I Hate Seeing My Com Building Sentries

2

Comments

  • MestaritonttuMestaritonttu Join Date: 2004-07-29 Member: 30229Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Gold
    <!--quoteo(post=2006538:date=Nov 2 2012, 05:49 PM:name=Davil)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Davil @ Nov 2 2012, 05:49 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2006538"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><img src="http://an.davidsirritation.com/turretmeme.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    This.

    Turrets are fine. As Kharaa I don't really care about them as Marine comm they're something to play with while my team is winning the game.

    I haven't seen a single game yet where the outcome was drastically affected by turrets.
  • ZekZek Join Date: 2002-11-10 Member: 7962Members, NS1 Playtester, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited November 2012
    The goal with sentries was to err on the side of making them weak specifically so that when new comms inevitably spam them they don't turn the game into a turtlefest. I'd say that was a success in that sentries are pretty crappy, but they're expensive for what they do and the result is that new comms are wasting all their res. They'll buy the max turret farm regardless of how much it costs, and it hurts their team. Maybe sentries being cheaper but still capped at 3 is the fix for both those issues?
  • YuukiYuuki Join Date: 2010-11-20 Member: 75079Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2006335:date=Nov 2 2012, 01:58 PM:name=Xarius)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Xarius @ Nov 2 2012, 01:58 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2006335"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Why do sentries even have their own power node? This is incredibly poorly thought-out, all structures are tied to power nodes, yet somehow those 3 sentries function independently? Often new players will be chewing on the power, just to then find out the sentries are still working. Just tie them to the power node like every other structure in the game instead of keeping such confusing and outright pointless mechanics in place.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Yes, sentries being not affected by power node is WTF material, a nice exception to the rule.

    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->One strong sentry or 3 weaker ones, what's the difference? Those commanders will still put one in every single room and some players will still cry it's annoying.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    The idea is to have one sentry <b>total</b> (or by cc), hard-capped, not one per room.
  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2006295:date=Nov 2 2012, 07:35 AM:name=statikg)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (statikg @ Nov 2 2012, 07:35 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2006295"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Turrets are definitely not a problem, if anything I would say they are still too weak to be a good alternative to phase gates.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    I'd argue you should never EVER have one without the other. I'd also argue that phase gates should always come before sentries. Turrets are just way too expensive to justify using them in an area where they aren't defending something you cannot afford to lose. Otherwise upgrades for marines are always preferable.
  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2006310:date=Nov 2 2012, 07:48 AM:name=Superfly)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Superfly @ Nov 2 2012, 07:48 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2006310"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You have no idea the meaning of turret spam unless you played NS1 before the limits. There were coms who would literally crash the server with turret spam.

    As alien you would turn the corner and a wall of lead would fly at your face. Between electrified extractors and turrets you could leave whole sections of the map unmanned and the aliens still had a tough time breaking through until late in the game.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    This wasn't really a problem in NS. It made for pretty boring games for the team that had the retard comm, but it wasn't like it was an unfair strategy or anything. It was basically the same as making a wall of static defenses in any other RTS. You legitimately see static defenses used in professional play for RTS games, but the caviate is that they must be used to increase the power of the standing army, not to replace investment in the standing army.
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    The biggest problem I'm seeing with new players is that they use wrong target acquisition. For instance if they see a few sentries in a hallway, they tend to attack the powernode instead of very weak powerpack, making use of the sentries' blind spot.
  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2006660:date=Nov 2 2012, 10:58 AM:name=Kouji_San)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kouji_San @ Nov 2 2012, 10:58 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2006660"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The biggest problem I'm seeing with new players is that they use wrong target acquisition. For instance if they see a few sentries in a hallway, they tend to attack the powernode instead of very weak powerpack, making use of the sentries' blind spot.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    I didn't realize sentries had a blind spot the first several games I played. I didn't really figure that out until I played comm as marine and used the turret placement interface. It's not terribly visually obvious how sentries work by just running around near them.
  • RuntehRunteh Join Date: 2010-06-26 Member: 72163Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited November 2012
    Another thing that frustrates me is players inability to judge a situation, obviously they are new, but it just annoys me.

    For instance, marines were wrecking us on docking and I kept pushing the west of the map with skulk taking down all the extractors, into cafeteria where I met some badly placed sentrys (ran right past them) and kept trying to take the power node to shut cafeteria down so we could expand there.

    The room in cafe was FULL of marine tech, and I always managed to fight off a single marine and take the power down to 30%. But always when I got near, a MAC would appear or another marine to fight. If there was one more skulk who knew to take it down to stop people phasing in we would have taken the game back.

    At times i'd be on the powernode screaming at the other skulk in the room to take it down so it would just shut down the marines phasing in occasionally, but to no avail.

