[TIPS] Natural Selection 2 Basic Advice

So the other game that's been consuming a lot of my attention besides GW2 and XCOM is Natural Selection 2.  It's a fantastic FPS/RTS that's a sequel to the Half-Life 1 mod of the same name.  It's made by the same developers who did the original and started their own game studio.  So yea.  Great game.  It released tonight, so you should totally get it :-)


Some basic tips/suggestions that a lot of new and rookie players mess up:

Marines

• Focus on steady, calm aim over wild spraying.  At the start, it only requires 9 hits from the LMG to kill a skulk (compare to the 50 bullets in the magazine).  This means that you should prioritize accuracy over anything else.  Pistols kill quickly as well- it only takes 5 pistol rounds to kill a skulk (note that pistols are of damage type Light, which quadruples any armor benefit).
• You can crouch walk to remove the sound that comes from your footsteps.
• Learn to identify marine footsteps from skulk movement.  Skulks have four claws and generate a difference frequency of "clicks" that indicate their presence.
• Get close to and face towards an armory to get health and ammo for your currently equipped weapon.  If you are next to it but facing away you will not be resupplied.
• You can crouch walk (hold crouch and move) to remain silent.

Kharaa

• Skulks have three different bite zones that do differing damage.  Bites deal 75, 50, or 25 damage depending on how close your target is to the center of your screen.  Marines at the beginning of the game have effectively 160 health for the purposes of biting.  This means you could kill them with 2 centered bites and any other bite, or 3 medium damage bites and a glancing bite, etc.
• You must evolve every time you die to get your bonuses.  For example, you spawn as a skulk.  You evolve and get celerity.  You run off and die.  When you respawn against as a skulk, you must evolve again to get celerity.
• Mines will kill skulks in one hit, but skulks with carapace can survive with a small amount of health (approximately 5).
• You can hold shift to walk silently.

Marine Commander

• All structures require a working power node to operate.
• Power nodes can be in one of three possible states:  default, working, and broken.
• Power nodes start in the "default" state.  They cannot be destroyed, but marine structures built in the area are not powered.  They keep the normal lights on.
• Power nodes become "working" once you build a marine structure in the area, which automatically makes the node "buildable".  Once constructed, it powers marine structures.  At this point is is vulnerable to alien damage.  When a "working" power node is destroyed, it goes into the "broken" state.  This powers down the lights and turns on emergency lighting (much darker) and also powers down all marine structures.  Aim at a broken power node and "build" it to restore it back to the "working" state.  Note that this means that once a power node can be built, it becomes forever vulnerable.
• You can't build structures on infestation.  Sometimes you can't see the infestation because there's no marine nearby to reveal it.
• You can't build structures that aren't within line of sight of other marines or structures.
• You require a second command center for multiple tech upgrades, so make sure to get one when you can.  A third CC is never required for any upgrades, for helpful to build to block and slow down the alien advancement.

Kharaa Commander

• Unlike in Natural Selection, the commander places all structures except Hydras and Clogs, which Gorges place.  That means it's up to you to put down resource towers.
• All commander structures can only be built on infestation.  Use cysts to spread infestation to resource points for you to put them down.
• Gorges can greatly speed the rate at which buildings construct (including hives), so don't be shy about asking them to help out.
• The way the game is right now, you basically have to either place a very early second hive or save for a fast 8 minute Onos.  In 95% of public games you'll see a fast hive, which is what you should typically be doing as well.
• You can use the team resources to spawn higher lifeforms for your team instead of having them use their own player resources.  Select an egg, and the lifeform you want it to be (onos, fade, etc.).  It will spend the standard time "evolving" into that lifeform, but stay as an egg.  When it is done, if a player walks over to it and "uses" it, they will instantly become that lifeform.  Useful to spawn onos and such when your team resources are high but your player resources are low.
• You can build a hive someplace that you do not have infestation or even vision.  This can be very useful at the beginning of the game when you need to get a second hive early.
• Getting upgrades (celerity, carapace, etc.) are more important than a third hive.  In general, a third hive has minimal usage.
• As a general starting strategy, build cysts to the resource nodes in both directions.  Put a harvester on both.  Figure out where the opposing command center is.  Build a hive in the opposite direction of their CC.  Evolve into a Shift hive.  Get a spur.  Research celerity.  Get leap when the second hive finishes.  This will typically get you through the first five minutes of the game without being a complete burden to your team.

General

• Personal resources are saved if you rejoin the same game after leaving, or if you switch teams.
• You gain .125 resources every six seconds for each resource tower your team has.  More simply put- you get about 1.2 resources per tower, per minute.
• You can open the console by pushing ~ (that button to the left of 1 on most keyboards).  Typing j1 or j2 in console will join the marine or alien team, respectively.  This is much faster than running to the area in the ready room.