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[BurningNad]

So the next patch, which was supposed to hit last night, has been delayed to "before July 4th." because they "Just have some things we want in that we're still working on." I wonder what it could be. Trying not to get my hopes up though. News of a competitive version of the Blitz mode is buzzing around, too, I doubt it'll be in this update but that's pretty cool and unexpected of them.

They better not be making us wait for taunts and uniforms, though.

 

[Hop]

So the next patch, which was supposed to hit last night, has been delayed to "before July 4th." because they "Just have some things we want in that we're still working on." I wonder what it could be. Trying not to get my hopes up though. News of a competitive version of the Blitz mode is buzzing around, too, I doubt it'll be in this update but that's pretty cool and unexpected of them.

They better not be making us wait for taunts and uniforms, though.

I can totally see the new sharpshooter happening, myself.

 

[dangeROSS]

Cool. I didn't realize there was another patch on the way again so soon. I did see they had some sort of featured SMNC item on steam with some pros and xp bonus. It's nice to see the game get such good support.

SMNC can be great fun, and yet also very frustrating. the last 3 or so days I have been absolutely destroyed 75% of the time. I don't know if it's because I'm above level 60 now and if because of that I'm match-made with higher level people or what. Seeing people go with 17+ kills and little to no deaths is wild. And when you know you've lost the game already but have to play 5 minutes of desperate defense for no real reason at all, that is no fun. Lame-sauce.

 

[Hostile Paradox]

Nice to see Neogaf has an SMNC group, in retrospect, I probably should've checked here months ago.

I joined the Steam group, so if any of y'all are looking to play 2x3 or 5 man premades, feel free to extend me an invite.

Lots of exciting updates coming, some quicker then others, can't say more then that really.

 

[Hop]

Nice to see Neogaf has an SMNC group, in retrospect, I probably should've checked here months ago.

I joined the Steam group, so if any of y'all are looking to play 2x3 or 5 man premades, feel free to extend me an invite.

Lots of exciting updates coming, some quicker then others, can't say more then that really.

Say more than that!

Or just say "more than that". That'll suffice.

 

[Hostile Paradox]

Say more than that!

Or just say "more than that". That'll suffice.

More then that.



Judging by your avatar, you may want to join the SMNC furries group.

 

[Hop]

New pro time! Artemis, the Sharpshooter.

New Rules
Added new Pro: Artemis
Added a "+" button to enable viewing of full damage explanation on the death scene.
Added all new stun effects.
Bots and Turrets can now be targeted with the "Help me with..." quick chat message.
Improved the look and performance of the player health bar on some system types.
Updated the look of the store cart.
Added new GG Stack and Chip Valvano lines.

Bug Fixes
Fixed Long Shot Turrets not acquiring targets.
Fixed colons in names throwing off chat colors.
Fixed ProTag scrolling.
Fixed new ProTag pop up from drawing behind the level up display.
Fixed visible white object between the send team button and the chat box button in the pregame chat window.
Fixed showing a zero weapon rating in the stat display when using some Placeb-O endorsements.
Fixed actions being performed when the quick chat menu is up and a player pressed a button that is bound to a quick chat option.
Fixed multiple announcer lines playing during the win matinee.
Fixed melee weapons from sometimes not doing damage when the victim is near a wall.
Fixed a few instances of bots getting stuck after being stunned and grappled.
Fixed not getting damage numbers when you set an enemy on fire.

Bundles
New Bundle: "Sweet Sixteen"
New Bundle: "Monday Night Fever 2"
New Bundle: "Monday Night Metal 2"
Removed "Early All Pros" from the store.
Removed "Monday Night Fever" from the store.
Removed "Monday Night Metal" from the store.

Products
Massive Air: Air Control: 80% -> 75%

Gun Mountain
Fixed wall sections near the Moneyball that could be stood upon.

Grenade 314 Arena
Fixed players being able to stand on a small ledge by the bot spawners.
Fixed players being able to heal by standing just outside either player spawner.

