Ingame I usually find myself trying to give people tips on how best to play at certain stages of the game, so I decided it might make a good thread, especially for those who are new/still learning Onslaught
Please add your own tips too: (some of these are obvious I know, but you would be suprised
)EDIT: Will probably be making new edits on this quite a lot
there are quire a few things I can think of adding and others too- When you activate a node at the start of the game, stay there to charge it. If your team is good someone will already be waiting at the next node.
- Never have more than two or so defending the core! Despite what the loading hints may say, defending the core is bad mmm'kay.
- If you're taking a Manta/Hellbender/Scorpion somewhere when there are few vehicles left...give rides! Sometimes it's ok for the Tank/Cicada/Levi not to (see below)
- If you're in the turret of a Tank, Cicada or Levi, don't fire at everything you see. The point of this is...if the vehicle hasn't been noticed, don't give it away.
- If a node is open to attack and you're the only one there, defend it! (especially if losing the node means other nodes getting isolated)
- Always keep an eye on the mini-map, deciding what node is best to go to is probably one of the most important parts of Onslaught
- Never. Chase. The. Core. What that means is, don't go blindly building nodes to directly link up the enemy core...because most of the times I see that happen, the nodes get isolated and lost, resulting in your team losing/getting set back into OT or worse.
- Always heal open nodes and the vehicles defending them.
- When you're defending a node it's sometimes more important to defend the occupied vehicles at that node than the node itself
- If you see a locked node that has been damaged down to yellow/red then heal it, otherwise if the node becomes unlocked again then the enemy will be able to take it down faster.
- If you're in a vehicle and an enemy player is nearby, don't shoot him if he hasn't noticed you...try to squish him That way, he can't turn around and shoot an Avril at you...and other players nearby are less likely to notice you. (P.S. As DeathByDribbling mentioned, this is mainly confined to the flying vehicles it's a matter of having the right opportunity)
- To kill a Levi which is being defended by infantry, jump out on top of it and hide behind the turret and shoot away! (if the driver switches to a different turret, quickly hop on to that turret) The same can be applied to Tanks too
- If you're attacking a node in a Cicada then it's best to use the lazer beam lock-on to target a node. If you do this then it's less likely for you to be noticed AND you can hide behind something while you fire at the node!
- Double damage is incredibly useful for taking down nodes, especially in Cicada's. (as DbD points out in the post below, it's good to only take it when there is a good reason...don't grab the DD if you're not going to have anything to use it on)
- If you're stuck in the middle of nowhere and there are no enemy players/vehicles to shoot...kill yourself!
- If you're on foot and far away from an open enemy node, it's better to shoot at it with projectile weapons (link/rockets) instead of instant-hit weapons (shock/lightning). It takes longer for the enemy to notice you and thus you can do a lot more damage.
- DeathByDribbling pointed out that it is sometimes best to hit the node with an instant-hit weapon first to stop more people spawning, a very discreet way of doing this is with the Assault Rifle (the first shot from it is always on target) Then switch to a projectile weapon and fire away after the node spawns are locked.
- The shock rifle works better against Cicada's than the Avril. (the same can be said with Manta's/Raptor's too...if the driver is good enough to avoid Avrils)
- If an enemy Manta is coming towards you, stand perfectly still and switch to Avril/Flak/Shock shoot at the last second. (if you're real good, you can combo it! Take note: If the Manta is firing at you then Avril rockets will blow up in your face )
- For the above reasons, it can sometimes be best NOT to try and run over a person in a Manta..if he has noticed you
- When you're defending a node (or waiting for a locked node to open) in a Tank or Hellbender, it's best to wait in one of the vehicle turrets until the enemy comes along (or the node unlocks). This is a very effective way of going unnoticed as the vehicle makes no sound and looks empty
- The grenade launcher is a discreet way to attack nodes and is also a great way for ensuring damage when you're hopping around avoiding enemy fire.
- When shooting a node, shock combo's detonated between the node base and the node spinny thing cause the most damage. (combined with the nade launcher and it's nearly instant-destruction)
- The shield gun can be really useful if you want to get to tricky areas of a map, there are loads of useful places you can get to using this..you just need to know how to look for them
- The link gun shouldn't just be used for charging nodes, use it to attack them aswel! And when a teammate is attacking a node with the link gun, link up with him!!!!!
- If you're crap against other players on foot, pull out the mini-gun and spray it all over them
- When a node is stepped on and activated, it wont start charging for about 1 second. You can use this to your advantage and kill enemy nodes before they have even started charging. (NOTE: The first shot from the assault rifle is always on target, you could potentially keep a node down for the entire map with the assault rifle alone and it's very hard for people to notice you if you hide with it)
- If someone is chasing you and you run through a teleporter, switch to the shield gun, go right beside the teleporter and point directly at it.
- The Bomber which is brought in by the Target Painter can be shot down with the shock rifle. Its bombs can be killed with the assault rifle and minigun. So when you hear the "Incoming Airstrike" warning, have a close look around the sky.
- If you've got to drop from a flying vehicle high up in the sky, whip out your shield gun and point the shield down
- A Paladin seems to do loads of damage to a Levi before dying when you drive it against the Levi with your shield up AND use the shield combo. A Tank can be destroyed the same way.
- When you're attacking a node, it's always best to stay under cover and shoot from a hard to reach position than to charge and be exposed to enemy fire.
- When you're in a Raptor and another Raptor shoots a missile at you, it's easier to avoid the incoming missile by flying TOWARDS it...If you fly directly away from it then it's nearly a guaranteed hit.
