Kino der Toten Stage Running Strategy

Here's an uber solo strategy for Kino der Toten that's sure to bring you far.

Start out on Kino der Toten. You'll be in the lobby. Purchase Quick Revive right off the bat. You never know what'll happen, and this piratically grants you a second chance.

For the first few rounds (rounds 1-4) try to knife as many zombies as you can. Only use your pistol when it's an emergency. If it's an absolute emergency, purchase the M14, but don't unless you have to.

Sketch of Kino der Toten.

Accumulate 2750 points. Open the doors upstairs for 750 points, and the next doors for 1000 points. In the foyer room, purchase an MP40, and stay there until you've accumulated 2500 points.

Purchase the door to the dressing room, and then the theater. From there, just stay in the theater and run around the stage. Running laps around the stage ensures that all the zombies will follow you in a long tail, and you'll be able to walk backwards and shoot through many zombies at once. You'll be able to outrun and out-walk the zombies, so don't fret to the thought of so many zombies in close proximity to you. Do not turn on the electricity.

Purchase the M16 as soon as possible. Buy ammo off the wall whenever you need. The points you gain from shooting through several zombies itself will easily earn you enough points to buy ammo whenever you need. Having virtually unlimited ammo guarantees that you will be able to survive indefinitely unless a mistake is made.

Feel free to alter this strategy however you like. Here are some tips and alterations that you can consider when playing solo with this strategy.

If you like, you can purchase claymores, as you receive some after every wave. However, claymores make crawling zombies. As a general rule, you always want to be able to look straight ahead. Changing your angle disables you from shooting through several zombies at once and limits your view. On top of that, crawling zombies go slower than regular zombies, making them lag behind and waiting for you as you make another lap. This can cause you to die very easily, so using claymores is to your judgement.

Explosives such as grenades must also be considered. They also make crawling zombies, and that again can cause many problems.

Only a certain number of zombies can be on the map at once. It may be a good idea to let them all spawn before you open fire on them. After killing a few zombies (or just one if you're far in the game), you can wait for more zombies to spawn before opening fire again.

If you do decide to turn on the electricity, there are many things you need to consider. Firstly, yes, this strategy can still be used with the electricity turned on. However, you must understand that by turning on the electricity, the curtain will open, giving the zombies another way to enter the stage. Nova gas zombies will also start spawning, and they would be the most annoying adversaries to go against. They are small zombies, meaning you have to aim down, and they explode after death, releasing nova gas. Nova gas not only damages you, but also limits your view, and not being able to see pretty much means you're dead.

Nevertheless, if you do turn on the electricity, purchase Juggernog, Speed Cola, and the rest of the Perk-A-Colas. If you also get the chance, use the Mystery Box to see if you can get the Thundergun and Monkey Bombs. Make sure you always leave a weapons slot for the M16 though.

Using Gremlins in Halo Wars

This "combat support" vehicle definitely lives up to its title!

Gremlins are an unique vehicle in Halo Wars that only Professor Anders can use. This little hillbilly van is much more useful than it may seem at first. Using this vehicle properly can allow your troops to easily breeze through anything your opponent throws at you.

Again, only Professor Anders can use Gremlins. Gremlins can be purchased at the center base unit of any base, allowing the player to purchase Gremlins as early as the beginning of a game. At a very low price of 200 resources, they can be produced cheaply and effectively at a pinch.

Gremlins are van-like vehicles that don't really have too much armor. There is a laser turret mount on top of the Gremlin that can target infantry and vehicles. Gremlins have a unique EMP attack that temporarily disables vehicles and turrets. Gremlins are vulnerable to aircraft as they can't defend themselves against them.

A freshly built Gremlin really isn't all that strong, but with Professor Anders' faster technology research rate, upgrading Gremlins isn't difficult. The Gremlin's first upgrade increases the damage output from the Gremlin's laser mount, which is nice. This does significantly more damage on both infantry and vehicles. The second upgrade allow the Gremlin's EMP attack to affect more than one target.

Although really not too strong by itself, it really is a "combat support" vehicle. It's upgraded EMP effect can stop movement and attacks from pretty much any ground vehicle. Here's an example in which Gremlins are extremely useful.

Your opponent sends in three Scorpion tanks, each manned by a Spartan. By properly using a Gremlin, it can disable all three. Say you had three or four Gremlins, you can alternate EMP attacks to keep disabling those tanks. By disabling these tanks, your guys can easily destroy them with ease and no resistance.

