I am completely new to max play even though I have 300+ hours in the game and am looking for helpful Max advice. I am leaning towards a purely AI play style. Things I am wondering about: Where / When should I pull a Max? Which fights are worth pulling a max in? Which weapons are best for AI combat? Which upgrades / weapons should I buy first? General play style and ways to not get murdered quickly All help is appreciated
1 - I find them most effective in 24-48 50/50 fights. Any less and you're very rude, any more and you'll get melted pretty fast (or stuck in the mlg box screaming for repairs). 2 - Blueshifts for midrange, Cosmos for closerange/indoor. Comets for antimax and sniping. 3 - Don't rambo. Hug corners, use cover. EOD Hud implant is very useful. Use Charge to get out of trouble, not in it. Both Flak and Kinetic armor are useful, only use Auto Repeair if soloing. Ideally you want a pocket engineer and a motion spotter dropping infil around you at all times (and a human wave in front of you to set off mines and soak up grenade/launcher spam ).
For VS, Pretty much gonna parrot Cirena. For your AI Build, I'd stick with your Quasars, because it's a lot cheaper to buy the second one than it is two nebulas or two blueshifts or two cosmos. Twin Comets can easily melt Armor, and MAX is no exception. That said, I know you wanna be mainly AI, but I'd keep a foot in the AV and AA Doors, as well. Might as well get your second Comet and Burster.
Big fights which are likely to see you gather the lost 450 nanites before it's over. If its just a zerg and you take the base in 4 minutes, it's not worth taking a max. Protracted fights are the best, or if you're "Max Crashing" a point or building. Don't rush in solo. That's what NC Maxes can do. Your Max actually has pretty mediocre weapons and can't wipe a room in three seconds. Keep cover close by, time your assault when other Maxes or infantry rush in as well. You have two health bars, however make it a habit to act as if you only have one. Once the top health bar is gone, retreat and beg someone for repairs before fighting on. The second health bar is only a 'buffer' to get yourself to an engineer.
I'll drop my 3 certs here... Sadly engies usually forget to repair you in many scenarios (like non-reviving medics), so if you are in tower base for example (if you do not know what's tower type base, it's crown or crossroad watchtower basically), it's good idea to charge back to spawn room once you lose ~50% of HP and switch from kinetic/flak to auto repair and wait a bit, often it's quicker solution than to wait and ask for engi. Then go back to your loadout and fight. I'm not going to repeat what other said, those are good advices and need no correction IMO. I'll just add few tips on my own. 1. Don't bother with ZoE. It was godlike ability in our golden era, now it was nerfed very bad. It's not useless, just Charge ability will save your virtual butt more. 2. Do not forget about MAX Punch. It deals 750 damage, while knives do 500 only. Swing feels slower, but it's great way to finish off those unfortunate that jumps on your face. Plus you will farm punch kills slowly if directives stimulate you. Still, treat it as secondary attack and do not rush. Also try punching enemy MAX in VR to see how much swings you need to kill him, it's not bad against wounded max when you have no time to reload. 3. Learn sound of NS-Archer (Engi sniper rifle) in VR. This weapon can actually hipfire pretty accurate and hit MAXes hard. Avoid unattended places when you hear it, skilled engi will finish you in 3 shots. 4. Use standard issue implant (Enchanced targeting). maxes have no shield, thus you can see their HP and plan your engagement accordingly (also useful in AV/AA combat if you decide to do so). 5. Be aware. Places like Biolab are perfect for C4 fairies and unaware MAXes get rekt easily. During yesterday run I've killed around 10 MAXes in total while they were unaware. You are tougher, but some things will still onehit you, so do not rambo. Have fun
1. I always pull max in biolab, before enemy zerg gets inside. They rush without any order and you can farm them if you just wait them at the point 2. Don't spend your certs on other weapons, quasars will do they job just fine. Unlock extra mag size and you can take out any max 1vs1 with no problem... 3. Never stop looking up!! LA's can get you from any direction... Enjoy the game
LA warning was already stated, but be especially careful when you leave from the protected spawn rooms. Be on the lookout for enemy LAs that are perched high above on the corner of buildings just above the exits of the spawn room. If you have to, test first by walking out and quickly jumping back in to see if any C4 is dropped from high above. You can also try to Q-Spot the roof line before walking out.
