Xeno Strategy Discussion

[Reuben Owen]

How do you all feel about resin doors?

Personally I think they only be used for secure nests and maybe to keep ssd larva together. Never outside the hive, as they slow down xenos moving back and forth carrying monkeys, etc. Especially if there's multiple doors and they have a host in there stomach. During a marine assault on the caves a door is the worst thing to have. You can't surprise marines behind a door and when you open it, it makes a loud as fuck noise, moves where the marines can see (giving the marines a target), and prevents you from rushing out for a moment. It also prevents you from using that square to move around on. Not to mention it slows down Xenos trying to run away in retreat (especially crushers who sometimes have a problem with opening doors).

[Ithalan]

I find that doors are sometimes more of a hindrance than help outside of nests too, especially multi-layered doors. They can be nice to seal off siderooms for recovery in close fighting where marines might otherwise duck in to take out recovering xenos, but mostly I find them only useful in the honeycomb design and for securing a couple of rooms around the nest room to slow down escapees.

[Toroic]

Multi-layered doors are always a bad idea and should never be used. Normal doors are helpful for preventing hosts from simply running in or out of the hive.

[Kevinthezhang]

If you make doors, make sure you place walls or something around the entrance so xenos don't have to tank bullet shots while waiting for the door to open.

[Renomaki]

Sometimes I wonder if it might be better for xenos to get less aggressive towards marines in the early game, and try to hold back before attempting to swarm them?

A lot of runners die young in their attempts to "yolo" and go in for a quick infection, which hurts the hive in the long run and wastes their larva reserves. If they could only control their urges more, then they'd at least be mature or older before they attempt to go for the typical pounce & infect that they often like to do.

[Toroic]

Sometimes I wonder if it might be better for xenos to get less aggressive towards marines in the early game, and try to hold back before attempting to swarm them?

A lot of runners die young in their attempts to "yolo" and go in for a quick infection, which hurts the hive in the long run and wastes their larva reserves. If they could only control their urges more, then they'd at least be mature or older before they attempt to go for the typical pounce & infect that they often like to do.

While this is undeniably true, it is also impossible to regulate because 30% of larva simply run off and die.

[Renomaki]

While this is undeniably true, it is also impossible to regulate because 30% of larva simply run off and die.

If only there was an easier way to control the overeager hordes...

Besides having to adhelp all the time, anyways. Admins can only do so much to remind xenos to obey their queen's orders and tactics.

[Reuben Owen]

where do you aim to do damage as a xeno?
most of the time I do feet, but hands is also fun since it can make a marine drop their weapon at any time, only go for the head if they don't have a helmet on and I'm out of hugs

is it worth it to ever aim for the chest, arms, or legs?

also, does sentinel-class damage spit hit targeted areas or is it just random? I don't think so because I've never seen a spitter decap a marine at range, but you never know

[Toroic]

where do you aim to do damage as a xeno?
most of the time I do feet, but hands is also fun since it can make a marine drop their weapon at any time, only go for the head if they don't have a helmet on and I'm out of hugs

is it worth it to ever aim for the chest, arms, or legs?

also, does sentinel-class damage spit hit targeted areas or is it just random? I don't think so because I've never seen a spitter decap a marine at range, but you never know

I always aim for the head, but it seems hands/feet/head make the most sense. Especially with the research update chest will take a long time to kill.

[Reuben Owen]

I just wanna point out that putting weeds south of the river earlygame is a good thing.
Weeds south, covering a dome or path creates a psychological effect on marines. It makes them think there are more xenos then there actually are, whether or not there are actual living xenos on those weeds. Plus, it consumes their time to destroy them if they so choose, which is a good thing. As that prevents that marine from spending that time destroying you inside. It also provides a closer spot to heal for other castes that get frequently damaged such as runners and hunters.

[saronsen]

Confirmed, sneaking a drone or hivelord south and vandalizing the two storage domes by the landing pad tend to discourage the marines from lingering in that area.

Unless they spot said Resin-Frenzylord moonwalking down the road, then things get weird.

[Renomaki]

I just wanna point out that putting weeds south of the river earlygame is a good thing.
Weeds south, covering a dome or path creates a psychological effect on marines. It makes them think there are more xenos then there actually are, whether or not there are actual living xenos on those weeds. Plus, it consumes their time to destroy them if they so choose, which is a good thing. As that prevents that marine from spending that time destroying you inside. It also provides a closer spot to heal for other castes that get frequently damaged such as runners and hunters.

The downside is that when they see weeds and other alien creations across the river, it tends to cause them to believe they have a justified reason to go across the river, leading to rushes, rambos and all out chaos way too soon. Xenos are spawned in the caves for a reason, not just because it is a tactical location that makes use of their skills, but also because it is hidden, forcing the marines to seek out a reason before coming across and "discovering" the hive.

That, and it is time consuming. The time spent seeding the wastelands could be spent reinforcing the caves and turning them into hell incarnate.

