General Basics And My Guides' Metalanguage

Hey, Fish here. Before I start making actual posts, I thought I should give out some basic tips that affect most classes, and also put a Glossary here for all terms I might be using in the future. If Blogger allows it, I'll also update this page as I make up more terms in my head.

First, I'll give you some helpful tips (you might want to check up on the Glossary before you continue; it's just down below this group of bullet points):

• Everyone but Brontu can juke, and Brontu can sprint like a boss. Don't just mindlessly berserk your foe and take everything to the face, circle them while jumping to avoid enemy fire (again, unless you're Brontu; Brontu requires a lot of skill to keep safe, and I still haven't managed to master the monster rhino), then hone in on your target and attack; this makes all the difference between a decent player and a bad player, and you must learn this before you can get any better.
• Don't get cornered; this is a common trap that Razorfanes and Angels love to pull off; their attacks are very effective when their foe can't escape.
• Teleporters have two ends; the entry and the exit. These look like a circle and a cross, respectively. There's only one two-way teleporter, and it's located on Mystic Glen.
• To use a teleporter, press 'jump' while standing on the entry teleporter pad (the circle I mentioned).
• Not all maps are the same; check out every nook and cranny of each map in Mayhem mode and learn all the secrets; for example, only after a heap of practice on Juicer did I learn that Health Ankhs spawn exclusively in the centre of the map, while Energisers spawn around the edge.
• If you don't want to consciously place Field Hazards in strategic spots, just place them on teleporter exits; the bots should harm themselves when giving chase through a teleporter.
• Watch your Health and Energy; give them a glance whenever you get the chance, as they are both very important.
• Some skills require the user to aim a little by looking in their direction and being within range; the projectile should do the rest.
• To take a shot at an opponent while juking, keep juking until they run out of energy or leave a hole in their offence; when the opportunity arises, swerve in their direction, fire, and swerve back into your original direction again to continue the juke. This helps maintain pressure while keeping safe.
• Try to grab power-ups, even when you don't need them; this should starve the enemy of precious health, or an advantage they would be able to use to their advantage.
• Each map has their own set of power-ups, so you won't always chance upon an Invincibility during a match.
• Some map powers are helpful (The Hive's heal ray, Mystic Glen's hollow tree(stump) teleporter), while others are harmful (The Lab's large AA-gem, Juicer's giant ball of death). Others are somewhat subtle, but can still be helpful or harmful (Water Hole's bee hives, The Volcano's vent). As I said before, learn all about them, so that you can perform better on these maps.

Glossary

Hazard: A move that the character can use which leaves a field entity; hazards are sometimes centric to the character's success, like Tesla's Crystals, while others will find little use, like Firewitch's Firewalls. Only Dark Angel's hazard isn't detrimental to the enemy, but it makes the enemy's life harder by giving Angel some sustain.

Hug: Keep as close as possible to the enemy; some tactics require the user to hug the enemy, like punches.

Juke: Avoid damage (or the act of avoiding damage, if used as a noun); a juke is usually performed by jumping and moving perpendicular to the shot's trajectory, but there are exceptions; as long as you avoid the shot intentionally, it's a juke.

Punch: Use a ranged attack for the sole purpose of hitting them up-close; one example of a Punch is Killcycle's bombs, which are usually used from far above; his best defence against a brave firewitch (due to her great juking powers) is to hug her with the nose of his bike and release the bombs, dealing heavy damage to her; it's risky, but the payoff can be worth it.

Tank [damage]: Take damage for the purpose of moving in and dealing more damage than your opponent; performed only when a juke fails. Best performed by Brontu and Jaeger, two beefy units that are devastating at close range; Brontu more so, since he lacks the ability to juke without expending energy.

Tele-Trap: Leave a hazard on a teleporter exit. This only really works with hazards like Razorfane's Bladewall and Ecton's Trap, but the fact that it will at least deny access to that teleporter means that it's a very effective strategy; always keep an eye out for these dangerous tricks.

So, consider this my introductory post on my guides; my first post will be coming along soon. I'll (hopefully) edit this as I make more terms, to simplify this guide for all of us, so keep an eye out for new words.