Roles for old slow guys

BigGrayBeard · 2013-07-17, 01:33 PM

First of all, I am 56 years old and my reaction times will never be what they were 30 years ago. I am getting my "a" handed to me in fire fights. If a negative k/d was possible, that would be me. I have been playing as Vanu, alternating between heavy and infiltrator. I shoot aircraft as a heavy. As an infiltrator I do some sniping and deploy a lot of motion sensors.

Any suggestions of a better role I could be playing?

GlueHead · 2013-07-17, 04:22 PM

Engineer: resupply and repair! (:

Binkley · 2013-07-17, 04:51 PM

Learn to drive and gun vehicles. Tanks are much more about strategy than twitch skills.

Learn to use mines well.

Don't give up on infantry fighting, you will get better at it, but use vehicles as an alternative to keep your interest up.

Worked for me, and I'm old (for this crowd) too.

PredatorFour · 2013-07-17, 06:12 PM

If you want xp, just be a medic and revive people in busy fights. Get around 90 xp for every revive which is basically like killing an enemy.

Hamma · 2013-07-17, 07:37 PM

Yea Medic is an awesome role with great guns.

OCNSethy · 2013-07-17, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by BigGrayBeard

First of all, I am 56 years old and my reaction times will never be what they were 30 years ago. I am getting my "a" handed to me in fire fights. If a negative k/d was possible, that would be me. I have been playing as Vanu, alternating between heavy and infiltrator. I shoot aircraft as a heavy. As an infiltrator I do some sniping and deploy a lot of motion sensors.

Any suggestions of a better role I could be playing?

Hey, I thought I was the only 'old fart' playing - Im 51.

I feel what your saying because I felt the same way. I initially started as a medic / engineer / part time HA and then Infiltrator. I was having a ball with those. I rarely tank and never fly. I pull a sundie every now and then.

While Medic and engineer can be rewarding, I felt I needed to get out there and shoot up some stuff.

Have you had a crack at a Max unit yet? VS has an awesome Max in the ZOE.

While you may not be able to pull one very often, I'd suggest you do, when you can... and never solo with it. Always have an engineer around

I hope you find your niche and let us know how you go!

hagagaga · 2013-07-18, 02:43 AM

I generally do Medic because my K/D is probably 0.03 at the highest (PSU hasn't updated in the past few days).

4x optic and the default rifle makes a decent designated marksman rifle as well as close-range.

Zenatsu · 2013-07-18, 03:16 AM

Originally Posted by BigGrayBeard

First of all, I am 56 years old and my reaction times will never be what they were 30 years ago. I am getting my "a" handed to me in fire fights. If a negative k/d was possible, that would be me. I have been playing as Vanu, alternating between heavy and infiltrator. I shoot aircraft as a heavy. As an infiltrator I do some sniping and deploy a lot of motion sensors.

Any suggestions of a better role I could be playing?

Honestly, any role is good for someone who is not as quick to the shots as you. The only difference is you would be bringing up the rear and watching your squads flank as you move about the environment. Which is a very valuable position to be in.

Running armor, or being a gunner for a liberator pilot is also a viable role to take on. As armor rolls a bit slower, and you have massive firepower to lay siege to bases.

in my outfit, we have a good amount of older gentlemen who play with us. They, as you, are not as quick as the younger boys and tend to be the ones who form up a fall-back line or lag behind and watch the main push in. And if you fancy management roles, you can always try out being a squad leader/platoon leader.

findus · 2013-07-18, 04:41 AM

Hooray, all the time since December i thought i was the only one having those problems

To be honest, i'm 53 now, and nowadays i sometimes win 1v1 infantry fights, but usually i'm too slow (and maybe its the sensitivity oft the mouse or the computer

) And i hate it to be forced to move all the time (ADAD) because of the silly snipers. My biggest problem is that i get sometimes kind of seasick looking at the monitor (when drivin with a Flash in first person view for example)

I therefore began as medic but over time i found engineer more interesting. especially as i certed into proximity mines, which opened new possibilities for defense. Being a member of the spray and pray faction, the SMG helped me a lot. The package is the most interesting for me, repairing all sorts of things, handing out ammo, attacking tanks with the AV turret and defind something using the mines.

The last month or so i more often pull a heavy with the lasher, much fun and a supportive role, too. But i'm far from good at it.

And the tip pulling a MAX is a good idea. If your are not alone, you will find a fellow engineer for sure, and then MAX is fun. Charging in CQC with it is a new feeling, sometimes your are the one who leads and others follow (those wo are stupid enough

or see an opportunity). That is fun and somtimes helps your faction (and sometimes i loose the MAX because of silly mistakes).

Maybe you want to think about a gun with more range (Eidolon for the VS or something like that for example) and try to fight at longer ranges without the chaotic indoor or facility fights. For me the Eidolon works...

I do'nt fly (flying with the keyboard is not for me), i have a low certed Skyguard Lightning, but do not use it, do'nt know exactly, why).

