Topics

1

Community Events / SCS Casting Sign-up

« on: May 04, 2016, 05:39:31 pm »

In the interests of getting more folks involved with casting (recording and commentating on) the Sunday Community Skirmish (SCS) the organizing team have put together a sign up sheet.

The first sheet is for information purposes only, If you want to cast the SCS get in contact with one of the organizers (currently Lueosi and Extirminator). On this sheet you will find who is signed up when, and where we are short.

If you are interested in casting the SCS in general rather than on a specific weekend, either as a host or a co-caster, the second sheet is for you. Please add you name to the list of available casters, all help is appreciated. It is worth giving the organizers a shout too. When the SCS is short of casters this is one of the places we are going to look.

As an aside, this seems as good a place as any for me (nano) to thank those of you who have been in contact about resources for casting and how we can open up the process and get more folks involved. Whether it is to point out someone who might be interested in helping, volunteering yourselves or just general feedback. Your input has been appreciated. If you are interested in casting but are just now finding out about it now, well that's part of what we are trying to fix here, so please get in contact if you want to lend a hand.

2

The Signal Tower / The SCS needs you, to cast that is, also art and stuff

« on: April 24, 2016, 11:24:00 am »

Help the community! Learn to cast!

Would you like to learn how to cast? Wish someone would show you how to use twitch and related paraphernalia? Well the Sunday Community Skirmish (SCS) is short casters, so I figured I'd train us some new ones.

Actually that is an understatement, I'm the SCS emergency-oh-crap-I'm-needed-at-the-nuclear-plant-back-up caster, and I've done it for the past three, soon to be four weeks. I'm also about to start a new job with all that that entails. So even if you aren't super keen on casting but want to help the community out then this is a way you can do it. As someone who occasionally partakes in tournaments I can tell you folks really appreciate having that footage around for review, even a cast that has been thrown together at the last minute has value to the participants.

I'm offering two week instruction in casting (about an hour or two on two weekends). I will show you how to:

• Set up a twitch account and create a channel
• Download and use all the (free and open source) software you need to set up a broadcast, specifically the Open Broadcaster Software
• Tell you all about what I've learned casting and help you avoid my many, many mistakes
• Answer any questions you might have

The cost to you to set all this up will be time, but not dollars, all the software and starter accounts are free. What I'm looking for in return:

• During week one of this process you'll be co-casting the SCS with me, 7pm UTC, on my channel
• In the second week you will be hosting the SCS on your very own twitch channel
• You'll host at least two additional SCS events
• Cupcakes, I'd also like cupcakes

Any takers please get in contact with me either in game, via the forums, or on steam. Username is nanoduckling in all cases.

If you are already familiar with all this and want to help us out casting the SCS then please, get in contact with Lueosi.

Attention community minded artists
In the words of Zoidberg, one art please. Showing folks how to set up a new channel is pretty straight forward. Making the artistic assets and the like is less so. Folks creating these new channels I'm hoping will spring forth will probably benefit from some support from folks proficient in graphic design, video editing and composition. If you would like to volunteer to help new casters with art assets please get in contact with me or better yet post here. I suspect folks are more likely to sign up for this deal if they they will have some community support when it comes to making their cast look and sound the part. A splash screen, a logo, a 20 second jingle, even an intro / outro video will help these folks out a lot.

3

Guides / [N2] Nano's Noobs 103 - Crewing a metajunker

« on: April 04, 2015, 06:20:53 pm »

Nano's Noobs 103
Crewing a metajunker

Prerequisites
This material assumes you are familiar with the basic tutorials as of version 1.3.9 of Guns of Icarus.  If you do not know the difference between rebuilding and repairing or cannot mount a gun then this lesson will be completely useless. Perform the tutorials first. More so than the ships presented thus far (the blenderfish and metamidion) the metajunker is very dependent on communication.

You should also be familiar with the operation of a metamidion as there is substantial overlap when using the brawling (right) side of a metajunker.

There are many ways to run a ship. This is one approach and it is not definitive. Depending on how your ship is used an alternative approach may be better.

The metajunker has a rich history, with the Duck clan (with whom I (nanoduckling) have no affiliation other than admiring old competitive footage as inspiration for this guide) running double metajunkers very effectively in competitive events. The Duck junker was however ran differently to the one presented below, often with triple engineers and a buff hammer. The approach also heavily leveraged a pair of junkers and the resulting ability to bring two hades to bear. This is not covered here because crewing and co-ordinating such a junker is complicated and would deserve a guide of it's own.

Introduction
One of the most flexible ships, the metajunker is one of the most complex of the 'basic' ships. The left side is designed for peek-a-boo sniping, while the right is for close range killing.

• Mortar
• Artemis
• Artemis
• Hades
• Gatling

The crew loadouts and responsibilities (crew should be in this order on the ship so that if the pilot disconnects the gunner can assume the pilots responsibilities) are:

Pilot (Captain)

• Pheonix claw, kerosene and drogue chute
• Spanner
• Lesmok

The metajunker has two primary modes of operation. It can use the left side for peek-a-boo sniping, and the right for brawling.

