GunZ 2 Shield Trooper Guide

GunZ 2 Shield Trooper Guide by marcey

Intro​
Hello there everyone I’m MarcGosu. You will have probably seen me if you play on the EU server, and as most people know I main the fatman. Since so many people are horrible at him I decided to do a small writeup about the class. And hopefully show people that he is not:
OP flame pls nerf, Minigun useless, fatman too slow, i can’t melee you stupid class.

But instead a class with its own unique strengths and weaknesses.

There are 3 weapons categories for all classes. The Shield Trooper is limited to the shield, the flamethrower and the minigun. Each weapon has its own niche and these are further defined by their subclass weapons in the store.
To get a grasp of the full potential of the Shield Trooper the most important part is understanding what each weapon does and what their attacking patterns are.

Every shield has the same attacking pattern. And different attacks in a combo all have their advantages and disadvantages. First off im going over the different attacks that the shield can do, and afterwards I’m going to explain which shield is most useful in a certain situations.

The attacks 

(LM= Left mouse click RM= Right mouse click)
Most of the STs shield attacks have a long ending animation. Be very careful when you use which attack. If you use the wrong attack, it might cost you a lot of hp.

NEW: In video format, its pretty bad but i know some people like some animations to make things clearer (basic attacks + special attacks + combos) http://youtu.be/F2nI96lAfiQ

Basic attacks – These do not break block!
One thing to keep in mind is that you can’t melee attack downed player.

– basic attack –{ LM } DMG ratio: 1 – This is your basic attack and like its name what it does is basic. It staggers your opponent for a short while and deals moderate damage.

– Basic knockback –{ LM>LM } DMG ratio: 1,4 – The second attack in the basic attack chain pushes your opponent back. This staggers them and creates distance between you and your foe.

– Flip –{ RM } DMG ratio: 1 – This attack flips the opponent up in the air. This leaves them vulnerable for the flamethrower. More about this in the Combo Section.

– Stagger Flip –{ LM>RM } DMG ratio: 1 + 1 – This attack first staggers the opponent and then knocks them up. This is a variation that can be used for more damage.

– Shift Attack –{ Block + LM } DMG ratio: 1,4 – This attack knocks the opponent down leaving them on the ground vulnerable for ranged attacks.

– Shift Flip –{ Block + RM } DMG ratio: 1 – This attack knocks the opponent up in the air similar to the flip attack (RM)

– Dash attack –{ ASD dash + LM } DMG ratio: 1 – these attacks are performed during a dash and function the same as the LM attack

– Knockdown –{ W dash + LM } DMG ratio: 1 – This attack knocks down the enemy leaving them vulnerable on the ground for ranged attacks.

– Jump Attack –{ Jump + LM } DMG ratio: 1 – Useful to combo into a stunlock, explained in the combo section

Special attacks – these attacks break block

– Running attack –{ Run + jump + melee } DMG ratio 1,4 – This is what i call the running attack and it is very underused imo. It performs a downward attack that breaks block and knocks players down

– R attack/Seismic Smash { press r when holding a shield} 60 DMG 30% HP 70% AP – This attack is very useful if you’re hiding behind a corner and someone is coming to you or when you are standing close to someone who won’t be fast enough to stun you.
This attack deals very high damage, but easily interruptible, it’s certainly worth doing it.

– Rising attack –{press main attack button when knocked down} DMG ratio 2,0 – Attack possible after being knocked down. Deals high damage and goes through block. However its animation is very long so if you miss you are going to get punished.

Blocking – what you can and can’t block

Blocking nullifies the damage in the cone you are facing, certain shields provide less cover to the feet (red legion) and this makes it sometimes your feet can be hit.
What can’t be blocked:
General : Attacks from the back, Rising attack
SA : E and Q ability – {LM-LM-LM-{LM}} 4th melee hit {LM-{RM}} 2nd melee hit
ST : Q, E and R ability
GS : Q and R ability – 3rd melee hit- sometimes nades at feed or head – dependant on the shield and the way you’re facing and moving.

The Weapon subclasses – (Revised after testing, see section VI for damage spreadsheet)
There are currently four Shield Subclasses and each of these weapons fulfills a different niche.

Each shield has five properties

Melee damage – Base damage they all do roughly the same so dont worry about this
Crit – This is what separates the bad from the good close range shields.
Ranged defense – reduces the amount of ranged damage taken *even while holding the other weapons!*
Melee defense – reduces the amount of melee damage taken *even while holding the other weapons!*
Defense ranged – increases the size of the shield / the area that it blocks

Because the melee DMG is nearly equal (disregard the stats in game they lie) the the prowess of shield can be defined by their crit and defensive properties.

