Monday Night Combat

[Endless Mike]

Situational, since certain skills aren't really worth getting, and if all you can afford is a laser turret, you're better off not spending the money. (Laser turrets suck.)

[korora]

Yeah. As Tank I feel like I need level 3 in charge, grenade, and passive, in descending order of importance, to be peak-effective; that's $1650 plus maybe an annihilator, so usually by the time I get those my team either already has as many turrets as we need (because we're keeping the bots pushed or because my teammates are building them responsibly) or we're getting repeatedly juiced in the face and anything I build doesn't stay up long. So I end up getting "The Me In Team" a lot. Usually my extra money goes to annihilator/juice/ejectors instead and I'm keeping one or both bot lanes pushed anyways.

[Okita]

I am revivifying this thread for Super Monday Night combat is upon us!

The rules...have changed, as has my love for Monday Night Combat related things (even a bigger fan now).

Mostly because it embraced the fact that it's an FPS DOTA clone resulting in a much more strategic fun game!

And more pros! Including Leonardo Da Vinci! And a gorilla!

Although my favorite at the moment is Megabeth because y'know... rockets and roller skates.

[Endless Mike]

I downloaded but haven't had a chance to play. People in the beta didn't seem to impressed, but that was awhile ago that I last read that.

[broken_escalator]

I'm not sure if it's me but the grapple attack seemed a lot more difficult to pull off, and also didn't really seem to be effective. Anytime I grappled someone I was almost always better off just shooting them or using a skill.

[Okita]

I find that the damage from grapples aren't that great unless you're a commando class (like Assassin). One of the more important features of grappling is it prevents the victim from firing or moving which means all your friends can easily gang up. And then there are the grapples that move people (ex. Megabeth's dropkick) which can push people off the Annihlator and help get ring outs.

Otherwise, I try to reserve grappling for Jackbots or as a finisher move.

[broken_escalator]

I'm getting a bit more accustomed to the game now. I just forget grapples exist for any class except commandos, for the most part. There was one megabeth player in a match who kept ringing out people with a grapple, and it was really impressive.

I haven't been able to figure out how to use the gifts you get after matches. I know I have an endorsement and product, but I can't figure out how to equip it <.<

[EmptySet]

I haven't been able to figure out how to use the gifts you get after matches. I know I have an endorsement and product, but I can't figure out how to equip it <.<

Go to the locker room, then the Endorsements or Products tab. Make a set, save it, and then you can choose that set in the pre-game lobby. If you go to "Customize" in the Locker Room, you can also make a custom setup for a pro (including uniform, products, endos etc.) and either pick that from the lobby to apply everything at once, or make it the default so it's automatically used when you pick that pro.

Also, grapples are really good and you shouldn't forget you have them with any pro. They may not do a tonne of damage but the point is the other guy can't shoot you back while you're doing it, and also can't escape. They're useful as free damage in a 1v1, or to stall while you call for help. However, where they really excel is if you can land a grapple near your teammates - they can all shoot the victim to bits while they're helpless, and you can also "chain grapple" by landing your own grapple just as a teammate's finishes, which almost always results in a kill. Naturally you should avoid grappling around the enemy team lest they do the same to you.

[broken_escalator]

Ahh, okay. Thanks for the advice! I still get wrecked as any class except support, which was my favorite from MNC, so all tips are apprecited.

[Okita]

Learn when to call it off and learn to be a money-grubbing miser.

The first is important because dying often is the fastest way to losing (I myself am quite guilty of this). Even if you can score a kill, it's not worth putting yourself in danger and dying. You need to learn your escape maneuvers if you have them and keep an eye on your health so you know when to run away.

The second is important towards leveling up. You always need more money faster. Besides the fact that money is useful I'm pretty sure level is tied to amount of money collected. So collect all the money you can. This is why pushing all the way to the closest tower isn't necessarily a good thing because if your opponent is there, he/she can just collect money from the safety of the tower which would include both your defeated bots and the opponent's defeated bots.

[EmptySet]

The second is important towards leveling up. You always need more money faster. Besides the fact that money is useful I'm pretty sure level is tied to amount of money collected. So collect all the money you can.

Yeah, getting money is literally the same as getting experience regardless of where it comes from. Every dollar earned is one XP.

Ahh, okay. Thanks for the advice! I still get wrecked as any class except support, which was my favorite from MNC, so all tips are apprecited.

The general advice which is always given to newbies: kill bots, don't die. Killing bots gives you money. Killing bots without dying gives you even more money because you get streak bonuses. Dying gives your enemies free money from killing you, and if they kill you a lot without dying, they get streak bonuses. Plus every second you wait to respawn (or to walk back from spawn) is a second you're not earning money. So it's much more important to avoid dying than to get kills. Try not to overextend, and don't be ashamed to run away if you're in trouble - even as a more offensive class you generally want to stick near your team unless you're sure you're safe, especially when you're a beginner.

If you damage a bot and someone else kills it within five seconds, you still get full money for the bot dying. So try to poke bots just before they die if you can. You also get cash for healing people as Support or Combat Girl so go ahead and do that lots. Just remember to throw Airstrike on bot waves as well, and try to set up your firebase where it can hit bots in at least one lane.

Don't get overly fixated on killing enemy pros. It's a common problem with people who have come from shooters and haven't played a MOBA before - they think the game is 1v1 Arena Deathmatch and just run in and die horribly. Or they focus entirely on killing enemy players and don't farm bots, and end up massively underleveled as a result. Probably not a problem you have if you're used to playing Support, but worth mentioning anyway.

Since you've come from MNC, remember that SMNC is a different game, not MNC 1.5. In general SMNC is more like DOTA than its predecessor, with a greater focus on working as a team to push the lanes. Also a lot of abilities have changed, so make sure you read up on what everything does. Assassin's cloak does not make you invisible to players, for instance.

If you like Support you might want to try out Combat Girl, who is similar to Support in a lot of ways but can be played more aggressively.

There are a bunch of guides as well as videos and such on the Uber forums, including pro-specific guides, if you're interested in more detailed information.

[broken_escalator]

I'll give those guides a try when I get home. I still need to unlock pros; I've been hoarding my cash until I've gotten a chance to play them all.

Managed to actually grapple someone and a teamate chain grappled. It fealt so good!

[EmptySet]

I'll give those guides a try when I get home. I still need to unlock pros; I've been hoarding my cash until I've gotten a chance to play them all.

Combat Girl is on the free rotation this week, so it's a good chance to try her out. Support is not, so you'll need to unlock him if you want to play him.

[broken_escalator]

Definitely enjoy Combat Girl. Grapple attacks supported by my kitty turrets are fun. And something about that laser skill is just so satisfying

[MisterCheif]

I seem to be having a problem where SMNC won't let me run the game in 1440x900 (my monitor's resolution). It gives my options for both higher and lower resolutions, and a quick google search on the problem has told me nothing except that others are able to run it in that resolution.

I'm stumped...

EDIT: And it seems restarting the game after switching it to fullscreen has fixed the problem... Odd...

But anyway, I've played my first several matches, and I'm liking it a lot. I'm currently getting a hang of using the Gunner, though I also have had some fun rounds with the Veteran.