posted: April 15, 2005
<< Page 1 - General Strategies and Tips
General Team-Based Game Tips
- Stick together. This is one of the two most emphasized tips you'll hear about in team games. If you stray from your teammates you will be devoured by the opposing team when they find you - assuming they are sticking together. Two or more lesser-skilled players attacking a higher-skilled player will almost always win. There are exceptions at times depending on the skill level of your teammates. For example, a lone sniper can help support the rest of the team down low on the battlefield.
- Communicate. The other of the two most emphasized tips. A team that maintains communication between each other increases their chances of winning. Let your teammates know where you are and what you see. Tell them what you are doing. Common things to let your team know about include:
- When you've picked up an interesting weapon.
- When and where you see enemies moving or hiding.
- When you've commandeered a vehicle.
- When you see an interesting weapon re-spawn.
- When you see an opponent pick up an interesting weapon.
- When you've done something with respect to the game's objective (e.g. picked up a flag, bomb, or entered a territory).
- Form strategies. Strategies can be small and seconds to organize or large and take a minute to talk about. The type of game and the size of the map will determine how extensive your strategy will be (e.g. team slayer games are much simpler to play than Capture the Flag on a very large map). There are too many strategies that exist to get into here, but some ideas you'd want to incorporate into your strategies include:
- Calling out who will go for certain weapons on the map.
- Designating certain teammates as defence or offence.
- Having someone be responsible as the "lookout" person.
- Designating other specific roles (e.g. sniper, etc).
- Use the player indicators in your HUD. Your screen tells you where your teammates are at all times. It also tells you whether they are giving fire, taking fire, or dead. This is perhaps one of the most under-utilized tools in the game for beginner and intermediate players. Your teammates' icons will turn yellow when they are firing, red when they are being fired at, and will be a red "X" when they are dead. Use this information to know when to run in and help them or run away. Here's a hint - run away if your teammates ahead of you have just died.
- Cooporative weapon techniques. Even deadlier than sticking together is the ability to stick together while utilizing weapon selection. For example, one player specializing in wearing down opponents' shields using the plasma rifle and/or plasma pistol and another player focusing on head-shots with a magnum, battle rifle, carbine, or sniper rifle is a very effective technique. Be mindful, however, that the player/weapon combinations you use will all likely have weaknesses that can be exploited.
- Surround thy enemy. Whether you're planning it or have to improvise in a firefight, try and get your enemy between you and a teammate. It is impossible for your enemy to fight in more than one direction.
- Utilize the terrain. Use walls, barriers, slopes and structures to your team's advantage. A simple example is having one team member attempt to draw an opponent into an area where other team members are hiding or waiting. When the enemy arrives your team can welcome them with multiple lines of fire. Position yourselves in areas (both large and small) such that your lines of fire cross - making it difficult for enemies to pass by.
- Use vehicles wisely. Vehicles can be used like weapons or for transportation. If you are driving a vehicle be mindful of the game's circumstances so that you use the vehicle wisely (e.g. stop using a vehicle for attacking if someone needs a ride). For example, in Assault and Capture the Flag games, the objective often requires your team to travel a distance in order to score. Vehicles are crucial in this case. Make sure you understand or become aware of the game's settings, however, as sometimes there are restrictions on whether players with bombs or flags can drive vehicles.
- Use vehicles as weapons. Vehicles could be considered just like the other weapons in a game (e.g. SMG, Rocket Launcher, Plasma Rifle, etc). They have their own unique characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. For the most part, vehicles can dish out much more firepower than a hand-held weapon. Use this to your advantage to provide cover from a distance for your teammates. The tanks (Scorpion and Wraith) are obvious good choices for this (when in a large map). With an appropriate vehicle you can often keep opponents in hiding while allowing your teammates to move more freely.
- Don't stay too close together. Clumping together makes your team a bigger risk for grenades and rockets. You become a larger target to hit and the splash damage from those weapons is such that your opponents can rack up multiple kills in one shot.