DoLLe do you plan to make guides for each hero?

DoLLe, I remember when you Maxx was here a while ago, and he came in claiming that mech didn't counter volt. Then, FaZ- got in to a huge arguement with you Maxx, with him claiming that mech destroyed volt. At first, I agreed with FaZ- and I thought that mech was a hard counter to volt. But then, I went and actually tried the 3hp build thing, and it actually works. Very nice guides, I can agree with everything you said.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jun 23 2010, 1:19 pm by 24million.

So you've put yourself in a situation that you are fighting the bat near canons not the wilderness. That'd give you more advantage won't it?

Unless you're a very slow hero who have no means to run alone(medic only), well if you have decided to run, there's nothing that the bat can do alone to stop you, really. Unless he have another teammate who's intercepting you. Then, BLAME YOUR TEAM for not helping at all. Or blame your team leader/strategist for forming the wrong strategy. Either is fine, but do it after you die. Before then, do your best to survive. It's all skills now!

You already assumed the bat already stunned you and you can't get out and his teammates are coming for your life. What about YOUR team? Is there NOBODY in your team who wants to come and save you/own them with you? If so, you probably have some problem with communication. Get a better team?

Early game, the rine has no where else to put that mana to use apart from mines.

At night, always assume the firebat is nearby and pay attention to surroundings. A cliff? Assume the dropship is right above it, even it wasn't there at day. A dark corner? The firebat is hiding there! Doing so will force you to pay cautious and heighten your attention to be able to react provided you don't put yourself at a pretty dangerous place. But, at night, I'd always suggest against staying alone/farming, really.


If you don't have hard counter, make it up with quantity. I don't think a bat can hold out against 3 heros all at once in early/mid game. If you can't pick out the bat because he counters you all, pick out his teammates then. Bat is a pretty terrible base killer so if it came to the step where it is lone bat vs 2+ heros, it's pretty much the loss for the bat. A well arranged two/three-pronged attack will have the bat, lacking in tactical mobility, running around doing nothing. Of course I'm only referring to the case of m8/m9 here. I don't play 3.4

If you can't win, don't charge head on. Go around it, or smash it with your teammates!

[quote\Lings give the exact same amount of exp as the lings that come in the spawn do, so not super much. However, you dont need to ever have htem killed as summoner. I mean, you have burrow, second fastest movespeed in the game, and can farm while you run, can you not?[/quote]
EARLY GAME. Ling gives much more exp and minerals compared to broodlings. Most of the time summoner players don't come out winning because summy can only be played 3v3. (2s or 1s it's basically a quick reset because summoner really can't loose there unless he's an idiot). Due to the lack of chance to practice, summoner players are usually a grade or two lower in terms of skills compared to other heros. Also if summoner can't gain exp early game, he's out of the circle.

[/quote]
That'll be an automatic exp deny for one of his teammates. The summoner is HURTING their team more than gaining anything. Of course a well planned team can have their strategy revolving their summoner, but unless the summoner really absolutely hard counters his opponent, it rarely works. Ouch.

MEMEME, have you ever, tried to play the bat/smmoner (the later in a 3v3 game) against decent players? If it is indeed so imbalanced, you should be getting straight wins. Show us some replays of you playing bat, maybe you really have found a secret for a firebat dominating so badly it's imbalanced!

Thank you. I would like to point out that if you are still racing for mid and you have 3HP and someone with decent damage backing you up you will not lose it. Another thing is if Mech gets HP himself its harder on him because of his farm capabilities. Remember the key is to watch for double L3's and use your combo on any L4 attempts.


Depends. I will make guides on heroes I like the most then, the others. I probably wont make one for mutant/mech unless I have to.

the fh crew says they're ready anytime, just tell them when. So pick a time sometime this week from now to sunday. If it takes you longer than that I'm afraid I'm gonna make it a dq.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jun 23 2010, 9:29 pm by ClansAreForGays.

The Essential Warrior Guide

I.Basics

1100 HP 120 Shields
36 Attack +6 per upgrade
2 Armor 0 Shields
Melee
Average Grinding
Tank/Assualt/Secondary DPS
Good Speed

II.Spells

Spell Level One: Heroic Shield

At first glance this spell doesn't seem much, however at any stage of the game it ups your survivability by a lot. It gives you instantly regenerating 10 shields for about 20 seconds I believe. Bolstered even more by your armor upgrades and shield upgrades. With decent armor/shield upgrades and HP this thing can make getting you out of a lane much more difficult than it should be or even taking you down by chasing you. At the cap race, it essentially gives you "12" armor (+2 base remember), meaning taking you out will be way more difficult than it should be. Also useful for farming and don't have the armor to tank the spawn yet, good all around spell. Use wisely to cut damage off.

Spell Level Two: Heroes Swords

Good trapping/DPS spell usually used to chain after a L3. The DPS is not as impressive as you would think however, it scales with your ups incredibly well. Using it outside of a stun takes practice but can net you a nice kill. Just be careful on who you use it on because it can trap yourself as well leading to an embarassing death if you are caught unawares. For example a pumped Archer with +10 upgrades on his arrows (thats an extra 30 damage!) on his arrows DPS'ing you down and you cannot escape because your swords have trapped you. Just use with caution and you will be fine. You can also you it as an escape move clogging chokes and moving the swords, takes practice though. Good spell overall.

Spell Level Three: Charge of Courage

One of the best spells in the game. Has good AoE and can fend off any charging enemy heroes trying to beat your face in. It is anti spawn, and clears huge clumps of spawn away. Unburrows any opposition that is burrowed as well. has the potential to destroy summoners lings in one go! In 3.4 and older versions, you can "Spawn Jump" meaning when you use it you teleport to the spawns current location and clears it jumping to the next spawn. When you clear the spawn it lets you dodge any incoming spells or projectiles or escape decapitation from an assassin even. Sometimes, it randomly gives you invincible frames which is EXTREMELY aggravating to the opposition. However if you use it PvP in the older versions you stand in place and cast it paralyzing you for a bit. Utilizing it for PvP purposes you want to stun the person, then auto-attack two or three times depending how close you were, then follow up with a L2 to maximize the damage and stun duration. In PvP this spell is buffed in M8t/M9t (love you CAFG/Moose <333) because when you cast the spell you can still move and chase. Meaning it can grant you 1 extra hit before you cast your L2 to the finisher and better for chasing. Use wisely, it maybe his best spell.

Spell Level Four: Shield Of Courage

One of the most under-utilized spells/ultimates in the game. It maybe be under utilized but it is easyliy a contender for one of the best ultimates in the game. For twenty seconds you will constantly have 120 shields, meaning you are nearly invincible. Any overflow damage will harm you but it also factors in shields and protoss armor. In an average game, someone must have insane ups if you have been upgrading yourself properly to pierce. At 10/10 (Armor/Shields) this thing is a monster. 15/15 you are reaching invincible status. 20/20 You are pretty much full-proof to any DPS spell say Mechs L4, Lurker Bombs, mutants L2, Marines L4, Archers L1 and L3, LM's L1 and L3 e.t.c. This spell will make it INSANELY hard to kill you without enormous ups. This is even worse if you have decent HP. However, you want to watch out for Assassins L4, Volts L4, Mutants L4, Archers L4, Summoner Surronding you with lings, or abyssal backed by lings. Those will pierce and some of those listed have the potential to EASYLIY dirt nap you with sloppy play even with L4 active. Very good ultimate, maybe one of the best, just do not over-extend yourself.

