TtF's guide to Situational Awareness and Tact

Wow TinTheFiend you made such a long post. All the information is so useful and now allows me to think more closely about my robots and their roles. Not that i wasn't doing that before but now i am more closely. I agree i am put in so many situations where awareness is key but my team just dont do anything about it. Say my team is 4 beacons down, my team would stay in their support bots that are long range or keep attacking the enemy. They dont bother going to recapture the beacons.

I have a question.

How do I avoid sniper fire like a Treb Fury? Suppose in Canyon, I can see some allies need some urgent help. I am on my PDB Griff, and I can't go round the covers because it'd be too late by then. Often, like your post says, those bots lock down entire sides of maps, and no KF can go through there. How do I counter that while still being in a KF?

Btw, I do mostly random teammates.

Great post Tin. I disagree that an aphid patton is not a viable ambush bot, but over-all this is spot on. Thank you.

1) Nashorn does 9100 damage at level 12 with a 9 second reload.
Kang Dae does 11000 with a 15 second reload
Butch quick draws every 20 seconds.
If you're looking to hold off on buying trebs, or just like bullet cannons better, I'd still say Nashorn.

9100 x 4 > 9 seconds > 9100 x 2 > 9 seconds > 9100 x 4

Versus

11000 x 4 > 15 seconds > 11000 x 2 > 15 seconds > 11000 x 4

I only recommend Trebuchet because Zeus Carnage, trident carnage, and Ancilot's are a majority of your high priority targets. For taking out Fury and Natasha at range, Nashorn is definitely better.

2)Aphids were broken last update, their arcs are bad, their damage isnt guaranteed, and when being used as a primart weapon they leave much to be desired.

Doc is too slow for a beacon runner flanker (51kmph max speed) and not durable enough to be a power runner(145k Max health with no composite protection), so, if it can't fit one of the roles for it's class, it loses a great deal of it's flexibility, thus, viability. Mid range doc was included in direct fire midrangers.

Far too often, I see many players who only know one direction: forward.

Lateral movements are an important part of tact and field navigation that one absolutely needs to learn in arena games. Sometimes moving sideways is more important than pushing forward, the key to personal advancement is being able to key in on which of these actions will be the most beneficial.

It's difficult to give a simile to how positioning and movements create an ebb and flow in a game like this without directly comparing each battle field to an actual war map. The maps are dynamic enough for each one to have a distinct feel, so as a single playbook is not applicable to all of them.

I find it's best to picture the battlefield as if each player has an "area of affluence" or Area of Effect (AoE will be used hereafter), with the team's total area of effect constituting a "line". People ignoring these factors are often those that get nailed by two or three snipers/midrange while running off alone.

These concepts are much harder to use in random matches, so, the more educated the individual player, the better one can assess the field to be where they need to be, instead of where they want to be.

Ranges, Roles, and AoE:


Close Range:(<350M):

Beacon Runner/Scout:
Scouts have a very small area of effect as their goal is mobility oriented first, and they are opportunity driven. They can be greatly underestimated on the battlefield because they are notoriously susceptible to damage, but, if played correctly, can be a very large factor on the battlefield.

Bots:
Orkan Rogatka
Magnum Stalker
Pinata Stalker
Ork/Pinata Gareth
Plasma Gareth
Pinata Jesse

Pros:
Mobility:60kmph+ allows them to get to where they can be used effectively.

Rocket Dodging: these bots have the easiest time backpedaling 300M rockets at full speed. The Rogatka adds to this by being able to avoid 500M rockets with it's jump ability, if the jump is used to obscure the rocket's travel path and land adequately behind cover, it can completely avoid the threat.

Cons:
Low durability: definitely not a bot to use for head on engagements.

Low firepower

Field role:
These bots are usually used in two ways

-A throwaway bot at the start of a match: these bots act as the spear point to gain an early beacon advantage, serving as distractions during the initial rush.

-Bacon stealer: these bots rush undefended beacons, dividing the opposing force, or negating a beacon push by taking the opposite side of the map as an opposing team's hail Mary.

Positional awareness:
Beacon Runners want to stay out of the AoE, and general sight lines of snipers and mid range, but they need to do so while constantly moving.
Sometimes retreating into friendly territory is the best thing to do(I don't see this nearly enough), sometimes being where no one else is, is being the best asset on the board. Flanking is king because fighting anything focusing you is almost certain death.

Power runners(quasi-brawlers):
These bots have a small area of effect, but a very distinguished one determined by their weapons. Mixing Mobility, durability, and firepower, these bots are suited for a variety of roles that are not exclusively damage dealing or beacon capture/defense.

Bots:
Taran/Magnum Galahad
Orkan/Pinata Galahad
Magnum/Orkan Rhino
Aphid/Orkan Rhino
Thunder Carnage

Pros:
-Excellent firepower for their durability and mobility.

