General Alien Strategies
Savant
Join Date: 2002-11-30 Member: 10289Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
Join Date: 2002-11-30 Member: 10289Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
Just some general tips from my experience as a tester. Here are some general concepts that I think people should always keep in mind in 2.0:
Don't get hung up on any one chamber order. I'm seeing far too many people chose sensory first when it isn't as solid as people make it out to be. Here are some thoughts on chambers and the pros/cons if used as the FIRST chamber.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:blue'><b>Sensory chamber</b></span></span>
If you choose sensory first, then you have a very difficult choice to make later. If you choose movement as second chamber you get the benefit of adrenaline or silence plus the crucial ability to move between hives. However, you have no D chamber and no redemption, regeneration or carapace for your upper level aliens. If you choose defense as second chamber you get the benefit of redemption and such, but without a movement chamber you can't nip between hives and you run out of energy quickly.
<b><span style='color:green'>Pros:</span></b>
-Early game cloak and scent of fear, allows you hide and/or follow marines from a safe distance.
-Sensory chambers provide cloaking to all structures
-Allows for sneak attacks, meaning you stay alive longer
<b><span style='color:red'>Cons:</span></b>
-The full benefit of sensory is lost when used as a first chamber since there are hardly any chambers to cloak.
-An observatory will defeat sensory and observatoty scans will uncover anything, cloak or not
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:blue'><b>Movement</b></span></span>
A solid chamber and it does everything it needs to do in the beginning of the game. Forward built movement chambers (in 'hidden' vents and such) can allow a quick retreat to a hive when under attack or for a heal. Movement chambers also make early game lerks VERY annoying for marines
<b><span style='color:green'>Pros:</span></b>
-Alows you to move between hives, especially that early game secnd hive that is incomplete. If attacked you can pop in and surprize the enemy.
-Allows for use of silence as a skulk. In the hands of a good skulk, silence is BETTER than cloak since it mutes the skulk bite sound. (which many marines will use to 'zero in' on a skulk attack) With no bite sound the marine has to look visually for the skulk, wasting valuable milliseconds.
-Allows for early game lerks to be far more effective. In normal cases a lerk is very liimited in their abilities without adrenaline.
<b><span style='color:red'>Cons:</span></b>
-I can't think of any INHERANT cons. Of course it is a choice like everything else, and for all the benefits movement has, if you choose movement you deny yourself the use of other chambers initially. However it is a solid first chamber, and provides almost everything the aliens would want in a first chamber.
-The only real con I can think of is if you are playing aliens and you lose your second hive before it finishes building. Then you start having people go fade, but without a second chamber skill, they are much more at risk than they normally are. While adrenaline is important, so is redemption.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:blue'><b>Defense</b></span></span>
Contrary to popular belief, defense is still a solid first chamber, although I would rate it #2 behind movement. It still has the limitation that you cannot get bewteen hives quickly and an lerks are not nearly as viable in the early game. It still has it's place though.
<b><span style='color:green'>Pros:</span></b>
-Defense still has all the benefits that it did in 1.04 including carapace and regeneration. In the early game a carapaced skulk in skilled hands can be deadly to marines.
-A regenerating skulk can also be quite the pest in taking down electrified structures, falling back to heal and then attacking again. This can pose a problem if marines decide to choose electrify over a TF and turrets.
-Well placed D chambers can be a godsend at the front lines (hidden in a vent or such) and can allow for hit and run attacks without retreating to a hive (or gorge) for a heal.
-D chambers also provide for added defense in the hive room, healing the hive and any friendly chambers nearby. This can add crucial seconds to hive life if attacked.
<b><span style='color:red'>Cons:</span></b>
-Using defense means you cannot benefit from any form of 'sneak' attacks as a skulk aside fromn what you can do normally. With defense you are relying on brute force to pull you through, and it doesn't always work.
-Redemption is useless for the most part in the early game, since the early game classes just don't live long enough to benefit from it.
-Since regeneration is only used in certain situations, that leaves carapace as the only real skill that most skulks will choose. This is a limiting option.
Bottom line: Choose that first chamber WISELY!
<b>Some general tips:</b>
-Forget the old alien res system. There is no such thing as 'too many' gorges in terms of delaying resources to other team members. Even if all but one team members are gorge you all receive res at the same rate.
