Seeing as how we have a pretty good number of folks who are playing a lot of SC:PT online, I thought it might be helpful to a lot of us (me included) if we collectively posted some of our good tips, tricks, strategies and or secrets (if willing to give up some) of the online play for both Mercs and Spies.
I think this could be very interesting and useful to read others outlooks on strategy and explanations. I know this is a sports gaming site, but there is always a fair amount of talk regarding this game and with all the strategy involved, it might as well be considered a sport…
Anyway…
Here the key things I keep in mind while playing (please note that I am NOT that good at this game so these are still in the learning stages):
1. Know your gadgets! - Once I realized what each gadget/weapon did and started to find the right times to use them, I got a lot more accomplished. For example, the sticky cam for the Spies is not only cool, but really helps on those pesky Mercs that just camp around a ND133. Just shoot one of those babies next to them and use the ‘Gas’ function to knock ‘em out. Too cool and a useful trick that I keep forgetting to do.
2. Know when to and NOT to use your special goggles - Learn the advantages of the motion goggles and the ‘electro’ whatever goggles for the Merc’s and when to use them. Also, since the Spies light up like a Christmas tree on the Merc’s ‘electro’ goggles when they use their special vision goggles, try to minimize use of the night vision and thermal vision whenever possible.
3. Know the Maps (obviously)! – Learn those sons-a-bitches inside and out. Know the shortcuts on both sides.
4. Be patient! – Do not go out guns a blazin’ as a Merc and do not go running around the main halls as a spy. I know these seem pretty standard, but I am surprised at how many times I find myself rushing and blowing my cover cause I was not careful enough. Even though I know better. That clock can really mess with you.
5. Learn your opponents style – I am constantly surprised at how quickly I can pick up on players tendencies, especially after a few rounds with them (not to mention people you play with/against a lot). Use that to your advantage.
These are just a few off the top of my head and while most of them are already ‘no brainers’ I figured I would get the thread rolling with some standard ones.
Anyone else care to share???
OT: Post Your Tips and Strategies for SC:PT Online...
Moderators: Bill_Abner, ScoopBrady
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mixdj1
- DSP-Funk All-Star
- Posts: 2104
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OK, here's my biggie ... the headlock:
To get a merc in a headlock:
1) You first need to get behind the merc (sometimes easier said than done)
2) Then hit the A button (more than just a tap but less than holding it)
3) Here's the secret ... wait for a "duh nuh" musical sound
Voila! now you have that pesky merc right where you want him. If you just run around and wildly tap A while trying to get behind a merc you will just get frustrated and more than likely shot.
My other tip would be about mines ... get creative. Spies are going to expect mines to be near the ND133s so I normally place them below vent openings, just past doorways and other out of the way places I normally traverse as a spy. Most of the time a spy will be running along thinking "I'll need to be cautious and look for mines up ahead when ... "BLAM" they get blown across the room only halfway to the ND133.
mixdj1
To get a merc in a headlock:
1) You first need to get behind the merc (sometimes easier said than done)
2) Then hit the A button (more than just a tap but less than holding it)
3) Here's the secret ... wait for a "duh nuh" musical sound
Voila! now you have that pesky merc right where you want him. If you just run around and wildly tap A while trying to get behind a merc you will just get frustrated and more than likely shot.
My other tip would be about mines ... get creative. Spies are going to expect mines to be near the ND133s so I normally place them below vent openings, just past doorways and other out of the way places I normally traverse as a spy. Most of the time a spy will be running along thinking "I'll need to be cautious and look for mines up ahead when ... "BLAM" they get blown across the room only halfway to the ND133.
mixdj1
Last edited by mixdj1 on Tue Apr 13, 2004 4:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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mixdj1
- DSP-Funk All-Star
- Posts: 2104
- Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2002 3:00 am
- Location: Huntsville, AL
- Contact:
Here's a few more:
As a merc be sure to use your laser more than the flashlight. The laser doesn't give your position away as easily and it can detect a spy through some walls, behind bookcases, in vents, etc. Very handy.
Also when playing as a merc don't forget to use the A button to charge at the spies. This will stun them and give you a better chance at filling them full of lead.
When confronted with a spy that is tazing, flashing, or chaff grenading you, try to get your back to a wall ASAP. Never leave your back open if you are near an aggressive spy ... like me
When playing as a spy remember that a merc will have a hard time chasing you if you drop a smoke grenade or two. Not only does it obscure their vision, it slows them down considerably.
If you accidentally set off a sensor, try to find a quick exit and head to another ND133. Odds are one or both of the mercs will come trying to cap you while you can hit a different target. Just don't go too fast that you set off more alarms essentially "lighting up" your route.
