I Lone Wolf. I help my fellow TR as much as possible, but i go where I am needed. I don't bother ghost-capping, I go where the action is. The kind of group you are talking about is something I would be interested in joining.
Considering most of us snipe, what self-respecting infiltrator wouldn't? That's the funny thing about the infiltrator: we love being around people but we prefer to work alone.
I've found that "Spec Op Squads" usually means 6 ******* with SMGs Ghost capping. and just running away when anything good shows up. People always say theirs is different. It is never different.
I also play alone but I always try to help all my teamates. I snipe the most threatening targets, I spot, I take players on my Flash or Sunderer, I hack, etc.
In my Squad i feel quite Useful, and i belive i am a important part of the squad. I am the one, who check if it's safe for my team to follow me. I am the one, who spam the recoon-darts to highlight ennemys on the map I am the one, who hack the terminals so my team can deploy some sunderers Ok when I am sniping, i feel less useful, but even then, i am telling my team where the enemy is, and what are they going. Information is everything! Everything is possible without an inf, but with an inf, some aktions are easier.
I make it my buisiness to attack the enemy, from the opposite direction of where the rest of my outfit/squad/platoon is attacking them from. I'm staying away from my teammates as much as I can, because they are attention magnets, and they're just as likely to shoot me as the enemy sometimes. I'm fortunate enough, to be in an Outfit that give me total freedom in regards to allowing me to go, where I think I'm most effective. I keep an open line in communication, and listen to what the rest is doing. I try to respond to requests for hacking stuff, but in general I'm moving ahead of my team, providing platoonlead information about upcoming objectives, or threats. Knowledge is power. Just because I'm not near my team, doesn't mean I'm not supporting them. I try to keep their approach clear of enemy snipers, turrets, and other shizzle that's more easily shot if I'm behind them. And it doesn't matter where I am, in regards to firing Recon Darts. I know where my team is headed, I know where recon darts will help them most, and I know where to position myself so I know when new sunderers/tanks are coming in, before platoonlead does. Most of the time, my teammates don't even know where the hell I am, but they do notice the blips appearing on the map, and enemy turrets suddenly stop firing. Sometimes this gives very amusing moments, where I headshot someone, saving my teammate, and getting a "Thanks Scan" even when I'm nowhere near him. "Finger of God" baby!
Haha - bad things happen to good people Scan! But back on topic, couldn't agree more with Scan's post and I think this is probably why I enjoy the game as much as I do. You don't have to be stood next to your squad mates to be assisting them with this class, and a lot of the time they won't even realise your contribution. I think the contribution an engi or medic makes is just more obvious to most players (afterall they put their name on your screen!) but that doesn't bother me. I'm in the same outfit as Scan, so have similar experiences. Being given the freedom to operate as best you can within the confines of the squad or platoon objectives is the key. Backing that up with good communication (both ways) then makes everything so much easier. It doesn't always go right and we all have bad days but it works well far more than the time it doesn't. I started off lone wolfing and sometimes do a bit of it every now and then, but find the game is vastly improved by being part of an outfit. It just comes down to what you want out of the game and then finding an outfit that suits your playstyle.
I lone wolf with my Inf and LA (although I'm finding far more success with my Inf). I'm married with a 2 year old and often times, that's the best way to get bang for my buck on time constraints. Hit that instant action button and get to work flanking and shooting people in the back of the head with my SMG. (I am bad @ sniper rifles and prefer sneaking up on people anyways). That's not to say I don't join my outfit or other platoons. When I do, though, I'm playing Combat Medic because I feel more comfortable with that role when working with a team.
You aren't alone in this. I don't take orders well when I'm playing my Infiltrator, largely because my squad leaders don't understand how to make the best use of me. When I join a squad as a sniper I get one of two orders; "Go hack terminals/turrets," or "Switch to (insert class here)." So, since disobeying a direct order is out of the question in my book, I simply don't run with squads or platoons unless it's with friends. That's when my utility as a sniper really starts to shine through - when they let me play my class in the way I'm most effective. Sadly this is rare, so I usually just lone wolf and do what I do best. It's a thankless job, really. I wish more people understood the usefulness of a good sniper.
