Everything You Need To Know: Marines
Foreword
Summary
I began playing Colonial Marines relatively recently, after watching the infamous Szeth review of the platform. I’m the sort of person who loves to watch numbers go up and stare at maps for hours, sometimes changing their color. So Colonial Marines was a pleasant mix of chaos, tactics, and roleplay for me.
However, I noticed very quickly that the wiki is an insufficient resource that only captures surface level gameplay. I understand that the chaotic development of the game likely causes this phenomenon and I have no wish to join the wiki team myself, because then I’d have to listen to the unwashed masses, along with bearing a dreaded sense of obligation.
That out of the way, this guide is my way of condensing the new player experience down and simplifying it for the average baldie. (Crewie is a terrible slang term and I’ll stand by the old guard on that.) However, I feel it pertinent to state what this guide is not. It is not an in depth dive on every single facet of the game. It is, for lack of a better word, a primer. Its express goal is to take someone completely unfamiliar with SS13 and CM13 and make them a competent, well-informed beginner to the game.
All that aside, I’m relatively new to this myself. So there’s a moderate chance of inaccuracy here. If I’m wrong, I’m sure one of the old guard will correct me. Some of these guys have been playing for a long time. I was in deadchat and someone proudly announced they had thousands of hours as an observer.
Know Thyself
When you spawn in, you, the player, will be in charge of a single marine character. The individual is the smallest measurable unit of manpower in the marine faction, by virtue of being the smallest, the individual is the weakest member of the marines, regardless of their job role. However, it is through the competent control, equipping, and maintenance of the individual that the marines succeed as a group.
Controls
Summary
The most fundamental part of SS13 and CM13 is the ability to control your character and make them do what you want to do. This is quite difficult if you’ve never played a top down game before. Thankfully, CM13 has a robust set of key bindings to make interfacing with the complicated world easy enough.
Perspective
The game handles itself from a “top down” point of view. What you see is a representation of your surroundings as a bird’s perspective might be. Your character has perfect 360 degree vision around themselves at all time. Just pretend your character can turn their head.
It is convention in SS13 to use either nautical directions or cardinal directions (ship versus planet) instead of saying “I’m going up, right, left, down”. Up is always considered “north”. “Fore” is whichever way the bridge is pointed on a space ship. However, so long as a reference point is used, it doesn’t seem taboo to say something like, “I’m below Medical.” Don’t overthink it.
Movement
Movement is handled using WASD, the gold standard for video games everywhere. You have a movement intent at the bottom of your screen, its default setting is run. Never take it off run. As far as I can tell, this is a vestigial function from base SS13.
By holding crtl+WASD you can change the direction your character is facing. This is occasionally useful for changing your orientation before using items like binoculars or long-range scopes.
Alt+WASD will lock your character into a particular orientation until you unlock it by doing the same control again. Outside of looking comedic, I’ve not yet found a practical use for this.
Inventory
Your inventory is handled by the UI present on the bottom of the screen. Each one of those squares represents a piece of your character’s inventory. A character can handle as many items as he likes, so long as he can fit it on his person. Though it should be noted some special items may inflict debuffs to movement speed due to their weight or bulk.
You have two hand slots, right and left, that can hold any item you can pick up. Sometimes, a hand slot will be filled by an abstraction representing something rather than an actual item. For example, you need a hand free to grab people, so when you do so, its filled with a big yellow “grab” icon to indicate the hand is occupied.
You have two pocket slots, which can hold any small item or smaller. However, you also attach pouches to these slots. These act as sort of specialized miniature satchels. Typically, a pouch is restricted to a certain class of item, such as medical supplies, rifle magazines, shotgun shells, electronics, or a machete. Effectively expanding your inventory space at the cost of specializing that pocket. However, “general” pouches can hold anything and are prized by those who like to hoard equipment.
You have a back slot, many useful things can go here but chief among these are backpacks, satchels, and weaponry. To dumb it down fast, backpacks hold more, but have to be taken off to extract their contents. Satchels hold less, but can be used freely. Some items look like backpacks, but function like satchels, like the radio-backpack.
You have a belt slot, on which you will usually stick your auxiliary storage container. The belt slot can hold many single items, much like a pocket. It can even hold normal sized items! Most marines take an ammo storage belt here. But those in specialized roles may opt for a toolbelt, medical supply belt, grenade belt or something along those lines. Most belts offer normal-sized item storage, so there’s very little reason to not have a belt.
You have a ID slot. Usually it will have your dogtags or ship identification card in it. Leave this alone unless an officer starts bothering you about it. Its chief purpose (aside from opening doors) is setting your IFF to “Marine” so the automated defenses on the Almayer and deployed by ComTechs groundside don’t turn you into swiss chess.
You have a suit storage slot. I have no idea what this is. Is it a hook? A magnetic strip? A sling? An euclid abstraction of equipment jury-rigging? Who knows. But when you equip any exterior clothing (read: not an uniform or jumpsuit), this slot becomes accessible for use. Typically, this is where a marine running a standard loadout shoves his weapon. When using key bindings to draw your weapon, the key binding will favor whatever weapon is in this slot over others.
Finally, you have your “body slots”. Most of these are self-explanatory. But we’ll run through them anyway.
Body slot, for your uniform, jumpsuit, or similar. Special storage items called “webbings” can be attached to these to grant your uniform its own storage. The size of the item these storage slots can handle is determined by the webbing.
Armor slot, for anything that would be worn over your uniform, such as your standard-issue armor. Most armor comes with at least two storage slots that can handle small items.
Head slot, for wearing useful protection or identifying drip. A standard issue helmet can hold 2 useful items and 2 décor items.
Gloves slot, for gloves. Standard issue marine gloves have armor values, wear them!
Foot slot, for keeping your dogs in. Standard issue boots have armor values and a unique storage slot for a boot knife. Wear them!
Eye slot, for wearing eye protection or eye drip. Standard riflemen have no need to use this slot, so drip or drown. Not wearing the appropriate eye protection for certain tasks may result in eye damage.
Ear slots, you have two of these. The first ear is always employed with your standard issue com-link. The second ear is useful for sticking small objects in, like screwdrivers and penlights.
Mask slot, for wearing any type of mask. Also covers some neck items, like scarves. I have yet to find a single mask of any practical use, so drip or drown.
Interaction
The primary method for interacting with the world is clicking on the map or objects in the world. The nature of your interaction is often determined by what you’re already holding and what your intent is set to.
Intent is a simple system once you grasp it. There are 4 intents that do a good job of covering the breadth of any possible interaction you would want to have.
Help intent will usually help people! Such as shaking them awake if unconscious, CPR if they are not breathing, or just giving them a pat to make them feel better.
