Competition Tips
I saw that there was another thread asking the vets to help out with tips for competition: it became a thread for the individual, so I made a new one here.
First off, newer players really need to hang out in the irc channels, because that is where the old timers hang out. Find the good teams and talk to them; they won't tell you everything, but may tell you enough so that you do not get owned (and therefore, discouraged) for so long while you are working on your skills. Hopefully, I can be of some help by cutting down on the time that it takes to get the information you need.
What I have to say here is relegated to Base/Classic/V2 style mods (for the most part); I am sure Ren still has forums up somewhere.
You need to remember a universal truth in Tribes: speed = life.
That's it.
It is especially true for cappers, but it is also true for LD (who need to chase down enemy cappers), farmers, HO/MO.
The faster the individuals move on the field (and who have already memorized their loadouts and jobs), the faster the team moves. The team that caps the fastest, repairs the fastest, and knocks down incoming enemies the quickest will be the one that wins. There is no secret there, just lots of time spent playing.
That being said, any match is usually won or lost in the first few minutes of play; coming from behind to win is a match is near-impossible against another team that is more prepared than your own. Want to know what it takes? Click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igjM6KOm8ZE
As for standard strategic placement in a match:
At match start, protect your gens and base. Knock out enemy rapers quickly. Have lots of HD wear repair packs to help quickly bring your gens back online. Have some in shield packs too. This is the enemy's opening gamibt and (usually) at no other time will they manage a more concentrated rush on you than at the first several minutes, so it is vital that your team doesn't become overwhelmed by enemy HO/MO.
Provide a token defense on the flag at this time; your team needs to focus on saving the base and you can even the score later, when your own HO/MO overwhelms their base.
When you have moderate control (your gens are up and theirs are down), start repositioning people to defend the flag and send others out to increase pressure on the enemy team. Vanguard routinely only had 2 or 3 players (out of 14) back on defense: an LD and a farmer. The rest of their team was busy obliterating their competition, thereby denying them the opportunity to mount effective attacks. =V=MadHatter was an awesome LD; there are better ones now, but his demos should show you his "game attitude", and disposition, and (of course) his situational awareness.
Speaking of LD; you want your best duelers back on the flag, because they have quickest reflexes and know-how to take down speeding enemy cappers. Have a "backman" too. Unlike the rest of the LD, his job isn't to chase cappers; his job is to snipe him, so he obviously needs to be your team's best sniper.
Now about your farmer. This guy; this lonely, lonely guy, who is often unsung and unranked at the end of the game, is arguably the most-pivotal person on each side. If he goes down and/or is too ineffective in repairing equipment and deploying sensors/turrets, then your team will likely be overwhelmed. Watch =LoD= Lightnin work farming wonders versus their match against Zero Hour on White Dwarf; its far and away the best farming demo that I've ever seen, because he knows what his team needs from him. Lightnin switches from HD to MD to LD and back again repeatedly, sometimes sniping enemy cappers and other times providing heavy gen D. Great situational awareness on his part.
As for your HO: make sure that you get "sky points"; it is a pre-plotting script that accurately provides a mortar or granade spam target. A cheat? Some consider it to be, but nearly everyone uses it in matches, and it is available to anyone who wants to grab it from some script site. Of course, the most experienced mortar spammers do not need this script, because they will learn references in the sky dome itself. Even so, your HO still needs to know the most effective ski routes into the enemy base, because not everyone on your team can mindlessly spam it.
Cappers: Do what your supposed to do, which is run, not fight. Your job isn't to engage the enemy team, its to steal the flag and carry it back to your own flag stand as quickly as possible. Remember speed = life.
Of course, (again) everyone on the team should know where the fastest ski routes are; waiting until game time to find them is too late.
Your farmer needs to know where the spawn points are for each map, so he can plant remote invos near them. This cuts down on loadout change time. The team that moves through all of its tasks and goals the most efficient, is more than likely the winning one.
Forget bombers, satchels, and cloaking packs: experienced players will see you coming a mile away. Moreover, the relative speed of Classic/V2 make them unnecessary. If you have a bomber (and you are NOT on a Base mod or on larger maps), it is a good tool for transporting a base raper (medium armor w/ shield pack). Find 5150 No1Man's Katabatic and Sanctuary demos to see how really effective you can be.
Still want to lessen the severity of the learning curve? Download and watch (and study) demos from the following teams (just to name a few):
5150 (especially Adrenaline, No1Man, and Vir)
=V= (especially MadHatter, Big Pete, Joop, and Helometius Max)
IA (Julius, this team was largely =V= reformed/renamed)
Rev
Rapture
There are tons more, so shoutouts to the multitude of players who've played between now and then...and my sincerest apologies for not mentioning them.
Lastly, none of these rules are set in stone. Tribes being the tactical game that it is often necessitates improvisation.
Of course, there is lots more to cover, but hope that helps for now.
--Vain
First off, newer players really need to hang out in the irc channels, because that is where the old timers hang out. Find the good teams and talk to them; they won't tell you everything, but may tell you enough so that you do not get owned (and therefore, discouraged) for so long while you are working on your skills. Hopefully, I can be of some help by cutting down on the time that it takes to get the information you need.
