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Excerpt: Infantry Rushing


yosh56

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  • Totem Arts Staff

I basically wrote a 30,000+ word monstrosity of a guide for Renegade X, but while I'm building a table of contents for it, and proofreading and moving things around, I figured I'd post one of the more interesting pieces from it. Formatting may be a bit weird, but I'm basically forced down into using an IPad and forum formatting.

Basically emphasising how ridiculously powerful infantry get in Renegade when they get into groups. They are actually more potent than vehicles for several reasons.

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Mid-Game Infantry

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While working in groups is where infantry shine, if your team isn't filled with those who know how to press 'Y' or 'F3' and speak constructively, then you can still be somewhat productive. I'll highlight a few units that are worth it to go alone with, but then I will go over how infantry in Renegade can get very powerful very quickly. When I say very powerful, I mean borderline overpowered.

INFANTRY DEFENCE

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If you've ever had the misfortune of fighting a team that killed the enemy's vehicle production first, then you know how much of a pain defending infantry are. Here's just a short list of why it's annoyingly difficult to break infantry defence.

+10 bulky vehicles have to group up into a very noticeable and easily attacked group. 10 PICS can be spread along walls, behind cover, behind you, above you and poking out of a tunnel entrance. It's far harder to contend with them than it is to contend with an obvious mass of vehicles.

+ Infantry can run away and heal much faster than vehicles. While you back up and try to find a technician to heal your 700 damage over the course of 10 or 15 seconds, they find the nearest PT and press E/R to instantly be able to do that same damage right back to you.

+Lastly, people get slightly more coordinated when they're offered limited resources.

-Defending against other infantry

+Keep at least one person camping on the front entrance of your base if you don't have base defences. This is particularly important for GDI, as SBHs are notorious for getting in just through GDI's sheer lack of awareness at the front entrance.

Nod should also keep an eye on their front entrance. As stupid as it sounds, Hotwires have a tendency to just walk in the front door. You don't want to be the reason your Hand of Nod just spontaneously combusted.

+Once more reiterating that both Q-spotting and textually calling out masses of infantry and vehicles is extremely important. Team-chat is your friend.

+Sticking with calling out enemy rushes, somebody should always be scouting. Camping is fine and dandy if you're down to just infantry in an All-Out-War with little time left, though still it helps to have somebody up near the enemy base to keep tabs on them.

+Mine the tunnels if it's infantry vs. infantry. If you don't have to be worried about APC rushes you can spare a few mines for the tunnels.

-Defending Against Vehicles

+Always have a (few) Möbius/Mendoza in base. If you hear that a rush is coming, and it's already left their base, this or a Hotwire is probably what you should be buying.

+Get PIC/Railguns if you hear that a rush is being constructed. While the Volt rifle is amazing at closer ranges, and out-DPS's every other weapon vs. vehicles, it still relies on vehicles getting close before being effective. The PIC/Railgun allow vehicles to be picked off before they ever reach the base, or at least leave them damaged to the point of being Volt Rifle fodder.

+If you've got the cash, anti-tank mines are a no-brainer.

+EMP grenades(as of Beta 3) are useful for stopping entire vehicle columns if thrown in the right place at the right time. Aim one for the lead vehicle right when they hit a choke point, and watch the ensuing traffic jam. (Little bit OP, but use 'em while you can)

+If you're currently without a Barracks or HON, the heavy pistol does decent damage to both light and heavy armour.

INFANTRY OFFENCE

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The rarely exploited gem that is infantry in Renegade (X). Coordination and team-chat are two of the most harped on subjects in the entire game, but nowhere does it bare quite as much fruit as when people realise infantry are just plain amazing when grouped correctly. Many will yap about Gunner rushes, and those are good, but there are so many more groups of infantry that can accomplish other very important tasks.

Base-killing infantry rushes

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-Engineer rushes-

Referring to those done without an APC or vehicle support.

Engineer rushes are actually pretty common. From just a few engineers darting through the tunnels or field at the beginning of the game, to actually getting a massive group of them to rush in after the game is already going, these rushes are notorious...for looking menacing, but often failing miserably

-Why they fail

+You have a mass of infantry that have no defence from long range weapons, and if a halfway smart vehicle comes along it's just going to turn into a shooting gallery.