Disarm intent will try to wrestle the target, disarming them or pushing them to the floor. Incapable of doing damage on its own.
Grab intent will do it exactly what it says on the tin. You’ll try to grab hold of your target, which will take up one of your hand slots. Something that is grabbed will be pulled along with you as you go, at the cost of reduced movement speed for you.
Harm intent will do its best to inflict damage on your target. Be careful with this intent, especially when interacting with other marines. Beating someone to death is a good way to catch a “friendly” discussion with the military police.
The object in your hand may have a unique effect on your actions, the most important of these are firearms. Regardless of your intent, clicking on the map with a loaded firearm will almost certainly cause it to fire. Clicking a person or alien with a firearm in hand will have you aim for them.
As a side note, firearms are a type of item that have their already aggressive action upgraded by the harm intent. When clicking a target with a firearm in hand at point blank range will usually cause you to try and beat them to death with the weapon, if you do the same thing on harm intent, you’ll unload a round directly into the person in front of you, dealing extra damage. This is most often done on accident and is the leading cause of death of squad leaders everywhere.
Keybindings
I’ll spare you the trouble of listing all of the keybinds the game starts out with and quickly give you the most important ones for your day to day.
T – Opens the talking dialog box
L – Opens the “Local Out-of-Character” (LOOC) dialog box
O – Opens the “Out-of-Character” dialog box
E – Equip the item currently held in your hand. (Won’t function if there are no valid places to put the item on your person)
F – Pick up dropped items. If you ever fall over against your will, hit this when you stand up to get your crap back.
Q - Drops held items.
Z – Activate held item. (This lets you two hand your firearms)
1 – Changes to Help intent
2 – Changes to Disarm intent
3 – Changes to Grab intent
4 – Changes to Harm intent
Setting up a Character
Summary
When you first join CM13 for the first time, don’t sweat your character. Go into the set up menu and explore your options. The most important thing to do is give yourself a name you like and go into your “role preferences” and set Rifleman to HIGH. Next, go to your squad preferences and simply untick everything that isn’t “Alpha” or “Delta”. These are your standard assault squads, whose orders are usually no more complicated than “go here, kill everything.” The other squads will receive more complicated orders that require high cohesion and competency that you do not yet possess.
Click save, and that’s all you need to do. You can now either ready up (if the round hasn’t started) or “Join the USCM” to get into the game. Once you have a bit more awareness of what’s what, feel free to come back to the setup screen and make a more unique character.
As a note, CM13 is fine with giving your character a nickname, so long as it follows the format of: Firstname “Nickname” Surname. However, giving yourself an overly edgy name like “John “Reaper” Marine” is going to get you laughed at. In my opinion, the more memorable marines forgo nicknames.
Health
Summary
CM13 has a unique health system, it can be daunting but there’s a simple way to understand it.
You have 200 health. When you reach 0 health, you die. The sub-100 health state is known as “critical” or “crit”. You suffer a lot of negative debuffs while in critical, chief among them is being unconscious.
As a note, there is also something called “pain critical/paincrit”. A simple explanation is that if your character has too much untreated damage on them, they will be in enough pain to suffer the debuffs of critical. This explanation isn’t an exact 1:1 of what’s really happening, but its good enough for you for now.
Your armor will help mitigate incoming damage, however it does not make you invulnerable. It merely takes you from “I will die in two hits” to “I will break my bones in three hits”.
If you die, a nearby corpsman or medic will do their best to revive you. However, circumstances such as “the medic had their head removed” may complicate your revival. If you stay dead long enough, you will “perma” which simply means your death is now permanent and a medic can do nothing for you.
Don’t be upset if you die, it’s a design feature. Either join the xenos, wait for a respawn opportunity (as a different character), or just play something else until the next round.
Round Start Preparation
Summary
The marines have a round start prep cycle that affords them the opportunity to customize their individual loadouts. You, as a new player, do not have sufficient understanding of the game to do this. Yet. Don’t worry, there’s a simple bread and butter preparation to do while we work on your skills.
Jump out of hypersleep and follow the line of other unwashed marine bodies into your preparation room. You’ll see a lot of different rooms and venders here. The small rooms are for your comrades who have special duties and special equipment. Not you, your job is to shoot at the enemy and hopefully kill them.
Go further into the preparation until you see a line (or cube) of vending machines that look like they’re holding armor. These are the rifleman venders. Click on it and it will open a menu. (The menu may take a moment to open if its your first time playing!)
Click on all the options at the top that dispense (and automatically equip) your uniform, boots, gloves, and helmet. For your armor, you are after the “M3 Pattern Personal Armor”. It’s the midline between light and heavy armor. It boasts an additional storage slot compared to its compatriots. Speaking of, take that MRE you got and shove it into your armor. Its your field ration, you’ll want it later.
Next, we’ll grab a satchel and the “M276 Pattern Ammo Load Rig”. It’s the standard ammo option for rifleman and can hold 5 magazines. As each standard magazine for our rifle contains 40 bullets, it effectively allows you to fire your weapon 200 times on its own.
As for your pouches, we’re going to get the First-Aid Pouches, specifically the “Autoinjectors” and “Splints/Gauze/Ointments”.
The autoinjectors are simple. Imagine “brute” damage (getting cut, shot, slashed, and smashed) as red. The red injector has a medicine called “bicaridine” that will slowly heal such damage. The yellow injector has a medicine called “kelotane” that does the exact same thing, but for burns. Fire and acid burns both. Try to keep track of what kind of hits you are taking so you can take the right kind of medicine. The purple autoinjector is a painkiller, and it does exactly what you think it does. Having damage on your character causes pain, which inflicts a slew of debuffs, chief among them being a movement speed penalty.
Each injector has 3 shots loaded. Only ever use 1 shot at a time or you’ll overdose, killing yourself before the enemy gets the chance.
The exception to all the above rules is the emergency autoinjector. This is your “OH FUCK EVERYTHING IS RED, I’M BLEEDING, SHAKING, HELP” injector. It is overstocked with bicaridine, kelotane and oxycodone. Oxycodone is a significant upgrade from your normal painkiller in your other injector. That said, the emergency autoinjector assumes you have NO OTHER chemicals in your system when you inject it. Because its taking you straight to the overdose threshold for all 3 of these chemicals. Don’t use it if a medic is nearby. Don’t use it if you’ve been treated recently. It will kill you, but it will also save your life. It has a single shot loaded.
The other pouch has non-chemical solutions for the exact same problems. Gauze is for stopping bleeding, ointment is for burns. If you’re not sure what body part the damage is located on, help intent click yourself and you’ll see where it is. Use the limb targeter, then apply your healing item.