III. Overview

Warrior can be a pointman, tank, secondary DPS. He has good HP, average grinding, but always scales endgame he never tapers off like some heroes. The more he stays around the stronger he will be regardless, he even has uses vs his hardest counters. Regardless of popular public opinion you really do not have to upgrade HP early with this guy if you play smart with him. You cannot mess up your build with him or else if could cost you, because his grinding is STRICTLY average. Warrior can assault the base with ease with either High HP/High Auto-Attack Damage/L4, if you want to get in, he will get in. People say he can sim, but I really don't like simming with warrior but hey, its worth a mention. His auto-attack damage is through the roof, second to only Assassin. Sometimes its better to chainstun and auto-attack than to chainstun and L2. Assess the situation and choose which one is the best, this is usually the case vs. mutant. By the way it takes 18 upgrades to one-shot marines , just a random fact. Without further to do...

IV. Match-Ups

Vs Assault:
Very bad match-up for you, he has L1 to protect him, has L3 to make it so you cannot touch him. L4 will destroy you if it connects, L4 will offer you protection. If hes laning with you, play extra cautious and do not bomber get near you or do not over-extend yourself. Once you have L4, any PK attempts by him on you is a waste of time. If you can make it to late game, he will never be able to take you on by himself. If you catch him unawares on foot pound his face in otherwise its a waste of time. Not a good match-up, just pray you make it to late game. He rapes you.

Vs Medic:
If you catch her without disable, you will do fine. Even if she has disable it cannot do anything about your stun if you time it right. Your high auto-attack damage will pound her, however if she goes power medic, she can rape you out the lane and heal to boot. You really have to pick your battles here, but you can beat her but it will take patience and good auto-attacks to do it. Gauge her mana for disable, and L2 her if you can, thats usually a life right there if she hasn't boosted her HP via healing spirits. If she has FH stun her for you teamates and avoid disable if possible, most likely you will be stunning and auto-attacking once she has enough mana. However be sure to throw on L4 for protection before disable. It will allow for a longer face pounding. Slightly in her favor, mostly even, its medic.

Vs Assassin:
He hard counters you once he has L4. You cannot see him at night. His stun hit box has EXTREMELY deceptive range, be careful when zoning this hero. Before he has L4 however he cannot lane with you, just DPS him down and grab the lane for yourself during the day. At night keep your eyes peeled and your hand on your stun button because he will hunt for you to take you out early. Not much you can do against him, dont count on spawn helping you much either. Due to the temple rework can also oneshot you at the temple again, old school style. If hes attempting on your base slow him down with charge of courage and wait for allies to help. However you do outspeed him and once you get L4, you can start taking over HIS cap points. Assassin thrives on all caps being accessible for his use at night, or even day. Being able to cap one or more will decrease his threat level greatly. Still overall, Not a favorable match-up.

Vs Volt:
Watch this guys mana and movements closely because he will go in on you when he feels he can kill you. If he whiffs L2 or L3 punish him accordingly for it. Dodge any L1 attempts on you because he can link into a combo off of 1 L1. If he has HP do not attempt to kill him unless you know he doesnt have his L3. However he will have a hard time closing the gap on you due to your speed, and will result in him overextending himself if he plays sloppily. You can set him up for a gank with L3 easy. PvP you have nothing on him endgame. Any offensive attempt on him he will probably zone you with a L1 or worse. This match-up can be like a see-saw back and forth to see who is caught out of position first, however he will mostly likely be the victor. Due note, due to your sizes you can position yourself way better than you can him. If he doesnt get HP, double L2 him and call it a day, just watch for the obvious L3 coming to rape you dodge accordingly. If he tries to L2 and has half a brain, its most likely to gank you with a teamate. If he does L2 you by himself immediately L2 and manual and rape him. Once he gets L4 you have no chance. If he uses it stupidly chase and punish him, otherwise avoid. Once he has over 200 mana or so, nothing you can do, plus he feeds better. Not a great match-up for you.

Vs Light Mage:
You got this in the bag, patience and mana is what you need. L4 + HP will rape his best combo, which is L1+L3. You cannot farm with him however. Your auto-attacks along with L4 will kill him fast. If hes pumping reavers then his specifically prepping for you, dodge and rape accordingly because reavers can and will rape your L4. Once you have HP/Armor/Shields + L4 he there is nothing he can do, except temple hug and hope someone takes you out. Watch is ups closely and up your armor/shields accordingly. In the long run, hes owned. Favorable match-up.

Vs Mutant:
Joke match-up, L4 rapes everything in his arsenal sans his L4, your armor rapes everything in his arsenal. L1 to mitigate any auto-attack damage he tries to hit you with. When you stun him auto-attack him to death because you dont want to trap yourself with your own L2 vs his L2, it can spell lights out for you or both trade lives. However at around 10 ups you can auto-attack him to death with ease if he hasn't gotten HP. If he tries to L2 you, L3 him and negate it and rape face. Be on your toes if he tries to L2 you. Always up armor and shields vs mutant because it doubles your survivability and makes lurkers a joke. Once you get L4 he has nothing on you. 10/10/10 on all ups ensures you are good to go and pretty much lurker proof. If you stun him, and he L4's chase him when he de-transforms he will still be stunned and continue to beat his face in. Just watch out if you are low on health because his L4 will pierce and rape you. Favorable match-up.

Vs Summoner:
If you mana it up he will never kill you. You can also defend the temple decently vs this guy. He will really hate your guts if you have a decent mana pool. Swarm means nothing to you. If you know hes hiding at a particular cap, L4+L3 him and beat his face in. If he tries to make lings while pounding him, L2 them. Endgame he will win because hes summoner, but he will be hard pressed to stop you from defending the temple. You also guard reavers with ease. He will never be able to go in on you because your L3 guarantees your safety. If you are in his base and he has no caps, He will hate you more. IMO its pretty even little bit in his favor, with smart play he cannot kill you unless you REALLY over-extend yourself.

Vs Archer:
He only has one weapon vs you, that is L4. With your L2,L3,L4 combo he cannot hide nor can he farm with his companions. You will need HP vs him eventually because his arrows do hurt, however as the game goes on he will not be able to take you on PvP. In lane he will try to wear you down with arrows and auto-attacks, L1 on command to reduce his auto-attack threat level. His L1 can get really painful if he has all the caps/sims, conversely, if he doesnt go on him. Watch for his L4 because you CANNOT tank it. Watch for his L3 as well if you are going in on him without L4. If he L3's dodge it and continue to chase. You also suprisingly grind slightly better than him. Once you are mana'd up he cannot hide in caps or anywhere pressure him. Feed on or L3 any companions he makes. Don't let him get pumped because he will start base hugging and suiciding archers at your temple, this is something you do not want. Also keep any attempts from him feeding with L2 to a minimum and you are good. Pressure him and elim him early. Good match up for you.

Vs Dark Mage:
Not as much of a blow-out as you'd think. Mael is the only problem here. Curse is dodgeable so zone it out accordingly. Your armor rapes her L4, but it will set her up for her combos because of its trapping properties. Zone out any L3 attempts outside of mael. Be prepared not to be able to farm at night because of mael. An L3+L4 combo will set your teamates up nicely for her death. Just realize you probably won't kill her, she'd have to be asleep at the wheel or really over-extend herself for her to die to you. Feed on any stray orbs if possible. I also want to point out, it might be possible to PK her if her orb is gone but it will take excellent zoning abilities. You do NOT want her inside your base. With proper play, it will probably end up akin to something like Bat vs War aka Never being able to kill you. Not Favorable.

