The Complete Guide to WCS or How Not To Be A Noob! v0.6

[Erdenay]

Table Of Contents

Disclaimer: This is the table of all the contents included in the guide. If you are interested just in some specific questions, click on the hyperlink and you can skip all the information that is not relevant for you.

I. Introduction (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562-The-Complete-Guide-to-WCS-or-How-Not-To-Be-A-Noob!-v0.6?p=153773#post153773)
II. General Rules of Thumb in WCS (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562-The-Complete-Guide-to-WCS-or-How-Not-To-Be-A-Noob!-v0.6?p=153775#post153775)
III. Leveling (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562-The-Complete-Guide-to-WCS-or-How-Not-To-Be-A-Noob!-v0.6?p=153777#post153777)
IV. How To Play This Specific Race? (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562-The-Complete-Guide-to-WCS-or-How-Not-To-Be-A-Noob!-v0.6?p=153779#post153779)
V. How To Counter This Specific Race? (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562-The-Complete-Guide-to-WCS-or-How-Not-To-Be-A-Noob!-v0.6?p=153781#post153781)
VI. Items (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562-The-Complete-Guide-to-WCS-or-How-Not-To-Be-A-Noob!-v0.6?p=153783#post153783)
VII. Intermission (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562-The-Complete-Guide-to-WCS-or-How-Not-To-Be-A-Noob!-v0.6?p=153785#post153785)
VIII. Helpful Threads and Good Information to know (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562-The-Complete-Guide-to-WCS-or-How-Not-To-Be-A-Noob!-v0.6?p=153786#post153786)
IX. FAQ/Troubleshooting (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562-The-Complete-Guide-to-WCS-or-How-Not-To-Be-A-Noob!-v0.6?p=153788#post153788)
X. Contributors (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562-The-Complete-Guide-to-WCS-or-How-Not-To-Be-A-Noob!-v0.6?p=153790#post153790)
XI. Changelog (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562-The-Complete-Guide-to-WCS-or-How-Not-To-Be-A-Noob!-v0.6?p=153792#post153792)

[Erdenay]

The Complete Guide to WCS or How Not To Be A Noob!

This is a guide to mostly beginning players with most of the ideas being quite basic, thus for more advanced players it may not be quite as helpful. I have adhered to most of these principles and while my shooting skills are roughly average, these rules have helped me to become pretty good at the mod. What skills you may not have can be compensated by tactics, strategy and intelligence in almost any situation. There will be some advanced techniques and tips, but this is here to help those people who consistently get owned and go WTF? IMPOSSIBRUUU!!!


http://images.paraorkut.com/img/funnypics/images/y/yoda_noob-12275.jpg

[Erdenay]

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General Rules of Thumb in WCS

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This may be quite easy to miss, but sound is extremely important in WCS, even more so than regular CS - it gives away everything. Be stealthy, be quiet and ALWAYS listen - and your performance will improve dramatically.
Be aware that a lot of times you will face races that can respawn themselves and/or others, so if you notice a tendency of people coming back to life, camp their bodies for around 6 seconds and DON'T turn your back on them.
Walking is extremely underrated - you give away no sounds and barring the very aggressive races, this should be your modus operandi. Don't rush, have some patience and you will have
Some races are made for ambush and patience - so slow advancement and some camping won't hurt.
If your team is getting rushed and raped, don't rush. Sit back, let them come at you so you would at least have a chance.
Each race is unique with its own strengths and weaknesses - learn them and use it to your advantage (rough guide will follow).
Play it smart and play to your personal strengths - if you don't have an instant reaction, it's probably not the best idea to rush.
Items are very important to good gameplay - a lot of times it is better to have a lace (Neclace of Immunity) than to have a gun as you'll find plenty of these on the ground. Lace, health and other items can often be the difference between life and death, so buy them.
While leveling, pay attention to surroundings. If you are good, buying a gun and items can help you level up faster but if you are playing against a stacked team or with race you are struggling, I'd highly recommend saving money and buying 5 times (you save money).
In general, you will have a better reputation if you will not whine and complain all the times - realize that this is a game, that teams can be stacked quite a bit and that for some this serious business - and just have fun with it.
Predict what people will do and learn their gamestyles - a lot of time you will know exactly what they're probably going to do and you can counter.
Learn the maps - I can't stress this enough. Learn the common camping spots, learn great places to hide, learn the places where there's likely not going to be anyone and etc.
If your team is losing, think how you can help it - CSS is still a team game and even people like Spasm can't kill everything forever. Besides, everyone loves good team players.
Learn the guns - some of them function different with different races in this mod than in regular CSS (I.E. Nebula with TMP can be monstrous)
It is generally better to stick together (barring few races which will be covered lately) - chances of winning against the top players or even against an enemy group of 2 or 3 are slim. Use the very efficient Roman tactic known as "Divide and Conquer."
Know your enemies - play it smart and don't rush out if there are 4 players left against someone like Spasm (this is generally true for most maxed players - you can find them by typing playerinfo and checking people's levels): play it smart, stick together.

[Erdenay]

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Leveling

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There are many things that could be noted here, but I'll try to be concise and right to the point. In general, there are 3 main strategies that have been commonly used in the server with various variations of them coming in between. I'll cover each of them briefly and I'll suggestions.

I) "Power Leveling" - (Skill Level Requirements for FAST leveling: LOW)
This is the most basic one and it's also the easiest to do. In general, just don't buy any weapons (barring pistols) and just tome. You can buy up to 2 tomes until level 5, so spend them as soon and as fast as possible. After level 5, you can buy up to 5, so I would highly recommend saving the money and buying 5 at a time, because that way the last 2 tomes cost only a 1000 instead of 3500. Easy to do and fast to level, although may not be quite as fun and normally will lead to bad scores. Can be used on races you really dislike playing or you are bad at.

II) "Basic Leveling" - (Skill Level Requirements for FAST leveling: MEDIUM)
Slight changes to this strategy as you still buy weapons besides the tomes, BUT you only buy shopmenu items if you are maxed on tomes and you have money left over. Sometimes includes buying JUST the lace as the only item. Apart from these changes, use most of the same strategies from basic leveling. The main difference that this also gets you kills and helps you keep scores.