For peek-a-boo sniping find a suitable piece of cover between yourself and the enemy and move behind it. Rise out of cover and have your crew attack the enemy. The aim is to break the enemy armour and score a couple of hits on their hull with the artemises, returning to cover before they can break your armour. Repeated sessions of this peek-a-boo sniping will make your hades more effective as it should disrupt chemcycles. Keep moving in and out of cover chipping away at the enemies hull until they die.

If peek-a-boo sniping fails, if the enemy has brawling builds, or if the opportunity presents itself then you will need to use your brawling side. This is effectively a metamidion but without the ability to control range as the guns are on your side rather than front. Point your right side guns at the enemy and keep them there. Try to keep the fron artemis in arc as it can disable important enemy weapons, engines and help land the killing blow.

The lesmok is for if you are forced to engage at extreme range, or for your mortar if the engineer is having a hard time hitting with both greased and burst ammo. Keep in mind that the mortar can miss because you are moving the ship about too much in close combat. If you mortar consistently misses first consider if you are moving too aggressively close up, then consider switching from greased to burst ammo, only then reload the gun with lesmok.

If the enemy tries to run you can use your left side weapons again, you probably will not need to move into cover. Direct your engineers to focus on disabling the enemy engines so they don't get too far and cannot turn on you.

Gunner

• Spyglass
• Pipe Wrench
• Lesmok, greased, heatsink

You have responsibility for the main engines and the bottom deck guns. Before each engagement load lesmok in the hades, greased in the gatling and mortar. Initially the ship is likely to engage with the left side guns using a peek-a-boo sniping strategy and you will be firing the hades. Aim at the enemy hull and try to break their armour. If the ship is pulled back into cover you should stand ready at the hull aiming to rebuild the hull as fast as possible should it break.

If the ship starts brawling (using right guns) then you have the job of breaking the armour with the gatling gun. The gatling should be loaded with greased initially. Unload this into the enemy armour at the first opportunity, reloading as soon as the enemy armour breaks (hit markers turn red, material breaks off the enemy ship and there is a message in the top left). Load greased ammo and fire as soon as the enemy repair their armour (message top left, mortar hit markers are not longer red). Again reload as soon as the armour breaks again. Repeat until the enemy dies. Announce hull breaks with 'break'.

Secondary Engineer (Back)

• Spyglass
• Spanner, mallet, chemspray
• Burst

The secondary engineer on a junker typically has responsibility for the turning engines, the balloon, the top side guns, and should also keep an eye on the hull. This can end up being a busy role.When using the left guns the pilot will take the ship the ship in and out of cover, you are expected to unload a salvo at the enemy ship disabling threatening guns (especially lumberjacks and the like) and damaging the hull if the hades breaks the armour. If it begins taking heavy damage the ship will be move back behind cover and you are expected to begin repairs and ensure the balloon stays up. If there is no risk of that happening then you should help ensure a hull break does not occur.

If the ship begins brawling (right side), you are on a mortar. The gunner will load this with greased before the engagement. Wait for the armour break (hit markers turn red, material breaks off the enemy ship and there is a message in the top left) and unload the gun into the enemy hull. If the enemy rebuilds their armour (message top left, hit markers are not longer red) immediately reload and use burst ammo. Again wait for the armour break and unload until the enemy repairs.

Primary Engineer (Back)

• Spyglass
• Spanner, mallet, chemspray
• Burst

The primary engineer has responsibility for the front gun and hull. The hull can be reached from the 'sweet-spot' from below and in front, but it can also be reached by jumping from in front (not below). This is often more effective if a swift mallet hit is required. The primary engineer should manage fire with chemspray on the the front gun, the hull, the main engine and the lower guns. The front gun is for peek-a-boo sniping engagements. In these the pilot will move the ship in and out of cover, you are expected to unload a salvo at the enemy ship disabling threatening guns (especially lumberjacks and the like) and damaging the hull if the hades breaks the armor. If it begins taking heavy damage the ship will be move back behind cover and you are expected to begin repairs and ensure a hull break does not occur.

If the ship starts brawling (using the right side guns) then you should disable dangerous enemy weapons (such as gatlings and mortars), disable engines if the enemy might try to run and aid in landing killing blows with your artemis, subject to your repair responsibilities which take priority. The other engineer will be busy with the mortar so you may need to take on their engineering responsibilities.

Alternative loadouts
The junker is one of the most flexible ships, and can be run successfully in many way. If the top deck engineer is having trouble hitting with the mortar they could load it with burst rather than having the gunner load it with greased, or replace burst for lesmok. While the gunner can preload the mortar with lesmok, it may be wise for the engineer in question to bring lesmok themselves as a single clip of lesmok mortar may not complete a kill. The gunner can be replaced with a buff engineer with lesmok. The gatling should then use standard ammo (although an argument could be made for preloading with burst under very specific circumstances where maximum damage from a single clip is desirable). The buff engineer is then expected to keep the ship buffed, especially the balloon and main engine. This can make peek-a-boo sniping considerably easier.

