Same as what everyone else is saying, gl has long reload time and self-damaging capacities making it a ticking suicide timebomb for your average marines. While everyone else can use a hmg since its similiar to lmg. Gl is very powerful if used correctly. Most players would just spam it and hit really nothing but provides heavy cover for teammates. However, a gl can kill a fade with one direct hit and one semi-direct hit. Another words, 1 and 1/2 direct hits. It can potentially kill an ono with 4 direct hits if there is some light cover.
Due to the reloading time, aliens can make an easy get away before you fire more grenades. Spamming them won't get you those hits. What I would do with a gl (when there isn't a massive effort, but just defending situation) is to hide in a corner where there are marine structures, that be a resource tower close to base (so u can retreve it if u die) or somewhere in marine spawn. Wait till you think an ono or fade is standing still and slashing/goring a structure. Then you fire 3 grenades directly at them. Fire the last grenades at yourself and start retreating. If the first 3 nades wont kill the alien then the alien would either go after you or run away. The last grenade should scare the alien away, if not kill, so you can keep the grenade laucher for further use <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->.
Potentially the most damaging weapon the marines have, the seige cannon's hot tempered little sister. It cuts through structures and defenses like a hot knife through butter and can be straight up brutal to life forms.
It's by far my favorite NS weapon...barring the welder.
The trouble is...it has a 4 shot magazine, slow reload, and a delay for the tiny projectile. (As noted earlier in the topic)
Two of these problems can be near negated by a bit of practice.
When at extremely close range, I've found it best to aim slightly downward. Most people have a tendancy to aim for a "head area" and end up shooting over the alien. This tendancy is brought on by games like counterstrike, where a head shot is deadly....'less you use a glock. *grumble grumble* (Disturbing thought: gonna be a lot of dead people from this generation wondering why they died in one shot...I just know it.) It is at this range, from point blank to about 10 game feet in front of you where the majority of lifeform kills will be made with a GL. This is because the delay time for the projectile between gun to target is much shorter.
When at medium ranges you should begin taking the delay into account, as the projectile does not instantaneously hit the mark. You should also begin adjusting your aim up a bit. It takes a good bit more skill to nail a moving target in this range area. You'll need experimentation time to get the range setup right, but weapons like the Spinfusor in Tribes 2 can get you used to the idea of projectile delays.
Long range is where it's recommended you do most your anti-structure work. It's hard to hit a moving alien at this range, very hard. Generally when I am attacking a WOL at this range I'll shoot one round just short of the wall, and immediately follow with a direct hit to one of the chambers. Occasionally I'll get a skulk or two leaping over the wall after the second shot then get plastered by the timed blast of the first.
Make sure to practice in areas that contrast well with the tiny wonder nade so you can see how it flies. And be dually sure you have something it will explode on contact with to hit (the smaller the better.)
I was playing on Texas HK palace (? or something) yesterday on hera. The aliens had had 3 hives for a while but the commander was amazingly calm. We had no turrets in base and mostly no ha, yet we seemed to have a good fighting chance. We even had phase posts, notably, 1 in processing.
Processing was built up with turrets and we were currently sieging aliens' hive. Needless to say, they wanted it bad. Somehow or another it ended up me, alone, with the scattered bodies of my fallen comrades amongst the turrets. 2 fades and multiple skulks were attacking, the phase gate at home had been miraculously destroyed, so I was cut off from reinforcements. I picked up a Gl dropped on the ground and danced the dance of death with a couple fades.. and killed them both <!--emo&:0--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wow.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wow.gif'><!--endemo--> haha
Unfortunately my graphics card choked and we still didn't have a phase at home so about 30 seconds or so after that I died and then the post went down. I should have defended it better. I would have if my FPS was better <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif'><!--endemo-->
Another art for the aspiring GLer is the weldable base vent in BAST. Start your own server, weld that vent "shut" and practice aiming for the slit. Your objective is to send a grenade bouncing down the vent.
This skill can be used in many locations on many maps, and will teach you the basics of precision, range, and deflection angles. Once you can shoot through tiny gaps with 75% accuracy you can focus on evil rebound shots from cover. A dedicated and intelligent GLer is a nightmare to face because if he knows how to shoot with pinpoint accuracy, as well as rebound around corners, he can hold up entire aliens pushes for no loss.
Personally I think JP GL is the choice of the professional sneaky git - ie ME.
If your having trouble using a GL at long ranges, or severly close, Take a GOOD look at the GL's odd crosshairs. See those numbers? 0m etc Thats where your crosshair is for CLOSE RANGE.
If you want GL'ers to realy shine, GET MOTION TRACKING. How else will they know when to shoot around that corner? Or when to pop 2 shots into that vent.
The longer the distance, The higher you aim. Learn how to guess distance good (m) And this crosshair becomes a GREAT asset.
