20 replies to this topic

[Aristo]

Before I start, I've read all the stickied guides,  watched all SoldierHobbes's videos etc. They've been very helpful, but I'm after some more in-depth advice from more players themselves. After spending some time in the 'Zerker and Scout and getting their ranks up, I decided to try the Infil. It's a pretty fun mech to roll in, but I'm still getting used to the grenade launcher and corner poking with it is a little different than with the TOW. As a light mech, I know it's meant for flanking, popping stragglers, ambushes, that sort of thing. The problem is whenever I'm forced into a one-to-one situation; given the environment, I try to use the grenades and play the corner game - more often than not, I'm disadvantaged when I get rushed and when things devolve into a brawl, I find the grenades particularly tough to get right. 

 

I was wondering if any veteran Infil players could offer up some more insight to piggyback on what's already been mentioned in other guides and explore more of the nitty-gritty to playing the mech.

[EM1O]

just play. simple.

[Aristo]

Gee, thanks.

[Kittles]

things devolve into a brawl

Sorry about that :<

[CrimsonKaim]

just play. simple.

 

He is right. And unless you are playing TDM, you are not going to find any helpful tactics, 'cause no matter what mech: Stick to your damn team for an easy win. Skill doesn't matter, your team does. 

Just play in TDM and go DM for true skills or join a fightclub.

[Nov8tr]

The Infil is a great team support mech. You can catch people trying to backdoor em. You can bounce grenades off the wall around corners to open up a passage. Shoot them up into rooms above to open them for other team members or to back em off when a team mate is getting drilled. And for the other things you said as well. Yes in your face it is a hard mech to learn and play. Team play will always work better for a infil. But some minor advice. Don't try to hit the mech. Hit it at his feet it will bounce into him that way and it's easier to do. You can bounce it off walls behind him and into him. Plus when you do this you get splash damage as the grenade goes off causing some damage to nearby enemy mechs as well. Go to the practice TDM area and practice. Corner ducking and lobbing grenades. I know it's a pain, but hours of it will help. Really. Other than that maybe some of the others could tell you more. Good luck.

[Rainbow_Sheep]

If you get rushed by 2-3+ mechs, run away to cover. Then if they chase you play the corner game with them as you get back to your team. If you manage to cripple them enough and they're stupid enough to follow an infiltrator around a corner, go for it and go in for the kill.

[Lioot]

When you're really close to them, use your invis and go bat crazy. It'll throw them off

[Amidatelion]

There are two methods of using the infiltrator. Cloaking in and cloaking out. 

 

Cloaking in refers to the assassin style of gameplay. You pick a target, cloak, close the distance and absolutely annihilate someone.

 

Cloaking out refers to a more hit and run style, where you might be close to the front lines of your team. Lob some grenades, poke from a distances and if you get pushed and start taking damage, cloak out. 

 

Hmm. Might need to make a guide about that, I'm not communciating particularly well at 4 in the morning.

 

Basic tips

1. Have a plan. You're not as manoeuvrable as a scout and you don't have the damage of a Berserker, nor the range of a Reaper. You need to know what you're going to do next and how to accomplish it with your tools.
2. Watch your fuel. Spend some time just dicking around with the infil in and out of cloak, boosting and walking. It's got a huge tank but it isn't infinite.
3. Learn the heat cannon. Learn the EOC. They are fantastic and rewarding weapons and will improve your corner play. Then go back to the AR
4. Grenades bounce. Learn to use this.
5. Sound is muffled inside the cockpit, but that doesn't mean your footsteps are. Canny players can still hear you approach.
6. Your cloak isn't perfect, but neither is human peripheral vision. So long as you don't cross in front of anyone, your chance of going unnoticed is pretty high at most tiers.
7. You show up on radar scanners while in cloak, but intermittantly. If someone's watching, they'll know what direction you're coming from, but not your exact location.

[Elite_is_salty]

*430 hours of infiltrator gameplay*

 

 

- ALWAYS remotely explode your grenades. ALWAYS! No exception AT ALL. Just learn how to do it well, and always do it. You'll reach a point where you would shoot the grenade, hide in cover, and know when to detonate it and cause dmg to the enemy while you're hidden.

 

- The ability to alphastrike your enemy is a must have in your aresnal. It helps bigtime.

 

- Avoid running out of fuel because of the ability when you know you'll end up in a fight where you have to face an enemy with a big amount of health.

 

- Make sure you don't get TOO close to the enemy as you'll take major self damage from the grenades you shoot or heat cannon if you use it.

 

- When you play the midrange game, try to use your primary to lead the enemy to dodge or boost or hide in a certain spot, and shoot your grenade there. The ability to succeed with this comes with playing time.

 

- Using your ability for defensive purposes is equally as important and effective as in offense. When you have to bail, buy few secs until enough fuel is regenerated, and go into stealth mode, then try to lose your enemy.

 

- If you're in a battle with a higher class mech, when they have the health advantage, try to get them to take the bait by engaging you, and then you start backing off behind corners and delivering splash dmg using the grenades, and heat/EOC, until they are weak. Then you jump on em and finish them. So in other words, don't tank in an infil.

