What I need to focus on in a solo adventure?

umdum9umdum9 London ON. Join Date: 2015-01-24 Member: 201013Members
Such as going away from the pack of marines to be sneaky beaky. What I often do is go after Res, but instead of firing on it causing a lot of attention I cut the cyst often with a welder and wait till it slowly dies that way it causes minimal attention to ground units. Is this a good idea? Anything I can do to improve in this?

Comments

  • NordicNordic Long term camping in Kodiak Join Date: 2012-05-13 Member: 151995Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
    Killing the cyst is not effective anymore. Commanders can use nutrient mist on a harvester without infestation to keep it from taking damage.

    Generally you should not be alone, but you shouldn't be in a giant group most of the time either.

    When I am alone I like to lane block, kill res, or try and kill an alien upgrades. Generally I try not to be alone.
  • umdum9umdum9 London ON. Join Date: 2015-01-24 Member: 201013Members
    Nordic wrote: »
    Killing the cyst is not effective anymore. Commanders can use nutrient mist on a harvester without infestation to keep it from taking damage.

    Generally you should not be alone, but you shouldn't be in a giant group most of the time either.

    When I am alone I like to lane block, kill res, or try and kill an alien upgrades. Generally I try not to be alone.

    Alright thanks
  • KasharicKasharic Hull, England Join Date: 2013-03-27 Member: 184473Members, Forum Admins, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, NS2 Community Developer
    edited September 2016
    If you do happen to find yourself solo-pushing an RT, then you should drop your welder and axe the harvester while listening and moving around watching for aliens.

    Solo pushing is a good thing as long as you do it at the right time, if you see 2 people pushing an RT on the other side of the map and you see a lot of aliens engaging there, you can push the other side quickly on your own, kill cysts, then axe the RT... you're almost guaranteed to kill the RT, and if your aim is good enough, when the Aliens converge onto you, you can take a few of them down before you die also.

    EDIT -

    Gotta love that I'm getting disagrees with what most people below agree are the right actions. IF the comm actually gives ammo/meds then of course shoot instead, but the majority of the time (recently at least) I haven't had a single comm that offers that kind of support.
    Also, the down side of shooting the RT is that if the enemy skulks know what they are doing, they will sneak up relatively close and time their attack based on how much ammo you have spent from your mag... so shooting leaves you defenseless (unless you're actually able to hit with a pistol, or they miss enough that you can reload in time).

    But in general, in pub games, I'll go for the axe because 90% of comms are unreliable at best... if this were a competitive discussion about 6 vs 6 etc then I would always advise to shoot and not axe, because you have a comm that will actually support you.
  • SantaClawsSantaClaws Denmark Join Date: 2012-07-31 Member: 154491Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    It's really a tough thing to teach or explain. My first advice to any marine trying to improve, is to try and do this often. The best way to examine your own shortcomings, is to put yourself in dangerous situations.

    Because this is a situation, where it really comes down to the marine in question.

    I'll try and explain roughly how I approach this. I sort of have a game sense, based on things like; basic map awareness, a count of skulks, sound, rough map timings and such. This game sense informs roughly how many clips I can "safely" put in the harvester, without getting ambushed. If I do get ambushed, I consider this a mistake in my own approach to "sweep the lanes".

    Once I have put my safe clips in, I once again consult my game sense, to make a rough guess at how many aliens I'm likely to encounter. If all the aliens are on the other side of the map, I'll maybe only expect one. If that is the case, I'm confident enough that I can beat one, maybe two skulks, with half a clip + pistol. So I will put half a clip in, to bait the skulk out, if he doesn't, I empty the whole thing and reload.

    Some marines require an entire clip to kill one skulk. Those marines might want to think twice before wasting half their clip. So perhaps that highlights why this is such a difficult and nuanced question to answer. But I hope I made some sense here. The takeaway I'd like, is that you practise by putting yourself in this situation as often as you can. That's the best way you can find out what works for you.
  • umdum9umdum9 London ON. Join Date: 2015-01-24 Member: 201013Members
    Thanks guys some really helpful advice here!
  • VetinariVetinari Join Date: 2013-07-23 Member: 186325Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver
    Dont axe. Position yourself well and shoot, unless comm doesnt resupply properly.
  • TheriusTherius Join Date: 2009-03-06 Member: 66642Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
    Dont axe. Position yourself well and shoot, unless comm doesnt resupply properly.

    This is the most important thing. Forget your axe. Killing RTs is all about positioning, and ammo is practically free. Standing next to the harvester with axe in hand is a free kill for a defending skulk.
  • MoFo1MoFo1 United States Join Date: 2014-07-25 Member: 197612Members
    edited September 2016
    Ammo is only "practically free" when your comm both

    - is willing (and quick enough) to drop ammo
    - has enough res to drop ammo

    Sadly this is not always the case...

