Author Topic: Player-suggested tips  (Read 23173 times)

Offline Kingsania

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Player-suggested tips
« on: March 04, 2016, 01:04:01 pm »
After reading Newbluud's topic about the lack of helpful tips, I did some searching around on the forums and on /r/GunsOfIcarus and just couldn't find a list of tips suggested by players. Rather surprising since this is an always relevant topic.  So, let's make one.

To make this somewhat organized, I'll be dividing up the list into sections. General, Captain, Crew, Pilot, Gunner, Engineer. I will not be adding fluff tips onto the list, we already have too many of those ingame.

When you submit your tip(s) please:
1. Check the list to see if it's not in here already
2. Put the section name first
3. Keep the tip as simple as possible


General:
Tips that apply to any player, anywhere.

1. In lobby, you can click the names of ships for their loadouts and the buttons to the right of every player to see their tools. This allows you to learn what to bring, and what to expect.
2. Pressing V brings up a selection of voice commands depending on if you're on the helm, guns, or walking around. Learning to use this quickly will often be more effective than attempting to type or speak clearly.

Captain:
Tips for creating ships, working with other captains, and managing crew.

1. When captaining, be a pilot as well. This will be only help you collaborate with your fellow captains.
2. Having more than one gunner on your ship gives you lots of ammunition choices, but there won't be enough guns to make use of all that ammo!
3. A gunner is not always needed on a ship. Some guns only need one ammunition type.
4. Check the damage types on weapons before you equip them. Having a ship only able to do one thing may be a handicap to your team.
5. Readying up first is not always a good thing. Most of the time, your enemy is planning and deciding loadouts carefully, while you are not doing your homework.
6. To the left of your crew's names are buttons that let you see what tools they're bringing and to suggest loadouts.

Crew:
Tips that apply regardless of being Engineer or Gunner

1. No matter how good a crew member you are, things will break and you will need the equipment to deal with that.
2. Engineers are capable of gunning and gunners are capable of helping with repairs outside of the guns.
3. It is better to take an undesirable loadout and suggest changes than it is to refuse and argue. A poorly equipped cooperative ship will always outperform a well equipped dysfunctional ship.

Pilot:
Tips for using the helm, such as pilot tools, steering and ramming.

1. When piloting, be the captain as well. This can only help you be more effective, in terms of working with fellow captains and working with your crew.
2. Know what pilot tools damage which components. If you bring three tools that damages the engines, you should see to it that you don't use all three frequently.
3. Aiming at an enemy ship and pressing B will lay crosshairs on it, visible to your crew.

Gunner:
Tips for players who're using the Gunner class and Gunner ammo types.

1. Burst ammunition only affects the AoE of weapons with an AoE stat to begin with.
2. More damage per shot does not necessarily mean more damage overall.
3. There is no ammunition that works well on every single gun. Check the ship your pilot is flying to see if you are bringing the right ammunition. Captains may suggest a loadout for you to use.

Engineer:
Tips for players who're using the Engineer class and Engineer tools.

1. Choosing buff hammer limits your ability to repair/rebuild/extinguish components.
2. Mallet is very strong at repairing undestroyed components, spanner is very strong at rebuilding destroyed components and the pipe wrench is average at both. When choosing three tools, think carefully about what you can contribute to the crew.
3. Not bringing a fire tool is often fatal. Many guns cause fires and some can stack a very large amount of fires very quickly.
« Last Edit: March 04, 2016, 01:23:01 pm by Kingsania »

Offline VomAct

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Re: Player-suggested tips
« Reply #1 on: March 05, 2016, 08:18:36 pm »
My contribution, although I lumped pilot and captain together because they should NEVER be differentiated roles.

