/// Darklings Guide to Commanding///||| Contact info
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DGC Version 1.010
(If I made a mistake, for w/e reason, lemme know)
Be aware that this topic has a small horizontal scrollbar.
I digged this up from when I posted it at Bry NS forums. Seems to have been lost on these forums
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So you think you are ready to command, but want to make sure? You want to learn to command? Or you are just checking what I got to say? Lets see then.

A commander needs a few things:
* marine gameplay knowledge
* kharaa gameplay knowledge
* command chair interface knowledge
* strategy would be lovely aswell.
Lets start by the first one:

Marine gameplay knowledge
* When you play marines, you learn to follow waypoints. Don't expect anyone to listen to you, if you never did to them. ALWAYS follow the waypoint, even the most retarted one. Then if you lose atleast you can say its the comms fault. If you did not follow, it could be yours.
* learn all weapons, there efficienty, range, clipsize, spare ammo, damage to kharaa, damage to structures
* learn how much hits you can aproximately take, the more you know the better
* when comm researches upgrades it shows in the left corner. If you fail to recognise the icon, ask what it means.
* learn which building is called what, and what it does.
* learn all terms for rine gameplay. (like res tower is RT, med is medpack)
* learn the maps
* learn to use the minimaps and the overview maps. (VERY pls do)
* learn what is more important to shoot
* learn what is more important to defend
* learn how you can sneak in a place somewhere, and where.
* learn kharaa chambers effects to know what to shoot

All those reasons have significance, if you fail to see why. Contact me. If enought fail to see it, I will write a explenation in the guide. I will add more if I remember them. Even I can't remember everything on the spot.

Kharaa gameplay knowledge
* learn to discuss strategy, especially with high lifeforms and gorges
* learn which kharaa does the most effective job. For instance, skulk > destroy RT, fade > kill marine, not the other way around.
* learn how much hits you can aproximately take from any gun
* learn how many attacks it aproximately takes to kill a certain armored rine.
* learn what all the upgrades mean, and to which chamber there linked
* know that you can only have one type of chamber for each hive, and discuss which one to drop. (NEVER drop a chamber just without asking)
* always try to drop 3 chambers, or atleast 2.
* learn rine structure effects to know what to attack
* learn what to attack in what situation
* learn what to do in which situation (no comm is ordering remember, cause there is noone)
* learn the maps
* learn to use the minimaps and overview maps
* as a skulk parasite when out biterange, gorges should heal teammates
* gorges can defend, but should try to stay out combat
* learn your attack abilities, and other functions (flashlight)
* don't save res for lifeforms and lack building. go gorge and build rts. only some ppl should save for lifeforms or hive in gamestart.

If you have played HOURS (which can be weeks, since you aint playing 24/7) you might be ready for the next step.

Command chair interface knowledge
If you think you are ready to command, you are wrong. You fail to know the interface. There 3 ways to learn:
* loadup a LAN listenserver with cheats (create server) and hop in the chair. Since cheats are on you can build. Explore the command interface.
* read this guide and hope
* hop in the cc and hope its a n00bfriendly server.

I REALLY suggest only to do the above 2 options. If you are gona command, do it on a server you are a regular on. Those hours should have been played on one server so you know those ppl and they know you.

First of all, a quick list of the icons of the Command Chair. I made this once before, and have no time at the moment to take comments out. Its not that bad.

This is the Command Chair (CC). ya don't need to build it @ start, its there.
Your Infantry Portal (IP) lets your rines respawn. This MUST be in the area of a CC. No IP = NO respawning rines
You need a CC to build IPs
Your ResTower (RT) gives your team resources. You use res for everything. Get as much RTs as possible.
The Armory (No short "n/s") gives ammo, sometimes medpacks. The comm can also pass out SHOTGUNS, WELDERS and MINES in its area.
A armory can be upped to a ADVANCED ARMORY. Looks the same but a comm can then also pass out HEAVY MACHINE GUNs or GRENADE LAUNCHERs.
You can also upgrade handgrenades.
Even if you do have a advanced somewhere, a normale one can NOT give GL or HMG. It can give the ammo for it though.
The armslab (n/s), gives the option to upgrade armor, weapons and catpacks. (read more below)

(more posts follow because of image limit)

