Guide [Issue 14] The Definitive Guide to Mosquitoes

[Valletta 834]

 

     Around the corner in Dusseldorf, peeking through a hole in Subway, performing leaps of faith in Esplanade or just messing around with a couple of N2O packages in Wave... You never see it up close or get a chance to examine its behavior for a prolonged period of time simply because it doesn’t usually survive long enough in battle to let you do that. Many believe it is an incapable machine, but in fact it is a stealthy weapon mass destruction. Although light and maneuverable, it packs a devastating punch if you don’t pay attention. It is... the elusive Mosquito.

 

 

     The combination of Wasp and Railgun, fondly called the “Mosquito” by its users, does indeed resemble the silhouette of the infamous bug. Some will call it useless in a face-to-face battle due to its flimsy structure, but a true professional can use this to their advantage. This guide will show you how.

 

 

     Perfecting the use of Wasp and Railgun comes in quite a few steps. Before learning how to run one must learn to walk. Practice your skills on Railgun and Wasp separately, before combining the gun and the hull. You can enhance your Railgun accuracy on pretty much every hull. I recommend Viking, Dictator, Hunter and Hornet as their stability and torque somewhat resembles that of Wasp, as well as their driving style. Respectively you can train your driving skills on Wasp using guns with a similar recoil to Railgun, i.e. Thunder, Smoky, Shaft. [see fig. 1]

 

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     Now, having trained enough to achieve pinpoint accuracy with Railgun at a large distance, and having minimized the chance to flip over with Wasp, you are ready to combine the two. At first the combination seems wobbly and unbalanced, such a heavy gun on this ridiculously light hull. After a full day of playing, though, you will see that the machine makes a perfect match. The elegance of a majestic Railgun rotating in tune with the Wasp, “flying like a butterfly, stinging like a bee.” One of the key steps to a good result is driving your Wasp backwards. You may already have the reflex in your fingers if you have played with Dictator, which similarly needs to be driven backwards to assure a lower profile and easier targeting when peeking through a corner. Fun fact: many hulls actually gain a stability boost upon being driven backwards – Hunter, Hornet and Viking have an increased chance of landing correctly after a high jump if they are driven backwards.

 

 

     The next step is doing parkour. It is certainly much harder than Ricochet in the fact that you have to use things like acceleration and angular velocity to climb, rather than the brute force ground shooting Ricochet uses. Parkour also plays a vital role because the good driver has a good sense of physics, and Mosquitoes definitely rely on physics. Understanding game physics unlocks a series of maneuvers used by mosquitoes to defeat their enemy in an elegant and efficient way. The experienced mosquito can fly and sting. [see Fig. 2] Yes, flying tanks. Jump off a hill while shooting forward and, instead of just hitting the ground to soften your fall, try to hit an enemy tank as well. In the case of Railgun one shot often equals one kill, so do not waste your shots.

 

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     Use ranged advantage. Railgun, unlike most guns, does not lose damage value due to range (like Smoky, Thunder, etc.) You can simply drive your Wasp farther away from the target you’re shooting, buying some extra HP for your tank and not losing any damage for the enemy.

 

 

     Use your speed. Wasp, being the successor of the pre-rebalance Hornet, is currently the fastest hull in the game. In NS battles this automatically gains you an advantage over all short-ranged guns (Firebird, Isida, Freeze). Moving sideways is also used by Hornet and Wasp users to evade Ricochet and Twins plasma balls.

 

 

     Do not be afraid of corner shots. The game acts advantageously to guns with variable accuracy, like Railgun and Ricochet. You will often get damaged by these even though you missed the shot, but it passed inches away from the target. In this case, the game kindly adds the damage of your shot to the enemy. So, combined with Wasp’s agility, one can constantly be on the move, or just choose to camp, like what players used to do with the pre-rebalance Hornet. Gamepiong, one of the masters of that combination, confirms that “waiting for the perfect shot could take forever, but if you ever get the chance, take it.”

 

 

     Upgrades and paints. Mosquitoes, unlike other tanks, do not follow game rule #1, upgrade the gun first. Rather, you need an upgraded hull, as this is what gains you the ridiculous agility advantage. You may see M1 Rail with M2 Wasp, but rarely the opposite. It is just not efficient enough. HP loss can be minimized via protection paints. I advise protection from the mosquito’s most dreaded long-range rivals – Smoky, Thunder and Shaft. You should consequently choose Prodigi, Electra, Savanna alike.

 

 

     Having learned when it’s the appropriate time to peek out, strike or flee, you are now an experienced Mosquito driver. Practice makes perfect, and it is up to you to get better at this underestimated combination. 

 

Edited January 7, 2018 by Valletta

[Raphael2 3,263]

Awesome job Valletta, I love that article.. Even if I didn't played wasp-railgun for a long time :)

 

EDIT : But I will again when I get my wasp M2 :)

Edited August 2, 2013 by Raphael2

[Valletta 834]

Awesome job Valletta, I love that article.. Even if I didn't played wasp-railgun for a long time :)

 

EDIT : But I will again when I get my wasp M2 :)

Same ^_^

[I3loodShot 3,119]

I loved my wasp rail m3 before rebalance :wub:
Nice guide though  ^_^

Edited August 2, 2013 by I3loodShot

[I.Devastation 2,053]

Nice guide. Now I think I should start using my wasp and rail lol.

[skitee 555]

Love the pictures. Great guide. Fairly thorough, really like the information you added though. :)

[ajaytonymathew4 2]

ok ill fry to hit an enemy tank

[Valletta 834]

ok ill fry to hit an enemy tank

Thanks. Fixed

[r_The-Player20 313]

text hurt eyes so much D:

[TheLonelyEpic 212]

Interesting article, although I'm sticking with Hornet for now; maybe M2 Wasp will change my mind.

[Endurance 543]

Nice guide, I don't use Wasp with Rail much. I might give it a try and see how it goes.

[red_tank_the_best 300]

I am currently changing weapon every time when i read giude...looks like it's time for rail.h

[freedie.inn 51]

Nice bro )

Edited August 7, 2013 by Valletta

[shadewarttt 3,350]

As always...awesome!

[buster321 17]

Amazing!

[ExtremeKiller26 443]

Nice, I did the trying railgun on other hulls, but didn't try wasp on other weapons.

[kmumie 17]

Mosquito ? What

:D

[jazz20 1,181]

Nice article :D.

 

Lol I guess it wasn't called BP back then :V

[oxdropper 0]

ive never used wasp rail becasue of the recoil but now i might upgrade the weight of the hull and have a go on sandbox

[aidan540_tanki 112]

thank you you did a great job