L2P marine/skulk

SnæbjørnSnæbjørn Join Date: 2012-08-06 Member: 154868Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Please teach me :)</div>So I've played NS2 for a few hours, and I suck :(
What I just can't seem to get a grasp at is how to move so that I become hard to hit.

As a marine skulks circle me and they're hard to hit, but when I try to do the same it doesn't seem to work as well also the marine seems to jump in a way that I lose track of them.

Are there any kind of guides (video preferred) that could teach me the best way to move so that I become really hard to hit?

Comments

  • GISPGISP Battle Gorge Denmark Join Date: 2004-03-20 Member: 27460Members, Playtest Lead, Forum Moderators, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Squad Five Gold, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Gold, Subnautica Playtester, Forum staff
    Ingame offers a few videos @ explore.
    Other then that, practice.
  • RaZDaZRaZDaZ Join Date: 2012-11-05 Member: 167331Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited November 2012
    I struggled heavily as a skulk despite me being an old vet of AvP2 as a runner alien. Marine I find extremely easy thanks to it's similarity with good old fashioned FPS infantry gameplay.

    My best tips as a Skulk:
    - Know when to engage enemies and where to position yourself
    - A lot of new players miss this, EVERY single time you spawn, upgrade yourself
    - Engage either as a team assault or sneaking around solo to kill extractors
    - Use the walls, next run on the floor unless you are absolutely sure you are safe
    - When engaging marines, pounce and wall bounce in between reloads. As they reload, fully commit to engaging them. Switch between evasion and aggression
    - Don't mash/hold down bite, time and aim your bites
    - Communicate to your team of marine locations
    - Use a headset, this has saved my ass so many times just by hearing marines around a corner or coming to attack me as I kill their extractors
    - Finally, gorges are generally more useful than skulks if you don't have many gorges on your team. Spending that first 10 on a gorge and clogging a hive entrance is game changing. I've won us games just by doing this although it's dependent on spawn, resource nozzles and map

    Luckily, Runner in AvP2 was even harder vs most classes as you were solo player with very low HP and most games were decided by kills. This game is dependent on team.

    Talk to your team, it wins games.
  • Visor1Visor1 Join Date: 2012-01-13 Member: 140300Members
    edited November 2012
    Don't be affraid to run away as a skulk and get the marine to chase you rather then trying to close the gap. Use the crouch key when you're up high to move silently into position or when moving through vents to get behind a marine position. Never hold down the attack key always time your bites ie move into melee range bite 1-2 times move around then go back in to finish him off. Trying to just bite down a marine that can aim, will always end up with you dying.

    The best thing to practice is getting up high droping down to get a bite or two off then running back up the wall. Most marines will use all there ammo trying to hit you then all you have to do is drop down while they're reloading but beware that good marines will use their pistol. As a skulk a marine with a LMG only needs to hit you with 9 bullets without cara, this is why is so important to keep moving around. Listen out for marines footsteps when moving around, if you hear them coming you'll want to move into a ambush location rather then moving into meet them. You're attack can land for 75 damage 50 damage or 25 damage depending on how accurate you are with the attack so don't waste trying to bite him if you're not aiming right at him.

    Below are examples of general situations without factoring in upgrades:

    Situation 1 - you're up high and waiting for a single marine to run past who is unware you're there

    As you hear him moving in close hold the crouch key to silently move into the ideal spot to drop/jump down at him. Keep in mind the marine may see your leg if you get to close to the edge. The moment he walks underneath drop down so you land right behind him line up a full 75dam bite. Depending on how good the marine is here you will normally get two bites off before he even reacts. The moment you see him react move either around him or run up a wall then quickly jump back down a finish him off. This tactic is the best to practice first since it's in your favour and it teaches you how to be evasive. Once you get good as this you can use it to take down multiple marines. Never be afraid to run off if things go bad just make sure you practice run up walls etc. Most of the time it's better to get a good bite in then run off then risk dying. This tactic is good for area denial where you know marines will move out to build resource towers.

    Situation 2 - A single marine is attacking x structure

    This is pretty similiar to the above. Your main proirity here is to get up high without him hearing or seeing you while getting as close as you can. Once there all you have to do it wait till he uses about 1/2 of him LMG clip then move in. The closer you are the less ammo you want him to have in that clip. A good marine will be watching for an attack which is why you need to use blind spots to sneak in close.

    Situation 3 - A marine and you are moving around the map and you both spot each other

    Here the marine has a decent advantage over you. If you move straight to him you'll end up dead even if you do manage to land a bite. The only way you're going to win this fight is to run up a wall or get behind a box/door and reposition in a better spot to attack from. Most of the time a marine will case you down so you can turn this disadvantage into a ambush back on the marine. This is where learning how to run up walls and be evasive will keep you alive till he runs low on ammo. At this point you'll want to be close. A marine that's reloading while you're in melee range should be a dead marine.

    Situation 4 - you're either attacking another marine or a marine is in postion waiting for a skulk to run past.

    The marine has a very large advantage over you all you can do is run away and if you're not to low on health setup an ambush when he chases after you. Don't be suprised if you die before you can even react. If you are attacking another rmarine it is possible to move behind him to block the bullets of the other marine. This is by no means easy and you still have to avoid damage from the marine you're attacking.

