Where to hunker down at round end

[ThePiachu]

So, Where do you think is the best place to hunker down at the end of a round, when the xenos are about to hit?

I have seen a few places being used often:
- CIC (obviously)
- SD (not too viable anymore unless you trigger Code Delta straight away)
- Requisitions (access to some vendors and attachments)
- Briefing (large, open area)
- Medbay (all the healing equipment is already there)

So, what place do you think would be the best for a final showdown against the xenos? Which options are good and which are bad?

I think I'd personally go with Medbay. If it remains intact, you have a lot of powerful healing capabilities, and there aren't that many entrances you need to defend. Xenos attacking from the docking bays leave themselves mostly exposed, and they don't have good angles from the sides either. Plus you get all of the healing tools and medicine you ever need, not to mention cryo tubes! Sure, you have a chance of xenos attacking you from upper medical, but they would have to go in two at a time. If they don't secure the upper medical, you can easily get to CIC as well.

[Wesmas]

FYI, it could be 4 aliens at a time, cause if an alien is dragging another, then they both go down the ladder. So potential aliens from ladder is always twice the number of ladders.

[Nantei]

Requisitions is easily the best. Holdouts rarely work, and requisitions lets you push out when you get enough kills or an advantage, whilst being centrally located and with a pretty defensible area overall. Hell, you can even reasonably go for pods too.

[Counter-Terrorist]

While all the options above certainly are good places to hunker down, however most of those options are on the lower level of the Almayer where the Dropship usually (From what I seen) hits which could ultimately lead to the demise of the entire fighting force or lead to a quick push by the marines to victory (It's usually a gamble with higher odds of it hitting the lower deck). SD usually isn't going to get hit by the DS however you have to depend on CIC being able to get SD open and ready which usually isn't an easy task with the small chance of the DS wiping out CIC, xenos rushing CIC, or simply no threat being detected by sensors aboard the ship which leads to no distress beacon and no SD.

[Heckenshutze]

Hangar. is wide enough to make a well barricaded bunker and has 2 chokepoints (medbay north/south corridors), placing defences outside of security to prevent a flank and all the vents welded. Also you'll have enough space to dodge any boiler gas clouds and with some m56's or even sentries you can counter the screech & run tactic.

[Ttly]

DS2, sentries (if someone ACTUALLY dismount them from Alamo), lockable doors, your own escape shuttle, meme elevator pit.

The hell could you ask more for?

[Chaznoodles]

Don't hunker. Grab a SMG with rail light on burst, bulletproof vest, and just zoom through the corridors nailing slower benos.

[Ttly]

Don't hunker. Grab a SMG with rail light on burst, bulletproof vest, and just zoom through the corridors nailing slower benos.

SMG is shit, slower benos are tanky as fuck to kill solo, running along unweedable catwalks makes you an easy target, and so is running on weeds.

[Bronimin]

Get everyone you can and run at the xeno crash site, die like heroes.

[Simo94]

Get everyone you can and run at the xeno crash site, die like heroes.

[Kesserline]

When I survive until round end, I fortify/secure Upper Engineering with a shitload of claymores. I just make tables, not even barricades, flip them around the ladder, and I secure the two main rooms.

Leads to some easy kills, way more pleasant to defend that shitty SD, or shitty CIC. Crushers cannot charge from west, nor east, unless you let them having help for acid-castes to remove the obstacle, but even then, you have several minutes.

Usually, either xenos will attack from lower (and die because ladder camp), either they will attack from upper corridors (meaning N-E, and W). When situation is critical, mostly, it means that lower deck is empty. So you can fall back there, and camp the ladder again, or flee like a penguin hit by diarrhea.

Upper engie is like the new Grail for me.

[Arbs]

The answer is you dont hunker down. Charge into the aliens instead.

Hunkering down and defending means delaying, in other words it buys you time.

The only place worth defending would be the SD to buy enough time for the rods to get up.