Cause distratctions for your teammate. Intentionally setting off alarms and getting mercs to chase you down can give your teammate the extra second or two they need to disable an ND133.
mixdj1
As a merc be sure to use your laser more than the flashlight. The laser doesn't give your position away as easily and it can detect a spy through some walls, behind bookcases, in vents, etc. Very handy.
Also when playing as a merc don't forget to use the A button to charge at the spies. This will stun them and give you a better chance at filling them full of lead.
When confronted with a spy that is tazing, flashing, or chaff grenading you, try to get your back to a wall ASAP. Never leave your back open if you are near an aggressive spy ... like me
When playing as a spy remember that a merc will have a hard time chasing you if you drop a smoke grenade or two. Not only does it obscure their vision, it slows them down considerably.
If you accidentally set off a sensor, try to find a quick exit and head to another ND133. Odds are one or both of the mercs will come trying to cap you while you can hit a different target. Just don't go too fast that you set off more alarms essentially "lighting up" your route.
Cause distratctions for your teammate. Intentionally setting off alarms and getting mercs to chase you down can give your teammate the extra second or two they need to disable an ND133.
mixdj1
All great points, guys.
Here's a few things I would comment on:
Patience is huge in this game, not only for spies, but especially for mercs. If you know one is 'in there with you,' you can wait in the shadows, lights and lasers off; you know the spy has to get to the ND133 at some point, so wait for him to make his move, and he'll never know you're there. You'll likely hear him shooting out lasers or motion detectors if you listen. Especially useful at the end-game stage, when the potential targets are limited.
Spacing is crucial for mercs. You shouldn't need to camp right on top of the ND133 (unless there's only one or two left), since in Neutralization mode, it takes time for the spy to get the job done. And you should only be in the same room as the other merc if a spy is harassing him. 2 guys can cover 3 buildings (in vertigo plaza for example) pretty well if they use good spacing.
Also, keep moving as a merc. I like to have a somewhat regular round, it keeps spies from getting too comfortable and getting a bead on you. One of the toughest things for me as a spy is being sure there is no one there, 'cause at some point you have to come out in the open and shoot out a motion sensor or something. If someone's in the room and I don't know it, all I'm doing is wrapping myself in a nice little package for him.
And mercs, don't go chasing after spies into dark corridors. Your job is to protect the ND133s, so don't get pulled too far out into non merc-fiendly areas by provocative spies. A lot of times, just chasing him off is plenty.
Use the A button on both sides. Spies can only take about 3 punches and they're dead, and mercs can get pretty disoriented from a shot to the head.
Use your taser as a merc. Sometimes you can empty a clip trying to hit a greasy spy, and seem to miss him completely. If you can get him with your taser, he's frozen like a statue, making an easy target. You need to be about 10 or 15 feet away, but it has saved my life too many times to remember. An A button punch, a shot of the taser, a squeeze of the trigger, problem solved.
Spy traps and spy bullets are golden! I just started really using spy bullets, and it's a huge bonus having the merc on the radar (not to mention listening in to their chatter). And even if you just shoot it at a wall, it'll act as a proximity sensor, so you can sort of see around corners even if you're not packing the spy cams.
As a merc, deploy all your mines and traps quickly. If a spy gets you from behind, more often than not he will break your neck and kill you. Then it's off to re-spawn and, voila! A full pack of fresh mines and traps. Seriously, if a spy kills even just 2 mercs, he is making it far harder on himself just from the huge jump in traps and mines around.
Some guys will even kill themselves to get fresh mines, which I think is bunk, but whadd'ya gonna do? And it worked in my favor once, when I was hiding in the office on vertigo, watching a merc with the spy cam, waiting for him to leave. But he wasn't leaving, feels like forever. Finally, he goes to the door, and then pops himself with a grenade!! Gave me plenty of time to leisurely stroll up to the ND133 and finish off the round. Respawn time is long (like 10 sec.), plenty of time to neutralize.
Aslo, the 'pupil dilation' effect the mercs have is very useful. But it only works if your torch light is off. If you stand still with just the laser or nothing on, you will in a second or two be able to see deeper into the shadows, specifically into places the spies may think hide them well.
I'm determined to make alarm snares useful, but I can't seem to get the hang of it. And I can never tell if the snares set off the motion sensors (sometimes I am sure they do, sometimes I fire 6 or 7 and still don't know what's up). Anyway, I sort of use it the way Sam Fisher uses the new black button whistle, to get them to come to you so you can neutralize them, but that's the part I suck at.
The easiest way to knock out a merc is to jump on his head. Get up on a box or something, and drop on top of him.
Smoke is very useful. The chaff is nice, especially to drop at your feet at those lasered-up doors, but the smoke is immensely powerful against the mercs. Consider ditching the chaff and taking the smoke right from the start.
