How to: Survive Strogg snipers (Infiltrators) in Valley map

[Katarrn]

We've got a lot of new players with Beta2 (I guess 3/4th of the active ones) who apparently aren't ET:QW battle-hardened enough yet.
I'm sniping a lot in that map and observe that many players simply don't consider the sniper threat. Many are sitting ducks.

1. As a newbie, don't use GDF soldier on this map. You're slower in your movement (not if you use the "2" weapon while moving) and you're a sitting duck when you use your heavy weapons (no point in using soldier but normal weapons).

2. If you need to move some outdoor distance on foot, do
- run
- crouch sometimes for a second
- jump (not in regular intervalls)
- stop sometimes for a half second
- follow zig-zag lines (not straight)
- exploit cover as much as possible

3. Use Trojan APC or Armadillo APC (cabin only) for longer distances. They're bullet proof.

4. Use Field Ops and Hammer to kill snipers (you look into the direction of your killer in the after-death-screen, so you can find snipers with ease). Rocket launcher will often not hit because of obstacles and howitzer can be evaded with Infiltrator teleport. The Infiltrator can see your laser beam (as many other Strogg as well), so use a bullet-proof place for this and run for cover against the sniper once he's looking in your direction.

5. Use Anansi to kill sniper on the hill west of the water and on hills next to outpost after objective 2 is accomplished. When the sniper disappears without kill notice ; search for him. He has teleported (I do usually teleport to the other end of the plateau). You should have radar coverage and be able to find him. Forget about Anansi unless you've trained the control of it on an empty server.

6. Use Covert Ops to countersnipe. Again, choose your position carefully and run for cover once he looks into your direction. Wait till a kill notice for that sniper to come out of your cover again. Camouflage does not really work in ET:QW (shadowy places and position inside of bushes hide a bit). The Sniper Rifle has a bullet drop (realistically) since Beta2, so aim at 150m distance slightly over the uper end of the lower yellow line. That's about 40-60cm bullet drop, I believe.
He'll see your position once you got him, so think about changing position.

7. Play Infiltrator and test the typical sniper positions on the map. You need that to understand their field of view.

8. Trojan APC rocket is a quick death for snipers if you know his position.

9. Every Infiltrator railgun shot leaves a orange trail, so you can quite easily spot their general position.

10. Forget rushs to first objective without support fires unless you have trtained that to perfection.

11. It's possible to get into a cover behind the first objective to complete it such that a sniper cannot hit you from the hill over the tunnel. That requires that you're prone.

12. Usually you can forget going prone, as most sniper positions are on elevated ground - you don't reduce your silhouette against them and you're a sitting duck.

13. Don't use the MPC gunner position. You're dead within five seconds if Strogg has competent players at all.

14. You play Field Ops or Covert Ops and want to kill snipers? Use your "deploy" key to fake a turret deployment. You'll have a third person view and that's how you can see how much you're exposed. That helps to hide. Works also when you've already got a turret deployed.

15. Never run directly towards a known sniper position. If you do that he'll not need to correct his aim sideways and will kill you quickly.

16. If a sniper has defeated two attempts of counter-sniping - forget about. Use Field Ops instead. Some snipers are better than others.

17. Using a close group of four standing covert ops at once to countersnipe a skilled Infiltrator is good to entertain him and will end in a 0:4 defeat.

18. If an enemy snipes from the hill over the tunnel towards the north just climb the hill in the north-east and kill him. An aimed sniper rifle headshot or a backstab (use ctrl key to move silently) kills him instantly. Better to use headshot, because at that time Strogg has often already a radar deployed and he might spot you on the minimap as red dot while you slowly walk to him.

19. Don't follow human wave rush tactics as is usual so far on European ET:QW servers for GDF. Choose avenues of approach that are not used often.

20. Going prone to repair a MCP doesn't help at all. Waste of time. Just choose the side wisely so that as few Strogg as possible have you in their field of view and as many as possible are on the other end of that huge MCP.

21. If you countersnipe behind the tunnel you do sometimes see Icarus attempting to reach the plateau. Those are Infiltrators and Oppressors. It's difficult to reah the plateau in one leap, so usually the rest on the steep slope to recharge the Icarus. They're vulnerable to a Sniper rifle shot then.

22. Run for cover once an Infiltrator misses you (visible orange shot trail, distinct sound).

23. Armadillos and Trojans with missing wheels at the outpost spawnpoint tell about the presence of a sniper. You can also tell the direction of the sniper because he can only shoot the wheels on his sie of the vehicle.

