lerks lerks lerks
thefonz
Join Date: 2011-06-22 Member: 105847Members
Join Date: 2011-06-22 Member: 105847Members
I'm surprised I don't see lerkspam more often. It's fairly easy to run it as a strategy. The khamm goes for RTs to speed pres gain. Once you hold a about 4 (give or take, more preferred) get a crag hive and regen. The whole team should pop lerks at 30 pres. Replace skulk packs with lerk packs. Roam the map as flying self healing death. Spike everything, particulary if the counter with mass shotguns.
I'll leave my preferred late game build out for now.
Thoughts? Problems? Marine counters?
I'll leave my preferred late game build out for now.
Thoughts? Problems? Marine counters?
Comments
Celerity is better on lerk than adrenalin, but you don't really need either.
I have to say, I prefer carapace to regen, sure you have to return to heal, but on the other hand you don't die so...
If you thought ground skulking was bad, just wait till you see ground lerking...
Oh geez! Ground lerking is the best. And I mean gliding along the ground just as fast as flying would. The marines get so confused.
Try it, just build up speed flying and try to land smoothly while holding space.
I guess it boils down to your playing style.
As a very aggressive Lerk you might prefer Carapace, since you're more exposed to bursty damage.
If your role is mainly harassing, thus playing somewhat defensively, you're continuosly exposed to some light-medium damage, thus Regeneration dramatically increases your autonomy.
Lerks are your harassing support unit. They have the highest mobility of any lifeform in the game, it's almost like you can attack every point on the map at once.
They are pretty much guaranteed to win a 1on1 against a rifle marine early on, they can force shotgunners to retreat due to spike harassing before they get even into their range and once they have Spores and Umbra, they are excellent team players.
Just use the confusion that the rest of your team creates and double it by occluding the view and creating deadly DoT zones. Or effectively double any lifeform's HP during a base attack and turn a single Onos-Gorge combo into a real nightmare for marines. It's a real turtle-ender.
Lerks are not necessarily designed to get a lot of kills (though they can) or to take down bases. But they can instantly relocate to wherever you need support and annoy the hell out of marines.
Regen is mainly if you tend to be towards the enemy side of the map. Travel distance is the obvious reason to choose it, but it's much more important if you happen to get stuck between enemy bases. When the shit hits and you have to retreat deeper into enemy territory regen will save your life.
Scardy meant lerks walking on the ground or perching anywhere. The latter plus lag compensation and poor awareness result in a dead lerk. :P
Great points you've made. I disagree with lerks having the most mobility, though. Surely, fades deserve that recognition. But being able to reach places that fades can't access without blink is very nice.
Marines just need to move as a team to counter this. Forward armories also greatly reduce the effectiveness of lerk spikes/poison.
It's good, but not good enough to the point where everyone on your team should be getting one because it screws you over in the late game, fewer fades and onos when marines are getting jp's and shotties and when they have armor/weapons upgrades.
It's gotten harder now, but Lerk is still my best lifeform ever since Onos got nerfed
Marines with W2/3 LMG and a shotgun buddy are a great counter. As I Lerk I can't spike for more than a few seconds, and I can't swoop in more than once (if at all).
Keep in mind that scaring off a Lerk from an important location is sometimes just as good as killing it outright. Especially if other people on your team are also keeping it away from where it wants to go, thereby wasting its time.
Also, celerity is fantastic for lerking (swift map coverage and effective initial strikes), but regeneration is really the key upgrade in pubs, and I've never been in a situation where I'd rather have carapace. What would you rather have: 25 additional armor, or the ability to harass almost continually (provided you know how to dodge/fly to safe perches mid-fight)?
The Lerk (In the right hands also called Mega-Bat.
- early game: The lerk is the ninja-killer, you can move fast to the position you are needed at and kill the lone marine without problems. You also are good in opening attacks. You can poison the marines with one bite, draw ammo on you and the skulks clean up behind you when you need to flee.
- mid game: As soon as spores are researched (and they are damn powerful! Sadly most khams don't think so.) you can initiate attacks on marine-tech points. On top of your ammo-leaching, you can now spore around the armory and the phase gate. Even spore the retreat-path of gorges to prevent marines following them. Together with at least 3 skulks, you can get down any tech point. If a marine-rush on a hive is happening and seen early enough, you can completely block the marine advance with spores. In this case you don't even need to get close to them. Just repeat sporing the hallway they want to go through.
- late game: Pretty much the same as mid game, only that you now initiate attacks to the marine main base for other life forms. Umbra comes in handy, but at least now you will need adrenaline. Spores are also useful to take away the sight of Exos and kill / prevent welder marines. But boy, when you think it is difficult to spore a room with 3 marines in it, you better stay away from the Exo. You only have a real chance when coming form behind anyway. But a spored Exo is soon a dead Exo if your team mates are worth anything.
A few additional tips for people who want to learn lerk-play:- Speed and Agility are the only things that keeps you alive! NEVER fly in a straight line. NEVER!
- Try the stuka-attack style: Engage unseen; Bite; accelerate right up to the ceiling in a 90° angle; turn 180° directly down to the ground; Bite again; repeat.
- Try fake escapes. You are damn fast, in narrow rooms or around corners, you can bite, than flee around the next corner and instantly turn around and engage the marine again. He will think you have retreated and will be reloading. (= free bite) Just learn the timing.
- When you have learned to move erratic enough (also vertically!), you don't need celerity at all. (But it can be helpful at first to learn Lerk) Just wait until the second hive is up and spores + adrenaline are there. If you are not greedy you won't have died until this point and adrenaline becomes unbelievable handy with spores.
- While you are very good in killing single marines, groups of (starts at 2) marines need another tactic. (at least when the rines can aim.) Don't get greedy. You don't need a kill. In fact it even hurts them more when you just stop them from advancing. Poison them so your skulk buddy, can easily kill them or the com need to spend res on meds. Some marines will even run back to the armory losing more time for their team.
- Don't waste your time on killing buildings. (Maybe beside a PG in some cases.) Skulks are better for that. Try to backup your skulks and gorges against marines. This is a much more effective way of playing Lerk.
With this play-style you won't be the No. 1 on the score board. (No building kills and only kills against lone marines don't bring you this far.) But what you do for your team is immense.I will now close this Wall of Text with a few true facts about the Lerk that are relevant to this discussion.
The one thing I can not get down being lerk is that movment. That bite; accelerate right up to the ceiling in a 90° angle; turn 180° directly down to the ground; Bite again; repeat. I also can not for the life of me fight a lerk that does that. I get spun around trying to find the darn bat but I am already dead.
Awesome video.