You can only build it if you got a armory, if you lose the lab, you lose all its upgrades till another one is build.
The Observatory (Obs) decloaks anything in range. It also gives the option to upgrade to motion tracking (MT) or phasetech (PT). You can also scan.
Read more about it below. If you lose the obs, you lose all its upgrades till you build another one. You need a armory to make one.
The prototype lab (proto) gives the option for Heavy Armor and JetPacks. You can't hand them out till you build another one, if the proto is destroyed.
You NEED a advanced armory to build it, aswell as a armslab. You can only pass out Heavy armor and jetpacks in the area of the proto.
The turret factory (TF) gives the option to place turrets. You can also upgrade it to a siege factory, which enables the option to place sieges. You can electrify (elec) a TF. If you build a TF you can also elec RTs.
A phase gate (PG) can only be build after researching phase tech (on the obs).
build 2 or more PGs and it acts as a portal to travel inbetween gates. With "use" you will go through all PGs, 1 by 1.
A turret (n/s) can only be build inrange of a TF. If the TF is gone, the turret wil seize activity.
This thing shoots anything hostile. \o/ Its rather weak though.
Siege (n/s) This must be inrange of a siege factory.
(So if your TF was destroyed, and you build another, you need to reupgrade it to siege) This will NOT attack players, but enemy structures only. But it does so with a hell of alot of power. bangbang.
Expensive thingy, shoots through walls.

(more posts follow because of image limit)

You can only build it if you got a armory, if you lose the lab, you lose all its upgrades till another one is build.
The Observatory (Obs) decloaks anything in range. It also gives the option to upgrade to motion tracking (MT) or phasetech (PT). You can also scan.
Read more about it below. If you lose the obs, you lose all its upgrades till you build another one. You need a armory to make one.
The prototype lab (proto) gives the option for Heavy Armor and JetPacks. You can't hand them out till you build another one, if the proto is destroyed.
You NEED a advanced armory to build it, aswell as a armslab. You can only pass out Heavy armor and jetpacks in the area of the proto.
The turret factory (TF) gives the option to place turrets. You can also upgrade it to a siege factory, which enables the option to place sieges. You can electrify (elec) a TF. If you build a TF you can also elec RTs.
A phase gate (PG) can only be build after researching phase tech (on the obs).
build 2 or more PGs and it acts as a portal to travel inbetween gates. With "use" you will go through all PGs, 1 by 1.
A turret (n/s) can only be build inrange of a TF. If the TF is gone, the turret wil seize activity.
This thing shoots anything hostile. \o/ Its rather weak though.
Siege (n/s) This must be inrange of a siege factory.
(So if your TF was destroyed, and you build another, you need to reupgrade it to siege) This will NOT attack players, but enemy structures only. But it does so with a hell of alot of power. bangbang.
Expensive thingy, shoots through walls.

(more posts follow because of image limit)

The ups mentioned above:
armor1 (arm1) A up from the armslab. Upgrades armor and stays upgraded.
armor2 (arm2) kan only be upped after armor1. more armor.
armor3 (arm3) Can only be upped after armor2, even more armor.
weapons1 (dmg1 / weap1) increases dmg of all weapons, exept sieges/turrets.
weapons2 (dmg2 / weap2) more dmg, needs dmg1
weapons3 (dmg3 / weap3) even MORE dmg. needs dmg2
Jetpack (JP) Upgrades the option to pass out JetPacks.

(more posts follow because of image limit)

Heavy Armor (HA) Gives the option to pass out HA.
Motion Tracking (MT). Gives circles on anything NOT visible and moving. on the map this gives

dots.
Everything inrange of a enemy SC will NOT be recognised and displayed.
PhaseTech (PT). Gives the option to build PGs.
Elecs. Elec your RT or TF.. Zaaap.
Catalyst (g/a). This ups the option to hand out catpacks. Can be done without dmg or armor

upgrades.
This upgrades your armory to advanced.. YAY
upgrade a handgrenade. When done, anyone who spawns will have a handgrenade. Will be

reisued upon death and respawn only.

(more posts follow because of image limit)

And the items you can give:
Give a rine ammo.
Give a rine medpacks. (restores health with a x amount)
Give your rines a catpack. This makes them temporarely shoot and run faster. ow joy. \o/
Give a mine. ya know, place > enemy > boom.
Welder, repear your teammates armor, or a building by firing at it from real close.
Give your rines a shotgun (shotty)
Heavy Machine Gun (HMG). Pump ya enemies full with bullets. Does insane dmg, has some

spread. Works crap vs structures.
Grenade Launcher (GL). Fire nades. works crap vs enemies but ownz structures. \o/
Heavy Armor (HA). Makes rines slower and louder but gives a hell of alot of ammo. Can't be

combined with JP.
Jetpacks (JP). Lets rines fly till the bar is depleated. Reloads if you do not fly. Can not

be combined with HA.

(more to follow)

Beacon. When isued, each rine, dead or alive, will be placed in marine start, even after

you relocated base.
Scan (ping). Scan to see whats on that location, decloaks anything, scan a object to allow

inrange sieges to fire upon it.

