Tribes Ascend Techniques and Strategies Guide

Tribes Ascend Techniques and Strategies Guide by Wobberjockey

Section 1: CARE AND OPERATION OF YOUR NEW TRIBAL POWER ARMOR: STANDARD ISSUE

The in game skiing turorial does not teach you how to ski properly, watching these tutorials will help imensely
From: PyroGuNx
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUhv_3n0_tI]
NOTE THAT SKIPPING WAS PATCHED OUT AS OF THE DEC.8TH PATCH

The game is also woefully uninformative on how to maximize thrust and minimize energy use.
The following is a compelation of ‘Best Practices’
Thanks to Dirtyc, raaaw, and Patyrn for the research

• Holding Ski down in the air didn’t seam to make any difference in speed or handling ability
• Ski/jump potentially diminishes jump height because even if you hit both at the same time jets don’t kick in the oomph till you are on your downward part of the jump
• Holding movement keys in the air greatly diminished upward thrust, because….
• There is thrust vectoring, it is just incredibly weak, and it happens anytime you jet with direction keys pressed
• You can air control without jets, but you can have much greater effect if you push your desired direction, then thrust briefly while still holding that direction
• The best altitude comes from jetting without any direction keys, it keeps all thrust pushing directly down
• Max distance jumps are the same, movement keys while skiing to get into positions, but as you crest stop pushing the direction and just hit jet
• Pressing jump and going into jet while midair actually reduces the thrust upwards, since you do not get the initial jet thrust boost.
• In some cases, it can be more time and energy efficient to jump down to ground level and then take off upwards than to try to go straight up. The conduit on crossfire is a good example.

Video Illustrations:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-zGCmcY7AE]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93lHIUPRzTc]

Disc Jumping 101
Disc jumping (or a DJ) is detonating an explosive weapon in close proximity to yourself in order to rapidly gain momentum and/or altitude. A properly executed disc jump will take you clean across crossfire/halfway across katabatic in a single jump, and will accelerate you into the 100-150Kph range.
Disc jumping is a VITAL skill for chasing properly.

To perform a disc jump

• Begin by gaining a small amount of velocity in the direction you wish to go.
• Turn 180 and face opposite your desired direction of travel.
• Aim at the ground at an angle of approx. 45 degrees
• Jump and fire in rapid succession
• Apply your jets to maximize your jump distance
• Use your jets to navigate to the nearest backslope of a hill to avoid cratering

this will give you a maximum distance DJ

to maximize height, aim straight at your feet while moving forward
to maximize speed, aim slightly further away than 45 degrees

Items you can DJ with:

• spinfusors
• bolter
• thumper
• impact nitron
• arx buster (very difficult, but doable)
• grenade launcher
• enemy saber missiles (these generate insane amounts of thrust if you shoot them down close enough)
• most grenades (most grenades will 1 shot light armors. not recommended)
• Scrambler flashbangs (a nice impulse + 0 damage + a blind effect = good ways to DJ away on a cap route)

Section 2: TRIBAL COMBAT ETTIQUITE; NOT JUST FOR THE MESS HALL ANYMORE

Grabbing the Flag
Don’t be a llama…which raises the question, exactly what IS a llama?
A llama grab is where you take the flag at a relatively slow rate of speed, or even at a walk.
Nothing makes a capper rage more than having a lumbering, friendly Heavy suit pick up the enemy flag at a walk seconds from when they would have snatched it at 200+. I take that back. It gets worse when you bounce off that friendly heavy, because they are still standing in the same spot.

so you may be thinking, “Doesn’t every player have a right to the flag?”
The answer is yes, but not all grabs are equal. The problem here is the speed of the grab, not the player grabbing it. Grabbing the flag at the wrong time HELPS THE OTHER TEAM WIN
Zarious1 lays this out rather well.

1.) It takes a know quantity and turns it into an unknown quantity. When the flag is on the stand, it’s in a known location. It can’t be disked from in front of you and it can be moved to a harder spot to grab from. Since you know where it is, you can run “routes” to that location and grab the flag at speed. You can also have pre-planned routes FROM that location as well, so that you get the flag home as quickly as possible.

2.) The defense WANTS you to llama grab. Yep you read that right. Any defense worth it’s salt wants you to touch that flag while going slow. Why? Because you do something for them that they cannot do for themselves. You make the flag live. Once it’s live, and they kill you, the flag can be moved. Disked into easily defensible locations that limit how fast you can approach the flag and at what angles. Not only that, but anyone even getting close to the flag has to chase the flag around as multiple defenders (and usually a few friendlies) pound it with explosives that make it jump around.

3.) Building on point 2, one of the strongest positions that a defense can be in, is to have a good fast capper on their team, with llama grabbers on the enemy team. Take this scenario into consideration. A llama grabber grabs the flag, dies, and the flag is disked into a hard spot to reach. If the enemy team has a fast capper, they can easily grab the flag and return with it, well before the 45 seconds are up and the flag auto returns. Opening up the possibility of the defense returning the flag just as their capper hits the stand. Ruling out the possibility of a llama grab to tie up the flag and maybe prevent the cap.

4.) Even a successful llama grab that makes if off the stand is less productive. You give the enemy defense lots of time to catch up to you, often multiple opportunities to catch up to you. Good defenses will run you down, and even if they die to a defender, they will run you down again.

5.) Llama grabbing takes too long and hurts your own defense. Decent routes will let you cap on any map in this game in less than 15 seconds. Llama grabs can take twice or even three times that long. That’s extra time that your defense has to keep your flag at home or camped in the field. Against good players 1/2 a second is too much to give them let alone 15-30.