Phosphor grenades are super cool. Guys will leave green footprints! Footprints! Surely some maps are more suited to these and the flares, but I mostly stick with the standard mines and traps, frags and taser. But don't be afraid to experiment. I'm sure at some point, someone will become the 'flare guy' or the 'phosphor guy,' and get the most out of them.
Don't cruch if you don't need to as a merc. A spy can kock you out in one punch if you are crouched, and you can't really use the A button attack I don't think.
There is a sweet 'quick-turn' for the mercs: double tap the L stick (the stick you MOVE with, not the stick you LOOK with) to the left or the right, and you'll do a quick 180º turn around.
Spies, use your thermal goggles to look for invisible lasers (laser mines, spy traps, some levels have permanent invisible lasers) before you enter a room. Motion detectors and cameras will also glow on the thermals, so it's good to pop em on and take a gander around a room before moving in. But remember to keep em on only for short bursts, since if you're on a drop ceiling for example, you'll light up like a christmas tree on the mercs' electro-mag viewers.
Communicate with your partner. Especially when playing mercs, but also as spies, maintaining contact with your partner is essential. That way, if he falls siilent, you know something is hapenning! Also, it's key to keeping spaced as mercs, or timing your attack runs as spies.
Here's a few things I would comment on:
Patience is huge in this game, not only for spies, but especially for mercs. If you know one is 'in there with you,' you can wait in the shadows, lights and lasers off; you know the spy has to get to the ND133 at some point, so wait for him to make his move, and he'll never know you're there. You'll likely hear him shooting out lasers or motion detectors if you listen. Especially useful at the end-game stage, when the potential targets are limited.
Spacing is crucial for mercs. You shouldn't need to camp right on top of the ND133 (unless there's only one or two left), since in Neutralization mode, it takes time for the spy to get the job done. And you should only be in the same room as the other merc if a spy is harassing him. 2 guys can cover 3 buildings (in vertigo plaza for example) pretty well if they use good spacing.
Also, keep moving as a merc. I like to have a somewhat regular round, it keeps spies from getting too comfortable and getting a bead on you. One of the toughest things for me as a spy is being sure there is no one there, 'cause at some point you have to come out in the open and shoot out a motion sensor or something. If someone's in the room and I don't know it, all I'm doing is wrapping myself in a nice little package for him.
And mercs, don't go chasing after spies into dark corridors. Your job is to protect the ND133s, so don't get pulled too far out into non merc-fiendly areas by provocative spies. A lot of times, just chasing him off is plenty.
Use the A button on both sides. Spies can only take about 3 punches and they're dead, and mercs can get pretty disoriented from a shot to the head.
Use your taser as a merc. Sometimes you can empty a clip trying to hit a greasy spy, and seem to miss him completely. If you can get him with your taser, he's frozen like a statue, making an easy target. You need to be about 10 or 15 feet away, but it has saved my life too many times to remember. An A button punch, a shot of the taser, a squeeze of the trigger, problem solved.
Spy traps and spy bullets are golden! I just started really using spy bullets, and it's a huge bonus having the merc on the radar (not to mention listening in to their chatter). And even if you just shoot it at a wall, it'll act as a proximity sensor, so you can sort of see around corners even if you're not packing the spy cams.
As a merc, deploy all your mines and traps quickly. If a spy gets you from behind, more often than not he will break your neck and kill you. Then it's off to re-spawn and, voila! A full pack of fresh mines and traps. Seriously, if a spy kills even just 2 mercs, he is making it far harder on himself just from the huge jump in traps and mines around.
Some guys will even kill themselves to get fresh mines, which I think is bunk, but whadd'ya gonna do? And it worked in my favor once, when I was hiding in the office on vertigo, watching a merc with the spy cam, waiting for him to leave. But he wasn't leaving, feels like forever. Finally, he goes to the door, and then pops himself with a grenade!! Gave me plenty of time to leisurely stroll up to the ND133 and finish off the round. Respawn time is long (like 10 sec.), plenty of time to neutralize.
Also, sometimes leave it all off. The 'everything off' reticle provides visual feedback for noise and movement, with little arrows showing you the direction. This can be really handy if someone is above or below you, and helps you out-spy the spies.mixdj1 wrote: As a merc be sure to use your laser more than the flashlight. The laser doesn't give your position away as easily and it can detect a spy through some walls, behind bookcases, in vents, etc. Very handy.
Aslo, the 'pupil dilation' effect the mercs have is very useful. But it only works if your torch light is off. If you stand still with just the laser or nothing on, you will in a second or two be able to see deeper into the shadows, specifically into places the spies may think hide them well.
I'm determined to make alarm snares useful, but I can't seem to get the hang of it. And I can never tell if the snares set off the motion sensors (sometimes I am sure they do, sometimes I fire 6 or 7 and still don't know what's up). Anyway, I sort of use it the way Sam Fisher uses the new black button whistle, to get them to come to you so you can neutralize them, but that's the part I suck at.