    Another thing was the entrance to ball courts from generator, 3 sentrys were set up but marines were focused on the other side of generator. I ran in with 3 sentrys firing at the corridor to gen, past them to about 30 hp and munched the power node, sentrys and phase gate myself.

    The whole time one scared little skulk and gorge just waited back in the corridor because they thought they would die or something, even though clearly I had run in there to take them down.

    Even with 3 sentrys firing at you, you always have enough time to close the gap and get behind them. I really do not see the situations where they are OP that people talk of. I don't expect to be taking down sentrys if the room if full of marines as well, and I certainly don't fight in front of them.

    You should only really be hitting very secure rooms with a fade, or a bile bombing gorge and Onos, but lonely rooms are a skulks paradise. Especially when they are just focused on ending the game and don't realise that you have just taken half the map in this time and dropped another hive.

    Drives me nuts.
  • ChickenOfWarChickenOfWar Join Date: 2003-04-09 Member: 15352Members
    Sentries are really really damn dangerous if you're a lerk in a large room. They will never ever miss a hit as you're flying around like crazy, even if you're far away from them. The 3 sentries can also be positioned to cover 360 degrees.
  • GorgenapperGorgenapper Join Date: 2012-09-05 Member: 157916Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    <!--quoteo(post=2006420:date=Nov 2 2012, 08:43 AM:name=MistenTH)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MistenTH @ Nov 2 2012, 08:43 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2006420"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Turrets are quite useful now because many players don't know how to check their mini-map or phase quickly to defend bases under attack. The game pace has really slowed.

    In the beta with majority of the team knowing what to do, 3 mines + fast phasing is more economical and frees up resources for critical upgrades.

    Aliens also get hive 2 leap+bilebomb rapidly when the team becomes more experienced, making turrets obselete really fast. Turret use will fade away and become very situational eventually, once players know how to counter them, and game pace picks up.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    This...exactly. I find it frustrating that, no matter how much I prompt people, most rambo off in all different directions of the map (on ns_docking, for example), plus the new alien players rush into Terminal in ones or twos in a neverending wave (esp if their hive is Departures).

    I'm tempted to say that turrets are useful in that case if only as a deterrant to noob aliens, but even in that case that's still res that could be better spent on armor/weapon upgrades, medpack/ammo pack for people in key locations, etc - at least in early game. In later game, when you're rolling in res, it doesn't matter much what you do because the Aliens will most likely have been pushed back to the one Hive of doom.
  • Somerandom18Somerandom18 Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165048Members
    I don't always build sentires... but when I do I have 200 res and nothing else to spend it on.
  • PimpToadPimpToad Join Date: 2012-11-02 Member: 166005Members
    I don't play marine commander much or marines in general (since most games I've played have people queuing to join marine), but I got told off in one game when I absolutely refused to build sentries. We have 4 RTs since all the skulks are busy trying to rush our main base...so why not just a few people (3 should be more than adequate with an armory and 2 IPs) stay back and watch as skulks try in vain to attack main while the rest of the team slowly pushes the map for a prime phase gate location? I resigned as commander and lo and behold the person who replaced me built sentries right away even though we absolutely didn't need them.

    We eventually won the game due to the aliens not bothering to attack the 3 RTs I originally built during my tenure as commander and pretty much ignoring them altogether, but some people on the team thought it was because of building those sentries to fend of the skulks. Getting pretty ridiculous seeing these turret farms as all they do is give marines a false sense of security. In my opinion, the sentry gives newbie players (yes I'm a newbie too, but I'd like to think I know a little bit better) the notion that the room is secure and there is no need to defend.

    Then of course until you run in to players like a buddy of mine who absolutely adore harassing bases when the marines are out and about and have singlehandedly won games due to complacency with turrets. Pretty amusing when marines are rolling Exos with max tech while we only have skulks with no upgrades thanks to a newbie commander and getting a win because of missing CC's.
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    Heh I was attacking terminal on docking and told my fellow Skulk to help attack the Obs, he refused and I told him fine lets attack the IP and you will see what happens. Beacon 7 marines, destroyed IP and 2 dead Skulks making that mission all for nothing. That is one way of teaching new players...

    And I keep seeing Skulk teams all attacking different structures, so I told them to come to me and take down the PG instead. Low and behold it was done :P
  • MaximumSquidMaximumSquid Join Date: 2010-07-20 Member: 72593Members
    edited November 2012
    This is still on the front page?

    What are you guys still missing?

    Turrets <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=123160" target="_blank">are amazing</a> when used properly and a waste of res when setup like crap or put in rooms that didn't need it
    <i>(Shocking how you can apply that logic to most structures in the game, but it's 100% true)</i>

    You wanna know what makes better players rage on public servers?

