[Issue 62] [Guide] Pro's Advice #5: Simple and Useful Techniques for Railgun

[TheZigzagoonThatCan 678]

 

 

 

Pro's Advice #1: Swinging Your Hull

Pro's Advice #2: Controlling your Hull in Format Battles

Pro's Advice #3: Knocking Off the Enemy's Aim

Pro's Advice #4: Railgun's Warmup Time

 

 

 

One of the last articles in this series that maintains a focus on Railgun contains some of the most universally applicable information for combat and tactical maneuvering under XP/BP conditions. Nemtrix, a seasoned veteran and expert user of the electromagnetic launcher himself, goes into a number of critical details that are a necessity for players to understand in order to function as a reliable teammate and player overall.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0TeBUhIJFo&list=PLoGHE_kS3ppNjijtBsuSuGJGYvc-5Ye5R&index=39

 

 

 

The Basics

 

In an XP/BP match, it's clear right off the bat that there's no room to slow down for anything. This general statement provokes players to be constantly moving from place to place, switching tactics rapidly and preparing shots before their enemies are even in view. The format relies heavily on prediction and outwitting your opponents in order to make significant headway, warping some of the game's physical and mathematical characteristics into an enigmatic mind game.

 

Part of this mind game is knowing exactly when to fire. Just like with any variation of football, you're looking to launch something in the direction of where they're going to be, not where they currently are. In the case of XP/BP, it's a matter of charging your shot before your opponent is within range -- see Pro's Advice #3 and #4 for more details on this. Nemtrix's example in the video above isn't a matter of firing from behind a corner, but from within a spawning tank. As he states, this is only recommended if you're still waiting on a shot to reload and you're pinned in the open, but with Railgun's more rapid reload time now over then, this is less of an issue.

 

To expand on this, it's easier to stick around inside of a ghostly enemy's hull if you're using Hornet. This ability is a great benefit that Hornet sports over Wasp next to stability, due in part both by its elongated design and its reverse acceleration statistic. If you look at Hornet and Wasp's Wiki pages and the surrounding hull Wiki pages, it becomes apparent that Hornet has the best reverse acceleration level in the game, the stat responsible for reversing the momentum of your hull. In order to keep up with the enemy tank's phantom, it's imperative to have a hull that can afford to not only match their movements quickly, but to keep a part of itself within them regardless of where they stray. With a simple rotation of the hull (of which the Hornet also has one of the largest numbers) and a speedy reverse, it's possible to outmaneuver some of the less skilled BP users.

 

Back to firing before leaving cover: in a backward sense, being directly atop the enemy is the cover, and ejecting yourself from the shadow of the opponent correlates to leaving said cover. Just as one acts behind a wall, charge your Railgun before the enemy is tangible, and at that exact moment, wrest yourself away from the opponent and add a lovely carbon score to their fresh coat of paint. Again, a higher reverse acceleration is recommended for this to catch your opponents off guard better, and Hornet fits this description to a tee.

 

Say you find yourself in the position of spawning before an enemy tank, though. What are you expected to do besides wait for a shell to greet you face-to-face? Frankly, sometimes there's little that can be done to evade a shot if the opponent is crafty enough. However, if you can predict where they're going to move after they prepare a shot, then you can proceed to use the length of your hull and your own acceleration to follow them. Time it right, and they'll be shooting at nothing but the concrete behind your ghost, and you'll have all the time in the world (i.e. about four seconds) to retaliate and find either a way to advance with the flag or get outta Dodge.

 

 

While this may appear to be oversimplification, it seems that there are three phases to the procedure of scoring a point in an XP/BP CTF.

 

1.) The Advance -- This is when everyone is making their way to the opposing team's flags. Some of the bloodiest combat takes place in this stage, since forces of both sides are prepared to deliver injury to the other in order to perform a breach. In the first Advance of the game, players analyze one another and determine who might be playing what role most often. First impressions are very important, as players in the heat of battle don't always stray too far from their general stratagem. (This, of course, is subject to change if communication and match status declares that tactics need to be rearranged dramatically.)

 

2.) The Breach -- The moment a team takes a flag from an opponent, a breach has occurred. This may happen simultaneously in 1v1 scenario, but times have been known to vary drastically in larger matches, where differences in team abilities as a whole fluctuate by the second. The Breach segment of the match doesn't usually continue for very long, only lasting for the duration of their presence on that side of the arena. (Maps are split down the middle for determination of when a breach ends.) If the fella that tries escaping with a flag is gunned down before they reach friendly territory and their Free Flag is returned, then the Breach stage ends, resulting in re-initiation of the Advance phase if the opposing team has not taken their flag.

 

3.) The Siege -- This section exists for as long as both sides are in possession of an enemy flag within allied territory. Most likely, even in only satisfactorily balanced teams, both teams will have each other's banner, in which a game of siege is commenced (hence the name). The Siege, if activated, is hands-down the most time-consuming portion of the match, since both teams will typically grab each others' flags at near the same time; if they escape with them to their respective sides, then defensive measures are necessary to maintain the gain that each team has made, which means it'll be difficult for either side to puncture the other. Players will rapidly fluctuate between defensive to offensive measures, depending on what they determine is in the most dire need of reinforcement.

