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== Humping the Armory - Lesson 1 - The Basics ==
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- Chapter 1 - Enough is Enough -
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The first obstacle confronting all marines, the absolute first thing they must decide when they spawn, is how much ammo they should grab. It's the bane of every commander, when they see two or even three marines standing around the armory filling up to full ammo.
NEWSFLASH: The average marine only expends two and a half clips per life, and perhaps two from the pistol. That's a total of 125 bullets for the LMG, and 20 for the Pistol. Now naturally a more skilled marine will need more.
A very new marine should avoid the armory if possible. At most, he should grab no more then one clip for each weapon.
An average marine should grab two clips each.
A skilled marine should grab at least two clips (A total of 50/150), and should always keep his trusty pistol full.
If you feel that you're not going to be able to fire four clip of ammo, do not take four clips of ammo.
• Take as much ammo as proportionate to your skill level
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- Chapter 2 - Ammo vs. Orders -
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So you're fresh out of the IP, and immediately across the screen, your commander tells your team: "PHASE NOW!!!" What do you do?
A) Grab several clips from the armory, so that you can kill aliens on the other side.
B) Phase instantly.
If you answered A, you're not as wrong as you might think you were. When your commander tells you to phase now, there's a split second analysis of the situation you must make. Making this analysis requires lots of experience in NS.
Generally, if your commander is telling you to phase, there's only one of three possible situations that will be true.
Situation 1) The base on the other side of the phase requires reinforcements.
Situation 2) The base on the other side is being sneak attacked by low life forms.
Situation 3) The base on the other side has been smashed and is being destroyed by Fades and Onos.
In case of situation 1, it is wise to grab at least two clips of ammo for your main gun only. This will mean that you don't need to run back to base or call for ammo drops when the situation is normalized.
Situation 2 is more urgent. Do not grab ammo, do not collect guns, go directly to phase. Generally you can fight off the attackers, and then come back for more ammo. If there's been other marines going through and they haven't died, I myself would treat it as situation 1, and grab a quick clip or two of ammunition.
Situation 3 is dire. Generally I ignore these requests, as it just gives the aliens free resources to phase through. If you must phase, again, do not grab ammo, phase right away.
If your commander gives you a far away waypoint, and you have no phase gate, grab as much ammo as you can, polish your knife, grin and bear it. If you're with a squad, generally you'll waste ammo firing on dead corpses, and you'll run out quickly. Alternatively, if the waypoint is fairly close, there's a good chance it's urgent, and you should head there right away.
• Only grab as much ammunition as the situation requires. The more urgent, the less ammo you should take.
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== Ammo Management - Lesson 1 - The Basics ==
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- Chapter 1 - When to Pull the Trigger -
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Always remember that as a marine, you have a huge advantage: range. If you can put eleven rounds into that skulk before he gets within four feet of you, you've won. However, do not ever fool yourself into thinking you're able to kill everything you see. Too often am I the unfortunate observer to a squad of marines emptying their magazines, squandering precious ammo, just to try to kill a fade more then sixty feet away.
Always remember this:
LMG - Medium Range
Pistol - All Ranges
HMG - Short-Medium Range
Shotgun - Very Short Range
Grenade Launcher - Very Long Range
Unless you are suppressing fire, do not ever attempt to use these weapons beyond ranges I've listed here. Heavy Machine Guns have very large cones of fire, and thus, will miss targets at medium range or beyond. Always, and this is a rule of thumb, always let the target get as close as is safely possible, then open fire.
If you are using a shotgun, do not immediately fire upon the onos across the room. You will not hurt it. You will only annoy it, and alert it to the fact that there is a shotgun in the room. This is true for all weapons.
Furthermore, do not ever fire your weapon unless you have to. Guns are very noisy. Marines can be stealthy if they require it, and in order to do so, must learn to only fire at targets that are directly threatening them or their team. If a fade walks right past your hiding spot, it is generally not wise to point out his mistake by emptying a weapon all willy-nilly. One more thing to note: If the aliens do not know your position, or if you are setting up to destroy and occupy the hive, never attack anything in the room until everyone is ready. This will alert the aliens to your position, give away the sneak attack, and ruin the game.
• Never use weapons beyond plausible range.
• Never discharge your weapon unless the situation requires it.
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- Chapter 2 - When to Let Go -
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Another common faux pa I am witness to quite often is the ‘shoot it ‘till it stops moving, then shoot it some more’ mentality. It always irritates me when I see it happen, and irritates me more when I do it. This mentality I describe is when the marine kills an alien, and then continues shooting the dying corpse until it’s fairly obvious it’s not really going to go anywhere. This is a severe drain of ammo and time, as you’ll be taking more time analyzing your targets then continuing on to the next threat.
The best way to learn how to avoid this is to simply make a habit of paying some attention to the kill list in the corner. If you have the mental ability to do so, and I know some people can’t, analyze it with your peripheral vision. If you fire upon a skulk and see a kill flash up, chances are it’s yours, and you can stop firing right then. Also, it’s important to learn the death animations skulks and lerks are very hard to discern between ‘dead’ and ‘alive’. With some practice, you can learn the death animation timing, and stop firing instantly, wasting almost no bullets on the harmless corpse.
Topic: - Guide: How To Properly Utilize Ammo - (Read 9111 times)