+The rush is lead in some direction that isn't even remotely well thought out. This happens a lot on Walls, where everyone has a tendency to just run right through the middle and into the tunnels, or on Islands where the short tunnel is used even though it's the most obvious place to go.

+EVERYONE BUNCHES UP. If you're not scattered in any way, you're just going to end up giving somebody a massive boink when they chuck a remote C4 right in the midst of the group. This also goes for rushing mines, as only one person is really necessary to set most of them off.

+You can't defend yourself properly in a building without sacrificing your ability to also destroy said building. You either throw your remotes to help kill defenders, or you switch to your pistol. Either way, you just wasted C4 or are in ineffectively gunning down people who can out-refill the damage of a silenced pistol. Either way, if they distract you, they win.

+Finally, people bunch up in buildings, throw their remotes and accidentally stick remote c4 on the person in front of them. When you detonate it, you die and you contributed nothing...gg.

-How they succeed

+Have at least half be engineers, the rest can be something capable of fighting. Considering you are likely to end up close-quarters at some point, shot-gunners are a pretty good choice for these. If you still have a barracks/HON then Advanced anti-infantry units are great additions. 1k infantry are also excellent at clearing mines, be it an expensive sacrifice. If you are an engineer with some money, break out a carbine if you can.

+The rush chooses to go somewhere where resistance is minimal or non-existent, and where everyone won't necessarily get funnelled into a shooting gallery. Good examples of this are using the sides on Walls, or jumping and parachuting off the plateau on Walls. Islands and Volcano are two maps where the field is often a good choice for infantry rushes of all kinds. Engineers on both sides have access to a relatively close building on both of these maps.

+People don't all try to fit in a mined doorway at the same time. Trust me, somebody is going to rush it, but you don't have to be that guy.

+Finally, these rushes work best when everyone is not right on top of each other. This prevents being easily dispatched by C4, and makes it easier to throw remotes on the MCT, as opposed to some guy's head, once you do make it inside.

-Rocket Soldier rushes- (ranged)

These are surprisingly rare considering the number of advantages they have. You have the potential to destroy a building on top of having a relatively cheap investment. It's usually not that difficult to acquire just over 200 credits, not to mention the amount you make back just for damaging buildings. Actually destroying buildings is a bit difficult however.

-Why they fail (to destroy the target)

+There simply aren't enough people involved. Again, 10 rocket soldiers is almost enough to 3-shot a structure. With such a slow reload speed between rockets however, it is hard to get off more than 3 or 4 shots before the target goes under repairs, especially if attacking from far away.

+Choosing an obvious path and getting spotted before you're in position. Try to at least hide the fact that you're rushing. The element of surprise is crucial here.

+Making your target obvious. If you strike a building and the enemy gets the warning that it's under attack, then of course they're going to respond to it.

+Firing before everyone is in position to fire. It takes a second to get a clear shot if there's 10 other people with you.

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-How they succeed

+Get at least half of the team on board. In a 20v20 leaving 10 people to defend and fight in the field is more than enough.

+Mass inside of a building, and rush when you know the field is mostly clear for you to get in position without getting spotted.

+Attack a decoy building first. For instance, on Walls as GDI, attack the Hand of Nod with the first volley, then attack your real target (The PP or Ref) after Nod has received the warning that the HON is under attack. This is especially effective if you do a significant chunk of damage to the decoy building.

+Everyone fires on command. Indeed there will be idiots, but if everyone fires when they're told to (either by team chat or radio command) you get the most burst damage out of your volleys.

-Rocket soldier rush- (Actual rush)

These are probably the rarest of the rare as far as rushes go. Most people don't think of rocket soldiers as rushing material, but after you've seen a group of them get inside of a building you'll change your mind.

-Why they fail

+Nobody thinks it will work in the first place.

+Not enough people to accomplish it.

+A lack of weaponry to fight far off infantry,

+Trying to fight infantry out of enclosed spaces. You don't have the ammo for that.

-Why they succeed

+Nobody expects them to be rushing into the base. If they see a group of rocket soldiers, they just assume you'll be shooting at something from afar.

+You acquire at least 5 people to fight with. 5 rocket soldiers are capable of splash damaging most infantry to death without the need for having even the slightest hint of aiming ability. Stick to tight spaces and you win.

+Buildings are enclosed spaces...you have a rocket launcher that's like ranged remote C4 vs defending technicians.

