Basic Field Tactics For Marines
kittycat
Join Date: 2003-07-28 Member: 18503Members
Join Date: 2003-07-28 Member: 18503Members
<div class="IPBDescription">...how not to get pwned</div> Just some basic tactics for marines. Works with any commander strategy
1. Listen to your commander
Do what your commander wants, follow orders. He will more likely give large guns to marines he can depend on.
2. Stay with your team
Lone marines are fast food for skulks. Stay with your team. You will have more fun with your large weapon if you dont get skulked alone in some dark, creepy hallway.
3. Don«t stand around like sheep
When moving, keep distance to avoid getting pwned by 1 skulk. When standing around - scatter, hide in dark places. make the place your squad is standing appear empty for skulks that rush in. You will have more time to aim when The skulks stand around puzzled, looking for marines.
4. Cheap guns first
LMGs go first, large guns stay back and dont get devoured.
5.Dont go K-E (Knife Ecstasy)
Alien resource towers seem to spread a dangerous nerve gas that makes the marines want to pull out their knives and knife the res, reaching a state of ecstasy.
Obvious sign:
Constant drooling and zero alertness for surroundings.
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1. Listen to your commander
Do what your commander wants, follow orders. He will more likely give large guns to marines he can depend on.
2. Stay with your team
Lone marines are fast food for skulks. Stay with your team. You will have more fun with your large weapon if you dont get skulked alone in some dark, creepy hallway.
3. Don«t stand around like sheep
When moving, keep distance to avoid getting pwned by 1 skulk. When standing around - scatter, hide in dark places. make the place your squad is standing appear empty for skulks that rush in. You will have more time to aim when The skulks stand around puzzled, looking for marines.
4. Cheap guns first
LMGs go first, large guns stay back and dont get devoured.
5.Dont go K-E (Knife Ecstasy)
Alien resource towers seem to spread a dangerous nerve gas that makes the marines want to pull out their knives and knife the res, reaching a state of ecstasy.
Obvious sign:
Constant drooling and zero alertness for surroundings.
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Comments
7. When charging up at the armoury, stand so you can see the entrance to base. It's far too easy to just stare at the ammo counter as it increases. Many aliens will learn where the armoury is and pop around the corner to make speculative attacks at any marines that might be standing there. A single acid rocket can take out four marines this way, so try not to crowd too much.
8. Don't just weld HA marines, weld regular marines as well. Everyone has armour, and it can all be welded. They'll thank you for it.
9. If the commander has sent you somewhere in view of enemy structures to build an outpost, do not attack them without asking first. The moment you do, it'll light up on the hivesight of every alien on the map. Make sure the outpost has finished building first, or you'll get four skulks and a couple of onos charging down on you before you're ready.
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It's not as easy being a good marine as you would think. You need to be able to follow orders, act on your own initiative and be able to discern when to do what. The best commander is powerless if his marines do not follow his instructions, and a team of really good marines can win a game even if the commander sucks.
As a marine you have two main priorities. You need to follow your commander's orders, and you need to look out for your team mates. As long as you always remember this, you will not be completely off, but there are more things you can do to become a good marine:
* Always carry out your commander's order as quickly and effectively as possible. If he tells you to go to Computer Core Hive, go to Computer Core Hive! Even if you know there is a ressource nozzle close by that is never checked by aliens, or if you think you heard a gorge in one of the corridors just before. If you have important suggestions, tell your commander while you are carrying out his orders.
* Always carry out your commander's orders as quickly and effectively as possible. This also means that you should not spend time loading up on ammo (which you will probably never use anyway) when he tells you to go through the phase gate to save an outpost that is falling.
* Never go alone. On your own you are just a crunchy snack for aliens, but with your team mates, you are part of an efficient strike force. Alone you are a burden for you team, you'll just clog up the spawn queue and delay the real team players from getting back in. If you want to be Rambo and kill loads of nasty creatures, I suggest you go play Half-Life single player instead.
* Use your ears. You will often be able to hear the aliens before you see them. You can also hear if one of them is trying to parasite you, which gives you a chance to spot if some foul Kharaa is lurking in the shadows somewhere.
* Build smart. Since you never go alone (see previous point), make sure that at least one of you (and preferably more) is keeping watch while the others build. An alien will sneak up on and kill an unsuspecting marine before he even gets to draw his weapon, and you will lose not only the marine(s) but the stuff they were building as well.