 

- If you find yourself in the open, and having to face an enemy, your best bet is to find your way to end up behind them where you can shoot them and they can't. Ofc they will turn fast but usually it will be relatively slower to the speed of YOUR movement which could allow you to yet again jump or boost behind them and keep delivering dmg like that. In other words, get out of their field of view.

 

- Only shoot both weapons simultaneously when your enemy is stationary or as a part of an alphastrike attempt. Else *check tip #5*.

 

- If you play AR, which you'll probably be at an early stage, you pretty much will never overheat in a battle. So don't spare your shots unless you're playing stealth.

 

- Use walls to bounce grenades and deliver dmg to hidden enemies, if you practice that, it will pay off. Heat cannon can also make good dmg if you aim at the ground or a wall near the enemy.

 

- The best internal for infils is "Advanced reconstructor". Make sure that it's the VERY FIRST thing you get for your infil. Other good internals can be Air compressor, which, along with the reconstructor will fill all internal spots.

 

- Speaking of air compressor. You can do the air corner peaking with the infil and it's very effective and not very fuel consuming. Going airborne may not be a shabby tactic for open fights, as it makes making your shots easier, but an infil without fuel, is SCREWED BIGTIME. So don't be a wannabe berzerker.

 

- Being in stealth mode doesn't mean your enemies are blinded. Even if you are cloaked, try to stay out of the enemie's view as you try to reach wherever you want to go, especially if you're going to finish a repairing mech. Else, they'll spot you and gang up on you, and even if you try to evade, you'll find yourself outa-gas.

 

- And finally, know your role, and try to excel at it. Infils are the best bait. You can help your team by making the enemy take the bait and try to follow you and kill you. You can always facilitate luring enemies near your teammates where they'll get rekt hopefully. You are also a stealth assassin. Never let enemies escape, and always catch people with their pants down and make them pay. That's where alphastriking comes in handy.

[ROSING]

Well, they all have the basic things of the Infil down,  so I really can't say much. 

 

A few things tho: if you use the heat cannon (my weapon of choice for the infil), you will learn that splash damage is your friend. Aim at the ground if you're having trouble hitting them directly, though learning how to hit targets directly is a good skill to have. Also, most times, especially in corner play situations, charged shots are better than uncharged shots. Even out in the open, charged shots fly much faster, so it's easier to hit moving targets. There's no point in letting off multiple uncharged shots if they don't hit your target.

 

Finally, use items to your advantage, and while this goes for a lot of mechs, it holds especially true for the infil because of it's cloaking ability and flank oriented gameplay. Use the scrambler to mask your approach, use decoys to plan traps or make a clean escape, and if you want to be that guy, take a detonator for an alpha strike.

[Aristo]

Thanks for the replies! I was running a few rounds after getting the heat cannon; something clicked and I fell in love with the weapon. Seems to complement the GL much better than the AR. 

 

I've got my Infil all loaded up with internals and items; thanks to the double rewards weekend. Watching mechs leap into action after their players panic following a good alpha is priceless. More so when they explode.

Edited by Strigon_Leader, 18 April 2015 - 11:14 AM.

[n3onfx]

 

 

- ALWAYS remotely explode your grenades. ALWAYS! No exception AT ALL. Just learn how to do it well, and always do it. You'll reach a point where you would shoot the grenade, hide in cover, and know when to detonate it and cause dmg to the enemy while you're hidden.

 

 

While this is true 90% of the time, sometimes it's worth it to let roll around. I'm thinking for example in the small tunnel inside Facility's underground (the one at the very bottom), I've had the situation several times where you are fighting someone competent while on low health, and you shoot for example the left entrance of the tunnel they'll dodge to the right but not far enough to get hit by Heat or EOC. This can go on for a while and your chances of dying only go up if you're at health deficit.

 

If you shoot the grenade to the right and you see them dodge out of range on the radar, then take position to the left and shoot your eoc/heat there, they are forced to either eat it or go back right to step on the grenade still sitting there. 

 

You'd be surprised by who falls for it, in this case it actually works. 

[Elite_is_salty]

While this is true 90% of the time, sometimes it's worth it to let roll around. I'm thinking for example in the small tunnel inside Facility's underground (the one at the very bottom), I've had the situation several times where you are fighting someone competent while on low health, and you shoot for example the left entrance of the tunnel they'll dodge to the right but not far enough to get hit by Heat or EOC. This can go on for a while and your chances of dying only go up if you're at health deficit.

 

If you shoot the grenade to the right and you see them dodge out of range on the radar, then take position to the left and shoot your eoc/heat there, they are forced to either eat it or go back right to step on the grenade still sitting there. 

 

You'd be surprised by who falls for it, in this case it actually works. 

 

Yeah that exception has been mentioned.

 

 

*430 hours of infiltrator gameplay*

 

- Use walls to bounce grenades and deliver dmg to hidden enemies, if you practice that, it will pay off. Heat cannon can also make good dmg if you aim at the ground or a wall near the enemy.

 

 

The contradiction was there because I had to emphasize on how important manually detonating the nades is in battles.

