devtrackers.gg
(This is not to be regarded as a "git gud noob" or "omg you suck so bad" thread. I am genuinely trying to help people out by addressing things I see people do over and over and over again, which make things a lot harder than they need to be. Feel free to add or expand upon anything in this post. I am not a super pro player and I wasn't aware of a few of these things until about two weeks ago. I make no claim that this is the end all be all best strategies ever thought of. These are just things I have seen work many times.)
Strategic Homeland Division Field Agent Standard Operating Procedure Manual
Target priority: rushers/immobilizers/flamethrowers, snipers (including war hounds), medics, heavies, engineers/controllers, everything else. In that order, no exceptions 99% of the time, unless there is an imminent threat closing on you. (kill order. I do not mean ignore other enemies completely, but when possible kill these enemies ASAP)
Heavies: really simple on this one. Shoot the ammo belt. It only takes a few hits and it's an easy shot to make. Heavies should never even get the chance to fire a shot. As soon as you break the belt, they will stop, crouch down and reload. You can force them to do this over and over forever. When you break the belt you have 3-5 seconds to work on other targets, as soon as the heavy stands up, shoot his ammo belt again immediately. rinse, repeat.
Warhounds: Gigantic threat, they need to be killed ASAP. When the light on their weapon turns read, listen for the sound and you can easily avoid their shot. Their weakpoint is on the right side ( when it's facing you) next to their gun, a red box/part thing. It's a very small target, but it's there. Break that weak point and they will be stunned for a good while, 10 or so seconds. When they die they will trigger an EMP that effects a huge area, so when possible, wait until after they are dead to deploy any kind of lingering skills.
EMP grenades: Enemy medics will throw EMP grenades. You can shoot them to get rid of them. I see a lot of people just completely ignoring them and that's never a good thing.
Mini-tanks: Shoot the tracks. I'm still a little unclear on this one but they seem to be much easier to kill after you destroy the tracks. Watch out for the enemy controllers to repair them. try and shoot out the tracks when they are in the open, not near any cover, this will make it much harder for the controller to repair them.
Engineers/turrets: You can shoot the ammo box off of most turrets. However, it's a much better idea to kill the engineer who placed it, instead of killing the turret. If you kill the engineer, the turret will turn on the enemy and stop shooting you.
Chokepoints: Whenever possible get the enemy to come AT YOU, instead of rushing out in the open. Even better when there is a choke point where they have to cluster to come through. Excellent time to use grenades.
Grenades: When you throw a grenade into a group of enemies who have not engaged you yet, wait for the grenade to go off or just before it does before you start shooting. If you shoot too soon they will see the grenade and scatter. If you don't shoot, they will still notice it, but won't react by running. Flashbangs should be the opener to start the engagement. Enemies are easier targets when flashed because they don't run around and move as erratically as with an incendiary. This gives you a much better window to make your shots count and take a few out quickly.
Suppression: Know when to use it and how to exploit it. If enemies are clustered behind cover, suppress them with an LMG. Once they are suppressed you only need to fire one shot from the LMG to refresh their suppression recovery. Sometimes it's better for one person on a team to keep the snipers and/or clusters of enemies pinned down while the other 3 deal with the rest. It's mostly useful when there are a lot of targets fighting you. Once things calm down you can stop suppressing and move up to flank or use grenades. If one person has the enemy suppressed and the opportunity to rush them is presented, do it. Don't just sit back trying to wait for them to stand up, take a few shots, then wait some more.
Knockdown/death/revival/healing: If you are knocked down, crawl to the nearest player that is in cover. If that is not possible, crawl into cover for yourself and stem the bleeding until you can be saved safely. On the other side of that coin, if a person who is knocked down crawls to you for revival, wait for them to be in cover before you start reviving them. Reviving them before they are in cover is almost always going to result in them immediately getting killed.
If you are using a repair drone as a skill and it is not already deployed, deploy it before you start reviving someone. As soon as the revive is finished, tap your drone key while looking at them so it immediately starts healing them. Another thing to keep in mind about repair drones is that you can easily outrun it and it will have to catch up before it can heal you.
Don't be afraid to retreat. If you are the last person standing, sometimes falling back and just surviving until players can respawn is the best option to avoid a total wipe. When in a no respawn zone, patience is a virtue, especially if you're using the revival hive. When possible you should not leave cover and run to somebody for revival. Throw your hive out there and use it. Even if they are a only couple feet away. Putting yourself at risk of being killed should be avoided at all costs. Sometimes there is just no good option and you have to make that clutch play. It's better to exhaust all your other options and be smart about it than to run out and die when you could have avoided it. That said, sometimes it's just a no win situation. That is up to your discretion whether to just give up and wipe or to stick with it and hope for the best. I have seen heroic missions on the final boss be salvaged by a lone last standing player a few times. Even if that lone player has to fall back to the beginning of the level in order to clear enough enemies at a safe pace, it's better than a total wipe.