The splints are for stabilizing bone fractures. If you don’t stabilize these, you’ll lose reliable use of the limb at best, at worst the bone fractures will deal damage and kill you. Bone fractures deal their damage on movement, so sit still, splint up, then run into battle. If you’re not sure what bone is broken, help intent click yourself with an empty hand.
Those medical items are the most complicated part of your loadout. Its smooth sailing from here. If that medical voodoo is too complicated for you, just grab two magazine pouches and cram them full of ammo.
You will have some points to spend in the top right of this menu. Buy the M41A AP Magazines. If you are wearing your belt or backpack, the vender will magically dispense them straight into those storage containers. Start using the AP magazines when you encounter enemies larger than a rhino. Don’t use them on smaller enemies, as their effect is diminished.
From here, you’ll waddle over the next preparation room like the eager PVT you are. Run up the weapons vender and get yourself a “M41A pulse rifle MK2”. Marvel at this incredible piece of American engineering. Then, using the X hotkey, we’ll want to swap which hand slot is active, then vend ourselves a M41A magazine. With the magazine in your active hand, click the gun. It will load the weapon, congrats. You’re now officially armed and dangerous.
Hit X again to swap active hands, then E to slap your rifle into your suit slot. We’re about to vend more magazines of the same type. Shove them in your belt, shove 2 in your armor to keep your MRE company. You now have 280 bullets on you, not including the 40 in your gun.
Now, we have that satchel that is sad and empty. The same vending that bestowed you a firearm will have “marking flares” in it. Vend four-ish of these and shove them in your satchel. These contain flares that provide light, which is important because the USCM seem to only deploy at night. Additionally, as a PVT who doesn’t know a OT nade from a OB, its important you provide some utility that isn’t shooting people. Flares are universally useful to everyone. If its dark, throw flares around. Your squad members will appreciate it.
There’s an attachment vender in the prep as well, if you want to custom your rifle, I recommend a magnetic harness and an angled grip.
And that’s it. You are now equipped to be mildly dangerous and equally useful to your Squad. You’re a PVT, your squad members won’t expect much from you. Some of them may go out of their way to help you or keep you alive. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Communication
Summary
The Marines live or die based on well they can communicate and organize. To talk, simply hit the “T” button and type out your message to nearby marines.
If you wish to broadcast your message over your Squad Communications channel, simply place a semicolon ( ; ) before your message. If you have access to more than your Squad Communications for some reason, shift click your radio and a list will appear detailing the name and key for each of them. Simply place the listed key ( :j for example) in place of the semicolon to speak on that channel instead.
While you have that PVT tag next to your name, most marines will immediately realize you have no idea what you’re doing or what is going on. Most of them will go out of their way to answer your questions.
Basic Survival Instinct Development
Summary
To survive longer than 10 minutes into your first deployment, you need to rapidly cultivate an instinct for how the game is evolving around you. This takes a few rounds and dedicated attention to learning the flow of the game. In the meantime, rely on these simple questions to survive.
-
Am I near my Squad? Can they see me if I’m attacked?
-
Am I wounded? Am I moving slowly? Is there a Corpsman around?
-
How well can I see? Is most of my vision visible or hidden by darkness or obstacles?
-
Do I still have my weapon? Do I have at-least two more magazines for my weapon?
-
Where is my Squad Leader? What goal is the Squad trying accomplish?
-
Am I too far ahead of the rest of marines? Am I lagging behind?
If your answer to any of these questions is not ideal, do your best to immediately fix the problem. If you die while not making any of the above implied mistakes, then damn. Sometimes you just die, nature of the game. Don’t sweat it.
Finding Friends and Cades
Summary
On your screen, there will be a little box on the middle right of your view. This is your tracker. It will have an arrow in it that indicates the direction of its current target. A dot implies the tracker can’t find a direction to the target. As a rifleman it can track 3 important things for you.
The first thing it tries to track is your Squad Leader. As a general rule, this is the best mode to keep it in.
The second thing it can track is a Fireteam Leader. Your tracker will automatically switch to this mode if you are assigned to a fireteam by your Squad Leader or a Fireteam Leader.
The third it can track is the landing zone designated by the Command Staff. Marines almost always build a base around the landing zone, so if you’re truly lost, everyone else is dead, or worse, go for broke and head here.
To change which mode the tracker is in, simply alt-click it. If you click it without holding the alt key, it will give you a read out of your Squad composition and your squadmates’ names.
Firearms 101
Summary
You hopefully have a rifle. Its loaded with normal bullets. These bullets do not care if they are shot at an enemy or an ally. Friendly fire is not friendly.
Your rifle has 3 modes of fire, semi-automatic, burst, and automatic. Semi and burst fire on a per click basis. Automatic fires so long as the click is held down. You can change the fire modes with the little firearm buttons at the bottom of your screen. Most weapons with automatic fire loose accuracy over time. Let off the trigger and start firing again every 3-ish seconds to avoid this.
To avoid recoil (your screen shaking), hit Z with the rifle in your active hand to wield it with both hands.
When firing, be mindful of the position and movement of enemy and ally alike, as allies have a habit of jumping into your line of fire and enemies have a habit of jumping out of it.
Know Thy Allies
The USCM force is comprised of many marines and officers, some of them in unique roles and just a handful of them with authority.
Remember earlier when I said the individual is the weakest marine? That’s why you’re organized into your Squads. Of which there are potentially six, divided between 3 platoons.
Pay attention to the structure and purpose of each squad, as a marine alone is incredibly ineffective and vulnerable. To succeed as a team, you must be able to engage and obey the squad hierarchy. A Marine who runs off on his own will die alone, likely not to be revived.
Assault Platoon (Alpha & Delta)
Summary
The Assault Platoon is comprised of the Alpha and Delta squads. High number of members, four slots for Comtechs, four slots for Medics, two Smartgunners, two Specialists, two Fireteam Leaders*, one Squad Leader.
The Assault Squads are focused on one thing, manning the frontline. Be it an offensive spearhead into enemy territory or a desperate hold on the last line of defense. To that end, they are given numbers and specialized equipment far beyond the capabilities and scope of the other Platoons.
If you are a new player, this is where you should be. Ironically, fighting the enemy is the least complicated role on the marine side. Just follow orders when your Squad Leader starts barking orders.
Security Platoon (Bravo & Intelligence)
Summary
The Security Platoon handles the construction of a groundside forward operation base (FoB), usually on the Landing Zone. They are responsible for manning it as well. Typically, Bravo has the least to do, then having the most to do if the enemy reaches their position.
Intelligence is also considered a part of the Security Platoon, however, they do not operate like a typical squad and are entirely comprised of officers by default. They independently scour the colony for useful information to feed the onboard computers, which in turn supplies Command with Intel Points that can be used to unlock more supplies or new equipment.