- If you're in a Cicada and a Raptor is shooting missiles at you, use the same method as above to avoid them...but also use the Cicada's ability to go up/down fast too!!
- If you're attacking a Tank/Paladin in an air vehicle then try to stay directly above it...The tank gunner can't hit you that way and the Paladin will also have a hard time.
- If you're in a Manta, attacking a node defended by a Tank and are stuck for time (it's about to lock) then plant your Manta on top of the Tank and fire away at the node.
- Don't defend Levi's in the Levi turrets, get out and use the Avril/Shock instead (also check point below too)
- If your vehicle has lots of health and you're being attacked by a nearby Raptor DO NOT GET OUT UNTIL THE VEHICLE IS NEARLY DEAD, otherwise you risk the vehicle being stolen. (this can potentially turn the tide in games)
- Never, under any circumstance, should you drop a Levi until it is about to die (that deserves a whole new point on its own)
- It's often helpful to give slower vehicles a boost in speed by ramming faster one's into them, this can be very useful if a Tank/Levi/Pally/etc. is needed somewhere quickly...however, do be careful not to ram vehicles into walls or other obstacles
- You get more ammo from weapon lockers when you pick weapons up for the first time but less when you already have the weapon, throw away used weapons before going over a weapon locker to get the maximum amount of ammo (this is especially useful with the link gun when you need to charge nodes...so don't waste the ammo, keep a little so you can throw it away)
- If you have a decent aim and are using the Avril then it's often better to not lock on to other vehicles using the alt-fire, try to just keep your crosshair on them. (works better up close, not so much long range)
- It's usually better to shoot Avrils up in the air around vehicles and to not target the vehicle until they are close, this minimises the 'Missile Lock' warning and can stop Tanks blowing up the Avril's before they hit. (point below )
- If you're in a Tank and an Avril is coming towards you close to the ground, shoot the ground below the Avril and it will blow up
- If you're in a Pally and travelling a long distance then going down steep slopes will speed you up considerably (same applies for most wheeled vehicles, but the Pally keeps the speed for much longer)
- To avoid being Eagle Eye'd (and sometimes shot at by infantry) while in a flying vehicle, never move in a straight line relative to what's shooting at you (at the very least, don't fly directly towards/above what's shooting you )
- Tapping the up/down keys in a Cicada so that you bob up and down a lot can make you a very tricky target (except for missiles)
- Benders/Scorpians/Manta's/SPMA's and Cicada's don't like shock balls Benders especially, if a shock turret gunner is shooting skymines at you...shoot lots and lots of shock balls back.
- When you're in a Bender shock turret, fighting another Bender shock turret...don't shoot any shock balls!!! Let the other Bender shoot the balls, but YOU combo them The other guy will die from his own shock balls in a suprisingly short amount of time. (node 5 on Urban is a great place for this)
- As Wyatt said below, it can sometimes be useful to spend a few moments warping around your teams nodes so that you can get the right weapons...This can be very useful at times.
- From Zofo (how did I forget this ): When you're in a Tank and a Manta is circle-strafing you, speed up the rotation of the Turret by rotating the Tank with the turret. This nearly doubles the speed at which the turret can rotate, and is perfect for taking out Manta's.
- When you're in a Manta, the best way to evade the method above (up close) is to jump on top of the Tank and go to the other side before the turret reaches around to you...beware: the Tank turret will move faster than you see it move.
- Also Zofo: When you're attacking a node it can be very useful to put yourself in the defenders point of view: Where will the defenders be expecting you to come from? It can be VERY advantageous to take the longer route to the node and end up in the opposite direction to where the enemy are looking. (use this tactic to get to good hiding spots)
- The opposite position from above : When you're defending a node (especially in turrets) never confine yourself to looking in one direction, look around for the enemy in all directions. (I typicially jerk my view around all the time so that I can scan the space around the node and shoot at incoming enemies as soon as possible)
- Again from Zofo: When you're attacking a node that has just locked, check if your team is already rebuilding the linking node...If there are no enemies present at the enemy node, chuck some nades on it and wait for it to open again. (just keep in mind that your team may not get the linking node back up again, sometimes it's a good idea to head back)
- When fighting a Tank close-up in a Raptor it can be a good idea to finish it off with a Missile (the time to do this is when you see flames on the Tank), the driver of a Tank will often wait until the very last second before bailing...finishing it off with a Missile not only kills the tank more quickly but also gives a better chance of taking the driver out before he bails
- The Raptor is great at overturning a lot of unsuspecting (wheeled) vehicles With a bit of speed, accuracy and practice you can send HellBenders and Scorpians flying.
- Driving Cicada's/Raptor's through confined spaces/tunnels/caves can help in fine-tuning your flying skills and on some maps it gives you a safer route of attack.
- Near-vertical jump pads can occasionally be useful in avoiding enemy fire, simply hop on the pad and keep landing on it.
- Some powerful land vehicles (Tanks especially) become rediculously vulnerable to infantry fire if you can get above them. (think of the containers on Minus, this is where the shield gun becomes real handy ) This is mainly because Tanks kill infantry by firing at the ground near them
- If the above tactic is used on your Tank, switch to the minigun turret
- Switching between first person and third person (behindview) in a few vehicles can help you a great deal in some situations.
- If your Cicada is in a dogfight with a Raptor you can sometimes sneak a few hits on the Raptor by flying up as high as you can and quickly using the Cicada gunner turret to hit the Raptor. (doesn't work with experienced Raptor pilots tho )