+You can damage buildings even while you splash damage infantry inside of them.

+You do ridiculous amounts of damage to the MCT. If all five of you can make it inside, the reward for all hitting the MCT is roughly a third of the building's health. Technicians and engineers HAVE to kill you to save the building.

-Gunner rushes- (Ranged)

These are kind of like rocket soldier rushes except that Gunner is literally the least exploited infantry unit on GDI. Nod has the SBH for a specialty. They're hard to see and can be a nuisance if you don't pay attention and keep the majority out of your base. Gunner however, is the bane of every tunnel war, can blast any other infantry unit to death without having to even hit them, is pretty good against vehicles, has ridiculous headshot damage, has near-infinite range, and fires faster rockets than the rocket soldier. Oh, right, and did I mention that if you can convince 11 Gunners to work together, you can down a building from anywhere you all can see it in 1 clip? Well, yeah, Gunner's that guy.

-Why they fail

+Not enough people. This is particularly sensitive in ranged rushes, as damage output is everything. Gunner's launcher takes quite some time to reload, so it's likely that you'll be getting out-repaired by the time you start firing again.

+Getting spotted too early (See rocket soldier rushing)

+People shooting too early, just like other rocket soldiers.

+Not attacking a decoy building first. Just 1 person needs to give the enemy team a faulty warning message, the rest unload on the real target right afterward.

+Range. Gunner is the infantry version of artillery, even so you get more damage in if your rockets are traveling less distance.

-Why they work

+Because most people who know about Gunner rushes come from OldRen anyway. They generally know how it works.

+ If you bring 11 Gunners to the party, and nobody shoots too early, your enemy has about 6 seconds to save that building. Six! No exaggeration. Also 10 Gunners emptying their clip leaves a building with about 5% health. The 11 is there just to make sure it is a 1 clip deal.

+Have at least 6 so that you can destroy a building in only two magazines. Having 5 or less isn't recommended, as after 2 magazines it's likely Nod will respond to the building symbol going red on their screen.

+Gunner is actually really good at dispatching infantry that get close.

+He has an eye-patch.

-Gunner Rush- (Rushing)

Again, these are underused like Rocket soldiers rushing. A load of Gunners in a building is virtually unstoppable.

-Why they fail

+Bunching up and dying to mines/C4. Bunching up also makes it harder to shoot past each other.

+Using the field when the tunnel was the better idea. Remember, you have one of the best anti-infantry weapons in the game, and you barely even have to aim.

-Why they work

+You basically win in enclosed spaces. Think of Gunner as having a C4 launcher.

+You can pound a building from the outside while you work towards your real target.

+You can easily kill newly spawned infantry with a rocket to the dome.

+You have a large enough amount of health to split up mine damage.

+The rocket launcher does copious amounts of damage to the MCT if you've got the time to fire at it.

+You can let engineers and technicians learn what it feels like to lose to someone with crappy aim that just spams explosives.

-LCG Blackhand rush-

This isn't exactly Nod's style, but don't let that sway you. These guys have arguably the best anti-infantry weapon in the game, especially after the spin-up time from the first 2 betas was taken down. He's also not too bad at killing vehicles, especially when in mass. While it takes him longer to expend his clip, he also does the same damage to buildings that chem-troopers and Volt rifles do.

-Why they fail

+Nod is usually full of people that are SBHs, or only interested in rushing if it involves vehicles.

+This guy doesn't have infinite range, nor the building busting power of Gunner.

+I don't think anyone has ever even attempted a rush composed of these guys.

-Why they succeed

+You can basically fight anything in the game and win with the LCG.

+If you have even remotely good aim and go for head shots you melt infantry health bars.

+You have enough health to tank quite a few mines.

+Somebody somewhere probably just set off a nuke that GDI is too preoccupied with to even pay you any mind.

-SBH 'rush'-

I refuse to call this a rush, as you're going to be infiltrating, not ground and pounding your way in. These are notorious enough that I don't really need to go over them, but I'll do it anyway.

-Why they fail

+Most SBHs suck terribly with the laser rifle, and they won't even shoot when they're caught.

+The laser rifle kind of sucks if you're not on point with head shots.

+GDI is usually more defensive than Nod

+Some idiot gets caught and runs towards the rest of the group

+People stupidly set down beacons instead of C4ing the very open building.

