Marine Boot Camp

This guide is for new players who just joined the game, or for seasoned veterans that just rushed into things or just want to check a few basic things without asking silly questions. It covers the most basic aspects of gameplay, the enemies that a marine is likely to encounter, and basic tactics. This is not an in-depth guide, but rather to get a player familiar with what to encounter during the early to mid game.

1. So, you just spawned. Now what?

Assuming that you joined a game that has just started, you should see a few other marines around you, as well as the command post, and the infantry portal. Both of these are vital structures, and need to be protected - the command station is where the commander sits (and lords over you with his/her commander-ly might),




while the infantry portal is how you will respawn when you die.
These particular structures are within your primary base, and should be alright for the start of the game. If these structures are under attack, it probably means that either one lone Kharaa has made it through, or the entire enemy team is about to teach your team the meaning of pain.

Either way, this is when you start to expand out to the nearest reasources, secure them, and wait for orders.

2. Moving out.

When you start to move out, to capture some resources, unless you've played this map before, you'll probably have no idea where to go. At this point, you have two options: either

a) Follow the other guys. It's good to stay in a team, as more marines allow for a tougher target for the Skulks that are currently out for you blood, as well as faster construction (more on this in a moment).
-or-
b) Bring up the map. By default, this is mapped to the C key, but you can change that in the keybinding options (press Esc, you'll find it). When you do this, a map will appear, much like this:

The moving icons that you can see at the moment are your allies (highlighted in green). Keep an eye out for where they head, and you'll soon have an idea of what's important.

Three specific icons to take note of are: The small yellow triangle with the lightning bolt cut-out, the larger grey square, and the mid-sized circle, divided into three parts. These are the Power Nodes, Tech Points, and Resource Nozzles respectively. All very useful and you and your team should try to take as many as you can hold.

Once you have arrived at the first expansion, it's time to learn about construction.

3. Construction in the field.

At the first expansion, you should see two blue outlines (assuming that you have a commander and that they are paying attention!). One small outline mounted on a wall, and a larger outline somewhere on the floor nearby. These are the Power Node

and the Extractor.
To construct these buildings, you need to walk up to them and hold down the construct button (default key: E). A laser welding device will appear (NOT to be confused with an actual welder, covered later), allowing the building to be constructed. Additional marines allow the building to be constructed.

Unless there are two or more people building a power node, the power node should always be constructed first, since it costs no money and is automatically placed whenever a building is being built in that room for the first time. Remember this important fact: if the structure is still blue, and a Kharaa touches it, the money is refunded. If it is under construction, the money is lost. If you have no chance of keeping the area away from the Kharaa, do not build any new utility buildings, unless specifically instructed. Other buildings (like sentry guns, phase gates and armories) should be constructed to help keep the room regardless of the situation (unless you are about to die, then let it stay unbuilt).

Additional note: if you in fact stayed in the main base, and one marine should to build support structures, you will probably be asked to build an armory:.
Eventually, with research conducted by the commander, you will be able to buy a tool called a welder:
The welder allows for much faster construction, including repairs to any human structure, as well as allowing you to restore friendly players' armour, as well as burn down Kharaa structures relatively quickly. Useful to say the least, it can mean the difference between holding an outpost and losing it.

4. Contact!

At this point, you should come under attack for the first time. Assuming that there are at least a few marines nearby, and that all of you have experience at either Natural Selection 2 or just about any shooter, you should be fine. Just remember these few hints:

Firstly, and this is important so I'll bold it for you: IF YOU TRY TO MOVE BACKWARDS, YOU MAY AS WELL STAND STILL! Touching the S key will slow your character to a crawl, and make you a nice easy target. A better tactic to use is to strafe around your target. While keeping your sights on your target, move either left or right around it, it will make you much harder to hit and will keep you moving at a decent pace. If you target gets ahead of you, just change directions.

Secondly, unless their teeth are becoming intimately aquainted with you flesh, do NOT just spray-and-pray. Fire in short bursts - this saves ammunition, keeping you from having to reload and dislodge a Skulk from your butt simultaneously, and is a good indicator of accuracy: if you couldn't hit it with the burst, you probably would have just wasted bullets by spraying.

Finally, don't shoot at something that you cannot hit, it just wastes ammo and returns to the problem of the Skulk and your butt. If your target is retreating, use the pistol instead - it's more accurate, can fire as fast as you can squeeze the trigger, and packs a surprizing punch. If you use this and happen to kill someone, they may call you a ♥♥♥♥, but this is just trying to cover up the fact that YOU JUST KILLED THEM WITH A MEASLY PISTOL! HA!