24. Watch at the minimap for red dots in positions typical for Infiltrators and Oppressors (or become Covert Ops and deploy a radar if it's missing). Press "N" sometimes to discover them on the large map. Knowing their position and taking that into account saves lives.

25. Resupply crates of Medics are optimal baits and should only be dropped/used at Infiltrator-proof places.

26. Armadillo and Titan standing on a spot or Titan moving slowly kill their machinegunners. Those exposed players on top are easy kills.

___

(Strogg Infiltrators with reduced health weren't necessarily hit before. Strogg can convert health to Stroyent (Ammo). I'm usually down to 10 health at the end of my sniping without being hit once.)

(Don't expect high XP as GDF sniper. I'm a good Strogg sniper (300-400XP as Infiltrator in a campaign with more than 100 kills overall), but cannot get more than average GDF XP per match or campaign as GDF Covert Ops. The map simply doesn't allow GDF snipers to earn much xp - so there aren't enough (and enough experienced ones) to counter the Infiltrators.)

[SubstandardJones!]

Originally Posted by Katarrn

We've got a lot of new players with Beta2 (I guess 3/4th of the active ones) who apparently aren't ET:QW battle-hardened enough yet.
I'm sniping a lot in that map and observe that many players simply don't consider the sniper threat. Many are sitting ducks.

1. As a newbie, don't use GDF soldier on this map. You're slower in your movement (not if you use the "2" weapon while moving) and you're a sitting duck when you use your heavy weapons (no point in using soldier but normal weapons).

There's absolutely a reason to use soldier with normal weapons. You get the nice normal killing power of an assault rifle/lacerator but with the added bonus of a much better secondary weapon in the machine pistol/lightning pistol.

2. If you need to move some outdoor distance on foot, do
- run
- crouch sometimes for a second
- jump (not in regular intervalls)
- stop sometimes for a half second
- follow zig-zag lines (not straight)
- exploit cover as much as possible

I would not suggest stopping or crouching, or even jumping. If you absolutely have to go somewhere on foot under sniper fire, run at an angle in relation to the sniper's position. But if you can help it you shouldn't be running on foot under sniper fire anyway.

3. Use Trojan APC or Armadillo APC (cabin only) for longer distances. They're bullet proof.

No they're not.

4. Use Field Ops and Hammer to kill snipers (you look into the direction of your killer in the after-death-screen, so you can find snipers with ease). Rocket launcher will often not hit because of obstacles and howitzer can be evaded with Infiltrator teleport. The Infiltrator can see your laser beam (as many other Strogg as well), so use a bullet-proof place for this and run for cover against the sniper once he's looking in your direction.

Hammer is a ridiculous amount of overkill for a sniper, and has so much advance warning that only the worst snipers are going to sit there and wait for the giant missile to hit them. Much better to use rockets so you can redirect them if he moves or regular artillery to create a large blast radius that will keep him guessing for about 15 seconds.

10. Forget rushs to first objective without support fires unless you have trtained that to perfection.

Rushing the bridge is pretty much a must as GDF in the first seconds of the game. Snipers can't get into position as quickly as the engineers can rush in on huskies or the armadillo, so you can at least get it partially built before they can start shooting at you. I haven't yet tested it out but I suspect a covert ops tossing down some cover smoke would help matters a lot as well.

[H.A.L.F]

Originally Posted by SubstandardJones!

Rushing the bridge is pretty much a must as GDF in the first seconds of the game. Snipers can't get into position as quickly as the engineers can rush in on huskies or the armadillo, so you can at least get it partially built before they can start shooting at you. I haven't yet tested it out but I suspect a covert ops tossing down some cover smoke would help matters a lot as well.

Definatley use all your equipment when ever you get a chance snipers cover the objective with smoke. Medics should drop a crate next to the objective practicaly on top of it this provides some cover for the engies and automaticaly heals them as a defense against pot shots.

[ShortyMcNostril]

1. Smoke.
2. Run like your ass is one fire.
3. Smoke.
4. Pray to a deity of your choice.
5. ???
6. Smoke.


Seriously though, smoke the objectives as much you can.
Counter sniping isn't that hard, even against a good player. The tricky bit is finding out where he is. After that, I doubt they'll even notice you're about to snipe them unless you spawn where they can see you or you choose somewhere where he happens to be aiming for. They have a lot of targets to keep track of, whereas you have only one.