+Someone doesn't play GDI enough to know how far away you can see stealth

+It's not Whiteout

-Why they succeed

-Inexperienced GDI team. They aren't watching mines and nobody is patrolling in a Humvee.

-3 timed C4s is silent and an insta-kill, very hard to respond to fast enough.

-It's Whiteout

- You probably brought nukes too, so plant them while you're at it.

-There are literally players so new on GDI that they don't even know you're an enemy when you get close.

-Mobius/Mendoza rush-

These bastards are hands down the most powerful infantry in the game overall. They melt the bars of infantry and vehicles alike, and if you can grab 10 of them you almost guarantee a building kill.

-Why they fail

+Requires you to get close to reap the rewards. This is somewhat negated by Field's tunnel system, which allows both sides easy targets right at the entrance and exit points.

+Take so long to coordinate, and mostly because they're expensive. These are late game stalemate breaker rushes. Only use them when success seems very likely.

+Someone shoots too early. This is a precise rush: 10 Volt-rifle clips kills a building. You need to have all 10 of those clips go unopposed by healing however, and to do that you all need to be doing maximum damage from the beginning.

+Not enough people. Again, 10 is the golden number here. It takes 5 seconds to expend a clip from the Volt rifle. That's 5 seconds to kill a building if you all hit simultaneously.

-Why they succeed

+The Volt rifle out damages anything that isn't a sniper rifle.

+You can win infantry fights with just a few head shots. Vehicles are also unlikely to bother a group of Volt rifles if they can't outrange you.

+Did I mention 10 Mobius' kill a building in 5 seconds flat?

+5 Mobius/Mendozas can kill a building in 5 seconds if they get inside and hit the MCT. They can also defend themselves very well in CQC.

- 1k Infantry mix rushes-

These are the equivalent of free infantry rushes spawned from having no barracks or war factory. The difference is of course, that you have a barracks, and therefore you can concoct this massive force of pain and suffering.

-Why they fail

+No one brings along one or two necessary Hotwires

+Too many Havocs, not enough Mobius'

+These do actually draw a lot of attention when spotted.

-How they succeed

+With Mobius Havocs and PICs, you can fight anything that comes your way. A mixed group of 10+ is utterly devastating.

+Combined 10 of you have 2500 points of hp that has to be chipped through. Swap out a 1k for a Hotwire, and you still have 2450 that now can be healed if the enemy leaves you alone too long.

+All of that hp basically means you can break through small minefields easier than a Hotwire can stop and disarm them all. Healing takes less time.

+If you have good Ramjets with you, you are virtually immune to free infantry.

+PICs and Mobius will keep most vehicles far away.

+If you bring a beacon along then you have the perfect team to cover it. Let snipers hang back while Mobius and PICs soak damage. If you've got a Hotwire running medic. They just add to the longevity of the tactic.

Vehicle Killing Rushes

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Remember how hard it is to get out of your base when you get locked in on maps like Field? Well, you may be surprised, it's probably in your best interest to solve your woes with mass infantry as opposed to vehicles.

Vehicles get slaughtered in choke points due to their size, whilst infantry can roll 10 deep at base entrances and still have room to maneauver. This brings me to the next section of rushes dedicated to suppressing enemy vehicles with infantry rushes. Granted, these are not all rushes so much as masses, but they CAN be rushes.

-Flanking engineer rush-

While I wouldn't suggest massing engineers and running right up to a line of tanks, massing engineers and running up to the side of a line of tanks is a totally different story.

-Why it's effective

+Engineers can C4 tanks for the most burst damage output in the game.

+Engineers are free, so losing them is no problem whatsoever.

+Technicians can't out heal 4 remotes on a Medium tank/light or arty.

-Negatives

+Once you C4 the tanks, you're basically sitting ducks. This gives this rush 0 sustainability.

+You have to make it up to the vehicles to C4 them.

-Rocket Soldier Massing-

I proved a ton of infantry masses successful in OldRen, and this was just one of them. Even in RenX there is plenty of merit to the rocket soldier rush to take the field.

-Why it works

+They're relatively cheap

+Missiles lock in RenX, so you don't even need to be good at aiming to use them.

+Just 4 rocket soldiers can output 220 damage to heavy armour. This is enough to overpower a Technician significantly enough to make most tanks at least back up a little. Get 8 people on board and your group one-shots all light vehicles with a homing projectile that has infinite range.