After this encounter, and assuming that there are enough of you left alive, it's time to move up to the next resource point or tech point - both vital to staying in the game. Just cover each other and keep an eye out for skulks.

Below is a short guide as to the creatures you'll encounter, when and where to expect them, and how to best take them out:

Skulk
Found during the entire game, due to their high manuverability and low cost (free). Experienced players tend to stick to walls and ambush positions above doors, so a good strategy is to send out someone as bait, and use the rest of the group to kill any attackers. Any skilled marine can kill, but beware as they are very fast and can regenerate, and eventually have the ability to leap attack over a moderate distance. CAUTION: can move silently at any time, although attacking still makes noise.


Gorge
Found during the early game near the main hive, during the mid game at expansion hives, and later as part of an attack column supporting other Kharaa. Has a ranged attack, good accuracy, and can grow either Hydras (a small turret, can attach to any surface) or Clogs (large green, well, clog. Used to block passage or as armour for structures in a pinch) in limited quantities. Hardier than a skulk, but vulnerable at close range; can move surprisingly quickly by sliding on its large belly. Eventually upgrades to lob armour destroying bile, deadly against structures.


LerkFound mid game onwards, while they can fly very quickly, they also have the ability to cling to surfaces much like a Skulk. Combined with a weak but rapid fire ranged attack, these creatures can be dangerous in experienced hands. Best to kill quickly with combined ranged fire before it releases clouds of spores that can either help its allies (50% miss for enemy attacks, orange) or hurt its enemies (direct health attack which bypasses armour, green). While hard to hit due to its speed, also fragile, so it cannot linger in a fight. NOTE: flamethrowers remove toxic spores very effectively.


Fade
Found around the same time as the Lerk, these creatures can move quickly, have a deadly melee attack and are very healthy. Usually used to eliminate individual marines, it can quickly move into a group, kill one, and move out again using its blink ability. Expect it anywhere outside a main spawning area. Best use against it is heavy firepower, such as the grenade launcher, and higher manuverability, such as the jetpack, neither of which will be covered here. This is a basic tutorial, not PhD stuff...
Either way, this creature cannot attack airbourne targets with any degree of capability. Also known to occasionally use an ability which removes a target from reality temporarily - this is not often used as the game is either getting towards a conclusion or the resources are more often being spent towards lots of...


Onos
The armoured tank of the Kharaa, these hulking brutes are found taking a direct path towards one of your command stations in the late game. While they have significant amounts of health and armour, and their melee attack will kill a marine in one hit, and they also gain a stun attack that can send anyone reeling (makin' me feel intimidated here...); their greatest disadvantage is their immense size - they are almost impossible to miss. The only solution to remove these creatures is simple massed firepower; if you can dodge it with a jetpack, so much the better. Very expensive, most players will not have enough personal resources to get one. Probably called Onos because Awcraps doesn't roll off the tongue as easily.

5. Communication and orientation.

Communication really is vital, even if it is only to tell your commander exactly what you need and when - knowing how to communicate a need for ammo or med-packs quickly can keep you alive when you're in serious trouble, or keep you fighting behind enemy lines. The full menu is accessible by pressing the X key, but there are a few shortcuts: Q requests health, Z requests ammo, and H requests orders. Confusing Q and Z will get you into trouble (great deal of good an ammo pack will do for you if your intestines are being muched on!), and H is also used as a general call for attention (i.e. you're near a res node and want the commander to put down an extractor).

While these forms of communications are quick and useful, they aren't really flexible, especially if you need to communicate details such as the number of Skulks that just tore your limbs off, or whether anyone got the licence number of the Onos that just squashed you. For this, there are three forms of communication: Verbal, Team text, and All text.

• Verbal is accessed by holding down the Alt key. Assuming that you have a microphone, everyone on your team should be able to hear you, and any comments you make. Try to keep it civil, people - this is a combat zone!
  
• Team text is accessed by pressing the T key. Simply type in the message you want to send, then press the Enter key to display it to the entire team. Grammar counts. This is best used either during a lull in the action, or post-mortem, as any keyboard inputs will not work while you're typing - nothing is more telling than a text with 'wasdawwawwdasdww-♥♥♥♥!' attacked to the end of it.
  
