Ok, often I see people running around with Marauders and NOT JUMPING, or seeing Dretches who run in a straight line towards the enemy. So I decided to quickly go over what you should be doing as each alien evolution, do deal maximum damage and to stay alive. This guide focuses on how to use each evolution, this is not an overview of each class. Make sure you're familiar with how each evolution works before reading this, otherwise you'll just be lost. Here goes:
GENERAL TIPS
- Always look at the head of the human when you're attacking him. This registers your attack as a headshot, and so you do far more damage.
- When you only have half, or just over half of your HP left, run. Run back to a safer location to regain your HP. If you're being chased, but only by 1 or 2 humans, turn a corner and wait for them in ambush. With the more powerful aliens, having the first strike allows you to eliminate the target before they have much of a chance to shoot back.
- Use the booster. When near it, your regen rate doubles, letting you rejoin the attack much sooner. Also make use of the poison attack it gives you: it adds quite a bit of damage to your attack, especially if you're a Dretch or Basilisk. Booster poison can be ignored as a Tyrant, though, because you one or two-hit kill anyone without a Battlesuit, and Battlesuited humans don't receive poison damage anyway.
Dretch - 0 EP (free)
Dretches are pretty easy to master. Basically, never run directly towards a human, unless he doesn't see you. Running in a straight line is very predictible, this idea applies to all the small aliens. Also, if you're running directly towards him, he only needs to aim his weapon on the vertical axis, making it far easier, and you end up running into his bullets. Instead, make use of those A and D keys and strafe, strafe, strafe! Try to jump too, but only when you're far from the enemy: otherwise, you jump right into the source of his bullets, and you WILL die.
Other than that, it's simple. Just strafe unpredictibly, and keep doing it even when you're in biting range. I know I'm using the word "strafe" a lot, but strafing is the one thing that will give you amazing kills at the start of the game. Also, make use of your wall crawl, it makes you extremly hard to hit; but don't bother on really uneven walls, you'll just disorient yourself.
Note: the Dretch makes a noise when it jumps, but makes no noise when walking. Only jump when your target knows you're there, otherwise an observant player will hear you.
Basilisk - 1 EP
Basilisks can get tricky. There are two situations where they're useful:
- For ambushing lone humans
- For attacking or getting past turrets, and you need that extra 50 hp
If neither of those situations apply, save up for a Marauder, they're easier to use.
Basilisks are better than Dretches because of the hp boost, and their ability to grab enemies. Grabbing enemies from the front is undesirable, since they can still get a good shot at you and you then have to maneuver yourself round behind them; however, if you grab them from behind, they're helpless right from the beginning, so slash away. Waiting on walls or ceilings right behind doors is great, because they'll skip right past you and make easy prey for you. You'll want to change hiding spots every time though, because they'll remember where you last hid.
Jump as much as you can with Basilisks, it seems to work well. Other than that, the same wall-crawling and strafing tips for the Dretch apply here.
Remember, Basilisks are trickier to master than Dretches or Marauders, so I recommend skipping this class if you're not very familiar with the game.
Advanced Basilisk: Really not much to add here. Just spray your gas whenever you're close to a human. It doesn't do much, but but it's there and doesn't cost anything, so use it.
Marauder - 2 EP
The Marauder is my favourite Stage 1 class, because all you need to do is spasmically hit the spacebar to become nearly impossible to hit. The most important thing to do is KEEP HITTING THAT SPACE BAR. Sure, it's twice as easy to bite a human when you're not jumping. But it's ten times easier for him to shoot you when you're standing there in front of him, so jumping is a huge advantage.
The most effective attacking technique as a Marauder is to jump over the human, look down at him as you're doing it, and click the mouse button like crazy. It takes practice, because you can't reach the human when you're at the height of your jump: instead, try to be overtop of him when you're either just before or after the apex of your jump.
o o
o o
o 88 88 o
X 88 88
X = Marauder, 0 = jump trajectory, clump of 8's = victim
That's the best way I can describe it, with a drawing.
Anyway, there's not much to the Marauder, just jump and bite and jump and bite until you wear out your spacebar and mouse button.
Advanced Marauder: Advanced Marauders have a cool zap attack. Don't focus on the chain aspect of it, it's not very useful. Instead, think of the zap attack as a melee that's harder to use and has a longer range. It's harder to use because it only works if you're pointing at the target - something that isn't always easy when you're bouncing around the room.
Dragoon - 3 EP
The Dragoon is a favourite of newbies because it's the farthest alien down on the evolution list for the first two Stages of the game. It has good hp, but it's a big and bulky target.
When attacking, use the pounce as often as you can. For such a big target, your move speed is quite slow, so you want to use those speedy pounces to close in on your target. The process is:
Pounce - Chomp in midair - Start charging up a new pounce - Strafe while charging - Repeat
The reason the chomp isn't very useful by itself is because a strafing human can outmaneuver you. The pounce is a way to close the gap between you and your target. If you get close enough to melee, go ahead because that doesn't have to be charged up: chomps are also very useful in tight spaces when the human CAN'T outmaneuver you. However, you'll often find that after you've pounced, they're already strafing out of your reach.
Advanced Dragoon: You gain the only real ranged alien attack. Barbs are tough to aim because they arc, and are slow moving so are useless against moving enemies. Where they excel are against buildings, because you can shoot turrets without getting in range. 2 or 3 solid hits will kill most any structure. Although often overlooked in favour of Tyrants, Advanced Dragoons are just as good at destroying a fortified base; they combine a good melee attack, a huge pounce, and a ranged attack, into one hideous package.
Tyrant - 5 EP
The strongest class in the game, since they can basically destroy any human one on one. The Tyrant combines massive HP with a massive attack. It excels at destroying anything within a metre of it, and is useless against anything else. That's why it's important to use the Tyrant charge in the same way you use a Dragoon pounce: to close the gap between you and your target.
Be SURE to flee (using the charge) if your health goes below 250 or so, those are 5 EP you don't want to waste. Other than that, simply keep track of your health, close the gap as soon as possible, and kill things. The Tyrant is the most straight-forward class, all you need to do is kill things and not die.
The only other thing you need to know as a Tyrant is that you CAN'T kill jetpackers (unless you destroy the reactor). Also, often human builders will find places to build where a Tyrant, with its pitiful jump, can't reach. That's where Advanced Dragoons excel, since they have a pounce and a ranged attack that reach nearly any jetpacker.
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Well, that's all for now. I think I'll add a second section, about what to use to counter each human weapon, but it's nearly midnight here so I'm gonna call it quits for today. I hope noone's made a guide like this before, I just figured I'd make a compilation of all I've learned about how to use the aliens. Should be useful to anyone who sucks as aliens, or who's new to the game. Enjoy!