OPs second point is most obviously the reason for lone wolfing. I run infil mostly and am always involved in close squad cohesion.
I prefer to go lone wolf too. It's contrary to my army training (one man is no man i.e. dead for lack of backup), but these games just promote outright stupid gameplay due to quick respawns and I don't like dying. Every time I roll with a zergfit my KDR gets ruined and I get p*ssed off.
Dedicated Infiltrators are the strong silent type (think Snake Eyes from GI JOE). That said, in this communication age where senseless yammering is the norm, Infiltrators are bound to be alone. Not completely though, they can be very useful in groups as mentioned previously. Don't feel bad for wanting to Lone Wolf, it's the nature of the class. Quite "cool" too, if you ask me. I too am on the look out for dedicated covert ops outfits. Most I run into however don't even use in game chat or focus on the same objectives. Perhaps they just don't exist?
I love to play infiltrator. I will lone wolf it at times if I think I can be more productive on my own. For instance, trying to keep a territory in capping mode so the next territory over can't be capped, or have its generators overloaded. I think my preference though is to be in a squad. I use a longshot with ammo suit + 2 heals, an smg with nanoweave + 2 betties, have hacking and sensor dart maxxed out. If sniping at a distance, my sensors can still reach a useful location most times. I may not always one shot, one kill, but if I can soften the target before they reach my squad, I've still been useful. I can also take out engineers as they try to repair armor. I often try to keep a sensor going underneath the sundy, hopefully catch the suicidal engineer or acrobatic light assault. With the SMG, I can be pretty deadly. There have been times I've cloaked right through an entire squad of enemies and made it to point (hopefully buying us a little time). Or I can get through and harrass them from another angle hoping to draw attention away from their spawn camp. I use my sensor darts very liberally, and try to keep a vast area plastered during caps. We now get xp for kills within range of sensors, and I tend to think it really helps the squad stay on top of things. The area covered and number of darts available also helps when I solo a cap. Naturally, hacking is very important. It should be a priority so you can hack before some well-intentioned pyromaniac destroys it. I also sometimes like keeping one territory ahead of the platoon to pre-hack what I can, generally get things ready. Every squad should always have at least one infiltrator who loves his/her trade! Edit: in response to the yammering comment on the post above... yes, it can be really annoying when I need to hear enemy footsteps! Or am just generally trying to stay zoned in. I use the mute option A LOT. If the conversation is constant and not one I need to hear to do my job, mute they go. It is sometimes the only way I can run with a squad.
First off, I love this thread, it really brings up some great points about the strengths and weaknesses of the class, and how others perceive it. I played a mostly lone-wolf style, farming high pop fights for kills from release up until early April. I was in outfits, but often did my own thing. Then I joined BWC (Black Widow Company), an outfit with a highly structured format. One of our rules, when you're in game, you have to be on teamspeak and in squad. Always. There was a period of adjustment for me, and for them - as I tried to get the SL's used to the idea that I was MORE helpful to the team as an infil than a medic or HA But that adjustment period was brief and I quickly grew to love how the outfit operated. We have a special ops group within the outfit that gets activated during operations, called Task Force Reaper - and I get to lead 12-18 dedicated infiltrators who work alongside the general infantry squads. They will call out lancer nests or large infantry forces for us to snipe, and we relay intel back to them. We move ahead of the force to prep bases and disable defenses. It's the kind of application of infiltrator that I don't see a lot of, and I think SOE was hoping to see more when they designed the class. So I have to say that I completely understand the OP's perspective, and it was how I played the game for a long time. I think many infiltrators are "anti-social". Part of that adjustment period within BWC was getting their leadership to understand why I was running away from the group and not sticking to them. I had to show them that we are a completely different type of infantry unit, and if we are with the group, we are doing it wrong (most of the time). I still have that lone-wolf style of play - if we are hitting an objective, I immediately break away from the squad to find things to hack, and to flank the enemy. But I now function within a group of players who know how to use me and support me (and let me support them), and it works out very nicely. One other things I forgot to mention - the ideal general squad composition (which varies depending on the doctrine of your outfit) should only have 1 infiltrator, 2 at most. The other classes are very valuable, and if you want to have any AV capability, you can't let the squad bloat to 4-5 infiltrators. If you keep the ratio solid, then there is a very big role for you to play in the squad. I wrote a little bit about team play as an infiltrator back in april. Here's the link to that for more reading. http://aninfiltratorsblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/being-a-team-player/
I like to fight on the opposite end of the lattice where the enemy is attacking. I don't defend our side I attack them in the back from theirs. I like to disrupt their armor reinforcements with hacked turrets, flip their objectives and overload their generators keeping more of them behind to defend. The best part is that if you initiate a capture on the opposite side of the lattice they cannot cap the next base until they come back and clear you out. I like to team up with a friend who plays LA, we hide beacons, swap squad leader back and forth and they cant get rid of us. Most of the time I lone wolf though since none of my friends play :/ I recorded a video of how I like to play, it's pretty long... I feel like the class was designed for trolling the enemy base or at least that's what I do.