III) "Finesse Leveling" - (Skill Level Requirements for FAST leveling: VERY HIGH)
With this strategy, you only buy tomes if you have a weapon and full set of items. Kills can give you more experience than tomes, especially if done on high level players - the problem is you actually have to kill them. If you are good at CS in general, but still struggling a bit at WCS, this may be for you, but I would only recommend this for very solid players. This can be the fastest way to level up all races, but it is also the most difficult.


Advanced techniques (To be covered)

Changes when Leveling High level races
The key here is to understand that the higher level the race, the closer it is to its potential. This generally means that you may more so concentrate on weapons and items rather than tomes, unless you really dislike the race and just want to get it done as soon as possible. In general, though, you can easily get more experience in the longer run with better scores rather than just tome it.

Changes when Leveling Strong races
Some races, such as jack, human, molecule, etc. are quite strong even at comparatively lower levels, thus you may want to focus on weapons and items here as well as not only you'll have better scores, but you'll also gain A LOT of experience for kills.

Off-Race leveling
Not exactly the most common, but sometimes due to either the race being very boring for that person or due it being restricted, its still possible to level it. Save up 15k, change to that race after dying or after round, type "tome5" and then just switch back to whatever race you've been playing before.

Leveling on Winning/Stacked team
This generally means that you are on a strong, winning team which will make it easier for you to get kills and money. What this means that again you may want to deviate your strategy and focus more so and getting those kills and items rather than just buying tomes.

Leveling Against Winning/Stacked team
This is generally a very difficult season and not an uncommon one either. While items get really cheap after enough losses, it may be difficult to get the kills, especially if the other team is whoring strong races, which means that you may want to skip all weapons but pistols (you'll tend to find a fair amount of them on the floor) and items as well and just concentrate on tomes (unless it's vagas who are destroying your team - then a lace is a very good idea).

Leveling against High Level players
This can be somewhat subjective and player dependent - some people will tend to somewhat chill when they max out, while others will whore races like there's no tomorrow as they think they've earnt the right. Whatever happens, they tend to give A LOT of experience, so it tends to be a good idea to learn who are these players and what their skill level is. Whether Spasm will be playing, human, molecule, jack or beast, he'll still be very difficult to kill, so against players like him, toming up is the right idea whereas some other higher level player, while still good, are nowhere near the level of Spasm, so others (Rev. Maynard is one example) may be easier to kill and you may want to concentrate on these players as one kill a lot of times tends to represent 3 tomes or more.

[Erdenay]

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How To Play This Specific Race?

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Disclaimer: the possible builds are just there to give you an idea what might work well with the race - experiment to find your own best build.

1. Undead
One of the starter races. Very powerful if used rightly.
*Can leech health over its regular health.
*Has levitation and speed increases, which makes you difficult to hit and gives you chances to retreat when needed.
*Ultimate has an explosion, which can be very useful and powerful and is the last line of defence.

Possible setup: claw/lace/helm build works quite well.

Can be played offencively and defencively depending on playstyle.

2. Human
One of the starter races. Possibly the strongest race in the server.
*Has partial invisibility, which makes it difficult to spot, especially at specific spots.
*Has ability to bash, which locks targets aim and ability to move. *HIGHLY RECOMMENDED*
*Has extra health.
*Can teleport - an ability that can be used offencively and defencively and the effects depend on the purpose.

Possible setup: really, pretty much anything works. Experiment. Most common build is health/lace/helm.

Playstyle can be aggressive or passive as you are nearly an invisible walking tank at high levels.

3. Orcish Horde
One of the starter races. Very strong defencive race with ability to do possibly highest damage in the game (not to be confused with dps).
*Can revive itself once.
*Can throw critical nades which do insane amounts of damage.
*Has critical hit, which can cause major damage or even kill instantaneously.
*Has use chain lighting, which hits nearby enemies for 32 damage and can create a chain if people are very close to each other.

Possible setup: Various setup works, but claw/lace/mask is very efficient.

Can be played offencively, but is strongest when played defencively due to its ultimate and strong nades.

4. Night Elf
One of the starter races. Underrated and underplayed race. Very good at frustrating opponents.
*Has evasion, which can be lifesaver.
*Trueshot aura which deals extra damage.
*Thorns which causes damage when enemies attack you.
*Can entangle opponents (if they don't have a lace) for a long period, which can lead to easy kills.

Possible setup: the standard of health/lace/helm works quite well.

Is somewhat of a jack of all trades - it limits the other teams mobility, can do adequate damage and has a decent survivability.

5. Blood Mage
The first new race that players will unlock after reaching a total of level 40. It is generally the best "team" race and a lot of times keeps it together and winning
*Banish - sort of like human bash except it doesn't lock the movement. *HIGHLY RECOMMENDED*
*Phoenix - the skill that makes bloodmage what it is: it revives your fallen teammates.
*Siphon Mana - steals money
*Flame Strike - burns your enemies over time causing damage and impairing their sight and movement.

Possible setup: really depends on the game style, but health/lace/helm is a great combination.

Bloodmage is generally a very defencive race that stays behinds the teammates and tries to hold the backline while reviving teammates.

6. Shadow Hunter
Next race that gets unlocked after bloodmage - and is generally also considered as one of the strongest races around.
*Healing Wave - heals teammates and yourself at a small range up to 15 hp per heal.
*Hex - allows you to sometimes go through others immunities.
*Serpent Ward - you can place wards that damage enemies. ( '+ability1' )
*Bid Bad Voodoo - invincibility for a short time.

Possible setup: various setups work differently, but in general boots/lace/helm work VERY well with this race.

Shadow Hunter is a very strong both in offence and in defence and can sometimes hold an opening all on his own.

7. Warden
Another race that is unlocked near the beginning. On it own quite average, but has the potential to cause huge damage to the other team with the elements of surprise.
*Fan of Knives - a chance to become a mole (you go to your enemies spawn disguised as one of them). Very useful if combined with element of surprise.
*Blink (Immunity) - a chance to spawn with a lace.
*Shadow Strike - a chance doing additional damage over time while also impairing movement.
*Vengeance - respawn once with your old weapon.

Possible setup: Generally mask/claw/boots gives the best chances to do as much damage as possible in a quick amount of time.

