The Half-Complete Guide to Totally Stomping CTF |
The Half-Complete Guide to Totally Stomping CTF by [KD]Zenka
Background: Your skills are OK at CTF, you know the basics like:
This guide will get you to #1!!!!
a) Shotgun is actually a good weapon. People underestimate it and often won't fight you. Kill them! 5 shots or so will do it!
b) Super Nailgun is good too, but get up close, shoot them in the backside. It will kill fast. If this is your weapon of choice make sure to stock up on nails, some levels don't have enough nails to really support the Super Nailgun.
c) Rocket Launcher. A great weapon, but develop technique. Don't kill yourself! Rockets to the face are the fastest way to kill yourself. If you use the RL you can't be trigger happy. Be careful of people running in front of you, or you could kill yourself. Don't shoot rockets when you are being bounced around by other rockets. You'll probably fire into a wall and die. Rockets bounce people up in the air when you aim for the feet. Try to prefect direct hits with the RL. The way I do this is aim for the legs. If I'm off a bit I either hit dead on, or they bounce up in the air. People get disoriented when they are bounced around. Practice and perfect that second finishing shot-hit them while they are still in the air! Bingo! Dead! Rockets are great for defense, and pretty good for offense depending on the size of the base.
d) Laser Gun. With good aim, this is a bit better than the shotgun.
e) Sniper Gun. A tough gun. Practice is all I can advise. Take a level and only use this gun, you'll get better at it. A couple techniques are good. Get up out of the way, take careful aim, and shoot. Another technique is to run into narrow hallways and shoot people coming at you or running away, running away is better. Narrow halls raise your chance of hitting. This gun takes a while to reload, and you can't grapple while it's reloading, to make sure you hide or get protected. Also be aware that this gun will kill you if you have 200 life and no armor, but often you'll live if you have 100 life and more than 100 armor and you get shot.
3a) So you know the level layout, eh? Now LEARN THE SPAWN POINTS Learn where people come into the game. Learn the teleport destinations. Now LISTEN. When you hear the spawn noise or the teleport noise nearby, you know there's a fresh, undefended, virgin, juicy body there for the pickins.
3b) LISTEN. Listen to doors open, lifts, traps shoot darts. Then you know someone is coming and where they will be. Be ready to get the first shot in and pick them off.
Learn where they are. Many levels have multiple quads. Do not let the other team monopolize them. Be aware of when quad last went off and when it will appear again. If you have quad: Tell your team. Take out as many people as possible. Shaft is best, then RL. Don't frag yourself! Be vary careful. Go hog wild, but be under control. If you think you can clear the enemy base-do it. Otherwise just take people out. Stay out of the water, or someone will discharge. How to deal with the opponent who has quad: Get far away. Across the room. People with quad often get overconfident. Use this against them! They will probably use the Rocket Launcher. Shoot them in the feet so they bounce up in the air, deliver the killer while they are in the air. They'll probably kill themselves while they are trying to get you. If you have PENT: Go get the opponent's flag and get out. How to deal with the opponent with PENT: Don't fight. Keep tabs on where he is, and stay just ahead and out of tempting shot range. When you hear the pent fading, go and kill. This is really important because by that time he usually has your flag!
a) Don't stand still. You are a perfect target. Keep moving.
b) Don't stand in a corner. You'll take more reflected rocket damage.
c) Don't hide out in a secret room. Your team needs you! Your 30 secs spent standing for the armor could have saved a teammate.
d) Don't stand around for weapons. If you were meant to pick it up, it would be there. Perfect your fighting, find an opponent with the weapon you need, and kill them!! With this in mind, it's a very evil tactic to switch to the axe just before you die so the opponent doesn't get your RL.
e) Learn to strafe. I don't do this myself-but it would make me a much better player. Strafing lets you keep your target in your sights.
f) Learn to predict where the target will be. You have to do this when you are fighing an opponent who has a lower ping than you. Predict where they will be, and fire there. It works quite well. The classic example is when and opponent grapples across the room. Fire where they are grappled into the wall, and you'll kill them.
g) Don't grapple yourself to a wall or ceiling and camp.