Gremlins truly are useful allies to have. They are dangerous enemies for any infantry or vehicle. If aircraft come, you could always use Anders' cryo bomb to easily get rid of them. Their EMP attack can prove to be fatal for any vehicle or turret, and buy precious time for your own guys to attack. And they're cheap. Honestly, these underused vehicles are amazingly dangerous when you actually use them.

Benefits of Building Turrets in Halo Wars

Every station and fortress has four turret spots, yet they are not always used. Have you noticed the turret spots yet?

Turrets, believe it or not, are a vital part of fortifying your base. This article will explain why building turrets in Halo Wars plays a vital role in the success of your games.

At the beginning of the game, turrets are especially useful for scaring off scouts and early infantry attacks. Count how many times you've been caught off guard at the beginning of games and it caused you to lose. Now imagine how much of a difference it would have been to have even one turret there. Exactly.

Although turrets are stationary, they do not take up any population. This means you can have four turrets defending your base without holding back your army size. Extra firepower is always welcomed at the base is it not?

Each turret can individually be upgraded to have damage bonuses on certain troops (e.g. infantry, aircraft). Say you're facing Sergeant Forge, and you know that he'll eventually be throwing Grizzly tanks at you. Making turrets with rail gun attachments can do that little extra damage to help you pull through from that assault. Nevertheless, any turret can combat all types of troops, making it completely capable of defending from any types of attack.

Later in the game, when you should be controlling several bases and have a hefty income, resources should definitely be spent investing on turrets. It might prove to be life-saving, and since it doesn't drain your population, it wouldn't hurt to have some extra firepower.

Lastly, by purchasing one time upgrades at the field armory, you can increase the strength and sustainability of all your turrets. All turrets would be upgraded and all future turrets will automatically be upgraded at the regular cost of a normal turret.

There has been much debate over the process of building turrets. Many complain that it is a drain on resources and are ultimately ineffective. Well, when you consider the reasonable health of a turret and the amount of damage it can dish out, turrets aren't exactly "useless" weapons. Early on however, building just one turret may be sufficient to defend your base. Any more too early would be a drain on precious resources.

They don't need to be micromanaged. When you really consider this, this is actually very useful. Your focus and attention are vital resources when attacking or defending. Spending that focus and time on doing something else results in giving your opponent time to do a little bit more damage. Turrets will shoot at anything, so even if airstrikes are coming in and tanks are blasting away, your turrets will fire to its last round before going down.

Just remember, technically nothing strategically bad happens if you build turrets. Sure it might cost a bit of your resources, but it's always good to have some sort of extra defense.

Trading Basics in DarkStar One

Learn the basics on how to become a space merchant.

Among doing missions or bounty hunting, trading commodities is an honest way of making a living in the galaxy. This article will teach you the bare basics of how to trade.

When you are docked at a trading station, you can view its tradables (known as commodities). There will be four bars on the left of each commodity. These bars will either be red or green.

Dark Star One runs on a supply and demand economical system. When a trade station has an anundancy of items, they try to sell it off for a cheap price. At a distant system, another trading station might be very low or have none of a certain commodity. Desperate for a supply, trade stations will offer very high prices for a surplus of this commodity.

Your job is to buy cheap at one place, and sell high at another. That's all there is to it!

Of course, knowing Dark Star One, it might be difficult for beginners to understand what all the graphics and menues mean. When you check the star map, each location will be presented with several little images of commodities. The commodities shown in green are commodities that the trade station has a large supply of. Any other location that does not have that commodity listed will be in demand for that item. Make sure that the commodity is bordered in red. Those commodities are illegal, and smuggling illegal commodities will be explained in a different article.

This is the concept of trading. The act of trading will be explained in this section of the article.

In the trade menu of a trading station, slide the meter to the right to purchase a commodity. Make sure that the four bars are green, purchase as much of that commodity as you can. Go to the star map, and find a location that does not have this commodity in an abundance or have it listed as illegal. Set your waypoint there. Takeoff the trade station and go into hyperdrive when you can.

After arriving at the location, pirates might be waiting to ambush you. If this is the case, drop your container. Don't worry, you will get it back later. Dispatch all the pirates. Return to your cargo, and dock it to your ship.

Make your way to the trade station. Enter the trading screen. The commodity that you recently purchased should have some of those bars filled in red. If so, move the meter to the left to sell your commodities.

This is all you need to know how to make an honest profit in space.

Confining in Phantom Brave

Understanding the confining feature of Phantom Brave.

Confining is a unique feature found in Phantom Brave. Understanding the basics might be easy, but truly using it to its maximum effect can allow you to take down the strongest of foes or save yourself from heartache.

