[UNOFFICIAL GUIDE]: My Personal tips to help you through rough waters (i think) :)

A couple of days ago, somebody told me to make a sort of guide for the newbies, well since i'm practically ancient here, in the timeline of battlebay. i'll try to share some of the things that i think will help you guys out. For this particular post, i won't be discussing any boat specific strategies in detail. i'll make one per boat once i have the time or if general consensus says i need to make more. so if you like this one, please drop a like or a comment to let me know so i'll have a reason to keep on going...

Just to be clear, these are all my personal opinions, if you disagree with anything i have discussed here, feel free to comment and share your opinion. i'm always good for a friendly debate.

i'll just put in everything that i think will be of help to whoever reads this.

1. APPROACHING THE GAME WITH PROPER MINDSET
   • YOU CAN'T WIN THEM ALL!!! - 1st and foremost, get that through your head. you win some, you lose some... get your head in the proper disposition.
   • Celebrate wins like you've been there, accept loses like a boss.
   • Never ever blame your teammates, instead, ask yourself, "what could i have done better to have given us a better chance at winning that match?" There are no bad players, only good, better and best. whenever you whine about the stupid mistakes your teammates made and how good you played, remember, you still lost. The more time you spend blaming others, the less time you have to learn from your mistakes.
   • From time to time you will face overwhelming odds, take the loss in stride and move on quickly. if there ever was a game that perfectly illustrates what a "kobayashi maru" scenario is, this is it. How you accept losses like that will help define you as a battler moving forward.
   • If you want to lead, learn to follow (quoted from Jeor Mormont). if you are ranked 2nd and below in any matchup, you have to have a mindset of a follower. follow your best player, support his/her attacks and protect him from counters. the longer your best player lives, the better your chances of winning. take a torpedo for him/her if you have to. i know that sometimes the highest infamy player isn't always the strongest or the best, in that case, stay close to the player you think will help you win the battle.
2. BUILDING AND CHOOSING YOUR BOAT
   • We all start with a shooter for our first boat, from mk1 to mk3, play around with all the boats. upgrading each one to MK3 is easy and doesn't require a lot grinding. when you're ready to unlock MK4s, you have to choose 1 and only 1 boat to focus on. why? if you're not a whale, you can't really optimize multiple boats, the game doesn't allow you to build multiple boats efficiently without sacrificing infamy progress and lots of ridiculous grinding and even more luck to get the right items. between MK4-MK6, the best course of action is to focus on one boat only. Expend all your resources to optimize that boat, don't be afraid to scrap nice items that you don't need at the moment. if you really want a 2nd or 3rd boat, you can set aside items you get that you think you'll need for that boat but spend all your upgrades for your main boat.
   • what boat fits you best? as i've said earlier, between mk1 to mk3, try to play around with all the boats and choose which best fits your playstyle.
     • if you like to keep firing the fire button and keep your distance, the shooter will be perfect for you
     • if you like to move around fast and play like a daredevil, the speeder is your boat
     • if you like to duke it out in close quarters and intimidate your opponents, the defender should be able to do that for you
     • if you like to mix things up, play instigator, play support, a jack-of-all-trades, choose enforcer
     • if you like to keep your team afloat and be an overall good guy, the fixer is the only choice for that.
   • Contrary to many players say, it's not weapons that you have to upgrade first all the time. it's the turbo. The turbo is the most important item in the game. it is the one item that all good boats carry. having said that, upgrading your turbo is top priority, it should always come first. Also, always choose speed upgrades for your boat of choice when training crew skills. you can always retrain those skills once your turbo is strong enough to give you max speed without crew skill speed boosts. Having big guns don't matter if you can't live long enough to use them. A 0.01 upgrade in speed can mean the difference between a solid mortar shot or suffering a minor splash damage. Not to mention those pesky frost blasters and launchers, you need every ounce of speed to survive a frost torp/mortar attack.
   • HP vs bandage. for boats below MK6, HP buff is more helpful in most situations. Bandages can't help much unless they start healing you for at least +80hp every 5 seconds. but if you find yourself facing large amounts of incendiaries (firebombs, napalms, flare guns), you might want to choose a bandage instead.
   • Good builds per boat - try to use weapons/items that complement each other - cannons and incendiaries, frost with mortars and/or torpedoes, fast cooldown with slow cooldown, etc.. i'll discuss this in more detal in later posts (that's if you guys want more). of course, item acquisition is mostly RNG, my point is you should at some point, the earlier the better, choose which weapons/items you really want and work yourself toward those items. use whatever the game gives you but don't forget the items that you really want, it will eventually come.
   • for daily quests, always try to get gold quests, sugar is easy to save. you'll need every piece of gold to buy parts and pieces and of course, the always elusive epic perks.
   • maximize the freebies - max out your daily star crates as much as possible (i've gotten several much needed items from those crates), with the addition of guild quests, try to be as active as possible and contribute as much as you can so you can earn more tokens to draw prizes. Don't miss out on the weekly quests rewards as well - great chance to get rares and epics for free.
   • most importantly, just keep playing... the more you grind, the more you'll find, don't miss out on the care packages and shop refreshes, you'll never know when your much needed epic/rare piece or perk will appear.
   • Never spend pearls for training, save it for when you really need it... the crew skills will always be there but epics and key pieces are hard to come by, so better to use them for those purposes rather than skipping training time.

