Pro Tips & Tactics - what's your best?

Well, I don't know, if it is pro advice, but it is good advice: 

Tell your squad members, what bot you use, before the match starts. 

Beacons win the game, damage couldn't hurt either. But when you try to accomplish it all alone, you will just be the looser with the highest score.
When you see a team member capping or recapping a beacon, don't abandom him. Go after him, take a good fire position. He is the anvil, you the hammer.
You might not be the top scorer, but your team will win more easily that way.

Look around! When you have completed a small task, like capping a beacon, or killing a foe, take a few seconds to see, how the tides have changed.
No need to stick to a strategy, that is outdated already. Be aware, adapt to new situations. 

Don't be afraid to sacrifice a bot, if your team is pushing. You don't have to be a martyr, but a sacrifice could give your team some extra time.
A last man standing, taking 30 seconds could be really a life saver for your mates. Depends on the situation, though.

Ditch!!! If you have too. What good is a full plasma griffin with half hp, when all the action is on the other side of the map?
Don't be afraid of ejecting. It is a bit unorthodox, but is great to cover long distances.

Last, but not least, here is something personal: Magnum Stalkers are easy prey for plasma Gareths. If you can manage to stay a bit lower,
you will hit them, even cloaked. I did that, more than once. And it worked almost every time.

When you have that crippled enemy bot with only a weapon left limping towards that beacon, let them flip it before finishing them off and you'll snag another beacon cap as you run over their smoldering hulk.

In lower tier play it sometimes makes sense to leave a disabled red bot on the field since the player sometimes doesn't know how to eject (you fiend!). Against competitive opponents it is usually better to finish them off because:

1. You get silver for the damage done
2. Even a disabled bot can grab a beacon in a close match
3. Finishing off the red will prevent other teammates who don't know the robot is disabled from wasting time chasing it down.

As for pro tips: try joining a clan and using a voice comm app - and watch videos from Adrian Chong, Center Beacon and Chainfire on YouTube. Many top strategies and game tactics remain closely guarded clan secrets.

When running taran and area is clear, fire all and refill stock

especially against your enemies with aphids.

And to help with that, get five hanger slots.

Random bits of advice:

- When faced with a triple Trebuchet Fury, pay attention to the brightness of the glow coming off the Trebs. If they are dark, you are free to move without risking major damage from that bot. You can also tell whether or not they are pointed directly towards you, even all the way across the map. Do not feel guilty about letting a teammate eat that charged Treb shot before you move forward. This tip is irrelevant for the shield bots.

- Always try to keep your Tarans fresh and fully loaded. Shoot the nearest wall until reload is initiated.

- If you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of being in a close range 2-on-1, position yourself so that the closer red bot blocks the shots from the more distant red bot. Maintaining that linear arrangement can allow you to defeat at least one of the reds even if you started that engagement in a damaged bot.

- When at the same elevation as your target, Tridents work at 615-620 m away. This works great on Shenzhen.

- Fight for and hold the beach side of the Power Plant map (the side with the scuttled cargo ship).

- If you find yourself alone near the enemy spawn, for whatever reason, play hide and seek. In that position it is far more important to keep as many reds as possible distracted by your presence than it is to try and kill bots. 30 seconds to a minute of keeping 2-3 reds (sometimes even more) occupied near their own spawn will allow your team to regroup/move up/secure firing lanes. It might not get you the most damage or beacons, but it is a great strategy for winning with your team.

- Aphids: if your bot packs 3-4 Aphids, "test the waters" by firing just one. If it hits the target and does damage, launch the rest. For example, a Griffin pilot seeing Aphids coming in might not notice whether it's 1 or 4 coming after them, and will likely jump in response. A Griffin can be hit by Aphids at the apex of their jump and when they land (landing pause).

- Several maps have buildings and other locations that are low enough for bots like the Fury and Carnage to fire their weapons over them while being immune to non-artillery counterfire. Learn where they are and use them.

- Entice a Stalker pilot to come forward to kill you by backpedaling while they attack you from the safety of Stealth mode. A Novice Stalker pilot will take the bait, have their Stealth run out while they are very close to you, and face death as a result. If the Stalker doesn't budge from their spot, they are keeping their escape route open so use a different tactic.

That's all I can think of right now.

Never try to go up against multiple bots, even when you are piloting a very powerful bot. teamwork in this game wins matches, and a good team will surround you until you die. 

What else is good teamwork for?

1. Battle awerness - practice it and that would be one of your strongest weapon.

2. Splash damage - it is devastating to you and enemy. From my observations Trident has largest splash damage radius (about 30m), then Tulumbas and Pin, Orkan and Pinata. Use Lock on Target -function to detonate missiles at the range where enemy is (when enemy is in range) - otherwise it will fly to maximum range and explodes there

3. Legs - know your legs direction and always keep them ready to that direction where you are going to move next. It is time consumptive manoeuvre when heading opposite direction than your legs are pointing

If you have a Boa or a Carnage and they have thunders on them they are mostly ambush bots.

The Carnage is less durable and you have to use the speed to your advantage to run in and kill the red. Just make sure you can get to cover quickly after your attack. A Carnage walking around in the open usually doesn't last long.

The Boa is one of my favorite bots. It compact, durable and when equipped with a Thunder/Taran combo it's deadly. Here's on thing I learned by accident. If you have a reasonable about of health left and come around a corner and are staring at a Rhino at close range, open fire and charge it and keep moving forward. You will eventually climb up the Rhino and the Rhino will not be able to hit you very well. Keep firing and you can win a head to head with one. Your Boa will be mostly likely be on it's last legs but sometimes it will escape with 20-30k of damage. It's not guaranteed you'll win every time but I've had about a 60-70 percent success rate climbing the Rhino.

And only use snipers on actual sniping maps, otherwise they are useless.

I've heard of "cow tipping", but "rhino climbing" sounds fresh indeed

As for technical notes - try firing homing missiles in sequence; works with aphids especially. Discharge full load on tasha only or things that just jump-landed, anything else treat 1>2>3(>4).
Kinda finesse touch I guess, but when using a complete mag loadout it's sometimes beneficial to de-sync them: fire 1, 2 in very short intervals and then go for red button. It may let you have that last finishing shot 0.5s earlier, but also decreases missed shot count, makes easier tracking and has a psychological effect on target pilot being hit at higher fire rate (tho the total dpm remains unchanged).

Face licking? I've always known it as "wall hugging". I mean you have it right there at the end too