Thread:Ava Athena/@comment-26530108-20160216034141/@comment-27724086-20160216070807

Shirt,

I didn't notice the individual play movements on the map really on that game. To me it was another match where I was the primary beacon runner with 6 beacons and the next person with 3. Everyone on our team got a kill on that game and every scored over 100K - so there were no laggers.

You and I finished with the lowest damage scores - but that was okay for me because I was gathering 6 beacons. The match was not enough to gauge how you play, but ask yourself what occurred in that match that landed you the 6th place in damages and only 1 beacon (you have 5 bots in your hanger after all)? What occurred that kept you back or what could you have done differently? Generally, the players that finish low in damages or low in beacon count are either picking non-beacon runners as their first bots or are leading with a bot that is not a good 1st choice for the map they are on.

Most matches only last 3-5 minutes and means that the 1st bot is the most important bot you can open with. The first bots of a team set the tone for the game and the team that can apply the beacon pressure or damages will usually win. For example, we were on Yamantau I believe - that is map that puts the team that is behind in beacons in a bind - because their strategy can only be to recapture the usually the central beacon or drive the enemy away from their far side beacon (which kinda means that we just had to wait for them to attack the center). I started with a Tri-Mag Gepard ended with a Stalker (2 bots used)  and I took the spawn (1x), side (1x), central (2x), and enemy far side beacon (2x)  - damage as only 250K and 1 kill, but that game was win for us largely because I controlled the tempo of the enemies game by forcing them to play catch up on the becaon dominace the entire game.

Sorry for going long on that, but what I'm trying to get to is that to be really good at this game - separate from having a good hanger and knowing how to use the bots/weapons - is that you have a clear internal mission and procedures on how you carry out this mission. My mission is to strive to give my team beacon domiance right from the start and to maintain beacon pressure thoughout the game. How I execute this is by leading with a beacon runner that has sufficient power to capture a beacon and if necessary defend it or kill any red beacon runners (to stop the red team from asserting beacon dominance against us). Additionally, my hanger conttains all bots that can move over 42 mph, but have very good power (my Rhino is actually used as a beacon runner) - so all my bots can contribute to my mission of giving my team beacon dominance. I don't use a Cossak because while it is a runner, it usually can only beat another Cossak or perhaps a Destrier in beacon defense.

So ask yourself, what is your mission in your team? What do you want to do in the match? If you want to be a supreme beacon runner, then look how I go about it. If you want to be the top 3 in damages every game then what's your bot order and does every bot in that hanger contribute to that mission? Look at every bot in your hanger and ask yourself - does this bot accomplish my mission or is does it just "kinda" does. If the bot just kinda does it then it needs to be replaced as soon as you are able.

Most players don't play with a mission and their hangers show it - mediocre bots with inconsistent setups abound even in gold and top tier like Griffins, Leos, Golems, and Destriers (you'll notice that the Nastasha is not listed - its actually a decent bot if your mission is assault bot fire support with it as Mortarman or Sniper on 3 of the 4 maps). These mediocre bots do nothing particularly well and you'd be hard pressed to prove that something else doesn't exist to better meet the mission. Now I understand you have to use what you have, but if its top tier you want to be, then you should be getting those "wish list" bots and their weapons now - and be upgrading them while they are in inventory to all level 10-12 (which is what I am doing).

Just have a clear mission and make sure that every bot in that hanger can achieve that mission better than any other bot. The last thing is that you really have to develop exceptional situational awareness - so you know where the match/bots are going to by just watching their icons, know what the timing is weapon reloads, know what weapons are around you just by their sound, know what bot to use next to address the current need (i.e., not just go through the same bot order every time), and of course know when its time to eject from a bot that is no longer being useful.

Gee - I that was very long post.

Ava