Intelligence Officers (IOs) usually take care of their own business, don’t worry about them until Command politely asks you to recover their horrifically maimed corpses somewhere in enemy territory.
Support Platoon (Charlie, Kilo & Oscar)
Summary
The Support Platoon is special, as the amount of squad it has is directly tied to the current active server population. Charlie is always present, Kilo appears around 90, and Oscar around 100.
Support Squads can only ever have eight members. A Squad Leader, a Fireteam Leader, a ComTech, a Medic, and four riflemen.
Their primary purpose is to handle small, tactical objectives that, while important, would be a waste for the Assault Platoon to tackle. Things like recovering dead marines, repairing communications tower, fixing power, executing small flanks and other miscellaneous tasks.
For Support Squads to succeed, they need a high level of cohesion and competence. Consider them advanced marine gameplay for the dedicated.
Squad Roles
Inside each squad, there are roles to be filled. Each unique squad role has access to a special set of equipment to accomplish their purpose.
As a general rule, Specialists and Squad Leaders will receive the most scrutiny from Command, the community and Admins for their actions. This sounds scary, but usually only comes up when they fuck up so bad it derails an entire round. Which is hard to do by accident.
Riflemen
Summary
Riflemen are the simple building blocks through which all Squads derive the bulk of the offensive power. One riflemen isn’t worth that much, but you get 4 or more of them firing in the same direction? You have a considerable threat for the enemy to overcome.
Riflemen may have access to the least amount of specialized equipment, but on the other side of that coin, they are not expected to bring any equipment besides a weapon to the field, allowing them a high degree of loadout flexibility.
Tactically, riflemen are the foundational piece of the USCM and required for every aspect of its operation in the field. As a rifleman, you are a wall of meat and lead that, with some help, can crush anything within range of your rifle.
Combat Technicians
Summary
ComTechs are field engineers responsible both for the construction and demolition of structures during the operation. They will almost always have the full range of tools on their person. They can create fortifications to stall enemy pushes, repair said fortifications, and repair colony equipment in the field, repurposing it for USCM use.
The most important part of their kit is their support deployable, which most often takes the shape of an automated sentry gun or BRUTE rocket launcher, which is specialized in flattening enemy fortifications.
From a tactical point of view, in the same way it is the Corpsman’s job to heal damage, it could be said the ComTech’s primary job is to prevent damage before it happens. By controlling the movement of the enemy with cades and destruction of their fortifications, the ComTech can take a hopeless situation into a winnable fight.
Hospital Corpsmen
Summary
Corpsmen are field medics responsible for getting the injured back on the feet and snatching the dead from the pearly gates. They will always be equipped with an impressive stock of medical equipment and a miniature pharmacy in their pockets. Through the miracles of futuristic medicine, a Corpsman can take a dead man and put him back on the frontline in sub-5 minutes.
The most important part of their kit is debatable, but their best tools are their 15-use defibrillators that can revive the recently dead and their medievac stretcher, which allows marines to be rapidly shipped back to the Almayer for advanced treatment that can’t be given in the field.
Corpsmen are tactically indispensable and along with riflemen, are the spine of any field operation by the USCM. Without their efforts, any sustained deployment would result in mass casualty events and major loss for the USCM.
Smartgunner
Summary
Smartgunners are the specially trained wielders of the M56 Smartgun, a futuristic drum-fed heavy machinegun with IFF capability, meaning its bullets can path-find around friendly units. For this reason, Smartgunners should only be the spearhead very rarely, as they sacrifice their main advantage of being able to deal damage from behind marines while frontlining themselves.
A Smartgunner is almost always solely focused on their M56 Smartgun, which has many advanced capabilities beyond that of normal weapon issued to the marines. IFF aside, its capable of motion detection, automated ammo type recalibration, automated targeting, and more. However, it should be noted that the smartgunner, even with his AP capabilities, is weak against armored targets.
In a tactical sense, the Smartgunner’s primary weapons are suppression and intimidation. The enemy often fears taking sustained fire, even if their impressive armor can withstand it. The Smartgunner is sustained fire incarnate. A wall of bullets can do more to keep an enemy from beginning a push than actually stop one once it has begun.
Fireteam Leader
Summary
Fireteam Leaders are something like second-in-commands for the Squad Leader. They share much of the same equipment and capabilities as a Squad Leader, alongside a strong focus on JTAC (Calling in Gunship Fire Missions and Orbital Bombardments). In Assault Squads, Fireteam Leaders will divide the squad into fireteams, which they themselves are head of. These Fireteams can then act independently of one another at the direction of the Fireteam Leader.
FTLs derive much of their strength from flexibility. They are specially trained JTAC experts who can call in fire missions with greater speed than anyone else, on top of being specially trained as auxiliary ComTechs. In a pinch, a FTL can set up fortifications, repair colony systems and more.
Fireteam Leaders have two main tactical functions, the first being the already stated second-in-commands of Squad Leaders. They can issue orders and be relied upon for guidance while the Squad Leader is elsewhere or neck deep in enemies. Secondly, due to their kit, if the Squad Leader falls, they can replace the Squad Leader with minimal loss in functionality.
Specialists
Summary
The most unique field troops the Almayer is capable of deploying, the four specialists are the highly trained elite of the Assault Platoon. Each Specialist is a master of their weapon and craft, capable of incredible feats of destruction or strategic upheaval. That said, due to their specialty, a Specialist can not be replaced if they fall in battle.
While Specialists are certainly cut from a different cloth than most of the other members of the Squad, they are not exempt from taking orders. When the Squad Leader tells them to do something, they best obey.
There are many types of Specialists, so we will briefly cover all currently available types the Almayer is known to deploy.
The Demolitionist is a Specialist equipped with the devasting anti-armor M5 RPG launcher. Sometimes called the SADAR (a former classification of the RPG), the Demo boasts the highest single target stun within the USCM. His primary job is the extermination of high-armor targets in the field, be they tank or crusher.
When working with the Demo, be mindful that standing behind him is a bad idea, due to his backblast. Standing infront of him is an even worse idea, as getting clipped by the Demo is one way to get gibbed, meaning no revival will be possible. However, give him a clear line of sight and he can stun any high-armor enemy target long enough to put it in its grave.
The Demo can conscript a rifleman to become his loader. They typically serve as the Demo’s guard and rocket mule. However, their primary help is that they can reload the RPG much faster than the Demo can on his own, allowing more rapid fire.
The Scout is a Specialist equipped with the incredible M4RA Custom Battle Rifle and M68 Thermal Cloak. The Scout’s cloak allows for near perfect invisibility from visible and thermal spectrums. Additionally, their custom battle rifle can deal out repeated heavy damage from custom milled high-velocity rounds that put light targets in a daze. However, while his thermal cloak is active, he can’t bring his weapons to bear.
