[Guide] (NC) Infiltrator tips and tricks

Discussion in 'Infiltrator' started by Raraldor, Oct 2, 2013.

  1. Raraldor

    So I did a write up for my outfit on infiltrators and have been using snippets of it to answer people's questions recently. So I just decided to say **** it and post the whole guide. Only the weapons are an NC only guide. The rest is just certs and whatnot.

    Infiltrator tips & tricks

    Alright, so right off the bat I want to say that I don't care about weapon's stats or anything like that for infiltrators. Each weapon has it's place and I'll be explaining that instead of it's power, velocity, or it's inability to be an all encompassing weapon.

    So if you want to be a great Infiltrator there are a few things you need to know right off the bat, and you will need to consistently remind yourself as you play for a couple weeks.

    1: You're squishy. I don't mean like you simply cannot tank, I'm talking serious squishyness. Like, banana levels here, getting any amount of hurt is almost as good as dieing.

    2: You are NOT invisible, even when standing completely still. Basic stealth tactics are still paramount even if you have a cloak.

    3: You will suck. If you are just starting out and are thinking to grab your bolt driver and head out to pop some heads, it's not as simple as you'd think. In fact, focus on body shots to start off.

    Now Infiltrators have a rather encompassing set of weapons and tools, so I'll separate it into weapons, cert paths, and then go into tactics

    The Infiltrator's weapons



    Long range Sniper rifles:

    The base NC sniper rifle, the Bolt Driver is a perfectly fine bolt action sniper, you don't really need a replacement. There are better ones sure but hardly worth spending the certs on.

    If you want to be a serious sniper and you plan on using it lots, go ahead and get one of these snipers.

    EM4 Longshot: It's damage is exactly the same at range, 50 more damage close range (under 10 meters) and it's bullet velocity is 100 meters faster than the Bolt Driver's 550 m/s.

    LA80: This gun boasts only 50 m/s faster velocity while having a shorter reload time.

    Out of these two I'd recommend the Longshot over the LA80. It's simply better.

    As a general rule I do not recommend semi-auto sniper rifles at ranges further than 150 meters. They fire faster and stay in scope yes, but the amount of shots needed (3 at the minimum, not counting basic armor or hp upgrades) is just too much for long range sniping. The Gauss SPR is literally your only choice for long range semi auto snipers if you do choose to use one.

    Mid Range Sniper/Scout rifles:

    If you want to go for a mid range sniper rifle, both the SAS-R and the Impetus are great snipers and it depends more on play style and the situation you are in as to which is better.

    SAS-R: The SAS-R is a carbon copy of the Bolt driver, without it's base 6x scope. This allows you to put smaller scopes on it for a much better time mid range. Stick a 3.4x/4x sight and you're ready to go.

    Impetus: The Impetus is a semi auto sniper rifle just like the Gauss SPR, again without the base 6x scope.

    AF-6 Shadow: Now Semi Automatic Scout Rifles boast a slightly higher, but noticeable, fire rate while losing a large amount of damage. The Shadow is exactly this, and although it has similarities with the Impetus, it's a completely different weapon that excels in different situations. While the impetus is a 3 shot kill at best compared to the scout rifle's 4-5 shot kill, you are not going to want to take the Impetus with you while attacking a satellite base or defending/attacking a more open facility (like a tech plant) if you have this at your disposal. It's fire rate is just too useful, to you and to the squad.

    AF-18 Stalker: The Stalker used to be the best cqc weapon in the game for NC Infiltrators before the Blitz and Cyclone were introduced, but is still decent at CQC. The reason it's in the mid range list is due to the fact that it is still good enough at mid range, but not as good as the Stalker. It sacrifices a bit of mid range for better close quarters potential, which some people prefer. They are best used in areas where you can effectively stay just on the edge of battle. Find a bush to hide in and let loose with an NV scope attached.

    Submachine guns(CQC): Honorable mention goes out to the Desperado for good cqc weapons.

    so to start this off I want to make one thing clear. Do not go charging in without a plan while using any smg. You will kill one or two guys sure, but if there does happen to be two or three, you have better chances of dieing before you even aim at the second man, assuming they are paying attention.

    Blitz GD-10: This weapon is a close quarters beast. You can take out two guys in a point room, and still have enough for the one guy running up the stairs to it to reinforce the area before you really even need to think about reloading. The guys won't even know what hit them when done right.