    <i>When they see a comm put a phase gate 1 room over</i>

    -
  • ScardyBobScardyBob ScardyBob Join Date: 2009-11-25 Member: 69528Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    <!--quoteo(post=2006310:date=Nov 2 2012, 05:48 AM:name=Superfly)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Superfly @ Nov 2 2012, 05:48 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2006310"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You have no idea the meaning of turret spam unless you played NS1 before the limits. There were coms who would literally crash the server with turret spam.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    You should have seen early in the NS2 beta. They would have made NS1 turret spammers proud.
  • SpaceJewSpaceJew Join Date: 2012-09-03 Member: 157584Members
    Turrets almost always have a giant blind spot and since turrets can't kill a skulk 90% of the time before the skulk reaches the blind spot, the battery dies. QED.

    I have died to a turret once or twice, but it was usually when I was running from something else at low health.

    Do they have their uses? Sure. That use is almost exclusively covering marines at a forward position as others have said. As a base defense, they will fail horribly to even one skulk who has the brains to chew the battery and the skill to find the blind spot.

    As for lerks, well you should have the least problems out of any other alien lifeform with your ranged attacks. (Provided all three turrets aren't facing the hallway where you're attacking from anyway.)

    Just an aside, NS1 was insane with turret spam for marines. Without higher lifeforms, four to five turrets with smart placement meant the aliens were <i>never</i> going to take that position. And yeah, servers crashed with the amount of turrets. Aliens were just as guilty with gorges spending all their res on tons and tons of offensive chambers. It could get stupid fast, and I'm glad they removed that frustration from the game then and now.
  • bonoryebonorye Join Date: 2002-11-10 Member: 7998Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2006274:date=Nov 2 2012, 07:19 AM:name=MaximumSquid)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MaximumSquid @ Nov 2 2012, 07:19 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2006274"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Sentries have won me a stupid amount of games



    <b>No power required</b> means you can build them right inside a hive



    -<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


    I'm confused about "no power required". Every time I've tried to build sentry guns, they ALWAYS require power/battery. Am I missing something?
  • MaximumSquidMaximumSquid Join Date: 2010-07-20 Member: 72593Members
    edited November 2012
    <u><b>bonorye:</b></u>

    Well it's your lucky day because there's <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=123160" target="_blank">another post</a>. . .

    Check out 1dominator1's reply further down the page in the above link

    Also edited in this link to my previous reply

    -
  • ellnicellnic Join Date: 2010-07-19 Member: 72559Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    The thing is, it's not the senturies that suck (although there is room for improvment on them) but rather new commanders dont know how to comm very well as of now. Give it time and new players will start to understand what is usefull and when isnt. Turrets are really usefull, only if it is used properly. But putting 3 in every room is not a very good use of them. Most rooms dont even need them if maries are doing well and there are better ways to defend a room. But at the end of the day it all comes down to new commanders who think turrets are the right move, in time when they are more expirienced this will happen a lot less. be patient.
  • SgtThompsonSgtThompson Join Date: 2005-01-18 Member: 36340Members
    edited November 2012
    How about we get rid of the stupid battery, make the sentries a bit more expensive, require power in the room, and cap the number of available turrets per room. Unless there are hallways w/o power nodes then keep them and make them a tad more expensive for those situations only. It would be nice to scale the limit for the size of the room, too. 2 for a small room, 4 for a large room (base).

    And maybe turn down the pinging sound by half. It's like each has a megaphone or something...

    Every time I've used turrets it just becomes a chore. No matter how you lay the turrets, they're virtually incapable of defending themselves let alone the room they're in. At best, you can place one at a forward position that you're losing to take some pressure off for a brief moment before someone takes the pathetically weak battery out. This happens even if you set them up to cover themselves and the battery, because doing this cuts you down to 1 turret really shooting and the other 2 struggling to get in range.
  • bonoryebonorye Join Date: 2002-11-10 Member: 7998Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2008166:date=Nov 3 2012, 09:59 AM:name=MaximumSquid)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MaximumSquid @ Nov 3 2012, 09:59 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2008166"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><u><b>bonorye:</b></u>

    Well it's your lucky day because there's <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=123160" target="_blank">another post</a>. . .

    Check out 1dominator1's reply further down the page in the above link

    Also edited in this link to my previous reply

    -<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Yeah I read that post earlier, cool video. I guess I was confused as to the difference between power and a battery. I'm a returning NS1 player so the power factor in this game is new to me (and AWESOME). So for clarification, no matter what, sentries ALWAYS need a battery no matter what area on the map correct?
  • Dark_DragonDark_Dragon Join Date: 2007-12-21 Member: 63229Members, Constellation
    Sentries were always a backbone of many winning strategies in the past, awesome fun games that would last up to 2 hours going back and forth, those were the days.

