| MSN Home | Hotmail | Web Search | Shopping | Money | People & Chat | |||||||||
| |
 |  |
|
45622 Players Online
Take me to the game |
|
| 989 Studios' Guidebook | |
|
So, you're ready for the definitive word? Here is the collected wisdom of guys who've played the game until they sweated blood -- both the makers of Tanarus
at Studio 989
and dedicated fans. Read on, and learn...
Team Play
Tanarus emphasizes team cooperation in its approach to multiplayer gaming. You'll fare much better if you learn to stick with your teammates, especially in combat situations, where the advantage lies in greater numbers. Get into the habit of keeping up on private team chat, and don't be afraid to call in your teammates for help. Your chat text is the same color as your team, distinguishing it from public chat, which is colored white. To communicate with your teammates privately, press the ' (apostrophe) key and type your message. What You Need to Know About Fighting Tanarus tank combat isn't nearly as complicated as it seems. What most players don't understand is that unlike other multiplayer games, Tanarus is much more picky about game balance. No matter how good you are in Tanarus , any pilot going up against even two mediocre pilots will probably be pulling the shortest straw. The odds favor the higher number, and lone-wolf game gods just don't exist in Tanarus . Just as important as your ability to get kills is your ability to survive fights, but beyond that, to know when the odds are not in your favor, even to know when a situation is hopeless and not worth tackling. If you haven't figured it out yet, a death on your score means you'll need that many more kills to recover the ratio. If your ratio's at all important to you, then read on. Common Sense The first thing to master is simply weighing the odds. Maybe you can take out two Vanguards against your own, but you can forget about it if you're fighting three or even more. Our rule of thumb is this: Never engage more than one enemy unless you have ready and willing teammates nearby who can assist you. Some of you may chance the two-on-one (even three-on-one), but let's face it: you're taking a chance, and you know it. If those two tanks are even half competent at fighting, you're probably dead. Some may argue against this "play it safe" approach, but ask any one of those players how many times they'd wished they hadn't jumped those two tanks, and they'll tell you, "More times than I care to remember." We're not saying there's never a time and place to take the plunge, but let's stress this once again: weigh the odds. There's no simple formula for weighing odds, but you can start by using a lot of common sense. We're going to cover the basic and expert tactics of fighting in the context of a one-on-one --you versus someone else, assuming no other "team-play" factors. This might be too ideal a scenario when talking about a multiplayer game, but the basics learned here will carry over to more realistic encounters. Framerate Before going on, we feel it's important to state that computer speed plays a major role in your potential. We're not suggesting that those with faster computers will always be better players -- we're suggesting that players with faster computers have the ability to be better players versus those with slower ones. In short, the faster your computer (that is, the faster your framerate), the greater your potential for becoming an elite Tanarus player. Faster framerates make fighting, driving, tracking, and dodging much easier. Note: One way to increase your framerate without buying a new machine is to set your graphic settings as low as you can stand. Circular Movement Circular movement is a term used for giving your opponent your side view only. It does not necessarily translate to your running a circle around your opponent, because in most cases, your opponent will not sit still while you merrily play "ring around the rosy." The idea is to shoot from the side, never giving your opponent only your front or rear. In all likelihood, you'll be driving in lots of incomplete circles, like a pendulum swinging back and forth, but the result is that any damage suffered by your shields can be properly allocated. With our remapped keyboard configuration, we're able to dump shield power to the front or rear, wherever we're taking damage, and since we're not giving the opponent our front or rear solely, we're able to survive that much longer. If head-on fighting describes your current fighting style, ditch it and go to circular fighting. Shield Allocation You can reallocate power between the front and rear shields in response to damage. Use the Q and E keys to do this. The key to shield management is to respond quickly to shield damage. There are two ways to determine shield strength from your shield indicator. First, the numbers above and below the shield indicator show the strength of the front and rear shields, respectively. An unboosted shield has 50 points at full strength. Shield color-coding presents a more at-a-glance indication of your shield strength. As shields weaken under fire, they go from white to yellow, brown, red, and finally black. Fighting involves constant adjustment of your shield-power allocation. Any player who can effectively allocate shields during a fight will be able to hold their own against the best of them. Don't go crazy allocating shields, though. Your goal is to respond to the side that's taking damage and nothing more. Many players have accused others of cheating because they couldn't penetrate their shields. Guess what? They're using shield allocation! Learn this concept and you'll be living a lot longer. Now something many players don't realize is that shield distribution does not happen instantly. If you allocate 25 points of shield power from the front to the rear, you have to wait in real-time as those 25 points simultaneously deplete from the front and add to the rear. So the biggest problem facing any pilot is a totally depleted shield, because allocating to an unprotected side is pretty much useless for one very