+You have infinite range with them. You can fire from anywhere you can see them"

+They are anti-aircraft. Snipers are nice for AA, but nothing is more disconcerting for an Apache/Orca than hearing the blaring of 4 lock-on alarms at the same time.

+Just enough ammo to push a force back and keep pushing

-Negatives

+They fire somewhat slow, meaning multiple repairers can heal whilst you're not shooting.

+There are better options if you have the money

+There's not enough ammo to sustain the field for a substantial period of time.

-Gunner masses-

Gunner is actually worse against vehicles than you'd expect, but that doesn't make him bad at killing them. I don't think I need to harp on how Gunner is the most underexploited powerhouse on GDI.

-Why it works

+Gunners rockets don't lock, but they're much faster than the Rocket soldier's, meaning they can get away with being led less.

+Gunner has 6 rockets a clip. At 40 damage a piece to armour, he is able to roll out 240 damage alone in about 6 seconds or so. So grab five of them and you can do 200 damage every second to a vehicle of your choosing. That's enough to kill anything but a Mammoth tank with one clip.

+You are pretty capable of splash-damaging technicians to death if you shoot from high ground.

+Minor sustainability in the field with having plenty of spare rockets.

-Negatives

+No homing means people will miss, and further targets can dodge.

+Have to stay exposed a lot to get off all six rockets.

+Still not as much staying power in the field as a PIC or Rav team

-LCG Blackhand rush-

These guys are obviously made for beating down vehicles. They do it a bit different than Gunner, but they're scary just the same

-Why it works

+The rapid loss of health makes most vehicles freak out just a little bit.

+If they get behind enemy lines they can kill engineers very easily.

+A group of 5 is able to produce about 180 damage every second. These guys can hold that for about 8 seconds, meaning if they hit all of their clips they can output a phenomenal amount of damage (over 1000) in a short time. This overpowers repairs fairly well, though not as well as burst damage does.

+Their gun looks and sounds really cool.

+They're actually pretty good on ammo, so they're minutely sustainable.

-Negatives

+You have to stay exposed the entire time you want to deal damage.

+The entire time you're firing, there's a bright red line drawn right to you.

+ Sustainability in the field is still not the best, but definitely capable of pushing vehicles out of a base and stopping a second surge.

-Patch Massing-

This wouldn't make sense in OldRen, but with his new weapon Patch is actually a decent vehicle counter.

-Why it works

+Tac-rifle does 6 damage a shot to armour. 50 shots, 8 rounds per minute, and you've got a recipe for damage.

+ 5 Patches can focus fire to achieve about 240 damage in a second on a target. That's not even a full clip...that's just a second. Congratulations, 5 Patch's are capable of killing a buggy in just over a second, and if they all hit they can kill a light tank in under 3 seconds. Holy hell...why aren't we spamming these more?

+A single Hotwire or tech heals 40 damage a second...Patch can output 48 per second by himself.

+...Patch OP

+ He's fairly good at killing engineers as well.

+He has enough ammo to be in the field for awhile.

-Negatives

+Tacrifle can be a bit inaccurate at range.

+Projectiles can be a little slow.

+Range isn't exactly phenomenal

+ Again, the weapon is DPS based, so you must remain exposed a lot to reap the overpowered rewards.

-SBH field mass-

This one is iffy. Having a team full of SBHs is a recipe for disaster, as a majority of their time will be spent not doing anything productive.

-Why it works

+You can steal some vehicles if you get out into the field.

+Sneak up on a line of tanks and timed C4s can solve all of your woes.

+ A team of 5 is sufficient to cause about 200 damage a second, and if you force the enemy to turn around to combat you, the rest of your team gets free shots.

+With a few carbines, you can silently dispatch engineers

+You're the best anti-artillery unit available, considering you can walk right up to unsuspecting MRLS and c4 them in the back.

-Negatives

+SBHs turn many people into pansies when it comes to play style.

+Your weapon is the loudest most obnoxious weapon in the entire game

+ Once you lose stealth it's easy to pick you off.