Artemis
Added new Artemis - Sharpshooter that is skilled in debuffing enemies and helping focus fire during team fights.
Added ProTags.
Added stat tracking.
New Primary Weapon: Skewer: An Outland bow with extreme power. Arrows and bowstring are energy based.
Skewer: Primary Fire: Fires an arrow that is instant hit and can score a headshot.
Skewer: Alt Fire: Zooms in, increasing to perfect accuracy. While zoomed in, cross-hair skill will charge, increasing the damage of the next shot. Unzooming for firing clears the charge.
New Secondary Weapon: Foie Gras: An Outland creature that is held by Artemis and burst fires damaging quills.
Foie Gras: Primary Fire: Fires a burst of damaging quills.
Foie Gras: Alt Fire: Damage Grapple
New Skill: Irradiate: Artemis irradiates an enemy target which removes a portion of their armor, gives them a damage over time effect, and makes them visible on team vision until irradiate wears off.
New Skill: Outerang: Artemis throws out a boomerang that damages all enemies it passes through then returns to Artemis after it hits a wall, floor, or goes a set distance. It can redamage enemies on its return path.
New Skill: Biological Warfare: Artemis tosses out a homing projectile that will slow, damage, and lock out skills of an enemy.

Assassin
New Uniform Head: Patriot

Assault
New Uniform Head: Patriot

Captain Spark
New Uniform Head: Patriot
Arc Flash: Cooldown: 40/26.6/20/15 -> 30/20/15/11.3
Arc Flash: Fixed some instances where Arc Flash would be consumed, show the effects but not succeed in moving him.

Cheston
New Uniform Head: Patriot
Rampage: Fixed being able to purchase skills while Rampage is active.

Combat Girl
New Uniform Head: Patriot

Gunner
New Uniform Head: Patriot
Minigun: Damage: 25 -> 24
Dualminigun: Damage: 20 -> 19
Deploy: Fixed armor aura continuing after a Death Dodger teleport.

Gunslinger
New Uniform Head: Patriot

Karl
New Uniform Head: Patriot
Short Circuit: Added new visual effect.
Prop Hop: Now grants 100% air control for 2 seconds.
Prop Hop: Now damages bots and the Moneyball.

Leo
New Uniform Head: Patriot
Adoration of the AI: Cooldown: 40/26.6/20/15 -> 30/20/15/11.3
Adoration of the AI: Updated visual effects.
Adoration of the AI: Bots are now very briefly stunned when taken over by the Drillocopter.

Megabeth
New Uniform Head: Patriot
Whirling Derbish: Fixed being able to purchase skills while Whirling Derbish is active.

Sniper
New Uniform Head: Patriot
New Taunt: Moonwalk

Support
New Uniform Head: Patriot
Air Strike: Cooldown: 40/26.6/20/15 -> 30/20/15/11.3

Tank
New Uniform Head: Patriot
Jet Gun: Can now be grappled while using the alt fire spin.
Product Grenade: Fixed grenades not properly increasing in damage as the skill is upgraded.

Veteran
New Uniform Head: Patriot

Wascot
New Uniform Head: Patriot
Crook Hook: Hook Speed: 6000 -> 8000

 

[BurningNad]

Mmmmm giev patch nao

 

[Goon Boon]

$10/11250cc apparently for the new pro. :/

 

[DarkKyo]

Damn she looks awesome!

I'll update the OP with her soonish.

 

[Hop]

So, anyone else get a free XP boost in their email?

 

[Myomoto]

So, anyone else get a free XP boost in their email?

Yup, still waiting on patch downloading so I can cash it in.

 

[Kyari]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2K6Rz1tF2I

Artemis looks pretty interesting, but the person playing her in this video seems pretty awful at it.

 

[DarkKyo]

So, anyone else get a free XP boost in their email?

I didn't get anything like that did you sign up for it or what?

 

[Hop]

I didn't get anything like that did you sign up for it or what?

Nope, it just happened. Check your spam folder.

 

[dangeROSS]

Awesome, new pro. It's great to see the game getting constant updates. I saw that I got a free XP boost too! Is it a limited time activation? I won't be around for a day or two to use it, so I don't know if I should enter the code now or wait until I have time to play to use it.

 

[Hop]

Awesome, new pro. It's great to see the game getting constant updates. I saw that I got a free XP boost too! Is it a limited time activation? I won't be around for a day or two to use it, so I don't know if I should enter the code now or wait until I have time to play to use it.

If you can, enter it now to be safe, and it'll just hang around in your inventory. It's for the next 10 games, rather than time-based, so no harm in entering it early.