good reason: it's not allocating fast enough! You're effectively throwing away shield power, because your opponent is knocking it right out before it even has a chance to power up. Your best bet is to ditch the circular fighting method at this point, give them your shielded side totally, and dump shield strength slowly to the unprotected side. Now, for many of us, this type of last-ditch tactic for a seemingly hopeless situation might be a struggle to pull off. Many of us instinctively try to allocate to the unprotected side, but we'll say it once again: it's a total waste of your shields! Just remember that if you lose a shield, don't allocate; turn and give them the shielded side. Engaging We won't go into detail about all the different weapons available, because that's not the point of this guide. Neither will we go to great lengths to discuss how to fire your weapon, because there really isn't all that much to it. At least, we hope there isn't! When jumping into a fight, you want control. One of the best ways to start the fight with control is to gain surprise. Whenever you approach someone who is unaware, you want to approach from behind, where you are hidden and can fire on the tank's rear. If this particular fight comes down to a war of attrition, then the player who was able to get the first few shots off is probably going to win. But let's just say that this particular fight does not really allow for you to surprise your opponent. Your opponent sees you and is ready to engage. They're holding back and you're staring them down across the battlefield. Maybe you've participated in these types of fights -- a showdown of sorts. The best way to attack is to simply bide your time. Some players will taunt in order to get you to come at them first, but there's a lot of danger in coming in with guns blazing. The problem here is that in order to approach, you have to present your front, and that's dangerous. In all likelihood, your opponent has their side to you, and although you're hitting them, they're allocating shield power to distribute damage. You, with your frontal assault, can't say the same. You can dump shield power to the damaged side, but once you move in close enough for circular fighting, you're already depleted in shield strength. Your opponent, on the other hand, has probably compensated for any damage you've delivered. When it comes to a showdown, the best advice we can give is to either let your opponent come to you, or -- if you absolutely must -- approach very cautiously from the side, being sure to land your shots while allocating your own damage. If you're taking too much damage before you've even really gotten into the fight, then seriously consider backing off, even more so if you're not very accurate with your own shots -- something that does happen, even to the best of them. Hey, if someone calls you a coward for running, grin and bear it. Everyone else in the city doesn't give a rip about your running -- but they'll really notice it if you die. What do you prefer? By the way, before you engage, watch your radar or scan visually along the city. Don't think you can somehow jump a tank and split before the cavalry arrives. In fact, you'd be very surprised just how fast enemy tanks can move across that radar. And on top of that, they'll really cook it to your location if they notice you're lonesome trying to engage one of their own. In either of these situations, you need to maintain situational awareness. Pay serious attention to your radar for other enemy tanks. That's a given. But pay attention to your sound effects as well. What you may have missed on radar was probably due to their Stealth module (which everyone knows renders a tank invisible on radar), so once you hear those extra guns firing, you'd better start weighing your options real quick. And like any good pilot, you're paying attention to your own shields. So if you notice your shield damage is going down a little too fast (not factoring in that your target is carrying plasma), then watch out. Hey, many of you might be thinking to yourselves how obvious all this is -- but the reality of it is that we still lose fights because of these reasons. Nod your head in agreement. That's right. Power You're gonna need to learn how to keep close tabs on your power input indicator and your battery power. This sounds easy, but in practice, it's not for a lot of new players. Being able to watch your power input and battery level (along with the onscreen action and your shield status) is a skill you're going to acquire through experience. Some players have asked whether it's better to take a Supercharger in place of a single Reserve Power. Our answer is no -- although there's no difference in terms of additional energy (Reserve Power fills the battery; Supercharger doubles battery size). Seeing the Reserve Power kick in is a better indicator of the seriousness of your power situation -- a better wake-up call, if you will. Tanks are "fed" power by Recon Stations. The further you wander from a friendly Recon Station, the less power you'll receive, so it's in your best interest to expand your power base whenever possible. Capturing Recon Stations requires a special module labeled "Recon Capture." Once you've got it, you can drive your tank to any neutral or enemy Recon Station and initiate the capture sequence by driving over the white pad and pressing the 7 key. You can view the status and location of Recon Stations by pressing the F2 key. A Recon Capture module takes up six bays. Chasing There's that killer instinct that kicks in whenever we see enemy tanks running from a fight, especially when their shields are down or, better yet, when they're smoking black. By all means, chase, but just be careful. Be very wary of mines and of other enemy tanks, who'll have an easy time picking you off because your backside is totally exposed. A running tank is not necessarily close to death -- in fact, it might be far from it, and only beating a hasty retreat to help re-energize shields or perhaps gain more power. Make sound judgements when