+Only 1 stick of c4, and the laser rifle on its own isn't enough to make him sustainable

-PICs/Rav massing-

And now, the ultimate murderer of all things armoured...from range at least. PICs and Ravs are sometimes hard to understand. On one hand they cost 1000 credits, yet on the other their slow rate of fire makes you wonder if they are really worth the damage they output. Put them in a group, and that answer is hell yes. I've personally orchestrated a PIC rush to retake the entire field in OldRen, and not only did we get rid of every Nod vehicle infront of our base, but we stopped them from ever gaining mass again.

-Why This Is So Effective-

+PICs and Ravs both do 85 BURST damage to armour. That's a high starting number by itself for any weapon.

+ A group of 4 PIC/Railguns does 340 damage in a shot. That's more than the Obelisk of Light. On top of that, PICs/Ravs fire faster than the Obelisk

+PICs/Ravs have 100% instantaneous projectiles. Coupled with the fact that it's just a high damage burst means you can all pop in and out of cover as you please between shots, meaning you don't have to be exposed for more than a half second or so. This also means hitting targets is basically a point-and-click adventure.

+Even in low mass, the amount of damage per shot is so much that the ammo reserve can last for a substantial amount of time, meaning this group can hold out in the field long enough to establish an armoured foothold, or a vehicle rush

-Negatives

+Expensive

+Not as much range as rockets

+Big bright lines drawn in your direction every time you fire.

+Is only good against engineers if you have the twitch reflexes, or luck for it.

-Mobius/Mendoza mass-

If the enemy is truly that unrelenting, and you can convince your team to grab enough of these, you can wipe out everything armoured in seconds.

-Why it works

+5 Volt rifles do 400 damage a second to vehicles. Hotwires heal only 40 a second. If you can somehow get 10 people to rush the front with Volt rifles, you can kill any tank in the game in less than two seconds. This is basically the equivalent of pressing the reset button on the field.

+Projectile is instant and sustained so you can miss a little and still not have anyone notice.

~Negatives

+No real sustainability. The Volt rifle runs out of ammo entirely too fast, but it packs enough bang to make it worth it.

+Range is too short get to artillery in the back of the field.

-Considerations For All Anti-tank infantry Masses-

+Try to convince at least 1 person to run as a medical Hotwire/Tech, as you'll all be taking splash damage more than likely.

+Use the terrain to your advantage. Keep yourself behind humps, rocks, and obstacles to make it virtually impossible for tanks to splash damage you to death. Stay away from areas where there are walls behind you.

+Remember, tanks have to come into view before they can even fire on you. Fire the moment you see any part of them. Use the alt-fire on the a rocket soldier if the vehicle isn't entirely visible, otherwise it will try to lock-on and follow the middle of the vehicle.

+Stay somewhat spread out. Most of your targets do splash damage, so obviously you want to be far apart, but still a cohesive group. This is where infantry shine over vehicles, as you take up much less space and are far more agile.

+FOCUS YOUR FIRE. Q-spot targets, or try to watch what others fire at first. Someone will always shoot first; consider it Anti-tank-follow-the-leader

Free infantry vs. Free infantry

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This requires the most participation in game to work correctly. This is literally a fight where both teams are on their last leg, so you're working with the least effective methods possible. However, this doesn't mean you're down and out, and it doesn't have to be a total stalemate.

-YELL AT YOUR TEAM

Seriously, there's no more lone-wolfing when it's down to free-infantry vs. free infantry. NOBODY CAN SOLO ANYTHING WITH A FREE INFANTRY. The only free infantry capable of soloing a building is the GDI grenadier, and that is only if he gets to the MCT and is then allowed to expend 4 full clips of his launcher along with his timed C4. If the enemy can't respond to that then they just deserve to lose.

It's time to set aside lone-wolfing entirely at this point. There should at least be groups of 3 doing things.

-Control all of the crates-

There are multiple crates on every map. The crates in the field are the most important as they have a higher chance of spawning vehicles when the team that gets them has no WF/Strip. The infantry only crates are also important however, as they can offer necessary credits if the Refinery is down. More importantly, getting an advanced infantry unit is very powerful when there is nothing but free infantry on the map (Especially getting a 1k sniper). Just considerations for crate-whoring:

+Field crates are most important. Try to hold the crates on both sides, but at least focus on maintaining your own.

+If you get an advanced character class, stop getting crates. Help maintain control of it with your stronger weapon however. The reason for this is to avoid getting a death crate and losing your unit.