Use it when an enemy doesn't expect a mole to stab them from the back. Without the mole, you're quite vulnerable and have no special skills, so play like you would regularly.

8. Crypt Lord
One of the strongest races as well if used correctly.
*Impale - shakes enemy screen. (lower level bash)
*Spiked Carapace - grants additional armor and ability to return damage.
*Carrion Beetles - extra damage.
*Locust Swarm - locusts steals 25HP and gives it to you while also restoring armor.

Possible setup: Health is very repetitive with this race, so a combination of lace/claw/cloak/helm (3 out of 4) is a very strong build.

Extremely strong race defencively as you are able to damage your enemies without ever getting close them while replenishing your own health. Best to be played defencively while guarding objectives.

9. Archmage Proudmoore
Very underused and a very strong race that is mostly used to soak up damage for the team.
*Earthquake - shakes enemy's screen.
*Broom of Velocity - increases your speed.
*Weapon of the Sorcerer - you may spawn with a Desert Eagle/M4A1 (30-50%)
*Lift off - gives ability to fly and regenerates your health (when you use your ultimate multiple times).

Possible setup: A lot of different setups work well with archmage, but my personal favourite is health/claw/lace.

Archmage can be used as offencive race quite well due to the ability to regenerate health, but it is even stronger defencively as it is able to retreat fast while also regaining health.

10. Flame Predator
A first knife only race - very strong, mobile and fun to play, although you do have to play it right.
*Berserk - additional health and speed.
*Cloak of Invisibility - partial invisibility.
*Levitation - reduced gravity.
*Claw Attack - gives a chance to force a weapon drop.
*Burning Blade - gives a chance that an enemy starts burning.
*Burning Inferno - you explode upon death (similar to undead ultimate).

Possible setup: again a variety works, but health/lace/claw generally works quite well.

Very strong race that kills most enemies with 1 backstab and has a wide variety of offencive skills. Very offencive, but not a head on race, if possible. Usable to the highest possible extent if it is played sneaky while going around the enemies and avoiding them and then coming from behind to finish and kill them. Takes some practise to learn, but it is a very strong race if used right.

11. Molecule
One of the strongest races in the server - and one of the most complained about races.
*Speed - pretty self explanatory.
*Electric Shock - extra damage.
*Evade - chance to evade shots.
*Force Field - ability to become invincible and not take any damage (you can't move during it).

Possible setup: anything goes for molecule, but survival is maximized by health/lace/helm.

Another race that is strong on both offence and defence, but the most damage can be done when played aggressively. Requires good awareness and reaction and an ability to foresee what will happen is also really helpful, but it's a very strong race even in the hands of a new player. Best played if you are the leading person from your team BUT still keep an eye on the ultimate as you don't want to be shot when your pants are down.

12. Genocide
DISCLAIMER: If you want to use this to its highest efficiency, you will DIE and you will DIE A LOT.
Another fairly early race, but very different from others. Skills are mediocre, but can be exceptional in certain situations.
*Regeneration - somewhat broken. You're supposed to leech life, but it barely happens.
*Genocide - extra damage.
*Grenades - extra nade damage.
*Deja Vu - after using the ultimate, you will go back in time after a specific time. Undoes death. *HIGHLY RECOMMENDED*

Possible setup: One of the most difficult decisions, but in general, I'd suggest saving money to at least buy be able to buy an ankh after round is done. Gloves are generally a great idea as is claw and ring.

One of the most difficult races to play it the right way (and most efficient way) both skill wise and psychologically. The player must not be afraid to die and right after using the ultimate should basically charge in attempt to do as much damage as possible? Did you die? No matter, you're back and you are almost ready to use the ultimate again. All of this means while you will get kills and help your team monumentally, you'll probably die a lot in the process. However, if played right, it can become a one man army (Just ask Cyber about Wolfenstinger at Assault). VERY strong race if a player doesn't give shit about the kdr.

13. Spider-Man
Another race that is very easy to play and is considered one of the strongest ones. It has bash, evasion and extreme mobility with speed, which makes it as one of the best rushing races in WCS.
*Spider sense - ability to evade shots and skills.
*Agility - gives long jump and speed.
*Web-shooters - you can bash your opponents.
*Weblines - ability to travel the map in mere seconds

Possible setup: One of the most common builds would be health, lace and claw/mask/ring (Dependent on the personal preferences and playstyles). Almost anything works with this race.

Almost any approach to this works as it requires little to no skill to play well (You do require some skill to be an exceptional spiderman). In general, rushing people from corners and then retreating to reload and heal works well. It's also best if you use the mobility and speed you have to attack, harass and kill other players fast and then retreating, which helps both you and your team.

14. Succubus Hunter
A vastly underrated and underplayed race, although slowly getting back to popularity. With the correct setup and good early game, can be nearly unstoppable late game in a vast majority of maps. Mobile race than can heal itself, level extremely fast and does extra damage.
*Headhunter - Succubus Hunter's signature skill: it allows to do extra damage, get extra experience and allows to collect skulls after killing someone.
*Daemonic Knife - allows to do insane knife damage which makes it a knifing machine.
*Totem Incantation - increases the amount of money and health gained from each skull.
*Assault tackle - allows longjumping.
*Daemonic Transformation - regain 50 health, gain stealth and reduced gravity. Consumes skulls. A possible maximum of 200 health.

Possible setup: A lot of different things work with succubus, but claw and socks I'd highly recommend along with a solid automatic gun.

Basically, this race allows for almost any type of a player to suceed as long as they can get kills. It can be quite adept at camping and cloak + ultimate is borderline broken, but it's speed, health and damage also allows to be super aggressive if allowed. Works best if ultimate is used for emergency situations only until you gain around 23-25 skulls as they allow you for more money and health while ultimate consumes them. A very strong and fun race which basically levels itself as long as you can actually hit people.