The Scout typically works alone, as being invisible and in front of a rifleman is a good way to get shot. To combat this, he has a unique communications rig inside his helmet, which allows him to use it as a long-range radio, even when communications are down. Sadly, its operation is rather loud and distinct, so don’t call the Scout. Let him call you.
The Sniper is a Specialist equipped with the far-reaching M42A Scoped Rifle and thermal ghillie suit. The Sniper is capable of dealing an incredible amount of damage per shot, and save for his flak rounds, relatively ignores armor. With his ghillie suit, he can become stationary to gain an accuracy bonus and near invisibility.
When working with the Sniper, you’ll probably be no where near him. But, if he’s watching while you duke it out, the Sniper may be able to land a killing shot on a heavily armored, confident enemy before they can pull out to heal.
The Sniper can conscript a rifleman to become his spotter, granting that rifleman his own ghillie suit, NVGs, and most importantly, his spotter binos. These allow him to shorten the sniper’s aim time by half if he paints the target beforehand.
The Anti-Material Sniper is a variant of the Sniper Specialist, with much of the same equipment save for their primary rifle. The XM43E1 experimental anti-material rifle. The primary distinction is that the anti-material rifle boasts a much higher base damage and the capability to penetrate obstacles in the path of the target. However, it loses damage by % per penetration.
The Grenadier is a Specialist equipped with the M92 grenade launcher and the M3-G4 personal armor. The Grenadier is the king of control, primarily through the use of stunning explosives and incendiary grenades. His armor is also the toughest in the marine armory, allowing him to sustain hits that would butcher other marines. Importantly, his grenade launcher can fire over marines and enemy alike, allowing him to put grenades behind an enemy line, either cutting off retreat or exploding them towards a marine firing line.
The Grenadier is primarily a defensive creature. He is at his best when the enemy has to come at him. While in this state, simply stand near him and fire at anything he stuns. If you’re on an advance and the Grenadier is near, let him go first. His armor will protect him. Hopefully.
The Pyrotechnician is a Specialist equipped with the M240-T incinerator and M35 armor. His incinerator allows the Pryo to rapidly cycle fuel types and sustain pressure over long distances. His armor prevents him from being set on fire, and is equipped with a fire shield to negate the damage from walking on flaming tiles all together. He can use standard flame, an armor weakening green flame, or a difficult to extinguish blue napalm.
When working with the Pyro, have a fire extinguisher handy. He’s probably going to set you or a friend on fire, it will probably be an accident. However, yell at him if he’s stalling a push. A Pyro using his flamer as a rifle is just as dangerous a mine field. That said, the Pyro is a phenomenal asset on the defense, as most enemy units are unable to advance over ground he is defending.
That said, if there were say, some kind of enemy that was immune to fire, the Pyro would be uniquely in danger of being grabbed and dragged beyond his own fire wall, where he can not be rescued by his allies.
The SHARP is a Specialist equipped with the P9 SHARP rifle and M3-G4 Personal Armor. Their rifle is something like a claymore launcher. It sends out darts that activate based on IFF proximity activation. Save for the flechette dart, which effectively works like a shotgun.
Admittedly, the SHARP is another area control Specialist, but he does his job a little worse than the Pyro and Grenadier do. He is not in charge of when his explosives go of, like the grenadier who has a set timer. Nor can he cover multiple tiles at will like the Pyro. I am unsure of their utility. Most enemy units know what the darts look like and simply walk around them, trigger them intentionally, or ignore them.
Squad Leader
Summary
The Squad Leader is perhaps the most important member of any Squad, not because of damage output or special equipment, but because of their authority. The Squad Leader is the bridge between the front and the Combat Information Center (CIC) on the Almayer. While they often receive orders from the Commander, their opinion on the current situation and strategy recommendations are considered highly valuable to the Command Staff. Often times, the best operations incorporate good CIC strategy with Squad Leader input.
On the ground, the Squad Leader’s primary task is promoting cohesion in the squad. Without a figurehead, most Squads will scatter, find their way to the frontline and die in pointless skirmishes. Remember earlier when I said the weakest marine is the individual? The Squad Leader’s entire job is making sure the marines work as a team and not mavericks that will die in seconds on the wrong side of the colony.
The Squad Leader’s other job, besides coordinating his squad and talking to Command, is keeping an eye out for opportunities to utilize Close Air Support (CAS) and Orbital Bombardments (OBs). A clever placement of either of these can turn the tide of an offensive or save a desperate defensive hold.
Tactically speaking, SLs are the lynchpins of most operations. They are much more aware of Command’s wishes and the general state of the battlefield than any other individuals on the field, save perhaps a deployed Commanding Officer. If a Squad is responsive to a SL’s orders, more often than not, he can use them to great effect.
Almayer Staff
Not every member of the USCM will deploy groundside during an operation. Many of the most important people during the operation will never leave the ship. However, as a rifleman you don’t need a detailed breakdown for these guys like you needed for your squad roles, but you’ll get a brief overview.
Command
Summary
Command is comprised of roughly 2-6 individuals that oversee the operation from the Almayer’s Combat Information Center (CIC).
The lowest on the totem pole are Staff Officers (SOs) who are typically in charge of Overwatch (OW) of a Squad. This means they keep tabs on the Squad, their needs, position, orders and so on.
The Executive Officer (XO/Captain) is often the man actually running the Operation’s play-by-play. He rarely, if ever, will deploy moreso due to his circumstances rather than lack of desire. The XO often has a lot to juggle, if he is low on Staff Officers, he’s likely trying to do the work of 3 people at once.
The Commanding Officer (CO/Major) is the person in-charge of the entire USS Almayer, the ship and marines alike. Often, they will choose to lead their marines from the frontlines and leading the charge. Rarely, you find a CO who prefers a strategist’s role inside the CIC over deployment.
Requestions & Support
Summary
Support Roles manage supplies, deployments, and CAS. They are responsible for making sure men, supplies, ammo, and ordinance land where they are supposed to.
The Auxiliary Support Officer is chief of these people, often helping them get their departments in order or even running them in absence of the proper staff. In the absence of absences, the ASO often finds themselves keeping an eye on the Intelligence Officers and their materials.
The Pilot Officers run the Dropship (Dropship Pilot) and the Gunship (Gunship Pilot). They do exactly what their job titles imply. One of them runs the Dropship, the Alamo. One of them runs the Gunship, the Normandy.
Dropship Crew Chiefs are effectively assistants to the Pilot Officers. In a pinch, they can pilot the dropships when the Pilot Officers are otherwise occupied. (Or dead.)