Suppression Shield
 
Very low crit, decent defense, good base dmg
Good overall shield, stick with this one until you have at least all gears lvl 4. Buying a new shield has no-where near as much impact as gears or a flamethrower/minigun.

Legion Shield

High crit, worst defense, good base damage (imo the worst shield at the moment. its only good when you are meleeing but it has almost no defensive properties)

Body Bunker
 
Medium crit, best defense, good base damage (disregard stats ingame)
Very good for defensive purposes. The tesla version of this shield is the best on in the game.

Lion Face
 
Good crit, medium defense, medium base damge
the Lions Shields defense is pretty good (big frontal size, no nade feeting possible) while it’s basic damage lacks a little (which gets neutralised by the great crit chance)

Flamethrower (I.II)​The flamethrower is the Shield Troopers best friend when you are facing enemies up close. Whether you knocked them down on the ground, sent them flying or just sneaked up on them. The flamethrower will be your best weapon of choice most of the time (sometimes engaging with the shield is a better option but it depends on the circumstances.

Characteristics
– Low range (basicly your 2nd melee weapon)
– Afterburn (damage over time after hitting enemies)
– Can’t headshot (you can only crit when archenemy is active)
– Good damage (which doesn’t require as much aim as the rifles)
– Super Armor when firing (normal melee attacks don’t stagger you)

There are currently 4 flamethrower subclasses and they all differ quite a bit.

The Incinerator
 
Only use this weapon if you are low on money or are saving up. It is mediocre in every way and almost every other flamethrower is better.

The (Blast) Inquisitor
 
This is the most bursty flamethrower. It does the most up front direct damage, but lacks an after burn. It also sports the lowest magazine at 75 charges. So be prepared to run out of ammo a lot.

The (Golden) Apocalypse Fire

This gun looks like the worst at first glance but it has an unique property. The upfront damage is pretty low but the burn afterwards lasts forever. This is useful for poking people who who use the wall properly to get in the chip damage, but it is no where near as useful as the trash combustor or apocalypse fire when bursting. When you get 20% armor pen from gears this flamethrower kills almost as fast as the others.

The (Custom) Trash Combster
 
This is a bit of a weird one. It does quite a lot of damage 2nd highest after The inquisitor and it has a bigger capacity at 100 charges. Its tooltip states that it switches quicker which makes it useful when you switch weapons. It also has a tiny range buff compared to the other flamethrowers. (This is my favorite one at the moment)

The minigun is the mid-range weapon for the Shield trooper. It has a wind up time which makes using it in close combat pretty hard. Especially after switching weapons. The weapon’s spread gets huge after firing it for a second so it loses its midrange capability’s when you fire it continuously. Up close it out damages the flamethrower when you hit all your bullets.

Characteristics
– Wind up time
– High DPS (most in the game i think)
– Big spread/bloom when firing continuously
– Super Armor when firing

The vulcan
 
Same story as The incinerator. It is the worst of the bunch.

The (Silver) Rolling Thunder

When you look at this weapon’s stats it looks like trash. It has low damage. But when i was recommended this gun by thothmes (i think) a new world opened for me. It performs the best at mid range, when you burst fire it (4-5 bullets) the bullets will go where you aimed it! When you use this gun in conjunction with the dash/burst fire technique you can outduel snipers and assault rifles at mid range. (This is my favorite at the moment)

The (Custom) Gatling Gun

This one does huge damage but is very inaccurate. If you fire this up close at someones head you kill them faster than they can blink. But there lies the problem. It is only useful up close or when burst firing 1-2 bullets. I find it too hard to get close to take full advantage of this weapon. But I’m sure some other people will like this one.

The (Desert Camo) Undertaker
 
This is the jack of all trades. It does more DPS than the rolling thunder but less than the Gatling gun. It is fairly accurate at mid range and you can fire 2-3 bullets pretty accurately when bursting.

This is the aspect where most ST’s fail. They dash around without using block. They are not using the walls and are not using the melee combo to down players when moving around.
Most people say ST’s are slow, but when you use the walls properly you can catch up to everyone.