I played such games beginning with "Battlezone" on big consoles in the officers mess in the 80s , Comanche, Armoured Fist, M1 Tank Platoon, RTCW, TCE and, above all, Operation Flashpoint (now being part of the Arma III Beta). PS2 was very frustrating in the first 3 months, but for me its one of the most fun games i ever played....

Hope that helps a bit

ringring · 2013-07-18, 01:57 PM

I'm 56 too. You're not the only old fart out there

It's wrong to think this game is all about speed of hand. There is some of that but it's not everything. And personally I try to avoid CQB where reactions count.

My big piece of advice is 'don't compete on somebody else's territory'.

If your reaction speeds are down then do the type of things that require a little thought and maybe a little planning.

Tanking is a good example. If you're in a tank you can stay in cover and at a distance and decide when it is appropriate to advance. You have time to think.

In a tank you can't get jumped and ganked except from either someone with C4 - which means you have advanced too far and gone into danger when you shouldn't have done. Or maybe by a couple of harrassers working as a team, in which case good luck to them.

Also try max? You get more armour so you have more chance of reacting before you're taken down.

As an oldie you may not have the advantage of quick reactions but you do or should have the advantage of patience and the ability to wait for the right moment.

MykeMichail · 2013-07-18, 02:59 PM

Ammo/repair sunderer driver - Tankers on your side will love you, look after you (repair you and come to your defense when they can), and you will earn at least some XP.

Chuck bulldogs on your sunderer and you can act as dedicated mortar support. You can sit out around 200-250 m and spam bulldog rounds on positions the enemy tries to take up. You can rack up a tonne of kills doing this and basically all you're doing is holding left mouse button and adjusting for recoil to hit the same point over and over.

Ghstmarauder · 2013-07-18, 04:17 PM

Run Medic or Engineer, be the support your faction needs, every Max will love reps or ammo. Try not to engage at CQB, try to hang back at Med - High ranges, 2x or 3x scopes I prefer to the 4x.

Running vehicles, or deploying and guarding your Sundy/AMS is a good way to go too.

CraazyCanuck · 2013-07-19, 09:43 AM

While I may not be quite the age of some of you good ole boys, I do have carpul tunnel setting in which makes CQC sometimes difficult as the mind is willing and reacts but the hands don't quite respond the way the use to. Pretty much what every won has already stated about vehicle play and support is the way to go.

CQC - Max or infiltrator. Max gives you the staying power to line up a shot, infiltrator with a smg the same idea but your given the time to line up your shot through stealth. Pls the recon darts assist you in deciding where and when to engage and prox mines give you easily managed killing opportunities.

Facility combat - Defence - Run engy and make it your mission to keep those turrets up and manning them when a target comes into play. IMO turrets are really underused in this game. I get alot of my xp from repairing/manning turrets to harrass the shit of my enemy. In large combats...there's a huge opportunity for xp while manning them..set up in a tower and switch to AI/AV/AA as needed.

Offense - sneaking behind enemy lines and manning turrets can be a gravy train and you can destroy/deflect enemy resources and force them to deal with you instead of pushing against your faction's advance. Especially for Alerts, I usually run with a couple of my buddies and we'll try to prep a base if its not in our possession to make it that much easier once the calvary arrives. Between taking over outer spawn areas, squad beacons, hidden sundies, squad deploy you can stay hard hat it and be a real pain in an enemy's ass.

As ringring stated. Choose the ground you want to fight on that best suits u.

Stanis · 2013-07-19, 09:27 AM

Originally Posted by BigGrayBeard

First of all, I am 56 years old and my reaction times will never be what they were 30 years ago. I am getting my "a" handed to me in fire fights. If a negative k/d was possible, that would be me. I have been playing as Vanu, alternating between heavy and infiltrator. I shoot aircraft as a heavy. As an infiltrator I do some sniping and deploy a lot of motion sensors.

Any suggestions of a better role I could be playing?

Bring some experience to the battle. Find a team of players - work as part of the team.
Individual advice to play medic or engineer works well - but take that role to a squad that has a couple of teenagers with lightning fast reflexes on point for you to keep alive.

Or just plain out-think the opponent.

I love PS2 for it's scale.
Not just the hundreds of players but the freedom of movement.
You can never be quite sure that you are here and the enemy spawned at point X.

Take some thought to the battlefield and you shouldn't have to face many challenges on twitch skills alone.

ColdCheese · 2013-07-20, 05:38 PM

Play support role, try and help your team as mush as possible with medic revives, repairing stuff with engi, dropping ammo etc. Stay with the pack and dont stray to lessen your chance of encountering a 1v1, also remember to spot spot spot, it helps your team tremendously and even if you lose that cqc, if you spot right before chances are your killer will have a short lived life if you wounded him or if enough allies are nearby.

Weapon selection should be as specialized as possible for the situation at hand to give you every lil edge your gonna need, dont run into a biolab with a slow rof lmg, switch your loadouts ahead of time if you can instead of just sticking it in wreckless if you know what I mean. This game is way more about situational awareness than twitch reflexes, yeah the latter wont hurt and if you have both than you will be a monster, but its not everything like in other shooters like COD.