6.) The ONLY time that llama grabbing the flag helps your team, is when it is done as a last ditch effort to prevent the enemy team from scoring. Any other time is just helping the other team win.

so how do we communicate all this and stop llama grabs? well that’s where the VGS system comes in handy

If someone is spamming VFF/VSAF (I have the flag/I’ll go for the enemy flag)DO NOT llamagrab the flag. You make your cappers wish there was friendly fire every time you do. Those 2 commands mean that a capper is inbound at high speed. Help them by harassing any enemies on the flagstand so that they move

If you’re setting up a long route, please use VTF(Target the enemy flag, I’m in position) to indicate you are Set up. Any offence near the base should make efforts to clear turrets, generators, or heavies on the flag. When you are about to start useVFF to communicate with your fellow cappers and offence. if you are in mid run and someone says they are starting, wave them off (VVN or any other similar voice bind). should you miss your run, a combination of VGS and VAF will indicate to others that they are free to begin their runs (Shazbot! Get the enemy Flag!)

VAF can also be used to indicate that an E-grab should happen, or that the flag is in the field.

Returning the Flag
7. if a flag is dropped in a defensable location, DO NOT return it.
a flag on the stand is a fixed target for cappers who can zero in on it with a route. If the flag is dropped deep within your base, you are better off leaving it where it lies and returning it only when your capper returns with the flag
Examples:

• Behind the boxes or in a corner of the ship in crossfire
• In your base in katabatic or dry dock
• In ANY map corner
• In the rocks on crossfire
• The gen rooms in Bella Omega
• The top of the spires of Bella Omega

as a general rule of thumb, if your flag is no further away than the midfield, you can safely leave it lie

Before returning the flag, hit VVB to ask if your base is secure (if you can’t see your base from the flag) players around the flag can respond with VVY/VVN for yes or no

Capping the Flag
Whoever is carrying the flag is the most important player on the team at that moment, so protect them accordingly. also, be sure to let the flag carrier pick up any ammo cans lying around. If they have the survivalist perk they get 20% health and energy back from each one. this is the only way a flag carrier can heal while holding the flag. If you take all the ammo and they are at 100 health, you may have well just walked the flag back to the enemy’s base and pressed ‘K’

Also,don’t be afraid to give someone else the flag. the default drop key is ‘Z‘. while 2000 points is alot of points, it doesn’t do you any good to run around the flag stand with 100 health left. those heavies asking for the flag (heavies, you can ask for the flag with VFG) aren’t trying to take your points. they have 3-4 times as much health as you, and are probably uninjured, meaning that they are much better stewards than you could ever be as a light or medium. as a bonus, you’ll also get 1000 points just for helping with the cap.

Remember, while they look fearsome, many heavies are kind, and considerate beasts towards their smaller brethern. Many have been known to even hand the flag back to the original capper once the flag is home and the danger has passed, should the capper still be around

If you hear a flag carrier yelling “HELP” (VVH) or “TAKE THE FLAG FROM ME” (VFT), haul your power armored arse over there and pick the flag up. your capper is trying to tell you that they are 1 lucky shot away from death and they need a hand! if a capper is spamming these mid run, they aren’t going to be picky who shows up as long as you’re from the right tribe.

Should you get the flag back to base, and have passed it off to someone, DON’T JUST LEAVE
3 players are harder to defeat than 1, and 1 player, no matter how good, is just asking to be killed and have an enemy send the flag back home.
Remember the enemy is going to come at the flag in force, so defend in numbers!
As a final note, remember that if you can’t see your flag carrier, you are NOT defending him. No Exceptions

Useful classes for defending your capper in a turtle:

• technician (turrets are fun)
• Sentinel (a drop jammer will hide how many of you there are, and will make incoming infiltrators visible, and turret targetable)
• Scrambler (jammer pack and flashbangs. that’ll ruin a player’s day real fast)
• the doombringer (the CG is beastly in CQB)
• Juggernaut (mortar spam can be effective at keeping players out, especially on crossfire)

Section 3: THE LEFTOVERS: STUFF THAT DOESN’T FIT ANYWHERE ELSE

Forcefields do NOT do a set amount of damage, rather they do damage in direct proportion to the speed you strike them at. at 200KPH, you’ll splat on a pathfinder, but you can walk right through it with negligible harm

Press ‘O‘ (default) to view hide the location of all your teams assets, including inventory stations and repair gun dispensers

Repair gun despensers allow you to swap your current weapon for a repair gun
they look like a small metal garage door with a red light on top and are indicated with a blue + shape
they are ALWAYS on a wall

Repair guns can be used to repair any base asset or deployable, though at a much slower rate than a technician can. To retrieve a repair gun, walk up to a station and press the ‘USE’ key (a small text prompt should tell you you bound it to. I believe it’s q or e by default). To get your gun back, visit a inventory station

Call ins are another way to spend your credits, and are represented in the upper right corner of your screen. call in 1 is a 3500 credit tactical strike that will 1 shot anyone in the blast radius. call in 2 is a mobile ammo station for 2000 credits that does not need a generator to function. the ammo dump will also serve to block ski routes, so strategic placement is as important as the ammo they previde. Note that unlike regular inventory stations, they DO NOT kick start regeneration

also, as an added bonus, you can counter snipe a sniper by dropping one on their head. *SPLAT*
call in 3 is an orbital strike for 10,000 credits . think of it as the tactical strike’s big brother. it lasts several seconds, and when well targeted is more than capable of killing 5-6 enemy in a single shot
as of the dec 8th patch, all strikes have a 30 sec cooldown

APPENDIX
Thanks to all the forum posters who have helped make this post happen with their insightful posts and deconstruction of the games physics and ettiquite.
If you see something on the forums that I missed, or that you feel should be included, please PM me.