    Stopped when people stopped building sentries though.
  • tarquinbbtarquinbb Join Date: 2012-11-03 Member: 166314Members
    turrets are required when your team is spread too thin to defend a certain area...

    if you're not spread thin, then it's far better to get armory and phase gates in those rooms and let your marines do the defending.

    this would probably be different in competitive game where you aren't given the freedom to get an easy 2-3 extractors in a matter of minutes.
  • DavilDavil Florida, USA Join Date: 2012-08-14 Member: 155602Members, Constellation
    Turrets are really never required, phase gates negate any need for turrets.
  • HeisenburgCompensatorHeisenburgCompensator Join Date: 2012-10-30 Member: 164783Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2006066:date=Nov 2 2012, 04:23 AM:name=Yuuki)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Yuuki @ Nov 2 2012, 04:23 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2006066"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I don't know that's up with new comm's loving to build turrets and whips, it's seems there is some deep psychological law at work, because they all do it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Simple, they built stuff and they want to protect their stuff (basically a commander's fun in the game). If they don't trust the players to defend it they'll take any other option that's available, no matter how ineffective (whether the lack of trust is deserved or not).
  • ellnicellnic Join Date: 2010-07-19 Member: 72559Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    <!--quoteo(post=2008342:date=Nov 3 2012, 05:31 PM:name=SgtThompson)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SgtThompson @ Nov 3 2012, 05:31 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2008342"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->...

    Every time I've used turrets it just becomes a chore. No matter how you lay the turrets, they're virtually incapable of defending themselves let alone the room they're in.

    ...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    That might be because they are not sopose to. They are ment to assist you and not replace a human player. An unguarded romm with 3 of them in shouldn't be hard to take out, as they are not ment to be left on there own. If that's how you play, you'r using them wrong and they suck to you because you think they are ment for somthing they are not. It's pretty much that simple
  • 1dominator11dominator1 Join Date: 2010-11-19 Member: 75011Members
    edited November 2012
    Sentries kick major ass if there are marines supporting them. They dont allow you to leave a base without human defence but they minimize the amount of such defence required leaving more players free for other stuff. Now instead of needing 2 or 3 marines to hold off those 3 skulks you only need 1, and late game 30 res worth of sentries is worth considerably less than 1-2 marines.
    And then you can drop them in the hive room...
  • Onii-chanOnii-chan Join Date: 2002-11-05 Member: 7164Members
    Reminds me of NS1's 1.0 launch marine tactics: turtle in base and build the whole tech tree while the incompetent aliens players fail to end the game for 30 minutes.

    Dat nostalgia.
  • snowfox86snowfox86 Join Date: 2012-11-01 Member: 165579Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2006300:date=Nov 2 2012, 08:40 AM:name=azurescorch)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (azurescorch @ Nov 2 2012, 08:40 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2006300"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->They're better than the personal waste of resources that are hydras.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Personal waste?! As some one who dedicated time to learning the gorge right off the bat... I must say... WUT?!

    Placing myself at key locations with the hydras and some sludge has held off so many marine advances it's not even funny. I've saved hives from going down just by myself, 3 hydras, and a few whips, and even delayed attacks long enough for the rest of the team to realize what was happening and come aid me, resulting in nothing but death for the advancing marines and an instant counter attack, pushing them back a base.

    Even then, I hold onto that section long enough and then suddenly there's an onos charging through that section that I can aid and bile bomb ALL the things.

    The few times I've played commander, it's actually quite frustrating to command if your team skips right over the gorge. It's viable, but life would be a lot easier with one.

    Even if you place a few hydras in crappy positions and they get taken out. That's fire that is not directed at you, your hive, your buildings, your team mates. That's ammo wasted, meaning they will have to either go back to the nearest armory to replenish, meaning their advance was a waste of time. Or spam their commander for ammo, meaning less TRes for their team.

    Heck, if you're good at the gorge, then that means your commander doesn't even have to waste TRes on whips until he desperately needs them, meaning more upgrades for the team, and more higher tier alien eggs plopped down.

    But no.. They're a waste of PRes because they're not designed to insta gib a marine and you can't rush to onos yourself and rambo ;)
  • MisterNubsMisterNubs Join Date: 2012-03-01 Member: 147912Members
    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->and a few whips,<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Pretty sure those were the main reason you held the marines off.


    I much rather have stronger hydras even if it meant the infestation requirement to place hydras again was back. Whips require way too much baby sitting to be effective. I end up killing marines more often with gorge spit alone.
Sign In or Register to comment.