How To Killcycle: The Basics

Hey, Fish here. Today, we'll be looking at the basic how-tos of Killcycle, the motorcyclist of death from the Teknos nation. Some basic tips and tricks will be posted, with more advanced tactics being saved for a later post.

Killcycle (Difficulty: Hard)

Who is Killcycle?

Before we begin, we should check out his Help Page;

Killcycle

These crude anarchists specialize in the pacification of peaceful, primitive species.

BATTLE

PLASMA: Energy burst delivers 10 damage

BOMBS: Detonations each do 10 damage

KAMIKAZE: Direct hit does 70 damage

STRONG vs. Brontu

WEAK vs. Magus, Angel, Mogalin

STRATEGY

COST: 80     LIFE: 50     MOVE: Flies 3

MAP POWER: Destruct     COST: 10

Explosion does 25 damage to 6 adjacent hexes.

HOME: Toxic Dump

So, what important information can we gather from this?

• Killcycle seems to be high-risk, high-reward; his damage output is immense, but requires him to get into the danger zone, somewhere most characters would rather stay out of.
• Plasma is your standard cookie-cutter projectile, bombs deal slightly more damage (and the name suggests multiple bombs are dropped) and Kamikaze sounds broken at first glance.
• A true Brontu counter; while Brontu loves getting into the danger zone too, Killcycle is the better combatant here.
• Magus is tough, Angel is tougher, and good luck beating Mogalin without some serious practice.
• He's pretty cheap, at 80 Aur a piece.
• This guy cannot be outrun; he'll chase you over mountains, over lakes, over cliffs just to get you.
• Destruct sounds amazing, as well.

How do I play him in Mayhem?

Once more, try him out against the Easy AI for a bit, then come back.

Here's what you should learn from a few practice matches with the bikie:

• Plasma is really hard to aim, unless you run into their face; and then they'll just kill you.
• The enemy always runs away from the bombs, but when you hit them, it hits HARD, due to just how many bombs it drops.
• Kamikaze kills you, as well; no such thing as a free lunch.
• Kamikaze disables teleporters (you're told so every time you use the skill)
• Kamikaze needs to charge up, making it hard to use in combat without dying.
• His skills are generally energy-expensive, forcing you to recharge a lot.
• Your energy doesn't recharge in the air. This makes life extremely difficult for Killcycle at times.
• Angel can outright burst you down to critical HP before you even get to shoot back.
• Avoiding Magus' birds is hard.
• Mogalin never stops jumping!

These points define Killcycle's ups and downs; always remain aware of these while playing him.

Here are some more subtle Killcycle facts/tactics/things to try out in a Mayhem match:

• Plasma, ironically, is your best weapon; bombs are hard to aim, and Kamikaze kills you. You'll really need to learn to juke if you want to win with this guy.
• Bombs are great for 'punching'; if you want to beat down a Firewitch, the best way is to plop every single damn bomb in her face. Practice this a bit.
• Prana cannot win against you, unless he manages to catch you with low energy; if he goes in for the tackle, use bombs. If he glued himself to you (and if you timed those bombs correctly), then Prana will be forced to take every single one, killing him almost-instantly. This makes him a hard Prana counter, in my eyes.
• Stay on their level; if you're up against Brontu, stick to the ground a bit to keep your energy in, and only take to the skies if he comes for you; if you're up against Angel, your verticality will be about half-way. If you're up against Firewitch, you'll be up in the air a lot.
• If Angel uses up his energy bar in an attack and begins to flee, pursuit. Keep pursuing, and never stop until he's dead. Just take note that as soon as his laser recharges, Angel will probably fire it back at you.
• Jump height affects Killcycle's vertical speed significantly; this is probably why they spawn on his map, Toxic Dump.
• AI not leaving you alone? Use bombs, they'll either run away or take the damage. If they run, then you can take the opportunity to recharge.
• Kamikaze does more damage if you land right on top of them (you'll probably never get your full 70 damage, unless you have a really good aim).
• Kamikaze can hit through some roofs; it's pretty hard to hide from it.

How do I play him in Strategy?

Killcycle also lacks a decent map-power; sure, 25 damage to everyone around you sounds awesome, but so did 70 damage, at the time; this power is more of a self-destruct; that's right, it kills you, too. Bummer. So unless you want to abuse his cheap price to spam 25-bombs at their team, it's really not going to see much use.

That's right, just like Razorfane, Killcycle is yet another character built for running out and picking off targets; but Killcycle is better at chasing; you just have to get good at the killing part. If Killcycle and an enemy walk into a battle, the optimum outcome is having them both dead. If you survive, then good job! It's unlikely, though, and he'll die soon-after; then you might see yourself using Destruct for some free damage.

In other words, even if you're up against Mogalin, you should be able to deal critical damage, if not kill your target; Killcycle will just often die in the process. Of course, if you're fighting Brontu or Prana, then your chances of death are much slimmer.

In conclusion,

Killcycle takes practice... lots of practice. He's not your average character, so don't treat him as one. He's a ticking time-bomb with a machine gun attached; at the end of the day, he'll have one kill to his name. Other characters can easily get more kills, but can easily get nil; Killcycle is a guaranteed kill in character form. You just gotta practice, practice, practice.