The Quartermaster is in charge of Requestions and the supply of the entire Almayer. He sends supplies to the operation via his own deployment chute and the CIC’s. Often perpetually annoyed.
Cargo Technicians are the subordinates of the Quartermaster and actually do the work of Requestions, moving crates around, vending supplies, and making sure they go where they are supposed to.
The Mess Technician is the Almayer’s Chef! He prepares your food when you wake up and heroically dies somehow every operation.
Medical
Summary
Medical is in charge of fixing the infinite supply of injured, maimed and infected marines that come up from the field. They also responsible for researching things, suppling Corpsman with specialized medicine and 90% of all HR complaints USCM High Command receives.
The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) oversees medical, research and chemistry. Often perpetually annoyed. They have a special authority over medical matters in the platoon.
Doctors treat everyone who manages to stagger their way into medical and sends them back into the field as good as new. Aside from permanent death, there’s nothing they truly can’t fix through the wonders of modern medicine.
Nurses are assistants to the doctors, still learning their craft.
Researchers are devils in human skin, always trying to get themselves blown up, infected, or bribed. Occasionally, they produce chemical miracles so potent they turn the tide of the operation in the marine’s favor on their own merit.
Military Police
Summary
These people exist to annoy marines and valiantly defend the Commanding Officer. They often fail at the latter and succeed at the former.
Chief Military Police is the guy with the stunbaton up his ass 24/7. Do not have a sense of humor around him or he will brig you, causing you to miss first drop.
Military Police are the guys in the red berets with half a stunbaton up their ass. Don’t have fun near them. It causes them to enter a neurotic rage.
Synthetic
Summary
The Synthetic is a special WY automaton with incredible skills and equipment. It’s also a robot, and cannot love you back.
The Synth can do almost everything. Besides hold a gun. Have you played Detroit Become Human? Don’t give the robot a gun. The only smart thing WY has ever done is programming them in such a way they don’t understand how to fire one.
Other than that, the Synth is programmed with strict adherence to USCM Marine Law and Standard Operating Procedures. It will almost always go out of its way to help you if you’re in trouble. However, it may not assist you if it views the move as suicidal.
You’ll know an individual is a Synthetic if they only have a first name without a surname.
Know Thy Enemy
XX-121 / Xenomorphs are the typical enemy you will face as a marine, simply because that is what the server is all about. Man versus Alien.
Xenomorphs have a lot going for them that you don’t. I won’t bore you with all the minute details, but here’s a quick set of bullet points of major advantages they have over you.
-
Xenomorphs are inherently harder than marines, most sporting atleast some armor and higher health pools.
-
Xenomorphs do not rely on technology for communication and are immune to hive-wide communication disruption, with one exception.
-
Xenomorphs have simultaneous dark and thermal vision, meaning that they can always see you if you’re nearby.
-
Xenomorphs have incredibly resilient bodies and can not suffer organ damage, bone breaks, or any of the other debuffs humans can suffer.
-
Xenomorphs rapidly heal when outside of combat and on resin, meaning that damaging them without killing them only serves to force them to temporarily retreat.
-
Xenomorphs are parasitic, and can increase their numbers by capturing marines and infecting them with a facehugger. Thus, xenomorphs can respawn.
-
Xenomorphs can not disobey orders without severe consequences (unlike you). This may seem a disadvantage at first, but it means that Xenomorph Leaders (Queens) that are competent strategists will less often be foiled by their subordinates acting against their wishes.
-
Xenomorphs have many different castes suited for a diverse set of situations, each with different abilities. Its difficult to stop a Hive when their composition is suited to the situation at hand.
The Hive has other advantages, but these are the main ones that you need to concerned about. Effectively, despite the massive marine numbers advantage at the start of any given round with decent server population (100~), the marines are always playing on hard mode if the Xeno players are even mildly competent.
This portion of the guide will largely focus on each type of Xenomorph you will encounter in the field. However, before that we will discuss some general information and tips.
Basic Threat Assessment
Summary
You need to rapidly learn how to evaluate your enemy and the level of threat you are facing at any time. Even one xenomorph can kill multiple marines if the xenomorph catches you at a bad moment.
As a general rule, assume 1 T1 (T is for Tier, so in this case, Tier 1) xeno is worth 2 marines, 1 T2 xeno is worth 3 marines, and 1 T3 xeno is worth 5 marines. Below is a general list of situations where the xenomorph is more likely to win than you are.
- If you are in the dark, the xeno has advantage.
- If you are alone or in a small group, the xeno has advantage.
- If you are wounded or moving slowly, the xeno has advantage.
- If you are completely unaware of the xeno’s presence, the xeno has advantage.
- If you are a SHARP Operator, the xeno has advantage.
- If you are in a confined area with little open space and tight firing angles, the xeno has advantage.
- If your Squad is isolated and far from other marines, the xeno has advantage.
Here’s an inverted list where you have advantage over the xenos.
- If you are in a well-lit area with next to no darkness, you have advantage.
- If you are in a large group (one that is spread out over multiple screens worth of tiles), you have advantage.
- If you are behind cades, you have advantage.
- If you have a smartgunner with you, you have advantage.
- If you have a Specialist (or two) with you, you have advantage.
- If you have a mortar or CAS (Close Air Support) helping you, you have advantage.
- If you are in an open space or field with little to no cover, you have advantage.
- If your Squad is positioned near another squad, you have advantage.
If you can evaluate your situation on the above criteria, you will generally have a decent idea of where you’re at in terms of safety. Sometimes you will have to risk danger to progress an offensive or execute a risky maneuver, so don’t think you will need to be safe 100% of the time.
The Hive
Summary
Xenomorphs are organized in a Hive structure with roughly 5 tiers, starting from 0 and climbing to 4. The Hive is hierarchical, with the Queen having absolute authority over all of the Hive and designated Leaders have minor authority to make decisions on the front, similar to a marine Squad Leader.
The Xenos communicate using a Hivemind, a single channel they all have access to and can speak on. Typically the single channel improves their battlefield awareness. Alongside the Queen’s absolute authority to dictate the Hive’s actions, they have a much easier time organizing themselves and executing maneuvers than the marines do.
The tiers indicate the evolution progress of an individual xenomorph. As a general rule, the higher tier a Xenomorph is, the more dangerous they are. For Xenos to be able to evolve, the Queen has to be immobile with a grown oviposter. A Xeno can only evolve into castes that its initial evolution from larva has access to. For example, a runner can always become a lurker, but never a spitter.
Most xenomorph castes (their forms) have variant strains that change their loadout and statistics. This rarely changes their role significantly, usually just changing how they accomplish it.