Cons:
-Extremely vulnerable to Mid-range

Field role:
These bots have a lot going for them, they can travel to where they need to be with relative ease, and take a beating while doling one out.

-Brawler: one of the two classes that can be used as main damage dealers, these bots can chase down and destroy other bots that are disadvantaged against their weapon or defense type.

-Flanker: Ambushing unaware enemies, and laying down damage to preoccupied does.

-Beacon capture AND defense:

Positional awareness:
I notice many players are too aggressive with these bots, often running into situations where their specialties are moot. Midrange and snipers are the biggest downfalls of these bots, adding on to their inherent weaknesas to certain kinds of munitions. Sometimes it's better to let your enemy come to you, especially when the enemy's position is in areas that have a high probability of being a mid-range bot's firing lane.


Death Button(True knife fighters): knife fighters are the bots that we often attribute to being a sort of "Death button". They usually have a slightly larger AoE than their weapon range would suggest, because most other bots will give them a wide berth unless they are another death button looking to lock horns. Firefights are short and straight to the point, usually lasting less than ten seconds. Thunder wielding Lancelots also falls into this category.

Bots:
Magnum/Taran Griffin
Orkan/Pinata Griffin
Magnum/Taran Rhino
Orkan/Pinata Rhino
Thunder/Orkan Lance
Thunder/Taran Lance
Orkan/Aphid Griffin
Taran/Aphid Griffin

Subclass:Tank (trades 1/3rd of damage in exchange for becoming a bullet sponge)
Ancile Aphid Leo
Ancile Magnum Leo
Ancile Taran Lancelot
Ancile Orkan Lancelot

Pros:
-Highest damage rates/totals in the game

Cons:
-Slow

-vulnerable to mid-range and long-range

Field Roles: These bots are meant to end confrontations quickly, but their limited range can give each one a varying degree of difficulty with getting to an effective position for their payload to make some money-shots.

-Brawler: These are the only bots that can take the simplest form of: "Kill or be killed" to heart. They require varying degrees of exposure time to enemy fire, so every shot counts.

-Flanker: This role is less subtle when done by a knife fighter, as the opportunities for flanking with non-aphid wielding variants often comes from melting a different Red to get to that desired position.

Positional awareness: as a Death Button, you are SLOW. Mid range is the enemy, avoiding them like the plague is key to a successful approach. Know your angles and pick your travel lanes wisely, as charging down the most convenient might mean tasting tulumbas and tridents as you look up at your smoke trail. There are way too many players that are too impatient. If you let your opponents decide where you fight, your victory is not assured, however, the other way around can guarantee your opponent a swift death.

Mid range:(350-600M)

Direct Support:These mid-range platforms are mobile, often serving as shadows to Power Runners and Knife fighters.They have a moderate AoE,and can deliver several bursts in short periods.

Bots:
Pin/Tulumbas Griffin
Tulumbas Doc
Tulumbas Fujin
Zeus Carnage
Trident Carnage

Pros:
-Respectable damage in a small period of time
-Agile enough to Zone effectively

Cons:
-Knife fighters and power runners will dedicate their life to ending yours as quickly as possible.

Field Role:
Direct support mid-rangers are tasked with zone control for their bulkier, scarier close range counterparts. Quick to take pot shots at anything your close range partner may come in contact with, and preventing enemy flanks (by graciously pointing them out with your munitions) are the name of the game.

Positional awareness: While the direct-mid role is, by accessory, close to where all of the action is, I notice a lot of people over-step the capabilities of their bot by putting them in situations that do not take advantage of their range (newbie Griffin pilot's are very guilty of this). Having better range does not abscond you from judicial use of terrain and cover, keep that in mind. Zone control is king, and sometimes changing lateral lanes, or retreating a few meters is the difference between a dead red, and getting ham-fisted by a brawler you left unchecked for too long.

Pure Zone control: I spoke earlier of a "line", the AoE of this class of bot is often the very faithful, or painful, indicator of where that line stands. Two direct support mid-rangers working in tandem can fill this role, but the bots in this category are high priority targets, to defend when friendly, to destroy as quickly as possible when spotted on the enemy line.

Bots:
Trident Fury
Zeus Fury
Trident/Pin Natasha
Zeus/Gekko Natasha

Pros:
-Highest burst damage for it's range class

Cons:
-Slow, and somewhat defenseless between volleys

Field Role: I named them this because there was no fancy way to describe them. These bots are meant for area denial, two of them working in tandem with supplementary munition types can effectively secure whatever area they have in their line of sight. They have enough firepower to retaliate against anything wounded by your friendly knife fighters or power runners, and aim to shut down whatever fire lane they chose to cover.

Positional Awareness: as your main purpose is to secure a safe zone for your allies to retreat to, you'll need to memorize the vantage points along all of the maps that you can capitalize on. I say all of them, because the biggest bad habit I've seen with these Behemoths, is when the person piloting them does not know when to move up, or move back. These sets can be considered campy, but they're effective. There are at least 4 points on each side of every map that a Pure Zone control midranger should know.
They are:
-Where they should be in the event of an approaching spawn raid

-Where they should be when center control is contested

-Where they should be when Center control is in their favor

-where they should be when the enemy team is pushed to their spawn.