15. Panorama
Another underrated race that in the right hands with the right plays, it can cause a lot of havoc. It's a very unique race with its own signature skills that are not really like almost anything else seen in the server. Inherently, the race may seem weak at a first glance... And it is, but situationally, it can also be used to absolute destroy the other teams if played right. In order to play it properly, you have to level up your rematch and a blood mage or two are necessary in your team just so you could literally power through them. Your score may not be the best and you may have three times as many deaths as anyone else, but you should have plenty of kills and lots of xp too. Alternatively, you can play panorama like a troll race that it is - moving through objects suddenly uppearing high and low, flipping people's views and then sniping them a far with an UMP :O
*Wall Climb - this skill may sometimes disallow you to go up a ramp, but it also allows to go on boxes and various other objects without jumping, which makes it a situational, but a useful skill.
*Flip View - the main trolling skill which forces a lot of players to freak out and can even mess up really good players. It pretty much destroys your enemy's screen thus unless they know how to act under those situations, this can be an easy kill.
*Rematch - panorama's bread and butter skill: it gives a chance of a rematch procing after 8 seconds with you respawning with full health (but so does your enemy).
*Zoom - basically allows to zoom in with any gun even if it doesn't have a scope.

Possible setup: For this race, claw is an absolute must unless Zero ends up changing the increased proc rate from claws. Due to high mortality, you may want to always make sure you have enough money for claw/ankh and even scroll, but if you do like more items, my personal experience has shown that these tend to work well - boots, cloak, health, orb.

The main strength of this race, assuming your team can actually support you, is that you can play as a tank just go straight through the middle of room and while you will likely die, most of time you will bring victories to your team. Furthermore, in a very bad situation or a rematch loop, you can quickly change your race to a shadow hunter or some other strong invidividual race. Alternatively, if your support is bad, play much more conseravatively as unless you're a very good shot, you may sometimes end up dying 8+ times in a round with no kills and no support.

16. Vagabond

Possible setup:

17. Strider Hiryu

Possible setup:

18. Raiden

Possible setup:

19. Hell hunter

Possible setup:

20. Chameleon

Possible setup:

21. Hells Demon

Possible setup:

22. Magician

Possible setup:

23. Shadow of the Void

Possible setup:

24. Eye Ra

Possible setup:

25. Nebula

Possible setup:

26. Die Xonvert

Possible setup:

27. Beast

Possible setup:

28. Rapscallion

Possible setup:

29. Athena

Possible setup:

30. Dragon Fly

Possible setup:

31. Jack

Possible setup:

32. Vagalion

Possible setup:

33. Santa

Possible setup:

[Erdenay]

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How To Counter This Specific Race?

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1. Undead
Really depends on the race you play, but undead can be a bane race for many. In general, if possible try to limit their strengths, thus you wanted them to be able to use their speed and mobility against you and close range fights are normally not to be desired either (bar the close range experts) as life leech can cause you problems: all of this means that if at all possible, ambushing and picking them off works best and if you can't do that, tight quarters and tactical positions works best.

2. Human
One of the most difficult races to counter - thus the best way to play against humans is to be smarter and more patient than them. Going out to huge open spaces is like going to a death trap as you can easily get bashed - and thus you sign your death warrant. When fighting humans, be aware of your surroundings and don't be reckless as you want to spot them first (if possible) and get a first shot off. Due to their teleport ability, they are able to camp both common and uncommon spots, which means that you have to look at all possible camp spots (you'll end up learning those). Also, its best if you don't indicate you are coming, thus walking and being silent is essential. Using teammate as bait is recommended, although not completely ethical.

3. Orcish Horde
It's a fairly standard gameplay for orcs, so fighting them is a lot like playing regular CS, except you have to be mindful of nades as they are absolutely lethal. In general, orcs tend to camp and play defencive, thus shock attacks work best. Lace is recommend so you'd not take damage and give away your position. Camping the body after their death is also recommended as they tend to respawn.

4. Night Elf
Again, fairly standard gameplay, but here lace is essential as without you will get stuck which gives them and their teammates huge advantages over you. If you have low health and you can't leech life, it's best to avoid them.

5. Blood Mage
Just like against Night Elf, a lace is essential as their burning abilities give your spot away and impair your movement and aim. They also have banish which works fairly similar to bash (even thought it is NOT intended), which means that if you get shot first, it's fairly likely you will die. In general, Blood Mages also tend to stay back and revive their teammates, which means that if at all possible, they should be priority targets. Ambush, high damage and quick races tend to work best as races such as nebula, jack, spiderman can make easy work of bloodmage and fast. Expect to find them by the objective most of them, thus if you know there are some still alive, approach the objective with utmost carefulness.

6. Shadow Hunter
This may sound repetitive, but it is VERY difficult to beat a good shadow hunter without a lace. Anti-wards tend to be really useful as well. Due to their ability to go through molecules shield and regenerate life, they can take some damage, then sit back heal themselves and teammates and come back with full life, thus its best not to give them this chance. If not taken out, especially on the winning team, they can absolutely destroy the other teams, thus should again be priority targets. Be very careful of the wards, and if possible, try to pick them out from a distance. Once you learn their weaknesses, they're fairly easy to take out, but you have to do it fast as otherwise your team may suffer, which will lead to your own personal suffering.

7. Warden
Very easy to counter - when moling, camp the spawn and just line up a headshot as soon as they spawn. Typing raceinfo and noting whether there are any wardens also helps you with this tactic. If unchecked, moles can cause lots of collateral damage, but they are extremely easy to counter.

8. Crypt Lord
Another race that lace goes long way of negating. If you don't have one, you HAVE to rush as if you don't he'll only get stronger and you'll go weaker. If you do have a lace, they still tend to be able to regenerate life through your teammates, which means that leaving them alive causes problems. Furthermore, they tend to sit back and camp, which makes them difficult to get to. For the most part, treat them as humans/blood mages if you do have a lace while countering and that should help you (in theory) to dispose of them without too many problems.

9. Archmage Proudmoore
Just like the previous two races, it can regenerate health and it also able to retreat pretty quickly, which can make it into nuisance. Flying archmages tend to be easy targets for the picking and those won't cause many problems, but those who play it like human/crypt lord can be quite difficult to kill. Best way to get rid of them (just like crypt lords/bloodmages/humans) is to rush them and not allow them to retreat and regenerate health.

10. Flame Predator
This race can easily be your bane if you are not careful and you do not mind your surroundings. If you are careful and you watch the area around you, killing flame predators normally isn't that difficult, but you have to look both at front and back and LISTEN if you can hear fast footsteps somewhere around. In general, movement impairing or high damage races tend to work the best. AVOID close combat at all costs if possible.

