So, I’ve been wanting to get into IO and Commando FTL, but my fighting skills are extremely mid.
Although I have a good couple hundred hours of playtime on CM13 I am still intermediate in combat at best. Often times, what happens is I get pounced on three times before I even fire a shot.
What are some good techniques, methods and loadouts to survive in the backline.
M39 is the king of backline, NVGs or MD or igniter+proximity sensor assembly is also good to have, a few flares which you use sparingly is also very good if you dont have NVGs, make sure the gamma is suited to the place you are playing in, the game is dark and if you are in a bright room its VERY hard to see lurkers. its a special skill that you can develop which lets you dodge a lot of backliners pounces and slashes, i cant describe it but sometimes a marine will just get pushed by 4 xenos to safety, you want to learn how to move like that marine.
loadouts are really like, what you want to do in the backline
bring a shotgun or flamethrower and a mk2/m39/m4ra
M39 sounds really compelling, yeah. As Commando FTL I imagine moving with a small fireteam to tackle objectives like sensors or just be a pain in the ass.
The loadout I imagine is the same for my SL, which is ammo belt, sling pouch with MD, machete pouch, while leg pouch and RTO pack have all the other essentials.
Moving onward, I just need to get good now. Time to walk in the backline as rifleman and fistfight lurkers until I succeed.
If you get pounced more than once you’re dead, if you get pounced once you can die to bone fracture RNG.
Your main goal is to use meds, shotgun (typically UBS), AP ammo (either MK2 or M39) to scare the Lurker away or pull a fighting retreat to safety.
Your other goal is to just never fight the Lurker. Your MD goes off and you leave the area.
So, what’s the current pay on the lurker gang sponsored posts? I’ve used up all my xenocoins on nuggets and unlimited REE packs. You should always prefer normal ammo over AP when dealing with lurkers, because the normal lurker is unarmored, while for vamp only the M39 AP deals slightly more damage over normal, but vamp is mostly a joke and M39 AP is rare enough now that you want to conserve it.
What do you mean AP ammo
they don’t have armour, vamps (which have 20) are also at the break even point between Mk2 REG and AP ammo so there’s no reason to use AP against any lurker strain
As for shotguns, imo if you’re able to carry a shotgun as a secondary you ought to, the stun capability is just too good to pass up, especially after the UBS got nerfed
man you posted cringe lurker has ZERO armor, using AP against lurker is handicapping your DPS
You want to avoid guns and attachments that have + wield delay and speed penalties like EB, stocks, etc unless you think its absolutely necessary for your kit, as you will get eternally stunlocked by runners, m39 is the best chase weapon, m4ra can also do the trick. Flamers are probably your best bet at consistently killing backliners, if you light them on fire you should almost always chase them. Bring light armor, md and binoculars. 1v1ing lurkers is already a uphill battle, bring a buddy. runners are relatively easy to deal with. OT claymores can also be really good if you bait them.
To fight lurkers you gotta take shotgun, put gyro, stock, choke and reflex sight, fill it exclusively with slugs, all of that for faster one handed firerate. M39 with brace, barrel charger, 2x scope and underbarrel extinguisher as a sidearm for accurate long range one-handed fire with a lot of damage. Of course load AP for that additional armor penetration.
If you are a fan of the classic, then MK2, full stock, bipod, 4x scope and extended compensator, obviously loaded with AP. Then for a sidearm pick revolver with stock, barrel charger, smart scope and laser sight, load that marksman ammo for better accuracy.
Wear Heavy Armor to HEAVILY decrease damage so that you won’t get broken feet, or hand from a single pounce. Take signal flares with you instead of regulars, so that CAS can get you covered too.
Trust the Elbonian-born USCM Prime Minister of Cloacked Lurker And Warrior Scenario - Madethi Spost.
You do not fistfight lurkers. You shoot them with a shotgun!
Take off your armor and make them cry because they’re slower than you off weeds
While playing as an IO if my MD pings I stop what I am doing and start running for my life to the nearest marines.
I also enjoy shocking every single door I walk past in the backline.
Night visions, motion detector, light armour.
Going after lurkers solo is a good way to be timed put in Dchat.
You’re practically playing alien isolation.
If you’re hellbent on it. Incend weapons, claymores, and sentries will help.
Bringing a friend will increase your chances of survival by at leazt 75%
i like M39 arm-brace so that backliners dont make me drop my gun
Yeah honestly the single most valuable piece of advice in this thread for surviving the backline is to have a competent battle buddy who regularly shakes you up
So many xeno abilities are just completely nullified by having a person who can click on you when you’re horizontal
Pounced? Shake.
Crippling-slash super slowed? Have your buddy chase or force a disengage.
What’s the lurker going to do?
If you encounter Lurker Team 6 though just give up and die, unless you have one of the handful of solo-hive fraggers with you, you’re going to have a bad time.
wait, why put 2x scope and brace together on an m39? you need both hands to zoom, and the recoil goes up when you use both hands while the arm brace is extended.
Correct answer is to not be alone. Having a teammate increases your chance of survival by WAY more than 75% for sure. Shake cancels stun and this is the only thing lurker has.
But let’s imagine the question is “how to solo lurkers”.
First of all, to win 1v1 against a lurker you need to avoid its main skill (that basically is made to win 1v1), you need to dodge the pounce. The easiest way to dodge the pounce is to be fast. So light armor or even better no armor is what you need. There are fraggers that are extremely good at movement prediction who can dodge even in heavy armor though.
Pounce has a 5 seconds CD and lurker will run out of invisibility eventually. Plus the more lurker misses, the more irritated it gets, and tends to miss more. So keep dodging and shooting.
The best guns are the ones that don’t have wield slowdown, so it’s m39 and m4ra. You can outrun a lurker off weeds with these weapons. Shotgun is very good if you hit PB on the lurker (LRB also works as it still applies slowdown), and a missed pounce is the best opportunity (you still need sidearm to finish the lurker off though). It’s possible to PB/LRB the lurker mid-pounce. Flamer can work, it also helps to control the battlefield. If you lit the lurker on fire, he most likely will try to run away, if you also land a few shots on the lurker, he will likely die. GL/UGL is another interesting choice that can work, as nade stun also applies huge slow. Airburst nades can basically one shot because they are broken.
If you fight an invisible lurker, switch your MD to short range. Shoot at pings. Spray and pray actually. Lurker doesn’t have much health and CANNOT really afford to tank damage. So just shooting in the darkness may force the lurker to disengage, unless he gets cocky (but then it’s way easier to kill the lurker if he’s wounded).
If you got pounced it’s usually over. Unless it is not. If you are premeded (ideally on as much meds you can put in your blood, so tric, myraline, etc) you can actually survive several pounces if lurker cannot immediately follow up with slashes after you get up: shoot the lurker to make him wait for invis CD for pounce, invis CD is quite long so you can regen a lot of HP in the meantime. Keep trying to dodge the pounce, move unpredictably. You will be slow (from pounce slowdown and fracs), but pounce is never guaranteed to hit. Armor also helps with this strategy, as it’s easier to avoid paincrit.
So bottomline, be premeded, shoot non-stop, move unpredictably.
