The tormentor thread

[murka10]

The tormentor is an agile strogg aircraft with loads of firepower, it is usually in the wrong hands and get shot down quickly.
Tormentors armor can take only one tank shot, but it is so agile that you dont get hit often.

Controls:

• _weaponext or _weapprev(default mouse wheel up/down) - Switch weapon
• _weapon0(default "1") - Flare
• _forward(default "w") - Increase altitude
• _back(default "s") - Decrease altitude
• _sprint(default left shift) - Forward
• _speed(default "CTRL") - Backward
• _moveleft(default "a") - rotate left (yaw)
• _moveright(default "d") - rotate right (yaw)
• mouse x axis - left/right (roll)
• mouse y axis - nose up/down (pitch)

Originally Posted by Rawrness

For those of us who are stuck with mouse and keyboard until full Joystick support is introduced I personally recommend a rebound version of the keys. It is all of course very personal and mainly depends on what you're used to play with, but at the very least I recommend rebinding your flare key to some key which is faster to press while flying.

ET:QW 4 Newbies has a good guide for binds and general scripting.

This is an example of how my config looks currently:

seta g_bind_context_hornet "stroggair"
seta bind "MOUSE2" "_weapnext" "" "stroggair"
seta bind "q" "_weapon0" "" "stroggair"
seta bind "e" "_forward" "" "stroggair"
seta bind "c" "_back" "" "stroggair"
seta bind "w" "_sprint" "" "stroggair"
seta bind "s" "_speed" "" "stroggair"

Good things:

• firepower, strockets are very strong and combine a few plasma shots and you take down any vehicle/deployable with ease
• agility, you can easily do loops and barrel rolls with this baby. if someone has a rocket in your arse, go through trees(be shure to dodge them)
• fast respawn, it takes 30sec to respawn(or spawn in the beginning)

Bit annoying things:

• very little armor, tank shot or rocket takes down with one blow
• weak hyperblaster, maybe it should be removed as it is very hard to aim if someone flies.
• mouse x axis is roll not yaw(maybe some like it, seems like it will be possible)

Tactical hints:

• be close to an AIT or the strogg mothership, rockets aren't avoidable
• when you get locked on start running, you can make time until your decoys recharge
  

  Originally Posted by CarbonFire

  Also, the closer you are to the source of a single lock-on rocket, the less effective the decoys are. You can decoy rockets fired by a single Soldier all day long if they are half-way across the map. Not against the Trojan though, as it fires twice as fast. And unless you are VERY close to an AIT (or a very convenient wall/hill), trying to escape deployable-launched rockets is next to impossible.

• because of weak armor ONLY attack by suprise unless the enemy has very little armor
• When you see a titan, make shure he doesn't see you, because the titan has zoomed view he can see much further
  

  Originally Posted by CarbonFire

  Always assume the tank is looking at you, because the way the game currently handles network level of detail, you won't see the turret looking your way till its too late. And yes, if hes firing in another direction you MAY be able to sneak up. But more often than not, a good tanker will hear you or see you on radar far before you can sneak up on them.
  
  Add to that people on the ground can see you before you see them, making things doubly difficult

• best firepower can be gained by strocket+2x plasma+strocket....
• use the terrain, in sewers there are many bumps to seek cover, press "s" to get lower, this can be also used to dodge rockets but takes practice
• strike hard and fast, shoot only a few shots, if the enemy is starting to search for you, run away and prepare for another attack
• if you are under heavy fire, respawn (bind x kill) or bail out and press "f" to open a ball so you don't die. only bail out when you can do something on foot ex you are an agressor and you have some AVT-s, go plant a plasma there.
• take down rocket artillery before they are used, if you see someone lock onto you(red beam) then run to the nearest AIT or the strogg mothership(it has an AIT)
• use freelook(default CAPSLOCK) to aim the strockets onto a target like a deployable or a vehicle
• tormentor is great when your teams defences near the EMP are down and someone is constructing it(be aware not to shoot unless nobody is there, dont shoot before they start, you might disable friendly mines this way)
• be shure to have a joystick(or any other controller) nearby, you can change the sensitivity of every axial movement and this is good for doing loops and barrel rolls.
• read this thread and try out your joystick(or use ex petals for fast movements). joystick support will be much better in the future.
• When you face a tank head-to-head, start rolling left and right, they will see you accelerate and decelerate, and probably miss, but sometimes they just hold it in the center and shoot.
• when fighting an anasi/tormentor with he other attack flyer, lock on using freelook, when the enemy is trying to turn around and always shoot plasma too, air spam wil eventually take some hp off him, if he has low hp, hop in the hyperblaster/mg(if you are alone in the vehicle) and finish him off.
• if a tank is camping in the tunnel, ex defending the MCP, try to come from behind and shoot him, they will get the turret around too late, or die without knowing you are behind, but once the MCp is inside, you have barely any room for the tormentor, but the sleek body of the anasi would fit it better, so there is some advantage to an anasi when flying inside the tunnel.