You must already know that you can turn objects on the map into your ally phantoms. And so, when you go into battle, you might simply confine a phantom into the closest item to an enemy.

For a while, this might work. However, once you start engaging in more difficult battles, you must confine your phantoms into the most effective object there is. If you haven't noticed yet, every item has a pair of stats, an equipping and confining set.

The equipment stats mean nothing when confining, but the confine stats are worth a look at. These confining stats will modify your phantom's stats. This could hugely impact your battle postively or negatively.

Note that confining stats reflect the object. For example, confining a phantom into a rock will result in your phantom having a higher defense stat while having a lower speed stat.

With that being said, confining could lower or increase a phantom's stat, and that should always be recognized when confining. Say you confine a fighter into a spirit tree. The fighter's intelligence and resistance stats will increase, while his attack stats decreases. This would be a pretty ineffective match as the fighter would be less effective. Now let's say you confine a mage into that spirit tree. Again, her attack decreaes, but her intelligence goes up. This would be beneficial, as she wouldn't have any use for attack anyways, and a high intelligence is the base for all magic related attacks.

Confining is a major aspect of Phantom Brave. Always think before you act and you will be largely sucessful in your fights.

Fast Way to Get High Honor in Red Dead Redemption

Need to show heroism on a deadline? Look no further! This article will teach you how to get high honor in Red Dead Redemption in a pinch.

Being a good person is much harder than being a real person. In Red Dead Redemption, there are few activities that will increase your honor, and such activities are few and few in between.

There is, however, a very fast way to increase your honor level very quickly without using any cheat codes. This can be done be repeatively winning duels.

Of course, you can simply wait for someone on the street to start bad-mouthing you, or you could make people angry at you and make them challenge you.

If you have some money to spare, head over to MacFarlene's Ranch. There will be a poker table that require small bets in order to play in. Also wear a gentleman's attire so you can cheat.

Purposefully cheat whenever you have the chance. A poker player will call you out for cheating, and challenge you to a duel. Killing your opponent will earn you honor points though disarming will earn you twice as much.

The people who challenge you respawn, and you you can repeat this however many times you want, or for as much money you have. Remember that poker tables are inactive at night.

Best Nacht der Untoten Strategy

How to brave a night with the undead.

Nacht der Untoten was the very first Nazi Zombies map to be released. Since then, many have dicovered glitches and what not to get to incredibly high levels. There is, however, a possible but theoretical way to reach high waves.

Firstly, understand that every weapon will ultimately lose its strength as each wave comes. No ray gun or machine gun will make up for the amount of bullets zombies at wave 70 can absorb. There is also no perks to aid you. Finally, there is no electric barrier that guarantees instant kills.

Therefore, the only logical way to stay alive indefinitely is by doing "laps" around a spot. The concept of this idea is that zombies will not be able to reach you, and you will always be able to evade zombies in your position.

There is only one place in Nacht der Untoten where you can effectively run laps. This can only be done inside the room where you have to open the the "Hell" door.

As long as you only open the Hell door, and run around the pillars in a clockwise lap, then zombies will not be able to hit you.

Knowing that, you must also have a gun that is abundant on ammo. Weapons from the Mystery Box cannot count, as you do not have access to a steady stream of ammunition for high rounds.

The Thompson is really the only weapon that can be effectively used throughout Nacht der Untoten. The Thompson can be bought off the wall for a reasonable price of 1200 points. Refilling ammo costs as little as 600.

When you actually use this lapping strategy, you generally run laps around the pillars. Zombies will follow you, but not necessarily hit you. Eventually, the zombies will hit their population max, meaning that they won't continue spawning until one or more zombies is neutralized. Therefore, you purchase a Thompson and run laps. Only focus on evading zombies at that point. When zombies no longer spawn, you will find that you have a long "tail" of zombies. Turn and fire while walking backwards.

Hitting one zombie is worth 10 points. If one bullet flies through six zombies, that will earn you 60 points. Theoretically, if you aim properly, you will always earn enough points to refill ammunition. Refill ammunition whenever necessary.

Attempt to hit as many zombies as you can. Bullet penetration means that it will fly through as many zombies as it touches. Once you're in high rounds, you should always focus on evading zombies after killing one or more. Just one zombie spawning and coming from a back window can cause you to go down.

If you understand this article, you should now know that this strategy can produce unlimited bullets and inflict no damage upon the player, meaning you can go as long as you physically can (or get bored).

Keep in mind that this strategy is most useful in solo games. Having even one more player could complicate things very much. If another player is playing, they will form their own tail of zombies, meaning that if the players get too seperated from each other, the tail of zombies will eventually collapse on tem, causing almost guarantee death.

