Xeno Melee Combat Tactics(Not a guide)

[MisforMaster2005]

Hi everyone!
Just to tell you.....

I SUCK AT MELEE COMBAT

SO...can you tell me tips to get better?

[Halinder]

1. jesus christ vague much

2. if you play runner you should only be fighting 1 person at a time. otherwise your role is to capitalize on the acts of other xenos, such as dragging people away after a crusher stomp or working with a sentinel to take down pairs (sentinel stuns one while you get the other). runner pouncing is shit until you hit elite and even then shouldn't be relied upon, but you can chain pouncing and tackling to down someone for 3-6 seconds. couple this with biting their feet and running away when you get up and you become p good.

3. if you play hunter you can get away with fighting pairs alone. put one of the marines between you and the other guy to act as mobile cover, then just alternate between tackling your cover down and slashing. if the marine still standing doesn't directly click on you, there's a chance for all shots to hit his buddy on the ground, and you're sturdy enough to ignore a few shots anyway. pounce is actually pretty reliable and you can stunlock individuals by pouncing them, then walking off their tile when they get up and pouncing them again.

4. burst fire is your enemy. when fighting marines pay less attention to their names and all that and more to their weapons. try to always be aware of what fire mode each marine is using and what weapon. an M41A on burst fire is pretty much guaranteed to wreck you if you're standing next to the guy, but you can sort of get away with a few hits against someone using an M39 as long as you get out of dodge soon after. a good way to make someone swap from burst to single shot so that you can close in is to stand right on the edge of their vision. soak a shot or two and hope they miss or just keep pacing in and out of cover while they shoot at you. the inaccuracy usually makes them swap fire modes so that you can get in close and eat them.

5. pouncing and charging into a group will get you killed. pouncing and charging away from a group will save your life. your pounce is a valuable getaway tool and should always be preserved when facing off against large groups.

6. tailstabbing someone's leg will trip them (if it hits) for a decent amount of time. if you're fighting 2 or 3 people you can initiate by tailstabbing a leg, then using the cover trick in #3. however if you pounce/charge while prepping a tailstab it will automatically disable itself.

[Crab_Spider]

Always plan out an escape when things are getting bad, this is something that has saved my life when Marines are on my ass, speed is important in this regard, and if you're a Praetorian you might not get anywhere. Aiming for the eyes blinds people, use that to your advantage when you're taking on SADAR or smartgun specs, tail stabs can work, but overall, you want them to be blinded, not being able to see where you're shooting is detrimental for a number of reasons.

When you're a runner don't bother with shotgunners, slugs will fuck you up and buckshot will do that job 3 times over. Wait until you're a Mature/Elite Hunter or something tankier and taught them relentlessly, if they don't take the bait, then immediately get out of that mindset, target their arms, and wreck shop.

Grab whatever poor fucker there is , drag them around, wait for some other idiot to come along and let them shoot, you'll be dying in your seat as they utterly fail to understand why they're going to die.

[Swagile]

If your facing a group as a hunter, ALWAYS abuse pounce not to STUN, but to close DISTANCES.

I have seen too many newbie hunters pounce a marine in a group then get shredded as the other three marines nearby turn their guns on him. Pounce in right next to them, hit them two times while aiming at their arm (if you don't want them to shoot for the foreseeable future) or their leg (if you want them slow'd down temporarily or forever depending on your luck), then pounce the fuck out. You can tank a couple of shots, as said above, ESPECIALLY if you are dodging.

Use your environment. Hunter is one of the few warriors castes that actually THRIVES in open areas, as your pounce allows you to literally move across the entire screen in a second. Use it to focus marines attention on you to the right, then double back around them to that one marine in the back who thinks he's safe until you pounce right between him and his marines.

Another good strategy is to use the marines very own cover against them. For example, if they put up a fake wall, you can pounce in when one of them opens and closes it behind them, which means any aid to their comrade will take at least two seconds to come; and a lot can happen in two seconds when it comes to hunters.

Use the natural environment spawned in. Is the group of marines your watching entering a building and a door closes on the last guy? Is there a window between a marine and the rest of his squad? A grille? Pounce the shit out of that guy until the rest of the squad notices then pounce out.

If you take nothing out of the above except what im about to say, then you learned something. As a xenomorph, patience is your weapon. Sooner or later, one of the marines will break off from the rest of the group either temporarily (checking up on a turret, making repairs, healing someone wounded that can't fight back), or permanently (going back to Rasp, Pod, moving from one squad location to another, switching squads). As a hunter, you have to pounce on those opportunities and it takes patience and constant scouting of the marines in order to attain those opportunities.