if anyone has more hints and stuff to offer then post it here, ill be updating this post.

[Jammydodger]

Great lowdown on the tormentor there, good job

[TTK-Bandit]

goddamn I want joystick support

[CarbonFire]

Very nice write up murka. Well Done!

A few things to add:

When you see a titan, make shure he doesn't see you, because the titan has zoomed view he can see much further

Always assume the tank is looking at you, because the way the game currently handles network level of detail, you won't see the turret looking your way till its too late. And yes, if hes firing in another direction you MAY be able to sneak up. But more often than not, a good tanker will hear you or see you on radar far before you can sneak up on them.

Add to that people on the ground can see you before you see them, making things doubly difficult

if you are under heavy fire, bail out and press "f" to open a ball so you don't die.

Meh, screw that. Vehicle spawn so fast, and the penalty for death is so small, this is not that big of deal. Sure, you could bail it out and foot it to the nearest battle, but I've found the Tormentor acts as a much bigger threat on the battlefield than any one infantry (unless you're right next to the objective, and your infantry presence is urgently needed). If you're concerned about letting the enemy get XP from killing you, you could always bind the respawn key to something easily reachable

Also, the closer you are to the source of a single lock-on rocket, the less effective the decoys are. You can decoy rockets fired by a single Soldier all day long if they are half-way across the map. Not against the Trojan though, as it fires twice as fast. And unless you are VERY close to an AIT (or a very convenient wall/hill), trying to escape deployable-launched rockets is next to impossible.

- weak hyperblaster, maybe it should be removed as it is very hard to aim if someone flies.
- mouse x axis is roll not yaw(maybe some like it, seems like it will be possible)

Agree on the 2nd seat...not only is it entirely useless (given the fragility of the Tormentor and weakness/inability to be accurate while moving), but when you have a second person in the Tormentor, it doesn't "Turn Off" when you land. This leads to the annoying problem of watching the Tormentor float away and crash when you land to repair it

About the control scheme....yeah, its a bit different, but it does work if you get used to it. If you approach it like its own entity, rather than a flight simulator, you're much better off.

pad in sewers is hard to reach without an icarus(can use vehicle drops but they take time)

Thats why you spawn in the back....there's almost always a free Icarus back there

[Rawrness]

For those of us who are stuck with mouse and keyboard until full Joystick support is introduced I personally recommend a rebound version of the keys. It is all of course very personal and mainly depends on what you're used to play with, but at the very least I recommend rebinding your flare key to some key which is faster to press while flying.

ET:QW 4 Newbies has a good guide for binds and general scripting. Some of the relevant commands to aircarft:
_weaponext or _weapprev - Switch weapon
_weapon0 - Flare
_forward - Increase altitude
_back - Decrease altitude
_sprint - Forward
_speed - Backward

This is an example of how my config looks currently:

seta g_bind_context_hornet "stroggair"
seta bind "MOUSE2" "_weapnext" "" "stroggair"
seta bind "q" "_weapon0" "" "stroggair"
seta bind "e" "_forward" "" "stroggair"
seta bind "c" "_back" "" "stroggair"
seta bind "w" "_sprint" "" "stroggair"
seta bind "s" "_speed" "" "stroggair"

[`danny]

One of the cons should be lack of joystick support then hehe

[murka10]

i didn't even know about backward, ill give a controls section there as many dont know how to take off, they press shift and get on their nose.