 

(wow, i just found out that you can't post more than 10,000 characters hahaha XD)

3. COMBAT BASICS

• PLAY AS A TEAM: going solo is an exception that only a handful of players can do with a high degree of success. if you see a player damaging a target, follow his/her lead to destroy that target ASAP. 1 dead boat is 1 less set of guns to worry about.
• Don't spam the quickchat just because you like doing it - don't be a troll or you'll end up crying wolf and your teammates won't pay attention to your messages.
• Lead by example: if you say "together" make sure you do that and stick with it., same when you call out targets, don't mark a target and shoot someone else.
• Make use of the minimap:
  • always be aware where you are and where your teammates are (this is tough to do when you're in the thick of battle, but this can be improved with practice and battle experience)
  • if you are ahead of the pack, make sure you are not too far ahead and have a retreat route mapped out in your head.
  • if you are on the rightmost or leftmost, your primarily responsibility is to keep watch for flankers and opportunistic enemies, if you think you can handle the enemy, try to keep him busy while your teammates hold the line up front. if you think you can't, don't hesitate to call out for help or mark the target OR you can rejoin your teammates quickly.
• Learn to retreat/fallback: i can't say this enough, so many players don't know when to give up a pursuit or when to pull back when the situation calls for it. for quickchat this usually goes with "negative" and "together". if the teammate who said that is behind you or at the back of the group that usually means don't push, fall back and regroup. (example scenario: don't pursue a torp speeder inside enclosed spaces like tunnels and caverns, specially when you are alone, the torp speeder can use the walls to maximize damage and accuracy of its torpedoes. don't pursue unless you have a clear advantage in HP and/or firepower.) (another example: when you're team is being pinned down behind a rock or wall, it would be best to move back and regroup, scatter if you must but always keep each other in visual range)
• FOCUS FIRE: if a teammate marks a target, make sure to try to train your sights on that target as well, lock on if you have to. Even without quickchats, if you see an enemy taking significant damage, prioritize that enemy ASAP. even if you are in the middle of a pursuit, stop that pursuit and support your team specially if the marked target is a bigger threat.
• eliminate flankers or force them to run back to their team. keep the battle in one general direction at all times, makes area damage weapons more effective as well as point damage volleys will be more productive as well (i've seen many times when i miss my intended target but hit another one behind it).
• attack from multiple angles as much as possible, enforcers and speeders are the best for this tactic because they can quickly move between spots. keeping your enemies busy firing in several directions means more chances of them missing, you hitting them in their blind spots and less chances for huge splash damage to the group. This is also why you need to elminate the threat of flankers ASAP.
• team configurations and the most tactics: know your teammates and also your enemy's team. different boat classes means adjustments in tactics and strategy. if you have all yellows, its best to use your mobility to confuse the enemy, rush them or pick them apart one by one like a pack of wolves do. if you 2-3 shooters/defenders and 2 yellows, its best for the team to move together, form a line of fire and push that line to pressure the unfriends. More details in future posts.

​

so, What do you think guys? does this help? Please let me know what you think...

Cheers!!!

 

I think this amazing. You are way better at putting things together than me. I have also made a topic like this a while ago, maybe you can use my info to make your guide even more complete.

https://forum.battlebay.net/threads/the-dos-and-donts-a-topic-for-general-advice.10031/

https://forum.battlebay.net/threads/a-weapons-mini-guide.12568/

 

Please feel free to paste it here bro... though, i don't agree with some of 'em. but let's duke it out on a friendly banter hahaha... i'll give it a more detailed feedback the soonest

 

sorry if i wasn't able to catch your post, i haven't been really logging on here that much until the exploit thing exploded. i usually just log on to watch out for official announcements

 

The Do's:
Always stick with your group

If you're a shooter, it's usually a good idea to stick with the defender in your team. Try to stay behind the defender, but do it in such a way that he doesn't block all your shots.

If you're a ship of a certain mk lvl, and you're constantly fighting against ships 2 or even more levels lower than your own, then you should realize that your strategy is worthless.

If enemy team got a fixer, and your team doesn't, play more offensive. Don't give that annoying fixer the time to restore their whole team back to full health.

Always keep track of your surroundings. That way you'll notice those annoying torpedo's comming at you. And you won't pin yourself against a wall if you're just aware of your surroundings.

Always keep track of the minimap (you want to see an enemy trying to flank, or notice that you're drifting too far from the group, or maybe seeing where your help is needed)

Mortars aren't only usefull for damage, you can also use them to lure enemies out, or make them stop running away for a short while. They either stop, or they get hit with full damage, so it's a win win situation.

If you use mines, mortars, repair boxes, or missile launchers, always keep those selected at the start of the battle. This way it's easier to spot mines and incoming torpedo's due to the higher camera angle.

