Aliens Start

Comments

• ShadowDrgn Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 2230Members

  November 2002

  Well, there are mixed opinions on this but most people agree you should have 1 or 2 people go gorge asap and the rest skulk rush. Try not to all die at once though, because that could cause some extremely long respawn times on a larger server.
  
  Bile bombs don't seem to damage buildings at all since the patch. Other people have reported the same thing, but I don't have much experience with it as I don't use the fade much.

  0 Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
• Shadowics Join Date: 2002-11-07 Member: 7652Members

  November 2002

  I agree, many times aliens have too many gorges. I usually go gorg right in the beginning anyway, but I hope others would skulk rush instead. (My comp's kinda sucky so I get low FPS - harder to kill ppl) Then build Res Towers to get the other 2 hives up as fast as possible hoping the skulks will stall the marines long enough that I can start building defenses after the 3rd hive. 10-15mins would be more than enough in most cases.
  
  I have never cared about my K/D score, and I get really annoyed sometimes about people who do. As far as I've seen though there are alot less people to try for things like that in here. Of course that doesn't mean I don't try to stay alive, because hiding in a vent and continually attacking the marine works well.
  
  I not sure about marines on ladders, but I have used Bile bombs and they don't seem to be doing the damage they should. I've heard other people say stuff about the hit box being off so sometimes it looks like they hit but don't, or should splash damage sometime but don't, and that seems to make sense. Just use acid rockets instead.

  0 Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
• TAUTheOMeGa Join Date: 2002-11-09 Member: 7919Members

  November 2002

  #1 - 10-15 minutes is a really really really long time...try counting to by one's for 10-15 minutes and you'll realize how long that is...plus you could probably get a number of resource points/save for hive in that matter of time
  
  #2 - i dont really see that there is a score **obscenity** in this game...the guy who sits outside waiting and killing marines is smart...you dont rush into a base with 10 marine in it and turrets because you have minimal chance of getting into the cc.
  
  on the other hand if your taking out an expansion and eating away a turret or turret factory then rushing in is key and essential to alien domination!
  
  if you arent biting the marine its probably cuz he was crouched going up. there seems to be hitbox problems with that or alot of people just keep missing <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
  
  with the bile bomb i've heard people say it doesnt' work...i have no idea wtf that means cuz i've gotten many kills with it. Bile bomb is more of a spam the spawn kinda weapon. If you haven't noticed no single weapon in NS can take out a base on its own.
  
  Even a single onos really can't take out a base on its own with 3-4 lmgs and even 4-5 turrets
  
  <!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='skulk.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::gorge::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/pudgy.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='pudgy.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::onos::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tiny.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tiny.gif'><!--endemo--> pwnz!
  
  -TAU|TheOMeGa

  0 Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
• rek_Harold Join Date: 2002-11-10 Member: 8109Members

  November 2002

  ive gone for the CC in heavy guarded bases a lot of times and it pays off if the marines are all busy somewhere killing a hive or something. also with the bile bombs i wasnt talking about kill but about buildings...

  0 Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
• Plaguebearer Join Date: 2002-03-21 Member: 338Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor

  November 2002

  The skulk rush is the number one thing that will pull a win off for the Kharaa. The point of the skulk rush isn't necessarily to get to the CC, and it shouldn't just be one run and stop.
  
  Remember, even with turrets up, you can knock down a marine or two simply by staying in motion. Turrets do not track very well. A favourite tactic is head for the armoury: marines tend to stick their heads to the armoury and fill up on ammo, ignoring everything around them until you have their left leg in you jaws.
  
  The point is to keep the marine team pinned in base. The marines need to believe that if they leave the base, that they won't have a base to come back to. They need to believe that they need to stay and build and build and build, and spend egregious numbers of resource points on those defenses. They need to be put on the defensive - to be reactive instead of proactive.
  
  A single gorge should be accumulating RPs for a second hive during all this time - and the skulks shouldn't spend a single resource point (unless the gorge drops a defense tower or move tower - two points for an upgrade is nothing) - that means no upgrading to Lerk.
  
  By the time that second hive starts, and grows, the skulks should all have a big fat wad of RPs for Fadey goodness... while the marines have jack.
  
  The key is keeping them pinned in base, relying on a single resource node.

  0 Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
• The_Howler Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 2497Members

  November 2002

  Well, everyone has their own twists to starting strategy (isn't NS great?). Perhaps one day there'll be that ONE best way to do it, but right now, I think they all work. Here's what I like to see from my team starting out.
  