+If you get a vehicle, and you're not in a dire situation where you have 5 minutes to try something or lose, then use it to hold crate control. Don't immediately go out and lose the one vehicle on the field. Try to maintain control and amass several vehicles before going out and risking your assets.

+If you end up acquiring a transport helicopter, don't immediately use it. Sit it in the back of your base (don't let it get stolen) and wait awhile to let the enemy forget you have it. Alternatively you can grab 2 others to mount the guns on it and use it for crate control.

+Spy crates are a might bit less effective here, as everyone knows the likelihood of seeing a character class unit is slim. Still, I've used spies effectively in weird situations, so it's not impossible.

-Mounting rushes as free infantry-

Rushing as free infantry requires an 'almost' impossible amount of perfect execution on top of needing massive amounts of participation. I've seen few started, and fewer work, though admittedly the reason for their failures generally stems from people bunching up too much. Then again, one was just unlucky enough to run into a flame-tank rush...I'll let you guess how that ended.

+Get at least half of the team involved. Too few people will just end up in failure. If there's barely any buildings left then a large portion of most teams will be camping in their base making it difficult to sneak in. Brute force is basically necessary at this point.

+Try to go for high-value targets. Not every rush needs to be going for buildings; if the enemy has a single vehicle left, run it down and get rid of it. If they have a sole Technician or Hotwire to replace mines, get rid of them to rid yourself of mine issues. Infantry rushes become far more terrifying when people actually have to shoot at them to stop them.

+Multi-nuke/ion only if your enemy is not on absolute guard. I'll go into this more later, but the main way to have these work with free infantry is to have some element of surprise. If you've done 4 rushes from all sides for the past 5 minutes, dropping beacons is just going to give the enemy a ton of points. They -will- defend it.

+Use multiple marksmen as cover fire for beacons. Place the beacons in spots where engineers will have to be exposed to marksmen fire to disarm them. The marksman rifle may be free and kind of bad, but it is more than capable of 2 shot head-shotting a free engineer. Even if you make the engis dance to dodge, they're effectiveness at disarming is hindered.

+If the team is rich, just let everyone bring beacons. You're all probably going to die...might as well increase your odds.

+Don't rush so much that your enemy just sticks to camping where they know you'll be coming from. Alternate between rushes and crate-whoring so that rushes become less predictable. Besides, infantry rushes become easier after you suddenly have a Mammoth tank from a crate to cover them.

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I had XML exam yesterday and the 4 chapters course was shorter than this post ....

in all seriousness though , i appreciate the work you did and all these details :)

I think the game needs a tutorial map, kinda like CS:GO 's tutorial or COD . just a map where you are forced to try different weapons against different stuff , or rush a building with bots .

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This post reminds me of Christmas.

-Rocket Soldier rushes- (ranged)

Yussss. This is one of the most deadly and cheapest rushes. Definitely under used right now. Been trying to get people to do them.

Gunner

Agreed. Gunner is surprisingly good vs infantry since he doesn't hurt himself with splash. Surprised I don't see more gunners.

-Patch Massing-

Patches in a group are so scary. Did some patch rushes the other night and all infantry melted before them. Patch also does good damage to vehicles. I think Patch is one of the most cost efficient and versatile infantry. Definitely under played.

The marksman rifle may be free and kind of bad, but it is more than capable of 2 shot head-shotting a free engineer

Marksman rifle definitely isn't bad. If you learn to aim it, it's a force of destruction. Also, it is 4 headshots to kill a free class I think.

Overall interesting post. Seems like your guide is coming along well. Can't wait to read a textbook on renegade.

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  • Totem Arts Staff
+Standing too far away. Rockets take time to travel. The more time, the less real damage you're doing.

RoF is the same regardless of how far away you are, dps doesn't change with distance.

The rocket soldier's rockets travel pretty slowly. There definitely is a difference between there being 3 seconds of travel time between rockets hitting, and being point blank so that their ROF is the exact amount of time between damage.

Patches in a group are so scary. Did some patch rushes the other night and all infantry melted before them. Patch also does good damage to vehicles. I think Patch is one of the most cost efficient and versatile infantry. Definitely under played.

He seriously is capable of doing much anything, aside from takin down Aircraft. Seriously Patch rushes need to become a thing on maps with no defences.

Marksman rifle definitely isn't bad. If you learn to aim it, it's a force of destruction. Also, it is 4 headshots to kill a free class I think.