[Halinder]

Also, I found out today that even at ancient, runners die no matter what once set on fire (if they were hit by the initial blast). If you're a runner and you get set on fire, kamikaze for the hive.

[Crab_Spider]

If you're a young crusher and there's a sentry gun, charge through the Marine force and into it. If it doesn't fall over and you're stunned, slash it down over and over again until you're either dead or it detonates. It may be a bummer to wait all that time and then abruptly die but you're contributing to the xenos victory by sacrificing your life for the Hive.

Forget you've ever been a Marine, think like an actual xenomorph, drop your emotions and just play. You can always detonate mines on Marines do stun them which will buy you time. Be agressive, keep charging and if you stop, well then you just opened a T2 slot.

[Halinder]

^^

Yeah, uh, I'm going to advise you to ignore that last bit from Crab for a few reasons.

1. Charging as a crusher into a sentry does damage along with the knockdown. There's nothing wrong with getting up, stomping to stun any marines around you trying to shoot you down, then running back to heal and try again. The sentry will die eventually, and remember what Swagile said about patience.

2. Don't forget about being a marine. It's extremely beneficial to know how to play marine first before playing xeno, because you understand your enemy and can typically guess what they're going to do a few seconds before they do it.

3. Detonating mines on marines will do more damage to you than it will to them. A marine on full health will be stunned by an explosive and mildly hurt, but will almost never have long-lasting wounds like broken bones or internal bleeding from a claymore explosion. They will also get up faster than you if you haven't been crit, and the noise is sure to attract their friends.

4. Seriously, the "can't stop won't stop don't know how to stop" attitude is fantastic for something like Whiskey Outpost, but xenos are almost always outnumbered by marines for the majority of the round. It's far more beneficial to the hive if you do some damage and then retreat to fight another day than to do moderate damage and die.

[MrJJJ]

Also, I found out today that even at ancient, runners die no matter what once set on fire (if they were hit by the initial blast). If you're a runner and you get set on fire, kamikaze for the hive.

Sounds like what a proper flamer causes, when i got set on fire, i didin't even had to resist or get put into crit on weeds, it didin't damage me.

[Liran343]

Sounds like what a proper flamer causes, when i got set on fire, i didin't even had to resist or get put into crit on weeds, it didin't damage me.

They changed that recently. Now if you step on a tile that is on fire you will light up (xeno and marine alike) like a Christmas tree. So flames are now more relevant than ever so watch out.

Now at the topic and hand, if you want to git gud and afraid of being shot you can do the {disarm -> slash -> slash -> disarm...} combo, it's mainly used when you're still young and do shit damage compared to your elite version. All you need to do is pounce someone as a runner (make sure there are few marines in the area) repeatedly click him with the disarm intent until you hear the sweet sound of the tackle, them switch to harm intent and do as you desire.

[MrJJJ]

They changed that recently. Now if you step on a tile that is on fire you will light up (xeno and marine alike) like a Christmas tree. So flames are now more relevant than ever so watch out.

Now at the topic and hand, if you want to git gud and afraid of being shot you can do the {disarm -> slash -> slash -> disarm...} combo, it's mainly used when you're still young and do shit damage compared to your elite version. All you need to do is pounce someone as a runner (make sure there are few marines in the area) repeatedly click him with the disarm intent until you hear the sweet sound of the tackle, them switch to harm intent and do as you desire.

No no, this happened with the recent change, as a runner, i didin't got damaged by being set on fire, while the fire tiles got me damaged, the "auuurgh, you are roasted in flames" did nothing to me

[Reuben Owen]

As a Ravager, your charge lets you retreat quicker than a runners pounce or a hunters due to there being no stunlag after performing it, which lets you pester and damage groups. After hitting a marine once you can immediately run away until you can do it again, which you should wait until you're full health before reattempting. When doing these 1slash charge encounters vs groups its better to target a hand or a foot then the head (unless they don't have a helm), as after one slash they'll be more focused on finding a Medic then bothering you, so the group gets smaller.

As for a Crusher with a nearby group of Xenos (such as on Sulaco), you should focus on stun and disarm instead of actual damage. Go in and stomp, then disarm anyone who isn't already down. Your fellow Xenos will take care of the rest.

[Crab_Spider]

If you're going for Hunter, rely on stealth and overwhelming your opponent for a kill. Cutting off their ability to retreat is effective and forces them to fight back, but removing their hands makes them unable to maintain in battle for much longer. Even with a gyro, you still need both hands to stay in the fight much longer. Meaning it's best to aim for the hands.