General Tips:

1. Voice Chat: If you have a microphone, use it!
2. In lobbies, X broadcasts to the whole lobby, C for your team
3. In matches, X broadcasts to your ship, C between captains on the same team

Captain/Pilot:

1. Stay with your ally as much as you can; most ships cannot survive alone
2. When you die and need to respawn, try to respawn as far from the enemy ships as possible to avoid ambush
3. Be careful when using hydrogen, the effect lasts after you deactivate it
4. You will get the most performance out of your ship by combining stamina and pilot tools
5. If you want your crew to do something, tell them

Engineer:

1. Start by carrying a Mallet, a Spanner, and a Fire Extinguisher
2. You will almost never need two fire tools
3. Both Mallet/Pipewrench and Spanner/Pipewrench are poor combinations

TIps on How to Get Buff
4. If you take a buff kit, most pilots get the most use out of buffed balloon and turning engines
5. Prebuffing means leaving something with one hit left until fully buffed
6. When you spawn in, buff and then prebuff the entire ship if you have time
7. Gun buffs don't last long, so wait until you are ready to shoot until topping off the buff

Gunner:
1. Know your ammo types, and why your captain wanted you to use them
2. Know what guns should be pointed at what parts
3. Use the right ammo for the range the enemy is at
4. Shoot guns at flying airships until they go boom

Offline Kamoba

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Re: Player-suggested tips
« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2016, 04:51:07 am »
Gunner tip:
Most gunner loadouts benefit the following tools:
Pipe wrench, buff hammer and extinguisher.
Put gunner down, go engineer.

Jokes aside, I'll add some actual tips here later. :)

Offline Kingsania

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Re: Player-suggested tips
« Reply #3 on: March 06, 2016, 10:06:11 am »
It seems that you can't edit your post after a period of time. While inconvenient, it's not a problem. I made an offline copy and will be editing that. I'll set up the updated list as another post in a few days, that being said..

My contribution, although I lumped pilot and captain together because they should NEVER be differentiated roles.

I completely agree. There have been a few matches I've seen a high level captain play as an engineer or even as a gunner! They almost always fail miserably but those matches helped me understand the difference between being a captain and being a pilot. I can understand their reasoning for this sort of thing though. In a 4v4 matches where everyone goes long range and settles in their spawns, I can see captains playing as a buffineer or gunner could be more useful on a spire or mobula than their counterparts occasionally turning for their shooters. Reality tends to prove otherwise. Nevertheless, people are still going to try it insisting that it's such a great idea. Which is why I basically said the same thing for pilot and captain as the first tips. It's doable to not be a pilot, but extremely ill-advised.

Quote
3. Both Mallet/Pipewrench and Spanner/Pipewrench are poor combinations

This sort of thing can't be overstated, I started this topic literally after a match where my fellow engineer brought all three tools!

Many great tips here, thank you very much!  :)

Offline Jamini

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Re: Player-suggested tips
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2016, 11:32:59 am »
Quote
3. It is better to take an undesirable loadout and suggest changes than it is to refuse and argue. A poorly equipped cooperative ship will always outperform a well equipped dysfunctional ship.

Wholeheartedly disagree. Certain loadouts simply will never work well in a pickup group. It is the responsibility of the crew and the captain to discuss loadouts and come to an agreement before the ship starts.

Quote
3. Both Mallet/Pipewrench and Spanner/Pipewrench are poor combinations

Spanner/Pipewrench is a meta combination for squids. Mallet is overkill for everything but the balloon on a squid. Mallet/Pipewrench is a poor combination however.

Offline BlackenedPies

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Re: Player-suggested tips
« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2016, 01:10:07 pm »
Quote
3. It is better to take an undesirable loadout and suggest changes than it is to refuse and argue. A poorly equipped cooperative ship will always outperform a well equipped dysfunctional ship.

Wholeheartedly disagree. Certain loadouts simply will never work well in a pickup group. It is the responsibility of the crew and the captain to discuss loadouts and come to an agreement before the ship starts.

Quote
3. Both Mallet/Pipewrench and Spanner/Pipewrench are poor combinations

Spanner/Pipewrench is a meta combination for squids. Mallet is overkill for everything but the balloon on a squid. Mallet/Pipewrench is a poor combination however.