Remember to take your time and keep it safe. You can go far with this strategy as long as you be stay focused and persistent.

Air Superiority in R.U.S.E.

Air superiority is they key to any battle.

If you control the skies, then you control the battlefield. Therefore, you must do everything in your power to own it, and defend it.

R.U.S.E. has four classifications of aircrafts. There are recon planes, fighter planes, fighter-bomber planes, and bomber planes. This article will give you an explanation of each of these classes and how to take advantage of them.

Recon planes are usually unarmed aircrafts that can do surveillance over the battlefield. Recon planes are very useful to find intel on enemy forces with a low risk of being shot down. They are inexpensive, and have a wider range of sight than regular ground recon units. However, if recon planes are attacked, there is very little hope for survival as they are unequipped with weapons. An escort may be useful for crucial flights.

Fighter planes are the key to the sky. They are the force in the air to push out opposing forces. These fighter planes are usually somewhat expensive, but are deadly in the skies. They can only attack other flying aircraft and infantry units, though they do very little against infantry. Players should always be trying to accumulate more (and stronger) fighter planes than opposing players. Fuel is not factored in this game, therefore your fighter planes should always be in scramble above your base.

Fighter planes are necessary when attempting to bomb the enemy base. When fighter planes accompanty bomber planes, they are called escorts. Payloads are always the most important objective of an air mission, and therefore protection of bomber planes are of the utmost importance. Fighter planes are necessary to defend against the bomber, and so I stress the fact that an abundance of fighter planes are always necessary.

Fighter-bombers are aircrafts that can engage other aircrafts and carry a small payload. They are very useful for supporting your land units and can hold their own against other fighter planes. Like the fighter planes, they should always be in scramble so they can quickly when necessary. Although they can cause significant damage to fighter planes, they are ultimately weaker, and so they are most useful when in close proximity to ally fighter planes.

Although they carry payloads, they are generally not used to bomb structures. The bombs are instead more often used to defend against a land attack as well as to destroy anti-air fortifications. Imagine having a bombing run with anti-aircraft guns on the ground. Fighter-bombers are the only effective way to disable them.

Bomber planes are really the aircraft that can level the battlefield. If the bomber plane can survive long enough to reach its destination, then enemy units or structures will likely get leveled or critcally damaged. Some bomber planes are equipped with machine guns to help defend against fighters, but like the fighter-bomber, they are ultimately weaker to the fighter plane. Therefore fighter planes should always accompany bombers on bombing runs.

Losing the air is losing the battle. Always fight for control in the skies.

Beginner's Guide to Lock Picking in Oblivion

Picking locks is an art in Oblivion. If people's privacy are stopping you from stealing items, read this short guide to lock picking.

In order to pick locks you first need a lock pick. Lock picks can be found on many monsters and can be bought off several NPC characters. In your journeys, there will be times where a door or container is locked. Using your security skill, you can open these locks to access the contents inside.

When you attempt to pick a lock, a minigame comes up. This minigame shows you your lock pick and the tumblers that you need to pick. Depending on the difficulty of the lock, the number of tumblers required to be picked can range from one to five.

To pick locks, you need to fix all the tumblers so that they all are not obstructing your lock pick. Picking tumblers is very easy once you develop the patience needed. Whenever you tap a tumbler, it can go up slowly or quickly. Most of the time, the tumblers will almost instantly rise, giving you very little time to fix the tumblers. The trick is to wait until it goes up slowly. If the tumbler rises slowly, it gives you much more time to fix the tumbler once it reaches the top. Failing to pick a lock will break your lock pick, as well as lowering some tumblers.

Lock picking is directly related to the security skill. As you pick locks, your security skill increases. The higher your security skill is, the slower the tumblers will rise. After reaching certain levels of security, the tumblers that fall after failing is reduced. For example, a novice of security will drop all tumblers upon failure where as a journeyman of security will keep two up.

After reading this article, you should never need to auto-pick a lock.

How to Lay Suppressive Fire in First-Person Shooter Games

Learn how to suppress the enemy using an unending spray of bullets.

Suppressive fire is a real-life military tactic used to give a force an advantage. NATO calls this “the application of fire, coordinated with the manoeuvre of forces, to destroy, neutralize or suppress the enemy.”

This technique can also be practiced in first-person shooter games. Very few people understand the purpose of suppressive fire due to the sense that suppressive fire is only truly useful in a coordinated team setting. Suppressing an enemy force is useless if your own team doesn't know what to do about it.

Suppressing fire is laying down a barrage of bullets upon the enemy. It does not always have to be directly targeted, though it should close to enemy locations. Doing so will usually keep enemy players bunkered down and immobile.

