Two today, as my blogging difference engine got it’s cogs in a twist yesterday and ended up with me having to revert it all to Sunday and repost all this week’s stuff, ending up with me a day behind. Or something.

Anyway, having rambled extensively on the ins and out of the more esoteric aspects of the big old chess-game that is Planetside, I figured I snappy list of "Things Reservists Can Actually Use" would be a nice contrast. Here come the bullets!

  • Gold/Orange Ammunition is mislabelled – it should really be called AV ammo. It does very little damage to Non-MAX infantry, and there are better weapons to go after tanks with. Use white ammo!
  • You cannot attack bases with a force field dome over them. The dome will collapse when you control at least half of the bases connected to it with green lines on the map.
  • You cannot capture a base if there is no yellow line on the map linking it to one of yours. Only Covert Ops/Special Forces should be attacking this base.
  • Use Frag Grenades indoors until you have the hang of the bounce. Plasma cause about the same damage over time, but cause more grief if you hit friendlies due to the burn effect.
  • Resist the temptation to solo with two-man vehicles. Parking up and gunning yourself sacrifices vital mobility. Use the ‘V-N-G’ macro to get help before leaving the base, or consider a Lightining, Mosquito or Reaver instead.
  • AA MAX suits are not very useful indoors.
  • Know your ranges.
    • Heavy Assault, AMP, NC Pistol, Rocklet, Thumper and Sweeper – Short range (0-50m).
    • Punisher, TR/VS Pistols, Empire MA – Medium Range (50-150m).
    • Bolt Driver, Heavy Scout Rifle – Long Range (150-300m).
    Try to be at the right range for your gun, not theirs.
  • Tap-fire automatic weapons in short bursts - don't hold the button down. Crouching helps keep the reticle nice and tight too.
  • Understand the targets.
    • AI weapons = Infiltration Suit, Standard, Agile and Reinforced Exosuit - people.
    • AV weapons = MAX Suits and All Ground Vehicles.
    • AA = Aircraft.
    Leave those targets you aren’t equipped for to those who are – focus on what you can kill. Study the effects of each gun on the various targets in VR.
  • AMS win battles. If you just need personal transport, cert AMS, and deploy it when you get where you’re going – it helps the rest of the team too. If you come across an enemy cloak bubble, tell someone about it before trying to solo it. ‘/b Enemy AMS at [map co-ord]!’ will often do.
  • Wall Turrets need continual repairing to be viable while under attack.
  • Jammer (EMP) grenades disable enemy vehicle weapons for a short duration if they burst nearby. Jam them enough and they may flee. Do you really need two pistols AND a MA weapon? Take some grenades and practice throwing in VR.
  • Take a REK. You do not need Hacking cert to open doors, or hack a base or twoer Control Console, and can't do either without one. Being locked outside the tower you were supposed to be defending is very embarassing. Again, you do not need two pistols and an MA weapon.
  • Only destroy the generator if ordered by Command chat – it is often not necessary, and deprives friendly Advanced Hackers the ability to unlock the equipment and vehicle terminals for resupply during the capture.
  • Always destroy the Spawn Tubes if you can. No-one likes campers, and bungled containment here can jeopardise the whole capture attempt. Grunts fresh out of the tube are only worth 1xp each anyway, and are surprisingly quick.
  • Advanced Medics can raise you from the dead, but only if you haven’t already respawned. Look for flashing crosses on the mini-map while dead, and listen out for Adv Medic chat spam nearby. Don’t tap out immediately. Plus, while dead you can be carrying out valuable recon! MAX suits in particular, should try to wait for revival and repair.
  • MAX suits cannot open doors, hack control consoles, or repair or heal themselves. Help the big guy out with these and you both win. MAX users should protect the squishy doing the repairing if they ever expect to be repaired a second time.
  • The most effective way to deal with a MAX suit is with three hits from a Decimator, but frag grenades, Boomers, rocklets or HA weapons with gold ammo loaded can also do the job reasonably well. Aim at it’s feet so the splash gets it even if you miss, and circle round it – he can’t turn in place as fast as you.
  • Don’t hike unless Sniping or AV – if you have no vehicles, and can’t get a lift, recall to Sancturary and use the HART to get to the new objective – odds are this will still be quicker.
  • Roads are for driving along, but Mine-laying Combat Engineers know this too…
  • MBT (Vanguard, Magrider, Prowler), Reaver, Liberator, Skyguard and Sunderer all require a Technology Plant base connected to the base lattice to be able to get out of the terminals. Look for the Tank icon on the base on the map. If you must have these vehicles, you will need to bring them from Sanctuary.
  • Interlink bases connected add radar to all connected bases. Even cloaked infiltrators will show up as red dots unless they have a Sensor Shield implant running. Look for a radar dish icon on the base on the map before begining the ninja assualt.
  • Galaxy and Lodestar can only be got form the Air Terminal at a Dropship Centre base, or in Sanctuary. Pilots should bind here, using the matrix terminal in the air terminal room, to allow speedy resupply.
  • If you hear the Orbital Strike charge up noise, just run...away is good, but ideally try to get inside a building, where the OS blast can’t hurt you. If it hits you, you will die.
  • Learn the noise a Bolt Driver makes, and the orange stripe-flash. If hit, dance! Standing still and trying to figure out where the sniper is makes it very easy for the sniper to land that second, fatal, shot. Hitting an erratically running target with a Bolt Driver is much more difficult. Get indoors, or behind a wall, asap.
  • HSR rifles are an ideal weapon to drive off BFRs, able to cause large numbers of satisfying system failures from safe distances. A 45 minute requisition timer makes BFR pilots more nervous than most.
  • Turn ground flora off, in Settings. It’s pretty, and a shame, but the stuff slows framerates, and conveys a false sense of security. Viewed from 100m away, you are not hidden in long grass at all. This helps spot mines a bit too, although those do actually vanish beyond a certain distance anyway. Rely on hard cover only – trees, rocks, walls, etc.
  • Listen for ‘We need a Gunner!’ A two man vehicle is mostly useless without a gunner, and you can gun with any armour and no certs. Kill XP is split between the crew, even if not in the same squad.
  • Practice paradropping. ALT-G jumps out of the plane. If the Galaxy you are in is headed directly for an enemy base or tower, you are expected to jump out when it passes over the roof. Having to going round for a second pass will usually get the Galaxy destroyed, with you in it.
  • Spitfires and Motion Sensors placed inside a friendly AMS bubble will reveal its position when any enemy passes near by. Mines should be the only deployables inside the bubble.
  • You get XP for repairing other peoples stuff too!
  • With an Amp Station connected, your vehicle will get an energy shield added to it. Allow it to charge up, by staying in the base SOI for a minute or two, before heading out to battle - the bonus hit points could make all the difference.
  • Take some time to learn the base layouts. Know where the CC, Spawn Room, Generator, Back Door Exit and Terminals are in relation to each other. This will help show where the enemy is most likely to try getting in, and where you ought to try when attacking.
  • Battle Islands do not allow the following equipment: HA, Reaver, Flail, BFR or MBT. This makes for a more infantry-centric outdoor game, which appeals to some more than others.
  • Take at least one First Aid Kit – stabbing F1 will heal you 25 health, and you really don’t need a whole backpack full of ammo.
  • Laze pointers are only useful for Flail squads. Flails are practically useless without Laze pointers. Flail bolts do inverse distance related damage. The further away the target is, the harder you hit. If you can see the shots land, you are too close. Get a friend with a Laze pointer to help.
  • Run up the outside wall of tower stairs, not the inner pillar. This makes life a bit more difficult for people hiding behind the pillar on the landing. Plasma grenades make it even more difficult.
  • Create a favourite which is just a Standard Exosuit, full of First Aid Kits. Whenever near a friendly equipment terminal, switch to this, use the first aid kits, then pick your usual favourite. This will heal you, and give you a fresh suit of armour, ready for battle again.
  • Never use Standard Exosuit for fighting. The Agile Exosuit is free, and superior is most ways, save foot speed. Plus running around in your pyjamas is a dead giveaway!
  • Only BFR have hit locations. Everything else, including people, is just one big hitbox. aim for the middle of the object toi have the best chance of hitting them.