[Rawrness]

Originally Posted by murka10

[*]_speed(default "???") - Backward

_speed is walk, which by default is bound to "x" if I remember correctly. :)

[murka10]

isnt x default for prone?
edit: ctrl is default for speed...

[Rawrness]

Originally Posted by murka10

isnt x default for prone?
edit: ctrl is default for speed...

Ah, you're probably right, it must have been me who rebound CTRL to crouch and then changed x to walk.

[Biscuit]

Need quicker radar lock with the strockets..........similar to the obliterator lock..

[Szakalot]

ill post my tips i originally posted on the default feedback forum :

This is only my personal opinion based on some good tormentor-flying experience. U may, and most likely have, a different opinion on how to steer this insect like killing machine. Thats way its called a forum and not a massive blog site. Hope u find any of it usefull. This is based on mouse&keyboard experience.

Things to do first :
turn ON advanced flying controls. It is absolutely essential.
Bind - preferably using "context" (an explanation can be found here :

http://4newbies.planetwolfenstein.ga.../scripting.php

Bind the following commands in any way that makes it comfortable for u to use them :
freelook ( _tophat )
decoy using ( _weapon0 )
switching weapons ( _weapnext )
U will use those a lot and u need to do it fast.

Turn off the cockpit if u do not like it, i fly with it because i know what way my vehicle is heading (not me - the vehicle) .

General tips :

-pick constructor class

-encourage some1 to become a gunner : this is fairly underestimated task : it can become powerfull and not only in shooting infantry.

-keep an eye out for anti-vehicle turrets. Those can be fairly deadly - it is possible to escape spamming decoys and flying fast (using sprint), but they will stop u from killin whoever is ur target.

-decide what is ur mission, what are u going to concentrate on : what turns ur boat? hunting tanks and trojans? or killing infantry? or destroying deployables? I personally find tank-hunting the most satisfying experience because its very dangerous - but ill get to that.

-use freelook to help u aiming - especially if u are not detected by the enemy yet, or ur shooting a sitting target : a deployable or a tank. Dont bother to lock on, it takes far to much time.

-help ur team defend the emp : if u hear some1 is constructing the emp, help ur team defend it, a strocket and some plasma cannon shots can save the day

-and the most important : SWITCH WEAPONS WHILE FIRING. Im not sure about the names (since it seems odd) but for me a "strocket" is the more powerful missile that has a slow rate of fire and the "plasma cannon" can fire multiple shots in few seconds but takes more time to reload the whole barrage. The best way to use ur on board weapons is to fire on big missile (strocket) switch weapons , fire two smaller ones, and switch again : and repeat. This way u will obtain the maximum firepower avaible for tormentor.

Tactics against a specific enemy :

-rocket launcher soldier : this can be very annoying. The biggest problem is to find the enemy, soldiers usually hide behind trees and bushes, and u do not have time to fly around finding one enemy. The best way to find them is to become an easy target. Fly high, overlook the battlefield and look for a rocket trace , from rockets that fire at u. If u keep ur distance the decoys will save ur life, this way u can determine where is the enemy - its very easy from now on, just fly nearby and shot some missiles.

- anti-vehicle turrets : the best way is to pick them off from a distance. Determine its position (which is relatively easy), and come from a long way, 2 strockets disable it, but its worth destroying it completely so it will not be repaired that easy.

- trojans : one of the biggest threats. A good trojan driver can make ur life a nightmare. However this APC AA mobile turret is vulnerable, two strockets and some plasma cannon shots is enough to take it down. The best way to kill it is to make hit&run tactic. First, shot one strocket but make sure it hits the target completely - than run away (which is probably encouraged by the "missile lock" warning). If ur damaged land somewhere and repair. Now u only need to shot it once with a strocket and a few times with plasma cannon - its worth risking taking some damage. Fly near it, dont bother that much on dodging (after all its a "who-kill-who first" game) U can decoy one of his missiles and sustain the damage of the second one, within that time u should be able to land some hits and destroy it.

- tanks : if the tank driver is an experienced player u will have a really hard time to take him down. The biggest problem is the one shot one kill tank barrel capability. U just cant afford it to kill u, however there are things that will help u survive.

