Firefall Jetball Frames Guide

Firefall Jetball Frames Guide by _tarZa

Most teams who are playing jetball for the first time don’t really know how to play, so here’s some tips on movement

Part One – Movement

In firefall, the best way to move is to use your jetpack. But if you want to move fast, you need to know how to use your jetpack the most efficient way. No, it’s not as easy as holding down spacebar.

To move efficiently across the map you want to be skiing, or hoversprinting across the ground. In order to hoversprint, simply airsprint (shift + spacebar) before you touch the ground while you’re already in the air. This way, you’ll keep your momentum from your initial jet thrust while preserving your energy which is faster than sprinting.

Part Two – Pick a Role

As soon as you spawn in the game, your team needs to decide what roles everyone will play. Jetball isn’t like your classic TDM mode, there needs to be a balance of slaying and objective playing. Here are the roles you can choose from:

  • Slayer – Basically, kill everything. Always good to have someone on the team who can just kill kill kill. Typical slayer frames include the electron and the recluse because of their strong primary weapons.
  • Support – Supports are not needed in jetball, but always encouraged. Basically they’re the “behind the scenes” objective player. They can either help your team score more points or prevent the other team from scoring points. The most common support frames are the bastion, mammoth, and dragonfly (Will go into more detail on frames later on).
  • Runner – The objective player. The guy who usually takes control of the ball and is all about advancing the ball. Basically the “go-to man” that you will find in sports. The accord assault is usually the most common runner, but the tigerclaw and mammoth are also common choices.
  • Hybrid – The hybrid role is a combination of any of the roles. Some frames don’t excel at a particular role but are good all around, and that’s what a hybrid is for. Basically to fill in the gaps. My favorite happens to be the accord bio and rhino, but there are a ton more frames that can be played as a hybrid.

Part Three – Getting an Inside look at the Frames

So you’ve identified what role you want to play, and you know how to move, but now you can’t decide which frame you want to play. I’m going to give a brief overview of each frame and the pros/cons of each frame.

Accord Frames

  • Accord Assault – Usually the favorite for a runner role. Afterburning with the ball is really effective and allows you to advance to the goal quickly. Crater can also be used a “dunk effect” after passing through the goal, as well as more maneuverability in general.
  • Accord Biotech – Possibly one of the best all around frames. The gun combined with the Chemical Sprayer HKM can put out tons of damage for the Accord Biotech. The Accord Biotech also has heal wave which is possibly one of the best skills in jetball, solely because it can halt any movement ability while dealing damage. Don’t get tricked in using heal wave for a heal, this one skill can possibly save your team a few points if used right.
  • Accord Dreadnaught – Nicknamed the Accord Distraction, the dreadnaught is awesome for distracting players. With the alt-fire shield, you can bait any person to fighting you and never die (combined with heavy armor). The alt-fire shield can also be used as a reflection shield incase your friend ever wants to try any fancy shots off your shield into the goal.
  • Accord Engineer – I call this frame the surprise frame for two reasons. One, you don’t see it being used that often. Two, it can really surprise you if you step your foot in the wrong area. The Accord Engineer can lay his mines on the goal and could try to stop any 3-points. With the Omnidyne map, there are tons of corners that the Accord Engineer may surprise you with his trap of mines. However, I consider this to be on the bottom tier of frames.
  • Accord Recon – Surely a viable frame in jetball. SIN Beacon increases the damage people take in the vicinity by 10% which is great for team fights, and cryo grenade is good for grounding the ball carrier forcing a movement skill from him. Decoy can also be used to sneak around corners and get in the enemy’s territory undetected for a long pass.