chasing a tank. Don't chase if you're gonna pay for it with your own life. The funny thing is that many players will totally throw common sense out the window when chasing a player they respect. Again, that instinct kicks in to get that "veteran kill." It's a worse feeling when you pay for it chasing a newbie. By the way, watch your power when chasing, because nothing's worse than running out of power chasing a damaged tank, only to have that damaged tank turn around and kill you for your stupidity. You'll also want to be careful about chasing tanks in tight quarters, because it's real easy to get sandwiched between the tank you're chasing and a tank chasing you. Running Retreating from a fight is not always an easy thing. In fact, in many cases, it's much better to just stick it out to the bitter end rather than run. No, we're not talking about some ancient tradition of honorable death; we're talking about prolonging the fight in favor of dying now, because you never know what might happen. Your opponent might lose power, or teammates might come in to save your skin. How many of us have retreated from a fight, only to die running, and then thought to ourselves how we should've just stuck it out. However, if you do decide to run, here are some simple guidelines: Always use ramps and buildings to throw off aiming. Never run in a straight line. Run towards teammates rather than bases (not a hard, fast rule, but a good one if you have competent teammates). Remember to never let shields deplete; stop to fight for a bit if you have to, in order to recharge. (remember the circular method to distribute damage). Avoid running near enemy Recons in regards to energy (especially if they have Recon Guns attached). Dying in Style Ain't no tactic for dying, just a lot of learning and courtesy. If you know why you died, then all the better (got jumped by a second tank; ran out of power, etc.), but do everyone a favor and eliminate the whining. There's blatant whining ("You can't beat me 1 on 1 -- you need your team to help you" -- incredibly lame) and then there's the subtle stuff that a lot of players (even good ones) are guilty of. Stuff like, "I woulda had you," or even subtler than that: "I ran out of battery power." Look, you died, and that's that. The subject of your excuse didn't kill you -- it was your opponent. Learn to salute the other player, compliment the effort, or say nothing. Lose the excuses, because any excuse is a poor attempt to make your death seem less important to you than it really is. Fight the good fight! What You Need to Know About Mines The basics of mining are pretty straightforward: stay unseen, predict where the enemy might go, and drop enough mines to make them jump out of their chair -- you can add your own colorful descriptions. In most cases, mining is a one-shot deal, because that perfect trap you laid for the unwary player has to work. If you come up short in damage, your opponent knows what's up and will immediately seize up into cautious mode. You better be careful, because they're now on to your mining and will be prepared to hunt you down or carry a minesweeper to blow you apart with your own medicine, and that's just to name only a few ways they can make you pay for your attempt. If you need specific mining configurations for different tanks, visit the Tank Configurations section. Ten Rules for Mining
Why can't I target some tanks even though I can see them? The tanks in question are equipped with Stealth modules, which prevent them from being scanned by radar or by your targeting computer. How many mines does it take to kill a tank? Usually five mines will do the trick. Anything less and you probably can't guarantee a kill, especially against some of the heavier tanks. I get killed so fast, and I don't even put a dent in the other tank! What's up? You're probably fighting someone who understands Shield Allocation principles. Read up on our Combat section. You should also enlist the help of teammates whenever you can, or at the very least, stick with your teammates and don't wander off. What's that thumping sound I hear? It's shaking my screen, too! Those are incoming cannon shells. If they land close enough to you, you'll also sustain damage. Best advice is to get out of the way and find cover. What's the best tank? It all depends on what type of role you want to play for your team. We suggest the Vanguard equipped with a Phase Multiplier, Shield, Shield Boost, Stealth, Nullifier, and Reserve Power for beginners. Believe it or not, many veterans use this configuration for their Vanguard as well. It's a great all-around configuration suited for fighting and defense. What should I be on the lookout for? This brings up an important tactic called "situational awareness." In short, you always want to be on the lookout for something. The turret on a tank isn't just for aiming and shooting -- it's also your eyes to the world! Watch for enemy tanks roving in packs, especially when their pack outnumbers yours. Keep an eye on enemy tanks that are hanging around your Recon Stations, and always be careful when turning corners and going up ramps. You never know what kind of surprise is in store, whether it's an enemy tank or a stack of mines. All of a sudden, my tank slowed to a crawl and my weapons stopped working. I don't get it. You ran out of power, plain and simple. Watch your energy feed and your energy reserves. Once you deplete your reserves, you become a crippled tank ripe for killing. Tanks with depleted energy are easy to spot -- they're moving at a snail's pace, and they're exposed on radar (loss of power shuts down all extra equipment, such as Stealth, Phase Multiplier, and Shields). Needless to say, you don't want to be caught in this position. What are those tanks that keep appearing and disappearing? You've probably spotted a Chameleon, a special tank equipped with a cloaking device. The Cloak module is available to all tanks, but it comes standard on a Chameleon (or Cham for short). Any Cloaked tank will expose itself momentarily when firing a laser or cannon shells. |
|
