Yan Darn
DUST University Ivy League
12
|
Posted - 2013.08.13 19:31:00 -
[1] - Quote
Thanks for this - confirms 'im doing it right'. Since I've been playing MLT light frames (I know, right!?) my WP and kDR have jumped considerably (I'm normally top 6 somewhere in between members of a proto-squad)
My problem is - its only when I lone wolf and use uplinks to control the sea of blue, my entire strategy is based on seeing what they are up to and either supporting or redirecting it ('hey guys I know you're having fun smashing your faces against that wall of proto at alpha/bravo but look at this shiny uplink I've placed Delta...try it...').
In a squad, well...this doesn't happen - My corp is great and I feel silly not playin with them. Now I don't have a (working) mic so that is a massive downer on playing scout in a squad, but what else am I doing wrong? |
Yan Darn
DUST University Ivy League
16
|
Posted - 2013.08.14 18:19:00 -
[2] - Quote
Driftward wrote:
The single best thing you bring up is your use of uplinks. In an ideal situation they should always control the flow of a battle and that is still your role, even in a squad.
I've found that I don't work well in a squad where everyone acts as assaults. You really can't support a squad acting like that. You can be the eyes of a squad (scout) using an eWar fit or with biotics. If you scout with biotics then you need to be able to run from an engagement. Quickly. Even more important to choose your battles in that situation. Maybe try and lead a group of reds into your buddies arms. Find choke points and ambush spots and use them to your advantage.
If you are looking for kills as a scout, often lone wolfing it is the only choice you can make. Point defense is also a decent strategy. If people are coming for you then they typically get closer than is comfortable for them. As in, within shotgun range. It's hard to be friendly with a swarm of super heated plasma pellets.
Some of my best games were spent running between blue controlled objectives and ambushing small groups after they thought they'd cleared the area. Cheap tactics? Absolutely. Unfair? Perhaps. Effective? Completely. Why should you play by your enemies rules?
If you're not using a scout's speed or eWAR advantages, then stop using a scout. Odds are another class would suit your playstyle better. Like someone said earlier in the thread, an assault shotgun is almost always superior to a scout shotgun in a head to head battle. That's why you don't go head-to-head.
TL;dr Thanks for the feedback and hope to murder you all from behind someday.
(I'd edit the quote, but it's a pain on my phone)
The 'cheap' tactics you mention are exactly what I enjoy. Picking off wounded/retreating reds from my flanking position (I never engage from the same position the blues are pushing from) is one of the things I do. Sometimes if I spot a couple of reds leaving the frontlines heading to a blue objective, I'll stalk then wait until they start hacking then kill them. Sometimes I'll cap a point, a couple of reds will come and I'll let them 'scare' me off, as soon as the indicator shows its being hacked then ill come out of cover and kill them.
I find a lot of enjoyment simply 'tying up' a groups of reds - focusing their time, attention and ammo on me while I lead them to blue line or wait for some back up to spawn. It's a shame some are smart enough to realise they should flank me instead chasing me in a straight line. I actually love it when a tank has me pinned down behind a tiny bit of cover - sometimes I do this because tanks are invisible on passive sensors it seems and I gotta scoot fast. Sometimes though - I can see how the tank is using terrain effectively and I think...'if only I could entice it out a bit further this way...'. Either way, I feel if a tank is focusing on me, it's not focusing on FGers and grenadiers.
Yesterday I made myself go shotgun regardless of whether Id be in a cqb situation - it's amazing how even in an open field, if the red is distracted by blues in the distance I can run almost right alongside them until I can swerve into shotgun range. Though its not something I would willingly do normally.
I think part of my squad problems is that most Squad Leaders tend to go for that tried and true tactic of picking a central objective, capping it and then holding it. This doesn't work for me in light frame - they are clearly not designed to 'hold the line'. I'm so use to hugging the defend order normally, and I feel bad if I go harass other points or drop links to support a blue offensive/defensive action.
Thanks for the feedback - I've just got Biotics 5, once I get armour and shield upgrades from 4 to 5, there will hopefully be news on new suit bonuses and hopefully racial symmetry and I can skill into scout suits without fear. If not I'm thinking hacking lv5 - but that looks like a painful grind. Im thinking that before weapon proficiencies, but I dunno....I like killing people but I love all the other things a scout can (potentially) do even more.
Last question - is it me or is skirmish pretty much the mode for scouts? I only do ambush when practicing actual combat skills (strafe/shotgun - bunny hopping productively etc.) - domination though...depends on the map I guess - its hard to strike where the enemy is not when there is only one objective. |