I think his point is that you shouldn't refuse a loadout. If you have a loadout suggestion then you can discuss, but you should never refuse a loadout. If you can't agree then you need to leave because you're creating unnecessary conflict

Spanner wrench was an idea for squids but it fell out of favor and was never meta. While mallet might be overkill for guns, it isn't for engines which have 50% more health than guns. A wrench repairs only 40% of a light engine while mallet repairs 83% at a 16% faster rate. It's absolutely essential on balloon and lets you fully repair engines at a more efficient rate which would otherwise remain damaged with a wrench
« Last Edit: March 07, 2016, 01:15:52 pm by BlackenedPies »

Offline Letus

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Re: Player-suggested tips
« Reply #6 on: March 07, 2016, 05:28:21 pm »

Spanner wrench was an idea for squids but it fell out of favor and was never meta. While mallet might be overkill for guns, it isn't for engines which have 50% more health than guns. A wrench repairs only 40% of a light engine while mallet repairs 83% at a 16% faster rate. It's absolutely essential on balloon and lets you fully repair engines at a more efficient rate which would otherwise remain damaged with a wrench

Well with that note: you can maintain a hull with just Spanner on a Squid

Also
Engineers:  If it has a sliver of damage, don't mallet it.  Last thing you want is for you to mallet 2hp on a hull only to go into combat....and watch that hull die in that 8 second cool down...or suddenly burst into flames.

When against a hwatcha...pre-rebuild your broken guns / engines, then wait for the next hwatcha burst.  That way, you can pop those components back up and start shooting back while said gun is reloading.

Pilots:
Up and down are completely viable and logical evasive maneuvers.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2016, 05:30:17 pm by Letus »

Offline OverlordEgg

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Re: Player-suggested tips
« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2016, 06:21:24 pm »
Pilot + Gunner:
Each grid on the map is 500m by 500m. Press M and plan based on the effective range of your guns.

Offline Daft Loon

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Re: Player-suggested tips
« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2016, 06:40:03 pm »
Going full speed ahead at close range tends to put your enemies behind you.

Someone should see if they are willing to make this a sticky thread so it can accumulate ideas over the longer term.

Offline OverlordEgg

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Re: Player-suggested tips
« Reply #9 on: March 07, 2016, 06:59:22 pm »
Someone should see if they are willing to make this a sticky thread so it can accumulate ideas over the longer term.

I am absolutely okay with this idea.

Offline Jamini

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Re: Player-suggested tips
« Reply #10 on: March 08, 2016, 11:05:51 am »
Pilots: You keep some momentum after you are done accelerating. Only a few seconds of moonshine are really necessary to get forward momentum on some ships (Particularly galleons), and a few seconds of hydrogen and a touch of stamina can get you plenty of vertical lift.

Offline BlackenedPies

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Re: Player-suggested tips
« Reply #11 on: March 08, 2016, 11:12:07 am »
Use pilot stamina to supplement tools you have or replace tools you don't have - not as a substitute for tools you have
« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 11:34:07 am by BlackenedPies »

Offline Jamini

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Re: Player-suggested tips
« Reply #12 on: March 08, 2016, 11:19:41 am »
Use pilot stamina as a supplement to tools you have or a replacement for tools you don't have, but not as a substitute for tools you have

What if you don't want to use a tool that might break a component? You don't want to phoenix claw if it will cost you a turning engine, but stamina might give you just enough torque to get an arc.

Offline Kamoba

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Re: Player-suggested tips
« Reply #13 on: March 08, 2016, 11:23:21 am »
Use pilot stamina as a supplement to tools you have or a replacement for tools you don't have, but not as a substitute for tools you have

What if you don't want to use a tool that might break a component? You don't want to phoenix claw if it will cost you a turning engine, but stamina might give you just enough torque to get an arc.
That's what he means as a supplement to the tools you have or replacement to ones you don't have (which could be situational based on damage/enemy weapons/crew availability.)

Put simply: Know how you want to use your stamina so you don't waste it. :)

Offline Jamini

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Re: Player-suggested tips
« Reply #14 on: March 08, 2016, 11:30:16 am »
Might be better to say it more directly then. The way blackened put it is a bit confusing.