Opening Tactics

I don't know about anyone else, but I always have an opening strategy for every map. I figured I would post mine, and if you guys want you can post yours too. Just specify the map, class, and then say what you do. Feel free to post multiple strategies if you play different classes.

On all maps I always upgrade and head out the gate as soon as possible with the intent of catching the enemy off guard by being mid map at the beginning of the game.

Grenade III (Sniper)- My favorite. Side doesn't actually matter on this map, but I tend to go left. I hit the first jump pad, and toss an ice trap at the peak of the hop, which lands right where the middle island jump pad takes you. I continue to head up map, and when I reach mid map where I tossed the ice trap I toss another to block their side jump pad. If they're out of the gate slow enough I can catch them right as they come up their jump pad for an easy opening kill or two, and if anyone try to use the island jump pad to come up behind me I can get them too. I love doing this successfully, because it effectively means that I've pushed that lane all the way up to their base at the very beginning of the game.

Steel Peel (Sniper)- Head out the right side, which means that I can scope right into their upper spawn ring. I love getting headshots within the first three seconds of the game on someone still standing in their spawn. Cheap? Maybe, but they should know better.

Ammo Mule (Sniper)- I like to head straight up mid map on this one, straight to the dome, and catch people leaving their base on opposite side.

LaseRazor (Sniper)- I always go upper left side on this one, because it gives you three lines of sight. You can see anyone down the left lane and the area above it, you can see anyone heading down the upper right side, and you can see the front opening of their base, which is where some campy snipers like to sit.

I typically open all of the maps with tank jumps and pick routes which allow me to access high ground without use of jump pads (early cash is crucial for a tank).

Grenade III: Pick a side, tank jump towards 1st arch, run to second arch, jet jump to the top of the wall and then up to the ejector button on the arch. Many people rush the second arch at the start of the match, and this allows you to flank them while your team advances up the traditional cat walk ramp.

Ammo Mule: Pick a side. Tank jump all the way to the windows near the edge of the map/bot spawner. Use your jet pack to jump around the windows and hug the absolute outside of the map. Continue to the enemy arch way, using your jet pack to get on top of the arch and flank who ever is camping behind the glass up there.

Laser Razor: Tank jump either towards the juice stands or down the side lane towards the enemy tunnel. I really just adapt on this one.

Steel Peel: Jet pack and mid air charge to the top ring of the dome from your spawn, then jet to the middle of the map for bot control with the rail gun. When you see an opening, tank jump into a lane for a death blossom kill (or to wipe a bot wave).

Grenade 3: One of my favorite sniper maps, Iunno why but I always rush down the first lane. I go up on the jump pad, upgrade Grapple and Traps, try to throw a trap as far as I can on the top of the lane and just push until I can get close to their base. Once I'm there I like to throw a flak at their rock-it and shoot at it until someone tries to come for me.

Ammo Mule: Best map for a sniper ever. What I normally do is try to put traps on the middle of the map to help my team control this important spot. Then I would get on that one bridge thing next to the base, and help the supports set up their firebases and upgrade passive to 3, and then go back to the base and help our team push lanes by killing turrets and bots from the base.

Laser Razor: Bad sniper map until you can set up a camping spot. I like to hide behind gunners or tanks and try to get to the upper left part of the opponent's base. Setup some traps, and widdle down their rockets and shoot at bots.

Steel Peel: I like to help our team gain control of the upper level, I upgrade traps and grapple then activate the jump pad. I'll snipe the gunners and tanks, the enemy firebases, then move left. I'll try to get to their base, and set up traps on the upper part. I'll help my supports set up firebases by using those traps and suppressing the enemy team.

For Sniper:

Start in spawn room, upgrade trap to level 2, and passive to level 2. Skip over passive level 2 if we aim for a quick win and just upgrade flak to level 2 to facilitate quicker RockIt destruction. If I see that the other team has multiple assassins, trap 2 and grapple 2 are a necessity. All of these openers require trap level 2, though.