 

[BurningNad]

So I bought the new pro, and she is pretty cool. Her skills seem to promote running around with the team rather than hanging back and camping in spawn. I didn't do amazing, but played two games and went 3/2/14 and something similar in the next game. She's VERY squishy, though. I think she could be pretty mean though, her boomerang does great damage and her denial skill is very handy.

 

[Unicorn]

Awesome, I've got the boost going and so far I've won all 4 matches that I've played. Gotta take a minute to collect myself as that last game was a turn around victory.

These boosts make every match matter a whole lot more because if I lose it's a fucking waste.

 

[Hop]

Awesome, I've got the boost going and so far I've won all 4 matches that I've played. Gotta take a minute to collect myself as that last game was a turn around victory.

These boosts make every match matter a whole lot more because if I lose it's a fucking waste.

I've had five matches under the boost- three wins, two losses, all of them a total bloody stomp. And shorter matches mean less XP so I'm a little frustrated by that. :/

(Also last match I lost, I led the team as Sniper. Really?)

 

[Unicorn]

Yeah, I forget about the whole length of the game and xp. Been rollin' a train all morning with Cheston. Matches are 15 mins and under.

 

[Clydebink]

So now that y'all have had some time, how's Artemis? What type of team construction does she compliment?

Also, I just bought the Gunslinger and I can't figure out what the cone of damage ability is useful for.

 

[Wthermans]

So now that y'all have had some time, how's Artemis? What type of team construction does she compliment?

Also, I just bought the Gunslinger and I can't figure out what the cone of damage ability is useful for.

Gun Flurry is rather useless due to it locking you in place. It is useful to deny chokepoints and assist with grapples though. Usually a target that is grappled in your Gun Flurry will die at the end of the grapple.

 

[Hop]

TotalBiscuit's WTF is... has been posted.

 

[McBradders]

TotalBiscuit's WTF is... has been posted.

And, amazingly, the playerbase has swollen up again... coincidence? Or have Uber fixed something their end?

 

[Card Boy]

Or have Uber fixed something their end?

Nope Totalbiscuit does what Gaf or any other forum don't. I've seen the bloke personally save several kickstarters. He saved the Nekro kickstarter and the developers are putting in a NPC in honor of him. He is close to getting a weapon named after him in Tribes: Ascend (for 1000 referrals). Having 725000 subscribers helps too. I also wouldn't be surprised if SMNC goes back up to 3K concurrent users or more thanks to TotalBiscuit. That video has 90K+ views in 12 hours vs the 31K views this thread has in almost 3 months.

 

[McBradders]

Nope Totalbiscuit does what Gaf or any other forum don't. I've seen the bloke personally save several kickstarters. He saved the Nekro kickstarter and the developers are putting in a NPC in honor of him. He is close to getting a weapon named after him in Tribes: Ascend (for 1000 referrals). Having 725000 subscribers helps too. I also wouldn't be surprised if SMNC goes back up to 3K concurrent users or more thanks to TotalBiscuit. That video has 90K+ views in 12 hours vs the 31K views this thread has in almost 3 months.

That's great! I hope they stick around. Having to play on US servers is the worst.

 

[Card Boy]

I see a spike of 500 extra players by the looks of it concurrently according to the Steam stats page.

 

[Hop]

I see a spike of 500 extra players by the looks of it concurrently according to the Steam stats page.

Yea, the numbers definitely look higher. Players are definitely still learning- I came across some pretty DM-ish players and dominated off-class- but I didn't see much grumpiness or even feeding out of anyone. Hopefully folks will stick around long enough to get better and really enjoy the game.

 

[DarkKyo]

Update time! Looks like they going the TF2 key-and-crate route.

New Rules
Added Treasure Balls and Keys.
All Patriot heads set to "Classic" and removed from the store.
Mutual contacts can now see each other's status of in chat, queuing, or in a match.
Mutual contacts can now send private messages to each other.
Throw grapples now limit air control for a short time on the victim after they are thrown.

Bug Fixes
Fixed melee attacks not doing damage properly.
Fixed cart screen disabling when accepting an invite.
Fixed some instances of chat input going to the front end UI when not intended.
Fixed stats drop down so that you don't have to scroll to see the Wascot stats.
Fixed incorrect refreshing of contacts that can be invited to games.