Vs Mech:
Good match-up for you. Doesn't seem so at first glance. Due to your Tankish nature and mech being a strictly PvP hero, you counter him of the basis you have a good auto-attack and godly defense along with a stun. You want to up armor/Shields/HP. HP is a must early because he will try to gimp you in vult mode. With stun and auto-attacks you rape vult mode. L1 any of his L2 attempts to kill you. With your L4 he'd be hard pressed to kill you, 10/10 arm/shield should keep you safe. He can try to double L3 you which is a joke, tank it or dodge it whatever the situation calls for. Do not L2 him unless you are absolutely sure you can connect it or else he will dodge it, stick to your high-auto attack damage. Your auto-attacks will force him to transform as he is very mana heavy, and cannot afford to go heavy HP or else hes useless. He will try to burst you down with vult mode and L2 while you farm. He really has no answer to your naturally high attack damage and stun outside of transform. If hes forced to stick in mech mode because a vult transform will kill him, chase him down and l2. With decent mana and HP, he has nothing on you and will most likely avoid you and for good reason you rape him. Pound for pound he cannot take you. Good match-up for you.

Vs SpecOps:
Harder this time around due to sniper, but you still counter him. Zone any sniper attempts on you. Guage his mana. If hes going mana heavy build even better. You still rape his trump card, His L4, keep it in check to make sure hes not on the fast track express to insane upgrades. Pressure him into using sniper and stun accordingly, HP will be beneficial vs this guy due to how crazy sniper upgrades can get. His L2 + matrix will only keep him alive for so long, irridiate means nothing to you. Most likely he will be using vessel as a scouting mechanism vs you. L4 will tank anything hes got, outside of crazy sniper ups. Make sure to rape any sims he throws up. Fake him out to sniper. Early and mid-game you stomp him, if you can check his L4 you stomp him too. Match-up in your favor, just make sure you check this tricky slut.

V.Builds

Bread and butter:
2 Money -> Heroes Swords -> 1 Mana -> Charge of Courage -> 4 Mana -> 3HP -> 2 Mana -> Shield of Courage -> Whatever you like

My bread and butter build, extremely effective with map under your control. Early stun for ganking opportunities. Freestyle after Shield of courage


Opposition Map Control Build/Anti Mech:
2 Money -> Heroes Swords -> 1 Mana -> Charge of Courage -> 3HP -> 2mana -> Shield of Courage -> 2mana -> Freestyle

Forgoes mana for earlier HP for taking out sims if they have the map, do not go on sims if they have Mutant, or you have less than 10 attack. This is also effective against mech, nothing he does will rape you out the lane outside of obscene upgrades. Freestyle after the last two mana.

Warrior Sim:

3-4 Money -> Heroes swords -> 1 Mana -> Charge of Courage -> 4mana -> 3HP -> Shield of Courage -> Freestyle

I do not like warrior simming because he grinds average, playing catch-up with warrior is no fun. However he will stuck in pointman build which is fine. If you are spending the money make sure you spend 1 money into 1hitting spawn rest into sims.

Power Warrior:

4-5 Money -> Heroes Swords -> 2mana -> 3/4HP -> Charge of Courage -> 3 mana -> Shield of Courage -> Freestyle

Old school, basically aiming for an early 1shot with Heroes swords or Double L2 Chain, stop getting upgrades at 10 atk then continue the build. 3/4HP is for survival. This is a pubstomper, not recomended. However can take out enemy sims with ease very early.

VI. Team Combos + Notes

To be honest, warrior is splashable as he is versatile into any group. Never really hurts to have a war on your squad. Also when upgrading with him against a DPS heavy hero, what I usually do is keep my armor/weapons at 1:1 ratio, when L1 kicks in reduces damage significantly and keeps me in lane, this is very important vs. guys like mech and mutant in tanking their spells and killing them. Level shields AFTER the fact, for some reason people love upping shields first, just no. Hope this helps. Peace.

Archer is next btw.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Jun 24 2010, 1:35 pm by DoLLe.

Ultraviolet may I suggest that you clean up the topic of flames, spam, outdated guides, misinformation e.t.c and put the best guides on the front page?

He isn't a mod. He can edit the first page of course.

I'd like to be able to control the thread that well. The last one I can do, and will do, if someone does as I asked and organizes them for me and send the organized list in a PM to me.

It's AMAZING how much of these have I NOT thought about while making Temple Siege..
I don't know what to say... whether I should be proud of myself, or fear myself for creating such a monster O.O
(A monster that can and is still devouring my latest maps)

Shameless stolen DoLLE's format. I often boast myself as the best supportive special ops. player, and here it is, my Special Ops. guide!

The Essential Special Ops. Guide

I.Basics

800/4000 HP
7 Attack +3 per upgrade
0 Armor
Range 5
Tricky Grinding
Support/Assualt/Secondary DPS
Variable Speed

II.Spells

Spell Level One: 3x Mines(name TBC, I forgot, sorry!)

At first glance this spell doesn't seem much, however when put at the correct place and time it can proove to be more helpful than it looks. 3 mines each of 90 damage and about 47 armor I believe. Can be deadly in large quantities. With decent timing and positioning this spell can even save you from a advancing doom. Often seen to be used until mid-late game.
Mines hurt you as much as they hurt their enemy, be careful.

Spell Level Two: Science Vessel(name TBC, I forgot sorry!)

Good detection/scout/utility unit. Like the rine itself, the science vessel is often a support unit but can have its own Crowning Moments of Glory, like irradiating a 8hp zergling who's hiding at the gateways canons. D-Matrix is a good substitute for armor to a limited level, essential for a same unit duel as both of you will be holding peashooters against each other. EMP can be devastating but only if well planned and placed.
The science vessel is great feed for your opponent, and volt's l1 will instantly kill it. Be careful.


Spell Level Three: Sniper Rifle

One of the best spells in the game. Believed to be imbalanced by many which is not true especially after m9. One of the most brutal answer of the special ops. against stuns, especially with enough upgrades is enough to one hit kill some low hp heros. When stunned , you can attempt to either face punch your opponent with this spell, or walk away with it as it is not affected by stuns. With practice you can actually dodge stunning spells. There is no cool down but it is entirely possible to time a stun to land on you as soon as you transform back.
The sniper rifle will target spawns automatically unless controlled, be careful.
Deals 2 shots in m9 only, be careful.
It says 3 shot in m9e but it's actually 2, be careful.

Spell Level Four: Mine Drone

One of the most underestimated spells in the game. One of the best defensive spell in game. Half the mines dropped are actually invincible and half are obviously not. Useful if you are trying to corner/surprise your opponent from the next lane, especially at night with your science vessel scouting out for you. Hard countered by tank type heros especially the warrior but else still a lethal spell.
Note that since m9 you cannot summon two scourges at once to give your l4 an extended range.
Max 200 mines and your mine drone wont lay anymore mines till they're cleared, be careful.

III. Overview

Special Ops. out runs most of the heros, with decent physical DPS late game, it is always advices to stays out of trouble until his he start becoming awesome on his own. The longer he stays around the more threatening he gets every moment as a team player. Requires good communication to use, and a good special ops. is usually the strategist of the team. Regardless of popular public opinion you really do not have to upgrade HP early and late with this guy if you play smart with him. Special Ops. is a bad tanker with low hp/low auto-attack and therefore should always stay at the back of the lines, happily hunting down enemies trying to escape or as a back up to their team mates. Note: if faced with a stunner, always stay a little further off from your teammates least one of you get stunned by surprise at least the other can still fight on!

Most of the Special Ops.'s dps lies in his rapid fire rate, so as you upgrade his weapon his auto-attacks does go over the roof unlike other heros. However, the lack in offensive magic is a big down side for the special ops., especially against fast heros and stunners. People say the special ops always sims but I only say 'usually' as there are specific situations which calls where the marine should not waste time simming.