• All text is really the only way to communicate with players on the other team during the match, assuming that you haven't arranged a means of communication outside the game (like Mumble). This is where people will often come to complain how ♥♥♥♥ their team is, and to congratulate each other on a game well played (i.e. gg). Again, keep it civil - some poor kid's parents' could read that!

Now that you know how to talk, it's important that you also know how to read the flow of things - such as when your area is about to come under attack, where major conflicts are, and where people are dying. You'll remember a brief overview of the map earlier in this guide (access using the C key), so lets have a closer look at one:
Room borders are outlined in blue, while ventilation shafts are highlighted in orange (Kharaa shortcuts - keep an eye on them!). You're the larger arrow, whizzing around like a maniac. Stop that. This is serious.

Each room has a name, and it's a good idea to remember what these are and where they are, as the commander may request everyone to run to a room to defend whatever is inside, or as a forming-up point in preparation for an attack.

Automated messages will tell you when someone is under attack, or when a Kharaa is chewing (or spitting, as the case may be) on one of your structures. This will be highlighted by flashing red, and most likely acomponied by red dots (these are enemies, probably a good idea to kill them). If no one else is around, or if the commander asks for assistance in that area, it's a good idea to figure out where you'll enter the room, and where these creatures are that you need to attack.

While the full sized map shows the entire area you're currently playing in, you can't have it open all the time, as you won't be able to see where you're going. Thankfully, there is a minimap, and you can found it here:
The minimap will show the area of the map immediately around you, and will pan as you move around the map. It shows you where your friends are, structures, some terrain features (i.e. walls and ventilation shafts), and enemies, assuming that you can see them (Your commander might be willing to give you a scan of the area. Ask them!). Keep an eye on it, it will tell you where to go in the local area so that you can find exits and entrances, as well as friends and targets. It's very useful, and more compact than the full sized map, but not as detailed.

6. From here to victory.

Once contact has been made, there are only a few points left to consider:

• Keep pressing to key areas. If your team cannot take them, you can at least deny them to the Kharaa. Take those tech points to unlock higher tech stuff.
  
• There's no point to just hoarding res (unless you want to try for an exosuit or something. They ARE pretty cool), so spend on other things. Try out a jetpack and grenade launcher, or a flamethrower and some mines. Even if it's just a shotgun and a welder, you will develop decent skills and help you allies, even if it's only so they can loot your dismembered corpse.
  
• Listen to your commander, and talk back as well. Good communication is the key to an effective confrontation in this game - they need to know what you're doing, and you need to know what to do next.
  
• Stick with a group of marines - wandering off is a good way to get killed, especially if you're lost.
  
• Cysts do spread the infestation, but they're cheap to place and quick to regrow. Attacking the outermost cysts only tells enemy commanders where you are - to really cause some damage, attack ones close to the hive and destroy the entire chain in one swift attack!
  
• Experienced Kharaa prefer ambushes while the inexperienced ones just charge into the frey. See if you can tell how many players are going to be a real problem in the late game.
  
• If the enemy is attacking an area, or you need some help, say so! There are no mind readers in this game, so memorize some basic voice command buttons (i.e. Q - health request, Z - ammo request, X comtains a list to access others).
  
• Most Kharaa structures are flammable. If you don't have a flamethrower, the welder works well too...
  
• Kharaa spawn from eggs. No eggs means no enemy spawning, at least not at this hive.

SO: stick with a group, follow orders, deny the enemy resources, and kill as many alien scum as you can, and before you know it, you'll be looking at the victory screen. And keep one eye on the minimap - a lost marine is a dead marine.

There is no better feeling than to fight the Kharaa, see them driven before you, and hear the morbid death screams of a hive burning alive. Get to it marine!

[﴾﴾ۣۜkala]

mippy sippy

[BL-INK]

Falling into the same catagory as Gorgeous, this is a well written guide and even provided a small amount of insight for a novice player such as myself (see don't press your 'S' key in combat).

[BlackMilk]

Excellent guide. I'm neither a newbie or a true veteran (let alone a highly skilled NS player), but this is great for new players. If you're ever going to do a guide on alien/marine commander roles written the same way you did this one, I'll give you a cookie!

Good stuff, I'll recommend this to any of my friends wanting to play NS as marines.

[Hawkeye]

Very good. You should also include keyboard controls for important things such as asking for heal or ammo.

[Calego]

Excellent guide. I would also add in at least a mention of the map and mini-map. Constantly paying attention to the map is one of those thing that separates a rookie from a veteran.