zibalatz

Hey Karrd, thanks for following through and posting your thoughts on chamber order... I agree for the most part. Here are my comments:
Although this is a very serious issue/consideration on most pubs, I think you'll find that, at TG, lack of teamwork/organization/communication is the exception and not the rule. As of late, I'd say that the general playerbase on the TG server when it is full or near-full is at least 70-80% experienced regulars.

Earlier today a bunch of us were watching the UK/Finland match and one thing I noticed was that the initial chambers (non-SC) were *always* dropped in vents or areas that otherwise inaccessible to marines in the early game. This kind of DC/MC placement makes them much harder to destroy. I do admit that this requires considerable experience and knowledge of the map in play.

I don't follow... How does res affect chamber use or effectiveness? Certainly prior to the latest version this was true, but with free upgrades, I'm not sure I see what the issue is.

Seeing MC in use quite a bit as the first chamber here at TG I'd definitely have to disagree with the above (and the accompanying explanations that I snipped out). Certainly part of it has to do with the fact that, in pretty much every game at TG, the aliens decide quickly on:

• Which 2 players will be dropping RTs
• Which player will be dropping chambers
• Which player(s) will be going fade
• Which player is saving for the hive

So the "fast second hive" is really ubiquitous because unless the marines push to hold a hive early on, the aliens will have a second hive going within the first few minutes of the game thanks to the fact that one player had been saving for exactly this purpose since the start of the round.

Given the average skill of players at TG I'd say that celerity skulks and fades are extremely effective.

At two hives, the extra stomps provided by adrenaline can be deadly and can neutralize the advanced weaponry the marines will have at this point.

On a related topic, during the UK/Finland match, I was quite surprised to see the chamber order of MC/SC/DC employed. I forget which team used it but if I recall they did end up winning. It seems to me that the justification was that at the time that SCs (and second hive) were dropped their fades were their primary attackers and, of course, at two hives could heal quite effectively with metabolism. The combination of either adren or celerity with focus made for a deadly offense.

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Card AKA Karrd

What I posted was a general analysis of the chambers and upgrades. There are of course different tactics that can amplify or negate most of thier effects, what I posted was the basic effect that everything is built on.

The TG server has it's own little differences:

- For coordination, both teams generally work together well.
- Generally, the kharaa dedicate a player to dropping a hive, and generally give that person help in getting a hive.
- Early marine relocations are semi-frequent.

That's the obvious differences, there are also all the little differences in the way everyone plays.


And what I meant about MCs being the best if you're low on RTs is this: place 1 MC in first hive, one in second hive as it goes up, and another to finish the upgrades. You now have taken advantage of maybe 90% of the usefulness of MCs. For SCs, with only 3 chambers, no matter how well placed, you can only get maybe 40% of the potential out of them. DCs are the worst, as 3 DCs could only have maybe 30% of it's total potential.

Pokerface

Hrm.

I'll go with the thought that most of MC's usefulness is in teleporting between hives. The upgrades that they give are handy, but generally don't make or break the game.

I'll have to disagree about the potential usefulness of the others, though, particularly now that sensories light up nearby marines and upgrades come free. Three well-placed sensory chambers and a full-strength SoF scout can make a world of difference, I think.

Defense chambers, on the other hand, are primarily about the upgrades they offer. I'll agree that if it weren't for the alien upgrades they provide, your assessment would be correct in that the chambers themselves are most useful in the order you have given.

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Card AKA Karrd

I was talking specifically about the chambers themselves, not the upgrades they offer.