The engineers can swap burst for lesmok on longer range, more open maps.

A junker requires and benefits from good co-ordination, engineers capable of sharing responsibilities can be very useful.

Strong against
Non-control builds (for example metamidions), builds that require very accurate fire on the hull section with poor vertical arcs (for example multi-mercury mobulas, junkers and pyras)

Weak against
Control builds (lumberfish, blenderfish, lumbergalleon, carro-flamer pyra)

Other literature
https://gunsoficarus.com/community/forum/index.php/topic,4722.0.html - A long discussion of junkers
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=171955183&searchtext=junker - Kyren's junker guide
https://gunsoficarus.com/community/forum/index.php/topic,5589.msg91272.html#msg91272 - A history lesson on the metajunker from Sammy, also serves as a how to guide on refining ship builds

Tag
Crew Positions 00000010
Pilot 00000020

4

Guides / [N2] Nano's Noobs 102 - Crewing a blenderfish

« on: February 27, 2015, 12:22:40 pm »

Nano's Noobs 102
Crewing a blenderfish

Prerequisites
This material assumes you are familiar with the basic tutorials as of version 1.3.9 of Guns of Icarus. If you do not know the difference between rebuilding and repairing or cannot mount a gun then this lesson will be completely useless. Perform the tutorials first.

There are many ways to run a ship. This is one approach and it is not definitive. Depending on how your ship is used an alternative approach may be better..

Introduction
A ship built around a single gun, the heavy carronade. This ship job is to destroy an enemies balloon and lock them to the floor until they die (although a swift ram can speed this process along). This procedure is called 'blending'. Many ships can blend, but we will be looking at a goldfish with a front mounted mounted heavy carronade. There are lots of options for side guns but ours will be flame throwers: Being blended typically disrupts chem cycles so flamers become much more effective.

• Heavy carronade
• Flame thrower
• Flame thrower

The crew loadouts and responsibilities (crew should be in this order on the ship so that if the pilot disconnects the gunner can assume the pilots responsibilities, although this is generally crippling on this build) are:

Pilot (Captain)

• Phoenix claw, kerosene and drogue chute
• Spanner
• Lesmok

The pilots job on a blenderfish is to point the front gun at the enemy, get the enemy in range and keep them in range till they hit the ground and eventually die. Once the enemy is on the ground and their hull broken a well placed ram can be used to finish them off. Use phoenix claw to orient the front gun at the enemy, kerosene to close as fast as possible, and drogue chute if the your balloon goes out.

The typical attack pattern for a blenderfish is an angled approach (fly at an angle to the enemy position, if they are facing your starting position and you approach from the side your gunner will have a bigger target). Kerosene should be used to get the gun in range as fast as possible. The gunner will have heavy clip loaded, and should fire at maximum range (425m) at the balloon. When the carronade is in range the front gun should be  pointed at the enemy ship, otherwise your gunner will not be able to fire. Once the enemy balloon is popped you should position the ship above the enemy somewhere outside of gun arcs (rear of a junker, in front of a galleon, etc.), and maintain close range so charged ammunition is effective. Let your gunner know if you intend to stay at close range and they will load charged ammunition (you can do this simply by announcing 'Charged!', if you need to move away from the target you should tell your gunner, just announcing 'Heavy!' is usually sufficient) .The gunner should keep firing into the balloon. The enemy balloon will go down repeatedly and the hull is likely to break. The enemy will fall to the ground, when they are on the ground keep shooting their balloon, their hull will break both from damage from your gun and the ground. Feel free to help them along with a swift ram (use kerosene), time the ram so that you perform it immediately after the second shot of your charged carronade connects, this maximizes the chance that the enemy armor is down).

Always keep your gunner informed how long until arcs are restored if they are lost (even if approximate, things like "Soon!" will tell them to remain next to the gun and not use the flamers).

The pilot should almost always stay on the helm. There are very few circumstances where the pilot of a blenderfish is useful anywhere other than on the helm. The pilot carries lesmok as their ammo type so that after an encounter the pilot can hop onto the left gun and load lesmok while the engineers make repairs so the ship is combat ready as fast a possible, not for actually gunning.

The spanner is only for totally desperate situations to buy the ship a few more seconds if being blended so an ally can save you. If the enemy successfully blends you onto the floor control input from the pilot is actively harmful (moving forward or back causes collisions, raising the ship from the ground will cause the ship to fall back down and suffer more damage the next time the balloon is popped). Drogue chute is ineffective if you are already on the ground. Under these circumstances you will usually need your ally to come save you (but watch for positional errors by your enemy you can exploit). Under these rare circumstances you can help rebuild (hence the spanner) the hull or balloon to buy the ship a couple more seconds. The above should be viewed as extremely rare exceptions to the rule, generally speaking you stay on the helm and point the front gun at the bad guys.