11. Molecule
This race is one of the most difficult to counter, but there are several efficient ways to do so. Firstly, if the molecule is with the bubble, DO NOT SHOOT AT IT (unless you are a Shadow Hunter) - retreat so you'd be able to see the bubble, but so the person could not see you. As soon as it is over, rush it. Secondly, try to corner and rush as soon as the molecule used the shield as that's when it is vulnerable. If at all possible, try to fight it and lure it to the open areas - close spaces will tend to work for its advantages. If you get cornered and molecule enters the shield, try to run and duck for cover if possible. Another thing that you can do is switch to the Shadow Hunter and then lure them into wards/shoot through the shield. Another way that can work quite well is to disallow it to enter its shield (I.E. Sneak up with a lace) which can be done with vagas, flame preds, rapscallions or any fast/invisible race, although this does require teammates to help you quite often. Furthermore, high dps classes are always a great bet. Finally, you can always try to pick them off from the distance with vagas/humans.

12. Genocide
Be mindful of the races strengths - don't reload after just killing as it may come back in a second to finish you. In the right hands, this race can be VERY difficult to counter. Best way to do so is to predict where the Genocide used its ultimate and then try to kill as soon as its spawns so it would not come back. Also, you must be mindful of the nades as they are very powerful and can easily 1hit you.

13. Spider-Man
The biggest strengths of the spiderman are his ability to move through the map at extreme speeds AND the evasion, so most of the spidermen will tend to rush. Lace and helm tend to work wonders against them (most have p90s as the gun of choice). If you know that you will be rushed and you hear the weblines sound, prepare yourself and line up your shots so you'd be able to quickly pop them instead of running and giving them a chance to come from behind. Furthermore, you want to be aware of your surroundings as if you'll do that, you'll be able to know exact location of the spiderman incoming towards you. Having teammate support is another great idea.

14. Succubus Hunter
The main thing is that you do not want to GET KNIFED by it, so avoid that at ALL costs. In general, they are very weak at the beginning of the map, but get quite powerful towards the end and in general can be a pretty tough race to kill if played by good players, so early in the game, you may want to rush them and you should be able to get fairly easy kills. Late game, you may want to stick with your teammates and stick behind unless you're playing one of the most powerful races.

15. Panorama
This can be quite annoying as after killing it, rematches may screw you up big time if the team gets help or panorama switches race. In general, be ready to shoot and listen for the rematch sound. Flip view can absolutely rape your screen, but the main thing is that it actually doesn't change where you where aiming, so do NOT panic, attempt to kill the enemy and retread. Also, expect them to pop out at odd places and move very awkwardly. Once you get used to, panoramas are not hard to counter.

16. Vagabond
As far as the server is concerned, this is the most complained about race. Surely there's no way you can stop such an OP race? WRONG! With proper preparations, vagas (especially lions) are not difficult to counter at all. You can find almost everything there is to be known about vaga hunting in this thread right here (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10511-Slaying-the-Vagamonster) (written by Brett Farve), but you can read the short version here. Basically, the first and most important thing that you need to know is that your lace is the best friend you can get against vagas - a lot of them will get stuck very easily and you'll get a free kill with a lot of experience to go along with that. Some of the more experienced vagas, especially in more open maps will cause havoc (people such as Wolfenstinger, Spasm, etc.) thus in addition to a lace, you want to stay in tight spots, preferably where there is little room to maneuver. In general, staying out in the open is not the best idea even against vagas that are not that deadly, but playing out in the open against some is close to a suicide. You may ask then - how do I find them? Flashlight is a great friend to have against vaga even when they're not stuck as you can see their shadow by looking around and at the radar which means you want to shoot as much as you can. Another thing that may not be the best idea is blind spraying - while it does help you to get a kill every now and then, most of the better vagas will seldomly die from it and once you're out of bullets, you will be in BIG trouble. In general, there's much else that can be said about vaga slaying, but these are the basics. If you have any questions, feel free to ask here or visit Brett's thread (or just PM me). Also, races that can bash (human, spiderman, etc.) or races than can turn this race visible (Eye Ra) are also a good idea.


17. Strider Hiryu
This race generally doesn't cause many problems, but players who know how to use it can be quite problem. First of all, if you are fighting against strider, you have to remember than unlike dragonfly or archmage, a lace won't prevent them landing by you or just flying by and dropping wards - and since they fly without sound, you will not hear it coming either, which means you have to be mindful of the skybox. Furthermore, they fly really fast so they might be hard to hit, which means that you shouldn't just spray and pray and either wait till they land (which makes them easy targets) or wait till they get stuck (Unless you're an extremely good shot). What is more, good striders wont ever need to reload, so be mindful of that along with their ability to use a portal to disappear out of the danger. Watching uncommon places should be done as they can fly, land and camp at places where most races can't get to. They can be an annoying and frustrating race to kill, thus you have to be mindful of them. If they are left alone, they can cause a lot of damage, but as long as you keep them in mind, they shouldn't be too problematic.

18. Raiden
Raiden, along with nebula, are the two highest dps races in the game, which means that you do NOT want to get shot by it. Furthermore, raiden nades have increased efficiency and even if you have full life, it can still kill you, which means that you want to avoided that as well. A lace is another good idea as raiden's ultimate can easily zap you for 32 damage from a fair distance, thus if you don't a lace you'll experience even more damage. What all of these things mean is that you want to keep distance and if at all possible, pick them off before they can shoot you. In general, the regular strong races such as shadow hunter, molecule, human work well as you are able to shoot them before they can do any damage to you.

19. Hell hunter
This can be an extremely annoying race to counter. It's not strong by itself, but if the opponents use the map advantages, it can be a nuisance. This race can sky-walk, thus if you know there are hell hunters on the other team, I'd highly recommend keeping an eye above you as they can pop out at places no other races can get. Furthermore, searing arrows are very frustrating as they pretty much kill your ability to move and impairs the vision along with that. The main ways to deal with them is to avoid them and avoid open spaces (if you want to avoid them completely), or to kill them before they are given a chance to shoot you (which normally isn't that difficult). If you notice their duallies speed hack spraying, avoid them at all costs in close proximity as they are likely to hit you. In far away distances, you are likely not to be hit, thus you can pick them off, but the safest way to play is just to avoided them until their ultimate runs out.