Why? Well, if you're lying below cover and you see a stream of bullets whizzing past you, you're not going to leave your only form of defence right? Or if you're moving accross an open field an a gunner starts laying fire on you. Naturally, the first thing you would do is to make yourself a small a target as possible, which means crouching or lying down, rendering yourself immobile.

And how is this useful? Firstly, if the player walks into your bullets, then your job's done. Secondly, if they don't, they should be left in one spot. If you're playing with an organized team, they would know to take the advantage and circle the enemy. This would cut off the enemy's escape routes and basically leave them incapable of doing any significant action.

To set up an effective suppresive fire, one should use weapons with large ammunition supplies (machine guns usually) or explosive ordnance. Of course, spraying indirectly at an enemy doesn't necessarily mean that it will earn you kills. Laying down suppressive fire drains a lot of ammunition very quickly. Therefore, you must make sure that you have a surplus of ammunition before considering this tactic. If you're using machine guns, simply spray or use short bursts at the opponent's cover. If you have an explosive weapon with many charges, then feel free to do the same thing.

Games from the Call of Duty series can be put into example. Modern Warfare 2 will be used in this example. A machine gunner will take an overwatch position high in his team's base building. He sees several opposing troops advancing. He fires repeatively unto them. He doesn't necessarily get any kills, but he did manage to injure a few. The advancing troops go behind cover. The machine gunner doesn't stop his firing. Those advancing troops are now pinned and can't move. The gunner's allied troops take advantage of the suppressive fire and quickly maneuver around the enemy troops, and swiftly cut them down. In this example, the machine gunner has burned through a huge amount of ammunition, and doesn't score any kills at all. However, this contribution ultimately leads his team into getting an advantage over the enemy. Do you now start to understand the concept of suppressive fire?

Remember that suppressive fire is a team-based maneuver, and requires a competent team to be able to be put into effective use.

Best Mutators to Make Horde Mode Easier

Gears of War 3's Horde mode is very challenging, especially when playing on Insane difficulty. Use these mutators to make Horde mode easier.

Up to three mutators are allowed in one game. The three presented to you will greatly lower your overall score, but will make completing Horde mode much easier.

Infinite Ammo. This mutator gives all starting weapons gives all starting weapons and pistols infinite ammo. Imagine being able to spray bullets indefinitely without fear of exposing yourself to collecting ammo.

This does not apply to weapons that are picked up (i.e. longshot, mulcher), so be wary when trading a starting weapon with one on the ground.

Super-Reload. When used with the Infinite Ammo mutator, all your starting weapons become amazingly more dangerous. The Super-Reload mutator allows you to keep your weapon's active reload status indefinitely until you switch weapons or reload again. As well, any ammo that has been replenished by an active reload will be added on top of your clip! For example, you fire a Hammerburst five times. You active reload. You now have five active reloaded burst shots as well as a full clip of ten, totally 15 bursts.

When used in conjunction with Infinite Ammo, you can deliberately burn ammo to use an active reload.

Remember that active reloaded bullets do significantly more damage than regular ones, so active reload whenever possible.

Insta-Gib Melee. This mutator enhances your melee attacks to instant-kills. Imagine being able to fall drones, maulers, and even berserkers with a mere punch!

Insta-gib Melee and boomshields go very well together. you can run around the map and simply melee most of your enemies.

Make note that Insta-Gib Melee does not apply to large bosses such as the Lambent Zerker and Brumag.

These mutators will make your quest to eradicate the Locust Horde much less difficult.

How to Quickly Kill Elites in Halo: Reach

Those annoying Elites on Halo can cause plenty of problems, especially on Legendary difficulty. Here are some quick tips to quickly dispose of them.

Sangheili, or better known as Elites, are annoying Covenant aliens that are both strong and difficult to kill. Equipped with armor shielding, they can take plenty of bullets or punches before going out. On top of that, are physically stronger than humans.

Sangheili Minors have very
little shields.

So what do you do when you see an Elite?

The first thing to do is to recognize what rank the Elite is. Their rank can be recognized by the color and armor that the Elite is wearing. Knowing their rank is very important, as it shows how much shields that Elite has.

Similar to the Elite on the right, these blue armored Elites have very little shields, and can be killed relatively easily with a few shots from a precision weapon. Sangheili Generals can be identified by their golden armor and large headgear. Such high ranking Elites have much shielding and will take a much more effort to kill. The Elite hierarchy structure can be identified on Halo's Wikia page. The higher an Elite is on the table, the stronger it is (note that not all these Elite ranks can be seen in Halo: Reach).