...well of course it isn't bad in YOUR hands. You basically own with any infantry weapon you use =p. Also, I need to update that figured then.

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Grenade Launcher.... ah, the joy of point-whoring in Volcano where you can fire on 2 buildings from the balcony with it

Free Infantry rush can be menacing. Had this bot horde match as we wait for more players, guys got shocked when they saw 30 soldiers grouping up and shoot at anything that moves

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  • Totem Arts Staff
Grenade Launcher.... ah, the joy of point-whoring in Volcano where you can fire on 2 buildings from the balcony with it

Free Infantry rush can be menacing. Had this bot horde match as we wait for more players, guys got shocked when they saw 30 soldiers grouping up and shoot at anything that moves

Planetside 2 is a testament to the fact that no matter how freakishly bad at aiming your team is, 10-15 people firing automatic weapons in someone's general direction is just plain overpowering.

And yes, Grenadiers are basically easy-cash units on Volcano

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+Standing too far away. Rockets take time to travel. The more time, the less real damage you're doing.

RoF is the same regardless of how far away you are, dps doesn't change with distance.

The rocket soldier's rockets travel pretty slowly. There definitely is a difference between there being 3 seconds of travel time between rockets hitting, and being point blank so that their ROF is the exact amount of time between damage.

The time between the first and last rocket of a clip hitting a building is always identical no matter how far away you are. DPS doesn't change. Firing from a longer distance is much more beneficial from both an offensive and defensive perspective since rockets travel faster than players

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There's a reason rushes with Med tanks look like they do more damage than a stack of Meds sitting back bombarding a building. Travel time and projectile speed have a lot to do with kill-time buildings. No you don't change the DPS per say, but when a building is taking 2.4 damage every time the mouse is clicked as opposed to every time the mouse is clicked, then the shell travels for a second is big. It may not seem like much when a building is not being repaired, but the delay quickly adds up when you throw on just one Engineer.

It's hard to explain without a video putting them side-by-side, but generally being closer overpowers repairs far greater than bombarding.

I know what you're looking at though.

EDIT: This actually hits Gunner harder if you have to reload, as first rocket takes full travel time into consideration.

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It's not hard to explain... The only thing that matters for dps is the time between the impact of the first and last rocket. This never changes with distance, the rockets would have to have accel/decel for it to work that way.

Ran a copious amount of boring math on reloads and distances and such.

*hands you a victory cookie*

Also edited the guide for it.

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He seriously is capable of doing much anything, aside from takin down Aircraft. Seriously Patch rushes need to become a thing on maps with no defences.

I just checked out of curiosity. Patch is actually decent against buildings too. Roughly 8% per magazine or 14% if shooting mct.

Gonna start organizing Patch rushes. Maybe even mixed rushes of Patch and Gunner. That sounds terrifying.

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He seriously is capable of doing much anything, aside from takin down Aircraft. Seriously Patch rushes need to become a thing on maps with no defences.

I just checked out of curiosity. Patch is actually decent against buildings too. Roughly 8% per magazine or 14% if shooting mct.

Gonna start organizing Patch rushes. Maybe even mixed rushes of Patch and Gunner. That sounds terrifying.

But let's all remember, the SBH is OP. :rolleyes:

I mention this somewhere in the guide, but when it happens to be fully coordinated GDI vs. fully coordinated Nod, it becomes obvious that GDI not only works 'better' from coordination, but they benefit from it more so than Nod in the end, just due to raw damage output from tanks and infantry. One person can shut down a small trickle of SBHs filtering into the front of your base. One person camping does not stop 5+ Gunners or Patches strolling in. I mean, C4 hurts, but unless they get the entire group, they're pretty boned.

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  • 1 month later...

Pure theorycraft here but how well would a minute 0 farland rush do? If he can get in a building, they can camp out anyone who spawns in the building due to his incredible close quarters ability, and slowly whittle down the building's health. Also, how good is he against buildings? I've never gotten that far personally.

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Pure theorycraft here but how well would a minute 0 farland rush do? If he can get in a building, they can camp out anyone who spawns in the building due to his incredible close quarters ability, and slowly whittle down the building's health. Also, how good is he against buildings? I've never gotten that far personally.

Farland... the very culprit of most of my accidental suicides

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