20. Chameleon
Possibly one of the most difficult races to counter as you can't tailor your countering strategy to it as their skills always change. In general, camping the spawn for a possible mole is a good idea. Having a lace also tends to help as their ultimates can screw you up. Apart from that, you can't really specifically counter Chameleon, thus just play your game.

21. Hells Demon
Another race that may be difficult to counter - it has extra speed, health, damage while it can also return the damage. If it all possible, it's best to take them out as fast as possible as this race only grows stronger as the round continues (extra damage and health). It can easily have over 250 health at roughly mid-round, which makes it a very dangerous foe. If you have low health, it's best to stay away from them completely as killing them will kill you as well. IF that is not possible, playing races such as Shadow Hunter/Molecule/Nebula tend to work quite well as you want to be able to either ambush them or not take any damage. Just like against other strong races, races with high dps also work very well.

22. Magician
One of the easiest races to kill, unless it becomes an invisible crow. In general, any standard gameplay works against a non-crow magician. If you are actually fighting the bird, you must aim directly at the bird or if it not seen, aim BELOW the gun where the bird should be. Nades, wards, ultimates with damages, knives and spraying all work quite well in specific situations, thus tend to notice how the person with the bird is playing, what items is he getting and what playstyle he is using. If at all possible, it's recommend to stay inside, especially in places that a bird could get stuck, as it is easiest then to nade it or to spray it down.

23. Shadow of the Void
Unless you have a lace, this race is absolutely deadly (if you kill it, you are extremely likely to die and take teammates with you). If you do have a lace, this race should not be too much of a problem, barring that you should be aware that it frequently spawns with a lace and is capable of doing extra damage. Apart from that, standard gameplay applies.

24. Eye Ra
Another race that is pretty much negated by acquiring a lace. It still has evasion an ability to make you visible, but a lace negates its ultimate, which is the best weapon of the race. If for some reason you don't want or can't afford a lace, any race with wards or after death abilities work quite well. Another possibility is just to take a nade into your hands and explode with it after death, if you have extra nade damage (orc is one of the races). Finally, if you are getting summoned pre-shoot: that makes your survivability very likely.

25. Nebula
In general, this is one of the most difficult races to counter solely due to its skillset - it revives teammates, it tends not to rush, they can go completely invisible and have insane dps. First and foremost, if you ever see a pistol or a nade floating towards you - SHOOT! Just like with vagas, flashlight is your friend, thus you want to keep it on when going on a nebula hunt. In general, if you also see weapon fire in front of you - SHOOT! If you see a big red circle of smoke, cover yourself til its gone and then RUSH nebula before it can go invisible again. Also, races that can bash (human, spiderman, etc.) or races than can turn this race visible (Eye Ra) are also a good idea.

26. Die Xonvert
Very strong and underrated race. Far easier to kill when not in motion (all regular rules apply), but when it's going fast, controlled fire (especially if you can bash) works best as spraying tends to backfire against die xonverts. When trying to kill this race, most of the general rules (apart from the ones mentioned above) apply.

27. Beast
When maxed, this race is very strong. It has extra damage, capability of blinding you and setting you on fire while also having a very far distance teleport with negligible cooldown. It is at its strongest at offence and taking people by surprise, but it is very much fragile while in transition, thus its best if you can gun the beast before it can teleport towards or away from you. Ambush races or high evasion races tend to work quite well against the beast as well as you may either take away the mobility (which leaves the beast VERY average) or you may quickly finish it off without taking too much damage.

28. Rapscallion
In reality, pretty much any race counters rapscallion quite well and barring very few players, it's an easy kill with a significant amount of experience. In general, just paying attention to your radar, a flashlight, a lace and some attention to your surroundings tend to work like a peach.

29. Athena
A very powerful race if left unchecked. A lace is highly recommended as otherwise you'll be stuck and you'll be at a severe disadvantage as they know where you are and you won't be able to get away. Furthermore, athena's most of the time have laces and helms are very common too, thus it's normally best to aim at the BODY instead of the helm as that would do 0 damage to them. Furthermore, athena does a very significant dps as well which makes it a very powerful race if used properly. It's best to camp it out or rush it before it knows what hit it, if you have a lace (picking them off from distance works too). If you do not own a lace, you don't want to get close to them (barring shadow hunter and flying races, which can get after being trapped) and just pick them off from as far away as possible.

30. Dragon Fly
It starts with a free gun, can fly very fast AND after death, it tends to leave deadly sparks. In general, it's very strong at the first few rounds, but then influence tends to fade. Remember that they can't shoot you while flying thus a lot of time spraying may not work, as you'll have to reload and that's when you're an easy target. Closed, tight spaces tend to limit the efficiency very well as lace also doesn't allow them to land right by you. In other words, avoiding them at first may be a good idea as well as setting a trap in enclosed spaces.

31. Jack
Jack, in general, just due to the race abilities and skills is one of the hardest races to kill. If at all possible, high dps races and bashing races work best as that a lot of times lets you negate most of jack skills. Jacks are VERY mobile, VERY good at crowd control, they can regenerate health, have nearly unlimited ammo with AK, club you into the air and do high amounts of damage, which means that quick deaths for them work best as they tend to win out most encounters if they don't die straight away. If you're camping against them, nearly invisible races or bashing races work best as a lot of times otherwise you may miss the few first shots due to their motion and then just quickly die. Furthermore, going with a group tends to work well (as long as you don't line-up).

32. Vagalion
In general, most of the same rules apply as to vagabond except that it's just generally easier to lions. One important note and difference as that you DON'T want to get hit by the knife even once as with a crit, it tends to kill a very fair amount of players, thus it's best to avoid getting knifed - and one of the best things to do is to put yourself in motion once you see the white cloud just far enough so that lion would be stuck and you'd not get knifed.

33. Santa
One of the most difficult races to kill, especially on some maps (such as Crackhouse) as they are EXTREMELY fast, they steal health like no other and can revive teammates. The best counter is to just not engage them in the open and lure them inside where they'd lose their advantages. IF that is not possible, high DPS and bashing races work best, but you must be careful not to spray but do controlled shots and hopefully predict where the race will end up at.

