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Post by S1E1 on Apr 25, 2023 16:58:21 GMT -5
I am coming around on using these 2v2 Neon City maps for 5v5 Tournament. Took a bit of time to figure out what works (and getting jostled around by your own AI on small maps is always super annoying) but I am getting the hang of it. Thought I'd post what is working for me, especially as in today's map Backalley, I haven't seen many folks doing the same.
Backalley is totally a Rocket Mortars map, just like say Two Arches. I spent a lot of time trying other mech combos last week and even though I got good results with some other mechs, nothing scores tourney points like RM12s. Especially with everything spawning at the same point, it is pretty easy to get a Multi-Kill or Monster Kill right out of the gate. Today I played 10 games with RMs mounted on my Stalker and racked up 4104 points for an average of 410 points per match. The highest I scored on 2-round games versus AI was 487 points and on a 3-round versus a human players I managed 589. So yeah, it's a Rocket Mortars map for sure.
Implant-wise I was using a maxed Fei, and I switched in my gold Stalker Damage implant along with the gold RM Radius and purple RM Damage implants, all maxed. Last week when I first started trying out Mortars, I was standing in the wrong spot, similar to some Helix players I had seen (behind a box in the middle of the map by the back wall). But per the pic below, this is definitely the place to stand. It's pretty Helix-proof, human players have a very hard time splashing you with Disc Launchers as you're far enough from the back wall, and even when AI goes all terminator and hunts you down, you can maneuver around the wall and since you're directly on the main spawn, your own bots will soon appear and kill them. Also, you can inch closer behind the wall for shorter shots, although that does open you up to getting hit. 
Before that I was trying Panther EMR16s in this spot as an opener and it worked nicely. Just make sure to get a tight seal with the fence as depicted. Even the slightest gap against the wall and you get hit a lot by snipers just spawning across from you.
My AI rarely has Helixes or Javs so I tried a lot of combos below the ramps, just peaking over to shoot. The best one that worked for me was Zephyr DL12 (better than Arcs) but that's partly because I had the gold Pulse Range implant maxed. Trying to do the same with Guardian DL16 didn't work at all. The problem is too much freezing from Surges and Bastions. Guardian's ability doesn't recharge fast enough, and since it doesn't freeze anything I'd be trying to kill the Bastion whose shields I just deactivated when a Surge would dash in and freeze me. Surge with Arc12s worked pretty well in the same spot too.
 Anyway, I think got this particular map pretty sussed out, but if folks got any ideas, tips & tricks I'd love to hear them. Hoping to post over the next few days in the other maps (where RMs haven't been working). |
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Post by S1E1 on Apr 29, 2023 17:05:37 GMT -5
OK, so another big old tl;dr post, but I've noticed there has been a change in tournament earning dynamics, post-rebalance and FFA. The surprising first part is that even though a whole set of players regularly skip FFA tournaments, Grandmaster is a lot harder a grind on FFA weeks. But it has become easier to get 1st on Grandmaster for 5v5 tournaments. I think it is because of two things: 1) Points per match dropped for 5v5 maps post-rebalance/maxed AI. Nowadays folks are earning generally in the 200-400 range per match and at maximum, 500ish points (I think) for 2-round matches. That is a big drop from before and it seems to be affecting people psychologically, even though it applies to everyone so it doesn't actually hurt your chances of taking 1st place. 2) FFA dropped down to 3-minute matches and grinders are just playing more matches. Also, before that change, people hadn't gotten used enough to the mode to settle on how many points they needed to earn to get 1st. And it's new and popular with some players. Bottom line, it is a lot easier to jump out in first and hold the lead in GM on 5v5 weeks, while FFA is a longer grind and far more uncertain.
Also, I am not sure on this, but it seems like for 5v5 (not FFA) the grind is easier on Saturdays for GM. I only recently have started trying this out, but so far so good. If it works for your schedule, or you decide you want to designate one weekend as a heavy play-time weekend, then I would make it a 5v5 week and I wouldn't skip a day. Plan on going all out Saturday and then still playing enough on Sunday to get the 500 A-Coins for 2nd or 3rd. There's a decent chance you can snag first again that day if you want. But also don't expect to take 1st for Expert (200 A-Coins) or Master (400 AC) as those are the days when folks go all out.
 As for today's map, I imagine everyone has already noticed this, but Neon Central is definitely a Panther sniper map (as is tomorrow's). Last week I was playing around a lot with my snipers on the side and trying to get the positioning and fencing just right. This week, the AI seems to have more DL bots at my SP level so going near the walls hasn't been working. And I suspect that I was doing it wrong last week regardless, based on the amount of points I am now scoring.
So now I am basically sticking to the back, right near the columns and away from the back wall to avoid splash damage, and sprint back and forth from side to side throwing the fence as I go. If I concentrate and don't zone out, I am pretty consistently getting 400+ points a match against AI with even one 2-round match that yielded 510 points. But I am also getting 300+ and even 250 point matches thrown in. It's pretty much all about keeping focused on sniping and getting Rampages and Godlikes, which can be hard to do game after game when you're grinding GM. I don't know how well those numbers would hold up for Railguns and Longarms being played at lower hangar strengths, as they have slower reload times, but I would think they too would be top point earners. So hopefully this strategy is useful for everybody. |
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Post by S1E1 on Apr 30, 2023 21:27:26 GMT -5
Don't have much for analysis on today's map, Beatdown Club. Like most everyone I encounter, I've started with a sniper Panther, throwing the fence across in the open center between the two back walls. When it comes to throwing the fence, it seems best to me to throw it diagonally forward when I'm going up against a human opponent so as to protect my team's bots as they advance. But if I'm up against only AI, then it seems better to throw it so it is flat with the wall. Letting the enemy bots thin out the herd a bit is actually helpful, so they stop blocking your shots. I swear on this map particularly, if friendly fire was possible, I'd execute half my bots at the start of the match just to get a clear firing lane, lol.
Other tip is if possible, try equipping your Surge with Disc Launchers. Dashing upstairs and cruising around in stealth can work nicely. But if it means taking DLs off a Stalker or Brickhouse, then I wouldn't bother. The extra damage is very useful in racking up some quick kills.
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