* Keep the noise down. Do not spam the voice comm with situational reports or demands for bigger guns. Use it if you have something important to say and make sure to say it as short and precise as possible. Communicate the situation and let the commander decide what needs to be done.
* Communicate you needs in a sensible manner. If you need something - be it a welder or a siege cannon - tell the commander as quickly and precisely as possible (see above point). If he hasn't answered you within half a minute, take a look at the team resources. If there are resources to fulfill your request, try asking again. Do not get mad if the commander chooses not to fulfill your request - he has the big picture and he knows better than you if the resources are needed elsewhere.
* Use the in-game yells. If you need health or ammo, use the menu to communicate this to your commander. If you do so, he can use his jump key to locate you and give you what you need. If you do not use this function, make sure you at least tell him where you are.
* Do not demand constant attention. If you don't have an order, don't spam the commander with "need order". Use it once to let him know that you are available - it can really get on most commanders' nerves, if the game keeps saying that their soldiers need orders. You can ask the commander what his current plan is (i.e. taking a hive, getting more resources) and work towards that goal - but remember to stick together. Do not run off in some random direction to kill aliens the second you don't have an order.
* Respect your co-players. The game is generally much more fun if people don't flame each other for the smallest of mistakes. Everybody was new once, and if you are world champion in using jetpacks/commanding/whatever, then give your co-players good advice instead of whining about their incompetence.
* Respect your commander. He might not do things the way you would, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't know what he is doing. There are many ways of doing things, but the surest way to not succeed is if one or more marines decides that they know better and don't cooperate. If the commander is really bad, give him some advice. If that doesn't help or if he is directly destructive, ask him to step down. If that doesn't do the trick, eject him. Don't just scream "n00b comm, n00b comm" over the voice - that will definately get you nowhere fast.
* Do not be afraid to die. If the base is being attacked by fades, run after them and shoot them. Remember that some aliens have the ability to regenerate (popular pick amongst fades), and they will heal up completely in no time if they are allowed to withdraw. If no one runs after them to keep the pressure up, they will slowly wear down your defenses. Even though fades are dangerous, they are far from immortal - it is possible to kill a fade with a LMG (although it takes a little skill). Do not run off on suicidal missions all the time though, make sure you sell your life as expensively as possible.
* Place yourself smartly. Don't stand too close to other marines so that an alien can just jump in between you with an open mouth and be sure to get a kill. Place yourself so that you can cover the rest of your group and they can cover you. Onos' first priority is seldom to climb ladders, so if you are attacked by this foul creature, try getting up on something, so that you can shoot it from above.
* Do not stand still. If you are attacked by aliens, don't just stand still. It is hard for most aliens to keep their orientation while attacking (especially skulks), so if you move, your chance of survival is drastically improved. Use your strafe keys to circle the alien while you shoot it.
* Fire in bursts. Even though recoil is not an issue in Natural Selection, it is still pretty wise to fire in controlled bursts. You can empty a clip in no time if you just fire away, and if you have to reload in the middle of a fight, you have big problems. If you do need to reload, try to take cover behind your fellow marines if possible, so that they can defend you while you are helpless. If you are in close combat with a fade or an onos, don't worry too much about bursting, chances are that you won't survive to the end of your clip anyway.
* Ammo = weight. The more ammo you carry around, the slower you move. It is often enough to bring only one extra clip instead of loading completely up on spare ammo. The extra speed you gain might be enough to save you in a critical situation.
* Keep an eye on walls and ceilings. Most people just look straight ahead on the corridor in front of them, but aliens can hide many places. They can sit in vents, above doorways or directly on the ceiling and only wait for a chance to jump down and bite your head off. A little bit of paranoia can save from many such problems.
* Don't jump around. Even though bunnyhopping will increase your speed slightly, it will generate a whole lot of noise, and then the aliens won't need any parasites to know your position. Only jump if you need to get over an obstacle or when you fight.
* Don't attack everything you see. All aliens will be alerted if you attack a building. If you are heading towards an enemy hive, it might not be smart to attack the resource node just outside, because it will let every alien in the map know what you are up to. The same goes if you are taking down an undefended hive. Try building some basic defense or at least get into favorable defense positions before you tear it apart. It will help you when the hordes of aliens start rushing in.
