Commander's Woes : Almost There Is Not There Yet
Sarisel
.::' ( O ) ';:-. .-.:;' ( O ) '::. Join Date: 2003-07-30 Member: 18557Members, Constellation
.::' ( O ) ';:-. .-.:;' ( O ) '::. Join Date: 2003-07-30 Member: 18557Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">...fatal errors and fatal consequences</div> Ever played a game where you you were going to win, and yet that win just slipped out of your grasp like a fish off of your hook, taking the bait with it? Here is a compilation of the worst mistakes a commander can make during such a game. These have cost many games and have contributed to the alien domination concept - which is not entirely true. Here I assume the commander is not completely without knowledge, but does lack some experience.
<i>I. The commander places a phasegate right next to the only turret factory.</i>
Very bad idea, okay? In comes Mr. Onos while nobody is watching. He may bring some friends, but all he really has to do is kill any marines hanging around there, and jump on the phasegate while destroying the turret factory. Turret factory goes down as marines frantically try to respond to the screams of the commander "TAKE THE PG!!1!one1! TF GOING DOWN IN [insert location here] HIVE! OMG!!". Of course, they can't take the phasegate, as the Onos just made it unuseable. There can be other combinations of attacks where the Onos isn't even needed. A fade can do the same thing under the right circumstances, but an Onos can sacrifice itself to take down that TF. The lesson to be learned is that with teamwork, Kharaa can take down defenses very well even with one hive. What you have to do is reduce the weaknesses in your defenses.
So what can you do? Yes, you could build more turrets, but obviously you should do two things if you want to keep the hives from getting overrun:
1. Build the phasegate at least a few meters away from the turret factory.
2. Build more than one turret factory (a must if it is an important location). Build more than one phasegate (optional, but useful). And no, <b>do not build the turret factories and phasegates next to each other!</b>
<i>II. The commander leaves insufficient defense at base.</i>
Well, we secured the two hives - I think we're pretty close to winning now! Suddenly your entire base dissapears - ips, armory, res node, cc - and if you are lucky, you relocate to one of those two hives before you lose the game (the sentence having two meanings). Always have defense at base where your technology is. Yes, while it is a good gamble sometimes when the aliens aren't hitting your main base (they assume it is guarded), the gamble is not necessary if you can afford at least a descent defense (at least until the troops return to save the base).
<i>III. The commander forgets to place an observatory at the secured hive locations.</i>
All of a sudden, you're seeing xenocide, charge, primal scream, and acid rockets. You say to yourself "WTH!?" and scan the hives - sure enough, both went up cloaked while you were preparing the final attack. Your HA train suddenly becomes anihialated along with your hive defenses. Lesson learned? Build observatories, the more the better.
<i>IV. A lack of sieges means a certain death.</i>
So in came the gorges and dropped offense chambers all over the place. The turrets frantically tried to shoot those down, but along with other units for backup, it was a very sad sight. Build sieges or die to gorge rushes, period.
<i>V. Lack of tech research and upgrades.</i>
You need motion tracking as soon as possible, as that will tip you off where the attack is being organized against you. It will keep you one step ahead of the aliens. Meanwhile, your marines could use some armor and weapon upgrades to keep them alive a little longer and make killing things a little easier. Don't blame it on the marines if they don't have enough upgrades. And besides upgrades, without good guns, it is hard to take out higher Kharaa lifeforms. But don't give out too much guns when you need to invest elsewhere.
This is my contribution for today. If anyone else has experienced similar fatal errors, post them here.
<i>I. The commander places a phasegate right next to the only turret factory.</i>
Very bad idea, okay? In comes Mr. Onos while nobody is watching. He may bring some friends, but all he really has to do is kill any marines hanging around there, and jump on the phasegate while destroying the turret factory. Turret factory goes down as marines frantically try to respond to the screams of the commander "TAKE THE PG!!1!one1! TF GOING DOWN IN [insert location here] HIVE! OMG!!". Of course, they can't take the phasegate, as the Onos just made it unuseable. There can be other combinations of attacks where the Onos isn't even needed. A fade can do the same thing under the right circumstances, but an Onos can sacrifice itself to take down that TF. The lesson to be learned is that with teamwork, Kharaa can take down defenses very well even with one hive. What you have to do is reduce the weaknesses in your defenses.