You also need to get use to the GL's fireing velosity.. very critical for getting the perfect arch to nail that leaping skulk.. or that fade thats denting up the cealing at lightspeeds with its thick head.
Next, Learn the GL's Weakness.
1. Whats the longest distance you can shoot, without the nade falling back at you? <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo--> 2. Whats the shortest range you can directly hit a structure/alien without taking Damage? 3. Reloading. You only have 4 shots, USE THEM CAUTIOUSLY. If you are ever stranded alone in enemy territory, and have no hope of backup, your gona need every shot to land to survive a reload, or in the least kill enuff aliens to make that GL drop worth it. 4. Wide open areas (though rare in NS) in my opinion are the GL'ers WORST area to be in. In a hallway a GL becomes very deadly with even mediocer aim, But in a wide open room, if you dont get direct hits you'll be lucky to even get splash damage on them. Avoid these areas if you have no backup from shottys/hmg's or higher ground.
GL's Strength 1. 4 clips, 800 damage, Lets see a shotgun do 800 damage in 4 seconds, I THINK NOT. 2. LOS, reflect shots, archs, and direct fire. The GL is THE most flexable weapon in NS. 3. Splash. The GL like the siege, doesn't just do damage to one target. With 1 nade, you can potentialy kill an entire team of skulks. (though rare, its VERY possible). 4. Deturrent. Area denile, Its the marine spore field, accept for one catch, nades cant be countered with an armor upgrade <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo--> though, the GL has differences from spore obviously. Spore does slow incriment damage. Nades do it all at once. Spore fields need adren, GL fields just need 2 guys and maybe an armory.
When i comm, I drop 1 GL for every 2 HMG. I like my men to be in squads of 3. <b><span style='color:red'>H - hmg </span><span style='color:green'> G- GL</span></b>
This formation IMO, is the best. If the enemys are all in front, move 1 HMG from the rear to the side of the GL's.
With 2 GL'ers, you can keep up a constant nade spam in rotation, And the same goes with HMG's. A few ammo packs for the Gl's and you become a walking wall of explosions.
One last thing... USE TEAMWORK JACK***'s. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
Well, with a good grenadier, you don't need nade spam, and you won't get it. With someone who knows what they're doing, you get nade KILLS. Especcially with a hall. But with a pair of GLers, even mediocre grenadiers can make it a deathtrap.
If you're having probs shooting down a long corridor at a bhopper army, and you're on your own, turn to your right/left and fire a full clip. The mines will bounce forward and behind you, coming to rest around your position - this is best as I said in a long tight corridor. The walls are so close together that you make a virtual grenade shield. If you strafe away from the incoming enemy, chances are you'll catch them with a godlike 4 nade blast. If the enemy get to you, they have to stand still to bite you, which should ALSO catch them in the blast.
Desperation tactic only, useful if you're getting skulk rushed and don't think you can kill them before they kill you. Also good chance of suiciding yourself, handier than giving the enemy RFK (without using the EVIL /kill command).
another good one is to shoot straight down twice, back off a few steps, and fire the other two down at them, so that they can't back off down the hall again. Then you have them bracketed between two grenade pairs, and they are forced to engage. If they come at you, don't run away, instead stick near those nades, and force the skulks to fight in the killzone.
(of course, this is another suicide tactic if you can't hit them when they come down the hall)
Comments
Due to the reloading time, aliens can make an easy get away before you fire more grenades. Spamming them won't get you those hits. What I would do with a gl (when there isn't a massive effort, but just defending situation) is to hide in a corner where there are marine structures, that be a resource tower close to base (so u can retreve it if u die) or somewhere in marine spawn. Wait till you think an ono or fade is standing still and slashing/goring a structure. Then you fire 3 grenades directly at them. Fire the last grenades at yourself and start retreating. If the first 3 nades wont kill the alien then the alien would either go after you or run away. The last grenade should scare the alien away, if not kill, so you can keep the grenade laucher for further use <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->.
Potentially the most damaging weapon the marines have, the seige cannon's hot tempered little sister. It cuts through structures and defenses like a hot knife through butter and can be straight up brutal to life forms.
It's by far my favorite NS weapon...barring the welder.
The trouble is...it has a 4 shot magazine, slow reload, and a delay for the tiny projectile. (As noted earlier in the topic)
Two of these problems can be near negated by a bit of practice.
When at extremely close range, I've found it best to aim slightly downward. Most people have a tendancy to aim for a "head area" and end up shooting over the alien. This tendancy is brought on by games like counterstrike, where a head shot is deadly....'less you use a glock. *grumble grumble* (Disturbing thought: gonna be a lot of dead people from this generation wondering why they died in one shot...I just know it.) It is at this range, from point blank to about 10 game feet in front of you where the majority of lifeform kills will be made with a GL. This is because the delay time for the projectile between gun to target is much shorter.