[Erdenay]

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _______________________________________

Items

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _______________________________________

This is the conclusive list of all of the items present in the main WCS server (green) or just the test server (yellow) with explanations and suggestions. There are some other items in development from Zero (press here (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/5105-Test-Item-Tracker) to look at them), but they will not be listed until they become available in one of the servers. Another thing that is important that prices do vary (get cheaper) if your team is losing badly, so it is possible to fill all 3 item slots for under 3000 if your team is being destroyed, which gives you a great advantage.


Offencive
Claws of Attack - 2400$. (claw)
An item that tends to be vastly underrated - not only does it provide additional 6 damage to every hit, but it also can increase the proc chance for all the skills. This item works EXTREMELY well with races such as human or raps, as it makes their main skills proc much more, which is vital. Furthermore, that additional damage and skills proc are absolutely essential for low damage guns or races (it works great with pistols, TMP, etc.)

Mask of Death - 3200$. (mask)
A pretty useful item which gives 10% life steal, but due to the current inability of steal life over the races natural boundaries, that may not be quite as much as it seems, which means that ring tends to work better in most situations. Works best with races such as raiden, athena or nebula - i.e. races that do very high damage and that can benefit the most from it. Also a great item for vagabond and lion as they can't buy a ring and every hp matters.

Orb of Frost - 3500$ (orb)
Another item that is very underrated - it slows the speed when hit by 30%, which is a very significant reduction, especially for races such as flame pred, vaga, spiderman, etc. One of the main drawbacks of it is that it's an offencive item and in order for it to be efficient, accuracy must be very good, thus most people tend to prefer defencive items. Works best on races such as vagas, crypt lord, blood mage, etc.


Defencive
Anti-wards - 1500$ (anti)
The best item to have if you keep getting mauled by a strider or even a shadow hunter. It protects you from taking any damage from wards for 10 secs which is more than enough time to get out of the wards.

Necklace of Immunity - 3500$ (lace)
Perhaps the most essential item in the whole WCS - it negates other races' ultimate.It helps you to trap vagas, it helps to not get entagled by night elf, it helps you to shoot through shadow hunter's invulnerability. Highly recommended unless you're Wolfenstinger. (That includes you too, Masskid)

Helm of excellence - 3500$ (helm)
Another one of the so called "big 3" - it almost completely negates headshots (only 25% of the damage still go through) which essentially makes you able to withstand and not die from 1 hit (or an accidental headshot) and the best thing about it? It's passive.

Perliapt of Health - 3500$ (health)
The last item of the big 3. In a game where even 10 hp can commonly be a difference, 50 health is a HUGE decider. Possibly the best and "strongest" item in the whole game. Furthermore, this works WELL with any race, which just makes this as an overall a very good round for whatever playstyle you prefer.

Ring of regeneration - 3000$ (ring)
An extremely useful item which regenerates 5 health every 5 seconds (I.E. 1 hp per 1 sec, just a bit delayed) which means that you may be able to regenerate 120 hp and more which is basically like respawning. Underrated and very strong.



Enhancements
Amulet of the cat
Currently only found in the test server. More information when it will be released to the main server.

Boots of Speed - 3000$. (boot)
A utility item that increases the speed of the race. In general, it's most useful to those people who are really aggressive or people who want to use the race to it's max potential (such as nebula).


Ankh of reincarnation - 2500$. (ankh)
An item that allows you to respawn with guns that you've lost upon death. Doesn't work if you were blown up by a bomb. Would highly recommend using it only after the death and only right before the round ends in case you are respawned or you want to buy a scroll.

Sock of the Feather - 2500$. (sock)
Reduces the gravity you experience by 50% which drastically decreases your fall damage and increases your jumping abilities. Quite useful on race that have a long jump if you don't know how to b-hop well (Succubus/Jack)


Cloak of Shadows - 2500$. (cloak)
Decreases your visibility. Works best with races such as rapscalion, succubus and jack, but can be used by nearly any race. Depends on personal preferences.

Scroll of Respawning - 8000$. (cloak)
Decreases your visibility. Works best with races such as rapscalion, succubus and jack, but can be used by nearly any race. Depends on personal preferences.

Flamming Gloves of Warmth - 2500$. (gloves)
Gives nearly an unlimited supply of nades. Very useful if you like to use HE nades or your race has extra damage such Raiden or Genocide, although can be used by races such as human (to induce bash by nading) and a lot of others for unexpected and often surprising effects.

Mole - 8000$. (mole)
After first 6 seconds, you spawn in the enemy base disguised as them for 6 seconds. I am personally not a fan as good players normally easily kill all moles, but it can be done to devastating effect if the other team doesn't expect it (Office as flame pred) or if you want to troll (Shadow of the Void).



Others
Tome of Experience - 3500$. (tome)
Fully explained in leveling section, but basically tomes give you experience and is probably the fastest way to level .

[Rapedollar$]

whats going on here?

[Erdenay]

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _______________________________________

Helpful Threads and Good Information to know

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _______________________________________


If you are completely new, Acolyte's Guide is extremely helpful and informative - highly recommend reading it here. (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/7967-New-to-IBIS-WCS-Start-Here!)
General rules of the server here. (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/495-General-Server-Rules-1.7)
WCS rules right here. (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/2240-WCS-Rules)
Brett's wonderful guide of how to counter the vagabond and vagalion right here. (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10511-Slaying-the-Vagamonster)
Chef's very informative guide on how to properly file the threads for abuse or hacking and how to find, view and post the demo right here. (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/8582-Complaint-amp-DEMO-Tutorial)
Another Chef's post on the hierarchy of the IBIS - highly recommend. Can be found here. (http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/9478-For-the-love-of-F-%28-!-amp-GOD!-Read-This-BEFORE-Applying)

[Erdenay]

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _______________________________________

FAQ/Troubleshooting

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _______________________________________

Thanks for reading the main section of the guide. In case you have any questions, feel free to add me (steam://friends/add/76561198057686407) on Steam or send me PM in the forums. More likely than not I'll be able to respond in a timely fashion.