[Katarrn]

Originally Posted by SubstandardJones!

There's absolutely a reason to use soldier with normal weapons. You get the nice normal killing power of an assault rifle/lacerator but with the added bonus of a much better secondary weapon in the machine pistol/lightning pistol.

It's a wasteful style. You don't have any deployables or other special skills, just assault rifle, machine pistol, HE and health. Waste of time. By the way - Hyperblaster is twice as deadly as Lacerator and GPMG is clearly superior if used correctly as well (not as much as Hyperblaster). Lightning pistol is almost never useful to an Aggressor. It uses the same Stroyent as ammo as does the Lacerator and the Lacerator rarely cools down in mid fight if you can aim at all.

I would not suggest stopping or crouching, or even jumping. If you absolutely have to go somewhere on foot under sniper fire, run at an angle in relation to the sniper's position. But if you can help it you shouldn't be running on foot under sniper fire anyway.

Apparently you didn't get the message correctly. Stopping or crouching for a very short time interrupts the setady movement. That's what makes someone more difficult to hit for a sniper.
And to simply "run at an angle in relation to the sniper's position" is the next best thing to not move at all for the sniper. I have about 60-70% hit chance on such targets at 200m. Dead after one to four shots.


No they're not.

They both are bulletproof in a sense that you cannot simply be sniped or killed with a Lacerator. Doing so would require much more time than someone would need to reach to where he wanted to go.
Try to understand the context.

Hammer is a ridiculous amount of overkill for a sniper, and has so much advance warning that only the worst snipers are going to sit there and wait for the giant missile to hit them. Much better to use rockets so you can redirect them if he moves or regular artillery to create a large blast radius that will keep him guessing for about 15 seconds.

For one, rockets cannot reacht o all, especially not to the very best sniper position in the valley map. A clever sniper won't move at all to evade Artillery. He simply teleports to somewhere where no enemy can see him.
And few if any snipers leave their position just because a Hammer was launched. That would waste far too much time (and have almost the same effect as getting killed all the time.) It's also impractical to check for each Hammer whether it's probably heading into your direction.
Regular artillery can easily be evaded by teleport and is utterly useless after the first shot (which rarely kills) against a skilled Infiltrator.

Rushing the bridge is pretty much a must as GDF in the first seconds of the game. Snipers can't get into position as quickly as the engineers can rush in on huskies or the armadillo, so you can at least get it partially built before they can start shooting at you. I haven't yet tested it out but I suspect a covert ops tossing down some cover smoke would help matters a lot as well.

[b]An Infiltrator leaves the spawn room, takes the Icarus, seconds later he's on top of the tunnel hill and once the alert about the bridge being built is sounded, he targets the engineer and kills him with ease after just two seconds fo building. Don't judge on basis of poor enemy snipers. You cannot rush like that when I'm on the map as Strogg and no-one takes away the second Icarus before I can get it (usually I get one).
And smoke is utterly useless as you still get the red name/class info once your sight is on the engineer - even if you don't see the red triangle all the time.

My tips were based on my own experience as Infiltrator. I know what helps against an Infiltrator and what does not.

[space]

Soldier has 140 health. Good if your a newbie.

[Katarrn]

Originally Posted by space

Soldier has 140 health. Good if your a newbie.

I kill soldiers with one or two hits with the Railgun. Just like any other class. 140 or 100 hp is no real difference when someone is shooting at you with a 80 dmg weapon (160 dmg for head/neck shot).
This guide was solely about survival in face of Infiltrators.

[Johnny_Maxwell]

I counter Strogg Infiltrator as GDF Covert Op with Sniper Rifle, with enough training you can take them out from wherever you stand, without crouching or lying. With really good training and hit prediction you can take them out from the Icarus while the fly to their sniping positions.

[Pepto]

Originally Posted by H.A.L.F

Medics should drop a crate next to the objective practicaly on top of it this provides some cover for the engies and automaticaly heals them as a defense against pot shots.

But not too close with that crate please. Being crushed by an airdrop isn't fun.

Yes I did see it coming, but though I'd moved out of the way and could get the bridge finished in time.

[darthmob]

am I the only one thinking that trying to hit snipers with the rocket launcher is quite challenging? I really liked those long shots in ET with the riflenades when you had to imagine that ballistic curve.
as long as range of the plasma- / grenadelauncher is very limited I try it with the RL. it is not that effective but it gives you a great feeling of success as a public player when you hit .