So what can you do? Yes, you could build more turrets, but obviously you should do two things if you want to keep the hives from getting overrun:
1. Build the phasegate at least a few meters away from the turret factory.
2. Build more than one turret factory (a must if it is an important location). Build more than one phasegate (optional, but useful). And no, <b>do not build the turret factories and phasegates next to each other!</b>
<i>II. The commander leaves insufficient defense at base.</i>
Well, we secured the two hives - I think we're pretty close to winning now! Suddenly your entire base dissapears - ips, armory, res node, cc - and if you are lucky, you relocate to one of those two hives before you lose the game (the sentence having two meanings). Always have defense at base where your technology is. Yes, while it is a good gamble sometimes when the aliens aren't hitting your main base (they assume it is guarded), the gamble is not necessary if you can afford at least a descent defense (at least until the troops return to save the base).
<i>III. The commander forgets to place an observatory at the secured hive locations.</i>
All of a sudden, you're seeing xenocide, charge, primal scream, and acid rockets. You say to yourself "WTH!?" and scan the hives - sure enough, both went up cloaked while you were preparing the final attack. Your HA train suddenly becomes anihialated along with your hive defenses. Lesson learned? Build observatories, the more the better.
<i>IV. A lack of sieges means a certain death.</i>
So in came the gorges and dropped offense chambers all over the place. The turrets frantically tried to shoot those down, but along with other units for backup, it was a very sad sight. Build sieges or die to gorge rushes, period.
<i>V. Lack of tech research and upgrades.</i>
You need motion tracking as soon as possible, as that will tip you off where the attack is being organized against you. It will keep you one step ahead of the aliens. Meanwhile, your marines could use some armor and weapon upgrades to keep them alive a little longer and make killing things a little easier. Don't blame it on the marines if they don't have enough upgrades. And besides upgrades, without good guns, it is hard to take out higher Kharaa lifeforms. But don't give out too much guns when you need to invest elsewhere.
This is my contribution for today. If anyone else has experienced similar fatal errors, post them here.
Comments
If you're locking down a hive, use a bit of wit and don't park your equipment beside a vent.
We destroyed a satcomm lockdown from the nearby vent as a team of lerk and gorge. I spammed poison, then umbra, while the gorge provided healing and anti-building assist.
Please comms, if you're spending heavily, secure your investment. Play as skulk or gorge - learn the map - find where YOU would break those defences.
IMHO too many lockdowns are lost because the comm didn't hand out the welders for the vents. Or spammed turrets at only one approach and left the other open.
Remember skulks can hide behind TFs and annihilate them in safety. Don't assume the turrets will kill the skulk - I was so close to a tf that even without celerity I could run past 3 turrets and fry the TF. Thats a TF, RT, and three turrets all gone because of bad placement. You CANNOT afford to do that.
Another major failure I see a lot is the commander not keeping a tight enough rein on his heavy armored marines. While it can be hard to get people to follow orders on a public server you want to try and keep a close eye on them to make sure they don't do anything foolish. If you give an order and your marines don't listen, it's their fault. If you fail to give a order it's your fault. Nothing annoys me more than stupid heavies running off in pairs or by themselves after an onos. (Unless I'm the onos...) Marines need to be told not to chase unless they are ordered to as a group. Otherwise, they are more then likely guaranteeing the alien team another kill.
However, don't be afraid to make these "mistakes" on purpose. Did that today, my marines were going nuts when a newly spawning one told them the second hive in our lockdown was going down (and the other "lockdown" was building, which was my secret). However, I screamed at them until they stayed where they were and took down their only active hive while I surprise sieged the one going up... Meanwhile, the whole alien team was off wiping out my lockdown across the map. They did get that hive started in time to keep their guys alive, but without respawns we quickly wiped them out. Until then, short of recycling my second tfac to taunt them in, my guys couldn't even get out of base. Sometimes baiting with "mistakes" works well.