DISCLAIMER
This guide does not touch on mechanics such as: how to put on any equipment with a powerloader, how to operate non weapons, or go in detal about every ammo type, engine upgrades, how to load OB and such are not included either. Its strictly about killing with CAS mortar or OB
- The basics
So you want to blow up, burn or shred the alien scum with the coolest thing ever, a plane huh? (if someone says its not a plane but a dropship we have to sound the NERD alarm) It is a little complex to understand but there is always a mortar to get started
Directions! The most basic of them all, as this is a 2d game and we are a “MRP” server we can’t use terms like: up, down, left and right, so we use north south west and east, it’s also how you will set the CAS vector so you HAVE to know this
The USCM uses a simplified global positioning system which is expressed in 2 numbers: longitude and latitude, crucial for mortar and OB
So, it looks like you know the absolute minimum of basic CM knowledge, that’s great! Most people don’t read this far. We can start talking about YOUR equipment and tools used for JTAC.
First up is the good old laser designator, you will use it for most of the time, it’s a pair of binoculars with a laser, you can get coords (coordinates, long (longitude) and lat (latitude)) for mortar or OB in the green mode (look at the sprite for the green dot) which are saved in its memory, all the controls are revealed upon examining it and the last coordinates, you can laze (use a rangefinder/laser designator) in green mode on every tile on the map but remember to examine the tile to check if it’s in the open/glass roof (can normally laze for CAS), with a metal roof (can’t laze for CAS stops nothing though), a cavern roof (cant laze, stops mortar and CAS) or a resin/deep cavern roof (stops everything), resin roof is around the hive core and pylons (at comms) once either is destroyed the roof collapses and you can normally use everything (unless its in deep caves already).
Rangefinder is laser designator but cant laze for CAS and like every variant it expands your vision
Signal flares, these boys work for CAS until they burn out/get melted, use under metal roofs, if you are planning to utilise CAS getting a flare belt filled with those is a must have, remember that the flare gun can be wielded and you can use the scope to fire a flare over other marines, it will impact with a xeno and set them on fire (works with normal flares to) when you use a flare gun these can instantly be used by CAS and are unmovable, when throwing you have a brief window where you can pick them up during which CAS cant use them, pretty simple right?
Now that should be every tool for a JTAC user, but the most important tool you can EVER use is communication, get that JTAC key and say every action you take for JTAC, if you flared for them to fire, if you laze so they can fire, ask for mortar and if you are a rifleman and there is no RTO (FTL) in bravo, GET ON THE MORTAR, it’s not only for FOB siege (its for blowing up marines)
And i can not stress this part enough communication grab a phone and don’t let that burrower stop you!
Now, we will be talking about getting a loadout around JTAC, if you plan to do full time JTAC grab a laser designator (from prep, req gets like 2 and they should be left as a replacement) a flare belt filled with signal flares and a flare gun, a JTAC key if you don’t spawn with one and remember to get these comms up!
Outside of that its up to you, I recommend taking an M41A with agrip for quick pulling on that runner/lurker
- Mortar
- The mortar is a incredibly strong AoE weapon that can shut down entire flanks in mere seconds, always ask on JTAC before drop if anyone is going on the mortar and get them those coords! Even when the front is pushing a far enough HE mortar shell can very easily help the marines push in clearing out resin structures for a relatively low price compared to CAS, now to break down the ammo types. HE is great for killing and clearing out structures, incen is also great in killing and clearing out structures but remember to use it wisely, flare is good for giving the mortar a flank to watch and consistently shell once xenos show up, frag is a meme
- If you want to use it you first have to understand how it works, you need 1 engi skill to use the mortar so remember to grab a engi pamphlet! once you click it you get 2 „tabs” one of them is where you fire and the other one is for offsets, you firstly have to put in the coords from a laser designator or range finder and press the set target button i have forgotten to press it multiple times, offsets work differently, you put in a number from -10 to 10 to switch up the tile the shell lands on, adding to longtitude makes it go further north and adding to latitude makes it go east, opposite for negative values, after you set the offset and switch target coords the offset is still the same so remember to put in 0, 0 and press the dial offset button!
- CAS
Now, this will be split into 2 sections, the first one for spotters and the other for pilots
CAS (Close Air Support) is when you put big fucking guns on one of the dropships, go into flyby and explode something, there is a lot to deconstruct about dropship equipment but you should check the wiki for that (into pilot officer and go down into arments part)
the mini rockets are the most widely used damage dealers, you can somewhat spread them out and get many kills, you can use normal and incindiary rockets, the damage is allmost the same but incins set xenos on strong fire but they were heavily nerfed as they cost a fortune to print out and use more then once, better to just use normal minis
lasers deal a suprising amount of damage but cant destroy resin structures for shit, running dense quad lasers is funnily effective aspecialy when you see that it costs 200 points for each battery
GAU is more of a meme, if you want to do meta like a BITCH you will never pick it up, and if you want to use it, make it as dense as possible and its either quad GAU or no GAU (better use lasers if you have 2 or 1 free pods)
missle pods house all of the missles! they are DEVASTATING if they hit (and theres a glitch where it doesnt have travel time so go wild! (dont tell the others though! coders hate fun!)) missles are only good if both sides communicate well and ALLWAYS look at names, if you see some good pilots you can trust to get missles and fire them, if you are a GP, ask for spotters and look at their names (remember that you still can get good hits with a new player, they just need to listen to what you say, which is the biggest problem with new pilots/spotters from my expirience)
- pilot side
- first is getting your loadout, communicate with spotters for what they would like but remember that YOU are the pilot and you do what you want, listen to people who actualy give advice „i think lasers would work better then minis” for example, never listen to people who demand or ask you for a very specific loadout, such as quad minis or such, also remeber to look out for names! side note, you should take fulton, medevac and rappel (paradrop system) on the normandy, medevac at the top spot, rappel at middle and fulton at the bottom
- setting up your firemision, its a realy confusing system at first BUT once you learn how to use it its really easy to set up a FM in seconds, you first have to set up each weapon, the ship is divided into 2 parts, left and right, weapons on the right can shoot on the right side of the main line (it starts in the exact spot you execute and slowly goes further by 12 tiles aka steps) with offset going up, weapons on the left shoot on the left side with negative offset, its always best to think at how you want to set up your firemission, for example lasers in the middle and rockets on the sides to throw xenos into the fire, you would put one laser and rocket on each side and give lasers offset 0 or 1 and rockets would take lets say 4 and on the other side -1 and -4. after you realise that you can read what a FM looks like in VIEW mode
- in regards to FMs, experiment! look at others FMs when playing as a spotter and think of unusual setups to get that xeno scum with a suprise!