IV Fun Facts.
Marine is one of the two units that hurts themselves.
It takes 15 upgrades for a marine to 1 hit broodlings, but 6 upgrades to 2 hit kill them. 4 for a 3 hit kill, 2 for a 4 hit kill and 1 for a 5 hit kill. No upgrades results in a 7 hit kill!. If you are planning to sim, probably just get 1 upgrade and start stocking up if your aim is just to stall! (of course upgrade more if you need to duke it out with other heros)
Every lane has two 'magic spot' where just 3 of your mines can splash kill all your spawns and most likely theirs if undisturbed. Here's where they are:
Bottom lane, if bot team capped, it's at the right corner of the top bridge.
Bottom lane, if top team capped, it's slightly to the right of the left end of the green grass patch near the canons.
Middle lane, if bot team capped, it's below the tree, slightly south east more.
Middle lane, if top team capped, it's at the right side of the left ridge which pokes out the most.
Top lane, if bot team capped, it's at the choke.
Top lane, if top team capped, it's at the bottom left corner of the low ground near the canons(there's a small patch of dirt which is actually low ground and you can miss when shooting!)

V. Trick Bag

1. Magic spot
See fun facts.

2. Mine block
When running away from an enemy who's chasing you and he's slightly faster than you? Abuse the bad pathing of starcraft units. When running north west, lay mines and they'll appear at south east of you, right in between you and the enemy chasing you. They will get slightly delayed by your mines, buying you the one mili-second you just need to escape. Also can be utilized in cap race where you simply create a wall/distraction against those players who use attack-move only. Especially useful against vulture's l2 as it always hits those mines first if in sight! Damn.

3. Mine shield
Stick your back at the left edge of a wall, preferred one that's caved in and cast l1 twice. You'll get a mine shield which can block off all melee attacks until it burrows. Remember mines hurt you as much as they hurt them, though.

4. Mine trap
Trying to catch a medium-low hp opponent who your pea shooter can't kill but you're ahead of him? Time your self so that you're casting your l1 when he is just to the north east of you. Cast it 4-5 times. He should be trapped. Your shot plus the mines should take off 500hp and more, possibly killing him off if you're lucky. Do note that you will also get hurt with this move! (TBC, I haven't done this for a long time so my memory is fuzzy)

4b. Alternative l4
Max your mana and spam l1 all at once. You'll get a "lol" and nothing else. And possibly a kill at night.

4c. Mines, mines, mines, what!?
Now this is actually practically useful although simple! Start pooping mines everywhere. E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. Eventually the mini map will be filled with red dots(assuming you're red) to everyone and they can't tell weather it's you charging at them or their illusion. Also a great mirage for your probe to start running around the map and dropping a sim here and there with your sprae cash. This is taking into the fact that you're playing against people who utilize the mini-map, of course. Do note this applies for you also so I'd highly suggest you hotkey every single unit of yours.

5. Static Mines
Mines that chase? Awesome! Spider Mines that doesn't chase? Uselessly useful. Most pratical for scouting, place a l1 on some narrow chokes and wait till it burrows, and cast another l1. Now these mines will not be able to run after enemies if triggered, but just stand there with a running animation, only exploding upon contact for maximum damage to counter off mine drag. If placed on a very narrow choke, static mine can also double up as a wall(unless they detonate them).

6. Scouting mines. Very useful at night, place it at chokes where spawns doesn't pass and you'll get useful scouting information at night. Rarely is there anyone willing to go out of their way to blow up 3 mines just to deny your scouting at night.

7. Anti-summoner mode
Mass mana. Enough said.

8. Static Mines Reloaded
l4 and place the scourge at a stationary choke. Watch the mines all explode on an unsuspecting assassin/zergling at night and kill him instantly. Does not work against tankers, but they'll be pretty close to death after tanking one of those.

9. Anti-dropship mode
l3 and lots of mine games. This actually works against all stuns but the hardest part is to do it against dropships and kill it. The basics? Practice. Marine range is one greater than dropship stun range so you should proceed to hit, hit, mind game or l3! With enough upgrades you should have the dropship killed, saving you from a stun AND extra exp. Takes practice but if you can do this right, you're probably immune to any stuns. Congratulations you have just overcomed one of your greatest weakness!

10. ICBM
Casing l4 multiple times will grant you multiple scourges which dissapears one at a time so you can lay mines all the way from your base TO the enemy base. Not possible in M9T now.

11. 3.4 mode
Of course, if all else fails, there's always hp/power rine you can revert back to...but don't expect too many Crowning Moments of Awesome. Don't get me wrong! Power rine does have its use and really is very very powerful given correct management!

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jun 24 2010, 1:23 pm by close.ads.

Be proud. Btw, fuel tactics arena is fun as hell.

@Close.ads
What changes were made to sniper rifle in M9t? Also close i noticed the 200 mine max, CAFG maybe you should at a detonation switch to your mines once you reach the cap, the lag can get ridiculous in large scale spawn battles.

m9t he only fixed the strings to tell Sniper Rifle deals two shots instead of three in m9e.
m8t sniper rifle deals three shots.

And CAFG added the mine cap in order to avoid the lag. I don't see a need in detonating the mines. Makes the rine think more strategically when trying to use his l4 instead of just blindly spam it everywhere. (I've seen a rine spam l4 in his base even though there were raping their opponent's base. Made this rine USELESS when he reached the mine cap and there's nothing he could do save l3'ing the canons, which although effect made us 'LOL' at him in shame)

Sorry I stole your slot for the rine DoLLE, give me some comments!

Essential Archer Guide:

I.Basics
900 HP
1 Armor
23 Atk + 5
Arrow Atk 27 +3
Rapid Shot Atk 45 +5
Good Speed
Auto-Attack Not that great
Good Damage
Shitty to Excellent Grind

II.Spells

Spell Level One: Burning Arrows

Good level one especially for the opening damage it does out of the gate, with this spell you cannot lose a cap except maybe to DM. 27+3, Four Arrows, Two Shots apiece. Without being aimed they are generally short range. This level 1 scales tremendously well. Good harass, good damage, good chase damage on slower units, able to be manualed, good burst damage as well. Also his early farm mechanism. Use liberally and rape face with it. IF you are quick enough to use, you can aim them at an enemy hero. They also rape face on Bombers and Drones, which is always a bonus.

Spell Level Two: Archers Companions

Casting your level two will make this unit to fight alongside your Hero Archer:

Archers Companion stats:
310 HP
19 +3 Atk
0 Armor
45 Minerals for range upgrade
45 Minerals for speed upgrade
Max of five

Has many different uses. Feeding, Attack, Defending, Scouting, Securing. Early game, they can EXP while you heal, so you do not miss out on feeding. Anti Bat and Assassin because they can burrow and secure caps at night, so if they attempt to steal they cannot. You do not generally want to make them early game because they tend to feed HUGE and do not have the upgrades to make them deadly. With that latter being said, Mid-Late game these things become lethal. While you are out killing and harassing heroes these things can feed on lings or rines, in more than one lane while you do your thing on the field. At around 13+ Ups these things will start to DPS the oppositions temple very quickly and apply constant base pressure, Archer effectively creates a two pronged siege on the oppositions temple or Cap point. Another thing they do extremely well is wear down super-transforms (I'm looking at you Chaos Mutation and Super Charged) EXTREMELY fast. Start using this liberally Mid and Late game, you can effectively command your mini army from the safety of your temple. Any stuns will make them neutral and feed, avoid this. Micro your army because 50 mana per archer will burn through your reserves extremely fast with sloppy management and feed. Very good L2, scales extremely well, just not right out the gate.