PS: the trojan's AA rockets are pretty good because they don't sink when shot.

[SubstandardJones!]

RE: Being a soldier with Assault rifle:

It's a wasteful style. You don't have any deployables or other special skills, just assault rifle, machine pistol, HE and health. Waste of time. By the way - Hyperblaster is twice as deadly as Lacerator and GPMG is clearly superior if used correctly as well (not as much as Hyperblaster). Lightning pistol is almost never useful to an Aggressor. It uses the same Stroyent as ammo as does the Lacerator and the Lacerator rarely cools down in mid fight if you can aim at all.

This is not ET. Being a soldier with an AR is not like being a soldier with a thompson/mp40. You have more health and a better sidearm than you would otherwise have as a soldier, not to mention HE charges as well. I am far more deadly with my assault rifle and machine pistol on hand when I'm storming a location than I would be with a rocket launcher or GPMG. These are both more defensive weapons (or they are when they're used in the right hands) and not the ideal infantry killers that the assault rifle and machine pistol are. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being a soldier with an assault rifle in this game, and those who claim otherwise are mindlessly parroting back what USED to be the case in ET.

RE: dodging sniper fire

Apparently you didn't get the message correctly. Stopping or crouching for a very short time interrupts the setady movement. That's what makes someone more difficult to hit for a sniper.
And to simply "run at an angle in relation to the sniper's position" is the next best thing to not move at all for the sniper. I have about 60-70% hit chance on such targets at 200m. Dead after one to four shots.

Well I should have mentioned that you should only be running in quick bursts between cover in the first place. I still disagree that crouching or stopping is at all helpful. Running at a quick angle in their direction makes the sniper move their scope not only to one side but down as well, and it's rare that they can do so quickly enough to cap you in time to do anything.

Again though, simply dodging and running around spastically is a bad idea in the first place. Cover is what you need to be focusing on.

Re: Vehicles being "bulletproof"

They both are bulletproof in a sense that you cannot simply be sniped or killed with a Lacerator. Doing so would require much more time than someone would need to reach to where he wanted to go.
Try to understand the context.

Don't say they're bulletproof then. Say they are heavily armored and can survive multiple shots. Don't get cranky just cause you used the wrong term.

Re: Artillery against snipers

For one, rockets cannot reacht o all, especially not to the very best sniper position in the valley map. A clever sniper won't move at all to evade Artillery. He simply teleports to somewhere where no enemy can see him.

Good, then he's moved and no longer in his prime position. That brief moment where he's teleporting has disrupted his sniping, providing a small window of opportunity for the engineers.

And few if any snipers leave their position just because a Hammer was launched. That would waste far too much time (and have almost the same effect as getting killed all the time.) It's also impractical to check for each Hammer whether it's probably heading into your direction.

Those are what I call "foolish snipers." It doesn't take much to take a quick look at where the hammer is coming down. If you're just going to sit there and let yourself get blown up then I guess I can see why you thought it was such a good counter tactic.

Regular artillery can easily be evaded by teleport and is utterly useless after the first shot (which rarely kills) against a skilled Infiltrator.

I'm not looking for it to kill, I'm looking for it to keep him from that sniper position for a while. A few seconds is usually all that's needed. And if I'm using regular or rocket artillery I have not committed myself to being out of artillery charge for the incredibly amount of time it takes the Hammer to recharge.

My tips were based on my own experience as Infiltrator. I know what helps against an Infiltrator and what does not.

I'm sorry, but it sounds as if you know what helps against YOU as an infiltrator. That's all well and good, but there are many snipers who don't play the way you do. You can decide for yourself if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

[murka10]

easy, strafejump(bunnyhop, circlejump, whatever you call it) always.

[Dzhezkov]

A brief glance at the stats site has shown that Katarrn is a very experienced Infitrator. SubstandardJones, not so much, but you try really hard to debunk his helpful guide. You're coming off as a condescending jackass in my opinion but you have no basis on which to draw this attitude, especially against Katarrn.

[SubstandardJones!]

I'm not coming from it as an Infiltrator telling you how to avoid getting hit, I'm coming from it as a non-Infiltrator who hardly ever gets sniped.