Gunner

• Spyglass
• Pipe Wrench
• Heavy, charged, heatsink

The gunner of a blenderfish is responsible for shooting the enemy balloon. There are very few occasions when they should come off the front gun. One such occasion is to help rebuild the hull, but only then if destruction of the ship is likely or the gun is and will remain out of arc. The pilot should always be looking to get the front gun on the enemy, and the side guns are usually the engineers responsibility, so the gunner will generally not be needed elsewhere. The gunner should stay on the front gun, make sure it has the correct ammo type loaded, and should almost always be aiming for the balloon. Most of the time heavy clip should be used. The heavy carronade is then effective at maximum range (425m) and will destroy the enemy balloon in 2 shots. Unless told otherwise you should typically load charged at this point (and repair the gun between reloads) and fire it into the balloon. Keep firing into the balloon until the enemy dies. Once they are dead load charged again unless the other enemy is close by or instructed otherwise.

If the ship needs to run away then the engineers will be on engines and the front gun is unlikely to have arc. The gunner can then use the side guns if they come into arc, otherwise baby sitting the hull is desirable (but do not prevent the main engineer from making mallet hits, you will slow down repairs, you can always rebuild, but only repair if no engineer is present). You have heatsink to control fire on the gun, but the carronade needs to be fired at point blank range if heatsink is loaded to be effective. Generally the gun should be chemsprayed by the main engineer so the gun should only rarely catch fire after a sustained engagement.

More experienced gunners can alternate between sniping out dangerous components (such as an in arc hwacha or the front gun on a goldfish) and the enemy balloon. Remember however that denying the enemy vertical mobility is the primary job of a blenderfish. If the enemy is able to rise for more than a fraction of a second with the carronade in arc and on-line the gunner has failed at their job.

Secondary Engineer (Left engineer)

• Spyglass
• Spanner, mallet, chemspray
• Lesmok

The left engineer on a blenderfish is responsible for the main engine at the back of the ship, the balloon, and the left flamer. Priority should be given to the main engine and the balloon, flamers are generally a secondary concern. Run between components alternately spraying them with chemspray and hitting them with the relevant repair tool (almost always a mallet). If the rear of the ship is not taking damage you can use the left flamer if in arc (this is why you have lesmok ammo), you can also help with hull and front gun rebuilds / repairs / chemspraying, but remember your primary responsibilities are the balloon and main engine.

If the ship is hit by a hwacha it is often the case that the turning engines will go down but the main engine remains intact. If this is the case then they will typically need to be rebuilt and a gatling will be pointed at your hull. You should go to the hull while the main engineer rebuilds the engines.

Primary Engineer (Right engineer)

• Spyglass
• Spanner, mallet, chemspray
• Lesmok

The primary engineer of a blenderfish is responsible for the lower deck turning engines, the hull and the right flamer. They should also chemspray the front gun . Run back and forth keeping everything chem sprayed.

If the enemy is reducing the armor fast (for example with accurate gatling fire) then the main engineer should stand next to the hull. After the enemy has damaged the hull an amount you can just fully repair with a single hit of the spanner (a little less than a hit box) hit with the spanner. After cool down hit with the spanner or mallet depending on if this will over repair (repair beyond 100% health) or not. The aim is to keep the armor from breaking.

If the turning engines are down and the hull is under fire (say from a gatling) you may request the other engineer or gunner camp the hull. Only do this if the carronade is out of arc or will lose arc. The gunner should do this automatically if they lose arc and will not get it back soon so long as they are kept informed. Keep in mind you will pull the other engineer from the balloon if you do this, sometimes it is simply better to inform the crew that you are away from the hull so they can keep an eye on it.

If you have time feel free to give the front gun a hit with a mallet if it is badly damaged. This will repair it faster than the gunner's pipe wrench.

Alternative loadouts
The above configuration of engineers is generally considered sub-optimal with experienced players who can perform parkour tricks to reach the turning engines from the balloon and are more familiar with how to prioritize components. An alternative configuration (referred to as 'distributed') has both engineers covering the entire ship at all times calling their locations and intentions out. Running this configuration with an inexperienced crew is inadvisable as on the fly decisions about what to rebuild (should I go to the balloon or the hull?) must be made in a split second or the ship will often be left vulnerable.

There are lots of options for the side guns of a blenderfish. One configuration uses a mortar to kill a ship once the carronade or ground breaks the armor (a banshee is another option here). A mine launcher can also be used if an enemy is forced into an enclosed space trapping the ship or laying mine underneath it while the balloon is popped. Mine launchers are also good for dissuading charging metamidions. If the map is large and open (say 'Battle on the Dunes') then the ship can carry an artemis to provide some ranged support, although this is not the primary role of a blenderfish. Once combat starts the ship should be blending with the big front gun..