[Erdenay]

Contributors

Major Contributors:
Masskid

Minor Contributors:
Wolfenstinger
Sobobi
Zero
What

[Erdenay]

Changelog

v0.1 - Basic layout done.
v0.2 - Updated the basic strategies
v0.3 - Playing/Countering races started.
v0.4 - The whole thread moved into another space due to no space.
v0.5 - Added contributors, fixed a lot of grammar mistakes, updated information.
v0.6 - Updated layout, added the hyperlinks, updated information on countering/playing different races.
v0.6.1 - More minor changes.
v0.6.2 - Added the contributors, made changes to the title thread and updated countering/playing different races.
v0.6.3 - More information on the countering races.
v0.7 - Leveling guide done while counters have also been updated.
v0.8 - Finished countering section and nearly finished items section.
v0.8.1 - Finished item section and added additional races to How To Play section. Added a few details to the FAQ/Trouble-shooting section. Nearly done with the guide.

[Erdenay]

Okay, this should be all the space I'll need, so feel free to start posting.

[Rapedollar$]

dont call me a jewbag you jewbag! (pro insults from not quite awakeland)


... jewbag

[Erdenay]

dont call me a jewbag you jewbag! (pro insults from not quite awakeland)


... jewbag

It is known.

P.S. you can post now. I still need lots of formatting done here and probably won't get a lot of chances until Monday, but I've got all the space I needed (and possibly extra).

[Rapedollar$]

you would speak like a dothraki whore....

[acolyte_to_jippity]

you would speak like a dothraki whore....

ohmygodiloveyounohomo

[Wolfenstinger]

Wait wait wait... should I assist in the Vagalion guide for the server's usage?

[Masskid]

#9 in the wcs tips says buy 5 times when I think it should be tomes

[What]

Wouldn't it make more sense to have this as a searchable pdf rather than a forum behemoth.

[Erdenay]

you would speak like a dothraki whore....

You know nothing, whore.

[What]

I think you should have a list of commonly played maps and best strategies for them, or even just the best maps for certain races.

[Erdenay]

I think you should have a list of commonly played maps and best strategies for them, or even just the best maps for certain races.

Actually, this is a good idea. I'll probably add that after I'm done with the original plans.

[Erdenay]

v0.6.2 - has been released.

Changes: Added the contributors, made changes to the title thread and updated countering/playing different races.

[Sin]

you would speak like a dothraki whore....

They don't call me the Khal for no reason, son.

[Erdenay]

v0.7 is out. I've been very busy the last few weeks, so updates have been quite slow, but it is possible that the next week should be quite productive and I may be able to finish it next week, if all would go well.

Changes: Leveling guide done while counters have also been updated.

[CYBER]

Tom,
can u stop changing the TITLE of the thread?
everytime u change it, it looses the tinyurl link to the this page because the original url itself contains the title of this thread, and when u change the v.06 shit, it looses that page...

just an fyi.

[What]

Tom,
can u stop changing the TITLE of the thread?
everytime u change it, it looses the tinyurl link to the this page because the original url itself contains the title of this thread, and when u change the v.06 shit, it looses that page...

just an fyi.

ie, stop recording the version in the title

[Erdenay]

v0.8 is out. I finished countering section and nearly finished items section. Optimistically, should be done soon, but realistically it may take at least 2-3 more weeks til this is complete.


Tom,
can u stop changing the TITLE of the thread?
everytime u change it, it looses the tinyurl link to the this page because the original url itself contains the title of this thread, and when u change the v.06 shit, it looses that page...

just an fyi.

ie, stop recording the version in the title

I'll get it changed one more time to eliminate any versions barring the changelog. Thanks for noting that.

[Erdenay]

v0.8.1 is out. I've finished item section and added additional races to How To Play section. Added a few details to the FAQ/Trouble-shooting section. Nearly done with the guide.

[What]

Your spelling of offensive and defensive hurts my eyes, damn foreigners.

[Zackychuu]

I'll get it changed one more time to eliminate any versions barring the changelog. Thanks for noting that.
Just change the TinyURL link to have http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562 instead of http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562-The-Complete-Guide-to-WCS-or-How-Not-To-Be-A-Noob!-v0-6/page3
That way you can change the thread title as much as you want :)

[Zackychuu]

I'll get it changed one more time to eliminate any versions barring the changelog. Thanks for noting that.
Just change the TinyURL link (or get a new one) to use http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562 instead of http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562-The-Complete-Guide-to-WCS-or-How-Not-To-Be-A-Noob!-v0.6
That way you can change the thread title as much as you like :)

--

Also, I already made this post but it didn't show up...
So I made a test post and that did show up, so I just edited that test post.
For some reason my posts are getting auto modded :/

[CYBER]

Just change the TinyURL link (or get a new one) to use http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562 instead of http://www.ibisgaming.com/forums/showthread.php/10562-The-Complete-Guide-to-WCS-or-How-Not-To-Be-A-Noob!-v0.6
That way you can change the thread title as much as you like :)

--

Also, I already made this post but it didn't show up...
So I made a test post and that did show up, so I just edited that test post.
For some reason my posts are getting auto modded :/

There is already a tiny url link that i use to redirect all new people:
tinyurl.com/wcsguide

it works no matter what version this is.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
for those that keep asking me about hellhunter nades vs wards, this is maynard-sanctionned 5 minutes ago:


to summarize, grenades NOT equal to wards. You still CANT hunternade on TOP of hosties and bombsite, but CAN throw 1-2 into italy/nipper/crack houses, so long as they are : spread out from each other, not blocking all pathways to objective, AND not spammed into the house.

[What]

There is already a tiny url link that i use to redirect all new people:
tinyurl.com/wcsguide

it works no matter what version this is.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
for those that keep asking me about hellhunter nades vs wards, this is maynard-sanctionned 5 minutes ago:



Yes but as he has stated with both italy and crackhouse, you better make damn sure the smoke and fire nades dont hit and/or block the hosties on those maps, which can be really hard to do. Repeated "mistakes" are not allowed.

[Passarelli]

On crackhouse when I play hell hunter, I love tossing a fire nade into the side windows where Ts like to camp. I'll have to try it on Italy as T and use them defensively; throw a smoke or fire out front of the door to force people through the window.