And I'm sorry, but if we're going to talk about stats then I have to say that a kill ratio of anything under 2.0 for being a sniper so often is not exactly a point in his favor. Snipers should be getting ridiculously high kill ratios. Simply being a sniper for 12 hours doesn't tell me that someone is actually all that good at it. I myself have only actually used the railgun once in Beta 2, and hardly at all in Beta 1. I'm not usually a sniper, especially because in Beta 1 they were almost entirely useless. Sewer's not a good map for sniping.

But as I said, I'm not a sniper, I'm someone who avoids getting sniped, which is what this thread it supposed to be about. I very rarely find myself being killed by snipers. And I didn't debunk a lot of what was said because I agreed with it. I only mentioned the few parts that I thought were incorrect.

And I'm sorry if I came across as a condescending jackass. I'm trying to come across as a pompous jerk. I'll even settle for arrogant malcontent if I can get it.

Please though, do me the favor of not using the stats page to back someone up unless their stats actually mean something. Katarrn's a decent sniper, I'm not claiming otherwise. He's not truly amazing, but he's good. This thread isn't about how to be a sniper though, it's about how to avoid getting hit by a sniper.

And I do so look forward to the weeks and months of discussions that will degenerate into "I just looked up your stats and you stink at X so your opinion is meaningless." Especially when most of the stats are nothing but cumulative experience and mean very little in the first place.

So how's that? Did I reach pompous jerk yet?

[PremiumJones]

My uncle's farm used to have a condescending jackass. It was so annoying when I had to clean his stable. He was all like:

"Oh man you again? You don't even know what you're doing! Jeez, ah well I guess we all can't be winners like me. HEE-HAW! So anyway, what're you doing with your life? Computer repair? Haw! Not like we have enough people working in that field right now eh? HEE-HAW! Me? Well I'm working on a big creative project with some real interesting hipster artists. It's a collab effort... you wouldn't understand it, you're too... Bourgeois. Still dating that girl? The one with you know... the face issue? Yeah... yeah... yeah... HEE-HAW!"

He eventually broke his leg so we had him killed and ate him.

[Kirb]

Originally Posted by PremiumJones

My uncle's farm used to have a condescending jackass. It was so annoying when I had to clean his stable. He was all like:

"Oh man you again? You don't even know what you're doing! Jeez, ah well I guess we all can't be winners like me. HEE-HAW! So anyway, what're you doing with your life? Computer repair? Haw! Not like we have enough people working in that field right now eh? HEE-HAW! Me? Well I'm working on a big creative project with some real interesting hipster artists. It's a collab effort... you wouldn't understand it, you're too... Bourgeois. Still dating that girl? The one with you know... the face issue? Yeah... yeah... yeah... HEE-HAW!"

He eventually broke his leg so we had him killed and ate him.

HAHAHA!!, I love you.

[Katarrn]

My usual Infiltrator match means that I most of the time convert all but 10 health to stroyent because nobody kills me.
My accuracy is usually at 50-65% and kills are about 30-55. Greatest kill drop is experienced when I don't have easy access to Icarus and waste time waiting.
Bridge is often quickly built if I'm not in position, but rarely finished as long as I snipe.

Countersnipers don't have relevant success against me at objective 2 or 3, just at objective 1.
Field artillery hasn't killed me so far (though they tried often) - I just open fire from the other en of the platea. Time cost: 15 seconds.
Rocket artillery didn't kill me as well (although it could at objective 1 and 3).
Hammer has killed me about three times (objective 2 only).
Kill ratio against countersnipers is probably 15:1, as many still cannot compensate for the aim bug.
Titan killed me never at objective 2 and I believe only once at objective 1, Trojan about two or three times. Armadillo never. Anansi about two or three times.
Small arms (incl. Accurized AR) wounded me at objective 2, but they never killed me at medium/long range.
I was backstabbed/shot at close range twice at objective 3 (lack of attention to minimap) and twice at objective 1.
Some people shot Rocket Launchers/LAW at me with marginal effect. I know it's a challenge to hit far away targets with it and trained it often in Beta1 warmups against distant points outside the camp. I don't recommend it as it really requires a master to kill a prone sniper with that from below.

People who just run/jump have little chance of survival unless I'm in a series of ill-aimed shots. Run means only that they can survive short distances to cover such as 15m. Jumping alone adds very little survival chance. Changes in direction of running (zig-zag course) help best.
Aiming a Rocket launcher/LAW in my field of view means certain death, soldiers with GPMG/LAW in the hands are so slow that they rarely ever survive being spotted.

I pull off more tricks and offer a much smaller silhouette than most Strogg snipers (many even stand - imagine that).

