Tip 10 - Random rants
Well - this should really be a placeholder for whatever the class valve is adding to the game is going to be...
So I'll just fill it with some random hints / tips / tricks and other crap.
Firstly, adding another exception to the list of those eligible to play sniper in a serious match. Khazul. you pasted me over the floor. and all the rest of our attack force. Continuously. Good work, please tell me how I can get past you in future :)
Next up - explosion jumping.
Anticipate your opponents, and then rather than trying to avoid the shot, dodge towards it, and further forwards than normal, and JUMP.
With practice, you'll soon be able to control your flight from your enemies rockets and grenades. And it's a REALLY useful skill.
Irritates your enemies no end when they are the cause of your escape :)
Continuously jumping: Is *BAD* Don't do it - it doesn't help, makes you too predictable, and gives you less control.
It also makes a lot of noise, and is just begging to get yourself launched into low earth orbit (under your enemies control)
Speed running. I'm surprised how few people know this - but:
Bunny hopping (continuously jumping) has ONE use - you do NOT lose speed while doing it right, which means if you are going faster than usual (due to an explosion or something) then you can keep that added speed.
Unlike quake, you cannot accelerate yourself by doing this though.
Wall running.
Run paralell to a wall, and strafe into it - you get a speed boost. Especially effective when going up a slope.
Skipjumping. The jump to retain speed works even if the surface you are jumping off isn't horizontal - you can jump as you hit a wall to propel yourself along it.
This is useful mainly for concjumping, and mainly in enclosed spaces, you can jump around corners, and jump extra distance using it.
Just time the jump as you hit the surface.
'lag dodge' - STOP MOVING
Temporarily. It tends to disorient the enemy a lot more than a simple dodge would. Don't get too predictable though.
If you can, use analogue controls - so that you can deliberately move more slowly in a direction than normal. This is good for dodging because it defies the normal dodges they expect. Don't let them get used to it though.
A poor substitute for analogue controls is the 'run/walk' key - bind it and use it.
Be aware that your enemy has to step - they CANNOT move 'half a step' whilst running, so unless they are following the advice above, you can anticipate them at LEAST that far ahead.
Don't spam up the channel. Information is good, but it's easy to overload on it (I'm guilty of this)
Your team doesn't need EVERY memeber of the attack force to coment on every incoming atacker they pass. OTOP, with more detailed information, they can react better.
Tell your team when something changes - especially if you have spy evidence or such.
Worst abuses of spamming the information channel:
"say_team I've thrown a mirv! Look out!"
WHY do we need to know? If we're not nearby, we don't care - if we are nearby, then we sort of noticed the pretty explosion. What a waste, and it takes precious part seconds to read it.
"say_team I'm hurt! %a armour and %h health!"
OK, in a top level clan match, MAYBE this amount of information will help. But probbaly not.
It's just too much - 90% of your team doesn't care, 9% of your team isn't near enough to DO anything about it, and the final 1% is close enough to have seen you get shot, and so ought to be doing something about it anyway.
This was ESPECIALLY bad because the person responsible was hitting that bind EVERY time they took any damage (which had one amusing instance as they pressed it getting shot by a sniper, and due to lag, it reported them with -200 odd health)
Morale. If you are losing, DO something about it. Don't let up, don't give up, it only takes a small break to turn things around.
If you are WINNING - do NOT get complacent, keep pushing, get more caps - it only takes a small mistake for the tables to turn.
If you really ARE wiping the floor with them then, well, in a public game change teams, and in a clan match...
Be as harsh as you possibly can. They need to learn, they need to improve, and if you go easy on them oyu are mocking and insulting them.
Be harsh, show them how it's done, and let them learn. Maybe the rematch will be more fun for you that way.
Your teams morale is important - and you can help it, help out, be courteous, and if really required crack jokes (but don't go overboard)
Follow the gameplan. If you have gone to the trouble of devising a plan, stick to it.
Get it right. There are people (clan leaders / offence + defence coordinators) whose JOB it is to decide when to chane the plan, and what to change it to.
Transitioning from one defence that is almost holding up to another that WILL hold up, without dropping several caps in the process is HARD, and requires coordination.
Don't just take it onto yourself to move your sentry, or defend elsewhere without telling anyone - that can open up cracks in yor defence. (similar argument for the offence, but they generally get a second chance)
TELL your team you ned support, perhaps even suggest a fix, and let the person devising the plans tell you when and where to move, because that way you know that your hole will be covered.
If you ARE the coordinator, then watch your team, and the enemy.
You've got to sense the flow, and know when to keep your layout, and when you HAVE to change it.
You can also predict, and change to defeat a strategy the enemy haven't deployed just yet.
This flexibility wins matches. But don't overuse it, changing leaves gaps.
RECOGNISE when the enemy is paying for a draw, and when they are playing to simply force you to change strategy.
You can play to force THEM to change strategy, and then deploy the counter strategy as they do - with the weaknesses their change causes, you should beat them handily.
Be aware that they are doing this to you.
An example is a '6 scouts + 2 soldiers' setup - with both teams initially using it - one of them is going to have to give and fall back to a sensible defence, but which? And when?
Time it wrong, and the game ends up stalemated, with you bhind on caps. time it right, and the enemy ends up in the same position.
The fast cap. Llame on non-prematched public servers, essential in a clan match. Practice doing it as a clan, and practice stopping it.
You may well find that having your members decide which position to play based solely on which respawn point they start in a working solution to the speed problem.
Then, once things calm down, you can transition them to their best places.
Pressure vs Smash.
A pressure attack is a continual stream of attackers, intending to keep the defence off balance, and the flag moving. It prevents a defence from having the time to drebuild, and done properly can be incredibly demoralising to face.
However, a pressure attack only works while it is working. If the enemy DOES get time to rebuild, then wave after wave of lone scouts just get crushed.
Smash is sending in a force all at once, either with the intention of ablating (some get killed) and pushing down to destroy the defence (with the intention of thn moving to pressure to keep it down) or seperated in space but not time, so as to give the enemy the maximum number of places they have to cover, and pull the flag out in a single push - with the intention of repeating the feat again a bit later.
Choose a strategy, and continue right up until it looks like it'll stop working. Then switch. Then switch back...
Change classes. You get TOO predictable as a single class.
Case in point, lone soldier on small teams game of rock2, defending the WO side of the yard.
Sure, you can kill that incoming enemy a few times, but after a while he figures out your patterns, concs you, and gets your key.
So *just before* he makes it, change class. He'll be off balance, expecting your previous class, that gives you just the edge you need. Then you can stay as that class a while, before needing to change again.
Not *so* important for last line defence, but for some forward defence, and for much of the attack - definately a valid tactic.
Humm - that'll do for now.
i