What I have to say here is relegated to Base/Classic/V2 style mods (for the most part); I am sure Ren still has forums up somewhere.
You need to remember a universal truth in Tribes: speed = life.
That's it.
It is especially true for cappers, but it is also true for LD (who need to chase down enemy cappers), farmers, HO/MO.
The faster the individuals move on the field (and who have already memorized their loadouts and jobs), the faster the team moves. The team that caps the fastest, repairs the fastest, and knocks down incoming enemies the quickest will be the one that wins. There is no secret there, just lots of time spent playing.
That being said, any match is usually won or lost in the first few minutes of play; coming from behind to win is a match is near-impossible against another team that is more prepared than your own. Want to know what it takes? Click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igjM6KOm8ZEAs for standard strategic placement in a match:
At match start, protect your gens and base. Knock out enemy rapers quickly. Have lots of HD wear repair packs to help quickly bring your gens back online. Have some in shield packs too. This is the enemy's opening gamibt and (usually) at no other time will they manage a more concentrated rush on you than at the first several minutes, so it is vital that your team doesn't become overwhelmed by enemy HO/MO.
Provide a token defense on the flag at this time; your team needs to focus on saving the base and you can even the score later, when your own HO/MO overwhelms their base.
When you have moderate control (your gens are up and theirs are down), start repositioning people to defend the flag and send others out to increase pressure on the enemy team. Vanguard routinely only had 2 or 3 players (out of 14) back on defense: an LD and a farmer. The rest of their team was busy obliterating their competition, thereby denying them the opportunity to mount effective attacks. =V=MadHatter was an awesome LD; there are better ones now, but his demos should show you his "game attitude", and disposition, and (of course) his situational awareness.
Speaking of LD; you want your best duelers back on the flag, because they have quickest reflexes and know-how to take down speeding enemy cappers. Have a "backman" too. Unlike the rest of the LD, his job isn't to chase cappers; his job is to snipe him, so he obviously needs to be your team's best sniper.
Now about your farmer. This guy; this lonely, lonely guy, who is often unsung and unranked at the end of the game, is arguably the most-pivotal person on each side. If he goes down and/or is too ineffective in repairing equipment and deploying sensors/turrets, then your team will likely be overwhelmed. Watch =LoD= Lightnin work farming wonders versus their match against Zero Hour on White Dwarf; its far and away the best farming demo that I've ever seen, because he knows what his team needs from him. Lightnin switches from HD to MD to LD and back again repeatedly, sometimes sniping enemy cappers and other times providing heavy gen D. Great situational awareness on his part.
As for your HO: make sure that you get "sky points"; it is a pre-plotting script that accurately provides a mortar or granade spam target. A cheat? Some consider it to be, but nearly everyone uses it in matches, and it is available to anyone who wants to grab it from some script site. Of course, the most experienced mortar spammers do not need this script, because they will learn references in the sky dome itself. Even so, your HO still needs to know the most effective ski routes into the enemy base, because not everyone on your team can mindlessly spam it.
Cappers: Do what your supposed to do, which is run, not fight. Your job isn't to engage the enemy team, its to steal the flag and carry it back to your own flag stand as quickly as possible. Remember speed = life.
Of course, (again) everyone on the team should know where the fastest ski routes are; waiting until game time to find them is too late.
Your farmer needs to know where the spawn points are for each map, so he can plant remote invos near them. This cuts down on loadout change time. The team that moves through all of its tasks and goals the most efficient, is more than likely the winning one.
Forget bombers, satchels, and cloaking packs: experienced players will see you coming a mile away. Moreover, the relative speed of Classic/V2 make them unnecessary. If you have a bomber (and you are NOT on a Base mod or on larger maps), it is a good tool for transporting a base raper (medium armor w/ shield pack). Find 5150 No1Man's Katabatic and Sanctuary demos to see how really effective you can be.
Still want to lessen the severity of the learning curve? Download and watch (and study) demos from the following teams (just to name a few):
5150 (especially Adrenaline, No1Man, and Vir)
=V= (especially MadHatter, Big Pete, Joop, and Helometius Max)
IA (Julius, this team was largely =V= reformed/renamed)
Rev
Rapture
There are tons more, so shoutouts to the multitude of players who've played between now and then...and my sincerest apologies for not mentioning them.
Lastly, none of these rules are set in stone. Tribes being the tactical game that it is often necessitates improvisation.
Of course, there is lots more to cover, but hope that helps for now.
--Vain
Comments
http://fantastic-incorporated.com/demos/
Were I a new player, I'd still watch those old demos as well of the new ones, of course. Who knows? One could easily pick up a move, style, or tactic that is now long-forgotten but very useful.
One last thing to the new players...read *everything* you can about the game. You will get better, but you often will not even realize it.
As for the hard core vets; a suggestion for you. Some more match postings/shoutcasts on YouTube could serve as cheap advertising for TribesNext.
--Vain