I love infiltrator, and I hate it whenever people say I could be more useful playing another class. It seems that they always think that all we infiltrators do is hack stuff. Infiltrator's are huge contributors, we are just so sneaky that even our team doesn't realize it. Some of these have already been mentioned and some can be done by other classes as well though maybe not as easily. Giant tank zerg, team is getting pounded. Team damages a tank, it goes behind a cliff and the driver gets out to repair, boom headshot. You just too one tank out of the battle, or several if one engie was healing all of them, not to mention you get free cover and your team gets free xp for killing a driverless tank. A group of enemies is holding a room, and your team is about to go in. Infiltrator tosses in an emp and they sweep the room. Group of enemies behind a rock/cliff? Infiltrator tosses in an emp and snipes them all off from behind. Group of enemies in a room and your buddy is going to toss in a frag? Emp makes them less likely to notice/survive. Room filled with mines? Emp grenade. Cloaker trying to get away using cloak? Emp grenade. Group of engies firing turrets? Sniped. Group of HAs shooting rockets? Sniped. Engies repairing turrets/vehicles? Sniped. Enemy goes to grab tanks at their terminal? Sniped before they can spawn it in. Enemy beacon behind enemy lines? Not anymore. 2 people riding a flash? Driver is down and the passenger follows. Engie riding on a harasser healing it? Not anymore. Team is about to go into a base and don't know where the enemies are? Recon dart. Team is getting sniped? Shooter is down. Team is getting shot at by phalenx turrets? The driver gets kicked out and killed. Medic is reviving his teammates? Nope. Squad is trapped in a spawn room? Cloak then crawl out a window, place a beacon, and your back in business. Engie repairing a sunderer under fire? Denied. Heavy vehicle presence at a base? Hack turrets and take them out/weaken them for your team. Max getting healed by an engie? Body shot followed by knife. Need a place to spawn? Hack then sunderer. If your really coordinated and sneaky- Infiltrator tosses a decoy grenade and makes the enemy move away from their objective and face away from your team. Decoy grenade lures enemies into the open so your team can take them out. You are getting chased by a large group of people for an extended period of time, making them leave the battle just so they can catch you. Infantry using lifts to get onto a biolab? Snipe them on the way up so they have no shields and are taken out even more quickly. Someone pokes thier head a tad too far outside a spawn room? Headshot. We have so many doors open to us because we can go soo many places behind enemy lines, we have alot of potential that is just begging to be used, problem is people rarely realize it, and are quick to dismiss us as being useless, thinking all we are good for is sniping and hacking. (I play with the iron sight bolt actions so I can snipe while also being somewhat useful close range) Also at OP, I totally understand what you mean. I love being with a squad, though every time I join one the first thing I do is try to distance myself as much as possible from my squad because if I stay with them I am just as vulnerable as I would be without a cloak. I try to angle myself so that I am constantly on the move and am as far behind enemy lines as I can be while still being an asset to my squad and not being instantly spotted. Sorry this post is so long ^_^''
Love being alone, at the start i rolled with random ppl but they do to much chit chat, sometimes making it hard to hear foot steps of the enemy. I think ppl that play alone start to understand how that can be just as effective, if not more than the average group player. I love the challenge as well.