More experienced pilots with more experienced crews should bring moonshine, which is superior to kerosene for closing, holding range and ramming. If enemy ships do not have the ability to effectively damage the balloon (no lumberjacks or carronades) then the pilot can swap the drogue chute for hydrogen or chute vent to maximize vertical mobility, or impact bumpers for ramming.

Chute vent allows a very effective maneuver referred to as 'goomba stomping'. The ship is positioned above the enemy, chute vent is activated and the ship dropped, crushing the enemy into the ground. This can be tricky, you likely want to practice it against target dummies in the blast yard first. Missing leaves you extremely vulnerable with a damaged balloon and at the same level as an enemy ship which is likely grumpy with you.

Strong against
Most close and mid range galleons, junkers, goldfish, spires, and mobulas
This is the build that effectively ended the reign of the metajunker
Effective against squids, but properly piloted and crewed the squid is difficult to balloon lock and maintain range on

Weak against
Pyramidions, particularly carro/flamer and metamidions
Most snipers on an open map (although moonshine and map knowledge can overcome this)

Other literature
https://gunsoficarus.com/community/forum/index.php/topic,5189.msg85366.html - Some advice on ramming in a fish
https://gunsoficarus.com/community/forum/index.php/topic,4479.0.html - Tactics that might be used against you

Tag
Crew Positions 00000004
Pilot 00000008

5

Guides / [N2] Nano's Noobs 101 - Crewing a metamidion

« on: February 20, 2015, 01:37:51 pm »

Nano's Noobs 101
Crewing a metamidion

Prerequisites
This material assumes you are familiar with the basic tutorials as of version 1.3.9 of Guns of Icarus. If you do not know the difference between rebuilding and repairing or cannot mount a gun then this lesson will be completely useless. Perform the tutorials first.

There are many ways to run a ship. This is one approach and it is not definitive. Depending on how your ship is used an alternative approach may be better..

Introduction
One of the more common ship builds as of version 1.6.1 is the metamidion (sometimes just 'meta', so called because in the 'meta-game' that one plays finding optimal configurations selecting this ship is considered strong). This is a pyramidion with a front mounted gatling and mortar. This configuration of light guns is sometimes also referred to as 'the meta'. There are lots of options for side guns but our metamidion will consist of (gun positions in ship selection screen are numbered as below):

• Gatling
• Light mortar
• Flame thrower
• Flare gun

The crew loadouts and responsibilities (crew should be in this order on the ship so that if the pilot disconnects the gunner can assume the pilots responsibilities) are:

Pilot (Captain)

• Pheonix claw, kerosene and drogue chute
• Spanner
• Heavy clip

The captain of a metamidion has two jobs. Get the two front guns pointing at a target and keep them pointing at a target. The side guns are for emergencies and aiding in finding the enemy. They shouldn't need to ram (and indeed should actively avoid doing so as it will usually cause the ships front guns to point in a direction other than at the enemy). They should use Kerosene (boosts top speed by damaging the engines) to close on enemy ships and bring guns into range and to slow rapidly when guns are in range (less than 400m or the mortar cannot hit, preferably 100m to 150m). Use pheonix claw (boosts turning ability by damaging the engines) to keep the front of the ship on target. If the ship's balloon is popped use drogue chute to prevent the ship falling and the guns being unable to shoot the enemy (referred to as 'losing arc'). If the enemy has no balloon poppers (check loadouts for light or heavy carronades) then a vertical mobility tool can replace chute vent (hydrogen or chute vent, usually hydrogen). This should also be used to adjust the ships height so that the front two guns are pointed at the enemy.

You have heavy clip for the beacon, but the main engineer is the one who actually fires the gun. The beacon can be used to illuminate clouds at range to spot enemies, and close up it can be fired into the enemy balloon to set it on fire (the main engineer should only do this if your ship is not under fire). You should keep in mind that successfully hitting with the flare on the enemy balloon will reduce their vertical mobility which you may be able to exploit.

The spanner is so you can help rebuild the hull. Most of the time you should be on the helm. Occasionally you will be in a position where you know that without control input the guns will remain pointing at the enemy and your hull breaks. You can run back to the hull quickly under this situation and help rebuild. You generally do not do this if it will cause the guns to lose arc, your job is to kill as fast a possible. Keep in mind that you can partially help with the rebuild and shorten time off the helm, you do not need to be at the hull when it is restored.

Command responsibilities include instructing the crew to repairs if the opportunity to kill the enemy has been lost (ship can no longer shoot at the enemy with primary guns and necessary components to make this happen are down such as turning engines or balloon). This should not be done as long as the front guns can shoot the enemy, there will be time to repair once the enemy is dead.

Gunner

• Spyglass
• Pipe Wrench
• Charged, greased, heatsink

The gunner of a metamidion has one job. Break the enemy armour (sometimes confusingly called 'the hull').

Initially load charged into the gun and fire when in range (<450m). Do not shoot the balloon, guns or engines, you do virtually no damage to the balloon, and you are trying to break the enemies armour, not disable enemies.