    AF-4 Cyclone: At ranges of 6 meters or less, where you actually want to use smg's, the Cyclone has the exact same damage as some LMG's while boasting 652 rounds per minute, over 70 rounds more, which adds up more than an extra bullet per second. So why isn't this a close quarters beast like the Blitz? It's lastability is pretty gimped due to it's 25 round magazine capacity. Even with the extended magazine you only have 37 or 38 rounds, which you'll go through pretty quick with the fire rate it has. Keep in mind it's short reload is rather fast though, only 1.75 seconds, so if you utilize cover the ammo capacity will be less of a problem, but still a problem. While it's extra damage versus weaker fire rate adds up to a very minimal TTK boost, I'd recommend the Blitz over this one in every scenario, unless your accuracy is spot on.

    NS-7 PDW: For some reason I missed this smg the first time around making this guide. The PDW is an odd smg that doesn't perform incredibly well in close quarters, but it's faster muzzle velocity and better damage mid range makes it a decent all around weapon. It has many similarities with the Cyclone and is sort of a middle ground between our two faction specific submachine guns, boasting a higher fire rate and a larger magazine size than the Cyclone.

    Pistols

    Though the Mag Shot is a decent enough pistol, you're going to want to buy another if you want better chances of surviving a close quarters encounter while you have your more mid range centric weapons. I'm not going into the flare gun as I do not have it.

    LA8 Rebel: This gun is more of a finishing pistol than an actual contender in a fight. It gives up a bit of fire rate for more damage compared to the mag shot. This is something you'd carry when using an SMG or automatic scout rifle.

    LA3 Desperado: Basically stolen from the TR, this gun is a great CQC option if you aren't carrying our SMG. It's two round burst makes for a good amount of damage real quick, and when combined with a knife it has a pretty good TTK. This is what I recommend carrying if you're going to be using a semi automatic scout rifle, or any sniper rifle. Keep in mind though that unless you utilize your knife, chances are you won't be able to kill two guys due to it's 14 ammo capacity.

    NS-44 Commissioner: Now if you really want a pistol for finishing people off and your aim is above average, definitely get this pistol over the Rebel. It's damage is crazy high for a secondary, but fires even slower than your semi automatic sniper rifles. If you miss two shots you were better off just reloading your gun more than switching over to this, so only if your aim is very good do I recommend this for mid range fights.

    NS-357 Underboss: roughly the same idea as the commissioner here. It doesn't hit as hard, but is more forgiving for a missed shot. This is a decent weapon to use, but it's main use is overshadowed by the commissioner in my opinion.

    Alright, that pretty much covers the weapons, now into the more important ****, your certs.

    Your first 300 certs


    Your first few hundreds certs spent are decided on how you want to play this class, and as such I'll seperate each type of playstyle.

    Long range sniper

    Restoration kits: Spend 30 certs on these. You're going to be far out of the main battle, where medics won't be. You need to be able to keep yourself alive when you take fire.

    Advanced Shield Capacitor: spend 41 certs here, so you can get back up quick after taking a bit of damage from enemy snipers or any enemy for that matter.

    Recon Detect Device: Spend 80 certs here, getting it up to rank 2. Even though you're far from the main battle you will want to be able to help your squad out, and protect yourself from people who have spotted you.

    Supressor: 100 certs will get you this. It's a rather straightforward decision to get this besides a second restoration kit for the same price. Staying hidden is a big deal and this helps immensely.

    Mid range infiltrator

    You are getting closer to the main battle now, it's important to stay hidden for as long as possible should you need to switch positions.

    EMP grenades: At 200 certs, this being one of the first things you buy as a mid range player seems a bit steep, but it's certainly worth it for when you have to enter a small area with a pistol out.

    Nanoweave Armor: Spend 66 certs here, getting yourself an okay hp upgrade.

    Advanced Equipment Terminal Hacking: Spend just 1 cert in here for a bit faster hacking, one cert isn't much and it's a nice thing to have.

    Close Quarters Infiltrator

    The main thing you want to do here is get an SMG, basically as soon as possible. To help you out with that goal though, it may be wise to spend some certs on a few things

    Nanoweave Armor: Spend 66 certs on this for now, with the intent of maxing this later on. It will give you slightly more hp, enough to survive a bullet, which is very nice for your banana-like bruising capabilities.

    Recon Darts: Spend 80 certs on this. These are damn useful, even on low levels. Be sure to remember that these do not update in real time, so when a guy comes near don't just wait till his dot is right in front of the door or your face will be full of lead/lasers/pellets before you even raise your weapon.

    Advanced Equipment Terminal Hacking: go ahead and spend 81 certs on this if you're planning on rolling with a squad. It may seem like a trivial thing, but I can't name the amount of times I've been able to help out the squad by hacking a turret or vehicle terminal and getting some AA up to scare people away, or a Sunderer deployed nearby.