Although a tank can shot even with high angles it will never be able to shoot straight up. So one tactic to dispose of a tank is to :
-get a gunner
-fly over the tank
-spam the tank with the hyperblaster.
It is fairly easy although u have to keep an eye out, because the tank will most likely try to move into a position in which it can fire at u.
The other thing u can do is to force the tank to aim around, because it has a narrow view angle u can fly in circles and catch it from behind. Few quick shots and keep dancing, after some time u can destroy the tank this way.
The last but not least, tactic that is fairly effective is to make a hit&run. U need to unleash all the power u got - that is most likely 2 strocket and 2 plasma cannon shots, very quickly and run away before it can target u. Then u need to hide a bit, and surprise is from other side. Ur biggest advantage is the speed and agility of the tormentor, u need to keep moving. Floating in one place can be very dangerous.
These are only examples, sometimes u need to improvise and adapt to the always changing battle. Combining those tactics, as for example catching it from behind and then floating for a moment so that the gunner can hit it to can be very deadly.
A thing worth noting is that some drivers tend to switch to minigun thinking they will quickly dispose of u. It is hard to pilot the thing while being shot at with a minigun but do not fly away. This is ur best chance to kill the enginner, one well-aimed rocket and its done.

Hope anyone will find it useful, dont stand back and fly some too - this can be surprisingly satisfying.

[NecroDawg]

Originally Posted by murka10

[*]use freelook(default CAPSLOCK) to aim the strockets onto a target like a deployable or a vehicle
.

i try it, and it does nothing... Can you aim the missile while it is flying? before you fire? using free look i cant seem to be able to do anything to it.

[murka10]

well to use it you need to have a strocket selected(if you see strocket and hyperblaster then strocket is hyperblaster, funny bug)
you can lock on to a target or just target something like a deployable to shoot there.

[Hakuryu]

I dunno about joystick support. I tried using a PS2 type controller and a MS Sidewinder, and neither type gave any real benefits.

The only thing a joystick helps with is doing barrel rolls and loops, but it is extremely hard to hit targets when using a joystick. I'm sticking with the mouse.

[CarbonFire]

Honestly, after getting a better handle on the Tormentor controls, as seeing how to both attack and run away effectively (well, at least somewhat effectively ), I can't honestly understand how a joystick would even work for the flyers. Maybe the Bumblebees will respond better to that control, but in the Tormentor, you move/spin/flip just too fast to really justify using a joystick.

But hey, if you want to use one, thats fine, I hope SD provides support for it. It'll make you easier to shoot down at least

[SlippytheWeasel]

I find that the scoped sniper rifle can take out the Tormentor in about 6 hits or less, and the driver has very little clue on where you are, except direction, based on the hit indicator.

Plus, you have outstanding range with the scoped sniper rifle. Get in the right spot, and you can take out a Tormentor just about anywhere it's flying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rau-oPBxu20


Slippy

[murka10]

that was some nawbish flying xD, if i get hit by sniper i start extreme manuvering and figure out what is a good sniping pos where the shot came, you do 3hits then you eat my strocket, some snipers are on very strange positions so i dont find them but i run away behind cover for repairs and do more searching.
also i have found that being covert with railgun is effective, put a teleport, if someone snipes you, bail out and shoot him, tele back and continiue the rampage.

[Sambsu]

If I'm sniping I don't usually bother shooting at tormentor because infantry is my 1st priority. I mean not 6 times in a row anyway.

[murka10]

today i finally got decent exp, over 300 vehicle exp which means lvl 4 vehicles, one guy shot me with sniper 10 times, i laughed at him.
some piccies for proof eh? okay

btw i aint a corporal, its some bug.

[k3g]

Awesome thread, now I'm motivated to try out the Tormentor again. Maybe I can get the controls rebound to something resembling my old Descent binds.

[murka10]

wmonder if a triple loop is possible, boosting at the right time and you can make double easy without hitting the ground, more of a fancy thing but really helps against rockets too xD, makes time.

[Szakalot]

there are better ways against rockets, hiding behind a hill among the best.

[Haklin]

great thread. i've seen a skilled tormentor player completely destroy GDF attempts in building the EMP for 10+ mins each round..

[Szakalot]

that would me MrKnife tormentor incarnate with legendary skills who people WOW all the time. or me