Grenade III: Like TayTerz, I nearly always go left. Gotta get out quick enough to have map control on the top ring. place a trap on the center of the top ring where the center jump pad will land you (never fails to catch idiots who try to flank you from the center and opposing side). If unopposed, place a trap at the landing point from the nearest jump pad to their base (the one next to bot spawn) and hope that a Support player is smart enough to get a firebase up and running nearby.

AmmoMule: Immediately get trap 2 and head out the front door, staying to the inner edge of the spawn ring to cut as much time as possible while heading for the center room. Get into the room and place a trap outside the door on the other end to deny access from that side. If unopposed, hop up and drop a flac on the entrance to their spawn ring. Denying the enemy direct access to the center room is a game ender. Hopefully, Support mans are dropping firebase against the far wall to deter entrance to the center room. Get on the roof and have fun!

Steel Peel: upgrade trap to level 2, run out, buy the jump pad, GET ON THAT TOP RING PRONTO. I used to drop out the right side and snipe people leaving spawn, but smarter players (the ones you really need to kill) are going to hit the jump pad and start gaining map control, and you don't wanna be a Sniper on the ground when the enemy team is holding the top ring. Once on the top ring, start sniping at anybody arriving on the top ring on the opposite side, and send a Tank/Assault across the center, and an Assassin around the other side to clear out the ring (or, at least, hope that this is going to happen). Keep moving along the ring the whole time. drop a trap at the landing point from their spawn's jump pad and lob a trap onto their spawn ring from the window. Deny them access to that ring in the first minute of the game.

LazeRazor: Upgrade trap and flak to level 2 and head for the tunnel. Trap on the entrance from the ejector, and trap at the door between the tunnel and their base. start sniping at that RockIt (or whichever one doesn't a Support attached to it) and get that flak out to clear the way for bot pushing. A Support's firebase along the inner wall in the tunnel makes a base away from base!

I'm still trying to figure out PohTayToe's favorite class... honestly I'm stumped.

On a lot of the maps with the Sniper the best strategy is to help your team gain control, and I consider firebases to be a landmark of your teams control.

For Clarification: I play gunner, mostly.

EDIT: See?

Support;

(Bear in mind I use Gold Speed so it works)

LazeRazor: Don't upgrade anything, get out of spawn, right bot path, dash dash dash to the other end. Get underneath their tunnel on their left side. Drop a firebase. Upgrade FB and Hack to 2. Hack FB. Instant right bot lane control, immune to airstrikes, and frequently get free kills from slow Pros coming through their tunnel not expecting a FB right there. After that, I go to the other bot lane and try to push that one through. The FB can play bot control long enough before it's finally destroyed.

Steel Peel: Jump pad right outside spawn, Jump pad onto center ring. FB on top tier overlooking enemy's bot lanes. Upgrade FB/Hack to 2. Hack FB. Just 20 seconds of keeping FB alive is more than enough to instantly push the tide to your favor. This is a tough opening and I frequently find my FB destroyed too quickly but there are times where it lasts the entire match. I generally stick to the center ring and use glass walls for protection.

PohTayToez I find it absolutely hilarious how we have almost the exact same strats.

I haven't played MNC for over a month until last night and met up with obsydianyte and miss informed and you joined the game late.

The only thing we do different is on steel peel where I push up with my sniper heavily right from the start, and go to the upper spawn ring. Also on Gernade III, I go right and you go left LOL which means we would meet up and I do the same trap lays as you haha.

Too bad I was fooling around and playing support last night, cuz you kept crappy on me since I have no idea how to play support LOL. Or we would have had some sick battles.

Good games though.

Poh got my opening Sniper tactics pretty well, except for GrenADE, I favor paying for the side jump pad. It's more defensible against the other players when I don't have a level 2 trap (I prefer to get explosive rounds early). Also, when side is irrelevant, I'll go out the front door if in the front door or out the side on which I spawn. A congested spawn room serves nobody. It's worse when Gunners go right in front of the door and stop for 5+ seconds while they figure out what they want upgraded.