[Reuben Owen]

The downside is that when they see weeds and other alien creations across the river, it tends to cause them to believe they have a justified reason to go across the river, leading to rushes, rambos and all out chaos way too soon. Xenos are spawned in the caves for a reason, not just because it is a tactical location that makes use of their skills, but also because it is hidden, forcing the marines to seek out a reason before coming across and "discovering" the hive.

That, and it is time consuming. The time spent seeding the wastelands could be spent reinforcing the caves and turning them into hell incarnate.

I feel like its the opposite. Xenos not having enough of a presence south of the river by not attacking any marines or weeding anything lets marines get comfy and bored down there for all of 5 minutes, until they get bored and see weeds for the first time just above river.

If theres a hivelord already building north of the river and theres plenty of weeds + its not yet under attack, its better to just let them work by themselves, since their resin is stronger than yours.

[Toroic]

I feel like its the opposite. Xenos not having enough of a presence south of the river by not attacking any marines or weeding anything lets marines get comfy and bored down there for all of 5 minutes, until they get bored and see weeds for the first time just above river.

If theres a hivelord already building north of the river and theres plenty of weeds + its not yet under attack, its better to just let them work by themselves, since their resin is stronger than yours.

1) Hivelord resin isn't stronger

2) Building major things north of the river and outside the caves is a /terrible/ strategy and I wish xenos would stop doing it

[Mattmaster77]

As for being a rav player defending for the most part, it's best to either break a marine's ribs or skull as it will be the death of them if they don't retreat, or to slash off one of their feet, that is if you are intent to kill. Charging and tossing huggers is great to deal with a group of marines, but remember to watch out for the specs. Chokepoints such as narrow hallways are great for ravs, as they can charge in, slash, back off, rinse and repeat until an SADAR spec comes in, or a sentry is set up.

It's best not to engage marines in open ground w/o backup from fellow hunters/runners/spitters (competent and reliable players are highly suggested for this task.) and try to attract their rambos and pick them off.

As for infecting, it's best to take on one or two marines (if both helmets are broken). Charge with the disarm intent to stun them, and then hug them, if their helmet isn't broken/they have a partner, then it's best to toss a hugger on top of the marine and wait for them to get back up and move. (if there is two then hug their partner and hope the charged marine moves to save them.)

As for countering the specialist items, you are immune to fire and you won't suffer any damage from it, so the flamer spec/marine is covered. As for the shield wielder, you have to have huggers and toss them at the shield as the marine will move and remove the helmet and/or hug them. As for SADAR specs, it's nearly impossible to avoid getting hit by HE shot's splash stun, but make sure you don't get hit by AT rockets, as they may instakill you, if you want to kill them, wait for them to waste their rocket, and go straight for them, as they don't have time to reload, and kill them most likely or at the least have a sentinel/spitter melt the SADAR. As for the sniper, it's best to kill/infect them while they are alone/in the back of a group. As for B18, use huggers to remove their helmet, then kill/infect them. As for the grenade launcher/nades, just avoid the nades. And for the smartgunner, it's best to bait them out and kill them as they will have their smartgun if they are captured, which will fuck up the guarding xenos.

As for countering engineer defenses, you can slash girders (even in young form), and you can tank slashing/stepping on a mine and it blowing you up, if you aren't going to get shot while doing so that is. As for the sentries, try to find a way around it, unless it's on 360, and slash it to death, make sure to back up as it WILL explode.

Your main goal as a rav is to maim and kill, but also to be patient for the right opportunity to take out the marines, you aren't a one man army, so it's best to have someone with you in the case you get stunned from nades, SADAR, mines, or pred traps.

[Reuben Owen]

1) Hivelord resin isn't stronger

2) Building major things north of the river and outside the caves is a /terrible/ strategy and I wish xenos would stop doing it

...really? I've been under the impression that Hivelords resin walls/doors could take more bullets than Drones structures forever.

I just meant 'north of the river' as anything above the river, not right on its edge. And yes thats not something that xenos should do. Being close to the river is not effective and leads to so many xeno deaths during assaults. However it's still worth building outside the caves to some extent, as letting Marines right up to the hive unmolested is also not good. Usually because they end up mining/flanking the hive while killing Xenos in the front. Its a lot easier to prevent them knocking on the front door if theres some walls and stuff in front of the hive to prevent that.

[saronsen]

reminder to make a few 1wide halls filled with sticky resin so you effectively have a murder tunnel for slower castes to maul marines

seriously, sticky resin has to be the worst shit to deal with as a marine

[Renomaki]

Also, for all you drones and hivelords out there, another reason to not build outside the caves is because boilers can't aim well with all those walls in the way.

I don't play boiler too much, but when I do, I like being able to have a nice clearing to fire in, not a congested "fortress" that'll end up blocking your shots and wasting ammo. Boilers are a good suppression unit when in the right position, but they can't do shit if you keep building scattered walls all over the place.

Seriously, don't build outside the caves, boilers work best in open places, not in really tight mazes where they don't have much of a firing angle.