When you encounter a group of Elites, it is important to first kill the lower ranking Elites. Simply having less Elites to deal with at one time will be a major benefit to destroying the whole unit. There are several ways to kill Elites. Below are several effective ways to dispatch them.

1. Pick them off with precision weapons. Target low ranking Elites first. High ranking Elites have high shielding, and would take plenty of valuable to kill.
2. Grenade and spray. A well thrown frag grenade will do significant damage and will throw the Elite in the air for about one second, giving you time to shoot at it with an automatic (relatively close-range).
3. Stick Elites from a distance. If you catch an Elite who isn't moving very much, you can stick them with a good plasma grenade. Be sure to stick them from a distance or else they'll charge you before blowing up.
4. Attack fast and assassinate. Do some quick damage, either by spraying close range or a quick melee. The Elite would stand immobile and roar, giving you an opportunity to go behind him and assassinate. Beware to not get kicked instead, as it would do heavy damage to you, and possibly lead to death.

There are a few points you should keep in mind when engaging Elites. They are faster and stronger than you. If you're backing up, they can catch up to you. If you're trying to punch one, remember that they can kick you which does much more damage.

They only real advantage you have over Elites is that you're smarter than them. They'll do stupid things that'll leave them vulnerable. As long as you don't leave yourself vulnerable, you'll win any encounter.

6 Ways to Preserve Ammo in Undead Nightmare

Ever since the dead have risen, it's hard to find ammo. Read these 6 tips to make the most of your limited ammunition.

1. Use executions. Executions consume a single bullet and guarantee an instant kill. To perform an execution, simply walk up to an undead and pull the trigger.
2. Burn the dead. Whenever you engage zombies, try to torch and burn zombies that are distant from their pack. Your torch has infinite uses, so use it instead of firearms whenever possible.
3. Loot from dead cowboys. Keep an eye out for undead gunslingers as they always carry some unused bullets in their bandoliers.
4. Aim for the head. Headshots are guaranteed kills, whereas shots to the body usually require more bullets to kill.
5. Use pistols. Handgun ammunition is more abundant and headshots guarantee kills, so with skillful use, you should always have ammo left after an undead encounter.
6. Dead-Eye the dead. Red Dead Redemption's famous Dead-Eye features can allow you to easily target heads. Dead-Eye can also be used longer in Undead Nightmare.

Use your weapons sparingly. Above all, do your best to avoid unecessary combat. Without ammunition, you really are nothing more but a lamb with a pack of wolves.

No-Rushing in Real-Time Strategy Games

So are we allowed rushing or not?

No Rushing is a very popular rule in real-time strategy games. The idea is that all players agree on a set amount of time at the beginning of which no one can attack. There is often game setting that allows you to do so, but you can likely trust the other players as well. Most players favor no rushing, and so it is usually respected.

It is important that you understand how to take advantage of the no rushing time. Instead of dividing up your resources between securing more and producing a force, you must spend all your resources on securing resources.

This means you must first become familiar about the scenario or map you are playing on. You have to know where each resource is and how to extract them.

You must now ask yourself these questions. You need to figure out how much you will produce in the allotted time, and how you will spend those resources. You must spend all your resources before the no-rush time is depleted. Therefore, if a production building can only produce tanks slowly, then you should build more production buildings. You must be careful to not spend too much on such buildings, as any uneccesary resources spent will decrease the overall strength of your force.

I recommend you perform these calculations beforehand, as the time not spent counting can be spent on securing more resources and troops.

Once you have a considerable force, you should then strategically attack the enemy with literally everything you have. If there are key buildings or fortifications that should be taken out, consider them before your attack. If your force needs to be engaged in a fight against an opposing force, then you should really just go ahead and do so. If you've properly built your troops, then you should be able to take on the force and carry on with your attack. If your troops survive the attack - which they should - there should be no real defences to stand in your way.

Key lesson? Preparation before the match, and then unhesitating execution.

Retro Lancer or Lancer?

Both are very powerful, but which one is more suited for you?

The Retro Lancer has very high stopping power. It is very inaccurate however, and is only effect between close to medium range, unless fired in short bursts. The Retro Lancer is equipped with a bayonet that can be used in a bayonet charge.

Bayonet charges may vary in usefulness depending on the situation. The player must have a running start in order to instantly kill an enemy on contact. While the player is running, the player has very little control over how much their character can maneuver. If the player is shot while charging, the player will slow down, making the player either lose enough speed to not be able to kill, or simply die. If the opposing character performs a dodge-roll, then the bayonet charge will only inflict major but not lethal damage. A bayonet charge can ram through several smaller enemies such as formers and polyps.