There are precious few places where this is a good strategy. With that in mind, look around when you enter a new room, look up and at the walls. I kill these people all the time.
h) Get High. Along the same lines as 'g', Death From Above(tm) is Real. You want, in general to be higher than your opponents. People tend to stay on the bottom floors and don't look up. People don't really think in 3D. This will net you lots of kills.
i) Learn to fight while using the grapple. People who are grappling, especially long distances, make great targets! Learn to turn and fight while you are being pulled. Surprise-you're dead!
j) Try grappling across the floor. It's interesting. People are often so wierded out by it they don't kill you because they like to see you're body flailing across the floor. They're thinking- what the hell is that? and How do I do that?
k) Use the grapple to get around. It makes you really fast. Don't fall from a high grapple, grapple to the floor to pull yourself down fast. You take a teeny amount of damage doing this.
7a) HPB (High Ping Bastard). SO YOU HAVE A HIGH PING. High ping players are not automatically worse players than LPBS by any means. I have had my ass whipped by people with 200+ ping. High ping doesn't make you a bad player, so don't blame your losses on it. Why can the Zenk, who is obviously an LPB, give HPB tips? Well I usually head to servers where my ping is higher, in the 100-200 range, and occasionally head off to a 400 ping server, so I been there. Some tips: High ping results in delays in your actions. You'll stop running and keep running for a bit, take rounded corners, and shoot a bit later. You won't be able to shoot as fast as an LPB, but use your aim and you'll still kill! Think of it as having more intertia than the LPB. Prediction is everything when you are an HPB. You must anticipate where the other player will be, and fire there. I repeat: place your crosshair where you think the other player will be by the time your rocket gets there. Even LPBS do this, its just easier for them because the distace is shorter, and there is less time for course changes. You must adjust this prediction to your ping, its different for the LPB, the 200 pinger and the 400 pinger. For this reason, LPBS who grapple alot are *the hardest* to hit. It's almost impossible. Just so you know....they usually do this when they're in their base waiting to capture ;(.
7b) Lag. So you have LAG. Forget it, its too unpredictable. Find another server.
I'll go into some team advice now. The game is TEAMS, Don't try and be MR. CAPTURE. Support your teammates.
This makes your messages go to only your teammates. Bind a key to "messagemode2".
Tell them- LIES! Mislead them! Tell them you have quad, when you don't! Tell them your attacking-then get the red armor-or the quad-or the pent. They won't be there! Everyone tell them they're on D. They won't attack and they won't be ready when you do! Just make sure your team knows only your team messages count! hehehe, confusion may reign.
You'll die a lot. Get restocked fast and get in there. Don't attack with a wimpy weapon. Don't attack with a defensive rune (see below). Sneak in, get flag, get out. You'll have a horde following you so plan where you'll go. Long hallways are bad news! Sneak in, take out a couple people, get out. This is better with multiple attackers. They'll be preoccupied with the others. Take that flag home. Barge in, clear the base, get flag. great! Be aware that the enemy is respawning and you'll probably run into them on the way home though! Cover the flag carrier! Escort him home. You get boatloads of points for defending the carrier. Often more than the carrier gets for capturing. Don't hesitate to sacrifice yourself for the flag carrier.
OFFENSIVE RUNES:
These are runes that will help you survive being THE TARGET.
Go straight home if the base is clear. If not, don't stand around. Get plenty of life and armor. Cover your ass as best you can. Find teammates. Don't wander around. Be ready to capture. Don't go for flag retrieval. Make them come to you. Don't stand still in the base. Let defenders take on attackers. Grapple alot to aviod being a target. Use teleporters alot. SOMETIMES YOU DONT REALIZE YOU HAVE THE FLAG-OR THAT YOU DON'T (hehe) YOU HAVE THE FLAG IF YOU ARE GLOWING. Head to a shadow and if its bright, assuming you don't have quad, you have the flag!
DEFENSIVE RUNES:
RUNE TIPS:
That's about it. Take each point and work on it. Soon you'll be #1. But never forget the most important rule: PLAY AS A TEAM.
[KD]Zenka (1997) (note:removed Threewave CTF info)