I could write a guide how to survive the average Strogg sniper, but that wouldn't help at all against those that use more tricks.
A guide against Strogg snipers that use all their tools and choose positions well does omit some countermeasures that work against other snipers, but it still helps against all snipers. You wasted a lot of time if you find out whether the enemy sniper is good or not.

So, that is the background for the guide.
Of course I advised to do what helps against me - all those other countermeasures can obviously be evaded with some skill. Maybe some measures that help against me won't work against even better snipers, but being No.17 right now in the sniper leaderboard let's me think that you won't be shot at by more experienced snipers often.
My kill ratio of about 1.5 is heavily distorted by the long Beta 1 in which I had many kills and deaths at about 1.2 ratio as constructor. To date it's rather close to factor 20.

[Haelfix]

It doesnt matter if you strafe, or jump or start/stop. A good sniper with a low ping/nolag will hit you in the mid 70's percentage wise if hes left unmolested. His lockon will take a half second longer if you strafe, and he might lose a few points of accuracy, but its still way to high to simply hope for the best.

The point is, you need to play Strogg and GDF snipers and learn their spots and what exactly they can see or can't see. One of the primary imbalances of Valley right now, is exactly how much coverage and variety Strogg snipers have on the field in part2 relative to their GDF counterparts. If you are infantry you are literally going to be exposed for a long time, regardless of which route you take unless you know exactly where he is.

Anyway, contrary to what some people say, snipers can and do win games for you. A single good solitary sniper left unmolested can and will remove every single infantry on the map close to the escort for quite awhile, and this simply is unnacceptable for your team. Countersniping is really the only solution against someone who knows what they are doing (ive seen people get over 85 kills in one map with just the sniper rifle), and that in and of itself is challenging as your safe positions are very limited (and hard/timely to get too).

[artaxerxes]

Learn to strafe jump, and just do it without rhythm.

Strafe jumping, is classic ET and Quake fast movemet. Just google it.

[prO]

Valley is Sniper Heaven - while you can alter your movement to become a more difficult target... a good sniper will get the kill irrespective of strafe jumping. Why? If a player is strafe jumping across the map, their movement is still predictable - you know they are going to strafe jump to the next spot so you aim accordingly. Best way to counter a good Infiltrator is to counter snipe him in a better position or knife him. But are you seriously going to do that all game?
Also a good sniper relocates and knows where the best counter spots are for each position he is in - so if you are taking out a good sniper, make sure youre up to par in the aim catergory - or he will get you first.

edit: just read Haelfix's post - spot on dude.

[Finko]

The whole post amounts to "Don't even think about using a Guard Tower"

I use artillery pretty successfully against the snipers, if they don't take me out first. The laser is a dead give-away Especially if they're on the mountain above the tunnel, cause I'm pretty sure the Art interceptors don't save them at that range.

[GoatLord]

Originally Posted by PremiumJones

My uncle's farm used to have a condescending jackass. It was so annoying when I had to clean his stable. He was all like:

"Oh man you again? You don't even know what you're doing! Jeez, ah well I guess we all can't be winners like me. HEE-HAW! So anyway, what're you doing with your life? Computer repair? Haw! Not like we have enough people working in that field right now eh? HEE-HAW! Me? Well I'm working on a big creative project with some real interesting hipster artists. It's a collab effort... you wouldn't understand it, you're too... Bourgeois. Still dating that girl? The one with you know... the face issue? Yeah... yeah... yeah... HEE-HAW!"

He eventually broke his leg so we had him killed and ate him.

Sorry for going off topic but this did make me LOL

[spirit]

Originally Posted by artaxerxes

Learn to strafe jump, and just do it without rhythm.

Strafe jumping, is classic ET and Quake fast movemet. Just google it.

I'm rather new to ET:QW, but:

Strafe jumping gave you a speed you couldn't reach with normal movement at >= q1. From what I've experienced, this has been removed in ET:QW (what makes a lot of sense for a game like this), so googling for it makes no sense for ET:QW.

[artaxerxes]

Works for me, maybe I am just imagining it.

You can certainly get excellent boosts off the top of inclines, stairs specifically.

[GreasedScotsman]

Strafe jumping still works, but to a lesser degree. You also can't build up as much speed like you used to be able to do, but you do get a speed boost from it. Just do a few "races" with a friendly. Pop out the knives and have them sprint while you strafejump. You'll win the race.