Initially your hit markers will be yellow. When you see red hit markers you have broken the armour (announce this with "Break!"). Immediately reload unless your gun still has plenty of ammunition (80% plus), your gun does virtually nothing to the enemy hull (perma-hull) and you want to be ready to break the armour again once / if it is repaired. If you are close reload with greased, if far use charged, if your gun is on fire load heat sink. Tell your captain what you are loading ("Loading greased!") so they know the effective range of your gun (heatsink and greased reduce your guns effective range). While reloading repair your gun, one hit with a pipe wrench each reload. You will need to select your ammo type again when you retake your gun after this repair or you will end up with standard ammo.

Watch the top left of the screen for the message that the enemy has repaired their armour (if your ships mortar shots don't have red hit markers then this also indicates the armour is repaired). When the enemy armour is back up immediately shoot them again and break it. It shouldn't require all the ammo in your gun to do this as the armour will only be partially restored. Again decide if you need to reload and repeat this cycle until the enemy dies.

If the ship takes extensive damage the gunner can be asked to help with repairs. If the captain announces the need to repair then you should repair your gun, and help rebuild the balloon. If the secondary engineer is called to the bottom deck you should repair your gun, the balloon and the mortar until they return. You should never need to go to the bottom deck, but very rarely the flame thrower or beacon may have arc on the enemy and you will have nothing to do. If the top deck is not and will not take damage in the near term jump down and get burning, but be ready to reload and head back up top (do not wait to expend the flamer or beacon ammunition).

Secondary Engineer (Gungineer)

• Spyglass
• Spanner, mallet, chemspray
• Greased

The secondary engineer on a metamidion is tasked with killing the enemy ships and looking after repairs on the top deck (gatling gun, mortar and balloon). Most of your time should be spent on the mortar with greased loaded waiting for the enemy armour to break (the gatling hit markers will turn red, a message will appear in the top left, and if your gunner follows this guide they will announce this by saying 'Break!'). Prior to combat spray the balloon with chemspray. When this happens keep unloading the mortar at the enemy until either they die, or their armor is repaired (message in the top left, hit markers from mortar are no longer red). Unless you have an almost full mortar (only one or two shots fired) immediately reload (with greased) and wait for another break of the enemy armour. Repeat this process until the enemy dies. While reloading give your gun and the balloon a spray with chemspray if they are undamaged, otherwise hit them with the mallet (your gunner should be keeping their gun in good repair and has heat sink for fire so do not leave your post for this gun and certainly not for the bottom deck).

If the gatling overheats (greater than 8 stacks of fire, the number of fire stacks is indicated on the repair icon for the gun) then either spray it if the gun has less than 11 stacks or wait for it to burn till it breaks (spray the balloon and your own gun in the mean time) and then help rebuild it with your spanner.

Your priority is killing the enemy, not repairs. Only repair outside of the above situations if the ship stops pointing at the enemy with the front guns and will not reacquire the enemy without rapid repairs (say falling below the enemy with a popped balloon). If the captain instructs you to repair your priorities are helping to rebuild broken components. Equip a spanner and run to vital components (likely hull and engines, possibly balloon). Once all components are rebuilt run back up to the top deck, you will disrupt the bottom deck engineer if you repair parts out of sequence.

You may be called to the lower deck either by your captain or the primary engineer. Requests from your captain should always be responded to as they should know if your gun will be in arc at the next armour break. Requests from the primary engineer should be ignored if responding to them will sacrifice a kill, but acknowledge the request ("Negative, enemy in arc!"). If you lose arc, or are likely to lose arc then jump down (again, announce this, "Losing arc, helping with turning engines"). Jump down from the trellis (you do not need to use the ladder), hit the hull with the mallet. If it is being damaged then stay on the hull (say "On hull"), Otherwise run to the engines and rebuild them (do rear right, then rear left, then main engine). You can rebuild the main engine from below. Once mobility is restored to the ship return to the mortar..

Primary Engineer (Main)

• Spyglass
• Spanner, mallet, chemspray
• Lesmok

The primary engineer of a metamidion is tasked with keeping the ship alive and manoeuvrable by keeping in good order the hull and engines. The main engine can be repaired from below, move under it and look up. The main engineer rarely needs to go on the poop deck during combat (the deck with the main engine and weapon 4, here the beacon), and should never go to the upper deck.

Prior to combat the main engineer runs in a circle on the bottom deck spraying the hull and engines with chem spray. During combat they need to balance maintaining chemspray with fixing components.

Repair routines depend in part on what you are being shot by. If the enemy reducing the armour fast (for example with accurate gatling fire) then the main engineer should stand next to the hull. After the enemy has damaged the hull an amount you can just fully repair with a single hit of the spanner (a little more than half a hit box) hit with the spanner. After cooldown hit with the spanner or mallet depending on if this will over repair (repair beyond 100% health) or not. The aim is to keep the armor from breaking.