-The early 2.0 game is not very good for anyone who likes to perma gorge. Res comes in far too slow. So while you may want to go gorge and drop some chambers and such, once your res is gone switch back to skulk. You can get res faster (res for kills) and you also provide the team with much needed offensive strength. Only in the late game when aliens have a solid 4-5 res chambers can they consider having a couple people perma gorge on larger servers.
-Don't rush the second hive if you don't have the res towers to support it. While a second hive is important, it's not going to help if you don't have the resources to support it. Without a solid resource flow you won't have the cash to build defenses, and so BOTH hives will be at risk. Make sure you get resource towers up early. With no activation time you can easily exploit the marines need to build up base and drop a few nodes in relative safety.
-Time to relearn the fade. It's no longer a long range alien like the lerk, fades need to get up close and personal. Get used to blinking in and out of battle, if you don't you'll die very fast and very often.
-Got 100 res? You don't HAVE to go onos. If your team has a good offense running, then don't overlook the fact you could lock down and build a hive, including putting up a nice defense. That in itself can change the game in your favour. If there are no fades or onos, then keep the cash and choose a higher level evolution. A locked down hive won't last forever if you only have skulks to defend it.
-Never 'let' the marnes grab a hive or other crucial area just because it doesn't matter to your team now. The hive they lock down now will be that much harder to take out later, AND it means since thye have a hive locked down they can concentrate on your other two hives without worrying you can build at the locked down hive. So never give up ground. Make them FIGHT for it. The longer they fight for it the longer it takes for them to move on to your hives.
-Aliens that play as a team are greater than marines that play as a team. Since the game is designed for aliens to be less team oriented, you can use this to your advantage by being more team oriented. This will pay off in the later game when the marines start pressing hard.
Regards,
Savant
Don't get hung up on any one chamber order. I'm seeing far too many people chose sensory first when it isn't as solid as people make it out to be. Here are some thoughts on chambers and the pros/cons if used as the FIRST chamber.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:blue'><b>Sensory chamber</b></span></span>
If you choose sensory first, then you have a very difficult choice to make later. If you choose movement as second chamber you get the benefit of adrenaline or silence plus the crucial ability to move between hives. However, you have no D chamber and no redemption, regeneration or carapace for your upper level aliens. If you choose defense as second chamber you get the benefit of redemption and such, but without a movement chamber you can't nip between hives and you run out of energy quickly.
<b><span style='color:green'>Pros:</span></b>
-Early game cloak and scent of fear, allows you hide and/or follow marines from a safe distance.
-Sensory chambers provide cloaking to all structures
-Allows for sneak attacks, meaning you stay alive longer
<b><span style='color:red'>Cons:</span></b>
-The full benefit of sensory is lost when used as a first chamber since there are hardly any chambers to cloak.
-An observatory will defeat sensory and observatoty scans will uncover anything, cloak or not
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:blue'><b>Movement</b></span></span>
A solid chamber and it does everything it needs to do in the beginning of the game. Forward built movement chambers (in 'hidden' vents and such) can allow a quick retreat to a hive when under attack or for a heal. Movement chambers also make early game lerks VERY annoying for marines
<b><span style='color:green'>Pros:</span></b>
-Alows you to move between hives, especially that early game secnd hive that is incomplete. If attacked you can pop in and surprize the enemy.
-Allows for use of silence as a skulk. In the hands of a good skulk, silence is BETTER than cloak since it mutes the skulk bite sound. (which many marines will use to 'zero in' on a skulk attack) With no bite sound the marine has to look visually for the skulk, wasting valuable milliseconds.
-Allows for early game lerks to be far more effective. In normal cases a lerk is very liimited in their abilities without adrenaline.
<b><span style='color:red'>Cons:</span></b>
-I can't think of any INHERANT cons. Of course it is a choice like everything else, and for all the benefits movement has, if you choose movement you deny yourself the use of other chambers initially. However it is a solid first chamber, and provides almost everything the aliens would want in a first chamber.
-The only real con I can think of is if you are playing aliens and you lose your second hive before it finishes building. Then you start having people go fade, but without a second chamber skill, they are much more at risk than they normally are. While adrenaline is important, so is redemption.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:blue'><b>Defense</b></span></span>
Contrary to popular belief, defense is still a solid first chamber, although I would rate it #2 behind movement. It still has the limitation that you cannot get bewteen hives quickly and an lerks are not nearly as viable in the early game. It still has it's place though.