Advanced Frames

  • Bastion – The bastion being one of the top supports has a golden gem of an alt-fire. The alt-fire drains energy of enemies so they can’t fly up for 3-points and force them to take a shot. You could even put a shield wall up as well as drain their energy so they’re unable to get any points. Couple that with the sentinel pod and you have the ultimate area-denial frame.
  • Dragonfly – The dragonfly is definitely a top tier offensive support. Meaning that the dragonfly can help you advance the ball and protect the ball carrier. However, the dragonfly is poor at defending pushes. The dragonfly is a strong pick for a support frame if your team wants to focus on slaying. The Dragonfly has a direct movement ability good for getting around the map quickly. However if you find yourself using the alt-fire to heal a lot you’ll run out of ammo quickly. Thankfully, in the Omnidyne map there are 4 ammo spawns in the middle and ammo spawns in the base so you should always have a supply of ammo.
  • Electron – The electron, a top tier slayer, does not only bring its killing power to the table but also its utility. With overclocking station and bulwark, you can help your teammates out with pushes. The electron has one of the few long range weapons which comes in handy for the long hallways on the Omnidyne map. Definitely a favorable pick.
  • Firecat – While the firecat doesn’t move as well as the accord assault, the firecat brings the killing power and the utility that the accord assault may not. Inferno Dash has a 5 second longer CD than afterburner and doesn’t have near the initial velocity as afterburner does. However, Thermal Wave on the firecat has a secret, and that is that it drains energy. You can use Thermal Wave on enemies trying to attempt a 3-pointer and force them to take a shot. Combine that with Inferno Dash and Immolate and you will blind your enemy so he might miss the shot. Overall, definitely a special pick.
  • Mammoth – One of the only frames that can be played as a support as well as a runner. While carrying the ball, you can activate shield wall to protect yourself from incoming fire and advance the ball as far as you can. You could use thunderdome to trap people in that try to trail you. You could also use teleport shot AFTER you throw the ball ahead of you to teleport to where you threw it. Be careful though, you will drop the ball if you teleport with it. On defense, make sure you preserve your skills. You can stand in the goal or hover around it and use thunderdome/shield wall to block shots and teleport shot to where the ball landed to quickly get the rebound. The mammoth is an interesting pick for a support and definitely has secret potential, even though the gun is somewhat lacking.
  • Nighthawk – Nighthawk can deal decent damage from range like the electron, but still isn’t on par with the electron due to the lack of utility that the electron does offer. Smoke Screen is one of the only abilities that will affect your teammate’s appearance meaning that they can still carry the ball and be invisible which will make them harder to shoot. Execute Shot can be used to gib bodies from range and get that extra 10 second spawn timer which is essential for jetball. In my opinion, nighthawk is a viable pick for a slayer, but electron supplies the milk for the cookies that nighthawk does not.
  • Raptor – Right now the raptor is a very poor pick due to its low damage and lackluster skills. However, Power Field is something not to be underestimated as it can quickly change around a team fight if used correctly with other frames. SIN Scrambler is a good counter to a heavy dragonfly team as it can prevent heals on the ball carrier, but other than that there’s not much else to it.
  • Rhino – In my eyes, the Rhino is a decent hybrid pick due to its passive and gun. The passive allows the rhino to absorb 300 damage every time he uses an ability allowing him to take a huge beating. That synergizes well with his first ability, Charge, which allows him to run faster than normal sprinting speed.Gravity Field can be placed behind you while you’re running to prevent bullets from getting to you from behind, which is a pretty good counter to electron. Sundering Wave can also be used on defense to slow enemies/drain energy and make them take more damage which is good to stop pushes. The gun on the other hand is not something to be messed around with, as the alt-fire to the face can take you out of the fight in two seconds with its insane rate of fire. Overall, one of my favorite hybrids that not many people take advantage of.
  • Recluse – A viable pick for a slayer role. The gun itself happens to be one of the best guns in the game as most people call it the only gun with “two primaries in one”. The recluse also has evacuate as a direct movement skill which is always good to counter the energy drain from other frames. Not many people know this, but recluse can also use kinetic shot on enemies using a direct movement ability to stop the ability. So if an enemy is afterburning into the goal and you hit with them with your kinetic shot, you will stop their afterburner. Creeping Death doesn’t bring much to the table, which is usually why electron is taken over recluse for slayer frames.
  • Tigerclaw – The tigerclaw is one the favorite hybrid frames due to its immense burst, movement, and utility. The gun offers the best burst in the frame dealing about 7xx damage a shot which is good for taking out ball carriers. With trailblaze, the tigerclaw can put speed pads on the ground for his teammates which is awesome for getting around the map. Trailblaze, coupled with the tigerclaw’s passive which allows him to gain energy regen after using a skill, allows the tigerclaw to maneuver throughout the map quicker than any other frame without a direct movement ability. With disruption, the tigerclaw can slow the ball carrier or any enemy.

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