Fleet up with a player that matches your play style (It just happens, even if the player is good, sometimes you just don't do well together. And sometimes you're a really good team together with another player)

Always assume your team is full of retards. So don't sacrifice yourself and hope that the rest of your team will finish the job for you. If you can win 1 vs 1 against an enemy, well that's nice, but always assume that the rest of your team will die if you don't help them, so don't fight 1 vs 1, but rather help your team.

Most of the time if a teammate calls a target, stop with whatever you were doing and help them finish that target. (That's right, most of the time, of course there are exceptione)

If you're a defender, be sure to soak up hits for your team. (But also don't die)


The Don'ts:
If you've got a ship of a certain mk level, then never, ever enter a battle with a ship of lower level. You will just end up dragging yourself and your team down. Don't equip anything on those ships, then you won't get quests for them either.

The same goes with gear. Never ever use significantly weaker gear than your main gear. And never ever use common items, just don't do that.

If your team has got a fixer, and enemy team don't, then Don't rush. Never ever rush if your team got fixer, and enemy team doesn't, period.

Just because you can shoot doesn't mean you should. Shots aren't worth anything if you just miss everything.

Never ever rush out on your own.

Don't enter a battle with nothing else but mortars equipped. (Same goes for torpedo's)

Don't use only mines as weapon, there is a reason why nobody in the top does that.

Don't fleet up with a player with a lower lvl boat. This is like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

Don't camp. No seriously, don't camp. 99,9% of the time there just isn't good reason to camp.

Don't go chasing a fixer on your own when everybody is still alive. Help your team take out the damage dealers first, a fixer isn't that dangerous. But of course if your whole team is chasing the fixer it would be wise to help them with that.

Don't go chase a speeder, if you're not a speeder you're just not fast enough. In all the time wasted chasing a speeder, you could have dealt some damage to other enemies.

If you're a speeder, don't suicide. This may seem as common sense, but alot of speeders just don't know this. If you're a speeder and you're speeding head on to 5 enemies, don't continue your path, just turn back and get the hell out of there.

If you're not a speeder, Don't suicide either lol. I know you got skills, I know you trust your weapons, but there is just no way on earth that you can win 5 against 1.

If you're a speeder, don't go chasing a speeder with full health, just let them run away from the battle while you keep supporting the rest of your team.

If you're a fixer, don't equip 2 ductapes. (Or even better, just don't use a ductape at all). You need ductape because enemies always target you? Well here is a solution, DON'T scout, you're a fixer, not a speeder.

If you're a fixer, there is almost never a good reason to prioritize dealing damage over healing your teammates, so don't focus on getting the kill.

If your target is stunned, don't shoot him untill stun is about to wear off. But what if all your weapons are ready to fire? Well that's nice. But maybe the weapons of your teammates are not, so just wait untill stun is about to wear off.

Never ever assume a mine is layed down by an ally. I've lost countless matches because of this basic mistake either by me or my teammates.


(This is just my opinion as well, so be sure to point out things you don't agree with in a friendly and constructive manner, then we can discuss it in a constructive manner)

 

I have to strongly agree this, i reached 2,4k with mk4 shooter but since then I have been changing boats frequently. Thus, when i came back to using shooter i lost the grip and it took a long time to get used to it. I always wanted share this thing with newbies, keep the boat fixed. But great work, since your post already included it. BUT ITS MANDATORY TO UPGRADE ALL BOATS(don't use, but your guild may need it anytime) , SINCE THE SCENARIO HAS CHANGED AFTER GUILD QUEST....

 

Agreed, although i was speaking in the context of prioritization and with the mindset of getting up the ladder as soon as possible... if you're mostly F2P, you just can't upgrade multiple boats properly, that's why my suggestion was to prioritize 1 particular boat that will require your full attention... your "bread winner" boat so to speak. you can take your sweet time with the other boats but you have to focus all your available resources on your chosen boat - unless your happy staying in the lower leagues

 

you know, this is like a penance for me... so can i get some stuff back if i do that?

 

If that happens, we gonna have a lot guides in coming (including mine )

 

I'll see how the response goes before i decide to make the more detailed "my opinion" guide for each boat

 

hahahaha you are so cheap hahaha, we'll let the readers decide if they want more nonsense from me

 

hahaha you are too serious... fine fine... if the players find this helpful then of course i'll make more

 

As always, a well thought out thread. *Thumb's up*

 

Really good guide.
I'm using Bandage and Big Shield in my Mk4 Shooter.
Should throw away the bandage and equip a Turbo in my ship?
Most of the time I play hided due the health difference and find more useful the bandage than turbo. Could be this an exception?

 

This is very helpful especially coming from one of the very best in the game, yellowocean.
I look forward for more advanced guide.

 

yes, camping is always a viable option at lower levels but are you being an effective camper??? (i'll talk about this more in my shooter guide) without a turbo you are still vulnerable to mortars, missiles, firebombs and napalms... based on my experience, mobility is the most important attribute for all boats. if you don't have a turbo yet save up to buy a rare one and start from there, a max rare turbo with proper crew skills can get you to about 90-95% of your max speed for shooters, defenders and enforcers and it can max out your speeder already. save any epic turbo you get and build it up to level 41 or 42... with epic turbo perks, it will max out all boats.