* Always have a full clip. Make sure that your current clip is full at all times. If you just finished shooting at something, make sure to reload so that you are ready for your next battle. It is bad news to be surprised with only a few bullets left in the clip.
* Keep an eye on parasites. If you have detected a parasite, you might not be the best person to send on a stealth mission. The commander can't see if you are parasited, so make sure to let him know, if it is of importance. If you are just guarding a base that the aliens know about anyway, it doesn't really make a big difference if the enemy knows where you are.
* Stealth can work. It is perfectly valid to hide from the aliens if you can see that you can't take them down or if you have an order that requires you to get somewhere specific. Tell the rest of the team where they are heading, ambush them or just sneak past them, whichever is appropriate.
* You do not need bigger weapons. No, really, you don't. You just need to make the most out of the weapons you have. The commander is just as interested in winning the game as you are, and he will provide you with whatever weapon you need to benefit the team most. You are free to tell him if you think you need/deserve something (while observing previous points about communication), but you are not entitled to make demands. It's the commanders call, and if he says that all you need to take down that fade is your vanilla lmg, then that is how it is. Don't stand around crying about it, just go out there and make it happen.
There are loads of other advice for marines, but the main thing is to always remember that you are a part of a team. The marine team can only win if each of them cooperates - both with their commander and with the other marines.
- If for some reason, the commander hops out of the chair. Perhaps he says he's tired of commanding. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, EVEN IF YOU SUCK HOP IN THAT CHAIR. I can recall MANY games where we had 2 hives camped out, and our great commander then said, "Well, I'm gonna eat dinner", and gets offline. Then for twelve, (yes TWELVE, or 12 minuts), there is no commander. During that time, I constantly hear, "no YOU be commander!". I had to run all the way back from the hive I was defending, just so I could get in the stupid thing. By the time I did, I saw that the hive I was defending had fallen, and the third was being attacked. Everyone just sat at respawn demanding bigger guns, (with no commander btw). Yes, we had them by the nuts, and we lost.
At the very worst, don't be a turd and demand bigger and better guns when there is no commander. Get off your lazy but, hop in the chair, spawn your gun, and get out.
- GENERALLY I find it's best to start with the pistol out, and use the lmg as a backup weapon. Generally on low ping servers, (and sulks which don't hop around), I can easally cap off the first sulk with the first pistol clip. Then, I usually use the lmg as a, "spray and pray", gun while I bunnyhop around dodging the attacks. Also, don't unload that pistol in the second it takes to unload it. Instead, make sure you can get your four shots in. Remember, it only takes FOUR pistol rounds to take out a sulk, (generally, but sometimes it can take 5 if they are at full health), while it takes twice as much with the lmg. That, and you fire at the same exact speed.
- When taking out offensive structures, use your pistol. You can deal out more damage faster against buildings with the gun, and it's entirely accurate. You can sit halfway acrost the map while in a corner, and you will allways be able to hit it.
- Generally, I find it's best to travel in groups of four when you have Heavy Armors. The best is to have three with HMG with welders, while the fourth has a grenade launcher. Also, it's best to move slowly, (getting eaten is a real ****). The reason why, is even if one of your men gets eaten, CHANCES ARE if every hmg and grenade round contacts that Onos, he won't be able to redeem. Also, space out. I remember being an onos many times, and with one stomp being able to paralyze three or even 4 heavies. Then, eating and running was no problem. Oops! that's 40-50 resorces down the drain!
- In conjunction with the above tactic, when you take out a hive, DONT WASTE YOUR HMG ROUNDS ON THE HIVE! The hmg doesn't actually do that much damage to buildings in comparrason to the beastly grenade launcher. Let the grenader do his buisness while you give him backup. I can remember many times where my idiot teammates wasted all of their ammo on the hive. When the two or three sulks came, I wasn't able to deadeye, (hit with grenades. Very tough to do), against them, and one or two dudes got wasted. Trust me, Three HMG Heavyarmors in good firing positions will deter even an Onos from his snack.
