Minefield
Description |
A cautious captain would advise you to mind your flying when the skies are full of hovering hazards. But caution never won any battles! Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
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What makes this special? |
All weapons are Mine Launchers. Both teams can only have one instance of each ship class, but Galleons, Goldfish, and Spires are banned entirely. What's not to love?
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Appropriate Map Modes |
-Deathmatch
-VIP Deathmatch -Crazy King -King of the Hill -2-Team Brawl -1-Team Brawl |
Ships Allowed/Required |
Required:
-Junker -Mobula -Pyramidion -Squid In a team composition, there can be no repeats of any ship. |
Ships Prohibited |
All except above
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Weapons Allowed/Required |
Required:
-Phobos Mine Launcher |
Weapons Prohibited |
All except the above
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Classes Allowed/Required |
1st Slot: Pilot
2nd Slot: Gunner 3rd & 4th Slots: Engineers |
Classes Prohibited |
None
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Pilot Tools Allowed/Required |
All
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Pilot Tools Prohibited |
None
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Repair Tools Allowed/Required |
All
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Repair Tools Prohibited |
None
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Ammunition Types Allowed/Required |
All
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Ammunition Types Prohibited |
None
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Tips and Strategies |
Mines are extremely difficult to master, but the variety of ships and ammunition types can allow success even to those who are not parabolic wizards. If your team has a newer pilot or an unskilled gunnery staff, you probably want to give them first or last pick of the available ships. Why? Consider the following...
Junkers bristling with Mine Launchers are a fairly common sight in public matches. Because these "Munkers" can deploy a maximum of 25 concurrent mines from multiple angles, a talented crew can be devastating to the enemy. It would be best to give this ship to a captain and crew in which you have great faith. Conversely, the Junker is an easy ship to pilot and quite resilient, so giving it to a novice pilot isn't a terrible idea. Do you want a supremely effective ally, or one that isn't a liability? The Mobula is also a natural choice because of its vertical mobility and similar ability to deploy many mines simultaneously. However, a "Minebula" can be tricky to pilot because, well, it's a Mob, so giving this ship to a new pilot can be disasterous. Good pilots might want to take the Junker, but they need to take the Mobula. It's more difficult to offer advice on the Squid and Pyramidion. The Pyramidion is a very straight-forward ship to fly (literally and figuratively), so good pilots can use it to great effect if their crew mates know when to launch mines and when to hold fire. Pyramidions are fated to ram the enemy, but it's hard to do that with a mine field in your flight path. Pillots too big for their britches are asking for trouble when at the helm of a "Pyra-mine-ion." Hey? Hey? No? Fine. Squids can be used to great effect when deploying mines under the direction of a talented pilot, but these swift ships are also great at simply avoiding the battle. It's almost tempting to put your most green pilot, with the hope that he or she can just avoid destruction, in command of the "Squine." I'm sorry. The ammunition types that alter the Mine Launcher's normal deployment range are Lesmok, incendiary, and Lochnager (yes, greased and heatsink ammo will place the mines at a distance somewhere between what you'd get by using normal and incendiary ammo, but they also reduce damage, so it isn't considered worth it). It's also important to note that using normal ammo isn't a bad thing and that direct hits are undesirable. You want the mines to deploy and then explode in the vicinity of an enemy to do the most damage, so put them near bad guys; in predicted flight paths, to the sides of ships, above, below, etc. Each Mine Launcher can only deploy five mines at a time, and once a sixth mine is deployed, the first will detonate, potentially detonating other mines and causing a chain reaction. You can use this to your advantage or inadvertently destroy an entire minefield that could have protected you. Finally, it's worth remembering that the effects of Impact Bumpers persist for 5 seconds after the tool is deactivated. This can be used to a pilot's advantage by "juggling" it; that is, activating the Bumpers for a moment and then quickly switching back to a different tool. Also, be aware that mines will damage allies, so be careful of friendly fire! Advise your crew mates to hold fire if you're endangering an ally. |