Formations and Cover Fire

[NeosWolvenkin]

Ever notice while playing how you'll have a group of players barracading a room or halway and as soon as a clot comes their way everyone will blow the thing away at once. I've had several occasions where the entire party has been overrun because everyone has to stop and reload at the same time. I've actually dropped in killing score lately because I've waited for everyone else to unload so I can cover them while they reload.

Here's a few ideas for those trigger happy players out there.

A) When in groups alternate fire, have one or two players (depending on difficulty, location, etc.) cover a halway or doorway then alternate a third and/or fourth person in while they're reloading. Use a v formation with the two people in front crouching so when they need to reload the player(s) in back can shoot over them to cover them without killing them (or you over them if you're covering).
B) Use burst fire when dealing with lower enemies. It doesn't take an entire clip to take down a clot so either tap the fire button or use burst fire when dealing them. Combine with aiming for the head and you'll save a ton of ammo.
C) When in parties try useing different formations to cover areas. V formation works well in hallways and C works well in areas where infected are funneled.

Where you stand can drastically affect the outcome of the game. By using different party formations strategically you can drastically reduce the damage your party takes, eliminate friendly fire altogether in most cases, and save a ton of ammo by alternating fire instead of everyone unloading at once.

[Nanostrike]

A 'A' formation with a zerker at point, a medic behind him, and everyone else at the sides is absolutely amazing in hallways:

Z
F M G
S C

Z=Berserker, M=Medic, F=Firebug, G=Support, S=Sharpshooter, C=Commando

Works very well, because the medic can constantly heal the 3 front members and the Shotgun and Flamethrower are as close to the opposition as possible, while the Sharpshooter and Commando can pick their shots carefully from the back. If you have an escape plan ready, all it'll take to get away is to shift the formation a bit, letting the 'Zerker and Medic through, and letting the Firebug and Shotgunner cover the escape while the Sharpshooter and Commando plow open the exit door (Probably with 'nades).

The issues come with you try this outdoors and have Stalkers and Crawlers dropping into the midst of your formation. It requires a lot of discipline that few squads tend to have...

[NeosWolvenkin]

Sounds like a good tactic, but I agree in that it probably requires too much discipline. I've only found one group so far who could actually pull off the V formation as simple as it is.

[Shade]

those are good formations. i really like the A formation

[Shade]

nvm this tried something doesnt work

[Nanostrike]

What usually doesn't work is that as soon as a crawler or stalker pops up in the groups' midst, they all freak out. If friendly fire is on, half the time they'll take each other out in the resulting panic fire...

I'm starting to become a huge fan of 'Fire Teams'. Teams of 2 or 3 people who spread out into different areas to hold. If you're all in one place, you get 100% of the spawns coming after you. If you're in two, you only get 50%. If you're in 3, you only get 33%! If the situation starts getting iffy, you fight your way towards another team, which can hopefully support you.

[Sisly]

hi all, its my first comment^^

my friends and i use a 'line' formation. we all run around the map never stopping, more trying not to stop. sometimes we have to when a flash pound or this guy with the chain saw is attacking us.

first person ('leader') says where we run and all others follow.
all in the middle ('the body') watch the side and help leader and back cover.
last person ('back cover') is looking sometimes backwards and shoot from time to time. he also watches the sides but more the back.

works perfect for us.

[NeosWolvenkin]

Originally Posted by Nanostrike

I'm starting to become a huge fan of 'Fire Teams'. Teams of 2 or 3 people who spread out into different areas to hold. If you're all in one place, you get 100% of the spawns coming after you. If you're in two, you only get 50%. If you're in 3, you only get 33%! If the situation starts getting iffy, you fight your way towards another team, which can hopefully support you.

You've been rather lucky so far then, this has yet to actually work for me. On more than on occasion I've gone off to solo because my group has welded themselves into safety or they're doing the gate glitch in london. I've had times where I've killed over 120 in a single wave solo-ing because 3/4 of the creatures spawned near me while the rest of my group was somewhere else completely. I like this idea in that when you're divided up like this the stupidity of another player has no affect on your surviving, but I guess I've just never been lucky enough to get my equal share of the spawns.

The line formation works in places like the farm or sherwood, but I'm not going to recomend using it in tighter places like the offices or biotech labs. If you want to wander in areas like this I'd recomend something pretty basic but still effective, an X formation. Two people in front hugging opposite walls, two people in back doing the same while a fifth can change faces as needed. The two people in front focus on forward groups, the two in back focus on those coming in from behind, and the one person in the middle can switch between focuses as needed. Another would be a Z formation where you'll have two people in the center instead of one standing so if needed they can still change faces without shooting each other. Z would require the four people in the corners to crouch to avoid friendly fire, but while an X formation is safer FF wise it's still safer for the corners to crouch.

Another one you could try in place of a line formation in areas like the hospital would be something similar to a >< (two V formations back to back). One trio focuses on forward groups while the other focuses on those coming in from behind.

[CannibalBob]

Burst fire with the bullpup actually does more damage. I dug around in the SDK and found semi-auto is less powerful than auto. Might as well do a light tap, fire 1 bullet and do more damage.

One important thing I find in KF is to IGNORE clots and gores and let the chainsaw zerker deal with them (or firebug). There is absolutely NO point in firing off a £5 bullet to kill a clot that a zerker can do for free.

I know a lot of people will become obsessed with topping the kill-board but you need to get your head around that and note that GOOD players will win, while bad players will have top scores but their team loses.

[Stryker159]

Originally Posted by CannibalBob

Burst fire with the bullpup actually does more damage. I dug around in the SDK and found semi-auto is less powerful than auto. Might as well do a light tap, fire 1 bullet and do more damage.

One important thing I find in KF is to IGNORE clots and gores and let the chainsaw zerker deal with them (or firebug). There is absolutely NO point in firing off a £5 bullet to kill a clot that a zerker can do for free.

I know a lot of people will become obsessed with topping the kill-board but you need to get your head around that and note that GOOD players will win, while bad players will have top scores but their team loses.

gotta agree with 2 and 3 here. i usually use my knife to take care of clots and gorefests. normal attack is enough to headshot a clot, secondary attack can headshot a gorefest.

I've even used the knife to take down a scrake before. fun times.

play as medic 3 fyi. getting close to 4