  First off, my server is a 14 players server, so aliens usually have 6 or 7 players. I've really not played on higher player servers, so perhaps strategy changes on them. Nevertheless, I like to see 2 gorges at the beginning. One making a bee-line to the nearest unoccupied hive, and one tapping nearby resource nodes and building up original hive defenses. I really do feel that defense chambers are the way to go in the beginning, so I like to see a few of those built quickly. Skulks, of course, do the skulk rush, until turrets are up. I know that it is possible to get a few marines even when turrets are up, but I feel that the skulks jobs are to keep the marines from expanding. Since most marine bases have two ways out (at least, it seems that way), the skulks should pair off, with each pair guarding an exit. Hide on the ceiling, the rafters, etc and munch on the marines everytime they try to leave their base. Generally, skulks can last for quite awhile, and don't need to respawn very often. If all has gone well, by the time the second hive is built, the marines haven't expanded, and the third hive is still empty of marine structures. The skulks are now free to turn into lerks/fades and harrass the marine base to their hearts' content.

  0 Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
• goorooloo Join Date: 2002-11-07 Member: 7647Members

  November 2002 edited November 2002

  I was going to post the same thing about alien skulkers being afraid to die.
  
  Look, this isn't like other FPS guys, your teams victory is ultimately your only real goal, (other than fun).
  If that means having to dive into the middle of a turret farm 10+ times to get the one turret down that's preventing you from taking out the turret factory/generator, then thats what you do. The Skulk is the lowly spawning alien, you are NOT a marine: we like to make quick snacks of them but they are not supposed to be as expendable as you. Think of a Skulk as a face-hugger from the Aliens movies. You are living, running spam that packs a punch, you are the bullets of your Hive Mind.
  
  
  I have also run into the invincible marine on a ladder bug, but as mentioned, I think it stems from the larger problem of either the marine hitboxes or the skulks bite radius(?) being whacky. I've noticed several times now that a ducking marine really hard to hit because you have to aim at a weird spot on the model. And even when chasing marines from behind with silence rabily biting at their legs you miss more often than not. I've actually found that aiming more upwards, (like 45 degress), when Skulking seems to provide much better results.
  
  This really concerns me, because as I see it, bunny-hopping away from Skulk attacks is only going to increase and if you can't hit their legs for a kill how does as lower jumping Skulk compete?
  
  Actually, now that I think about it some more, most times I am biting/building <i>anything</i> the angle I am looking up/down at it seems to make alot of difference.
  
  Hopefully they remedy this soon along with the Bilebomb and Xenocide bugs.

  0 Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
• zoda Join Date: 2002-11-05 Member: 7175Members

  November 2002

  sometimes teams have too many gorgs, but others not enough... I think there should always be at least one gorge. espicially at the begging. Why waste your time?? 4 guys or 3 attacking the marines?? why not 3? 1 guy can build up lots of resources while these skulks rush.. or secure a base.. or maybe even both
  
  The Gorge is just as valuable to the Kharaa as the Commander is to the Marines. You need one gorg ASAP.. depending on the size of the teams 1 may be enough, I perfere 2, but if is a 4 person team and half of them are gorgs it wont work...
  
  Having too many gorges can make your resources come in way too slow..., it's not how many exactaly, but the ratio.. If you have just as many or more gorges as other aliens(combinded) it will slow the resources a lot. I don't remeber the exact facts of what percent does what except that everyone shares one resource pool and it is divided in shares, everyone gets 1 share except for the Gorges, who get 3 shares. having too many dudes with 3 shares takes a lot from your resource pool and causes it to go slow.
  
  15 people - 5 gorges
  10 people - 3 gorges
  5 people - gorge
  4 people - 1 gorge
  2 people - 1 gorge or none( you need gorges to build, but there are times when you need another form to help the team or save your hive)
  
  
  
  
  
  As for the comment about people obsessing on kill-death ratio I also have mixed feelings.
  
  fact: spawning a marine takes 1 resources
  fact:a health pack takes 2 resources
  
  so that would mean that injuring a marine is more damaging to their team than killing him, right? well yes, but you have to consider if that marine had guns he lost and or heavy armor , If he did replacing this stuff will cost a lot more than just throwing a health pack down.
  
  So kill scan be very important, but at other times it may be safer to just damage the marine, the problem however is that this game runs on the half-life engine and most mods rate the players on their kill-death ratio, so everyone thinks the people getting the most kills is the best, which may be true for being a good fighter. Fighting is important, but so is securing your bases and destroying your enemies bases. A gorge with a 2-5 ratio may be a more valuable player than a skulk with a 5-0 ratio because the gorg provides resources, protects hives, heals friends( and structures) and really is important.. a team without any good gorges is just as bad as a team without any good commanders.
  
  
  Not to say that the warriors dont play a huge role in winning the battle, but they aren't the deciding factor on who wins.., that factor is not the skulks, lerks, lurks, or onos... Nope: it isnt the gorge, It's the team. The whole team makes the win. Maybe there a few bad players, but even a bad player can successed with great allies. You cannot win a long game without good fighters and good builders, you can win a quick rush game, but that is kinda boring and cheap IMO.
  
  *yawn* stop persuading me to write!

  0 Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome