187<>Ceasar~
27 Mar 2005, 21:05
Shield Jump
Charge up the shield gun
2. Aim straight down
3. Jump.
4. While your going up release the shield gun primary.
You need to do this fairly quickly so try to fire off the gun as soon as you?re in the air. You should go fairly high. The longer you hold it down the more damage you will take, tradeoff is that you'll go higher with a fully charged shield gun (-45 hp) than a tap shield jump (-12 hp). To execute a tap shield jump, start to charge it then as soon as you hear the noise jump and release (make sure to aim down!). The tap jump should get you most places.
Make sure you execute the double jump at the apex of your shield jump to get that needed boost.
Shield Forward Dodge
Charge the shield gun.
2. Dodge.
3. Just as you become airborne.. fire the shield gun downwards.
4. Jump
5. Jump again at the height of the jump to get more distance.
You should go about as high as a shield jump but go farther in distance. This is useful for getting up slants to that special area, or getting to that high floating platform. You can use this to get to a wall then dodge off the wall.
Shield Back Dodge
This is the furthest you can go horizontally by yourself.
Pretty much like the forward, except this makes you go WAY farther (about 60% more distance of a normal fully charged shield dodge).
1. Face the opposite direction to where u want to go.
2. Charge shield.
3. Aim diagonally down (about 45-60 degrees)
4. Dodge backwards
5. As your airborne detonate the shield gun.
6. Double jump at height of jump to double your shield dodge distance.
This move is almost totally restricted to flag runners. It?s very dangerous, and requires a lot of room to pull off, but you?ll leave others in your dust (even those pesky teleporters!).
Example: 11-second flag run of doom on citadel (demo at bottom of this post). As you can see this is very risky and requires a lot of good timing skills and coordination. It?s the hardest to pull off with good results consistently out of all the shield moves IMO.
Shield Lift Jump
We'll the name explains it. You do a shield jump while on a lift. Make sure you master lift jumping timing and just combine it with what you know about the shield jump. Execute the shield jump while the lift is moving the fastest.
This is the highest you can go by yourself without cheats.
and as usual, make sure you jump again at the apex of your height.
Example: The Pipes in CTF-Orbital 2's flag rooms. (demos down at the bottom)
Hopping
1. Shield jump then while against a wall or surface that you are sliding or going up.
2. Double jump.
3. Shield jump again with a tap.
On long high slants even vertical surfaces, you can repeatedly fire this (make sure your popping into the wall) to gain more height, as long as your health holds out. :p
Example: Check bottom of the post to dl demo and map.
Shield Wall Dodge
Charge shield gun
2. Face a wall and jump.
3. While against it aim diagonally down
4. Release shield gun
This isn't often very used as its results aren't that spectacular compared to the others. Use it if you ran out of your wall dodge power.
Krunky
As in "HA HA you pulled a krunky!" Or "Don't be goin all krunky on me now!"
1. Make sure you're at 45 health or lower
2. Fully charge shieldgun
3. Aim down or against a wall
4. Release
Enjoy the karma!
This is by far the easiest to pull off, and believe me, you will pull this one off.
Weapon Damage
Shield Gun - Tapped Primary 40
Shield Gun - Fully Charged Primary 150
Assault Rifle - Primary 7
Assault Rifle - Grenade 63-69
Bio Rifle - Primary 35
Bio Rifle – Full Charge Secondary Took away 150 shield and 69 health
Shock Rifle - Primary 45
Shock Rifle - Secondary 36-40
Shock Rifle - Combo Varies - 191 was the max damage attained
Link Gun - 1 Energy Burst, primary fire 30
Link Gun - Steady stream 9
Mini Gun - Primary 6-8
Mini Gun - Secondary 14-16
Flak Cannon - Primary fire close range 117
Flak Cannon - Secondary 90-120
Rocket Launcher - 1 Rocket 80-95
Lightning Gun – Body Shot 70
Lightning Gun - Head Shot 140
Sniper Rifle – Body Shot 60
Sniper Rifle - Head Shot 120
Defensive Movements - A good player will change his defensive movements and distance based on the weapon you are fighting against him with. When someone is trying to kill you with the shock rifle, you want to get in close to them, so they cannot perform a shock combo. If someone is using Link secondary on you, you want to force them to spin around by dodging all around them. If someone is using flak primary, you want to gain more distance. If they are using flak secondary, you want to let them fire before you begin your dodge. If your enemy gets your dodging pattern down, they will lob a secondary shell on you perfectly.
Weapon Switching - Try switching between a long range and short range weapon during a battle. This will throw your enemy off because you can shoot a lightning shot at your opponent, then quickly fire a splash damage weapon like rockets or flak at them. Lightning gun is better for long ranges. So firing this weapon might draw your opponent in close to you, and you will surprise him with a quick close range attack.
Shock vs. Lightning - When a player is in mid-range, you are better off using the shock rifle. If the distance between you and your enemy grows to be to long to perform a successful shock combo, break out the Lightning gun. One time you should use Shock primary over Lightning primary is when you are trying to push your enemy. The primary fire of the shock rifle will actually push players. So if an enemy is running down a narrow bridge or pathway, you can knock them off with primary shock. Another reason to use shock is if your opponent has low health.
Grounding Affect - Those of you who played UT should remember that the minigun has a grounding affect. It basically means that when you are getting fired upon by this weapon, it makes your movement very slow. It will affect dodging distance and, in a way, it paralyzes you. Mini no longer has this affect in UT 2004, but the Link gun does. So when trying to hinder your opponents movements, use the link secondary.
Shields - This is the way it was explained to me. If you have shields between 100 and 150, they will take 100% of the damage. If your shields are between 51-99 it will take 75% of the damage. And if its between 1-50, it will take 50% of the damage. Your health is also a factor. If your health is over 75, your total health will be your Hit Points + Shield. If your health is below 50, and you have 50 armor, you double your health points.
Adrenaline Moves
Speed : forward, forward, forward, forward
Health Regen : back, back, back, back
Invisibility : Right, Right, Left, Left
Berserk (Fire Faster): forward, forward, back, back
You need 100 Adrenaline to perform these moves.
Steps to Success: Organization, Map Strategies, Practice, Scrimmages, then Matches
The first step in organizing your clan is deciding on what ladders you are going to be playing on. Two of the most popular ladders for UT 2004 are Proving Grounds and Team Warfare League . The next decision that needs to be made is which map you want your clan to choose as its primary map. There are several things that should go into consideration as to which map you choose.
There are several things that I personally do when trying to decide the clan's map.
• The first thing that I do is make a list of all the maps for each ladder my clan will be playing on.
• If you are on more than one ladder, make a list of maps that aren't on both. You can either avoid these maps as your main map because both ladders don't share them; or you can try to use this to your advantage and choose a map from each ladder since other clans might be avoiding them for the same reason. That is up to you.
• The next thing I do is check the match history of every single clan on the ladder, and put a tally next to each map that was played.
• After I tally all the maps, I see which maps seem to be the most popular among the ladders. I take the top 3 maps and make them my priority practice maps.
• None of these 3 maps will be considered the clan's main map due to their popularity
• Another thing you can do is check out the map choices of the clans that you plan on playing regularly. This might be a little hard to determine at first. But when you get a feel for where your clan will be positioned on a ladder, you should try and avoid sharing the main map of a rival clan. The purpose of the clan's main map is to give you an advantage over your opponent. So selecting a popular map among your competition might be hurting you in the long run.
• The next thing you need to look at is the strengths of your clan. If your clan is more talented with close range weapons such as mini, flak, and rockets, an enclosed map with lots of hallways such as Chrome might be better suited for you. If your team is strong with hit scan weapons like the Lightning Gun or Shock Rifle, a wide-open map, for example Citadel, might be a better choice for you.
• Finally, the most important part of map decision will be your strategy. Whatever map you feel you can create a great strategy for, should be your main map.
Now exactly what purpose does a map strategy serve? A successful map strategy will have all the players in their proper positions. Every player will know their role, and the roles of their teammates. No matter what is occurring during the match, you will know what is expected of you at all times. But the most important part of your strategy is to throw the other team off theirs.
I have created a simplified way of creating map strategies. We first make a list from 1-5, and each number will be given a list of AT LEAST 4 possible scenarios, maybe more.
Scenario #1 - What is your job function when both flags are at the base?
Scenario #2 - What is your job function when both flags are taken?
Scenario #3 - What is your job function when your flag is taken and the enemy flag is still secure?
Scenario #4 - What is your job function when you have the enemy's flag and your flag is still secure?
Other possible scenarios…
Scenario #5 - What do you do with a 3 cap lead?
Scenario #6 - What do you do when you are down by 3 caps?
So you take your map, and then you need to decide where everyone's placement is going to be. There are several things that need to be taken into consideration.
#1 Power Up locations
#2 Weapon placements
#3 Spawn points
#4 Choke points
#5 Health Locations
There are other things to consider, but these are just some that come to mind.
Choke Points
Now, many maps have choke points. Basically a choke point is an area that people need to get through, but where there is a limited amount of space. A wide open map, such as Maul, lacks a choke point--unless you consider the holes in the wall! But Chrome, on the other hand, is a perfect example of a choke point map. The hallways are perfect choke points because you cannot enter the enemy base without going through them.
Spawn Points
Enter a map in practice mode and keep suiciding. You will learn where all the spawn locations are. These are important to know for several reasons. Your Flag Carrier should know these positions incase they kill any enemies while exiting; they will know where the enemy might respawn and can alter their path accordingly. The flag carrier should also know what weapons are close to these spawn areas, and prepare to fight people with those weapons. If you read the section on things to practice, you will learn why this is important. But knowing spawn points isn't just useful for the flag carrier, its also useful for the defense. When you are playing a map like Chrome, and the enemy kills you on his way to the middle of the map, if you spawn back at your base then you are at an extreme disadvantage. You most likely will not catch up with the flag carrier in time. But if you bind a key to suicide, then you can keep killing yourself until you spawn in the middle of the map.
Powerups and Weapon placement
The team that controls the powerups on a map has huge advantage over their opponents. Not only do you have the extra shields, but your enemy doesn't. It's a dual advantage. So taking a 100 shield is more like taking a 200 shield. Not to mention that killing a flag carrier with nothing but 100 health is rather easy. So controlling powerups should be heavily considered when creating a map strategy.
Now that we have an idea what needs to be done, we need to give out some generic roles. Each number will have a more descriptive task when the strategy is personalized for each map.
#1 Flag carrier - First objective is to collect as many weapons and ammo as possible for the flag run. They should also try and acquire as many health vials off the bat because they are usually overlooked. At the 19:33 point of the map, the 100 and 50 shields will spawn. You will meet up with #2 and #3, who are guarding the 100 Shield spawn for you. Once everyone is in their marked positions, #1 will announce, “Beginning Flag Run.” At this point 1, 2, and 3 will begin the run. Once an exit is decided by #1, he will announce his escape route. In the event that #1,2, and 3 are preparing for a flag run, and your flag has gotten past your defense, you will hold off on your attack until the return of your flag. The only time you will try and take the other team's flag in the event that your flag is gone, is when the enemy is close to capping, and you need to buy some time for the return.
#2-3 Flag Cover - Your job is to gather as many weapons as possible that will assist in covering the flag carrier. You will meet with your partner at the 100 shied spawn at 19:40 to protect the shield for your flag carrier.
#4-5 Defense/Middle - This is heavily dependant on the map. It all depends on choke points, etc. One idea is to have 1 defender cover with a spam weapon, while another defender uses shock. The spam can distract while the shock finishes. Another thing you can do is place your translocator near an exit where the enemy flag carrier would run. So if you lose the flag carrier, you can surprise them by being a step ahead of them. But when assigning a job to #4 and #5, you should give them a main weapon and location.
Now the above map strategy is a bit simplistic, but it will get more complicated when you design it for a specific map. Normally you would go into detail as to where the Flag carrier's hiding/hold off spots would be so #2-3 can easily find them after dying. Another thing some clans do during hold off's is to do a switch with 2-3 and 4-5. Let the defenseman cover the FC, and let the FC cover go for the return. Some players are religious defenseman and are stronger at killing people in the defensive zone rather the offensive zone. Picture an elevated flag room like Chrome. The defense naturally is familiar with attacking people from an elevated position. If you have to hunt down the FC, chances are that he has that position, and that you will need to attack from the bottom. Something that the FC cover is normally use to. It's hard to pull something like this off when things are a bit hectic. But lets say you are #2 and you see that #4-5 are covering the flag carrier now, you know that you can go on Flag retrieval. Also do not feel the need to conform to a 3 offense, 2 defense system. Every map requires different positions. Maybe you just want 1 defenseman, or 1 FC with no cover. Maybe you want to play a 1-3-1. 1 FC, 3 middle players, and 1 defensive player. Your mid will cover your FC if and only if, he is able to make it back to the middle. Many clans run a 2 offense and 3 d. It's completely up to you.
Ok, now the benefits of my system….
1) Doing this can allow you to get away with less clan practices. That doesn't mean you should, but the purpose of practicing is knowing where your teammates are, and what they are going to do. Reading this map strategy before going into a match will allow that.
2) If people get permanently assigned numbers in your clan, they can practice those numbers in pubs. Its almost as good as practicing with your team. You hop on a server, and do the role of #2. Forget what everyone else is doing, and practice your role.
3) When deciding on who plays for each map, you see what numbers showed up. If everyone in the clan has a number, you see how many 1's showed up, how many 2-3's showed up. You will create a better lineup.
4) People aren't limited to just 1 number. Some people play offense on one map, and D on a another. Basically you can create certain numbers for every map. Detailing each #'s job. Then give a listing of all the people in the clan, and what number they will be practicing on the public servers.
5) You will know your role at all times, and the role of your teammates. You know what to do when your flag is gone, you know what to do when their flag is gone. You know what to do when both flags are gone.
6) You will be far more organized, and practicing will be much easier.
Other Map Strategy Tips
• Decide on a main escape route for the FC. Pick this route based on your knowledge of the map. Know what is the fastest route, the route with the least enemy resistance, and the route with the most health/shield pickups. Ask your defenseman when the enemy takes your flag, which route is the one you least want them to take? You defenseman usually have a good idea which way is the easiest to kill a FC.
• Same thing applies to the defense. Position your defense to force the FC to take the route that you want. Take Grendelkeep as an example. Pretend you are standing on the flag and facing the middle of the map. If I had my choice, I would like to see the flag carrier take the lower left hand side. There is a long ramp there, so dodging will be slowed. Its very easy to get behind them by running over to the minigun area. You can position your defense to block desirable exits like the shock ground and top, forcing the FC to take the more undesirable route.
• I noted it earlier, but when playing defense or even offense, try using a combination of weapons. An opponents movement and dodging is affected by his oppositions weapon. If your partner is blasting the enemy flag carrier with secondary link, you should easily be able to throw a deadly shock combo on them.
• Translocator placement. When playing defense, hide your translocator in another part of the flag room. You can get a couple shots off and quickly translocate to your enemies other side and kill him while he has no clue where you are.
• Use the translocator camera. This is great for Flag Carriers. Throw your trans inside a flag room and turn the camera on. See how many defenders there are, where they are located, and what weapons they are using. Get that extra edge before starting your run.
Practices
You will not find many successful clans that do not hold practices. And when I say practices, I do not mean scrimmages. You should not jump into scrimmaging without holding several practices first. If you do not use voice when playing with your clan, there is a problem. If you go into a match or scrimmage and simply say, “You 2 play defense, you 3 play offense,” there is a problem. Practices should be used for developing better communication with your teammates, and practicing the strategies that you made for each map. Your primary goal at this point is to master the map that your clan has chosen to play. Once your clan has mastered that map, you want to start practicing the more common maps that you expect to play against other clans. When you get challenged on the ladder, and you need to decide the tiebreaker, you can choose a map that the other team doesn't have much experience with in their match history.
One misconception that many people have when trying to hold practices is that you need a large group of players. Honestly you should have no problem holding a normal practice with just 4-5 guys. You can actually hold a valuable practice with just 2-3 players, I will explain later.
If your clan does not have a server at their exposal, you can ask to borrow a server from another clan. Most clans are very friendly and willing to share their servers with other people. When holding a practice, make sure everyone is on voice. Ventrillo and Team Speak are popular voicecom programs you can use to speak with the other members of your clan. Now lets say you have 4-5 members of your clan available for a practice. Create two separate rooms in ventrillo to speak in. One room will be for the defense, the other room will be for the offense. This is a great way to practice voice communication. With just 2-3 people in the channel, there is less people talking, and less confusion. Another added benefit is some people are too quiet when on voice, and creating smaller groups will force them to talk more.
Defense - If you are playing defense, go over the game plan before the practice starts, what weapons you plan on using, and where you will be hiding your translocator incase the enemy grabs the flag and slips through. You will also want to communicate the exit the FC is taking.
Offense – Stick with the strategy. If its 2 or 3 offensive players, make sure you are collecting the weapons you need to make the run, and your cover is guarding the 100 shield spawn for you. Before you enter the base you meet up with your cover, and enter the base as a group.
Rules of the Practice – The defense's job is to return the flag and keep it in the base. The offenses job is to stick together, and only attack as a group. The defense will never try to grab the opposing team's flag. There should be no caps during the practice. If the offense is able to take the flag, they should make their way back to their base, and see how long they can hold on the flag for. The defense's job is to get the flag back. Since there will be no capping in the practice, everyone should take their time, and make sure they are grouping up with a teammate. If the offense makes it back to their home side, the defense should try to group together in their pursuit. Now lets say the flag is returned and the offense is entering in for their attack. The offense consists of 3 players. If 2 of the 3 players die before grabbing the flag, the 3rd player must return to group with his 2 teammates. If you are running a 2 offense, the same rule applies. If the FC or the FC cover dies, you must head back to your meeting point, and group together again. Do not take the flag without any cover. A match might be different, but this is a practice. Another thing.... if you are the offense, you may not hide in the enemy base. Bring the flag back to your base, and keep close to your own flag.
What do you do if you have more than 5 players? Well if you have 6 players you can run 3v3. But make sure it doesn't turn into a scrimmage. Practice communication and grouping. It will be much easier if you aren't being rushed by worrying about caps. The 6th player can play mid. Make the offense work for the 100% shield, and help the defense if the offense makes it out of the base. The first couple practices might be a little hard to get off the ground. Just try to avoid goofing off and scrimming each other. The point is to practice communication and sticking with a teammate, I cannot stress that enough.
Now if you want to practice with just 2 or 3 people, you can hop on a public server to practice there. Practice moving together as partners. Worry less about the score of the match, and pay more attention to developing your teamwork and communication.
Scrimming – Many clans skip over the strategies and practice and hop on ladders as soon as they have enough members to man a roster. This usually results in people scrambling, groups falling apart, and communications breaking down. This is why you hold scrimmages. Your ultimate goal during a scrimmage is to test your strategy, and see if there are any holes, or things you can do to improve it. So a scrimmage should be nothing more than a faster pace version of your practice. You should not be going into a scrimmage with the intention of winning the match. Your intention should be improving your teamwork. Even at the cost of losing. If your flag is gone, your goal should be meeting up with a teammate, not returning it. Sooner or later this will become natural instinct for you and your clan, but you will only develop this by practicing the correct way. Come away from a scrimmage knowing that you improved. If you won the scrim, that is just a little extra bonus.
Powerup Timing – When scrimming or playing a match, it is a good idea to use powerup timers. FragSystem was kind enough to host a powerup timer for people to use.
http://www.fragsystem.com/timer/fstimer.html
Basically you have a 6th player from your clan who is not playing in the match visit this site. He sits on voice and listens to his teammates when they announce a powerup being taken. Once its taken, the 6th player resets the timer, and lets his team know when it will be popping up again. You can also use a personal timer when a team timer is not available. When you pick up an item, you can press a key that will start a timer that you are running in the background. The timer will announce when the item is about to appear, and you can go take it. You can download this free one: here
Incase you are wondering the spawn time for items, here they are…
Weapons, Vials, Health Packs, 50 Armor
27 seconds
100 Armor, Big Keg-o-health
55 seconds
Double Damage
82 seconds
Redeemer
122 seconds
Calculating 100 Armor and Keg-o-Health - Subtract a minute, and add 5 seconds. Its the easiest way to get the next spawn time. So if the time is 9 minutes and you pick up the armor. Subtract 1 minute to get 8. Add five seconds. And the next spawn time is 8:05. Easiest way to remember.
Conclusion – I cannot stress enough the value of grouping and communication. I have seen countless clans filled with mediocre players that become a great team when they play together. You would be surprised how good some of these players really are when they don't have 1 or 2 guys helping them. I have had my ass kicked in too many matches and thought to myself, “Wow! These guys are awesome!” Then, later I play against these guys on a public server without the rest of their team, and wipe the floor with them. Please don't underestimate teamwork.
CTF Tips
· Flag Drops - If the other team is close to capping on you, and you are out numbered, grab the flag and drop it somewhere else to buy some time. Citadel is a good example. Grab the flag, port up to the lightning gun, and drop it off the side. The flag will return in about 23 seconds.
· Trick Flag Drop - If you are the Flag Carrier during a hold off where both you and the opposing team possess each other's flag. Drop the flag when you have no pressure by using your translocator disk. Sometimes the enemy flag carrier will think the flag is about to be returned, and will leave his hiding spot, or run to the flag area to cap. I cant tell you how many times I have seen this get another flag carrier killed.
· Hold Off Cap - Lets say that you and another team have a hold off. You are currently working on getting the flag back, and you kill the flag carrier. Don't return the flag so quickly! While on voice say, "Tell me when to return it." At this point your FC will let you know when he is about to reach the flag pole to cap. Then when you return it, you wont have to worry about the enemy grabbing it again. Another benefit of this, is that it will have the enemies scrambling for the Flag pole, making them easier to kill
· Trans Cam - Use the camera in your Translocator. You can throw the trans inside the flag room to find out the enemies position and weapons. Lets say you are playing Flag defense (meaning that instead of defending choke points, both of you are defending the flag), have 1 defender watch the room, while the other defender leave his trans in a spot to catch incoming enemies. If people make it in the room, the other defender can tell him to turn the cam off.
· Trans Distraction - You would be surprised how dead set some people are at killing a translocator. When entering a base, throw your translocator behind the enemy, and when they turn around to kill it, pop him in the back.
All this info taken from the "UTguide"
Charge up the shield gun
2. Aim straight down
3. Jump.
4. While your going up release the shield gun primary.
You need to do this fairly quickly so try to fire off the gun as soon as you?re in the air. You should go fairly high. The longer you hold it down the more damage you will take, tradeoff is that you'll go higher with a fully charged shield gun (-45 hp) than a tap shield jump (-12 hp). To execute a tap shield jump, start to charge it then as soon as you hear the noise jump and release (make sure to aim down!). The tap jump should get you most places.
Make sure you execute the double jump at the apex of your shield jump to get that needed boost.
Shield Forward Dodge
Charge the shield gun.
2. Dodge.
3. Just as you become airborne.. fire the shield gun downwards.
4. Jump
5. Jump again at the height of the jump to get more distance.
You should go about as high as a shield jump but go farther in distance. This is useful for getting up slants to that special area, or getting to that high floating platform. You can use this to get to a wall then dodge off the wall.
Shield Back Dodge
This is the furthest you can go horizontally by yourself.
Pretty much like the forward, except this makes you go WAY farther (about 60% more distance of a normal fully charged shield dodge).
1. Face the opposite direction to where u want to go.
2. Charge shield.
3. Aim diagonally down (about 45-60 degrees)
4. Dodge backwards
5. As your airborne detonate the shield gun.
6. Double jump at height of jump to double your shield dodge distance.
This move is almost totally restricted to flag runners. It?s very dangerous, and requires a lot of room to pull off, but you?ll leave others in your dust (even those pesky teleporters!).
Example: 11-second flag run of doom on citadel (demo at bottom of this post). As you can see this is very risky and requires a lot of good timing skills and coordination. It?s the hardest to pull off with good results consistently out of all the shield moves IMO.
Shield Lift Jump
We'll the name explains it. You do a shield jump while on a lift. Make sure you master lift jumping timing and just combine it with what you know about the shield jump. Execute the shield jump while the lift is moving the fastest.
This is the highest you can go by yourself without cheats.
and as usual, make sure you jump again at the apex of your height.
Example: The Pipes in CTF-Orbital 2's flag rooms. (demos down at the bottom)
Hopping
1. Shield jump then while against a wall or surface that you are sliding or going up.
2. Double jump.
3. Shield jump again with a tap.
On long high slants even vertical surfaces, you can repeatedly fire this (make sure your popping into the wall) to gain more height, as long as your health holds out. :p
Example: Check bottom of the post to dl demo and map.
Shield Wall Dodge
Charge shield gun
2. Face a wall and jump.
3. While against it aim diagonally down
4. Release shield gun
This isn't often very used as its results aren't that spectacular compared to the others. Use it if you ran out of your wall dodge power.
Krunky
As in "HA HA you pulled a krunky!" Or "Don't be goin all krunky on me now!"
1. Make sure you're at 45 health or lower
2. Fully charge shieldgun
3. Aim down or against a wall
4. Release
Enjoy the karma!
This is by far the easiest to pull off, and believe me, you will pull this one off.
Weapon Damage
Shield Gun - Tapped Primary 40
Shield Gun - Fully Charged Primary 150
Assault Rifle - Primary 7
Assault Rifle - Grenade 63-69
Bio Rifle - Primary 35
Bio Rifle – Full Charge Secondary Took away 150 shield and 69 health
Shock Rifle - Primary 45
Shock Rifle - Secondary 36-40
Shock Rifle - Combo Varies - 191 was the max damage attained
Link Gun - 1 Energy Burst, primary fire 30
Link Gun - Steady stream 9
Mini Gun - Primary 6-8
Mini Gun - Secondary 14-16
Flak Cannon - Primary fire close range 117
Flak Cannon - Secondary 90-120
Rocket Launcher - 1 Rocket 80-95
Lightning Gun – Body Shot 70
Lightning Gun - Head Shot 140
Sniper Rifle – Body Shot 60
Sniper Rifle - Head Shot 120
Defensive Movements - A good player will change his defensive movements and distance based on the weapon you are fighting against him with. When someone is trying to kill you with the shock rifle, you want to get in close to them, so they cannot perform a shock combo. If someone is using Link secondary on you, you want to force them to spin around by dodging all around them. If someone is using flak primary, you want to gain more distance. If they are using flak secondary, you want to let them fire before you begin your dodge. If your enemy gets your dodging pattern down, they will lob a secondary shell on you perfectly.
Weapon Switching - Try switching between a long range and short range weapon during a battle. This will throw your enemy off because you can shoot a lightning shot at your opponent, then quickly fire a splash damage weapon like rockets or flak at them. Lightning gun is better for long ranges. So firing this weapon might draw your opponent in close to you, and you will surprise him with a quick close range attack.
Shock vs. Lightning - When a player is in mid-range, you are better off using the shock rifle. If the distance between you and your enemy grows to be to long to perform a successful shock combo, break out the Lightning gun. One time you should use Shock primary over Lightning primary is when you are trying to push your enemy. The primary fire of the shock rifle will actually push players. So if an enemy is running down a narrow bridge or pathway, you can knock them off with primary shock. Another reason to use shock is if your opponent has low health.
Grounding Affect - Those of you who played UT should remember that the minigun has a grounding affect. It basically means that when you are getting fired upon by this weapon, it makes your movement very slow. It will affect dodging distance and, in a way, it paralyzes you. Mini no longer has this affect in UT 2004, but the Link gun does. So when trying to hinder your opponents movements, use the link secondary.
Shields - This is the way it was explained to me. If you have shields between 100 and 150, they will take 100% of the damage. If your shields are between 51-99 it will take 75% of the damage. And if its between 1-50, it will take 50% of the damage. Your health is also a factor. If your health is over 75, your total health will be your Hit Points + Shield. If your health is below 50, and you have 50 armor, you double your health points.
Adrenaline Moves
Speed : forward, forward, forward, forward
Health Regen : back, back, back, back
Invisibility : Right, Right, Left, Left
Berserk (Fire Faster): forward, forward, back, back
You need 100 Adrenaline to perform these moves.
Steps to Success: Organization, Map Strategies, Practice, Scrimmages, then Matches
The first step in organizing your clan is deciding on what ladders you are going to be playing on. Two of the most popular ladders for UT 2004 are Proving Grounds and Team Warfare League . The next decision that needs to be made is which map you want your clan to choose as its primary map. There are several things that should go into consideration as to which map you choose.
There are several things that I personally do when trying to decide the clan's map.
• The first thing that I do is make a list of all the maps for each ladder my clan will be playing on.
• If you are on more than one ladder, make a list of maps that aren't on both. You can either avoid these maps as your main map because both ladders don't share them; or you can try to use this to your advantage and choose a map from each ladder since other clans might be avoiding them for the same reason. That is up to you.
• The next thing I do is check the match history of every single clan on the ladder, and put a tally next to each map that was played.
• After I tally all the maps, I see which maps seem to be the most popular among the ladders. I take the top 3 maps and make them my priority practice maps.
• None of these 3 maps will be considered the clan's main map due to their popularity
• Another thing you can do is check out the map choices of the clans that you plan on playing regularly. This might be a little hard to determine at first. But when you get a feel for where your clan will be positioned on a ladder, you should try and avoid sharing the main map of a rival clan. The purpose of the clan's main map is to give you an advantage over your opponent. So selecting a popular map among your competition might be hurting you in the long run.
• The next thing you need to look at is the strengths of your clan. If your clan is more talented with close range weapons such as mini, flak, and rockets, an enclosed map with lots of hallways such as Chrome might be better suited for you. If your team is strong with hit scan weapons like the Lightning Gun or Shock Rifle, a wide-open map, for example Citadel, might be a better choice for you.
• Finally, the most important part of map decision will be your strategy. Whatever map you feel you can create a great strategy for, should be your main map.
Now exactly what purpose does a map strategy serve? A successful map strategy will have all the players in their proper positions. Every player will know their role, and the roles of their teammates. No matter what is occurring during the match, you will know what is expected of you at all times. But the most important part of your strategy is to throw the other team off theirs.
I have created a simplified way of creating map strategies. We first make a list from 1-5, and each number will be given a list of AT LEAST 4 possible scenarios, maybe more.
Scenario #1 - What is your job function when both flags are at the base?
Scenario #2 - What is your job function when both flags are taken?
Scenario #3 - What is your job function when your flag is taken and the enemy flag is still secure?
Scenario #4 - What is your job function when you have the enemy's flag and your flag is still secure?
Other possible scenarios…
Scenario #5 - What do you do with a 3 cap lead?
Scenario #6 - What do you do when you are down by 3 caps?
So you take your map, and then you need to decide where everyone's placement is going to be. There are several things that need to be taken into consideration.
#1 Power Up locations
#2 Weapon placements
#3 Spawn points
#4 Choke points
#5 Health Locations
There are other things to consider, but these are just some that come to mind.
Choke Points
Now, many maps have choke points. Basically a choke point is an area that people need to get through, but where there is a limited amount of space. A wide open map, such as Maul, lacks a choke point--unless you consider the holes in the wall! But Chrome, on the other hand, is a perfect example of a choke point map. The hallways are perfect choke points because you cannot enter the enemy base without going through them.
Spawn Points
Enter a map in practice mode and keep suiciding. You will learn where all the spawn locations are. These are important to know for several reasons. Your Flag Carrier should know these positions incase they kill any enemies while exiting; they will know where the enemy might respawn and can alter their path accordingly. The flag carrier should also know what weapons are close to these spawn areas, and prepare to fight people with those weapons. If you read the section on things to practice, you will learn why this is important. But knowing spawn points isn't just useful for the flag carrier, its also useful for the defense. When you are playing a map like Chrome, and the enemy kills you on his way to the middle of the map, if you spawn back at your base then you are at an extreme disadvantage. You most likely will not catch up with the flag carrier in time. But if you bind a key to suicide, then you can keep killing yourself until you spawn in the middle of the map.
Powerups and Weapon placement
The team that controls the powerups on a map has huge advantage over their opponents. Not only do you have the extra shields, but your enemy doesn't. It's a dual advantage. So taking a 100 shield is more like taking a 200 shield. Not to mention that killing a flag carrier with nothing but 100 health is rather easy. So controlling powerups should be heavily considered when creating a map strategy.
Now that we have an idea what needs to be done, we need to give out some generic roles. Each number will have a more descriptive task when the strategy is personalized for each map.
#1 Flag carrier - First objective is to collect as many weapons and ammo as possible for the flag run. They should also try and acquire as many health vials off the bat because they are usually overlooked. At the 19:33 point of the map, the 100 and 50 shields will spawn. You will meet up with #2 and #3, who are guarding the 100 Shield spawn for you. Once everyone is in their marked positions, #1 will announce, “Beginning Flag Run.” At this point 1, 2, and 3 will begin the run. Once an exit is decided by #1, he will announce his escape route. In the event that #1,2, and 3 are preparing for a flag run, and your flag has gotten past your defense, you will hold off on your attack until the return of your flag. The only time you will try and take the other team's flag in the event that your flag is gone, is when the enemy is close to capping, and you need to buy some time for the return.
#2-3 Flag Cover - Your job is to gather as many weapons as possible that will assist in covering the flag carrier. You will meet with your partner at the 100 shied spawn at 19:40 to protect the shield for your flag carrier.
#4-5 Defense/Middle - This is heavily dependant on the map. It all depends on choke points, etc. One idea is to have 1 defender cover with a spam weapon, while another defender uses shock. The spam can distract while the shock finishes. Another thing you can do is place your translocator near an exit where the enemy flag carrier would run. So if you lose the flag carrier, you can surprise them by being a step ahead of them. But when assigning a job to #4 and #5, you should give them a main weapon and location.
Now the above map strategy is a bit simplistic, but it will get more complicated when you design it for a specific map. Normally you would go into detail as to where the Flag carrier's hiding/hold off spots would be so #2-3 can easily find them after dying. Another thing some clans do during hold off's is to do a switch with 2-3 and 4-5. Let the defenseman cover the FC, and let the FC cover go for the return. Some players are religious defenseman and are stronger at killing people in the defensive zone rather the offensive zone. Picture an elevated flag room like Chrome. The defense naturally is familiar with attacking people from an elevated position. If you have to hunt down the FC, chances are that he has that position, and that you will need to attack from the bottom. Something that the FC cover is normally use to. It's hard to pull something like this off when things are a bit hectic. But lets say you are #2 and you see that #4-5 are covering the flag carrier now, you know that you can go on Flag retrieval. Also do not feel the need to conform to a 3 offense, 2 defense system. Every map requires different positions. Maybe you just want 1 defenseman, or 1 FC with no cover. Maybe you want to play a 1-3-1. 1 FC, 3 middle players, and 1 defensive player. Your mid will cover your FC if and only if, he is able to make it back to the middle. Many clans run a 2 offense and 3 d. It's completely up to you.
Ok, now the benefits of my system….
1) Doing this can allow you to get away with less clan practices. That doesn't mean you should, but the purpose of practicing is knowing where your teammates are, and what they are going to do. Reading this map strategy before going into a match will allow that.
2) If people get permanently assigned numbers in your clan, they can practice those numbers in pubs. Its almost as good as practicing with your team. You hop on a server, and do the role of #2. Forget what everyone else is doing, and practice your role.
3) When deciding on who plays for each map, you see what numbers showed up. If everyone in the clan has a number, you see how many 1's showed up, how many 2-3's showed up. You will create a better lineup.
4) People aren't limited to just 1 number. Some people play offense on one map, and D on a another. Basically you can create certain numbers for every map. Detailing each #'s job. Then give a listing of all the people in the clan, and what number they will be practicing on the public servers.
5) You will know your role at all times, and the role of your teammates. You know what to do when your flag is gone, you know what to do when their flag is gone. You know what to do when both flags are gone.
6) You will be far more organized, and practicing will be much easier.
Other Map Strategy Tips
• Decide on a main escape route for the FC. Pick this route based on your knowledge of the map. Know what is the fastest route, the route with the least enemy resistance, and the route with the most health/shield pickups. Ask your defenseman when the enemy takes your flag, which route is the one you least want them to take? You defenseman usually have a good idea which way is the easiest to kill a FC.
• Same thing applies to the defense. Position your defense to force the FC to take the route that you want. Take Grendelkeep as an example. Pretend you are standing on the flag and facing the middle of the map. If I had my choice, I would like to see the flag carrier take the lower left hand side. There is a long ramp there, so dodging will be slowed. Its very easy to get behind them by running over to the minigun area. You can position your defense to block desirable exits like the shock ground and top, forcing the FC to take the more undesirable route.
• I noted it earlier, but when playing defense or even offense, try using a combination of weapons. An opponents movement and dodging is affected by his oppositions weapon. If your partner is blasting the enemy flag carrier with secondary link, you should easily be able to throw a deadly shock combo on them.
• Translocator placement. When playing defense, hide your translocator in another part of the flag room. You can get a couple shots off and quickly translocate to your enemies other side and kill him while he has no clue where you are.
• Use the translocator camera. This is great for Flag Carriers. Throw your trans inside a flag room and turn the camera on. See how many defenders there are, where they are located, and what weapons they are using. Get that extra edge before starting your run.
Practices
You will not find many successful clans that do not hold practices. And when I say practices, I do not mean scrimmages. You should not jump into scrimmaging without holding several practices first. If you do not use voice when playing with your clan, there is a problem. If you go into a match or scrimmage and simply say, “You 2 play defense, you 3 play offense,” there is a problem. Practices should be used for developing better communication with your teammates, and practicing the strategies that you made for each map. Your primary goal at this point is to master the map that your clan has chosen to play. Once your clan has mastered that map, you want to start practicing the more common maps that you expect to play against other clans. When you get challenged on the ladder, and you need to decide the tiebreaker, you can choose a map that the other team doesn't have much experience with in their match history.
One misconception that many people have when trying to hold practices is that you need a large group of players. Honestly you should have no problem holding a normal practice with just 4-5 guys. You can actually hold a valuable practice with just 2-3 players, I will explain later.
If your clan does not have a server at their exposal, you can ask to borrow a server from another clan. Most clans are very friendly and willing to share their servers with other people. When holding a practice, make sure everyone is on voice. Ventrillo and Team Speak are popular voicecom programs you can use to speak with the other members of your clan. Now lets say you have 4-5 members of your clan available for a practice. Create two separate rooms in ventrillo to speak in. One room will be for the defense, the other room will be for the offense. This is a great way to practice voice communication. With just 2-3 people in the channel, there is less people talking, and less confusion. Another added benefit is some people are too quiet when on voice, and creating smaller groups will force them to talk more.
Defense - If you are playing defense, go over the game plan before the practice starts, what weapons you plan on using, and where you will be hiding your translocator incase the enemy grabs the flag and slips through. You will also want to communicate the exit the FC is taking.
