Focus is great, but then they get armor 1 and it takes the same amount of time to kill as if you didn't have focus.

But if you have focus level 1 against armor 1, it should still only take 2 bites but you can bite much faster than level 3. Which means that you will actually be killing faster than if you had no upgrades (assuming you dont miss ).

If they have lvl 2 armor. level 2 focus is the fastest kill, for level 3 armor, level 3 focus is fastest.


Before today I never considered using anything but level 3 focus, but now I think an incremental approach could give better results if you can accurately guess the enemy upgrades.

Interesting, thing is you hardly ever end up in a situation where you only have 1 SC. Combat is always lvl 3 and only having one SC in classic doesn't make sense ( no pun intended ), they need to be spammed all over the map to be effective.

Not only do SC's need to be spammed to get their full use, but SOF and cloaking aren't nearly as good at level 1 and 2. It isn't worth choosing the right level of focus, unless you want to change the way upgrades work, in which case it should go in I&S.

I hate lvl 1 and lvl 2 focus. I can't get the timing right.

It doesnt matter really. In co you dont have a choice and in ns you should have several sensory chambers so you can be cloaked and focused. If you can be next to them with a focus bite in before they can attack you it doesnt matter. I have thought of this before and its just a cool thing to think about, but is not pratical. First you have to know their exact armor level. When they get an upgrade it will totally screw you up.

Level 1 cloaking makes you just as invisible as level 3 its just a bit slower, I don't think that is really a problem with some patience.

level 1 scent of fear sure does suck though you are right about that.


This is how I see it, lvl 1 armor dying in 2 bites, almost as fast attack speed as non-focus. That means the marines' first upgrade is almost nullified, to me that is big, it puts the battle almost back to vanilla vs. vanilla. In my commanding experience, non-armor marines vs plain skulks usually results in marines dying over the long run.

The fact that you get 1 sensory (and more later) for free cloaking is just gravy on this plan, if you build that sensory in a smart place it can help alot.

OMG you guys remind me when i asked everyone to put just one sc and i went focus fade...wonderfull i must of had 10 kills in one minute and won in the next 30 seconds hehe
Try it! Especialy for pugs and scrims cos on pubs 3/4 of ppl wont listen...

A focus skulk (particularly with leap) still has a better chance of killing a level 2 armor marine than without focus. Focus both gives you the ability to dance around to dodge bullets (because you don't have to stick to the marine), make good use of the times you snag a hoppy marine (because they're so freaking fast), and play hit-and run (keeps you out of the line of fire, and thus alive, particularly against shotties).

There are too many factors and its best just getting 3 sensory. A level 3 focus onos or fade I think can still kill a level 1 armor marine in 1 hit. Usualy you dont see level 2 armor marines until like the 9min mark+. So if you do sensory and defense you can have an onos with focus regen at 8min mark and just one hit all the marines and rape them. If they have not been to the 2nd hive and know its building/built then sensory is a good 2nd upgrade that may save your 2nd hive and also bring the 1 hit rape.

Another thing about a level 1 focused bite is that it deals exactly 100 damage, so level 1 focus is sufficient to counter medpack support.

Lagger has an interesting point: how often do you see useful early-game lerks in pubs? I've never seen anyone but myself go lerk with sensory first, and I'm not good enough to live long

This might work for Nancy.