What i just said is exactly what you MUST do. When moving around the map to reposition yourself (enemy chasing you) USE THE WALLS learn to run on the walls, jump off and dash back on. Switch between walls to make aiming at you even harder. This is very confusing for the enemy and aiming at your fat ass will be way harder.

When running directly at players (besides Gunslingers, they nade your feet), I advise you to run with your shield guard up (you do this by dashing and holding w and shift). This way people can’t hit from the font and you can open with a knockdown from either the running attack or the dash melee hit.

The 3rd way to move around is by combining the Dash>melee with jumping. When you Jump > Dash> Melee your attack gets reset as soon as you reach the ground so you can dash right after. Chaining it would look something like this:

Jump > Dash > Melee (reach the ground) > Dash > Repeat

You can do this in all directions which can throw your opponent off guard. and when you do the forward dash attack and you hit the enemy they even get knocked down for an easy flamethrower kill.

First off the Q and E ability. Not much to say about this but i felt like i had to include it. Both attacks break Guard and do roughly 100 damage not nearly enough to 1HKO. You can bait your q by absorbing damage with your shield and q’ing as soon as you reach full Z bar.

Parry (tap left and right mouse after being hit by melee) is unlocked at level 3 and is the only counter versus the stunlock. It costs 1 bar of Z so managing your Z is very important

Super Armor when firing either the mini-gun or the flamethrower you can’t be staggered by normal melee hits. However other classed have skills and abilities that can stop this. To give an example the running attack from Shield Trooper or a bullet from the sniper rifle (damn you iKaiSoulKu with your reaper).

The Quickswitch –{ RM>Change weapon to flamethrower } This is something maiet implemented which not all people know. After you hit a flip you change weapons quicker than normal

Just like i explained in the movement section.
The marc knockdown dash deluxe gosu –{Jump>Dash>melee>dash>repeat} is the most basic combo. (We need to figure out a better name for this one help me out guys)
After a while i started messing around with this combo and i found out a number of things were possible.

The stunlock –{ LM> Jump> LM > Repeat } They can’t get out if you do this properly if you do it from the front they can counter with parry.

Knockdown dash chain –{ Jump > Dash > LM > repeat } Useful for what i call angling for knockdowns. Because your animation resets as soon as you do the LM its easy to chain and catch opponents.

Ground Hit –{ Jump > Dash > LM> LM } when you knock an opponent down normally you are not able to hit them on the ground with a melee weapon. But because you land on the ground you can melee quickly again. This way ground hit them.

Ground knockback –{Jump > Dash > LM> LM > LM } This is a variation of the combo above. but instead of knocking them down you hit them back. The opponent expects to get knocked down so they get a bit confused. After knocking them back you can do this combo again because when they are standing they are vulnerable to melee hits.

Slash shot –{Jump >Side Dash > LM> Switch } This only works with the custom trash combuste. Its a very mobile move, if you angle it correctly you can hit through block and quickly change to the flamethrower to finish the job.

Flip n’switch –{Jump >Side Dash > LM> RM > Switch } This is a variation of the combo above. But this one is useable with all flamethrowers. This is because of the animation cancel maiet added after flipping.

Double air hit –{hold block during the entire combo> Jump and melee at the exact same time> melee again as quickly as possible > follow up however you want.} in this combo as soon as you press the 2nd melee hit you start blocking (when you land) which cancels the animation. Because of this you can follow it up with whatever you want

And some secret stuff you will have to find out for yourself. There are a couple more techniques which do something similar but it is no fun when there is nothing left to find out all by yourself.

Basic Tactics (IV)​
I might expand on this later but currently my opinion is that everyone to develop their own play style and tactics should not be learned in a guide.

But here is something Thothmes wrote up:

After some vigorous testing with thothmes we came of up with a streadsheet of all the ST weapons (minigun, flamethrower and shield). Take the things you see here not as the final answer, weapons act different in game.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AisBtCp0xFoPdGdRaE1DMU1WY0ZsZjB4UnIyM0FFTFE&usp=sharing

I was asked by maiet to not post the full weapon spread sheet untill further notice. Sorry i can’t show you all the stats currently.

[WIP] Currently adding other classes. If you are interested in helping PM me.
We also did some tests with the minigun to determine their effectiveness at different ranges and came to the following conclusion.
Long range full auto: Costum Gattling Gun
Long range Burst: Costum Gattling Gun
Mid range full auto: Silver Rolling Thunder
Mid range Burst: Silver Rolling Thunder <- but by a very small margin
Close range: Everything is equal