Gothmog's alien dogfighting tips

Aliens - Stage 1




Dretch - Dretches are without a doubt one of the most annoying aliens out there. Actually, scratch that. Dretch storms are without a doubt one of the most annoying phenomena out there.

When you are playing as a dretch, the first thing you must keep in mind is this - ALWAYS AIM FOR THE HUMAN'S HEAD. ALWAYS. This is not optional. You can even hit their head from the ground near a human. When you bite a naked human (rifle, no armor) in the head, it does ninety six(96) damage(follow up with another bite in 1/2 a second or whatever the cycle time is and the human is usually dead before he can react). Compared to a regular bite, this is ridiculously superior. Even against a battlesuit, a dretch headbite will do 16 damage, whereas a normal bite will do 2 damage.

The second thing you must keep in mind is that you are VERY weak. 5 rifle bullets will kill you. 3 lasgun bolts will kill you. When you approach a human, try to be STEALTHY about it. Dretches do not naturally make noise when they move, which you can use to your advantage. You only make noise when you taunt or JUMP. To give you an example as to how you can use this to your advantage, I will put a scenario into action for you -

You're on ATCS, and the map just started. You have spawned first on your team. What I personally do is immediately go outside onto the bunker and WAIT (yes, WAIT) for humans to leave their base area and head to my base. I then fall behind them and bite their heads (there are usually two humans that rush if they are going to rush) - using this tactic, you not only elimenate a human and gain an evo, but his buddy in front of him gets scared, as he knows you have surprised him and you now have the advantage of being close to him (so he can't use his superior range on you)

Some of the best dretchers I have seen are the people that are completely random - they jump on and off walls and ceilings, onto barrels and crates and over the other side, strafe around you, and generally act unpredictably while gnawing on your skull. This makes them incredibly hard to track, as not only are you aiming on the ground in this and this direction, but you have to now expand into 3-D. This makes tracking any target very hard if they are that small and that close to you.

In summation, just try to not be seen or heard until you are eating brains.




Basilisk -
The basilisk is another ungodly creation - in the hands of a skilled player they can be deadly even to s2 humans. The things you must know about a basilisk as I see them are as follows...
A. You can 'grab' opponents (AND TURRETS!) by simply getting close to them (similar to biting with a dretch). When you do this, it will snap the human player's screen to the center very often, effectively giving them a very narrow tunnel in which they can shoot. When you grab a turret, you vastly slow down its turn rate. This makes it EXTREMELY easy to avoid the fire from the turret, as it takes about 2 seconds to turn 180 degrees when under the basilisk's grab effect. (PS - the basilisk makes sound when grabbing things that is similar to its jumping 'meow', so if you hear this sound you know you've grabbed correctly.)
B. You have a very long range. In fact, your range is greater than the range of the reactor's damage radius. Not many people know this, but basilisks can solo a human reactor while taking no damage simply by staying far away from it. (of course, this requires no humans around, as it takes awhile[30 sec or so])
C. You are still very weak compared to other aliens(75 hp), although you do only cost 1 evo. 1 clip of rifle ammunition will kill you twice over (if all bullets hit).
D. You can wall-walk! This is an awesome ability, do not underestimate it. Not only do you avoid walking where humans expect you to be (on the ground directly in front of them) but you can use this to exploit terrain to easily escape from humans when your hp gets too low.

The basics of basilisking humans (I will use non-suit humans for this, as suited humans can usually kill a basilisk no problem) are as follows - grab, and slash the head (see ExistentialRisk). The best way to do this (don't get frustrated, it's hard to keep humans in the 'grab' most of the time) is to jump on their head after you have grabbed and slash them a few times. Just be cautious to stay as far away from the direction the human is aiming as possible(behind them=best).




Marauder -
Aah, my favorite! Marauders can be very fun. They have a buttload of hp (150), which, combined with their proportional size to goons, and their uncanny movement, can make them nearly impossible to kill at times.

You have a unique ability to jump off of walls, and I'll delve a bit into that since not many people seem to utilize this aspect correctly.