    For myself it's better to axe because I'm not very good at tracking aliens with my aim.. If I don't have a full clip ready when I'm attacked, there's pretty much zero chance of me winning the fight.

    So in the end it comes down to knowing your own abilities. If you have superb aim and find dodging and killing skulks to be ridiculously easy.. Then yeah you want to shoot everything. (chances are better that your comm is heavily supporting you as well)

    But if you're the type that needs every bullet in the clip you can get... The axe is your best friend.



    It's also amusing to note that when I first started playing people would rage and call you noob if you shot harvesters. Comms would even refuse to drop ammo because you should've used your axe...
  • .trixX..trixX. Budapest Join Date: 2007-10-11 Member: 62605Members
    I'm surprised noone mentioned trapping lifeforms yet ;]
    Keep checking the map and block aliens returning to heal
  • Bike_ManBike_Man USA Join Date: 2016-03-12 Member: 214124Members
    Axing or shooting harvesters should be a matter of situation, and less of a personal preference of what always happens. Shooting a RT will:
    • Destroy the harvester faster, which cuts off its income faster, uses less of your time, and gives less time for aliens to react.
    • Keep you at a distance. May or may not be good depending on where the RT is and what wants to bite your legs.
    • Use up ammo. You will need a willing and able (observant and supplied with Tres) comm to resupply you, unless you like running back to an armory or running with low ammo.
    • Creates more noise. Aliens will know where you are either way, but you might not hear or see them as well as if you axed the harvester. Again, depends on the situation and the RT room.
    • Unloads your primary weapon, leaving you vulnerable if you don't see the aliens coming.

    I usually shoot RTs, but if I don't expect incoming ammo resupplies soon I might run at it shooting and then axe it after 1 or 2 mags.
  • TheriusTherius Join Date: 2009-03-06 Member: 66642Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
    MoFo1 wrote: »
    Ammo is only "practically free" when your comm both

    - is willing (and quick enough) to drop ammo
    - has enough res to drop ammo

    If you can't afford 1 tres (a maximum needed to kill an RT) in exchange for an alien harvester, you've already lost. If your comm is not willing to drop you ammo, you've already lost and there's no point going after harvesters.

  • remiremi remedy [blu.knight] Join Date: 2003-11-18 Member: 23112Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester
    Bike_Man wrote: »
    Shooting a RT will:
    • Destroy the harvester faster, which cuts off its income faster, uses less of your time, and gives less time for aliens to react.

    Actually with the reload time factored in, the axe will kill a harvester faster than the rifle.

  • VetinariVetinari Join Date: 2013-07-23 Member: 186325Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver
    remi wrote: »
    Bike_Man wrote: »
    Shooting a RT will:
    • Destroy the harvester faster, which cuts off its income faster, uses less of your time, and gives less time for aliens to react.

    Actually with the reload time factored in, the axe will kill a harvester faster than the rifle.

    One TTO server hint says that the SG and the LMG also have the same DPS if you factor in reload time.

    Is there a list/spreadsheet somewhere that lists all the DPSes? I wonder if there are any other interesting things to be found here.
  • SupaFredSupaFred Join Date: 2013-03-03 Member: 183652Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver
    One TTO server hint says that the SG and the LMG also have the same DPS if you factor in reload time.

    You have a good memory. I removed that hint a couple of months ago since it was only true for the LMG without weapon upgrades (if I recall correctly).

  • VetinariVetinari Join Date: 2013-07-23 Member: 186325Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver
    SupaFred wrote: »
    One TTO server hint says that the SG and the LMG also have the same DPS if you factor in reload time.

    You have a good memory. I removed that hint a couple of months ago since it was only true for the LMG without weapon upgrades (if I recall correctly).

    What, really? Huh. That comes as a surprise. I guess seeing them every few minutes for so long burned them into my subconsciousness.

    And shouldn't weapon upgrades just increase damage by 10% each? How does it screw up the DPS?
  • The_Welsh_WizardThe_Welsh_Wizard Join Date: 2013-09-10 Member: 188101Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    SupaFred wrote: »
    One TTO server hint says that the SG and the LMG also have the same DPS if you factor in reload time.

    You have a good memory. I removed that hint a couple of months ago since it was only true for the LMG without weapon upgrades (if I recall correctly).

    What, really? Huh. That comes as a surprise. I guess seeing them every few minutes for so long burned them into my subconsciousness.

    And shouldn't weapon upgrades just increase damage by 10% each? How does it screw up the DPS?

    Because weapon upgrades do not change reload time.
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