The easiest way to knock out a merc is to jump on his head. Get up on a box or something, and drop on top of him.
Smoke is very useful. The chaff is nice, especially to drop at your feet at those lasered-up doors, but the smoke is immensely powerful against the mercs. Consider ditching the chaff and taking the smoke right from the start.
Phosphor grenades are super cool. Guys will leave green footprints! Footprints! Surely some maps are more suited to these and the flares, but I mostly stick with the standard mines and traps, frags and taser. But don't be afraid to experiment. I'm sure at some point, someone will become the 'flare guy' or the 'phosphor guy,' and get the most out of them.
Don't cruch if you don't need to as a merc. A spy can kock you out in one punch if you are crouched, and you can't really use the A button attack I don't think.
There is a sweet 'quick-turn' for the mercs: double tap the L stick (the stick you MOVE with, not the stick you LOOK with) to the left or the right, and you'll do a quick 180º turn around.
Spies, use your thermal goggles to look for invisible lasers (laser mines, spy traps, some levels have permanent invisible lasers) before you enter a room. Motion detectors and cameras will also glow on the thermals, so it's good to pop em on and take a gander around a room before moving in. But remember to keep em on only for short bursts, since if you're on a drop ceiling for example, you'll light up like a christmas tree on the mercs' electro-mag viewers.
Communicate with your partner. Especially when playing mercs, but also as spies, maintaining contact with your partner is essential. That way, if he falls siilent, you know something is hapenning! Also, it's key to keeping spaced as mercs, or timing your attack runs as spies.
OK as if that wasn't long enough, i thought of a couple more things:
Use your binoculars as a spy. Especially when you are new on the maps, it's useful. If you look at an ND133 target with your specs, it will give you info about that specific one, most importantly the name of it. The name is always the room it is in (eg. Library, Data Center, Water Tank Room Floor, etc.). This will really help you learn the maps, getting to know the names, not to mention help communication with your teammate.
Use the visit map mode in the multiplayer tutorial to work on some 'approach runs.' Using this mode to get used to where to expect motion detectors, cameras, lasers etc. will help you when you get online, and I've had fun just doing dry runs as a spy, to get some approaches down pat and to find some new ducts or sneaky pathways.
The snipe mechanism in this game is unsurpassed. Nothing is more satisfying than getting that long-distance head shot. You really have to pick your spots, and the situation will determine whether you can do it or not, but it's oh-so-sweet to click that stick for the scope view, hold the L to hold your breath, and have only a couple of esconds to aim-up and fire. When you nail it, they never knew what hit 'em.
Use your binoculars as a spy. Especially when you are new on the maps, it's useful. If you look at an ND133 target with your specs, it will give you info about that specific one, most importantly the name of it. The name is always the room it is in (eg. Library, Data Center, Water Tank Room Floor, etc.). This will really help you learn the maps, getting to know the names, not to mention help communication with your teammate.
Use the visit map mode in the multiplayer tutorial to work on some 'approach runs.' Using this mode to get used to where to expect motion detectors, cameras, lasers etc. will help you when you get online, and I've had fun just doing dry runs as a spy, to get some approaches down pat and to find some new ducts or sneaky pathways.
The snipe mechanism in this game is unsurpassed. Nothing is more satisfying than getting that long-distance head shot. You really have to pick your spots, and the situation will determine whether you can do it or not, but it's oh-so-sweet to click that stick for the scope view, hold the L to hold your breath, and have only a couple of esconds to aim-up and fire. When you nail it, they never knew what hit 'em.
These are all good tips. Good to know about the merc ability to use the A button- I'd forgotten about that and was finding it a bit too hard to fend off aggressive spies as a result. I would add these suggestions:
1. Hide your mines and spy traps. Try placing mines in spots which aren't visible to spies, such as right around corners, or behind crates in hallways. An experienced spy won't have any problem defusing mines near objectives, but you can surprise spies with their placements, particularly when you are chasing them.
2. Stick reasonably close together as mercs, especially in the beginning. It's very difficult for one merc to fight off two spies working in close coordination. One spy stays hidden and tazers you while the other sneaks up and breaks your neck. You need to figure out what the spy tactics are before you can comfortably disperse.
1. Hide your mines and spy traps. Try placing mines in spots which aren't visible to spies, such as right around corners, or behind crates in hallways. An experienced spy won't have any problem defusing mines near objectives, but you can surprise spies with their placements, particularly when you are chasing them.
2. Stick reasonably close together as mercs, especially in the beginning. It's very difficult for one merc to fight off two spies working in close coordination. One spy stays hidden and tazers you while the other sneaks up and breaks your neck. You need to figure out what the spy tactics are before you can comfortably disperse.