Spell Level Three: Rapid Shot

Great spell, but its not a spell you just throw out. Creates seven guardians in rapid succession that do 45+5, doing heavy damage from a long distance. In my opinion, this is a good opener and finisher. This spell devastates all in mana heroes, for example mana rine or LM. Great vs DM as well. At eleven upgrades you are doing 100 a shot, from a relatively safe distance.
This is devastating in the lane, problem is aiming when spawn is around so thats why timing and precision is important with this spell. It's also a good chasing spell or a spell to defend you if you are being chased. Punish those who over-extend themselves with this spell as well, for say like mutant or SpecOps. You can also burrow and finish low HP heroes at night with this, using L2 as scouts. A misfire around spawn will give an enemy an advantage to go in on you, unless you have your companions guarding you. Good range, Good damage, just proper use of it is key or its a wasted effort.

Spell Level Four: Rain of Arrows

Absolutely devastating ultimate, second to nuke in terms of visual effect and damage. THIRTY-TWO mutalisks converge on the archer, in three waves, and when all three waves converge at the archer they shoot anything around him three times. This will clear the area of ANY opposition very quickly. Here are some quick numbers: 32 Mutas, 27 Base attack per muta, +3 atk per upgrade, 3shots per mutalisk.

Scenario A: Ten Upgrades: 32(27+30) = 1824
1a. 1824 x 3Shots = 5472 All Hits Connecting
Scenario B: Fifteen Upgrades: 32(27+45) = 2304
1b. 2304 x 3Shots = 6912 All Hits connecting
Scenario C: Twenty Upgrades: 32(27+60) = 2784
1c: 2784 x 3Shots = 8352 All Hits Connecting
*At 15 Upgrades the enemy temple can only withstand around 8.07 Direct attacks from this ultimate before falling. At 20 it is 6 until it crumbles.

Are you seeing the numbers I am seeing? You are? Good. Only at 10 Upgrades you are in One-shot range in terms of PvP. Yes the damage from this ultimate is insane, problem is connecting it on your own. As it is EXTREMELY laggy and EXTREMELY visible. The wind-up on this thing is insane, however the wind-up has its uses. You can however manual the first wave that comes to still do HEAVY damage to a low HP hero. It takes practice. Any super transformations die at fifteen flyer upgrades if they try to attack you. Having a stunner on your team is such a boon because his ultimate is so devastating. Even more some if this is aimed at the oppositions temple, it will take off BARS of health on the oppositions temple in just 10 seconds. This ultimate is buffed indirectly due to the hyper-healing nature of the temple in M9. Once casted they are forced to vacate the vicinity or be One-shotted by this devastating ultimate and you may score a chain kill because if they re-spawn and L4 is still going they may be targeted again! This is guaranteed to punch a hole into the defenses of the enemies base no problem. With your ultimate and Companions + Allies pounding the temple it won't take long for the base to crumble under pressure.

III.Overview

I really hate direct PvP Heroes, but archer is the exception as he has utility outside of PvP. Archer is a great capper, and really strong contender late-game and exerts lane control and map control. His farm fluctuates from absolute trash to Superior. He also craves map control, he needs minerals for his split upgrades and his desire for map-control reflects this. I will put this on the table right now, mana archer blows ass. Never go straight up mana archer unless your companions cannot be hard countered because archer needs HP or he dies. He craves 3 HP, because without decent HP and the ups he needs we will suffer greatly. Use your L1 thats your bread and butter, and keep L2 's around for anyone attempting to cap your bases or trying to rape the back row sims. L3 anyone caught out of position and punish them for it. Judge when the time is right and apply base pressure when you have around L4, 3HP, and Decent mana pool. An opening base assault should contain five Archers and L4 in a perfect assault, so you are guaranteed an opening. Archer should never sim, period. If someone tells you to sim as archer, tell them DoLLe said they are noober, or say "I think Teal is noober RM".

IV. Matchups

Vs Assault:
He hates your guts bigtime. You hard counter him big time. His damage is cut in half by your size, your arrows rape his best spell the bomber, with decent arrow ups bomber cant chain stun you and feeds. This is a slam dunk, if you are making companions vs him just watch for grenades trying to lower your companion count. Avoid any L1's he may throw at you. Don't let him lane control you with splash and L1's, be aggressive and force him out the lane with L1. Punish him for bad positioning with L3. He has no answer to your l4. His berserker bomb will do decent damage early but its negligible late. In older versions if he tries to nuke you, companion and make bases. Rape him and move on. Good Match-up for you.

Vs Medic:
You hard counter her to shit via L4 and Pumped companions. You just need a stunner to help you connect your L4 on her team mates. Archer can land L4 on her solo. Archer is one of the biggest counters to a full-heal setup, catch her alone for best results. You have no fear of disable because the wind-up on this is so big that even if you are disabled if will dial through and rape. Catch her alone for best results. She has no answer to your companions. However do NOT waste L4's because any downtime in rape/pressure will result in her becoming more powerful and her allies becoming even more pumped. Things can quickly spiral out of control with sloppy play vs a medic. Precision and coordination is key. Match-up in your favor.

Vs Assassin:
This guy is buffed big time vs you. However you have some tricks of your own. Without camps he slaps you at night, however you can farm at night via companions. Just make sure when you are playing safe you switch positions at night because a good sin will punish you for being predictable and staying stationary. If you see him near your companions move them or else he will feed off them via L2 and you do not want to feed this guy. In the day, clown him aggressively. If it comes down to a base race you win, however if can start the base race WAAAAYYYY earlier than you can, take note of that. Do not let him get close mid-late game, because he will end you with decap. Do not let him take your capture points, burrow your companions at night near the outpost pad to frustrate him. He can dodge your L4 without effort. The best strategy is to aim for the temple in a showdown vs him. Watch for him trying to feed off stray companions for a boost in EXP, the range of his stun is extremely deceptive. However once you have pumped companions hes hard press'd to suppress you during the daytime. I'd say even, don't fuck up.

Vs Warrior:
Avoid pound for pound fights with him because overall he beats you. Your only answer to him is L4 and high-ups to scare him away. With decent mana and HP pool he can tank everything outside of L4. He will clear or feed on your companions, and when he has L4 you are not safe in the capture points or outside. His stun is good and His L3+Auto-attack->L2 combo will most likely dirt nap you with decent ups. If hes over extended himself or caught out of position punish accordingly with L3 if you can. If you make it to late-game vs him pressure his base via companions to keep the heat off you. If you are caught out of position L4 if you can, he will be forces to run, otherwise call it a life. Just realize if hes good, he will be hunting AGGRESSIVELY for you when hes fully pumped, and you cannot hide if he knows where you are. Not a favorable match-up.