Support
LazeRazor: I'll either get my Firebase out to the center of the ring or under the left bridge. If there's another Support on the team, I'll try to establish mine in the aforementioned tunnel spot on the right. Where I eventually decide to put it will depend on how much backup I've got coming with me. I need to be able to live while I hack. With that accomplished, I'll usually fall back and overheal stuff for juice. If there's just nobody coming from the left bot lane, I'll walk with a Blackjack and get juice the whole way.

GrenADE III: I'm kinda screwed. My best spot for the firebase is by their bot spawn, and that's a long trip. I'll actually start with a leveled Air Strike and follow the biggest guns. My air strikes can scare opponents trying to get at us, especially if I throw one by us and another in their best cover spot. Of course, that rather exhausts my tricks and I just have to hope my friend can pick off the now disoriented players. Again, whether I can place the turret or it proves too difficult to get over there, I'll fall back so I can work on overhealing. Often when I have to fall back from attacks, the Air Strikes become very necessary for trying to get people out of my house.

Ammo Mule: I'd like to get a Firebase established in the dome, but this isn't always possible. I'll start with Air Strike + Hack to help clear it out and immediately hack my level 1 turret if I do get to land it. It won't take long to make it level 2 if I'm successful. Once I fall back, I pick a side to overheal and just make a favorite Blackjack each time.

Steel Peel: This one is quite fluid. I've actually found reasonable success in sneaking a Firebase over to the circle by the catwalk. It makes decent bot control and watches over the entrance well enough. Of course, it's easily destroyed by the Ejector, but it'll do a good job while it's there. I have no illusions that it'll last throughout the game. If I have confidence in my team's capabilities here (first one to "hit the button," so to speak, wins in this arena), I'll go with them and establish a Firebase outside their front door under the center ring. That one will last a good while.

Assassin
I want the Sword early so that I can more easily kill bots. This means my dash and cloak will suffer for a while, especially if my team is already doing good bot control. Therefore, I have to find a good hiding spot where people won't look for me.
Ammo Mule: That is most certainly under the dome. I can watch both bot lanes from there and only weakened enemies ever go there (I seriously wonder why I never meet any other Assassins there). Honorable mention goes to the side walls, but I do obviously get quite cornered there.
Steel Peel: I've got no shortage of cover. I can hide at the catwalk entrances on either side just fine, or if I'm feeling especially ambitious, I can make a quick strike for opposing turrets from their spawn ring. Often when I'm hiding on the upper level, I'll see the opposing team coming from the jump-in entrance and making their way to our right. It's surprising how effectively I can hug the wall and lunge-grab them without ever being noticed. Like I said, I don't have much cloak to use, so I'm genuinely sneaking here. Sometimes I've even had to walk (not lunge, as that makes noise) behind my opponent all the way back to our bridge.
LazeRazor: Best hiding spot is in their tunnel. Next best is around the corner of their front door. I really work bot control more than player hits in this arena, so I'll pretend the jump pads don't actually make good cover.
GrenAde III: Clearly the best spot is out on the center edges of the stage. Ejectors can't hit me and I'm surrounded by cover. I can easily investigate any blips of a red name or just go after those pesky bots. I can quite reasonably go after turrets, too.

My tactics:

gunnr: D1E TURRRRRRRENETNS!!!!1!1!!111!!!!!11!!!!!

My opening tactic with Assassin, all maps.

> Ignore attributes
> dash out of spawn ahead of team
> slap left bot spawn for -$100
> dash/lunge to right bot spawn for -$100
> purchase 1st attribute
> advance to opponent's base flanking the 1st bot wave
> build juice on 1st opposing bot wave
> break any remaining Rock-Its

Gremlins more often than not take out at least one Rock-It within the first minute of the match. If not, they help some teammate with an assist.

As an Assault...

