The Infiltrator could have the most important role in the game, one that has seemingly been overlooked, and one that could solve one of the major player concerns in the game. Hopefully this thread will spur discussion among outfits and players and give ideas for other options to deal with some what we consider major problems with spawn camping. This game is pretty fresh, SOE has given us many tools and the individual and squad options for using them are unfolding daily. While this method may have flaws i haven't considered, hopefully it's a start and with tweaking we'll see more outfits utilize the greatest tactical tool in planetside 2 (maneuverability due to spawn control) to their immediate tactical advantage. For Quick Viewing read: Method and Summary Infiltrators are uniquely suited to counter spawn camp situations. Method Option 1: Using Smoke and/or other distractions an infiltrator breaks directly out of the spawn room, finds cover behind enemy lines, opens the map and places a waypoint behind cover (using zoom to view terrain features) but extremely close to enemy armor, awaits his squad to type /suicide and hold in the spawn menu, then drops a beacon behind cover. The infiltrator then gives the go and the squad drops in their predetermined role as 2 Medic/ 2 Engie / and 7 heavy (11 members as the SL is infiltrator) into cover and begins assaulting the enemy while working together to keep everyone alive. Medics should stay on opposite ends and HA should refrain from using overshield until the squad is spotted as it is a blatant visual indicator. Option 2: The Infiltrator spawns at a nearby secure friendly location and quickly takes a flash to 75 to 100m away from enemy lines then dismounts. Moving as quickly as possible he performs the same task as in option 1 to the same effect. Why the Infiltrator? The infiltrator is uniquely suited to this task. Spawn camps involve a mass number of people tunnel visioning on a very small location. A single infantry unit is small and easily mobile, when the enemy is huge the advantage can be that the infiltrator is small and nonthreatening. While camo isn't perfect invisibility at long ranges it allows the infiltrator to flat out run in a way that does not attract attention in a way the Light Assault cannot. With a patience and awareness the infiltrator can actually infiltrate as people complain he is unable to do and it is a task that only he can fulfill. Notes and Techniques Needed upgrades: Spawn Beacon 1, Nanite regeneration 3 (higher helps). Fundamentals/Technique The infiltrator's cloak is not invisibility, it is camouflage. Move as though you are wearing a sniper ghille suit, not an invisibilty cloak The the speed you move should be inversely related to the distance of the enemy Far = Run, Mid = Walk, Close = crouchwalk, Danger Close = motionless If you run out of cloak away from cover, stand still. Motion attracts the most attention, often on the flanks of a heated battle an infiltrator can sit still long enough to recharge cloak and move to new cover. The tendency of the eye to catch movement is what defeats camo more than visual recognition. When camo runs out stop unless cover is immediately available. Station Cash Camo helps a decent bit, but isn't required. The pattern of your armor camo will mostly help when you are force to remain motionless. An example is Giraffe makes a motionless target at range on the orange rock formations of Indar very difficult to spot in a situation where a Black/Red, Blue/Yellow, Purple infiltrator might stick out. Think of it as a weak passive secondary camo that only really works when you are motionless or crouch walking. Infiltration is not a race, move from cover to cover allowing cloak to recharge fully between movements. Sprint when you're at long distance or when you're sure all enemies are facing away but walk at other points, there is a difference in visibility between the two. At extremely close ranges crouch walking or staying motionless is often enough to fool an unaware enemy. Out of the the two options presented above Option 1 is the fastest way to turn the tides, however Option 2 has a significantly higher chance of success. When moving from the spawn room into enemy lines, besides the initial sprint out of the door all movement will be walk at the fastest and that's assuming there isn't a thermal enabled opponent who caught your escape (that's what the distraction is for). The latter option 2 takes more time, but since you'll be driving from the rear or sides of enemy attention you can get very close to enemies without being close enough for detection (given you know exactly where they are and they are preoccupied), then you can get off your vehicle and cloak-sprint with confidence knowing that 95% of enemies will not be facing your direction as they have no reason to be. Summary Infiltrators, through patience and stealth are well able to covertly access an advantageous position to place spawn beacons in locations no other class (including light assault) can. With even a minimally coordinated squad a beacon allows 12 people to /suicide, redeploy to beacon directly behind enemy armor/air lines and begin to ruin an enemy focused on the wrong direction firing powerful dumbfire missiles point blank into rear armor. The panic and confusion ensuing from even a single squad attaching the enemies rear this way could be enough to allow allies to flee the spawn room and break the siege. An entire platoon that managed to accomplish this could decimate an entire enemy assault in