If hull and components are being slowly damaged then completing a circuit on the bottom deck (hull, side engine, main engine, other side engine) with a mallet and then reapplying chem spray is desirable. The main engineer has the task of balancing repairs with chem cycles, but should prioritize keeping components up and in decent health over protection from fire unless actively being flamed or hit with a hades or banshee.

If no one is shooting you and the flamer or beacon has arc then feel free to fire on the enemy ship as long as you keep repairs in good order and chem cycles up and it wont give away the ships position while sneaking. An enemy ship which is on fire is an enemy ship that has less chance to damage you or your allies.

If the turning engines go down you may need to decide if the secondary engineer should jump down to help you (some captains will issue this command themselves, some delegate to the main engineer). If the hull is under gatling or hades fire (or is likely to break for some other reason), the engines are down then inform the rest of your crew ("Need secondary on the main deck!"). Keep in mind that the secondary should ignore your request if the gatling is stripping (hitting the enemy armour) and the mortar is in arc, as there is a chance at a kill.

Alternative loadouts:
This ship can be ran with a buff engineer on the balloon, or even double buff engineer with greased ammunition. Sometimes the second buff engineer has wrench/buff/ext, sometimes spanner/mallet/buff. The flamer can be replaced with a carronade, or a banshee, or a mine launcher. Closely related ships include the gat/flak pyra and the gat/banshee pyra which are operated in a similar way. Occasionally the lower deck guns are a very long range loadout (especially on maps like 'Battle on the Dunes') such as Mercury / Artemis. This is a risky strategy as the pyra is a big target from the side and targeting a merc side on is difficult for a pilot.

It is worth keeping in mind that a metamidion is generally considered a 'boring' build because a large number of pilots run it. Running different loadouts will attract players that are looking for a bit of variety.

Strong against
Lots of things, there is a reason it is the meta.

Weak against
Hwachafish can leave a meta with no front guns or turning engines
Sniper and ranged builds (especially a metajunker which can also brawl) are more effective against the metamidion than most ships if the map is reasonably open.
There are lots of pairs of ships that can leave a metamidion vulnerable

Other Literature
https://gunsoficarus.com/community/forum/index.php/topic,4292.0.html - Mortar gunning
https://gunsoficarus.com/community/forum/index.php/topic,2223.0.html - The pyramidion
https://gunsoficarus.com/community/forum/index.php/topic,5296.0.html - A ships for new player discussion that features the metamidion frequently
https://gunsoficarus.com/community/forum/index.php/topic,4733.0.html - Lots of tips on countering the metamidion appear here

Tag
Crew Positions 00000001
Pilot 00000002

6

The Docks / [N2] Nano's Noobs - To buff the flare gun!

« on: February 20, 2015, 01:11:15 pm »

Nano's Noobs

Who are we?
Hail fellow Guns of Icarus players. Bring me your losers, your noobs, the chap who buffs the flare gun!

Being a new player in Guns of Icarus can be tough. Like any group there are implicit and explicit rules of conduct that are easy to miss, and the game is deep and complex; there is much to comprehend. Our objective is to provide new players a way to show they are willing to learn and find a place in the community. Joining us marks you out as someone who can be a team player.

What do we offer?
Officers of the clan are willing to teach you how to play the game (although they can go 'off duty', please respect this). Being bound by a stricter code of conduct and seeking out a clan that aims to teach marks you out as someone experienced players can (potentially) work with. Or at least give you the courtesy of explaining why the match they are in might not be for you.

We're happy to teach folks who aren't in the clan, but clan members and applicants take priority.

How do you join?
To become a basic member you need to fly with one of the officers. We will want to play a few sessions with you before admitting you, and probably have you go through a few basic positions and ship loadouts. We are looking for polite and communicative players. There are a few requirements:

• You will need to communicate either via voice or text chat in English (at the moment we only have officers who speak English).
• You need to agree to the clans code of conduct (this is stricter than the community guidelines)
• You must have completed the in game tutorial
• You must have played less than 500 matches.

What aren't we?
We aren't a competitive clan. We also aren't a permanent home for our members. Once you reach 500 matches you graduate and are expected to leave. We are trying to highlight dependable new players and keep clan resources available for them. By the time you have played 500 games there should be plenty of other clans interested in helping you take playing Gun of Icarus to the next level. You could also consider joining us as an officer and teach the next generation of players.

So to join I have to fly with you, how do I do that?
To arange a session flying with us post here with the following information:

Username:
Approx. Number of Games Played:
Class Preference (most pref to least):
Timezone:
Preferred dates/times:

So I would post:

Username: nanoduckling
Approx. Number of Games Played: 2000ish
Class Preference (most pref to least): Pilot, Gunner, Engineer
Timezone: GMT / BST
Preferred dates/times: Mon 30/02/1955 @ 1900-2100, Tue 31/03/1955 @ 1900-2100

And immediately be rejected due to having played too many games and breaking the DeLorean.

I want to join as an officer
Officers in the clan are in teaching positions so that is a bit more complicated.

