dotswarlock
10-24-2006, 02:56 PM
I saw a lot of posts out there saying that the cloaking device is not all that it’s cracked up to be but I’ve used it a lot and I love it! I’ve used it successfully in many situations so I thought I’d share a few tips! Let’s go through the basic first for those that have not tried it out:
- The device must be held in the hand and used to work. Equipping a weapon naturally deactivates it.
- The device does not make you perfectly invisible and most can see your outlines under normal condition.
- The device emits a low but very strident sound.
- The device can work for up to 20 seconds before needing to cool down.
- An EMP will short circuit it but will not stop you from using it afterwards.
- The device also blurs your vision slightly and dampens the sound from your perspective while using it so watch out.
Now that the basics are out of the way, let’s go in detail.
1) Do not cloak when spotted: it’s too late to cloak! You would go from a fighting unit to a defenseless unit that’s a bit harder to hit with an enemy that knows what to look for. Instead move behind an obstacle (the bigger the better) and then cloak. The enemy will not know right away that you are cloaked and might still be looking at your hiding place as you leave. Move from cover to cover while cloaked to make spotting you even harder.
2) Uncloak far away before knifing: it takes time to uncloak and switch to your dagger, time that an enemy will have to hear you coming with the sound it makes. Do yourself a favor and pick up your knife from farther away before piercing his lung. If there’s more then one enemy then maybe a grenade would be safer.
3) Lighter armor and cloaking: an effective cloak unit is one that moves very quickly. Light armor is preferable in most circumstances.
4) Never approach a unit head on: infantry units have good odds of spotting you if you approach them head on, try a side route and don’t get too close.
5) Vehicles are weak to cloaking: most dangerous vehicles like tanks, APCs and walkers have a limited frontal field of view where there sight is not distorted. So as long as you are not directly in front of their turret(s) then you can usually walk past without a hitch. The sound of their engines also drowns out the sound of your cloaking so feel free to go right under those walker legs, uncloak and pop a few explosives under its belly (easier to hit then the legs).
6) Cloaking and squad beacon: want to put a squad beacon behind enemy lines? What better way then a cloaking device to do it! Just run from cover to cover while keeping a good 45 m range from most enemies and you should be good to go! The enemy will truly be disoriented when the attack comes from 2 sides.
7) Cloaking and other squad leader assets: you’re nearly invisible but you have a bot hovering near your head… need I say more?
8) Cloaking and Titans: basically, it’s a no go. Titans are really close quarter fighting and you will be very obvious. Better put on some heavy armor, high explosives and anti-personnel charges. Use the anti-personnel to block a few corridors to watch your back and the explosives to blow up those consoles in a hurry (assuming those nearby are smart enough to get out of the way).
9) Cloaking in dark spots: being prone in the dark while capping a flag helps. If you are cloaked to boot then it’s almost impossible to spot you before you spot them (and preferably shoot them).
10) That carbine unlock: is worth it for close quarter fighting and more direct approaches (aka, Titan).
11) Effective range against infantry: the *best* range that I found while using a cloaking device against infantry is usually at more then 30 m. At that range it will take enemies a while to spot, aim and shoot at you effectively (assuming you are on the move of course).
12) Use cover effectively: just because you’re hard to see does not mean that you should not use cover as you move. Not only will it make you harder to spot but if you are spotted then it will increase the odds of the enemy losing track of you.
13) Sniping and cloaking: the tactic is simple. You simply snipe from far away (a good 60 meter) and when you are spotted (confirmed by bullet fire) you move out of sight, wait a few seconds, cloak and find another hiding spot. You can even be a bit sadistic and leave an anti-personnel mine behind for someone to find.
14) Tanks and explosives: be patient and wait for a vehicle to come to a full stop before getting too close. The reason is that tanks can crush you while changing directions and hover tanks that are strafing can kill you easily (often without them realizing it). Let them think there’s no one around before blowing them up.
15) Support enhanced helmet: remember that support infantry have enhanced helmets that can lock on cloaked figures (support units are usually characterized by their longer bursts of fire). The theory that I found states that it only does so when the cloaking device is activated in view of the support infantry but I cannot verify this at the moment. If that happens (and assuming that you survive being discovered) then your options are either to snipe back, wait around a corner with the Lambert (if you have it) or leave a nice anti-personnel mine around a corner as a *reward* for spotting you.
16) The enhanced endurance unlock combined with the light armor allows you to sprint for roughly the same duration as your cloaking device (20 seconds). That is a long sprint that will carry you very far while almost invisible and a worthy unlock if you like cloaking (or sprinting in general). I have not unlocked the stamina recovery but it should allow more boosts of speed (to be confirmed).
17) If you unlock the cloaking device and do not like it: do not worry, it’s still a worthy unlock since it will give you access to the lambert carbine. The opinions on the weapon vary with each users (I like it a lot) but few can deny that if you want to use explosives charges in a Titan (preferably with anti-personnel mines here and there) then that this gun is better suited then the sniper rifle.
