Tribes Ascend Dueling Guide for Automatic Guns

Tribes Ascend Dueling Guide for Automatic Guns by SxxyKate

Dueling Theory 101: Chainguns Edition

I wrote this guide for beginners and medium level players that want to get better at dueling, especially with chainguns. This is for those that want to kill a little more and feel less helpless against players that know how to duel. This is not intended for very experienced duelers or players that duel by gentlemens’ rules carried over from previous Tribes games. I’ve never played any of the previous Tribes, but I’ve been playing T:A since CB and I have played in comp matches, however I had to stop because of real life and scheduling issues. The rest of my FPS pedigree includes UT99, CS1.6, CSS, Halo1, CoD4, and various Battlefield games. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about when it comes to killing things in FPS games.

Lets get started

Fine tune ingame settings:
Lower graphic settings to increase fps and visual clarity. This means turning off all those fancy features like bloom, sunshafts, depth of field, and etc, so you don’t get blinded by the sun when your target flies in to sky. This will also cut down on double vision while your visor is cracking under fire.

Maintain at least 60fps during a duel. Consider upgrading gpu or overclocking cpu when you can’t achieve this with ini tweaks.

Set fov. lower fov allows for more accuracy for chainguns/hitscans. higher fov allows for more awareness and is better for explosive weapons.

Set mouse sensitivity. disable all mouse acceleration. lower sensitivity allows for more accuracy for chainguns and hitscans. Find a balanced and comfortable sensitivity so you can have accuracy and still do a 360 without running out of mousepad.

Have decent gear (PC, mouse, big mousepad, low input lag monitor, steady internet).
Also clean your mouse and mousepad regularly. Duh.

Effects of ping on dueling:
Having low ping gives great advantage while using chainguns, because you don’t have to lead as much and the lead is more consistent.

1 to 20 ping = easy mode. advantage
30 to 40 = very consistent lead distances. acceptable
50 to 80 = increased leading distance, bullet reg will be more inconsistent. disadvantage
90 to 140 = ineffective with chainguns, stick with explosives and hitscans.
150+ = quit dueling and be a capper

Have a balanced Loadout:
There is no perfect weapon to use for all situations, so come prepared.

Carry a chaingun (AR, SMG, NJ4, etc) for airborne target and medium to long range
Carry an explosive weapon (spinfusor, thumper, etc) for close range ground and indoors
Carry some grenades for lols

Do not carry these together: Spinfusor + Thumper DX. AR + Eagle pistol. SMG + Sparrow pistol.
If you are short on weapons, consider getting a booster to earn more exp and support HiRez.

General Tips and Guidelines

Tips on leading:
Chainguns have 0 inheritance, so ignore your own movement vector and focus on the target’s vector. If the target is stationary, then you do not have to lead at all, even if you are going fast. The faster the target is moving away from you, the more you have to lead. Also if you have higher ping, you will need to lead more. If the target is coming right at you, then you do not need to lead at all. If the target is chasing you, then you do not have to lead as much.
Do not lead with hitscan weapons (some pistols, all shotguns, all sniper rifles). Hitscan weapons are lag compensated; aim at target playermodel and fire.

General guidelines on dueling:
After a near miss or you’re taking damage, identify where the shot came from ASAP. Don’t start dodging/jetting blindly and don’t ignore it unless you are after a flag carrier.
Fight from high ground, you are less exposed and have more potential energy.
Pay attention to what weapon your target is shooting you with. There are different tactics for dealing with explosives and chainguns.
Pay attention when target switches weapons and adjust evasive tactics accordingly.

Dueling against chaingun users:
Stay on the ground. Dodge bullets by strafing. Side to side, figure 8’s, random spaz, whatever it takes to throw off their lead.
Use terrain for advantage. Control the high ground, break line of sight while reloading, pop out afterwards. Don’t use trees as cover, bullets will go through it.
If your opponent is dodging your bullets by strafing, shoot in short 3-4 round bursts. You will waste less bullets and therefore have to reload less. Your opponent will likely have to reload before you do, use that chance to focus your aim and go in for the kill.

Dueling against explosive users (spinfusors, thumpers, etc):
Stay at mid range and use chaingun.
Learn opponent’s firing cadence. Land after he fires (and misses), jet when he’s about to fire again.
Stay in the air and use chaingun. You can’t be splashed. Your jets will always run out before your luck, which protects you from MidAirs and AirMails :D
When you have to land, try landing on favorable terrain. Top of a hill is good. Downhill from him is good. The other side of the hill, away from opponent is also good. Try not to land on low flat ground, or on the side of a hill that’s facing your opponent; those area can be easily splashed.
If your opponent is dodging your bullets by quickly strafing on the ground, then just stand still on favorable terrain and burst him down. Because of inheritance and his rapid direction changes, his explosives will probably miss you anyway.
If you do get splashed, you can ride the knockback momentum to your advantage and gain more distance or height, which will buy you more time to kill him.

Dueling indoors against explosive users:
Use chaingun at mid range or extreme close range where the splash can get the both of you.
The safest spot is hovering in midair, away from any walls, ceiling and floor.
If you get splashed and it’s not possible to chain him down before he fires his 2nd shot, use grenades to get some breathing room and retreat around a hallway, try to regen before re engaging.