When at medium ranges you should begin taking the delay into account, as the projectile does not instantaneously hit the mark. You should also begin adjusting your aim up a bit. It takes a good bit more skill to nail a moving target in this range area. You'll need experimentation time to get the range setup right, but weapons like the Spinfusor in Tribes 2 can get you used to the idea of projectile delays.
Long range is where it's recommended you do most your anti-structure work. It's hard to hit a moving alien at this range, very hard. Generally when I am attacking a WOL at this range I'll shoot one round just short of the wall, and immediately follow with a direct hit to one of the chambers. Occasionally I'll get a skulk or two leaping over the wall after the second shot then get plastered by the timed blast of the first.
Make sure to practice in areas that contrast well with the tiny wonder nade so you can see how it flies. And be dually sure you have something it will explode on contact with to hit (the smaller the better.)
I was playing on Texas HK palace (? or something) yesterday on hera. The aliens had had 3 hives for a while but the commander was amazingly calm. We had no turrets in base and mostly no ha, yet we seemed to have a good fighting chance. We even had phase posts, notably, 1 in processing.
Processing was built up with turrets and we were currently sieging aliens' hive. Needless to say, they wanted it bad. Somehow or another it ended up me, alone, with the scattered bodies of my fallen comrades amongst the turrets. 2 fades and multiple skulks were attacking, the phase gate at home had been miraculously destroyed, so I was cut off from reinforcements. I picked up a Gl dropped on the ground and danced the dance of death with a couple fades.. and killed them both <!--emo&:0--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wow.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wow.gif'><!--endemo--> haha
Unfortunately my graphics card choked and we still didn't have a phase at home so about 30 seconds or so after that I died and then the post went down. I should have defended it better. I would have if my FPS was better <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif'><!--endemo-->
This skill can be used in many locations on many maps, and will teach you the basics of precision, range, and deflection angles. Once you can shoot through tiny gaps with 75% accuracy you can focus on evil rebound shots from cover. A dedicated and intelligent GLer is a nightmare to face because if he knows how to shoot with pinpoint accuracy, as well as rebound around corners, he can hold up entire aliens pushes for no loss.
Personally I think JP GL is the choice of the professional sneaky git - ie ME.
Thats where your crosshair is for CLOSE RANGE.
If you want GL'ers to realy shine, GET MOTION TRACKING. How else will they know when to shoot around that corner? Or when to pop 2 shots into that vent.
The longer the distance, The higher you aim. Learn how to guess distance good (m) And this crosshair becomes a GREAT asset.
You also need to get use to the GL's fireing velosity.. very critical for getting the perfect arch to nail that leaping skulk.. or that fade thats denting up the cealing at lightspeeds with its thick head.
Next, Learn the GL's Weakness.
1. Whats the longest distance you can shoot, without the nade falling back at you? <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
2. Whats the shortest range you can directly hit a structure/alien without taking Damage?
3. Reloading. You only have 4 shots, USE THEM CAUTIOUSLY. If you are ever stranded alone in enemy territory, and have no hope of backup, your gona need every shot to land to survive a reload, or in the least kill enuff aliens to make that GL drop worth it.
4. Wide open areas (though rare in NS) in my opinion are the GL'ers WORST area to be in. In a hallway a GL becomes very deadly with even mediocer aim, But in a wide open room, if you dont get direct hits you'll be lucky to even get splash damage on them. Avoid these areas if you have no backup from shottys/hmg's or higher ground.
GL's Strength
1. 4 clips, 800 damage, Lets see a shotgun do 800 damage in 4 seconds, I THINK NOT.
2. LOS, reflect shots, archs, and direct fire. The GL is THE most flexable weapon in NS.
3. Splash. The GL like the siege, doesn't just do damage to one target. With 1 nade, you can potentialy kill an entire team of skulks. (though rare, its VERY possible).
4. Deturrent. Area denile, Its the marine spore field, accept for one catch, nades cant be countered with an armor upgrade <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo--> though, the GL has differences from spore obviously. Spore does slow incriment damage. Nades do it all at once. Spore fields need adren, GL fields just need 2 guys and maybe an armory.
When i comm, I drop 1 GL for every 2 HMG.
I like my men to be in squads of 3.
<b><span style='color:red'>H - hmg </span><span style='color:green'> G- GL</span></b>
<span style='color:red'><b>H-H</b></span>
<span style='color:green'>-G-
-G-</span>
<span style='color:red'>H-H</span>
This formation IMO, is the best. If the enemys are all in front, move 1 HMG from the rear to the side of the GL's.
With 2 GL'ers, you can keep up a constant nade spam in rotation, And the same goes with HMG's. A few ammo packs for the Gl's and you become a walking wall of explosions.
One last thing... USE TEAMWORK JACK***'s. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
Desperation tactic only, useful if you're getting skulk rushed and don't think you can kill them before they kill you. Also good chance of suiciding yourself, handier than giving the enemy RFK (without using the EVIL /kill command).
(of course, this is another suicide tactic if you can't hit them when they come down the hall)