Base Defense
This is a long article. However it is very important. It is the backbone of a good scout offensive strategy. Read it carefully. If you have any questions, comment or suggestions, check out the contact page. Enjoy!
We have now covered the two worst type of threats to a scout. The Snipers, and the Sentry guns. The other type of threat, is the basic base defense. This is basically all the soldiers, demomen etc. that stand in your way. With some smart plays, you'll find that these threats are very easy to get by.
Usually, soldiers and demomen will cover narrow areas that you must get through, either to get the flag, or to get out with the flag. Lets look at the characteristics for each of the classes, and how they work to stop you.
Soldiers
| -Intoduction Soldiers stay "around the corner". They are usually in areas where you have to get through them. Places like narrow hallways and so on. Another type of place is at the top of elevators that you must go up. An very good example is in "The Well". Apart from the two elevators that lead up to the flag. Soldiers can also stand above the smaller elevators at the top ammo room above the base. |
| -Counter measures Even though soldiers have a quite dangerous weapon, they are slow. You can use this to your advantage. Also, the speed of the rocket is slow. Especially if the firing soldier is far away from you. You get allot of time to get out of the way. The accuracy of many soldiers is also poor. Most will fire in front of you. If you stop immediately after they fire, most likely the rocket will hit the ground ahead of you, missing you completely. You can use this to your advantage. One last thing you can use against the soldier, is the fact that he has to reload. The reload time takes quite a while. Leaving you allot of time to escape. But beware that the soldier can still use his grenades while reloading. When approaching the soldier, strafe from side to side and let him keep shooting at you. If it's going through a narrow passage, run backwards if you have to. After a couple of shots, the soldier will most likely have to reload. You can't be sure that he is reloading. The only way to tell is if the soldier was firing a steady stream of rockets then suddenly stopped. Otherwise, just take your chances whenever you can. Shoot at the soldier while strafing. This will greatly distract his attention if you keep your aim steadily on him while shooting. It will take away allot of his health. Use Conc grenades. Especially if there's more than just one soldier, or if there's a soldier and a demoman etc. Try and avoid getting conc'ed yourself. But if you have to do it to get the soldier conc'ed, then do it. If you do get conc'ed. Run while pressing yourself against a wall or some similar obstacle. This greatly helps you stay focused. |
| -CONClusion Don't be afraid of soldiers. They are quite easy to get by if you strafe and dodge. And also use Conc grenades against them. If you get passes a soldier and he decides to pursuit, drop caltrops if you are in a big open area where he can see you for a long time. If you let him pursue you through an area where you will be in front of him in his view, He will shoot rockets ahead of you and possibly kill you. You may be faster than all other classes. But you are not faster than a speeding bullet. |
Demomen
| -Introduction Demomen are usually on the other side of narrow areas that you have to pass. They lay a carpet of pipebombs on the area. Demomen aren't good in pursuit. It is very unlikely they will do you much harm once you've past them. |
| -Counter measures When approaching a carpet of pipebombs. And there is no demoman in sight. Stop for a second to examine exactly where all the bombs are. Then move close to the edge of the "carpet" then quickly jump back. If you did this correctly, the bombs should be triggered and explode a second after you begin to jump back. Very likely you'll be completely unhurt. If there is a demoman on the other side. Most likely he will expect you to just run out across the bombs and get blown up. The most important thing to remember is not to panic. Most scouts will panic immediately once they see the demoman, and begin to strafe etc. to evade him. The demoman will most likely stand quietly and wait for the scout to fall for his trap. In many cases, the scout does. As I said, the first thing is not to panic. What you should do, is throw a conc at the demoman. If you are lucky or you aimed right. The conc should explode right next to the demoman, and also near the bombs. The bombs should be triggered by the conc's explosion. And the demoman will be conc'ed, so he will not be able to do much to you. But be ware! The demoman will usually start shooting grenades all over the place once conc'ed. If this is in a small room, he will probably end up killing you and himself. If you follow the above steps, take note that the demoman will not move when conc'ed. He will stay still to get better aim. The conc effect doesn't work as properly when the person affected stands still. But it will still affect him badly in the first few seconds. If the demoman is standing in the way and you can't get through, throw another conc at his feet, then start blasting away with your machine gun. If the demoman is not in your way, run past him as soon as the bombs explode. Incase they don't, follow the steps three paragraphs above. On how to trigger them with you body. |
Pyro
| The Pyro should be treated pretty much the same as the soldier. Beware of his flame-thrower. If he starts to attack you with it, run! |
HWGuy