    As time goes on

    As for certs past 300 it's more up to a matter of preference. I can name some things that will help with every playstyle though.

    Long range

    If you are going to go about this for the long haul, the Longshot or LA80 would be a good buy, it's pricy though so other things may be of more use.

    Bouncing Betty's may be more geared toward close to mid range infiltrators but it's still a nice thing to have to protect yourself from pesky people rushing toward you.

    If you want another scope range I'd suggest getting it early on in order to get yourself better acclimated to it's range compared to the base 6x scope they start you out with.

    Mid range

    You're gonna need to buy a weapon to be real useful mid range. Refer to the previous section for which one you'd like. Other than that you're pretty much set with maxing out what you already spent certs in, and get bouncing bettys. Always get bouncing bettys.

    Close quarters

    Get an SMG, as soon as you can.

    You should get EMP grenades asap for an assault into any small area, and bouncing bettys are great defense. You should work toward both of these things as soon as you buy an SMG and advanced laser sight.

    Tactics

    Infiltrators, no matter how you play them, need a good deal of quick reactions and twitch aiming in order to win out in a battle closer than 40 meters. Some ways to deal with this are some basic mind games in order to get the edge on your opponent.

    One way is to simply go to someone and shoot them a bit, run behind a corner, wait for .5-1 seconds, and turn the corner and fire. Chances are that basic reactions to this would be to take chase and reload, giving you the perfect time shoot them a bit more, and kill them with your knife. While it's simple in theory, doing it correctly and at the right time is a bit tricky.

    One of the harder ways, that comes with time, is noticing an enemy in the corner of your eye while running toward/out of a building. Simply keep running toward, or out of, the building as if not seeing him. Not once will a guy who sees you not give chase, unless in a large battle where he is distracted. He'll give chase and you'll be ready for him while he's sprinting. He'll be taken by surprise and you'll get a few shots in and knife him before your shields are even down sometimes.

    Other than outhinking your opponent, you can out maneuver him, in a way. As long as you aren't in a confined space you can close the distance by running to the left or right, cloaking, and quickly turning the opposite direction. Doing this gives the illusion that you would continue in one direction, while in reality you're 5 meters in the other in a second. Much more often than not, he'll keep shooting where he thought you went, and you'll have plenty of time to do whatever you want. Then it's just a matter of getting closer (or further depending on your weapon), taking aim, and killing him quickly.

    As for fights inside buildings, where it's arguably the most important place to be, you're definitely at a disadvantage. If you have a squad you are better off killing any reinforcements while your friends clear the area of enemies. If you're alone or no one is nearby or there are only 2 guys, fire a recon dart. You generally see them as people are always on the move even when camping in this game, hell, when you see no one is when you should be worried. At this point in time it varies greatly on what type of building you are in as what to do next.

    • If you are in a building with 2 rooms on the second floor, both with access to the roof, you want to enter from the room no one is in, go upstairs to the roof, and come downstairs into their room. They generally don't expect it and as such you'll catch them by surprise. Another option here is to go straight up the stairs into the room they are in, kill one guy without completely entering the room and exposing yourself, and running back down. Gauge the other's reaction (if there are a few people) and depending on where he goes depends on where you go. Enter whatever opposite room they are now guarding.

    • If you are entering a room with a ramp outside, and an entrance on the bottom floor, take the bottom floor entrance while cloaked, and get up to the top of the stairs, just high enough to see into the room and see what's going on for yourself instead of just seeing red dots. Once you see what is where go back down and throw an EMP grenade. You only have a few seconds before their shields are back to full, so kill the enemy in this order:
      Medic
      Heavy
      Infiltrator
      Then whatever is left. The reason it's in this order is because medics always take priority, no matter what. If they are down others can take the rest and they are gone for good. Heavies and infiltrator are next as the EMP grenades bring down both their shields and abilities, leaving them incredibly helpless.

      Now there is a reason my little slogan is victory through superior intel, because that is exactly what the infiltrator is about, gather intel and then act. You are given the tools to do this, and it's even more important than your cloak in many cases. Not using these tools will severely hinder or even halt you and your squad's progress. It's incredibly important to learn to use your recon darts often and effectively.
    And that's pretty much it, that's everything I can think of to mention about infiltrators and how to use them to their highest potential. A few more tips for you snipers though.

    Do NOT stand on the top of a mountain or hill. You are perfectly silhouetted against the sun, or even moon, and a real easy target for anyone who wants to kill you.

    Take your time to aim your shots when you can. Quick scoping isn't really a thing in this game, and you shouldn't act like it is. You need to gauge how fast the guy is moving, and how far away they are, before you shoot or you'll likely miss.