The Queen
Summary
The Queen is the ruler of the Hive and is often responsible for the Hive’s successes or failures. She is one of the few members of the unofficial Tier 4 inside the Hive. Outside of her various duties and responsibilities during a round, the Queen’s physical presence does a variety of things.
-
The Queen serves as the Xenomorph’s Communications Tower. If she falls in battle, the Hivemind collapses and the Hive loses its ability to communicate over distance.
- While on Oviposter, the Hivemind is enhanced and grants all xenos access to the tactical map of the colony, with all current xenomorph positions marked on the map.
-
The Queen, while on her oviposter, produces eggs, evolution points, and powerful pheromones that can be transmitted through Hive leaders.
- As for the pheromones, they are powerful buffs for the xenos. The most often encountered buff from the Queen is known as “Recovery”, which lowers xeno stun times and rapidly increases their healing rate. If she is not on her oviposter, the Queen can produce the pheromones herself, but the Leaders lose their pheromone aura.
-
The Queen is capable of exiling xenomorphs from the Hive for disobeying or disrespecting her. The existence of this punishment keeps most xenomorphs in line, as an exiled xenomorph will be hunted down and killed by the rest of the Hive. It is almost always a death sentence.
-
The Queen can remotely heal and transfer her plasma (xeno ability resource) to other xenos while on Oviposter. Doing either is an expensive chore for her, so she can’t do it too frequently. If you’re wondering how xenos are getting back up so fast after you just dropped a maelstrom of bullets on them, she’s probably healing them. The Queen can not heal a xeno that’s actively on fire.
Outside of these passive effects on the round, the Queen is well-placed and well-equipped to observe the proceedings of any given round. She can see any location with either xenos or their resin weeds present. You can tell if she’s peeking around if the resin weeds on the ground start shifting rapidly.
However, she can not inherently sense the location of marines on the map. She must rely on her fast moving scouts to report locations of marine movements to her. Most Queen Players are highly familiar with the flow of the game and are capable of predictive reasoning, so don’t ever assume the Queen isn’t aware of your location.
The Queen is the greatest enemy the marine force faces while on ground. She is a formidable combatant on her own, often well-informed, and capable of moving the entire Hive as she sees fit. In combat, she has armor equal to other Tier 3’s, paralyzing neurotoxic spit, a high-damage slash, and a AoE screech that can stun marines for several seconds.
As a new player, you’ll be able to know when the Queen is nearby when you hear loud stomps nearby. The ideal strategy for such a situation is to go the opposite direction or bunch up with other marines with a decent bit of buffer distance between you and her.
Her main weakness is her bulk. The Queen may be well armored and dangerous, but she’s also slow and the size of a house. Her hitbox includes any tile her sprite touches. (Which means her hitbox should be roughly 2 by 3 tiles). If a large group of marines can collectively gun her down while she is exposed, the Queen has poor odds of escaping as the marines are much faster than she is.
The Tiers and Castes
Tier 0
Tier 0 is an unofficial tier that has three members, the Larva, Lesser Drone and Facehugger. These types of xenos are both controlled by players, but have such weak stats that the Almayer’s Mess Technician could probably take them on with his kitchen knife.
Summary
The Lesser Drone is a type of Xenomorph spawned directly from the Hive Core. They can’t do much more than build and tend to the Hive, such as planting eggs and repairing damage. If you see one, laugh at them. If you see one trying to fight, laugh harder. A couple of rounds to its chest and it will explode in a shower of acidic gore.
The Facehugger is the more dangerous of the two Tier 0’s. Its not a direct combatant and can not survive off of weeds for very long. However, they can shadow backliners and wait for stronger xenos to drop marines to the ground and latch on, infecting them. On their own they are nothing. Shoot them once and they die.
The Larva is the weakest xenomorph form, but can evolve into a T1 xenomorph given some time. They cannot attack, but are relatively nimble. Kill them on sight before they become real threats.
Tier 1
Tier 1 represents the weakest caste of the Hive that are actually considered real xenomorphs. Don’t let this fool you, tier 1 xenomorphs are deadly combatants and underestimating them can cost you your life. Save for the Defender, none of the T1 Xenos have armor.
Summary
The Drone is a non-combatant support xenomorph. They can do a variety of things, such as spread weeds, build, refuel other xenos and heal them. While not a direct threat to you, some drone strains can heal the most lethal of xenos in moments, so kill them when you can.
The Runner is a fast scout and skirmisher capable of easily wounding or killing marines that are on their own. They can tackle single targets to the ground for a few cheap shots. They can zoom in their vision similar to a sniper’s scope and launch bone spurs from their tail, which slow marines who are hit. A runner is most easily killed when immobilized, so stun it with a grenade or shotgun slug. They don’t have much health.
Runners also possess one of the most significant strain variants, the Acid Runner, which is an armored version of the runner without the pounce. Acid Runners build up acid through attacking enemies, then can use their reserves to suicide bomb marine fortifications or emplacements, spreading a large amount of acid gas as they do so.
The Sentinel is a ranged skirmisher that can drop marines for a short time with a neurotoxic spit. In melee, they can coat their claws with neurotoxic to paralyze nearby marines, though it takes two hits to fully execute. Sentinels can be killed easily if alone, just keep sustained fire on them.
The Defender is a bulky frontliner with large armored chitin and an even more heavily armored head-crest. They are bullet sponges designed to act as mobile cover and vanguards for offensives from the Hive. In melee, they can sweep the feet out from under marines in an AoE spin attack and headbutt targets for damage and knockback. In a pinch, they can bunker down, becoming immune to stuns, resistant to explosives and set their armor value to 65, which is very very high.
To kill a defender, you will likely need the coordinated efforts of 2-3 marines and sustained fire. They are slower than most marines though, making them easy prey when alone.
Tier 2
Tier 2 represents the middle point for xeno evolution. The Hive can only support so many T2 at a time, but you can expect to see plenty of them. Many members of the Hive will cease evolving once they reach tier 2, simply because they are more comfortable in the forms and because the Hive can only support an even more limited amount of T3.
Summary
The Carrier is a drone evolution that focuses on infecting marines, rather than killing them. They can carry many facehuggers and eggs on their person. They can use these huggers to fill traps they can make under items. So be sure you’re right clicking on tiles with weeds and clutter, as a carrier has likely slipped a facehugger under one of them. A trap can be destroyed by shooting it, but then the facehugger will need to be shot as well. Be mindful of this when using weapons with a low rate of fire.
Usually, facehuggers decay when outside an egg or off weeds, but the Carrier can indefinitely support them on their body. Be careful when you kill one, as their face huggers will drop and try to infect you.