Dueling multiple targets:
Be sure to have Survivalist perk, and pay attention to dropped nuggets on the field.
Focus on the one with the least HP. Take the dropped nugget. Then kill the other one.
If both targets have the same HP, focus on the one who is doing the most damage to you.
You can also kite them around hills and shoot the one who is following you the closest.

Grenades:
I find it unwise to use grenades during heated duels, unless it’s a thrown disk or explosive nitron. The throwing animation and fuse on regular grenades are just too long and can be easily dodged.
However, grenades are great if you want to pull back over a hill and get some cover or regen HP. So hop over a hill and drop a few grenades near the top of the hill, but out of your opponent’s line of sight. If your opponent decides to follow you over the hill, there’s a nasty surprise waiting for him on the other side. If he doesn’t follow, you get a HP regen out of it.

Class Recommendations:
These recommendations are for general gametypes where you may be outnumbered or face consecutive opponents. For strictly 1v1’s please change out Looter and Survivalist perks to something more suitable for the class.

Pathfinder – Rank C
Loadout: Bolt Launcher + LAR + Explosive Nitron + any pack
Perks: Looter + Survivalist
Usage: Use LAR as main weapon. Stack nitrons and Bolt Launcher together for max burst damage at close range.
Counter: DPS from medium to long range, they won’t last very long.

Infiltrator – Rank A
Loadout: SMG + SN7 + Ninja grenade/stickies
Perks: Looter + Survivalist
Usage: Soften target with SN7 long range. Chain them down with SMG close range. Avoid draining energy with stealth unless you are in cover and need to regen HP. Don’t use Ninja grenade if you need to regen HP, because it does 1 damage to you and resets your regen timer.
Counter: If they are using stealth, then they will most likely to use spinfusor or jackal. Get on high ground and watch/listen for footprints, then kill them with splash or automatic spray. If they don’t use stealth, DPS from med to long range.

Jackaltrator – Rank A+
Loadout: Jackal + Laser Knives + Ninja Grenade
Perks: Looter + Survivalist
Usage: Stealthy: try to get in close range and then use Jackal. Non stealthy: start with Jackal, then switch to Laser Knives for lols.
Counter: If they are using stealth, then run away XD, because 3 jackal rounds right out of stealth is very dangerous, more dangerous than 1 stealthfusor round. So stay at medium/long range to avoid their jackal rounds. Be sure to kill them fast before they pull out their laser knives and get lucky.

Sentinel – Rank A-
Loadout: Phase Rifle + Falcon + T5 grenade (claymores for CTF) + Recharge Pack
Perks: Extra Capacitor + Survivalist
Usage: Don’t miss! Avoid staying scoped in for too long, tunnel vision is bad and gets you killed. Quickscope with Phase Rifle at Long/med range. Falcon for close/med range. If they are quickly approaching you with an explosive weapon out, pull out your falcon and save your energy for jets. If they aren’t using splash weapons against you, dump your energy with noscopes then switch to Falcon until recharged.
Counter: Approach from the side if possible to avoid detection. Be wary of claymores and gg. If they spot you, hug the ground and run to the sniper while strafe dodging their sniper shots and firing back with your own bullet weapon to obscure their scope view.

Soldier – Rank C (jack of all trades, master of none)
Loadout: AR + Thumper DX + AP grenade + Utility Pack
Perks: Any + Survivalist
Usage: Use AR for everything, use thumper for close range ground targets.
Counter: Out DPS their AR and stay aerial/med range against their explosives.

Raider – Rank SS
Loadout: Arx + SMG + EMP grenades + Shield Pack
Perks: Extra Capacitor + Survivalist
Usage: Open with Arx; try to stick them. Then switch to SMG and chain them down. Use shields against bullets and save energy for jetting/dodging explosives. Use hills and grenades to get some space and recharge your shields when your energy is low.
Counter: Use explosives or other means of burst damage to pop their shields, then DPS them down. Use grenades to force them to either deploy shield (and poping them), or jet (energy drain). If you don’t carry explosives, try to kite them around or get them to jet so they can’t use their Shields. If you still can’t kill them, try tank/shrike and/or teamwork lol.

Technician – Rank S
Loadout: SMG + Sawd-off + grenades
Perks: Any + Survivalist (use wheeler dealer and pilot while using tanks and shrikes)
Usage: SMG is bread and butter short to long range DPS weapon. Sawd-off for extreme close range burst damage (great against raiders with shields). Feel free to ski over a hill and deploy turrets to surprise opponent.
Counter: If they are carrying the thumper, stay aerial/med range and dodge that noobtoob. If they are carrying the smg, kill them first with better aiming & dodging & tactics.

Juggernaut – Rank A
Loadout: Any + LMG + Throwing Disks
Perks: Looter + Survivalist
Usage: Open with mortar, then switch to LMG. Try to get into close range to use throwing disks on them.
Counter: Dodge LMG at long/med range and use bullets against them because their hitbox is so huge. Don’t get too close unless you see them throwing a frag grenade first.

Doombringer – Rank C (don’t recommend dueling with this unless low ping)
Loadout: Chaingun
Perks: Looter + Survivalist
Usage: Chaingun Chaingun Chaingun
Counter: Dodge teh bullet hell.

Brute – Rank F (don’t recommend dueling with this, ever)
Loadout: Spinfusor + Nova Colt + Disocnades + Shield Pack
Perks: Extra Capacitor + Survivalist
Usage: Don’t
Counter: Stay out of close range.

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