Contact nanoduckling.

Code of Conduct
New players can be the subject of scorn, and they shouldn't be. At the same time new players take actions that are either frustrating, or worse indistinguishable from trolling. While we don't condone bashing novice players, we want to empower them so that can avoid these interactions. The idea with having stricter clan rules is simple, by having our members agree to certain requirements we make it clear to the community that we wont do the things that annoy other players. We wont take foolish equipment or remain uncommunicative the entire match. With this in mind clan members are expected to:

• Accept loadouts and play the role assigned to you by your captain. You aren't expected to pilot or accept stupid loadouts (chem/ext/buff engi loadout for example), and you can ask if substitute loadouts are acceptable, but be a team player.
• Communicate with your team members, either via voice or text. This includes greeting your team members when joining a ship, asking what role you are playing and announcing important in game information (via voice, text, or keyboard command).
• Do not leave mid-game.
• Remain calm and polite if players are communicative and trying, even in the face of bad play or a heavy defeat. You don't have to stand for trolling (but at the same time don't feed the trolls - block, report, move on), nor do you have to stay on a ship (subject to playing through a complete match), but don't rant at players who are trying and failing.
• Avoid manually stacking lobbies. Crew form is fine, as is joining your friends ships, but don't request to swap whole ships if it will obviously make a lobby more unbalanced. If you want to continue playing with friends use the "Return to crew form" option.
• Don't grind achievements at your crews expense. Buffing as a gungineer is fine, but deliberately letting the armor go down so you can get the rebuild is a no-no.
• Play with sound on and respond to communication. If it is in a language you do not understand then say so either via voice or text chat.
• Do not pilot unless you know what you are doing or you have your crews permission.
• Once the match has started play with the intent of winning, however bad the odds are; fight to the end.
• Conform with the Guns of Icarus Community Guidelines.

If one of our clan members fails to meet these requirements please let an officer know. Responses will vary from a warning for minor infractions to removal from the clan and passing the report on to CAs / Mods / Muse for more serious breaches of the rules.

7

Gameplay / Pulsing Kerosene

« on: November 25, 2014, 01:50:26 pm »

So a question arose yesterday about the best way to use kerosene on a squid (actually the question didn't so much arise as was forcefully put to me by some jackass I will leave nameless who felt 'you really need to learn how to pilot a squid' is effective pedagogy and a good way to introduce yourself). I've gone and dug up my old calculations from when I started piloting to try to figure out when you want to switch it off. Assuming GoIO uses a linear drag model the ship will top out at 150% faster with kerosene with fully repaired engines as the drag forces match the thrust forces. If engines take damage the ship produces less thrust, and I again assumed this is linear. There is likely an effect from the turning here if engines are asymmetrically damaged but I assume this is minor. It seems to me you fall below normal top speed if engines are on average damaged below 66% (1/1.5).

A decent set of squid engis making use of parkor tricks can easily keep the engines well above 66% average damage (heck I can do that on my own and I'm a crap engineer), so it seems to me leaving kerosene on will always maintain higher speed than turning it off.

As to average speed the calculations for pulsing the kerosene depend entirely on the drag model, which I don't have access to. Has anyone ran speed tests with various duty cycles for the squid in the blast yard? I thinking run from one end to the other with repeated trials at different duty cycles and cycle frequencies and measure which one is faster with the same engis with some randomised design. I'm not especially interested in anecdotes here, it is likely psychological factors will screw with perception so multiple time trials under as controlled conditions as we can get are likely the only way to get an answer to this question. Anyone done this?

8

Feedback and Suggestions / Swap ships if it makes the game more balanced

« on: November 12, 2014, 12:20:14 pm »

Sometimes matchmaking does a decent enough job only for ship swaps to completely kneecap its efforts. Would it be possible to allow ship swapping in a game if the matchmaking system thinks it will make the game more even? Another option would be an 'optimize lobby' request which reshuffles the ships to make it as competitive as possible according to the matchmaking system (say requiring an okay from all captains for it to happen). By allowing it only when matchmaking says the match will be improve you prevent the abuse of the feature that likely resulted in its removal.

Why I would like this feature
The other day matchmaking dropped me with a nice, communicative but relatively novice captain (~100 games) facing off against an experienced captain (>1000 games) and another nice, but novice captain. Crews were generally comparable to their captains in terms of experience. We lost 5-4 but it was fun and the other experienced captain seem to like their ally. Teams co-ordinated, every ship got killed at least once, it was a tense even game. Gold star for the matchmaking system.

The next game saw myself and the other experienced captain facing off against the two novices due to ship swaps. The result was entirely predictable (a great novice captain will still usually get beaten by a bad experienced captain), even though we crippled our ships with ineffective builds it was never going to be fair and it wasn't really fun. The inexperienced captains lost most of their crews during / after the match and it wasn't a good game for anyone. Both myself and my ally for this match would have gladly offered to swap slots to make the game more even but couldn't because this option no longer exists.