Offense – Stick with the strategy. If its 2 or 3 offensive players, make sure you are collecting the weapons you need to make the run, and your cover is guarding the 100 shield spawn for you. Before you enter the base you meet up with your cover, and enter the base as a group.
Rules of the Practice – The defense's job is to return the flag and keep it in the base. The offenses job is to stick together, and only attack as a group. The defense will never try to grab the opposing team's flag. There should be no caps during the practice. If the offense is able to take the flag, they should make their way back to their base, and see how long they can hold on the flag for. The defense's job is to get the flag back. Since there will be no capping in the practice, everyone should take their time, and make sure they are grouping up with a teammate. If the offense makes it back to their home side, the defense should try to group together in their pursuit. Now lets say the flag is returned and the offense is entering in for their attack. The offense consists of 3 players. If 2 of the 3 players die before grabbing the flag, the 3rd player must return to group with his 2 teammates. If you are running a 2 offense, the same rule applies. If the FC or the FC cover dies, you must head back to your meeting point, and group together again. Do not take the flag without any cover. A match might be different, but this is a practice. Another thing.... if you are the offense, you may not hide in the enemy base. Bring the flag back to your base, and keep close to your own flag.
What do you do if you have more than 5 players? Well if you have 6 players you can run 3v3. But make sure it doesn't turn into a scrimmage. Practice communication and grouping. It will be much easier if you aren't being rushed by worrying about caps. The 6th player can play mid. Make the offense work for the 100% shield, and help the defense if the offense makes it out of the base. The first couple practices might be a little hard to get off the ground. Just try to avoid goofing off and scrimming each other. The point is to practice communication and sticking with a teammate, I cannot stress that enough.
Now if you want to practice with just 2 or 3 people, you can hop on a public server to practice there. Practice moving together as partners. Worry less about the score of the match, and pay more attention to developing your teamwork and communication.
Scrimming – Many clans skip over the strategies and practice and hop on ladders as soon as they have enough members to man a roster. This usually results in people scrambling, groups falling apart, and communications breaking down. This is why you hold scrimmages. Your ultimate goal during a scrimmage is to test your strategy, and see if there are any holes, or things you can do to improve it. So a scrimmage should be nothing more than a faster pace version of your practice. You should not be going into a scrimmage with the intention of winning the match. Your intention should be improving your teamwork. Even at the cost of losing. If your flag is gone, your goal should be meeting up with a teammate, not returning it. Sooner or later this will become natural instinct for you and your clan, but you will only develop this by practicing the correct way. Come away from a scrimmage knowing that you improved. If you won the scrim, that is just a little extra bonus.
Powerup Timing – When scrimming or playing a match, it is a good idea to use powerup timers. FragSystem was kind enough to host a powerup timer for people to use.
http://www.fragsystem.com/timer/fstimer.html
Basically you have a 6th player from your clan who is not playing in the match visit this site. He sits on voice and listens to his teammates when they announce a powerup being taken. Once its taken, the 6th player resets the timer, and lets his team know when it will be popping up again. You can also use a personal timer when a team timer is not available. When you pick up an item, you can press a key that will start a timer that you are running in the background. The timer will announce when the item is about to appear, and you can go take it. You can download this free one: here
Incase you are wondering the spawn time for items, here they are…
Weapons, Vials, Health Packs, 50 Armor
27 seconds
100 Armor, Big Keg-o-health
55 seconds
Double Damage
82 seconds
Redeemer
122 seconds
Calculating 100 Armor and Keg-o-Health - Subtract a minute, and add 5 seconds. Its the easiest way to get the next spawn time. So if the time is 9 minutes and you pick up the armor. Subtract 1 minute to get 8. Add five seconds. And the next spawn time is 8:05. Easiest way to remember.
Conclusion – I cannot stress enough the value of grouping and communication. I have seen countless clans filled with mediocre players that become a great team when they play together. You would be surprised how good some of these players really are when they don't have 1 or 2 guys helping them. I have had my ass kicked in too many matches and thought to myself, “Wow! These guys are awesome!” Then, later I play against these guys on a public server without the rest of their team, and wipe the floor with them. Please don't underestimate teamwork.
CTF Tips
· Flag Drops - If the other team is close to capping on you, and you are out numbered, grab the flag and drop it somewhere else to buy some time. Citadel is a good example. Grab the flag, port up to the lightning gun, and drop it off the side. The flag will return in about 23 seconds.
· Trick Flag Drop - If you are the Flag Carrier during a hold off where both you and the opposing team possess each other's flag. Drop the flag when you have no pressure by using your translocator disk. Sometimes the enemy flag carrier will think the flag is about to be returned, and will leave his hiding spot, or run to the flag area to cap. I cant tell you how many times I have seen this get another flag carrier killed.
· Hold Off Cap - Lets say that you and another team have a hold off. You are currently working on getting the flag back, and you kill the flag carrier. Don't return the flag so quickly! While on voice say, "Tell me when to return it." At this point your FC will let you know when he is about to reach the flag pole to cap. Then when you return it, you wont have to worry about the enemy grabbing it again. Another benefit of this, is that it will have the enemies scrambling for the Flag pole, making them easier to kill
· Trans Cam - Use the camera in your Translocator. You can throw the trans inside the flag room to find out the enemies position and weapons. Lets say you are playing Flag defense (meaning that instead of defending choke points, both of you are defending the flag), have 1 defender watch the room, while the other defender leave his trans in a spot to catch incoming enemies. If people make it in the room, the other defender can tell him to turn the cam off.
· Trans Distraction - You would be surprised how dead set some people are at killing a translocator. When entering a base, throw your translocator behind the enemy, and when they turn around to kill it, pop him in the back.
All this info taken from the "UTguide"