Vs Volt:
In your favor, but he can punish you easy. If hes going all in Mana be careful but most likely he can't farm with you due to his fragility. If hes gotten 3HP he knows what hes doing, hes thinking longterm, and waiting for you to fuck up. He also farms better than you at start. Avoid being chained by L2's to death if you didn't get HP vs him, manual him and your arrows if you can. If you have gotten HP yourself then its a matter of time before he cannot lane with you, pressure him with L2's and when you heal leave the L2's to farm and harass him, just don't let him feed off the companions via sloppy play or L3. Avoid any L3's he throws out because it will most likely mean lights out for you. Watch for any stray L1's because he will try to link into a combo involving L3 or worse L3 and L4. Late-Mid and Lategame is where he starts falling to Your DPS, Companions, and L4. His L4 cannot tank decently upgraded companions or L4. Keep the pressure on him and he will crumble because he has no direct DPS and no direct answer to companions sieging his base. Warning: DO NOT let him inside your base as he is a great temple sieger, also be careful when sieging his main via Archer himself as he is an Aggressive defender. Patience and openings are key here, but you win. Favorable match-up

Vs. Light Mage:
Extremely annoying if he knows what he is doing. You cannot lane with him. His L1 protects him from nearly everything. He feeds on companions, reavers do devastating damage to you. His L3 is does HEAVY damage to you, and if you get caught inside the wall you will die. He will also stop any attempt from you involving companions sieging his temple. Your L3 is decent but hes got to be asleep at the wheel for that to connect. You do have one answer though, sniping him with L4 with the first wave of twelve Arrows, the duration lasts longer than his L1 and 12 Arrows with decent ups will one shot him. Be very aware of your surroundings as you are vulnerable when doing this. Otherwise this is not a great match-up for you at all. Get L4 and get your sniping skills up. Not So great and Highly annoying.

Vs Mutant:
In M9 you can finally compete with him PvP somewhat, however he can still beat you pound four pound. You have to zone him out and be aware at night, because lurkers will do heavy damage to you. Never make companions vs him as he will feed on them. Be aggressive in the lane pre-lurkers. L1 any attempts he does to L2 you. When the game goes along Rapid shot and zone any Hyper Claw or Lurker attempt he does. If hes chasing you during the day, zone him and L3, this will scare him away. This will cause heavy damage to him or kill him. You need HP vs him or you will lose promptly. Expect aggressive hyper claws and Lurker bombs at night. At this point you want to L3 any noob hyper claw attempt he tries on you, it will most likely result in his death with decent ups. If hes still going claw build watch for Chaos mutation because he will try to 3-4 shot you with it, this is devastating if he fakes you into using L3 and he casts the mutation, and to be honest it hurts like fuck. If he starts using the mutation to try to kill you, L4 and kite and watch his transform die. One thing to watch for too is that if hes getting pumped he will lurker you inside your cap point and chain into a mutation to finish you, do not let this happen. In his favor, but you can win, however Endgame, you lose.

Vs Summoner:
Fuck this is gay, he hard counters you. Chain L1 any attempts of the goblins trying to finish you. Watch for swarm and surround the SnS combo. You can use your own companions to mitigate his farm and frustrate him. Do not let this guy get near your temple as there is NOTHING in your arsenal to stop him from doing HEAVY damage to it under swarm. Eliminate his allies and make reavers asap, and mitigate his farm via companions. If your companions are decently upped they can stymie the efforts of his lings for awhile. Rape his abyssal demons and feed. Not a favorable match-up.

Vs Dark Mage:
Annoying, but once you are pumped nothing she can do to stop you. Watch for mael, and harass her with your arrows. Pay close attention to where the mael is. Punish orbs out of position. Use your L2 to burrow and scout the lane. Do not let her feed on companions and spread them out. Use burrow to dodge the mael if you suspect it or see it coming. If she maels and curses manual your mutas to damage her. Zone out any curse attempts on you outside of mael. Zone out her L3 as well as its buffed in M9. If she gets a combo off on you, you die. She has no direct answer to companions and once you have L4 just manual her to death, however early and mid game, shes got you hard pressed. Avoid L4 because if she has decent ups it will kill you, or trap you for team mates to clean you up. Mutas will not clean up the broodlings fast enough for you to escape. Be prepared to feed with Companions at night to avoid being eliminated off the strength of mael. At all costs do not let her inside your base because if of do, you will lose. Hard match-up but you come out on top at the end.

Vs Mech:
I'm sure everyone has been waiting for this one. You two go pound for pound. You win indefinitely during the cap race. Mech cannot lane with you, period, it will result in him being bursted down indefinitely, and bike mode vs you is a joke. Avoid making companions until late game as he WILL feed on them, period. Get HP because he will Zone you and Double L3 you which will cause critical damage or death with decent upgrades. Your main problem is avoiding that goddamned L4, if you L4 and he L4's you both will most likely die, unless he has another transform then you lose a life. Zone him out with your own L3, and when he as L4 watch for the obvious sign of him wanting to L4 you in bike mode. Forgot the mention he has the potential to feed better than you, when you have decent ups spring the companions and start the feeding frenzy and keep them safe. His best form is vult mode, which, for you is good because you burst it down so fast. Rapid Shot Mech and Tank modes, and if hes vult is out of position L3 that fucker too. Realize that if he totally whiffs his L4 and you have a good position its most likely going to cost him a life. Do not forget his Own l4 traps him. One thing to note is that you can apply way more base pressure than he can with companions and L4 and eventually feed better than him. Overall, pretty even, slightly in your favor.

Vs SpecOps:
On paper you spank him, but not the case entirely. Do not go critical HP around this guy or else irradiate will finish the job and it will be a humiliating death. Avoid Low-HP fights to the death with SpecOps he thrives on these, because he has good auto-attacks, he has Matrix, Irradiate, Sniper, and mine traps. A 250 energy drone along with sniper dodge can reverse the outcome of a fight fast. Feed on his drones when the opportunity arises, Yum. Hes hard pressed to lane with you, pound for pound. You burst him down way quicker than he can you. Don't let him deny you EXP with mine splash, force him to earn his EXP by attacking head on. Avoid mine traps at night as they will cause heavy damage, or finish you on the run back to base. L3 him when hes out of position, its very effective against him, he has no answer to it outside of Sniper Rifle. Pressure him and get past the tricks he employs. Do not make companions vs him, he will feed with mines and irradiate. Tricks aside, his trump card against you is Mine Drone which will keep you zoned indefinitely until you can tank it, again watch for Mine Drone and Irradiate set-ups because these will punish you for sure, sloppy play will ensure he will score a kill on you. Do not let him have map control against you and cage you in because he will Mine stack chokes and if you try to tank/blow it up you could die in one hit. Most likely you will be forced to feed companions to the mines to get out. What you really want to do is pin him to his own base, and apply the pressure right in his face because he has no direct answer to DPS pressure as well as no direct way to kill you. Once you are at his temple, L4 him and force his hand. I'd say in your favor, but it's irritating due to mine drones, irradiate setups, and his godly zoning capabilities. Big time patience game, because his game centers on set-ups that peck at you until he can finish you for bad positioning.

IV. Builds
Bread and butter
2 Money + 3 Mana + 3HP + Summon Companions + 1 or 2 mana + Rapid Shot + Rain of Arrows + Freestyle
-Pretty fast and straight foward as far as archer goes, enables you to survive and lane. Warrior won't stomp you outright,
Mutant won't OHKO you. SpecOps cannot harass you outright. Invest into Six projectile attacks, as it two shots broods then
start on your flyer upgrades. When I get ROF i generally get 1 or 2 more HP then mana it up.

Mana Archer
2 Money + 3 mana + Companions + Rapid Shot + Rain of Arrows + 3 Mana + 3 HP + Freestyle
-Very bad survivability however, if nobody on the other team hard counters companions it is viable, an Example would be
Assault, Dark Mage, Assassin. Though ROF three levels earlier can be worth it.

Money Archer
4 Money + 3 mana + 3HP + Companions + Rapid Shot + Rof + 4 mana + Freestyle
-Pump yourself up earlier game for easier laning and aggressive maneuvers however it slows down your overall build, I used
to use this build in public games because I was not guaranteed all caps due to the suspect nature of my team mates skills

Simmer Archer
N/A
-Does not exsist, whoever tells you to sim as archer say "I think Red is noober, remake :C"

Assassin next

Post has been edited 4 time(s), last time on Jun 24 2010, 9:23 pm by DoLLe.