The list goes on. Hopefully this lot will help you Reservsists last that little bit longer. For more specific and in-depth analysis of individual equipment, vehicles and tactics, try trawling the ‘Art of War’ Official Forum. Many of the opinions there are hotly debated, but at least by knowing that the debates exist, you’re a little bit wiser.

My own personal best piece of advice though, is to set your own goals, and know when you’ve had enough. I once spent five hours throwing myself at the same base, over and over, having told myself I’d log off ‘after this one’. The Reserve deal is on for a year, and I can guarantee that pretty much the same kinds of base fights will be happening every night for the whole year, so you aren’t going to miss anything. You may never become the ‘best’, but becoming ‘good enough to hold your own’ is not as unattainable as the first few days may suggest. I always think if I finish with more 'K' than 'D', I've done well, but seeing hundreds of 'A' is satisfying too.

Despite the overall repetition, I think Planetside is unique in my experience, in that I can honestly say I’ve never been bored while playing it. Frustrated, angry, excited, jubilant, yes. I’ve logged off in a huff and I’ve logged off satisfied, but I’ve never logged off because there wasn’t anything interesting to do. In a market where so many games fail to provoke any kind of reaction from me at all, Planetside is definitely something special.

Well, maggots, boot camp is over – go on out there and make me proud…

Normal heckling resumed next week.