WF17: Field Marine Basics

Welcome to “WF17: Field Marine Basics ”. This guide aims to give you a idea of field basics which I have learned since I played competitive Natural Selection 2. While these basics are used in competitive, they can help you step up your game in public and make you an overall better player. Be aware that this guide does not include strategies for marine commanders. Enjoy your read and ask me questions below in the comments.

Introduction

Welcome to “WF17: What to Do as Field Marine ”. This guide aims to give you a basic idea of field tactics which I have learned since I played competitive Natural Selection 2. Be aware that this guide does not include strategies for marine commanders. Enjoy your read and feel free to ask me questions below in the comments.

About me:
My nickname is Warforce17 and I am commanding the Ns2 team HBZ. I have played since December 2012 and have now nearly 2000 hours of Ns2 gameplay experience.
I decided to write this guide because I saw a lot of players who dont seem to know these basics and I want to give them a source from which they could learn them from.

Capping / Recapping

“Capping” can be translated as “building an Extractor”.Therefore a sentence such as “Cap X” means “build Extractor in location X”. Your commander might also ask you to “recap” resource towers (Extractors). In this case he wants you to rebuild an Extractor which has been destroyed by aliens.

Capping is a very important job. If you build Extractors for your team you are a Caper. Without you the commander would not get the resources he needs to get weapons and better technology for your team. Therefore, don´t just run to the frontline without a thought. Press C and look at your map and then decide if you should “cap” or if you are needed somewhere else.

Lane-Blocking

If you have played MOBAS in the past might already be familiar with the term. Similar to these games in Natural Selection 2 the marines want to block routes to their buildings to defend them from enemies.

To further illustrate how it is done here an simplified example of bad Lane-Blocking:


The game starts and three marines spawn in base.
They can take three routes namely route A, B and C.
Now two marines take route A and one marine takes route C.
They leave base.


One minute later all aliens are in marine base.
MARINES LOSE! What made this possible?
Since no marine took route B, aliens were able to attack base undetected.


This could have been avoided by sending one marine from route A to route B.
Then each route is blocked by one marine.

As you can see Lane-Blocking is a skill which helps marines to scout and defend at the same time. However, Lane-Blocking can also be used offensively. If marines block both choke points to the alien hive location, aliens cannot expand. You effectively contain the aliens.

Rotating

Rotating is a move related to “Lane-Blocking” and means that one marine switches their lane to cover another unblocked one. Typically a marine has to rotate if another marine has died and the lane has become open because of that.

Her an example of Rotating:
NS-Player1 blocks lane A, NS-Player2 blocks lane B and NS-PLAYER3 blocks lane C. NS2-Player 2 gets killed by an alien and lane B has become open. Therefore Ns-Player1 moves to lane B to block it. The dead marine Ns2Player2 respawns now and goes to lane A. Now all lanes are blocked again.

Pushing

Pushing is a term of aggressive marine play. A sentence such as “push X” basically means “attack location x”. The aim of pushing is to destroy buildings (especially harvesters) and to divert the attention of the alien team to the pushing marines. This forces the aliens to defend and don´t forget that defending aliens cannot attack. Therefore, good pushes dictate the pace of the game and can force aliens to move from one push team to another. At this point aliens run around in circles which puts them under constant pressure and forces them to make mistakes.

Balance between Agression and Defense

As the title suggest I think there exists a balance between aggressive and defensive plays; the “Capers” build the Extractors, the Lane-Blocking marines stop the aliens from getting behind the frontline and the pushing marines divert the attention of the aliens from the other marines.
If only one of these roles is not fulfilled the alien team gains an advantage over the marines. If no one lane-blocks, aliens destroy Extractors or other important buildings. If no one caps Extractors, the marine commander will run out of resources to spend and cannot support support his team anymore. If no one pushes, aliens will have to many harvesters, get access to stronger aliens and can focus on attacking the marine team.

The great thing about this game is that your role is not fixed but instead can change throughout the game. You might start as a Caper but suddenly you get the chance to push because all aliens are focused on something else. After the damage is done you fall back into a good position and start Lane-Blocking.

Baiting / Trap

An advanced skill a marine can learn is called Baiting. It deceives aliens by making them think only one marine in the room while in reality the other marines are hiding nearby. Believing the marine will be easy to kill the alien engages and gets shoot down by the number of the marines in the room. This is a good way to kill of players who tend to overextend and are likely to go in for an easy kill.

However, not all aliens will fall for this trick. In this case marines have to trap the alien by cutting of its likely escape route. Both Baiting and Traps need good communication and timing to pull of. So if you want to trap, listen to your teammates and check your map for aliens. Then think where the alien might escape to after it has been hurt. Now move to this position and wait. If you are patient and a good shot you will be rewarded.

Both Baiting and Traps are a very good way to kill higher lifeforms and are especially effective with Shotguns.

Addendum: “5 Tips to make you a better marine player.”

1. Check your map
Every few seconds you are not in combat check your map. Think about this scenario:
As a beginner you might die a lot in Natural Selection 2. You have 15 seconds before you respawn again. Now you can wait which is boring or you can try to understand what is going on. Open the map and ask you these questions: Where are the aliens? Where am I needed? Where will I go after I spawn? The more you play the faster you can assess the situation and are helpful for the team.

2. Cover other marines.
If you are behind another marine stay in line of sight to him. Look at his feet there aliens are likely to attack him. If you are the last of the group regularly check what is behind you to make sure nothing is sneaking up behind your group. Also keep distance between you and the marine in front of you. You don´t want to be hugging each other when aliens specialized in close combat are around.

3. Check your corners.
When you enter a room check the ceiling and corners of it. If a skulk hangs above you and you did not check him, it is your fault you got killed by him a few seconds later. Normally the first marine entering the room checks the corners. If you notice he does not, do it for him.

4. Weld
If you don´t save for something special, buy welders at the armoury. Use them to weld other marines who have lost their armour (You will see a wrench near to their head). Having full armour lets you take more hits before you die and therefore can mean the difference between life and death in combat. Furthermore, it also makes you build faster and lets you repair damaged buildings.

5. Listen to your commander
If your commander gives you an order, try to follow it as best as possible. This is especially true if you are a beginner.

[Hertus]

Thanks. Very good author! Friendly and helpful. This changed my life!
luv

[Warforce17]

@Hertus
When in doubt always push reactor.

[B-daWg]

Nice, thanks :)

[Hertus]

Where the section for "stronk" tactics? PUSH REACTOR?

[|-DMD-| Rusty - grieving]

Content is great. I highly recommend new players to read this. It's great!

[FunKmeupDaddi<3]

Brand new to the game myself and holy crap there's a lot to take in. Thanks a bunch for the write up.

[CarNagE]

Nice one

[Sadenki]

Great guide Warforce !!!

[Jackson7th]

Like in "advanced filed marine" ? Great. Don't hesitate to contact me if you need anything, I'd be glad to participate and give a few ideas.

[Warforce17]

@Jackson:
I will add a section about double pushing in the near future.