- i also recommend you take medical equipment for medevacs and some spare food to your cockpit, you could CASmax by using the cameras console and fire console for direct firing but i dont have a screen big enough for that
- spotter side
- use missles or FMs? its the ethernal question both sides will ask themself, my general tip for deciding is to try and discuss it on JTAC comms, depending on how much both sides communicate (if pilot answeres everything or allmost everything spotters say and how many spotters actualy want to discuss/„argue” about it) FMs is usualy the safer option, as you dont need much cooperation from either sides to get kills, spotters just laze/flare while the GP plans out and executes the FM
- missles on the other hand need communication from both sides (i will use communication and cooperation interchangeably as they are the same thing in JTAC) you have 2 main strategies, lazing and instantly firing directly on it which allows for fast and responsive CASing (realy good if queen shows up and you can kill half the hive) it is more risky and can yield you no kills but hey, bigger risk bigger reward, the other side is holding your laze until a good number of targets inevitably walk under it, its simple realy
- also never underestimate flares, if you have a lot spare you can throw down a literal minefield with a flare every other tile for directs, its a net for xenos that if they walk onto they have a small chance of surviving
- OB (or how i dont call enough of them)
- OBs are usually disconnected from mortar/CAS spotters as the OB goes against everything CAS/mortar want to do
- OBs are tools to shape the map in your advantage, while CAS and mortar are responsive tools
- if you have a very fortified area with hard walls (colony walls) and its generally a hell to get through use cluster, cluster also is best for narrow tunnels such as caves in a lot of maps (except solaris, kutjevo)
- HE is very good at punishing xenos at overextending as it has the greatest killing potential, it explodes in a very devastating way leaving a open field which marines can easily exploit as xenos will be trying to run from your push, its also very bad at destroying colony buildings
- incindiary is the most mortar like of them all, it leaves a giant pool of white flame which is a perfect tool to cut off a hive before you push out, works best when used with others things such as cadelines to stop xenos from running away, this is the most strategic out of all the OBs
- for tips on calling them in… get a NV sight, like one from a SG, spotter/sniper or scout, it will let you use the map perfectly as most people can only blindly laze one in (works perfectly for cluster though) if you plan on using incin while blind, its a waste
- Various tips (you should read them)
- i thought that they didnt realy fit in their own section so i will cram every loose knowledge in this section
- JTAC skill increases your speed to laze with binoculars (range finder or LD), engi skill is used by mortar and i really recommend going as a bravo rifleman, buying the engi pamphlet and a JTAC key, a MD and something for 10 points and freeing up that poor FTL from mortar duty (remember to ask first)
- if you want to get into JTAC and this guide isnt enough, ask on discord in gameplay-help or DM me, im SPACE, #space5891
- allways remember that CAS flares are limited, so if you can dont waste them and just laze for paradrop, remember to tell your code, examine your LD, you should see a number like 18 and then you add based on your squad (idk what was the command prefix) so A18 if you are alpha and the binocs have 18 in them
- label your shit, my god you dont know how often your LD can just „disapear” so always label it with you name
- remember to harass the scout if they give out their LD, it has no cooldown on lazes and BELIEVE ME the scout does not need instant lazes
- if you plan to use flares grab a flaregun, realy usefull WITH A BELT!!
- use mortar, like realy, use it, i keep forgetting about it myself and it can work wonders with your push as you can just fire 2 HE shells in the front and suddenly all the defenses disapear!
- use all 4 powerloaders to reload normandy weapons, you gotta be CASmaxxing
- if you are a DCC, you have a DP, you have 2 choices, help run medevac or if they have missles on, print more for what fits the situation best
- forgot to mention but missles are insanely versitile in every way, setting up a small FM isnt a few seconds thing
- if the only thing you got from spotters was a paradrop flare, you can remind them of your existence by making a empty FM and flying it over the front (just remember to select the empty one!!!)
- oh and put fulton and medevac on normandy, alamo should only maybe take some deployable sentries if they like it, but like realy, normandy should have it
- a targeting system is not required if you dont use keepers, allthough they are good with a BLU, wait a second after firing the BLU and xenos getting pulled in and THEN hit them with a keeper, it will mega kill anything in there