Movement Rushes
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[edit] Movement Chambers - Phase Gates of the Kharaa
Author: Irish Pirate
We have all heard of those nifty little structures called Movement Chambers, or MCs. Since the typical strategy these days usually involves getting MCs first, they tend to be available near the beginning of the game. This is especially true in large maps where it would take a lot of time to get around.
[edit] Teleporting
When you walk up to an MC and press the use key, it will normally teleport you to the farthest complete hive from your location. However if any hive is under attack, complete or not, it will teleport you there. Thus, when friendly fire is on, an alien can attack an unfinished hive and all the movement chambers will target that location for a few seconds. So, a good strategy, then, for a gorge who just dropped a hive, is to spit it so teammates can quickly get to the area and help out.
[edit] The Movement Rush
Let's say it's that time in the game and you want to go drop the next hive. Sometimes the available hive location(s) are "locked down" meaning the marines have placed turrets and/or a phase gate in the hive area. If you drop a hive in one of these areas and spit it, your team will be able to use movement chambers to get in there and start tearing down all those ugly metal buildings and pink-fleshed marines. But, before we drop the hive, let's ask ourselves a few questions.
[edit] Is the team ready?
You should make sure the team wants to movement rush the location, and they are prepared to do so when you drop it. Make sure you tell your team what your plan is and get positive feedback. Before you drop that hive, you should tap the map button (c by default) and make sure some people are actually near movement chambers. Also, higher lifeforms can help a lot in these fights; if the team consists entirely of skulks it might not go as well. If the whole team gets in the mindset to prepare for this, you might talk a couple of people into evolving. Fades can help alot as long as they can stay healed and get a place to run if they have to.
[edit] Is this the best location to be doing this?
If there is more than one hive locked down, you might need to look at both locations to figure out which one will be the easiest spot to take. Be sure to talk to your team about this; there is no sense in running all over the map if a teammate who has already seen the locations could just tell you.
[edit] Is now the best time?
If a lot of other things are going on, it might just not be a good time to start this. If marines are attacking one of your current hives, your teammates may be unable to movement over to the new hive, and, even if they could, they might not want to. If everyone is busy attacking or defending some other area of the map, you probably won't get enough people to help. This is a team effort; depending on how well guarded the location is, it may require a very large number of aliens to move in.
[edit] If the answer is yes...
You answered "yes" to all of these questions and you're ready to drop the hive. You should announce to your team you are dropping it and spit it immediately for teammates to movement over.
[edit] The Attack
The priority for what buildings for the aliens to attack should be:
1) Phase gate 2) Turret factory 3) Everything else (clean it up)
Everyone will have to use his best judgement on when you should be attacking marines who may make thier way in and when you should be chomping on the structures. The marines won't stop coming until the PG goes down, and they are much more deadly than turrets.
[edit] Why not just run in?
There are both advantages and disadvantages to using this strategy, lets look at some of them.
[edit] Pros
You might meet resistance on the way to the hive. Some aliens may die. This could result in not having a sufficent number of aliens get to the hive to clear it out.
While the attack on that location is going on, if you were running there you would find you can only come into the room from so many directions. You will already have a marine looking at the entrance as you come in. If you all movement in, the marines will suddenly be confronted with multiple targets and have to be looking all over the place. As long as aliens are moving in, the marines will have to be watching everything.
If you succeed, the hive will have had that much more time to be building by starting it at the beginning of the fight instead of the end.
Also, giving the whole team an opportunity to come in at once instead of spreading out (as tends to happen when large numbers of aliens, especially ones of different life forms, try to move to a location.) can get more of that "teamwork" stuff going that is so vital to this game, and give the marines a harder time focusing on one alien at a time.
[edit] Cons
The potential risk is greater. You have 50 res hanging in the balance, 40 for the hive and 10 for gorging. If you fail it may set you back a while.
Higher life forms may be unable to run. If you have a fade in there, he may not be able to make it all the way back to the hive when he needs help. The gorge is probably his only hope for healing, and as any marines will continue to attack him while he tries to get healed by the gorge, the chances of surviving may not be optimal.
This strategy is a bit more complicated than just having everyone run over. You will have to be able to coordinate your team, and actually have them ready when the time comes to move over. If the whole team is in the main hive, and no one is out there to drop a new one, it might be easier to convince everyone to run over than to wait there while one person moves out.
[edit] Conclusion
There are right and wrong times and ways to use a movement rush. When it's done well it can be amazing and shock the marine team. When it's done poorly it can make the aliens not only lose resources, but hope. Sometimes you've got it, and sometimes you don't.
Return to NS Tactics and Strategies.
