So lately I've regulared on the Lunixmonster due to one fact: I haven't been kicked for pancaking. Every other server that has the admin presence that lunixmonster does that isn't a clan server has either permanently banned or continually kicks me until I stop going lerk. Not cool when I'm trying to get my practice in for the next CAL match or random tournament.
I've also had people in at least 1 game a day complain A LOT about my playing style as lerk. I thought I'd define why and how I do what I do to minimize the crying from the people that read this forum, which in general are the only ones that count. I discovered that the reason a lerk dies is one of three reasons: It stays too long in combat and gets whittled down, it takes a direct hit or series of them and dies instantly, or it gets ambushed in some way. These are common to all aliens, but the lerk has special circumstances.
The first example is usually because the lerk finds one lmg marine and tries to kill him, yet can't do it fast enough, and either that one marine eventually kills the lerk or backup arrives for the marine and picks you off from the doorway. I solve this with my diving attack flight style. Marines have a hard time tracking a vertically moving target, so constantly changing my height makes it impossible to track accurately. I stay hear the ceiling, then dive down, attack a few times, the go back to the ceiling and repeat. If more than 1 marine or larger weapons are around, I try to force them to unload ammo. This is what generally makes people angry, as I fly around the room acrobat style and force them to expend ammo trying to kill what would otherwise be a very easy target. The power of the new flight model is the possibility of flying around in an impossible to follow manner, while keeping tabs on where you actually are. It's easy to lose focus and forget where you are in a room and die trying to leave the wrong way.
Second example is mainly for shotguns/GLs/HMGs. A single shotgun blast with all 8 pellets connecting will drop most lerks dead, and is a #1 killer for lerks. I avoid this in two ways. First I get carapace, which makes 1 shot kills with a shotgun impossible at full health. Second is my flight style once again. shotguns are less likely to get a full 8 pellet hit the further you are away from them, so the least amount of time you spend close to the marine the better. The preferred tactics are either diving in a random pattern to minimize damage (the higher the angle the better, its hard to track when you have to look all the way up and rotate around that point) or what I've done lately vs solo shotgunners. Dive to their feet, bite, then hop over their head and bite from behind. It's hard to flip around and shoot something and continue doing it.
Third example is the one you really have to watch for. A good ambush is impossible to detect and difficult to escape. It involves either baiting a lerk for the "easy" kill or doing something sure to draw the lerks attention. Once it's in position, the doors are blocked in some fashion to prevent easy escape. Avoiding the ambush is usually difficult to achieve, and escaping isn't much easier. Usually reaction skills keep you alive, the moment you see or hear something suspicious you change your flight pattern so whoever was trying to hit you can't follow you. If anyone has ever shot at me from behind with a shotgun, you know what I'm talking about. I immediately switch directions and weave up and down, which makes it hard to get a good shot on me.
GUIDELINES
For some reason people feel the need to get angry at me when I play like this, so I started this thread to ask one question: Why? Why does this bother you so much? This is for the people that don't like my style of playing for whatever reason to say why, and for general conversation about the lerk and/or pancaking in general. Don't flame me (flame the playing style), don't flame each other, and stay on topic. Flame away.
Topic: Lerk Tactics - Lame Or Not? (Read 2868 times)