 

 

To summarize the above's relevance to Nemtrix's video, his second focused tip for Railgun users boils down to an action taken during the Advance; specifically, slinging a passing shot into an enemy instead of staying behind and finishing 'em off. This action in the Advance affects the Breach's expedience and success, so overlooking it is not an option if you plan to be the one to dash through enemy bases and swipe battle standards for heaven-knows how long.

 

The key to successfully pulling off a breach during the Advance phase is following a set list of things to defend with your life, descending in priority.

• The enemy flag.
• Allies holding the enemy flag.
• Allies defending the ally with the enemy flag.

Likewise, when breaching during the Return phase, the following protocol should be take to eradicate opponents:

• The alliance flag.
• Enemies holding the alliance flag.
• Enemies defending the enemy holding the alliance flag.

These may stand tall for most of the match, but it might sometimes be strategically wiser to set the second and third parts on a swivel -- that is, sometimes defending the defenders of the guy holding the enemy flag is more important than defending the guy holding the enemy flag themselves. This is explained visually in the diagram within the spoiler above.

 

Lastly, a point covered for this format that doesn't seem to be getting enough recognition in matches --  critical flag placement in the event of inevitable death. If you're down to the point where a single kill is guaranteed to destroy you and you have nowhere else to run, sprint for a tight corner or a tough location to reach, deposit the flag, and run back towards an enemy. Since this play-style is only performed with light hulls, there's typically not enough torque in the machines to shove aside a large pile of metal quickly. This buys critical time that a teammate can use to destroy an incoming opponent before they return their banner.

 

To be more precise, only objects with a concave, 90° angle to them (objects with an L shape to hide within) are safe to deposit the flag into. A Hornet can relatively easily shove aside anything braced against a flat wall. Wasp's power and acceleration are admittedly pathetic in comparison, but it can still move a dead tank in that position. When there's time to run straight at an enemy, make sure that you actually have the ability to block them properly. If there's a lot of room for them to simply drive around your charred body, then maybe stick to the corner. You'll be around for at least five seconds or so, which might be more than enough time for an ally to fire twice at the charging tank.

 

 

 

What's Happened Since

 

The most important update since this video's production that most prominently affects XP/BP gameplay is the radical changes to Railgun's damage output and reload, along with the health paramter modifications made to Wasp and Hornet. M2 equipment has the chance to destroy another in either two or three shots, a drastic difference in remembrance of the possible one-hit-knockouts that used to be possible against M3 Wasps. The same applies to M3 equipment. However, the increase in reload speed also plays a critical role in the way taking a corner to 'last-man-standing' flag defending works -- since the destroyed hull stays on the field for five seconds, it is possible for a Railgun to fire twice at an incoming enemy to thwart their return advances.

 

Wasp used to be worlds more nimble than Hornet in the days of the Pro's Advice V-Log series, and could easily juke out anything that decided to hang about during the spawning session. If you were waiting the required six seconds to make another shot and you were on your last leg, there was pretty much nothing you could do to buy time with a Wasp of any merit. Meanwhile, Hornet M3 had so much drift to it that it was ridiculously easy to determine where they were planning to move, their lateral acceleration betraying their actions in the same fashion as a blind man playing poker.

 

 

 

In A Nutshell

• Keep yourself inside of an enemy's hull as they're spawning to grant yourself a few extra seconds to recharge your Railgun.
• When you split away from a ghostly tank, be sure to charge your weapon before the enemy does. A phantom tank is an unarmed tank until it materializes.
• For quick changes in direction and acceleration, Hornet is the number one choice. Wasp is for players that relish raw speed at this point.
• Keep flag priorities in mind at all times, whether you're playing offensively or defensively. A teammate that knows how to shoot and drive is useless without the knowledge of where to shoot and drive.
• Watch for safe, 90° angles on maps that you can wedge yourself into to buy your allies some time to pick up the flag.

 

Hope y'all found use of this analytical breakdown and expansion of Nemtrix's original techniques. Hope you enjoyed the first portion of this series in general, because next time, we won't be focusing on everyone's favorite glowstick cannon anymore. What's the topic of next issue's Pro's Advice? Tune in then to find out. You might be pleasantly surprised.

 

Tread carefully, folks.

 

 

.

[Musa 5,352]

Cool :P

[bc200214_777 582]

Nice

[Zanlasha_G 119]

Tip: Play XP/BP

[awesomewarrior1 208]

I have a tip for 1v1. When you need to reload while carrying the enemy's flag and the opponent is chasing you from close by, it is very easy to dodge his shot. Just drop the flag and quickly change direction, and he will miss almost every time.

 

Since every player has some amount of lag, suddenly dropping the flag and moving can cause the opponent to shoot the flag instead.

[HAPPSHOT 2,029]

Old tricks....

[BlueDragon_tamki 3,204]

Meh. Weird thing is that one time I used to be in a XP/BP battle with alteration on which didn't make sense.