Very good close, especially liked this
Probably the most useful part. Lots of times rines settle for just attacking spawn, instead of splashing, but you really need to splash to be competitive in a pro game. One thing though, mines have 91 armor. I also like to mention that mines as shields see their best advantage against archer just before he casts his lv1. If you cast lv1 after his mutas are already there, the ai wont redirect.

I agree with cafg, some of it needs work. Though its goodHowever this is very useful information. I will also give you a match-up list here, feel free to edit it within reason.

SpecOps match-ups:

Vs Assault:
He still counters you, but its not as much of a slam dunk as it used to be. Sniper will punish him outside of bomber, and allows you to escape to safety. With drone at level two, you can Matrix much easier and tank some punishment. Irradiate is decent vs him if hes low. His L1 still rapes your L3 though, and His bomber is still hard to kill as ever. Bomber will ensure your L4 antics are for nothing. If hes trying to PK you himself, punish him with sniper or escape, otherwise as the game goes on you lose. Not favorable.

Vs Medic:
You deny her EXP with mine splash, which is crucial, and you can take some punishment in lane with L2 D-matrix. Your auto-attacks will burst her down fast, and you can potshot meds for easy EXP and Cash. EMP will be useful on some occasions. However once she has L4 you are regulated to trying to rape her with sniper rifle as she will tank your L4 with ease. Use L4 strictly for farming purposes unless you are sure you can finish her with it, otherwise the mana is better spent on rifle. Not so great, but not bad either.

Vs Assassin:
You hard counter him, and detect him. Sniper guarantees safety and retaliation on him trying to go on you. If he has stunned you, D-Matrix ensures you take some punishment. You rape him hard in lane as well. Watch for him timing a decap on you after you sniper, but thats his only answer to sniper after he takes critical damage. Mine Drone completes the package by zoning him out and ensuring hes not going places hes not supposed to be. You effectively turn him into a non-factor. Highly favorable.

Vs Warrior:
Sniper ensures you got some solid damage on him, but it wont be enough without insane ups. It will keep him at bay for awhile. D-matrix will tank so punishment for you. Watch for him trying to suprise you with a stun and use L2 to keep tabs on him at night. If hes out of position sniper accordingly, like a whiffed L2 for example. Stacked mines x2 or x3 can dirt nap him however, with his L4 protecting him it probably wont do much. If he doesn't have L4 then punish him for it by stacking the chokes and cut off his routes. If he doesn't contain your L4 like hes supposed to upgrade attack and then and BOOM HEADSHOT. Not favorable.

Vs Volt:
Stay away from him, EMP and Sniper might work but its risky and he can punish you for it. Assist with EMP and move on. He will try to Mag you when you are out of position, so zone him AT ALL TIMES. However if he whiffed mag, then burst him down, even better if you have EMP. Watch for L3, and supercharge means you cannot kill him by yourself. However mass spawn against him in a 1v1 showdown is possible and effective. However he hard counters you, not favorable.

Vs Light Mage:
Good match-up for you. Because you can cause damage indirectly to him. Irradiate this guy all day, and punish any attempt from him to step outside his base. Time your sniper accurately to 2-3shot him after he L1's. L4 will zone him, but he might hallu a hero to soak up the mines, whatever, just do it again and damage him with the mines from drone. Punish ANY whiffed L1's with sniper rifle. However he can zone you with L1+L2 combo big time, and his L1+L3 at high ups will block you and cause heavy damage. So watch your health before it goes to dangerous levels. Zone him accordingly and don't fall into his tempo. Pressure him and he will fall. In your favor.

Vs Mutant:
Harder for him this time around. However endgame, he still rapes you. Sniper is your friend here, as is irradiate. If he attempts to L2 you, sniper and laugh and follow up with irradiate. Use your to keep tabs on him at all times, and irradiate. Use L1 to deny him feed in lane. DPS him down in lane when necessary. When he gets lurkers, he will zone you and wait for a safe approach, and probably with some HP now. Don't let him fake you into a sniper for heavy lurker damage. Keep your matrix on at all times. Never wander around at night especially in the middle of nowhere unless you have a Vessel tabbed on him. When he gets L4 it becomes much harder, as he will lurk you into sniper mode then chain with chaos mutation for the deathblow, don't fall into this trap. However zone him out with stacked mines from Mine Drone so he can never directly intercept you or come to aid another team mate. Contain him early and mid, and pick him off when you can. To win vs him overall you have to throw him off his rhythm. Pretty even until late, he destroys you.

Vs Summoner:
Slam Dunk, don't let him feed and shut him down. L4 just rapes him harder. Mine your caps so he cannot steal from you via swarm or destroying them outright. Mine up the back lanes so he has no options, you are his hardest counter. When his other team mates are eliminated make reavers and make a sandwich. In your favor, hugely.

Vs Archer:
Direct combat you cannot take him, however you have some tricks and you zone him godly. Keep him irradiated for frustration and damage, and peck at him with auto-attacks. Zone him out because his L1 will burst you down fast, and you can deny him feed as well with L1. If he makes companions, laugh, and enjoy the feast. You need to watch for L3 because if he uses it will pound your face in, use sniper to dodge and do some ok damage. Never over extend yourself vs Archer because he will punish you for it. Do not let him near your temple or you lose, as L4 will oneshot you on sight. Keep him zoned with L4 and mine stacks as he no practical answer to your mine stacking. Keep him irradiated and frustrated and watch for mistakes. Never get within range of that L3, its brutal and you have no answer for it. The key is waiting for the moment he makes a mistake and drop the hammer, however in the patience game he can win long term. In his favor, but not a bad match-up.

Vs Dark Mage:
You got some tricks for this slut. Irradiate for some decent damage, or EMP for harassment. Sniper spanks her face. However once you are maeled, she will force you into sniper then initiating her combo on you, which spells game over. The key here is to survive until mine drone, then you can zone her. You have to be very careful and watch mael or else you will facing elimination fast. Do not use sniper offensively unless its a guaranteed kill, because you need every stock of sniper you can get. Expect EXP to be reduced drastically at night off the strength of mael hunting for you, if she has 3 Maels stocked you probably wont escape. Keep drone around for scouting purposes and don't let it get feedbacked or else you will feed this whore. Wait it out until Mine Drone, then laugh and rape. Overall though, not favorable.

Vs Mech:
Stay away from this guy, your only answer to him is getting some HP and auto-attacking and mitigating some damage with D-matrix. Sniper will not save you from his Ultimate, and once he starts getting HP you are owned. L2 will DPS you down fast. L4 will force him into vulture mode, thats it. Which is actually pretty decent because if he over-extends in bike mode and has to transform hes in for some huge pain. Don't feed him drones, he will pick those off easy. Keep him zoned and watch for the L4 bombs or the double L3 smackdown. Avoid him. Not favorable.

I like Summonarz, epic guide plox D= I do everything wrong, I want to do everything right. Halp!

Thanks DoLLe. I'm a huge fan of your posts and have found them to be greatly useful IF I remember them in game. Unfortunately due to a crippled hand and a retarded brain I always forget them. FAIL.

