGE CANNONS <!--emo&::siege::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/siege.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='siege.gif'><!--endemo-->
Siege's are good for taking down a hive or a row od OC'S, DC's, but you never need more then 2, 2 is the max number you should ever make for one area. They cost alot and even if you have tons of Res, don't make a wall of Siege cannons.. its pointless!
Unless you have the Plug-in that lets you control them! then make a row of POWER! <!--emo&::siege::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/siege.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='siege.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::siege::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/siege.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='siege.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::siege::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/siege.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='siege.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::siege::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/siege.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='siege.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::siege::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/siege.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='siege.gif'><!--endemo-->
DON'T WORRY <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
Its a hard job and takes alot of time to learn, just keep @ it and you will do great!
I choose to ignor ppl who spam "Give me a Shotty, give me a welder, give me, give me, give me".
I focus on the guys who go out , waste 2 Skulks and ask for more ammo!
People who bug for HA and Shottys and JP's are always the first to go and lose them... seems like a waste to me!
Watch what ppl listen to your orders and work as a team, give them everything first and make them your most strong ppl, they will be even more LOYAL once you give them things to help them!
The others who are being cry babies will see that, the ppl who listen are the ones who get the stuff and will start to listen them selves! <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
That invariably makes a marine feel good too. I played one game where I felt on fire - I just pwned that day in a High Altitude Chemical Research Facility (Tanith <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo-->). But I had a great comm who rewarded me at one stage when I collected some ammo by encasing me in HA and dropping an HMG into my hands. I even managed to take a hive down. But, again I had support - a welder who kept behind me repairing me and my comm ropping health & ammo as I needed it - not just spamming it.
But my point - it felt so good that mindlessly carrying out orders and killing things that need killing (I ignored an alien res tower to reach a gorge location my comm sent me to) resulted in Bonus Goodies <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
I think that's pretty good for a first time, P-Khan. I don't think I lasted more than 15 minutes my first try.
Like you said, concentrating on base defense may not be such a good use of time. Your marine spawn is very vulnerable early on, but trying to watch over it the entire round is like the "prevent defense" in football... it only staves off the inevitable rather than forcing victory. Quoting George S Patton: "Nobody ever defended anything successfully, there is only attack and attack and attack some more."
To ensure base defense early on in the map, mines are very cost effective. Turrets are worthless for this early on, so don't think about using them until you're farther along. Unfortunately, a lot of people do not understand how to place mines effectively. You don't have any control over this as commander other than to try and tell them where to place mines. The problem is compounded by the fact that in some maps, you cannot set waypoints in the marine spawn area.
The most effective use of mines is to place them in a position whereby you can supplement them with marine lmg fire. Mines left alone by themselves will not last more than a few skulk strikes, as they will surely start finding a way through. The best way to utilize mines for base defense is illustrated in the following diagram. I chose ns_tanith as the subject, as it represents a clear example of how to use mines. This is a crude drawing I made... please forgive the complete lack of detail <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
<img src='http://home.earthlink.net/~tmatthews3/images/tanith.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
Hopefully you can tell that the grey circle is the comm chair and the two hallways leading out of that box are like the ones in tanith. Okay, well maybe in tanith they look a little better <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo--> I've shown two mine packs placed at the farthest end of each hallway. The blue-green circles are two marines defending those hallways. The light blue area is their field of vision, or what they should be looking at the entire time. With mines placed in this fashion and marines guarding the hallways, you can secure your home base for a long time. You'll only need those two marines and maybe another mine pack or two to replace exploded ones. Far cheaper than turrets. With mines used as a shield in combination with lmg fire, your base is practically impenetrable until fades come. At which point hopefully you've already expanded out and upgraded all kinds of things to smash them down.
After you've got some upgrades, especially motion tracking, you can afford to have just one defender at home base. Equip him well... say a jetpack and shotty or hmg. One well-equipped marine can defend home base with motion tracking. Which frees up the rest of your team for expansion duties and whatever plans you have. Just remember to attack, attack, attack. Never let up. If any marine is looking for something to do, have him run off and kill as many alien resource towers as he can. Keeping the aliens busy all over the map is a sure way to keep them away from your key locations.