Long Range:(600M-1100M)

Artillery: Is currently bad, and you shouldn't play it unless you know the layout of every map like the back of your eyelids, every control spot midranger will take, and every fox whole that runner classes will stop at.

Sniper: Snipers are the opposite end of the spectrum to Scout/Beacon Runners, they have the largest potential AoE in the game, limited in the majority of maps by cover. They have the lowest damage per minute of all loadouts, and have long reload times, to balance out their ability to inflict damage from across the map.

Bots:
Trebuchet Butch
Trebuchet Fury
Nashorn Fury
Trebuchet/Gekko Natasha
Nashorn/Gekko Natasha
Gekko Patton

Pros:
-You can hit your opponents as soon as both teams step out of the gate.

Cons:
-Overall low damage output
-Long reload times
-Highly situational

Field Role: When sniping, target priority is everything. Since the only movement you'll really be doing is to secure your firing line of sight, you'll need to know how to prioritize your targets. Due to the low damage output, your targets are the two extremes of every spectrum with various degrees of priority:
Priority 1: Always focus the zone control mid rangers first.
Priority 2: A target fighting a friendly OR their cavalry
Priority 3: A target you will finish off OR A target with full health.

Positional awareness: This class is often the one that is played with the least tact, making the majority you come across seem fairly pointless. As a sniper you need to be aware of everything happening on the board, as every shot you take needs to count for your presence to be considered useful/Threatening. I don't recommend using one unless you're squadding with friends or clan mates, as the impact of a sniper in this particular game, is only how much it benefits it's team.


Miscellaneous Support:
These bots do not fare well outside of organized play, and while they can be a major incovienience if played well, they do not fill any of the aforementioned roles optimally. The troll bots of yore, if I may say.

Bots:
Aphid Patton
Hydra/Aphid Griffin
Hydra/Spiral Griffin
Hydra Fujin
Hydra Doc

Pros:
-Make them see red
-Can hit almost any corner of the map in their AoE

Cons:
-Low damage
-Mediocre reload times
-Aphids are too inaccurate to use as a primary weapon.

Field Role:........
HAAAAAIIIIIILLLLLL HYYYYYYDRAAAAAAAA!


Conclusion:
Hopefully this can add a little more depth for anyone that reads it. Learn your maps, know your bots and their role, and be aware that any position you may find advantageous, your opponents may find the same. Don't be afraid of pulling back from one direction to put your gear forward where it will shine the most.
And most of all, always be aware of your surroundings. See you on the battlefield!







Where does the punishes griffin, the molot griffin,the punishes thunder Leo stand in all this?

Lynx they don't. Every change to bullet weapons has decreased their damage per second and damage per minute. They were more serviceable before the spinup mechanic was introduced than after the changes. Even though they can shred ancile shields and incur chip damage on bots with physical shields, they cannot do enough damage at their effective ranges to compete with other weapon types that do not have a decay rate on accuracy at those same ranges. Even at higher levels, the total damage per minute is lackluster, as rockets up to 600M have comparable DPM, but deal said damage at a higher rate per interval, with less exposure to retaliatory fire. The only time Punishers and Molots are somewhat effective are against bots like the Griffin and Fury, which, while popular, boast higher burst damage. Meaning that while one is trying to spray them with bullets, it's very likely that they can squeeze of a high power volley (doing a full clip' s worth of damage from bullets in 3-4 seconds) and then retreating into cover. With the spinup mechanic requiring 3 seconds for bullets to have the same DPS as previous incarnations, this means that most of the time spent firing is firing at suboptimal DPS for the weapon.

To put it into perspective: Punisher bullets do about 40% of Pinata rocket damage at the same level, but, Punisher's base fire at the same speed as 300M rockets, with the amount of time they take to increase their fire rate, equal to the amount of time a Pinata takes to completely empty. Pins and Tulumbas take 3-4 seconds to empty, with tulumbas having the same damage per clip as Pinatas at 500M range. This makes both the Punisher and Punisher 2 mediocre in all of its ranges, while rocket weapons have consistent performance at their ranges. Molots used to fire 3 times the amount of bullets they do now, with only 30% less damage than they deal now, with a clip that was 5X the size it is now.

Overall, bullet weapons cannot fill any of the roles they should/could have.

They have :

mediocre damage

Long exposure times

Laughable fire rate compared to previous versions (Punisher used to fire 40 bullets a second, it now fires 8, it only got a damage increase of around 45% over the changes. Overall a 80% reduction in rounds to a 45% increase in damage)

Low ammunition compared to previous versions

Comparatively long reload times

Load up on plasma and rockets. Else you're just free Ag for the red team.