The regular Lancer is a very balanced weapon. It has less stopping power than the Retro Lancer, but it is much more accurate and holds much more ammunition per clip. Unlike the Retro Lancer which is equipped with a bayonet, the Lancer has a mini-chainsaw attached to it, allowing the player to saw any infantry sized enemy in close quarters. Instant kill, obviously.

A chainsaw must be revved before using. Revving takes only a second, but will lower and will need to be revved again if shot. Chainsawing enemies in campaign and horde mode has many advantages. Not only does it guarantee a kill, it renders the player invincible in the duration of the player mauling their enemy. The chainsaw can continue to kill enemies surrounding the player. This allows the player to regenerate health even while surrounded by enemies. However, the player does not gain invincibility in versus mode. Chainsaws are much less effective than shotguns, therefore it is generally not recommended to use during online matchmaking.

In general, the Retro Lancer is stronger but more inaccurate, and vice versa for the Lancer. An experienced Gears of War player should use a Retro Lancer however, due to its stronger potential.

Turtling in R.U.S.E.

Turtling is a defensive strategem that focuses on defending one's base rather than directly attacking the enemy.

In concept, turtling may be a dominating strategy. A player would build fortifications to the point where the player's base is near impenetrable. The opposing army would send attacks which would be beaten back, scoring the defending player points.

If the player has properly built defnces, the player's base should be able to withstand a full-scale attack. Should a full-scale attack fail, the defending player would then mount a counter-offensive. The attacking player would be weakened from their failure, and would not be able to build defences fast enough to stop the new offensive.

Again, turtling is strong only in concept. When actually turtling in R.U.S.E., there are many variables and counter-turtling tactics that could render turtling useless.

Totally defending your base is near impossible. You cannot predict what type of attack will land on which part of your base. For example, you could build anti-air, anti-infantry, and anti-armor fortifications around one section of your base. The enemy could send in a full-scale air offensive to destroy your anti-air defences and would be able to attack the rest of your defences unchallenged.

Fortifications are not cheap. Although they are strong en masse, building many of them would quickly drain all your resources. As well, you cannot spread your fortifications to cover your entire base, as they can be singled out and vulnerable to being targeted.

What makes turtling even more difficult is that turtling is very vulnerable to artillery bombings.

It's true that camouflage nets can hide your buildings, but your army and fortifications are still left in the open. Artillery can slowly cut down your defences until you lose enough defences to not be able to withstand an attack.

In games where there are more than two players, a turtling player would be near useless. In team games, a turtling player cannot support his ally. The opposing team could simply team attack the ally, and then targeting the turtling player, which would not stand a chance against two attack forces.

In a large free-for-all game, a turtling player cannot score points since it would not be able to attack anything.

Nevertheless, an experienced player could pull off turtling. Turtling is a very complicated and difficult strategy to use, but when used properly, turtling can lead to many adamant victories.

Do You Use a Hammerburst?

The Hammerburst is a an underused weapon that Gears of War 3 pros should be using.

When was the last time you used a Hammerburst? Probably when you ran out of ammo on your primary gun right? Not many people know how strong the Hammerburst really is.

The Hammerburst is capable of taking down someone in only eight shots, and only seven if you've active reloaded. If you have a good trigger finger, you can pump out that many bullets in a second or two.

Gears of War 3's newly made Hammerburst can let you aim down the gun's iron sight, making the Hammerburst the most accurate starting weapon in the game. As well, the gun has very low recoil, allowing you you to shoot at targets without much difficulty with aiming.

So why doesn't everyone use a Hammerburst? It is simply because it's a hard weapon to use. The Hammerburst is limited by it's 20 round magazines making you reload almost after every time you take down an opponent. Reloading is different as well, and can cause many players to jam the Hammerburst since the slide goes to from an attempted reload to a small active reload bar. As well, the Hammer burst doesn't have a chainsaw or bayonet like the Lancers, which greatly reduces the player's ability to melee an enemy down.

If you are an experience player, and is good at Gears of War 3, you should definitely pick up the Hammerburst and give it a try. Technically, the Hammerburst is the strongest starting weapon a player can choose out of the three. So start using the Hammerburst now. Once you become proficient in using this underrated weapon, you will become the most dangerous player in the game.

How to Manage Monteriggioni in Assassin's Creed 2

Use money to make money.

Consider Monteriggioni your stronghold. You technically own everything of Monteriggioni, and since you own everything, everything that is made in your property, is yours.

Overview of Monteriggioni.