How the 'wall jump' ability works - You can jump off any wall ONE time, and you can continue to jump off a different wall one time(repeat). Theoretically, if you had 2 infinitely high walls, you could jump back and forth between them forever. What this means in practical terms is that you need to watch where you are jumping. As an example, I will use the ledge area on the map Niveus: outpost 652. Marauders often have a hard time jumping onto the ledge because of the odd walls underneath it. To counter this, you need to strategically jump off of the vertical wall next to the door, then proceed to jump off the wall to the side and up onto the ledge. On the same map, in the vertical spiral staircase, you can jump off the wall to the right before the stairs start, continue forward to the wall in front of you, use your momentum to carry you to the wall to the 'left', and onto the stairs the entire floor above your hypothetical pursuers. This tactic has proven very effective in ditching chasing humans quickly, as the maruader is master of doing.

Marauders can do quite a bit of damage, and to kill a naked human you'll need to swipe and headswipe. With a helmet and larmor, it's 3 headswipes (I believe). The main thing to remember when dogfighting is to use the walls to your advantage, and to pay close attention to where you're going. You can reach unusually high speeds sometimes, and in no situation will you ever be going slower than any human if you pay attention. The bane of most marauders is getting stuck on a small corner or a box and slowing you down.




Dragoon -
The whore's dream. The dragoon costs a hefty 3 evos, but being available at stage 1, is arguably the most bang for your buck. Not only do you kill unarmored humans in one pounce or headswipe, but a dragoon can actually (read this twice) OUTDAMAGE A CHAINGUN. This includes a battlesuit with a chaingun. Provided you hit all your shots, you have 1 dead suit and more evos.

The dragoon's pounce is a tricky thing - one thing I've learned is that your momentum can be saved after a forward-pounce by jumping off of the ground as you touch it at the end of your pounce. You'll stop the pounce effect, but you'll still be traveling at a high rate of speed (think 'skiing' in tribes). Another thing you should know about pouncing is that you can most definitely alter your velocity in midair. To such a degree that you can pounce up and forward and be moving backward behind where you started when you land.

Dragoons are very fast, and very deadly, but they are also very large. This makes you very easy to hit (especially with shotguns, since at shorter distances all if not most of the bullets will hit you.) Also be wary of expert mass driver humans, as a whole clip with an energy pack CAN kill you. (32 x 7 =224 damage) An average mass driver probably won't stand a very good chance of killing you before you can kill him, as as a dragoon you can pounce and cover vast distances (that the MD human probably puts between you and him) to close on the sniping human. Up close, you should be able to make short work of the average player. Shotguns and lasguns can also be very deadly if you do not have experience dealing with these weapons. 200 hp, although twice what a human has, does not last forever.




Stage 2 -




Adv Basi -
These are fun. Not only do they swipe faster, but they come with more hp (100) and a built in gassing mechanism. If you have ever been gassed, you know what it's like I will try to explain it to those that haven't had the honor yet-

Being gassed is like zooming in and out on a hand camcorder while making a flying figure 8 with your hand holding the strap. Sound odd? It is! Gassing opponents yields fun results sometimes, as it greatly obscures their aim (unless they are wearing a suit, or to a lesser extent, a helmet) and even damages those without helmets!




Adv Mara -
The advanced version comes with a 'zap' effect, a faster swipe (I think), and more hp (although only 175 compared to 150)

To zap humans you need to be aiming at the when you start the zap. Once the attack has initialized, it will also arc to nearby humans/human structures and damage them as well. Another thing to remember is that the effect lasts for about 2 seconds and continues damaging as long as you are close to your target(remember the omnidirectional tazer on the cop car on Twisted Metal?). The great thing about the zap is that not only does it damage multiple targets, but it can provide just that umph needed to end the miserable existence of that pathetic human that seems to be quite adept at not being where your swipes land. Using the jump-headswipe and zap method, you can make very short work of most humans.




Adv Granger -
Although I do not advocating using this unit for combat, I have killed humans with grangers in the past. The easiest way to get a granger kill is to wait until a trapped human takes damage from acid tubes until he makes the 'omg im very wounded and about to die' grunt twice. You then swipe his head and viola - he learns to stay away from your buildings.