<b><span style='color:green'>Pros:</span></b>
-Defense still has all the benefits that it did in 1.04 including carapace and regeneration. In the early game a carapaced skulk in skilled hands can be deadly to marines.
-A regenerating skulk can also be quite the pest in taking down electrified structures, falling back to heal and then attacking again. This can pose a problem if marines decide to choose electrify over a TF and turrets.
-Well placed D chambers can be a godsend at the front lines (hidden in a vent or such) and can allow for hit and run attacks without retreating to a hive (or gorge) for a heal.
-D chambers also provide for added defense in the hive room, healing the hive and any friendly chambers nearby. This can add crucial seconds to hive life if attacked.
<b><span style='color:red'>Cons:</span></b>
-Using defense means you cannot benefit from any form of 'sneak' attacks as a skulk aside fromn what you can do normally. With defense you are relying on brute force to pull you through, and it doesn't always work.
-Redemption is useless for the most part in the early game, since the early game classes just don't live long enough to benefit from it.
-Since regeneration is only used in certain situations, that leaves carapace as the only real skill that most skulks will choose. This is a limiting option.
Bottom line: Choose that first chamber WISELY!
<b>Some general tips:</b>
-Forget the old alien res system. There is no such thing as 'too many' gorges in terms of delaying resources to other team members. Even if all but one team members are gorge you all receive res at the same rate.
-The early 2.0 game is not very good for anyone who likes to perma gorge. Res comes in far too slow. So while you may want to go gorge and drop some chambers and such, once your res is gone switch back to skulk. You can get res faster (res for kills) and you also provide the team with much needed offensive strength. Only in the late game when aliens have a solid 4-5 res chambers can they consider having a couple people perma gorge on larger servers.
-Don't rush the second hive if you don't have the res towers to support it. While a second hive is important, it's not going to help if you don't have the resources to support it. Without a solid resource flow you won't have the cash to build defenses, and so BOTH hives will be at risk. Make sure you get resource towers up early. With no activation time you can easily exploit the marines need to build up base and drop a few nodes in relative safety.
-Time to relearn the fade. It's no longer a long range alien like the lerk, fades need to get up close and personal. Get used to blinking in and out of battle, if you don't you'll die very fast and very often.
-Got 100 res? You don't HAVE to go onos. If your team has a good offense running, then don't overlook the fact you could lock down and build a hive, including putting up a nice defense. That in itself can change the game in your favour. If there are no fades or onos, then keep the cash and choose a higher level evolution. A locked down hive won't last forever if you only have skulks to defend it.
-Never 'let' the marnes grab a hive or other crucial area just because it doesn't matter to your team now. The hive they lock down now will be that much harder to take out later, AND it means since thye have a hive locked down they can concentrate on your other two hives without worrying you can build at the locked down hive. So never give up ground. Make them FIGHT for it. The longer they fight for it the longer it takes for them to move on to your hives.
-Aliens that play as a team are greater than marines that play as a team. Since the game is designed for aliens to be less team oriented, you can use this to your advantage by being more team oriented. This will pay off in the later game when the marines start pressing hard.
Regards,
Savant
Comments
D first would only be beneficient in the case of a two-hive lockdown, and sicne that is not just very unlikely to happen but also something that you would actually *increase* the chance of happening by building D, I wouldn't recommend it.
The exception would be rather small maps, where S can actually be as powerful as M due to its power of control and comtainment, but on maps such as nothing or veil, I would say M is a must.
I do however disagree totally with this:
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Don't rush the second hive if you don't have the res towers to support it. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The 2:nd hive is almost as powerful as in 1.04. M+D is makes for insanely effective "troops" and more importantly, bilbombs and umbra will take down any Marine outpost in seconds unless it is supported by BOTH Grenade Launchers AND a Phase. Since the second hive is usually up at the 5 or 6 minute mark, this means the second hive will let you cream any and all Marine bases as soon as it is up (good luck to Marines getting GL's, Phasegates and Turrets up in 5-6 mins.
Sensory first is the shiznitz if you plan on an early containment style offensive. Just because it doesn't fit NORMAL styles doesn't make it less effective, or a newbie choice.
Sensory works, if used correctly, no doubt about that. Movement just makes it easier. Which is why most experienced/good players *prefer* it. Movement first would work in 1.04, it was just that D's were easier.
*starts chanting*
Movement first!