Difference between revisions of "Playing tips"

Revision as of 03:26, 3 November 2010

1. While aiming is a valid skill, in most cases it is not required to be successful in Zap. Focus on learning tactical abilities, maneuvering, and shield use over sharpshooting.

2. Determine and seek your goal. Is it simply to kill opponents? Is it to capture the enemy's flag? Are you trying to retrieve flags from the opponent's base, or defend your own? Random dogfighting (except maybe in Bitbash) should be avoided; you should always focus on your goal, set yourself or a teammate up so that you can achieve it, or prevent the enemy from achieving theirs.

3. In Hunters or other combat-oriented game, remember that you can't always take out every opponent that comes along. If your energy or health is low, or if you're not confident in your ability to defeat a challenger, it may be best to retreat; let your energy recover, or find a repair item, so you can return to combat in a better state.

4. Don't spend undue time on repair. Many better pilots choose to eschew it completely, leaving their bases derelict after several exchanges; it is often better to focus working towards the goals of the game. If you absolutely can't live without some form of repair, it may be wise to avoid repairing items much beyond a minimum; it may perform the task of distracting an opponent, doesn't cost you too much time if it doesn't, and it can be built up to higher levels later.

5. While communication with teammates can be valuable if used effectively, it is generally safe to assume that your teammate knows what to do. The occasional message may prove useful, but don't overdo it.

6. Think of mines as investments rather than weapons. Many better players regard them as nuisances, and are irritated by them, but are not particularly slowed down -- all the same, during a lull in the action, consider placing some mines in annoying places. Where would you least want an obstacle to be in your normal flight paths? Place it there for your opponents. It can be useful to have some mines on your side. Everyone slips up sooner or later.

7. A safe weapon arrangement for any situation is phaser/burst/mine. You can exchange any of these as you like; phasers provide overall combat use, bursts are helpful for clearing out or annoying opposing players, mines are handy little hindrances. Bouncers should be avoided; they lose the main advantage of the phaser, low energy cost, for a little extra firing time, and bouncing, something that bursts can do as well. Triples can be okay at close-range, but you usually won't have your enemy at point-blank, and there are better ways to handle immobile objects.

8. Modules: for common use, is turbo/shield; turbo provides you a speed boost, which can be helpful almost anytime, and shielding is invaluable because of its protection against enemy fire. Repair is an OK module if the level has no repair items, or you have no need of extra speed, but it shouldn't be used to replace shields. Sensors allow for spy bugs, and may be a valuable boost for team play, but may prove less useful for lone wolves, and in the case of teams, probably no more than one or two people at a time should have it. Cloaks are very valuable defensive boosts, but are fouled by sensors. Still, if you want the element of surprise, cloaks will usually provide that; they are probably better for solo players than team, since you can be seen in team play if you're holding a flag, cloak or no.

9. Keep practicing, playing against stronger players when you can. It may be frustrating in the short-term, but you will improve.