| The Heavy Weapons Guy is usually found in large areas
where he can see you coming a long way off. The don't stay in "courtyard" type
areas because of enemy snipers that they are an easy target to. Most HWguys are inaccurate
when they fire. It's hard for them to keep their aim on you. They are also the slowest class. But they have the most armor (300 Red). |
| Counter Measures: When approaching the HWguy, try and come as close as you can to him without him seeing you. Stay in the shadows or something. When you come close, just run out at him. He will begin to shoot. Since you are close, begin to circle strafe him. He will have a very hard time keeping his aim on you. Throw a conc at his feet. Keep strafing but widen the circle. As soon as it explodes, keep moving along on your way. Most likely he will stay still somewhere and wait for the conc to wear off. Don't bother trying to finish him off. It will take along time because of his armor, and because of your inferior weapon. And because it takes very long to kill him, it will probably attract allot of unwanted attention. |
The Others
| -Introduction Apart from those mentioned above, the rest of the base defense isn't so hard to get by. These are the scouts, medics, engineers, spy and snipers(close range, inside the base) |
| -The scout and snipers are pretty much the same when it comes to close combat. The best countermeasure against them, is to avoid them completely. You can kill the sniper by attacking him when he is aiming at your teammates from the sniper nest. Sneak up behind him and give him a gift... your conc grenade. As for he scout, you can either waste your time trying to fight each other. Or you can run away from him and let him taste your caltrops! |
| -The Medic is not that big of a threat either. Beware that he has a supernail gun though. If properly used, this could be a very dangerous weapon. Most medics usually run around their bases with the axe armed, to cure their teammates. Use this to your advantage, if you can. |
| -The engineers aren't that big of a threat either. Beware of their railgun. Like Medics, engineers run around with their spanner armed, upgrading their sentry etc. Again, try and use this to your advantage. |
| -The Spy is not that much of a threat either. The bad thing about them, is that you might not see them. Or they might appear to be your teammate, escort you all the way back to your base, then when nobody is looking, stab you in the back! Basically there's no way to avoid them. If you feel suspicious of someone being a spy, then shoot! You'll do no damage to him apart from a few armor units (on some servers). As they say, it's better to be safe than sorry. |
A final word on Base Defense.
The best thing for a scout to do in any combat situation is to not let that combat
situation happen in the first place. Most scouts run in the enemy bases visible to all.
This is a very poor approach. The base defense will be on your back like dogs. And you
might never even reach the flag.
Always try and use stealth. Be sneaky. Don't go into a room (when in the enemy base)
without stopping at the corner, and peeking to see if there's anyone in there.
There are times when you won't be able to avoid the enemy. At those times then you should
use your speed. Otherwise it is much wiser to use stealth.
Remember, it is the caps that win the game, not the kills. The more you capture, the more likely your and your team win. If you want to kill, then try another class.
MEGA-TF
First off, read all above.
Pretty much goes the same for MEGA-TF. But things
are better for you, the scout, now. All due to your jetpack.
Soldiers and Demomen
| Soldiers and Demomen in MEGA-TF are pretty much the
same in TF. The best way to avoid soldiers is to let them shoot at you till they have to
reload. As for demomen, read above. In situations where you have more than one soldier, or a soldier and a demoman etc., then it is best to use your jetpack. As I have said before, the Jetpack should be used sparingly. Use it only if it will save your life. Don't use it to do shortcuts, if the long way would be safe as well. Apart from that, everything else is the same. Read above for other counter measures. |
Pyro
| The Pyro is a bit different in MEGA. He still has
all the same features. However he has a new type of grenade/mine. It is a "puddle of
lava". If you step on it, you get stuck and get burnt. Apart from that, there are few other differences not really worth going into here. |
HWGuy
| Read above. HWGuy is almost exactly the same. |
The Others
| -The Medic is changed a bit. The rate of fire for the SNG is faster. He also has weapons that can give you a "tropical disease" from a long way off. So be careful. |
| -The Engineer has also undergone some changes. One of them is that he now packs a drone. This is basically a small robot that looks like a small plane. It flies and slowly descends down. it flies quite slowly, and it shoots all enemies in it's range and site. It's pretty much like a moving shooting, half-powered sentry gun. Half-powered as in having half the power of a real sentry. be careful of these things. They could kill you very easily if you are in a wide open area. |
| The Scout is the same as you. |
| The Sniper is pretty much the same as in original TF. |
| The spy is also the same. |
Final Stuff
Gameplay regarding moving around the enemy base is not much different from TF. The biggest change is your backpack. Use it to go in areas only Soldiers could pass before. Especially when escaping with the enemy flag. Also use your jetpack to get yourself out of danger.