Bundles
New Bundle: Summer Bundle

Flair
New Flair: All-Star My Friend Lars - Treasure Ball Only
New Flair: All-Star The Plumber - Treasure Ball Only
New Flair: All-Star Dali - Treasure Ball Only
New Flair: All-Star Captain Thompson - Treasure Ball Only
New Flair: All-Star Motorhead - Treasure Ball Only
Added flair for eyes.
New Flair: Knight Driver - Limited Time Summer Flair
New Flair: Gong Rescue - Limited Time Summer Flair
New Flair: Growing Years - Limited Time Summer Flair
New Flair: Perfect Wonder - Limited Time Summer Flair
New Flair: McCharles Of Power - Limited Time Summer Flair
New Flair: Solid Silver - Limited Time Summer Flair
New Flair: B-Unit - Limited Time Summer Flair
New Flair: Vice Bros - Limited Time Summer Flair
Added flair for waist.
New Flair: Duck Handles - Limited Time Summer Flair

Artemis
New Uniform Head: Artemis Chickey Head - Post Game Prize Only
Taunt: On Your Feet: Updated camera
Skewer: Fixed not properly getting penetrating shots when fully charged.
Outerang: Fixed getting 'hit flash' effects when passing through allies.
Fixed names for her damage types when viewed in the death screen.

Captain Spark
Megahurtz: Can now target Black Jacks, Jackbots, Bouncers, and Gremlins

Cheston
New Uniform Head: The Biscuit - Treasure Ball Only

Gunner
Rocket: Can now target Black Jacks, Jackbots, Bouncers, and Gremlins

Gunslinger
Knee Cap: Can now target Black Jacks, Jackbots, Bouncers, and Gremlins

Megabeth
New Uniform Head: The Biscuit - Treasure Ball Only
Rocket Ma'am: Fixed an instance where you could lose the weapon.

Tank
Jet Gun: Fixed not removing falloff on critical shots.

Veteran
New Uniform Head: The Biscuit - Treasure Ball Only

Wascot
Party Pooper: Can now target Black Jacks, Jackbots, Bouncers, and Gremlins

 

[Unicorn]

Interesting. I guess I never played enough TF2 to understand the item creation system. Probably will for SMNC though

 

[McBradders]

They need to fix being grappled out of the air

Solid update, otherwise, though.

 

[Hop]

Update time! Looks like they going the TF2 key-and-crate route.

And people are, predictably, oblivious to the separation of drop systems and losing their shit over it. It's literally the TF2 system, which is only problematic when you get too many damn crates.

 

[mojiimbo]

There's a really good bundle on sale for $3.75 for the Summer Sale for anybody new to the game. It comes with 6 of the original MNC pros, some minor cosmetic items and a nice CC boost. It'll also unlock the ability to trade your items, although I think you can only trade Pros if you have more than 1 of that type.

Turbocross Bundle Includes:

• Assault Pro
• Support Pro
• Tank Pro
• Gunner Pro
• Assassin Pro
• Sniper Pro
• My Friend Lars Mustache
• The Plumber Mustache
• Bacon Strips Flair
• Bullseye Flair
• Combat Credit Boost +500%

http://store.steampowered.com/app/212520/

I already bought the Support for $2(to unlock trading) and the Assault for 4500CC but I'll be glad to buy it again to pick up the Gunner and the rest of the original pros.

 

[Hop]

There's a really good bundle on sale for $3.75 for the Summer Sale for anybody new to the game. It comes with 6 of the original MNC pros, some minor cosmetic items and a nice CC boost. It'll also unlock the ability to trade your items, although I think you can only trade Pros if you have more than 1 of that type.

Turbocross Bundle Includes:

• Assault Pro
• Support Pro
• Tank Pro
• Gunner Pro
• Assassin Pro
• Sniper Pro
• My Friend Lars Mustache
• The Plumber Mustache
• Bacon Strips Flair
• Bullseye Flair
• Combat Credit Boost +500%

http://store.steampowered.com/app/212520/

I already bought the Support for $2(to unlock trading) and the Assault for 4500CC but I'll be glad to buy it again to pick up the Gunner and the rest of the original pros.

I don't think Pro trading is available just yet, but even so. I might grab it just because it's a discounted booster, I believe that's the $10 booster. Then when Pro trading is up I can make some newbies happy.

(The next best option, by the way, is the Hippie skin bundle; it's $10 for a few character skin sets and a $10-value booster. So it's free skins. Only available in-game though.)

 

[BurningNad]

Wow that's awesome. Bought the $3.75 bundle. Now I can save up for Wascot.