Every 20 minutes that you are playing Assassin's Creed 2, money is deposited in your villa's chest. You can collect money any time you go in to the villa's chest. Know that the chest can only store up to 80 minutes worth of income, and any 20 minutes after that would be spilt milk.

Money collected should be reinvested in renovations to Monteriggioni. To start renovating, speak with the villa's architect. Firstly, restore the villa's buildings, such as the church and well. When you've completed those, continue by renovating the bank, and then the rest of the buildings. The money used to reinvest will bring in more income every 20 minutes.

You will receive an income bonus once all renovations are completed. Now continue to collect income. Money you've earned should now be used to purchase new weapons and armor. Equipment you purchase is stored in your villa, increasing Monteriggioni value, and therefore bringing even more income. Although it does increase your villa's income, it does not increase it as much as it would by renovating.

When you have an abundance of money, purchase paintings from art merchants and any remaining equipment not yet purchased. Finding codex pages, feathers, and statuettes will also increase the villa's value.

All of this will be for naught if don't remember to collect your income. Invest well to reap the rewards!

7 Easy Tips for Using Warthogs in Halo: Reach

The warthog is the UNSC's backbone in military land operations. Although being very versatile and powerful, it can easily be destroyed if improperly used. Here are 7 tips on how to use a warthog to the best of its capabilities.

1. Distance is key. The closer you are to the enemy, the more damage they could cause. Hijacking and sticking is much too easy when a warthog is in close proximity. Keep your distance!
2. Avoid enclosed areas. Rookie drivers often just dive straight into the enemy base and hope to mow down anyone there. Firstly, without space to maneuver, grenades would surround you within seconds. Secondly, with the usual amount of players guarding their base, expect to be shot at more times than to shoot back.
3. The passenger seat is reserved for VIPs. Gametypes that include flags or bombs would often require the passenger seat to be reserved for transporting objectives. Otherwise, the passenger seat is useless. It is an ineffective platform for players to shoot from as it lowers the players maneuverability, their accuracy, and it doesn't increase the amount of damage your weapons can do. You would be a sitting duck and very vulnerable, so stay away from the comfy chair!
4. Continuous gunning is a no-no. Unlike Halo 3, turrets now have a limit on how many bullets it can spray until it overheats and has to cooldown. Overheating a turret temporarily disables it, leaving the warthog and its passengers vulnerable. Shoot only when you need to, and don't randomly shoot at pointless things. It's annoying.
5. Know when to break off. Just because you're in a vehicle, it does not mean that you're impervious to damage. This goes especially for the gunner with almost no protection. If you're biting off more than you can chew, then drive away. Recharge your shields, and continue the fight.
6. Be a smart gunner. Don't try to shoot someone across the map. Your turret won't be accurate enough. Don't try to shoot a tank. A little machine gun won't match a tank barrel! Be smart and don't shoot everything on sight.
7. Know your capabilities. A warthog can easily mow down two players in the open but any more than that could swarm your warthog, ultimately resulting in loss.

Be smart. Be conscious of your surroundings, and don't drink and drive.

How to Make the Most From Recon Drones in Homefront

The RQ-10 Parrot is an unmanned reconnaissance drone that is available to use in Homefront multiplayer. The RQ-10, in other terms, is a remote controlled flying spy drone that can fly around showing your team where the enemy is positioned. If used properly, the recon drone can benefit your team greatly by giving them enemy intel as well as battle points for yourself.

A recon drone costs 250 battle points, or 200 battle points if you’re using the penny pincher ability. It is recommended to have the penny pincher ability since it reduces the cost of all equipment by 20%. Recon drones may be used on any Homefront multiplayer map.

The recon drone can fly far behind enemy territory or on top of firefights between your team and the enemy. It is highly recommended to only mark players who are too busy occupied fighting your team than to actually go to the enemy spawn and spawn marking everyone. However, if your team has the upper hand, and is actively engaging the enemy at their spawn, you can score a lot of battle points by marking them when they spawn. When you mark a player, they get a notification saying that they’ve been marked, making them aware of you, therefore you must be very careful about where and when you mark your enemies.

Marking a player earns you 30 battle points, and you are awarded 40 additional battle points if your team-mate kills a player you’ve marked. It is possible and recommended to repeatedly mark a group of two or three players to farm battle points. Your goal is to mark enough players to earn back your battle points spent, as well as profiting enough to purchase strong ordnance.

To make a battle point farming class, you should consider equipping the following abilities: penny pincher, my buddy, and thick skin. Whatever weapon you choose is up to you, though know that you won’t really be doing any real combat with this class.