Tips for not sucking at multiplayer

[Inferno]

So Saturday night was my first online play.. I'm alright, but I find I get killed way too easily, take a while to get a kill, and often rush into fights without thinking. I main Aliens/Predators, but wouldn't mind not being cannon-fodder as a marine either.

Any advice to hone my skills?

[ho1mes]

Almost never play pred, so can't really offer advice there. But as for alien, I would suggest a beginner to try and stay with the pack. Much easier to stay alive being somebody else's wingman than to try and confront a marine or pred head on. Speaking of which, you almost never want to attack directly facing your opponent. The power of the alien is in its speed, mobility, and ability to stick to any surface. It is tempting to E-kill any chance you can get, but you'll find that you will die alot with that approach. The most powerful weapon the alien has is it's tail. You will need to learn to exploit the wall-tail attack. This works very well in the more claustrophobic maps like Refinery where you can whack unsuspecting enemies from above. Also works when clinging to a wall or just over a ledge. That can rack up a decent amount of kills against marines. Don't forget to knock out any lights nearby as that will make it even harder for the marine to spot you.

Preds are a different story. They take two hits with wall tail attack if at full health. So very effective but not as powerful. Usually a pred will also push an alien into melee. Your best bet here is to learn timing and counter attacking a pred. Resist the urge to pounce or light attack a blocking pred, as that is certain death. Long range weapons are a little harder to avoid, like the plasmacaster. You can sometimes avoid getting hit by being aware of the tracking laser flashing around you and sprint your way out. If you can find anything to duck behind that helps, though you are prone to getting stunned from splash damage if its not a direct hit.

There are some helpful youtube guides out there that I studied over and over until I got the hang of things. Will post back if I find them, they were easier to find with the old forum format. This game has a strong learning curve, particularly for the alien races. Very satisfying though once you get the hang of how to control your race in MP. Accept you will die a lot until you'r rank 20 or so. Once you get to 30 rank you'll start being able to enjoy the game alot more as you will be able to hold your own somewhat. I think once you get to rank 43 though is when the fun really starts. You will finally be able to go up against other 43 players and have a chance at really taking them. You'll find though that there are quite a few very experienced 43 players out there. You see them on occasion and know you're going to have a difficult time staying alive let alone going toe to toe. That's part of the fun. I recently hit 43 (80+ hours as alien) and am having a blast. Feel free to add me. :)

[Inferno]

Much obliged. Yeah, I tended to go haphazard, and it bit me in the ass a lot.

[Thorp]

Marine Tips: http://forums.steamgames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=20286146&postcount=6

Flashlight: try to run around with your flashlight off in well lit areas. while a lack of light gives aliens and pred cloak an advantage, having preds and aliens not see you from across the map is crucial. If the enemy is targeting you, turn it back on and either run or take extreme caution.

Call it Even: though it isn't my favorite thing to do as a marine, sometime the best thing to do is to escape and fight another day. More often than not, when the opponent gives chase it is easier to put a few bullets across the corner you just turned.

Capitalize: with such small maps there is a high chance that other enemy units or allies are nearby. If you just killed an enemy, backtracking may be your best bet on survival because in my experience, enemies and allies are attracted to death. Backtracking has a good chance of closing gaps with marines trying come to your position. Furthermore backtracking away from the kill can give the stealth (because the backtrack is usually void of new enemies) to run or spray bullets into the impending swarm of enemies.

Distance: try to keep as far away as where you think the enemy is. while the marine's weapon is not too accurate, it is easier to kill an enemy that is looking for something or preoccupied.

Charging Opponents: Sometimes aliens and preds like to charge in when you're clearly shooting at them or are in the open. A melee attack can catch them off guard if they heavy attack first or try to jump on you.

Head: aim for the head and not the chest. While aiming for the chest gives the higher chance of dealing damage, one or two bullets to the head are all you really need.

Jump/Drop of Faith: don't be afraid to jump/drop (don't jump though, you'll be in the air longer thus higher chance of being hit). be wary of drops that are too far but dropping off platforms such as the buildings in Gateway is the easiest way to dodge death from melee combat. Continually aliens like to lunge off buildings, keep a block up until you are absolutely positive they are going to run at you or leave.

Walls: Stay against the wall, that way it is easier to shoot aliens running perpendicular to the floor. Sticking to the wall will also drop the chance of being attacked from that 1 side.

Avoid Wall: Aliens that love to use their tail are going to use the wall to their advantage and it is the safest way to kill marines imo. Try to stay far enough away from the wall the alien is on to avoid the tail's reach. Aliens that can't reach with the tail like to lunge so put up a block if they hesitate. If they then come down to heavy attack, melee charge asap.

Stim: i don't know how many people die from not using stims...use them. pop a stim immediately after combat if any permanent damage was taken. Don't be too afraid of taking a stim in the middle of combat; if you can drop off a ledge there is a good chance you can pop a stim before the enemy can target you again. Running around corners can also give the distance and cover needed to take a stim.

Look Up: keep your eyes on the ceiling for aliens...don't know how many squads of marines just walk right under me when I'm an alien.

Turn Corners: hug corners of buildings and walls. Being able to get behind a wall when enemies initiate melee combat is the best way to avoid guaranteed death by heavy attacks.

[ho1mes]

Here's the link from the old forum with the tutorial videos I mentioned. The tutorials are under "Gameplay":

http://forums.steamgames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1080669

Melee guide:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_378518&feature=iv&src_vid=NHbUcdBHOg4&v=bT_sRo41e00

Alien tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6qVDMJyt4k

[cloud]

Yeah its a great game but be warned most of the players who still play have 2 years exp at it and can be so hard to beat. Good luck.

[Mister Torgue Flexington]

exactly. I'm relatively new to the multi-player aspect, and was getting my ass kicked constantly, although I did get quite a few kills in the process (some of them being E-grabs). But still pretty fun.

[.AiM.]

Sending friendies to all in this thread. I've learned much since reading the materials herein, I appreciate this kind of discourse immensely. Just picked up the title yesterday, spent 5 hours getting violated and persecuted on all fronts and races. While frustrated with the controls for now, and having only played through a few levels of the X & P campaigns...my commitment to the franchise is strong. (AvP2 meant the world to me in my college years.) I've seen what skilled players can do in this new game, through the eyes of their witless victim, and intend to hone myself to provide them at least with worthy prey. I can vouch for Confuted and Holmes' advice thus far, having transgressed almost every law in that list and been killed for it. Has anyone here experimented with gamepad play for the Xeno? I'm finding the lack of key configuration options disappointing but moving 'like a xeno' is far easier with analog sticks.

[ho1mes]

Awesome, see you guys in battle.. :)

[Tinky Winky]

F***ing awesome :-).