Hope those tips help! See you around… and hopefully you won’t see me!
- The device must be held in the hand and used to work. Equipping a weapon naturally deactivates it.
- The device does not make you perfectly invisible and most can see your outlines under normal condition.
- The device emits a low but very strident sound.
- The device can work for up to 20 seconds before needing to cool down.
- An EMP will short circuit it but will not stop you from using it afterwards.
- The device also blurs your vision slightly and dampens the sound from your perspective while using it so watch out.
Now that the basics are out of the way, let’s go in detail.
1) Do not cloak when spotted: it’s too late to cloak! You would go from a fighting unit to a defenseless unit that’s a bit harder to hit with an enemy that knows what to look for. Instead move behind an obstacle (the bigger the better) and then cloak. The enemy will not know right away that you are cloaked and might still be looking at your hiding place as you leave. Move from cover to cover while cloaked to make spotting you even harder.
2) Uncloak far away before knifing: it takes time to uncloak and switch to your dagger, time that an enemy will have to hear you coming with the sound it makes. Do yourself a favor and pick up your knife from farther away before piercing his lung. If there’s more then one enemy then maybe a grenade would be safer.
3) Lighter armor and cloaking: an effective cloak unit is one that moves very quickly. Light armor is preferable in most circumstances.
4) Never approach a unit head on: infantry units have good odds of spotting you if you approach them head on, try a side route and don’t get too close.
5) Vehicles are weak to cloaking: most dangerous vehicles like tanks, APCs and walkers have a limited frontal field of view where there sight is not distorted. So as long as you are not directly in front of their turret(s) then you can usually walk past without a hitch. The sound of their engines also drowns out the sound of your cloaking so feel free to go right under those walker legs, uncloak and pop a few explosives under its belly (easier to hit then the legs).
6) Cloaking and squad beacon: want to put a squad beacon behind enemy lines? What better way then a cloaking device to do it! Just run from cover to cover while keeping a good 45 m range from most enemies and you should be good to go! The enemy will truly be disoriented when the attack comes from 2 sides.
7) Cloaking and other squad leader assets: you’re nearly invisible but you have a bot hovering near your head… need I say more?
8) Cloaking and Titans: basically, it’s a no go. Titans are really close quarter fighting and you will be very obvious. Better put on some heavy armor, high explosives and anti-personnel charges. Use the anti-personnel to block a few corridors to watch your back and the explosives to blow up those consoles in a hurry (assuming those nearby are smart enough to get out of the way).
9) Cloaking in dark spots: being prone in the dark while capping a flag helps. If you are cloaked to boot then it’s almost impossible to spot you before you spot them (and preferably shoot them).
10) That carbine unlock: is worth it for close quarter fighting and more direct approaches (aka, Titan).
11) Effective range against infantry: the *best* range that I found while using a cloaking device against infantry is usually at more then 30 m. At that range it will take enemies a while to spot, aim and shoot at you effectively (assuming you are on the move of course).
12) Use cover effectively: just because you’re hard to see does not mean that you should not use cover as you move. Not only will it make you harder to spot but if you are spotted then it will increase the odds of the enemy losing track of you.
13) Sniping and cloaking: the tactic is simple. You simply snipe from far away (a good 60 meter) and when you are spotted (confirmed by bullet fire) you move out of sight, wait a few seconds, cloak and find another hiding spot. You can even be a bit sadistic and leave an anti-personnel mine behind for someone to find.
14) Tanks and explosives: be patient and wait for a vehicle to come to a full stop before getting too close. The reason is that tanks can crush you while changing directions and hover tanks that are strafing can kill you easily (often without them realizing it). Let them think there’s no one around before blowing them up.
15) Support enhanced helmet: remember that support infantry have enhanced helmets that can lock on cloaked figures (support units are usually characterized by their longer bursts of fire). The theory that I found states that it only does so when the cloaking device is activated in view of the support infantry but I cannot verify this at the moment. If that happens (and assuming that you survive being discovered) then your options are either to snipe back, wait around a corner with the Lambert (if you have it) or leave a nice anti-personnel mine around a corner as a *reward* for spotting you.
16) The enhanced endurance unlock combined with the light armor allows you to sprint for roughly the same duration as your cloaking device (20 seconds). That is a long sprint that will carry you very far while almost invisible and a worthy unlock if you like cloaking (or sprinting in general). I have not unlocked the stamina recovery but it should allow more boosts of speed (to be confirmed).
17) If you unlock the cloaking device and do not like it: do not worry, it’s still a worthy unlock since it will give you access to the lambert carbine. The opinions on the weapon vary with each users (I like it a lot) but few can deny that if you want to use explosives charges in a Titan (preferably with anti-personnel mines here and there) then that this gun is better suited then the sniper rifle.
Hope those tips help! See you around… and hopefully you won’t see me!