The Basics - xp/bp Combos in Free Format Battles

[Sliced 819]

Ever notice how any enemy can attempt to take your team's flag and fail most of the time? Maybe they were Viking and Firebird, Titan and Twins or Hunter and Thunder? Full drugs and never get away, yet those pesky Hornet/Wasp Railgun users manage to sneak one out? How do they do it?

 

Well, this article is to give you a look into how these players do it, and maybe you can try it out for yourselves!

 

To start off, Railgun is no easy turret to master. With its long reload and one second charge up before firing, it doesn't seem too bad, but can take a lot longer than other turrets to get used to it, learn how to use it, and then become efficient with it.

 

Like any other turret, Railgun can do better or worse on certain maps. It's good on maps like Berlin, Deathtrack, Kunger, Monte Carlo, Brest, etc, because they're medium or large and generally have open spaces. However, due to its reload, you'll need to be close to some sort of cover, to do so.

 

What I like to do, is find my target, then the farthest spot away I can find to fire from - this is why you get hit by Railgun beams, only to never find the shooter and a bunch of your health is gone. This is how you clear out enemies around the base, aid a teammate in taking the flag, and/or stop an enemy right before they capture.

 

This will also allow you to safely practice and learn how to increase accuracy.

 

Once that's done, if you feel like going in for the flag, try and pick up a speed boost and double armor if you can. Now, instead of charging right to the flag, try staying along the outer walls of the map, because you'll be less noticeable, especially if you go behind walls and buildings. If somebody gives chase, shoot them once, find a skinny passage if there's one in the immediate vicinity, lay a mine and keep going.

 

Your speed will allow you to escape heavier hulls and the mine with a single shot should take care of light hulls. With double armor, the only thing that can one shot you is a Railgun with the high caliber ammo alteration or Shaft, but these are not very common. Next, ignore all enemies who don't notice you - you're only drawing attention to yourself if you fire. If there are enemies by the flag, just speed in, take it, and get out if you can. Again, your speed will help you to do this.

 

If at all possible, run for the nearest teammate - they'll slow down any enemy giving chase. Also, as you're heading back, use any means of making it, but also observe your surroundings to avoid enemies. If you can get the flag even half way back, you've done your part, since it's likely another teammate will pick it up. You will share experience for this capture if they don't give it back.

 

If there's enemies near the base and/or the flag isn't there, stay a good distance away and try to find a wall high enough to hide the flag, so the enemies will need to do some searching to find you. I would not advise firing at any enemies near the base unless it's one or two and you have a teammate already working on it.

 

Another important thing, possibly the most important aspect of Railgun, is timing. In times where each second counts, being able to speed at a corner, aimed to the side, where your turret isn't centered in the middle of the screen and being able to fire just as you round the corner AND hit your target, is very critical. Practice this after a battle restarts.

 

Other shots are being able to fire, turn half way around or more and have your shot fire to hit a target to save time. I wouldn't worry too much about this. Occasional tries will lead to being able to do it naturally.

 

Things to watch for are Railgun's small vertical firing cone, slow turret turning and recoil. Often I pop out of cover, take a shot and the recoil moves my tank enough so that I bump into the wall instead when trying to go back. This gets me killed in xp/bp battles a lot. So, when behind a wall, have at least half your tank's width between you and the wall.

 

Also, because of the slow turret rotation speed, the aforementioned 180+ degree turns cannot be done without turning your hull as well. Your hull and turret turn at different speeds, so doing this will also be a tough task to learn.

 

With Railgun's low vertical cone, you'll have to rock your tank often to increase it to make the shot. to make a shot at an enemy higher or lower than you and you don't have enough room to back up to make the shot, this will help. to hit somebody higher up, go backwards a tiny bit, then forward as you fire. This will raise the front end of your tank and lower the back end. This will angle your Railgun upwards. For a downwards shot, go forward, then back, so the opposite. While Wasp is best for this, Hornet's rocking ability is good enough to make most shots.

 

Also, if you're on a ramp of some sort, you will still fire directly straight, so just keep that in mind if you're making a direct shot. However, your vertical aim will become diagonal, according to the new angle you're at.

 

When you attack an opponent with a weapon that has reload, such as Thunder, Hammer, Shaft, or Railgun, there's a trick to avoid being hit if they engage you. Notice the modification of their turret and try to see how long their reload time is. Time your shot right and fire at the corner of their tank. This will turn them and they'll miss when they fire.

 

Last, comes trolling! Heh, making the most impossible shots to trigger your opponents! No matter your skill level, you'll make a few of these. "These" can be any kind of shot. Attempting to shoot one guy, but being shot before you fire, then your aim gets knocked off and you kill somebody else across the map! Doing a full 360 turn, making a kill shot, dropping from above, knocking a Thunder's aim into a wall and they self destruct...

Edited October 2, 2017 by Blackdrakon30

[Blackdrakon30 2,943]

- Fixed a few typos

- Fixed some sentence structure issues

 

Approved

 

My #1 piece of advice here is to improve formatting. It's not easy to read through such a large text wall, so I'd recommend adding some sort of formatting dividers, more images, and/or a different style of presentation throughout the article (like bullet points) to break apart all the solid text. Otherwise, interesting article!

Edited October 2, 2017 by Blackdrakon30

[I3.R.0 1,700]

Pretty much interesting. I like it and I also agree to Drak's suggestion above..It'll make your article look even better ;)

[zaintahir 458]

This article was aimed towards the lower ranks like many other guides since I already know everything here. But I really enjoyed reading the article and you did very well it seems. If I were you I'd also teach how to dodge other railguns in xp bp. With a better format and a slightly bigger article this is probably newspaper - level.

[Sliced 819]

- Fixed a few typos

- Fixed some sentence structure issues

 

Approved

 

My #1 piece of advice here is to improve formatting. It's not easy to read through such a large text wall, so I'd recommend adding some sort of formatting dividers, more images, and/or a different style of presentation throughout the article (like bullet points) to break apart all the solid text. Otherwise, interesting article!

I was on a tablet when I wrote this :(

[g-force 1,000]

I was on a tablet when I wrote this :(

I think with a little patience and editing it nicely in the computer would not harm anyone, except make it better.