- I can't stress how important the, "AT LEAST TWO IN A TEAM" rule is. When there are two of you, one builds while the other covers. The most infuriating thing I have ever experienced is sneaking into a hive, and putting up a turrent factory. As soon as my teammate see's it up, he instead runs off to KE, (knife extasy), a nearby resorce node. Then, all of a sudden CHOMP CHOMP! A sulk kills me and we lose the everything. When that happens, I wish I was rich so I could throw my computer out the window. This is one of the most common newbie mistakes made.
- but the MOST common newbie mistake which has been touched on many times, is the newbie who demands a bigger gun, or sits there spamming for health. When it isn't delivered, he throws a hissyfit and calls everyone a newbie. It's best to either ignore this player, or to simply ban him.
Hope I was helpful
-_-'''
- If for some reason, the commander hops out of the chair. Perhaps he says he's tired of commanding. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, EVEN IF YOU SUCK HOP IN THAT CHAIR. I can recall MANY games where we had 2 hives camped out, and our great commander then said, "Well, I'm gonna eat dinner", and gets offline. Then for twelve, (yes TWELVE, or 12 minuts), there is no commander. During that time, I constantly hear, "no YOU be commander!". I had to run all the way back from the hive I was defending, just so I could get in the stupid thing. By the time I did, I saw that the hive I was defending had fallen, and the third was being attacked. Everyone just sat at respawn demanding bigger guns, (with no commander btw). Yes, we had them by the nuts, and we lost.
Such such such such SUCH a no no.
Often when there's nothing to do as comm except save money (or defend base), I'll step out of the chair. Sometimes, some nub will have got in thinking "OMG we dont have a comm, its time to show these mfers wat im made of" and drops ten shotguns and says, LOLOLO. What's worse, and annoys me the most are the people who go in and drop themselves stuff and then gets out.
People seem to have forgotten this in 2.0. Odd.
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What's worse is one guy doing this OVER and OVER and OVER when you jump out to defend a locked down hive.
* Listen, Listen, Listen, Listen. Learn what the different beasties sound like, and warn your team if you hear them. If you can hear your enemy before they get to you, you eliminate the element of surprise. Silence is there for a reason, make them use it.
* Try to second guess your opponents. If you see something on your motion tracking heading up a vent, fire a few shots off at the vent opening, just before they get there. On most occasions, if you time it right, that little green bugger will run right into your fire, giving you an immediate head start on killin' em. Just watch you don't empty your clip doing this, or use your pistol. Also excercise some common sense; that is, if you don't think they know you are there, don't give them warning. Its better to let them come wandering out into what they think is and empty room than you putting them on gaurd before they get there.
* The new skulk=>wall orientation means that quite often skulks will appear dead (upside down/flailing like in the death animations) when they are not, so fire a few shots into 'em as they go down(if you can spare the ammo), just to be sure.
* Use "lastinv". I have it bound to 'a' (my movement keys are e,s,d & f). It is ALWAYS faster to use this to switch weapons than it is to reload. ALWAYS. I cannot possibly count the number of times this has saved my butt. Most weapons draw considerably faster than it looks, for the pistol and lmg you can actually fire before the animation is over (i think).
* If you have your help text turned on, make sure to watch out for messages like "this is an enemy sensory chamber, it will cloak nearby enemies". That means that a sc is close by, and you can search for it with your knife or simply by walking around in the room or corridor.
* You can shoot around corners with the grenade launcher if you do it right. Grenades bounce off of walls.
* Weld light marines too. All marines have armor, and you can weld the armor of LA marines as well, which (especially with high armor upgrades) can be a life saver.
* Remember to weld electrified buildings. Lately it seems like marines are scared of touching electrified buildings. They cannot harm you and need to be welded when they are broken like any other building.
* Offense towers are dangerous. They are not build for you to play leapfrog. If you do not intend to kill them and cannot get past them quickly, don't go there. If you die, aliens will get resources to build more offense chambers...
But most of all you need to remember that you are part of a team. Teamwork is even more important in 2.0 than in the earlier versions.
In 2.0, this effect was greatly reduced. It doesn't slow you down as much, but it still slows you a little bit, but not as much as 1.0x.
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ROFL, such a good but simple point. I've see so many people trying to 'strafe shoot' OC's with a grenade laucher rather then bounce then around the corner.
My little tip is:
-You can fill on ammo faster if you switch while you are using. Hold down use then press 1, 2, 1, 2 etc; and when you get the timing correct you can fill your ammo twice as fast. You need pistol AND a primary...