This in-depth faq on delay is by Joe at psion0011@hotmail.com
Last update was at 12/11/2003
-----------------------------Table of Contents---------------------------------
1. Introduction
2. Delay Intro
3. One on One Game
4. Team Game
5. Important Tricks
6. Copyright
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This FAQ is not meant for a newbie. The concept of delay is not a hard one to
grasp, but an experienced player would benefit much more from learning it. The
advantages of controlling delay are huge, as you get more overall turns, which
turns into more damage, more gold, and a higher chance to win.
All too often I see players foolishly wasting time carefully adjusting their
angles on their first turns when it's close range and easy to hit. No knowing
that they are giving a free turn away, they pump up their delay, sealing their
fate.
First of all, what exactly is delay? You should know it's that number at the
bottom left next to players' names. Looks like this:
* The "&" represents a chick I really couldn't think of how to draw a hammer
or whatever with ASCII chars on one line :P
From here you can see that all the other players' delays are relative to your
delay. So, PlayerA has 820 LESS delay than 1232.
Also, it is obvious that delay determines who goes next. If PlayerA's next
turn takes less than 820 delay, he will go before you AGAIN. See how useful
that would be?
Remember that each attack has a different delay, and every second you waste
before attacking adds 10 delay for most mobiles.
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One on One Game
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Delay is extremely important in 1:1 games. It's so important that a person
who understands delay will ALWAYS beat a person who doesn't, if their skills
were equal (that is, aim).
------Turn One------
Most people would go "ah damn I'm going second" but if you are quick to act,
you will almost always get two turns in a row if you are going second. All you
have to do is get less delay than the person who goes first, and then you will
go again, so I usually consider it an advantage when going second. If you are
going first, move fast. Attack as quickly as possible to try not to give away
a few turn.
However, the person who goes second can aim while his enemy attacks, therefore
the second person will usually get a smaller delay, and go twice in a row.
------Weapons to Use------
Avoid duals. If you must, only take one. In 1:1 games, if you use dual, the
other person gets to go twice after. In simple language (if that wasn't simple
enough), DUAL IS USELESS UNLESS YOU NEED IT TO MAKE A KILL. It's a waste of
two item slots, really. If you can take dual+ use it instead, it has smaller
delay.
Also, avoid excessive usage of Weapon 2. Exceptions are mobiles whose Weapon
2's add an extremely small amount of delay, such as lightning (+30). But, if
your mobile is dependant on the Weapon 2 (grub, nak), you really have no
choice.
What about SS? Useless. Unless you use it for things besides damage, since it
also allows the other person to go twice in a row (provided that they don't
use SS or dual either). A. Sate's SS is always useful to bury your opponent, so
that is a good trade for a free turn for your opponent. Nak's SS is good if
there's a wall between the two mobiles, also worthwhile there. So you see,
there are always exceptions to rules. But the general thought is 'avoid SS'.
------Mobiles------
I really enjoy lightning for 1:1 matches. His Weapon 1 can easily do 200 dmg on
a direct hit. Even if you miss horribly his attacks still do 70 lightning
damage. Weapon 2 adds very little delay, and can do 250 dmg on a direct hit.
The SS is weak, but has a HUGE hit radius. Good for a finishing move that you
don't want to miss. In fact, it's very difficult to miss with lightning's SS.
JD is another good choice. That is, if you are at close range. His vacuum
attack brings the two mobiles together. On your opponent's turn, he will have
to waste precious delay getting off you to avoid damaging himself. This makes
up for your need to use weapon 2.
Any mobile is good, as long as you know how to use it and how to control delay.
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Team Game
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------Turn One------
Once again, important. You should tell your teamates to go as fast as possible.
Using a dual or SS is like digging your own grave. You will have to wait for
so long for you turn (in a 4:4 game) that you will probabaly be dead before
you move again. This is because EVERYONE else will go TWICE before you can move
again. So avoid dual or SS on the first turn, for god's sake. Try to get below
800 delay on your first turn. 760 is ideal (with no avatar bonus that is).
------Weapons to Use------
Here duals and SS's are useful since you can nail 2 or more mobiles with one
shot. You don't want to miss an opportunity to hit three guys for up to 700 dmg
each do you? (BTW 700 dmg is possible with nak dual/force Weapon 2). Not much
to say here except avoid using a dual/SS right after your enemy uses one. You
can go twice instead!
------Mobiles------
Jeez what could I say. Use anything you'd like.
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Important Tricks
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There are certain tricks you can perform if you keep delay in mind. Most of
these only work if your opponent doesn't know much about delay (more often than
you would think).
------Triple Fire------
Requirements: - Opponent used a delay that is +800 delay or more.
- You have a dual.
Usage: After your oppnent has attacked, quickly use a Weapon 1 or Weapon 2 if
your opponent's delay is even higher. Afterwards, use a dual to finish him off.
Pros: Huge amounts of damage. With nak you can basically do 900 dmg or a kill
with a force, lightning, or thor even if opponent's at full health.
Cons: After you used dual, your opponent can pull this very same trick on you.
***NOTE***
If your opponent's delay is +1600 or more, you can actually go 3 times in a row
if you use two Weapon 1 attacks which usually take 790 delay or so. +1600 delay
is not uncommon.. a dual with Weapon 2 and some aiming time will net you that
much delay on some mobiles.
------JD Force Delay------
Requirements: - Using JD.
- Weapon 2.
- Two or more enemies sort of close to each other.
Usage: Fire your secondary weapon between your enemies, pulling them together.
JD's secondary weapon is a vacuum and can pull mobiles together. This forces
your enemies to waste delay getting off each other or be prone to double kill.
Pros: I've found that the delay from moving and adjusting your angle every turn
really adds up, so your team will have, overall, more turns than the opposing
team.
Cons: Not much damage, or even none at all, if you shoot only to pull enemies
into a clump.
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