The n00b's Guide to Humans (v1.6)Ok, so I'm going to try to explain how to become a good humans player. I want to do this while I can still remember some of the mistakes I made.
0.
ALWAYS KEEP MOVING. If you keep moving, you are harder to hit. This means never stand in one place for more than 1 second. (Unless it's the arm, and then you don't have much choice without binds) Practice dodging, and always look behind yourself.
1.
Spawn as rifle. Being a builder requires some knowledge of the game, and tactics, which you don't have yet. You'll end up screwing things up and getting kicked.
2. Buy armor first. If you do this, it will take more hits for an alien to kill you, which means more time to fire off shots. Buy a helmet (
), and then a light armor. Don't buy the battlesuit (
), as it's too expensive, and will drain your funds. Don't buy jetpack (
) until you have experience. A battpack (
) is useless, since you won't be alive long enough to use most of the bullets, anyway.
3. Use your medikit whenever you get to ~85 hp or lower. (Push 'm') Whenever you don't see aliens, but you are losing hp, you have been poisoned. Use the medikit to fix this, as it stops poison. On a side note, you also get a new medikit after you get to 100hp from the medistation, so make sure to stay on it until you are fully healed.
4. Camp in the base. This will keep you from feeding as much. (Going out and getting killed repeatedly; this increases the power of the opposing team). Once you have enough confidence, try going out in large groups (Bringing us to rule 5)
5. Go out in groups. Unless you are pro (in which case you wouldn't be reading this,) you need buddies to back you up and fend off the aliens while you reload or use the medikit.
6. Different alien types require different tactics; here is a list of what should be done about them (Keep in mind that this is mostly from a rifle standpoint, but most of the material is the same for all weapons). Keep in mind that all of the advanced alien classed have extra hp:
Granger (
)
A granger will usually try to run from you, as it is the alien builder, and has low defense. Just follow it as far as you can, and you will get a kill. Be on the lookout for opposing aliens, as it will try to retreat to the safety of the alien base. The advanced grange also has sticky spit, so watch out for that. Dretch (
)
Dretches are the base class of aliens, so you will be seeing a lot of these. They are fast, and can kill with two direct hits to the head, or one hit to the head, and two anywhere else. They can also climb walls. If you see one of these critters, try shooting at them while you can, and backpedal. Expect to be killed a lot by these. Basilisk (
)
Basilisks are slower than dretches, but they can still wallwalk. They can hold their quarry, so that you can't turn. For this reason, they try to sneak up on people. When fighting one, fire downwards, and jump a lot. The advanced basilisks can also release a gas that "disorients" you (Your view goes all topsy-turvey). The may try to be your hat, as well. Dragoon (
)
Dragoons are a larger class of aliens. They can pounce, when they jump horizontally, and swipe, which is just a melee attack. When you see a dragoon jumping towards you, you must move out of the way. This means never stopping moving, and jumping up and down whenever the goon gets to close. When fully charged, their pounce can deal 100 hp damage. Advanced goons have a nasty barb they shoot that does 110 damage. Other than that, just empty your magazine, and hope you have buddies with you. Marauder (
)
Marauders are the bounciest alien around, so the biggest problem is getting a bead on them. A common tactic is to rush at your head and make a swipe at it. Advances marauders also have a nasty zap feature. This can be devastating to the base, so kill these first when at the base. Tyrant (
)
Tyrants are somewhat different than the other aliens. They cannot jump (the biggest, IMO), and they are huge/bulky. However, they have a devastating charge attack (you'll soon learn the sound of a tyrant roaring), and they can even crush opponents. The best way to defeat a tyrant is to get in a long room (like a hallway), and let it charge past you, then dodging like a matador, shoot its behind. In groups, you can all kill it just by getting behind it, dodging the attack and shooting. The most effective way to not get killed however, is to run away and hope it goes the other way7. Human weapons:
Rifle The rifle is the basic weapon for humans. You have to be careful about ammo conservation with this one, as it takes 2.5 seconds to empty the clip, and 2.7 to reload. Not very encouraging, but this weapon can be pretty effective. Fall back at anything larger than a basilisk. Shotgun The shotgun fires a large spray of small projectiles. It has a low repeat rate, which can be a bit to get used to if you're trigger-happy. Don't use this gun at range, as it has considerable spread. This can kill a dretch in 1 shot (If you have the aim), a basilisk in 2, A marauder in 4 (Well, a normal in 3, but only if you have perfect aim), and a dragon in 4-6. Run from marauders, because they move so fast (be cautious around dretches as well). Run from dragoons unless you have buddies, and run from tyrants unless you are in a very large group. With the shotgun, reload whenever there is a lull in the battle and you have less than 3 shots. Lasgun The lasgun works like a vastly improved rifle. It has no clips, and perfect accuracy. Since there are no clips, don't be afraid to hold down the trigger until your enemy is vanquished. These are great to destroying alien bases, as well Aim for the eggs (
), but not the overmind (
). Run from tyrants, and unless you're pretty good, marauders. For goons, if you keep moving, and jump whenever it pounces, you will survive. Chaingun The chaingun spams tons of little bullets that don't do much on their own, but together make a powerful adversary. This gun must be used in groups, and should only be used against larger targets. That means going for the goons and tyrants (Avoid the ones that jump around a lot, like dretches and marauders). Even though this may seem a bit counter-intuitive, dretches you can't kill dretches with a chaingun, because you can't get off enough bullets at them due to its mazzive spread. Stuff to stay away from (These are kinda hard to wield for n00bs):
- Painsaw
- Mass Driver
- Pulse Rifle (This one is mostly because of cost, and that it takes a bit of getting used to the projectile speed))
- Flame Thrower
- Lucifer Cannon
One last thing: Binds
Binds are really useful for making sure your trips to the armory are short and swift. Just press a key, and your favorite gun gets bought (or whatever). For more information, see the
wiki article on binds.
Further Reference:
Tremulous Wiki Guides Section: This has a bunch of good guides on human and alien tactics.
GT Strategy Guide: This is an extensive guide to all of the classes, weapons, utilities, and buildables.
Alien Building,
Human Building, and
Common Base Locations: These guides are a
must once you have enough experience to learn how to build.