 

[Wthermans]

They need to fix being grappled out of the air

Solid update, otherwise, though.

Air grapples will never be fixed. It's due to the client side hit detection. If you go back and watch the demo from the game, it will show a legit grapple.

It's supposed to be worse the greater the ping between the grappler/victim. I find that to be BS though since I've had air grapples with pings less than 4ms apart.

And people are, predictably, oblivious to the separation of drop systems and losing their shit over it. It's literally the TF2 system, which is only problematic when you get too many damn crates.

It's actually better since you're guaranteed to get something that is equal to the key amount. I still don't like having items that are generally useless to me though.

 

[Unicorn]

So, with the treasure balls, will it give you ANY random item, or just things that are ONLY supposed to show up in the TB?

In other words, is the Cheston item a Holographic in my booster pack?

 

[rohlfinator]

TotalBiscuit is spot on with his assessment of this game. It's a freaking great game with a lot of clever ideas and a ton of personality, but it utterly fails to explain itself to new players, and it does a pretty poor job of facilitating communication between teammates. I honestly think that if they'd fix those two issues (easier said than done, I know) they'd have a huge hit on their hands.

 

[Unicorn]

Thank God they finally fixed the in-game friends list to reflect friends that have it and that are online.

 

[dejan]

Since the introduction of Turbo I've basically stopped playing Super Crossfire. Too bad the mode is as good as dead now (queue times have been >30m for me the past 2 weeks). Good news is Uber is aware of the problem and Ekanaut posted some of the ideas they have to address the current situation:

Not enough players play Turbo so we have some thoughts on how to make it an easier game mode to jump in and out of by doing the following:

-Adding Join in progress
-rolling over games, when a game finishes, it would take whoever is still in the end game scree and drop them into a new map and character select screen. The screen will wait for a minimum number of players before starting that match.
-no penalty for leaving games
-adjust CC payouts

There are bunch of issues we need to work out for matching up players, join in progress bonuses, etc so we'll see how it goes. Also, most likely we'd keep it solo or duo only.

And a more recent quote:

We're in the process of making Turbocross be a Quick Match like experience with it rolling over and join in progress. There won't be a queue time anymore, it will find a game to drop you into, or start a new game and wait for players. The minimum to start will be lowered to six, and players will fill in as needed. The payout will be adjusted as well as Join in Progress money.

Sounds al lot like classic MNC, I like it.

 

[BurningNad]

That sounds awesome, maybe I'll actually play it now.

 

[Hop]

Could be part of the reason they held this week's Rule Change 'til today. I'm pretty sure they're hoping to make Turbocross the 'casual', accessible mode while Crossfire is the more hardcore 'pro' mode. Which will help player retention, since the game's still got too high a barrier to entry for most people. Then there'd be the PvE Blitz mode, to practice and help round it all out.

(I'll probably stick with Crossfire myself.)

 

[BurningNad]

I really can't wait for Blitz. I'm curious how they're going to make some pros viable, like Vet for example. Three grapple skills against bots who can't be grappled would make him semi-useless.

 

[Hop]

Called it!

New Rules
Turbocross matches now rollover to another match after one ends.
Using "Pick Up Team" to get into a Turbocross match will now immediately put you in a match or start a new one.
Joining a Turbocross match in progress now grants you the money of the lowest earner in the game.
Added PayPal to payment providers for non-Steam users.
New Treasure Ball - Eos Treasure Ball - Contains Enforcer items along with normal rare and Treasure Ball only items.

Bundles
New Bundle: Summer Grilling

Flair
New Flair: Cantor's Pocketwatch
New Flair: Vertigo Pocketwatch - Treasure Ball Only
New Flair: Gold Pocketwatch
New Flair: Knight Visor
New Flair: Battle Visor - Treasure Ball Only
New Flair: Sympathetic Heart - Treasure Ball Only
New Flair: Shady McDuck - Treasure Ball Only

Artemis
New Taunt: Summer Grilling
New Uniform: Recon

Assassin
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Assault
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Captain Spark
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Cheston
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Combat Girl
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Gunner
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Gunslinger
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Karl
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Leo
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Megabeth
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Support
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Sniper
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Tank
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Veteran
New Weapon: Flying Dinos
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Wascot
New Taunt: Summer Grilling

Pretty much just fixing Turbocross and added a new all-pro taunt.

 

[BurningNad]

New weapon for Vet... Must buy!