CIC defense does not work for the fact that the distress beacon will not be sent until a certain ratio of marine/xeno numbers is reached. (Not enough threat)

To be able to send the distress beacon, means that more marines will have to die for it to be sent. And when holding the CIC the beacon will simply be sent too late, with most marines and crew dying in the CIC.

By attcking the xenos when they land you probably have more chances on getting some kills and even if it fails and marines die, you can send the distress beacon and activate SD on time.

This way you also avoid over populating SD.

[Nantei]

I agree with this. That's why I recommend requisitions as your staging area. Requisitions is defensible if needed, unlike Briefing, and still offers extremely good access for pushing out to kill xenos.

[Bulaven]

Anyone ever try scouting the less-used parts of the ship for this? Like the conference room? Basketball court?

[TheDonkified]

Don't hunker down. It seriously just wastes time for everyone. Best course of action is to rush the xenos with all the marines and see what happens.

[Imperator_Titan]

Don't hunker down. It seriously just wastes time for everyone. Best course of action is to rush the xenos with all the marines and see what happens.

[ghost120]

rushing dem benos is fun, just do that

[Bulaven]

rushing dem benos is fun, just do that

A good rush is refreshing. You just need to be careful with the FF factor.

[WinterClould]

As much as "don't hunker down" is the right answer for gameplay wise I think it's important to answer the question posed.

The CIC is your first mandatory hold out. You must trigger SD and Evac before literally anywhere other then the dropship becomes important or anything more then delaying the round.

Once Evac and SD are active you need to figure out what kind of person you are. A RP man who wants to fucking live and not die like any normal person would? Or a rambo who's here to kill benos. Run to the pods, delay them all, then hop into one with two other people if you a man who ain't got time to waste getting fucked by xenos and just wants to live another day. If you're a renegade with no fear for dying go and delay all the pods anyway but do the hustle and fort up in SD asap.

Staying in the CIC or literally anywhere else on the map is less then idea once SD is active. You need to be in SD to activate it after all. Even if you distract a beno with your autism fort elsewhere it'll often not be enough due to the numbers xenos will have being more then is needed to siege SD themselves, while marines need all they can get to defend SD.

But for real tho, top deck is the best place go gather to avoid getting crashed on. CIC makes for a good staging area. From there everyone should rush the dropship. Best chance you have is a Hail Mary at that point so you need to take it.

[BillyBoBBizWorth]

Xenoes usually find me in the bunker bathrooms having a steamy shower, hunkered down, in a sense.

[Nantei]

The problem is CIC is a very bad location to rush the ship from. Very narrow and not a lot of room to move around in, and people will rarely give up the safety of CIC to push no matter how much I try and rally them. That's why I recommend setting up in Req. Requisitions usually has spare metal and plasteel too, and can keep ordering more depending on how long it goes., You use req as your field triage area to support the push, and it's incredibly secure.

Also let's be honest. SD is a meme. I have seen it go off naturally... twice since the changes? Which I don't mind. SD is boring as all hell, and easily CM at its worst. Discouraging people to go SD is happiness for me.

[WinterClould]

That's why I recommend setting up in Req.

Req is horrible, absolutely the unquestionable worst spot to group up at next to medical or cryo. These are the locations moat likely to be landed on or most likely to get hit by the blast of the shuttle landing. Just ugh, don't be there.

[Avalanchee]

Alright okay
I am a probably a powergaming shit for this but
RESEARCH.
Unmeltable walls, one 1x1 door, flamer spawn and you can block off north and south hallways with cades so you have only one way in

[Nantei]

Req is horrible, absolutely the unquestionable worst spot to group up at next to medical or cryo. These are the locations moat likely to be landed on or most likely to get hit by the blast of the shuttle landing. Just ugh, don't be there.

How is that even remotely true? If the crash is random then req is no more likely to be hit than any other area. Also from my own personal experience, having held there over 8 times now, it's landed there once.

[Arbs]

AAANNCHOOORRSSS AWEEEIGH MY BOYSS AND RUSH THAT DROPSHIP