The Burrower is a drone evolution that acts as a backline sapper. They can create tunnels that Xenos can travel through, acid traps similar to a carrier, melt equipment, and stun marines with an AoE by slamming their bulk into the ground. Despite having armor, the burrower is not an impressive combatant and can be killed by simply stunning it before it burrows into the ground to escape.
The Hivelord is a drone evolution that acts as a fortification engineer. They can rapidly create upgraded resin structures with higher health. A Hivelord, left alone too long, can turn an open field into a claustrophobic resin death trap. They can move rapidly on weeds in exchange for plasma, but are very poor combatants. Stun and execute.
The Lurker is a runner evolution that acts as an assassin. They can turn themselves nearly invisible, pounce on prey, and inflicted major damage or death before escaping. While invisible, they have heightened movement speed. Additionally, they can queue up a critical hit that does 20% more damage and inflicts a slow debuff on the target for 3.5 seconds.
A notable strain to be aware of is the Vampire Lurker, which has distinct red coloring. It can not turn invisible, but it can heal on strike. Kill it fast!
The Lurker is almost uncontested in 1v1 encounters, due to its ability to repeatedly stun targets and high damage output. Your best bet to kill them is to stun and sustain fire. Fire is especially useful on Lurkers, as their distance from healing resin on the backline forces them to retreat quickly before they die.
The Warrior is a defender evolution that acts as a frontline warrior. They are versatile combatants capable of punching, lunging, and flinging marines around. Their punch deals damage, slows, and knock the target back one tile. Their lunge instantly puts a marine in a choke hold, stuns them, and allows them to instantly start dragging the marine off. Their fling allows them to throw a marine 3 tiles away, harmless unless they collide against something or are throw into xeno clutches.
The Warrior has armor and a decent health pool. They are relatively quick and agile. Your best bet is to way for a warrior to lunge, and shoot it before it realizes its made a mistake and drops its grab. While Warriors have someone in a grab, they lose most of their speed.
The Spitter is a sentinel evolution that acts as an frontline harasser. Its not particularly deadly on its own, but it is excellent at inflicting just enough damage at range to slow pushes and stall marines. If it sneaks into a marine base, it will melt everything it can find into useless glop. As usual, steal its mobility, catch it off guard, then sustain fire.
Tier 3
Tier 3 contains the biggest, baddest, and most lethal caste the Hive can produce under normal circumstances. If you see a T3, go into high alert because it means the frontline just came to you. Unless on special orders, the T3 xenomorphs will always been found where the fighting is the thickest.
The Hive can’t handle many T3 being active at once. As far as I can tell, the ratio is about 5 to 1, xenomorphs total pup to T3 slot. This is another reason to avoid getting captured, because if you feed the Hive more xenos, its capability to support more T3 at once will grow as well.
Summary
The Boiler is a spitter evolution that acts as a biological artillery unit. They possess the ability to hurl globs of acid or neurotoxin over long distances to bombard marine positions. Do not assume neurotoxin isn’t lethal. It will paralyze your lungs and kill you if you stand in it too long. Boilers also possess the strongest acid in the game, and if are left uncontested will melt holes through any defensive line.
The Boiler has one unique weakness. It is bioluminescent and can be seen from afar with the aid of scopes or binoculars. Paint him with a CAS laser or sniper fire and he’s likely to find somewhere else to be. While armored, the Boiler has the least amount of Tier 3.
The Crusher is a warrior evolution that acts as a tank with legs. They possess incredible armor and health reserves that allow them to ignore incoming fire for sustained periods. They can charge, which allows them to suddenly cover distance and ram into their victims, dealing considerably damage. Crushers can also activate a defensive shield that enhances their armor, allowing them to ignore incoming damage for a time.
Crushers are tanks, in every sense of the word, including the drawback of being slow and vulnerable to armor-piercing shots. When they are not charging, they don’t do that much damage. The best way to kill a crusher is to let it charge, then throw a bunch of marine bodies in the way of its retreat. It’ll get stuck, surrounded, and killed.
The Despoiler is a spitter evolution that acts as a shock trooper. They specialize in applying acid stacks to marine targets, which deals damage over time and reduces the effectiveness of their armor. They do this via melee combos that increase acid stack potency and duration. They are exceptionally quick for a T3 and have high damage potential, along with the ability to strip helpful chemicals from marine bloodstreams.
Despoilers may be very dangerous melee combatants and very quick, but like all agile xenos, stripping their mobility is the key to defeating them quickly. Grenades, rockets, CAS and fire can all put a despoiler in a dangerous situation, especially since they do not have as much armor as most T3.
The Praetorian is a warrior/spitter evolution that acts as a versatile line soldier, capable of handling multiple roles in combat. Their main strength is having significantly more strains available for use than most castes and a solid stat foundation. Its difficult to discuss the Praetorian without discussing its strains, so we’ll do that.
Base Praetorian is a jack of all trades with decent speed, melee damage, acid spray and an acid spit grenade that sprays in all directions from its point of impact.
Vanguard is a frontline variant that can jump over enemies, slash them where they land, fling marines around, root them in place, and run multiple marines through with their tail if they are lined up.
Dancer is a combo oriented variant that can rapidly increase their speed per slash landed. They can impale single targets with their tail, walk through other xenos and marines, and trip marines.
Oppressors (sometimes called Fishers by marines) can fling their tail out an abduct marines from afar, pulling them close. From there, they can punch them, knock them back, or seize them with their tail to pull them ever closer.
Valkyries can emit pheromones, remove debuffs on xenos, save downed allies, and buff allies with more armor.
The Ravager is a lurker evolution that acts as a frontline butcher that is more than capable of fighting and killing multiple marines at once. They excel in frontal confrontation in tight spaces, dealing high damage and buffing themselves depending on the number of enemies around.
Ravagers possess many strains, but the one that will get you killed the most often is the Hedgehog who can release bone shrapnel. What will get you killed is when a ravager runs up to you with a blue shield icon above it, STOP FIRING. Every time it takes damage in this state, it will release bone chips around it, killing your allies who are nearby!
The best way to kill a ravager is to bait it. Most of them go in too deep, and if you can block their retreat or run them down with armor piercing rounds, you can nab a kill.
Epilogue
That’s it! If you read and retain half this guide you will be in a better spot than most who join the server blind. I know it was a lot to read, but you made it. Good luck, happy shooting! If you have further questions, ask a mentor in the discord or your fellow marines in-game.
Note: I plan to add a “Know Thy Battlefield” Section but I couldn’t be assed to draw on the maps on a Tuesday. When I come back to add that, I’ll slap in item, marine, and xeno images next to the appropriate sections.
I also pasted this from a google doc so good luck formatting lol. (Adjusted format from suggestions)