The thing you must keep in mind when grangering humans is that facing anything but a blaster you are severely outgunned(even a blaster pwns grangers...). And, as with all aliens, aim for the head. The bodyswipe damage is negligible compared to the headswipe damage. I believe a headswipe does either 20 or 25 damage to a naked human. So, if you enjoy battlegrangering (please do not do this on dretch storm with more than 2 players per team, I will team-kill you every time) just try to circle-strafe your human opponent and slash his head.




Stage 3 -



Adv Goon -
Barbs. They have range. The only alien with a viable ranged attack - self explanatory. You snipe the human base and unarmored humans for an easy kill. You defend vents by shooting crouching humans (which I am still not sure how this works, but usually ends up in a 1 shot kill), and you kill those jettards that annoy your team. 250 hp as opposed to 200, and a slightly larger hitbox compared to a regular goon. They are also greyish, compared to the goon's blackish color. As with a regular 'goon, use guerilla tactics. Your superior hit points, maneuverability, speed, and damage output(when compared with most weapons) will make you an effective killing machine if you can be in and out of the enemy fire range just long enough to kill someone.




Tyrant -
Those big ugly things that always kill you, they sure are fun to play. They have an incredible range (if I had to seriously estimate, I'd say about 15 feet), enormous hitbox, ludicrous speed while charging, and a very large hp reservoir (400). One on one, any human will fall to a good tyrant player, so use that to your advantage. Prey upon isolated humans, or groups of 2 or 3 s1/s2 humans. Try not to get into a situation where you have many humans concentrating on you, this is how you lose 5 evos and end up dretch-feeding. Do not charge into the enemy base expecting to kill every single human in there. Those 400 hit points do not last long against 5 turrets, 2 lasguns, a pulse rifle, 3 rifles, and a chaingun. I have literally seen tyrants die in less than 1/2 a second from concentrated firepower like this.

The bane of tyrants is instant-hit weapons. Chainguns, rifles, lasguns, and mass drivers are all extremely effective against even very good tyrant players. Personally, I'd rather kill a battlesuit with a lucifer cannon than a lt armor/helmet with a lasgun. The fact is, 9 times out of 10 I will come out with more hp left over after the luci. The reason is this - lucifer blasts move extremely slowly, and are thus easy to avoid since you should never be RIGHT next to your target (remember that 20 foot range?).

When attacking humans, try to circle around to their backside to cut off their retreat. The first thing most humans do when they see a tyrant is head toward their base (that's my cue!). Why is this? It's simple - tyrants will kill a battlesuit(40 damage per slash) in 3 hits (2 with a headshot). They will kill a naked human in 1 hit, and a helmeted human in 2 hits or 1 headshot. Personally, I try to take out the easiest humans first, as I'd rather be shot be a chaingun and survive while getting 2 evos than be killed by 2 rifles while getting 1 evo. (mathematically I'm sure you could figure out who to attack first in any given situation, but I use this as a rule of thumb)

Another thing to keep in mind is that when attacking human structures, you need to remember your range once again. Telenodes or any building built 10 feet off the ground can be swiped easily from the ground by a tyrant.

When retreating after a 'raid' on humans, try to alter your path if you're being chased by a pulse rifle, as they have to interpolate your path and shoot where you're going. If you're not there, you won't get hit. If you're being chased by an instant hit weapon, just go straight for whatever cover you're heading for, evasive maneuvers are pretty much a waste of time. And please, recognize and memorize the grenade sound. Grenades do (350?) damage, and I've lured many many many newbie rants into a grenade trap with nothing but a rifle and 200 credits.





If you're an alien and you have a booster- stand on it to add poison to your attacks for 30 seconds. I made the critical mistake my first few months of thinking that the existence of a booster for my team gave my attacks poison - this is not true. You have to get the poison by standing on the booster (parts of your HUD will start to glow similar to the wall-walk HUD effect)
Not only does poison do additional damage, it also stops healing from a medkit and has the side effect of making jettards drop in height several times and thus making them easy prey for that tyrant or goon below.

And in case you missed it the first time - AIM FOR THE EFFING HEAD.

If you have any comments or additions for this, please feel free to submit them to me, and I may add them or change whatever I got wrong.

Human guide to follow someday soon.