Strategic Homeland Division Field Agent Standard Operating Procedure Manual
Target priority: rushers/immobilizers/flamethrowers, snipers (including war hounds), medics, heavies, engineers/controllers, everything else. In that order, no exceptions 99% of the time, unless there is an imminent threat closing on you. (kill order. I do not mean ignore other enemies completely, but when possible kill these enemies ASAP)
Heavies: really simple on this one. Shoot the ammo belt. It only takes a few hits and it's an easy shot to make. Heavies should never even get the chance to fire a shot. As soon as you break the belt, they will stop, crouch down and reload. You can force them to do this over and over forever. When you break the belt you have 3-5 seconds to work on other targets, as soon as the heavy stands up, shoot his ammo belt again immediately. rinse, repeat.
Warhounds: Gigantic threat, they need to be killed ASAP. When the light on their weapon turns read, listen for the sound and you can easily avoid their shot. Their weakpoint is on the right side ( when it's facing you) next to their gun, a red box/part thing. It's a very small target, but it's there. Break that weak point and they will be stunned for a good while, 10 or so seconds. When they die they will trigger an EMP that effects a huge area, so when possible, wait until after they are dead to deploy any kind of lingering skills.
EMP grenades: Enemy medics will throw EMP grenades. You can shoot them to get rid of them. I see a lot of people just completely ignoring them and that's never a good thing.
Mini-tanks: Shoot the tracks. I'm still a little unclear on this one but they seem to be much easier to kill after you destroy the tracks. Watch out for the enemy controllers to repair them. try and shoot out the tracks when they are in the open, not near any cover, this will make it much harder for the controller to repair them.
Engineers/turrets: You can shoot the ammo box off of most turrets. However, it's a much better idea to kill the engineer who placed it, instead of killing the turret. If you kill the engineer, the turret will turn on the enemy and stop shooting you.
Chokepoints: Whenever possible get the enemy to come AT YOU, instead of rushing out in the open. Even better when there is a choke point where they have to cluster to come through. Excellent time to use grenades.
Grenades: When you throw a grenade into a group of enemies who have not engaged you yet, wait for the grenade to go off or just before it does before you start shooting. If you shoot too soon they will see the grenade and scatter. If you don't shoot, they will still notice it, but won't react by running. Flashbangs should be the opener to start the engagement. Enemies are easier targets when flashed because they don't run around and move as erratically as with an incendiary. This gives you a much better window to make your shots count and take a few out quickly.
Suppression: Know when to use it and how to exploit it. If enemies are clustered behind cover, suppress them with an LMG. Once they are suppressed you only need to fire one shot from the LMG to refresh their suppression recovery. Sometimes it's better for one person on a team to keep the snipers and/or clusters of enemies pinned down while the other 3 deal with the rest. It's mostly useful when there are a lot of targets fighting you. Once things calm down you can stop suppressing and move up to flank or use grenades. If one person has the enemy suppressed and the opportunity to rush them is presented, do it. Don't just sit back trying to wait for them to stand up, take a few shots, then wait some more.
Knockdown/death/revival/healing: If you are knocked down, crawl to the nearest player that is in cover. If that is not possible, crawl into cover for yourself and stem the bleeding until you can be saved safely. On the other side of that coin, if a person who is knocked down crawls to you for revival, wait for them to be in cover before you start reviving them. Reviving them before they are in cover is almost always going to result in them immediately getting killed.
If you are using a repair drone as a skill and it is not already deployed, deploy it before you start reviving someone. As soon as the revive is finished, tap your drone key while looking at them so it immediately starts healing them. Another thing to keep in mind about repair drones is that you can easily outrun it and it will have to catch up before it can heal you.
Don't be afraid to retreat. If you are the last person standing, sometimes falling back and just surviving until players can respawn is the best option to avoid a total wipe. When in a no respawn zone, patience is a virtue, especially if you're using the revival hive. When possible you should not leave cover and run to somebody for revival. Throw your hive out there and use it. Even if they are a only couple feet away. Putting yourself at risk of being killed should be avoided at all costs. Sometimes there is just no good option and you have to make that clutch play. It's better to exhaust all your other options and be smart about it than to run out and die when you could have avoided it. That said, sometimes it's just a no win situation. That is up to your discretion whether to just give up and wipe or to stick with it and hope for the best. I have seen heroic missions on the final boss be salvaged by a lone last standing player a few times. Even if that lone player has to fall back to the beginning of the level in order to clear enough enemies at a safe pace, it's better than a total wipe.