    When using a semi auto sniper rifle, definitely use the forward grip. Get it as soon as you can after you buy the gun. It's a huge help.

    If your squad needs you to hack something, just go down and do it. It's a gigantic help and something that could win you the base much easier.

    Alright that's it for me. Happy hunting.


    Edit: one thing I forgot to mention. Though I've been sort of bashing the cloak in this entire guide, it's still very good. In more open areas if you stay in a person's periphery you will have a MUCH better time closing distance or just completely ignoring the guy. Never run straight at a guy while cloaked, it's just not a great idea.
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  2. Raraldor

    Holy **** this looks a lot longer on this forum than it did on ours. At any rate it's categorized nicely if you don't want to read the whole damn thing
  3. AnuErebus

    Some small things.

    SAS-R isn't a direct copy of the Bolt Driver. It has a faster rechamber time, a slightly better reload speed and worse bullet velocity (500 whereas the Dirver has 550).

    Cyclone extended mags give it ten more bullets increasing the mag size to 35.

    There might be more little inconsistencies that I missed, I more or less skimmed the thing but those two stood out to me pretty quickly as incorrect.

    Also, I don't think you mentioned the recon dart. That's a major help not only to yourself but to the team in general. Dart spam is one of the infils most useful attributes in a fight. I'd suggest emphasizing that to anyone new to the class. The sooner you get used to using it a lot the better off you'll be overall.
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  4. Raraldor

    The recon darts didn't get their own spot, but I recommend them in many places, both in the tactics and certs sections. I went off the wiki for the extended mags and it said 50% of the mag, which is 25. So I thought it would give 12 or 13 extra bullets. Thanks for clearing that up.
  5. Topher

    I feel like posting a video guide for Infiltrators, because people often do not take the time to read text, and thanks for the info on NC stuff because now I can include that into my guide without having to look it up on my own, but t]for the Vanu section I will have to look up their stats.
  6. Raraldor

    No problem lol, you'll need to look up the statistics if you want those though
  7. Plague Rat

    Just something I'd like to contribute to this, more of a tip than a tactic exactly: When sniping while moving.

    The general consensus is "don't," and for good reason with sniper rifles having by far the worst movement CoFs making the chances of the shot actually going where you aim pretty bad. But there's a hitch that often goes overlooked. It's only so while standing.

    While crouching it's very much in line with what one could expect form an assault rifle, making such shots very possible. This won't be particularly feasible or even necessary for longer ranges, but around 75m or closer, ranges where you might be making shots under fire. I'd go so far as to say then when moving hitting your crouch button is more important than holding your breath.

    Not only does it tighten up your CoF but can cause enemies harder to hit you if you use CTRL for a press crouch rather than C for a toggle only to make the shot, then release to return to your full movement speed, and helps make up for some of the direct combat deficiencies of the weapons when you find yourself in such a situation.
  8. Larolyn

    Personal preferance for SMG infiltrator, Advanced Shield Capacitor. 6 second shield recharge saves me more than the 250 health boost does. Plus it's a bargain to max out at 341 cert points.
  9. GlueHead

    Really enjoyed reading this and I agree with a lot of things :)
    ...but, here comes my two cents.

    Long range sniper:

    Using a supressor for snipers is just a waste of 100 certs. If you are a long range sniper you stay away so you won't show up on the enemies minimap and therefore the supressor is a "no no". And the supressor will reduce the velocity of the bullet...

    As a sniper you are kind of a lone wolf. So I rather suggest the ammo belt instead of the ASC or any of the other options.

    Close Quarter Infiltrator

    As a CQ infiltrator I suggest the supressor since you are close to the enemy. So stay hidden is the key.

    Nano or ASC - that is the question indeed.
    I tried them both and I stick with ASC in this case since the shield is 50% or your life - that will always regenerate.
    But when you are empty on restoration kits...you probably gonna die. The shield will always regenerate - but not your life.
    Or we can say this...if you roll with Bouncing Bettys - choose the ASC, if not: stick with nano (or flak or whatever) and your restokits.
  10. Raraldor

    Well even when long ranged sniping people will be looking for you, so the suppressor is a nice thing to have. Maybe I was wrong to put it in your first 300 certs portion, but eh it's a matter of opinion.

    I'm of the mindset that you're going to be so close any way that it's a boon to have people know your general area. The recon darts are amazingly helpful in this situation. They run toward you and you just flank (jump out of the building or whatever). I'm not bashing the useful of suppressors close range, they're just not for me.

    Yeah, nanoweave and advanced shield capacitors are always a tough choice to make lol. Both are pretty useful close range.