 

[JakkuFurosu]

wow i SUCK at this game.

Im one of the douchebag game ruiners that just played for teh hats (actually played/tried I didnt afk) but figured while im here I should give it a honest go and kinda enjoyed it so ill try again today (i got me hats so now its just to learn some more and play without a ulterior motive.

I figured id play as fat support guy, cause well, they usually the easiest and best to learn other classes by following them....but i feel as i was doing something wrong.

My main gameplay was start match, upgrade turret, run to first set of enemy bots w/team, find corner, drop turret, heal team and keep them alive while tossing random grenades at oncoming whatever.


also i had a grapeape gorilla dude yesterday and none of the female rollergirls after patch i had no grape ape and both rollerchicks....whats the deal with that?


last but not least....sorry ketch, im assuming you here as you had a [gaf] tag....i was on my 3rd play ever so i couldnt help more

 

[McBradders]

wow i SUCK at this game.

Im one of the douchebag game ruiners that just played for teh hats (actually played/tried I didnt afk) but figured while im here I should give it a honest go and kinda enjoyed it so ill try again today (i got me hats so now its just to learn some more and play without a ulterior motive.

I figured id play as fat support guy, cause well, they usually the easiest and best to learn other classes by following them....but i feel as i was doing something wrong.

My main gameplay was start match, upgrade turret, run to first set of enemy bots w/team, find corner, drop turret, heal team and keep them alive while tossing random grenades at oncoming whatever.


also i had a grapeape gorilla dude yesterday and none of the female rollergirls after patch i had no grape ape and both rollerchicks....whats the deal with that?


last but not least....sorry ketch, im assuming you here as you had a [gaf] tag....i was on my 3rd play ever so i couldnt help more

Sounds like you're doing the right thing as a support. Stick at it, the nuances of each class take time to learn.

 

[Hop]

also i had a grapeape gorilla dude yesterday and none of the female rollergirls after patch i had no grape ape and both rollerchicks....whats the deal with that?

Funniest description of Cheston and Megabeth/Combat Girl ever.

But, the way the game works is that there's a Free Pro Rotation. Every Rule Change (patch) they change it, so that the playable cast doesn't get stale and so that everyone who doesn't buy their preferred pro is forced to learn multiple. Last week, Cheston was one of the free Pros. This week, they're:

Assassin, Assault, Combat Girl, Gunner, Megabeth, Veteran

If you find there's a particular character you really like, the game's designed to make you want to buy them. There is the Turbocross Bundle up during the Steam sale, so if you haven't grabbed it already I'd suggest you do so. It includes Support, so you can play as him whenever you want, along with the five other MNC pros (Assassin, Assault, Gunner, Sniper, Tank). And a Combat Credit boost for five matches, which'll make getting other pros or some products/endorsements a bit easier.

Personally, I find that if you suck, you should play Turbocross for a while. Because, the stakes are a lot lower in that mode now and it's a lot more casual. You won't really learn survivability, since you start off with endgame health and damage, but you do get a general idea of new and unfamiliar pros.

 

[rohlfinator]

My main gameplay was start match, upgrade turret, run to first set of enemy bots w/team, find corner, drop turret, heal team and keep them alive while tossing random grenades at oncoming whatever.

Yeah, sounds like you've got the right idea overall.

Here's a few things that I think a lot of new players miss with support:

- Know when to switch to your shotty. A lot of people seem to forget about it. It's not the greatest gun in the game but it's damn powerful up close. If you and a teammate are fighting a commando, you're probably better off grappling or shotgunning the commando rather than healing your partner. And if no one is around to fight, shotgun some bots (it kills them faster than the hurt gun).

- On the same note, don't overuse your heal gun. It's a valuable tool and easy to use when you're just running around, but it's not always the best way to use your time. Heal up critically injured teammates to help them escape, or top someone's health off if there's nothing else happening near you, but it's not your job to babysit everyone on the team or follow them into a suicide situation.

- Keep an eye on your overclock and air strike. Overclock makes your skills recharge faster (especially air strike), so you want to be spamming them both so you can drop as many air strikes as you can. Air strike is great at killing waves of smaller bots, damaging turrets, and scaring your enemies away from chokepoints. Overclock can also be a good escape tool.

- Try to stick with your best player and help keep them alive, but don't be afraid to break away at times to heal up someone else on the team.