The console/interface itself


On the left is the commname and rescount.
on the left is your map. Red is hostile, white your marines and blue yourself (structures)
If something gets known better the dot might be replaced by a icon.
Clicking on the small map will move your large map to that location. (overview)
Your status menu shows what you can upgrade, and if something is upgrading.
It also gives the option to cancel your upgrade. (put the icon for that on the lower right, its the arrow)

The buttons all mean something. In order from left to right and up to down.
Select menu (now visible)
select menu obs, armslab, proto and PG.
Select menu with ammo, medpack, catpack
select menu with alle wapens, HA and JP.

If there blue, you can build. If there lit, you are cliking them (see armory) if there darkblue you need to upgrade or build something.
(example, upgrade PT for PG). If its red, you have to few res to do it.

The button on the topright is to logout, and stop being comm. Logout the chair that is, not the game.

The little man icon means "select all your rines"
The icons next to it are squad icons. You can have a grand total of 5 squads. If you select something + duckkey + number (1 tot 5) it will become a squad.
You can have one or more rine in one squad, by selecting them all. Or 1 one building by selecting that. I personally, prefer buil it.

* Presure principle.
use presure.. This was part of the original FOOD topic and works great with FOOD. PRESURE THEM.
Exept one person, you send EVERYBODY out to get RTs. That one person defends and BUILDS base. Priorize RTs above anything exept ammo and medpacks.
Its about gamestart and you now have 4 RTs, a IP and armory. Now I put the presure on asap. I up the armory, and if my base rine leaves I let him mine the armory.

time to place a armslab and obs. Rines should be busy guarding and rebuilding RTs, aswell as shooting all things kharaa. let em stress, empty that gun in the hive.

I up armor1, 2 even. Then PGs and MT. armory has HMGs now so weapon ups arent in a hurry. If rines have a tad of skill this WILL put presure. on them.
Note that this armor principle is NOT the standard. (armor1, weapons3, armor2 is)
I myself however find armor1 lacking for lategame. I might get weapons2 before armor2 but never weapons3.

Chain Principle.
usually used with newbies or heavy lost matches.


Your red dots are RTs. Your base is the red square. Lets take the numbered chain for example. You go to RT1, then2, then 3. A RT has a number, however if a RT is NOT in walking range of another, you need a base inbetween with a number aswell.
Put a PG in base, point1 and 2. The principle is to use the PG to go to the number BEFORE the number being attacked. Then walk to that point. Cause that PG is likely under attack see..
(note that this is worst case scenario, if you can do without PGs.. DO IT)
Make damn sure that RTs are in walking distance. If not, make a base with PG inbetween them.
Its a good, cheap way (just a PG) to protect RTs.. Don't use this alot though, cause you need lotsa PGs. Lost games only.

Listen with each (selfmade) principle to your rines, give them info, atleast on what you do or do not do.. Help em, eb always busy. if you can't build, medpack or upgrade, listen with your rines and scan. Give em the impression you look with em.

Game priority
Many ppl think NS is about the following:
* mapcontrol
* resources
* frags

What NS IS about:
* time

Simple, let me explain.

All "priorities" are a direct result from time.
* Mapcontrol: If you send a rine across the map to cap nodes, you control those nodes. If you lock hives or set up chokepoints you control that part of the map. If you med your rines, they don't need to respawn, they can move further and take more of the map.Mapcontrol is not having the map. Its making sure that whatever is on the map, is of no use to the other team. Hence, mapcontrol. You can not keep parts of the map if you can't move towards those points in reasonable time. So time is the thing which makes or breaks this priority.
* resources: without res you can't do anything. The faster you get res, the more you can do. If your marines have nothing to do they should get res or deny the other team res. More res in shorter time = good
* frags: same goes for frags, the more in a shorter time the better.

Time is a issue. If you all get shotguns, phase to a have, get ammospammed and shoot it, its faster then getting shotties, humping the armory, phasing one by one and trying to shoot the hive. In the second scenario, kharaa had time to react.
This is only a example, time is a isue. Always. just remember one rule:
Do as much usefull actions in the least amount of time aswell as trying to force the other team to do the most useless actions in the longest amount of time.

time is a issue, build your strategy upon it. All I have to say for now.

/// end ///

I guess that has all the basics covered. If you want to keep improving it, you might want to shorten it a bit and maybe fix the few slight factual errors caused by 3.2. W0 --> w1 = 1 less bullet on skulk is the correct calculation nowadays at least. More metagame analysis is always interesting too.

Good job anyway, I hope someone still reads these guides

Yeh it was a guide I wrote early 3.x since commander level was falling lower by the day. (its still horrible on the pubs) so I might have forgotten a few 3.2 details which changed. Feel free to remind me.

Since everything in the guide is, to my opinion, needed I cant shorten it.

If you think anything is worth adding I am always listening