one fell swoop. Considerations/Pre-emptive Questions Can't Light Assault do this faster/better? In my opinion, no. In a short term rush to enemy lines LA have a clear advantage over infiltrators, but for this option the critical point is the ability to take the time to choose the best location for the beacon rather than the first available location. The important distinction between LA and infiltrator can continue forward motion with confidence while enemies are in midrange for combat. In situations where the LA would be immediately spotted and chased, the Infiltrator can still be moving forward slowly at a walking speed, or even crouch walking. Even then Option 1 is completely out of the realm of possibility for LA as the critical part of breaking out is the ability for the infiltrator to break the Enemy Spotted Effect. Isn't Infiltrator cloak was terrible? The infiltrator cloak has quirks and one must work within those quirks. I've touched on a few in fundamentals but as a general note many people have the mindset "I am invisible, i can move forward and no on can see me", which is false. My mindset is "I have extremely advanced camo, i can move swiftly in places where others would be spotted instantly and i can get positions that would otherwise be impossible through patience. A Light Assault could fly over an enemy encampment and get a few good kills, an infiltrator can walk behind the encampment, take shots, call targets while stealthed, force the unit to break apart for a decent amount of time for a search, and other fun tactics that the LA loses out on with it's inabilty to shed the "enemy spotted" effect. Also of note is the fact that this is an MMO as well as a shooter and the ability to stay cloaked increases with the increased cloak regeneration upgrade. While the duration of the cloak doesn't increase, most infiltrators will find that the 12 seconds provided is more than adequate given that hopping from cover to cover is a basic technique. Doesn't this require too much co-ordination? Not in my opinion, in fact i believe the only reason we don't see this done consistently is that the game is new and many hadn't even considered the possibility or tested the usefulness yet. For most people involved the plan is as simple as typing /suicide, aiming their pod at a waypoint, then doing what they normally do. Infiltrators have their work cut out for them, but anyone signing up for that position didn't do so because they wanted an easy ride. But they'll destroy the spawn beacon! Eventually, yes, however given that the infiltrator has the time to check for enemy infantry, note enemy armor movement, and place the beacon in a position behind cover and behind the location air is actively circling, it will survive long enough for its purpose which is getting the squad chance to disrupt normal enemy operation But if i'm off infiltrating, how can i lead my squad? Great news, you don't have to start out as squad leader to get a squad beacon. The beacon is currently somewhat glitched and sometimes will not auto-add to inventory, but as far as i know if a new leader is chosen while for a squad with no current beacon, that leader immediately gets a beacon to place. On occasion this either glitches out and doesn't work or is on a timer with the last overall beacon for the squad, but if your squad hasn't dropped a beacon in the last 2 minutes or so it's worth trying. The SL can contine to SL while the infiltrator does his thing, and hand over at the last second for the drop. What good is one squad against an entire column? Rear Armor takes 240% damage. The reason vehicle spam seems so outrageous is that players on the defensive are mostly firing directly at the front armor of a tank from distance. This does very little damage overall to a tank and is why vehicles can seem invincible. 7 HA targeting the rear armor of the closest tanks can either kill or wound multiple tanks before being taken down. If the squad is organized, has good cover, and good medics a swift assault that almost guarantees 2 to 3 MBT kills will spiral into a panic for attackers who are now cannot protect their rear armor. Also, keep in mind that the target you hit doesn't know whether there is a single HA, a squad, or a platoon- all many will notice is a huge loss to their armor and immediately hit retreat mode. I have a platoon, what do my other squads do while they wait? Multiple squads means multiple infiltrators on each breakout giving a higher chance of success. Have your second squad use smoke to cover the breakout attempt, or have them max crash or rush out the opposite door for a distraction. Once the infiltrators are out, keep in mind that you can have members in the drop platoon who also have spawn beacons moved to other platoons and drop a new spawn beacon. If Alpha drops successfully, put members of alpha into Bravo, Charlie, and Delta and have them each drop a spawn beacon. Other options include having each of your squads breakout to a different location, or having 2 squads attempt both options simultaneously for better chance of success. Are there other options? Help I didn't get a spawn beacon when i received squad lead! The last ditch effort option is to mark the exact location you found with a personal waypoint and use instant action deploy from your map. Instant action is last ditch rather than first choice is the second pods start dropping the element of surprise is quickly lost and instant action won't necessarily drop you in an area you've already ensured is clear of/light on infantry.