GrenadeIII

If no Sniper on the opposite base ledge (usually Snipers near the ejector buttons are looking towards the opposite lifts), go middle and flank on whichever side the enemy team is pushing harder. Remember to hit fly right before you land to avoid ice traps at the middle jump pad landing points.

Ammo Mule

Get to the dome entrance and shell their dome entrance with grenades so your Support can lay down his firebase inside. Strafe so you don't get headshot by a Sniper. Then get on top of the dome and fight off opposing Assaults/Gunners for top control.

Steel Peel

Jump pad or fly to the top ring and shell their bottom left base entrance arch with grenades for a brief time. Then fly to middle ring and start shelling their bottom right base entrance arch. Use your grenades first to push Snipers/Gunners on top ring back if you need to, then once you are on middle ring you can throw your bomb onto top ring to keep them from working around behind you.

LaseRazor

Fly to the right bridge, then jump on top of glass walls near the far right lift and scan for enemies as you run forward. If no opposing players are coming top middle or top right, get to middle ring and look for Supports trying to lay down firebases under the bridges.

grenadeIII: as assault or assassin, fly across the middle (from your bases middle perch, over the annihalator, to their perch), and once the enemy has completely left their base, destroy turrets with your secondary. youll have at least 1 before they return if they are rushers in the beginning, so make sure and ask your team which side they pushed and take out that side turret. if you have that bot-pushing sniper (like pohtaytoes) on your team, you did the other half of his job for him, and got the bots into the base safely.

just a tip also, on steel peel opening, you dont need the jumppad to the top-arch of your base-entrance if your a assault, assassin, tank, or gunner. assault with passive2 can jump-charge-fly across to it, assassin can smoke-bomb jump to it. with a skilled gliding jump from the very top-left-edge of the moneyball glass-wall, you can just glide across to it with a gunner/tank jetpack.

You're a jerk.

Support

Grenade:

I upgrade passive to boost bots, and airstrike to clear out those freeze traps and have a fighting chance. I push bots, overhealing and staying close to home. My main goal is juice. I will overheal any teammate in the vicinity, especially if they are engaged. I overheal bots, blackjacks first, then latch onto a slim due to the constant supply of juice they give. I right-stick melee enemy bots and usually have juice within the first 30 seconds.

Steel Peel:

I usually go right here. Upgrade passive and airstrike, deploy my pathetic lvl 1 firebase with lvl1 hack in the outside corner of my doorway just for kicks. I overheal bots and teammates, don't melee enemy bots so much here, due to being such an easy target. Eventually, after a juice run or 2, I try to move my firebase up close to where their jumpad lands from their spawn room. I'll toss lvl 3 airstrikes to kill off turrets, but I don't spawn kill.

Lazer Razor:

I upgrade passive and airstrike. Hack the left rocket turret and begin overhealing teammates and bots, melee enemy bots. Still going for juice. I mainly stick to the left side of the map because my bots have more time for overhealing before they are exposed outside of the base.

Ammo Mule:

I take a different tactic here, and it's been working really well. I upgrade hack to lvl 2, and build a lvl3 lazer blazer on one of the nubs close to the center of the front of the base. I usually get it built and hacked just in time to burn down anyone rushing. I overheal it and stay latched on. Usually I can get lucky and some sniper or assassin will shoot at it non-stop, feeding me juice.

I know it's a pain to have a support juice into your base 30 seconds into a match, but between overhealing slims and meleeing bots, its just too obvious not to do it.

Go to middle of map. Kill.

then what? your turrets get killed cuz you didnt cover territory or keep an eye on them. enemy bots drop your moneyball. one pro manages to make it to your base and hit your moneyball without punishment until the end of the game.

Dont go to middle of map. Dont kill.

especially on grenadeIII, dont go to middle of map. it happens to be an island with an ejector in the middle of it. thats the last place you wana be.

Oh no. you found a flaw in my strategy!!!!

I KILLED YOU ON GRENADE III