    Upgrades

    Leap - requires any two hives to be build and x time to research

    This upgrade allows you to quickly close the gap or move away. When used right it's almost impossible for the marine to hit you while leaping and when you chain it with wall jumping you can encirle the poor marine while he shoots nothing but air. Due to the high energy cost unless you have adrenaline you won't be getting to many leaps off in one fight.


    Carapace - requires a craig hive

    This upgrade takes you from 90 effective hp to 150hp. Unless you get this on the first hive marines will have weapon upgrades which will counter most of this. This is a very good upgrade for a beginner skulk since it lets you take more hits before going down.



    Silence - requires shade hive

    Makes all noises you normaly make complety silent. This means you can even bite a marine while making no sound which makes your ambushes most deadly. Unfortunetly the shade hive is normally 3rd to be built in most games.


    Celerity - requires shift hive

    This boosts you're movement not just across the map but also when you're moving into postion to attack that marine. The only down side is that once you're in combat the speed bonus is lost.

    Adrenaline - requires shift hive

    Most skulks won't pick this over celerity but I've found it very handy with leap. Normally you will only get 2 leaps off then be low on energy but with adrenaline you get 5 leaps. This allows to you bounce all over the walls/ceilings, get in afew bites and run off again and leap back in. I've had situations where I've drawn fire from multiple marines while another skulk attacks while they're reloading then leaped into them to finish them off. Using this upgrade with leap it almosts makes you feel like you're playing a 0 res fade. Celerity though it a much better upgrade for general use though.

    Spectating a good skulk or watching videos will also help alot in understanding what you need to do. The other side of being good is having a good setup. This means having the right DPI and game settings plus getting the highest minium fps you can achieve with your system. There is no point in having nice fps in the ready room or the start of the game. You want good fps for when your in heavy combat situations.
  • douchebagatrondouchebagatron Custom member title Join Date: 2003-12-20 Member: 24581Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited November 2012
    walljump!

    <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwL9bWq-En8" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwL9bWq-En8</a>

    this can also be found ingame under the tutorials menu.
  • SoundFXSoundFX Join Date: 2003-08-21 Member: 20048Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2011375:date=Nov 5 2012, 01:06 PM:name=Snæbjørn)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Snæbjørn @ Nov 5 2012, 01:06 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2011375"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->So I've played NS2 for a few hours, and I suck :(
    What I just can't seem to get a grasp at is how to move so that I become hard to hit.

    As a marine skulks circle me and they're hard to hit, but when I try to do the same it doesn't seem to work as well also the marine seems to jump in a way that I lose track of them.

    Are there any kind of guides (video preferred) that could teach me the best way to move so that I become really hard to hit?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


    Try to make him lose track of you and/or make it as difficult as possible. I found crawling up the walls and re-aligning yourself is not only good for your health but good for your biting as well. This also depends on the marine skill-level as very good marines don't buy that whole wall walking thing.

    Also, as with anything, practice practice practice.
  • SnæbjørnSnæbjørn Join Date: 2012-08-06 Member: 154868Members
    Thanks for all the help. I watched the wall jump video, and tried it... holy hell it makes a BIG difference. I was unaware of the speed boost you get from jumping :)
    So now I just jump around frantically waiting for them to empty their mag then I go for the biting, still need a bit of work on landing the bits but I can take out multiple (bad) marines now! Sweet!

    I was aware of pretty much all the other stuff like, sneaking, upgrading, communicating and doing zergling run-bys late game (starcraft reference :D)
  • B1llyB1lly Join Date: 2004-02-18 Member: 26653Members
    there are so many things to remember that each time something is missing :D

    listen to all the above plus:

    - select secondary attach (the parasite) as soon as you move and there are no marines near.
    - when attacking, being an ambush or a rush or anything, aim the parasite and shoot it before closing the gap: it is 10 damage + will reveal the position to all the other aliens even if you die.
    - when attacking a structure, if you are alone and you know marines are near, attack the structure to do some damage, then close the gap to where marines will come, then parasite and attack them. They will probably think you are near the structure, not near the entrance (for example).
    If there are many, wait for them to start repairing then attack.
    If you manage to survive, this is time to destroy the structure.
    In maps like veil, i usually do damage to the observatory (the left side of the map) up to 50%, then i go to top res tower and do again 50% damage. if i hear marines, i retreat to the first structure and finish the job, if not i destroy both.
  • IdlerayIdleray Join Date: 2012-10-04 Member: 161464Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited November 2012
    Step 0(optional): Get Regeneration.
    Step 1: Find a RT.
    Step 2: Wait till no marines nearby.
    Step 3: Chomp. (if marines intervenes, run/leap away if you're not feeling confident)
    Step 4. ???
    Step 5: Congratulations, you just made more of a contribution to your team than any 20-0 Skulk.
  • kk20kk20 Join Date: 2012-10-30 Member: 164592Members
    pistol is great, dont forget the pistol. I get more kills with a pistol early on than in later games sometimes. Rifle is innacurate. Fire in a burst and stop, sometimes the alien will break cover and run thinking you are reloading (when you arent). A quick change to pistol can sometimes force aliens to make mistakes too.

    As an alien dont forget to run away. My onos and lerk get more kills by running away and re-ambushing marines (who think im low on health) than in straight fights.

    K/D is mostly irrelevant. Wasting marine res is more important. If you can force a beacon you have probably done more good than you think.
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