the main issue with this entire strategy that im not terribly happy to disclose due to how much amusement i derive from shooting cloaked infiltrators.... IR/NV scopes. this scope on any weapon, vehicle or infantry alike, outlines cloaked infiltrators and makes them quite noticeable against any background whether they are moving or stationary. so even though you may have thrown out a smokescreen, they show up plain as day.
You forget the gamebreaker consideration: If even one of those campers has a NV scope they see you instantly through both smoke and cloak. EDIT: Ninja'd
1. On Low settings smokescreen is completely useless, and thats the only time the infil cloak will actually be a benefit. 2. How does this counter liberator spawncamp with zepher and INRV?
That's why the distraction provided by the rest of the squad is so important. Even with NV defenders are going to prioritize at the maxes at the front of a max crash and others without NV will be confused by the smoke coming from a smoke grenade. A well placed flash or concussion grenade added to a rush will have an amazing effect. By the time the infiltrator is out the door only a few NV opponents will still be free and keep in mind that they have to kill the infiltrator before he can dart around cover and out of NV range without the benefit of being able to spot (this is why this is a job for infil instead of LA) Also assuming everyone had night vision and the infiltrator was all alone that only effects option 1. With option 2, the infiltration from behind there is no chance enemies are running into combat staring down their NV scopes constantly, in addition to the fact that they're looking the opposite direction. Given that often times infantry is camped well before a point is captured the second option gives a defense a chance to rally and capture a point in the final seconds, rather than just giving up and leaving the defenders to boringly wait around at the next point and the attackers the task of watching a bar fill. The battle shouldn't be over until it is completely and decidedly over and this is one option for defenders to keep their defense pushing and perhaps tip the scales. This game highly rewards team actions, this action isn't possible without a little help nor should it be possible to counter an entire enemy force without some assistance from allies. Edit: "1. On Low settings smokescreen is completely useless, and thats the only time the infil cloak will actually be a benefit. The infiltrator cloak works at low settings, i know because that's what i play on. Again this method isn't going to work 100% of the time that's why option 2 doesn't involve walking out the front door. Also, as i've mentioned about the cloak the issue isn't necessarily the visibility of the cloak, but it's use by the user. The whole reason i made this thread was because during a push on Mattherson where we had Vanu almost warpgated the attackers called stalemate and went to pursue another objective and the few left behind were spawn camped. Despite literally the entirety of the vanu forces on the continent being in the area, many of whom were directly outside the spawn door i managed to escape on 3 different occasions, and set up shop to snipe for a while. Yes, i died more times than i escaped, but i'll point out that with a 15 second respawn timer I learned quickly from my mistakes and found it easier and easier to leave the room. Once attackers think you've grown bored, they let their guard down and that is your chance. I'm not a pro infiltrator by any means, so anyone should be able to accomplish this with enough patience. The trick is to dash to cover and then immediately move in a crouch walk to another area of the cover, or more optimally different cover. "2. How does this counter liberator spawncamp with zepher and INRV?" Only one option involves the infiltrator leaving directly from the spawn room. Liberator spawncamping is the reason the second option is so much easier. With air/armor/infantry all staring in one direction and clustered, someone coming into the battle is often assumed friendly, especially if coming from an unexpected direction.