[LRod]

Walk...always walk.  It's a cost free version of stealth mode.  Use your cloaking for quick escapes and alphastrikes, but unless there is a strategic reason for boosting, you should only be walking.  Most times, you can simply walk up behind someone and just lay into them.  After you finish them off, and you know their team has been alerted, you just cloak an boogey out of there.  Grenade bouncing, manual detonation, cloaking strategy, and proper timing on an EMP...all excellent advice, but if you want a secret to polish your game, then just discipline yourself to only walk.  Even when it seems really slow and time consuming; your enemies will regret your patience.

Edited by LRod, 18 April 2015 - 06:24 PM.

[SoldierHobbes11]

Seems like the biggest issue you run into is when multiple enemies. It's best to run away at that point because the infiltrator has the speed. As for the weapons, practice in coop deatatch just so you can get the feel of it down. That's how I learned to use the GL.

[BariumBlue]

Oh, i played with you during this weekend.

 

I noticed you trying to approach while cloaked. That is bad. If someone sees you trying to walk up into their face while cloaked, that is bad.

 

Main thing to remember is that cloak doesn't make you invisible, it just makes you unnoticeable. 

 

-------

 

As Amid said, never use your cloak without a plan. This is very important, newer Infils will cloak with the expectation that the cloak is going to be useful, either by the time they see the enemy or vice-versa. If you don't roughly know what's there, just use good defensive play and wait for a good opportunity instead.

 

Good defensive play:

 - If you don't know where the enemy is, high ground is good ground. It is holy ground, make a pilgrimage to it. ESPECIALLY with heat/EOC, there is no way to win a duel with those weapons WITHOUT high ground. This one can be hard.

 - Stick roughly with your team. Namely, be in a position where you can support your team, usually nearby high ground, which gives good firing angles, good vantage point/visibility, and usually more movement/flanking options.

 - Stay near cover. Make sure to have something you can hide or dodge behind. Standard corner-play stuff. This one is fairly obvious, especially for a fragile A-mech.

 

Three reasons why using a cloak shouldn't be used without some plan:

 - Fuel. If you use the cloak without a plan, you'll use up all your fuel looking for an opportunity, and by the time that opportunity actually arrives, you won't be able to actually exploit it.

 - Ability cooldown. It's 50 seconds. A lot can happen in 50 seconds, and using it when you don't need it means that for at least 50 seconds, you just have a slightly inferior scout/zerker.

 - Again, you're fragile. You can't expect to yolo-dive into some unknown enemy territory and expect to be able to 'make it work', you're a breadstick. Good for poking, not very stable for hitting or assaulting with. Also, people might be looking at your direction, and you don't want to be looked at.

 

---------------

 

Also, despite what Amid says, don't be afraid to use your ability tactically. If you're dead, not having your ability on cooldown means nothing.

 

 - First, you can't dodge something uncertain. Pop the ability, flank them, and not only can they not properly see you/hit you, they also can't properly dodge you. Punish their ignorance with an alpha strike.

 

 - Get to a better position. In the middle of a duel, it can be helpful to rather than charge them, pop the ability, get to higher ground, and then punish them from there. Usually they expect you to be sneaking around instead and are now in a bad position. Only do this if the line of sight is broken, of course.

 

 

For a short-term tactical advantage, other than high ground, there's one really good place to be, and the cloak can help you get there:

 - Not where they expect you to be.

 

First, hovering while cloaked is useful. People first look at the ground, and nobody expects a Infil in the rafters. Also, people's monitors are much wider than tall. One more than one occasion i've flown over somebody chasing me and either shot them in the back or just ran away.

 

 

To be where they don't expect you, I usually use a hologram and then either wait from the side or while hovering. If they're just rounding a corner, they tend to react to it. Best use of a hologram, in my opinion.

 

-----

 

Erm, has this rant gone on long enough? I think the alcohol is wearing off. Also, I'd recommend playing in the fightclub servers when you can, it's really good practice for when and where to do things.

 

edit: grammar

Edited by BariumBlue, 20 April 2015 - 01:57 AM.

[n3onfx]

 

To be where they don't expect you, I usually use a hologram and then either wait from the side or while hovering. If they're just rounding a corner, they tend to react to it. Best use of a hologram, in my opinion.

 

 

Oh there's this one thing that works once in a while that's hilarious when it does. If you are being chased you can round a corner, pop the ability, hover above the corner and let them boost right past you. You can then just land behind and shoot everything at them, a lot of people will dodge the corner to try and gain ground so they won't even be able to dodge the alpha.

[dorobo]

^ that even works without howering in some situations just standing still behind some small wall they will go right next to you expecting to see you farther away..

Edited by dorobo, 20 April 2015 - 04:17 AM.

[BariumBlue]

Oh, something I forgot to mention: spoofing

 

Iffy to rely on, but if you know there's an enemy at a certain location, you can boost in one direction, let the enemy where you're coming from, then cloak and go from the other direction

[Col____Frost]

the infiltator is a fun mech to play. flaking tho is the name of the game. I lov me some heat cannon on it tho. Once u get better at it u can 1v1 anyone.    Its super fuun    i can fly around Cs and run up to As and nuke them   just play and learn.