Allow me to add a few comments to the match ups:

Do note that things will start to turn around near end game. Special Ops. will start chasing/killing the assault around once it has enough mana for multiple sniper rifles and power. Once your attack reaches 21+, it is now possible 1v1 assault because he lacks magical dps and his dropship will die to you insanely quick attack, sometimes before it can get within stun range if it wasn't pre-accelerated to max speed.
Do note that DS stun range is 4 and your range is 5. If it is already moving at max speed, it's worth it to cast your l3 a little earlier just so you don't get stunned. Although it is still possible to attack with l3 after you're stunned, a stun landed is a few seconds of immobility which CAN lead to your doom if a nearby vulture just come in and l4 you in the face. A special ops. should not have resting feet! Expect mind games when the assult knows you are going to dodge his stun with l3. I'd suggest saving your first l3 of the game until you can kill his dropship since an unknowing assault will most likely keep his bat in it thinking he's safe. Surprise tactics!
Another important note: When you can have high attack ups, so can his. With the now more sneaky l4 of the assault, I'd suggest against chasing it too hard.
Mine drone also works, but indirectly. Sometimes the assault player will be too busy minding your mines and completely forget that you can l3, load his firebat in the dropship and attempt to stun/kill you. You know the drill...

Medic is one of the soft counter to the marine due to her high upgrade ratio. Early game a medic can easily gun down your special ops. and whenever you're not shooting, she's healing. It is an annoying opponent and her new l1 now feeds less until late game when your attack gets high, (but once your attack is high, so is her spell level and she probably will use l4 to replace l1). It is very hard to force a medic to combat you head on. "Don't run!" you say but the medic will often reply with "Meet me in my canons!" You will need team work if you want to practically kill her. But while you post medium-low threat to the medic alone, she DOES post minimum threat to you. DO NOT try to close in on her if your hp is low(unless you can 1-2 hit kill her)! Her rifle does take it down pretty quick.

I have to add that early game the assassin posts more threat to you than late game since he can tank your peashooter and stun you if you're not looking. But late game when that turns into a real machine gun it's obvious that who should be running. Do not count on seeing the ripple to dodge the sin at night, you have the detector, you use it.
Do note that in m9 with the instant escape, it is important for you to make sure you can 1 hit the sin with your sniper rifle. Like the great SunTzu once said "know his HP and know your gun, you can win a hundred battles"

My favorite match up as a special ops. is possibly rine vs war because everyone tries to counter my rine with it and I'm getting enough practice to make everyone go O.o at me killing him. One word: MINE BLOCK/SHIELD. (Okay that's 3 words) If you're not standing next to a wall 3x l1 will also form a mine shield. Alternative l4 to trap him is also freakin' awesome but be prepared to die should you succeed and still die if you fail.
Three more words: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Do note that in the gateway scramble stages, always attack the volt instead of the spawns, with occasional last-shot on his pre-damaged spawns. He'll kill his spawns for you anyways. What's important is for you to strip his shields as fast as possible to force him away. His l1 is random and if you stay at range it is entirely possible to dodge if you see it ahead.
Once he's past 50 exp stay the heck away from him unless you have back up. Marine is one of the two units that cannot force when under effect of l2!
Oh yes, use mines to train when vs volt. Mines mines mines! Especially the magic spots as MINES SPLASH. If he wants some extra exp he'll have to be facing a 100+ splash damage in his face when your mines pop up to blow up the spwans, which can be hurt early game.


A few more things to add: ALWAYS attack/patrol move when vs the lm. Do not directly attack the lm as his l1 will drag you all the way into his deathly embrace and 95% of the times, it's a kill there. Try to patrol-attack along the line of tangent against him. See attached diagram---red is you and lm is blue, the circle is lm range. This is the one most effective way to deal damage on the lm (especially early game)without getting hurt by his l1. Do note that hitting him and attack-move backwards works too, though you'll not deal as many hits as the tangent method.
You will need to watch very carefully where the lm puts his upgrades on. Every time he casts l2 do try and watch their attack value and see are they upgraded. If he upgrades his reavers, get some hp to stop him 1-hit killing you. Do not forget to get l3 asap, though. Mid game I'd often suggest against rine vs lm until you can have your snipe rifle ready.
Fig.1.1, the tangent line vs lm
P.S. please do not flame at my sucky drawing, it's okay to laugh at it though.

One thing I'd like to add: at the gateway scramble stages, one common tactic of the mutant is to run ahead and kill your spawns behind you pretend to let you cap. Chase after him. Spawns rape you so much harder than it rapes the mutant in early game, and he'll come finish you once spawns roughen you up to a very weak state.
Another thing I'd like to add: If you're vs the mutant at top gateway, stand on the right side of the gas if he runs ahead and attempt to let his spawns destroy you. The spawns will NOT attack you if you're standing at the right spot, run past you, past the mutant and your canons will deal with them. The mutant alone will take damage from spawns, not you.
Still another thing I'd like to add: mid game watch the ling's hp. If his exp is above 170 and he didn't up hp, he'll most lilkely face punch you with his l4 soon. Very soon. Stay safe.

Do note that at top lane you should also mine the canons. Avoid simming when vs summoner unless your teammates can't sim--you'll need all the mana in the world. Put all your efforts into killing summoner lings and dont worry about grinding, as those lings actually give much more exp than the broodlings...
If you can't keep the summoner exp under 200 before mid game, you probably done something wrong.

WARNING: CONTRADICTION AHEAD. Sorry DoLLe I have a different answer for Special Ops. vs archer than you------Once you get l4 it'll be reverse when against archer. I rarely use l3 against the archer, probably because of the damage reduction against medium units and in favour of an earlier l4. Mines mines mines. Pre l4 I will lay lots and lots of mines and traps, especially at night, to catch the archer off-guard. Early game make him bring the fight to your side of the map so you and your teammates can trap him. Even though it is entirely possible to 1v1 the archer it takes much more effort on your side. If you're not the stamina type of player avoid him to conserve your energy for the more important, intense micro.
Also I prefer to not use irradiate on the archer unless he's really, really low hp. The science vessel is pretty delicious feed on its own. By irradiating him he gains frustration and exp while you loose 100 mana(50 for the inital one, 50 for a new one), probably not an equal trade, but that's my point of view.

Another contradiction here DoLLe, sorry----the science vessel itself has 200 hp and emp costs 250 so if the dm feedbacks...Irradiate and matrix for the win but still, avoid training in the same lane, use mines A LOT when vs dark mage. "When in doubt, C4!" and Special Ops.'s L4 is the equivalent of C4 in temple siege.

You will need a double l3 in order to dodge his l4 now, due to the shortened l3 time. 160 mana versus 120 mana, and you need to time it so it really isn't a happy experience once the mech starts using l4 on you here and there. One word: preserve.
Again, L4 will limit the mech in vulture mode, drastically lowering his actual abilities and if you managed to kill his vulture with the splash from mines, LOL. Mech is the one and only hard counter for special ops. as every move you have, he has another move one notch better. Your "l1 mines to attract fire" will not work against his l1 too, ouch.

One more match up: Special Ops. Vs Special Ops.!
Thanks to the multi-select feature CAFG introduced you can now have a taste of your own medicine! Remember one thing: whatever you have up your sleeve, he probably has it too! If you think you can own him with something special, it's in reverse. Probably the most intense mirror match ups as the rine's damage escalates as the game progress, with mines, science vessels, mines, sniper rifles, mines, drones, mines, probes, mines, sims, canons, mines, vultures, mines, reavers, mines and goliaths rampaging all around the map, expect laggy games once it gets past the 30 minutes mark. You won't be a master rine if you can't do a rine vs rine match!

Ops Vs Bat: You'll never get the chance to reach insane ups due to the cap on mines and his mine destroying capabilities. Once he lands the stun on you its game over. To effectively dodge him consistently you will need to go mana rine, and be hugging cannons, which plays into his hands. One stun from bomber is the equivalent of 6 auto-attacks stimmed at perfect range, lets say he has 10 ups. Its 24+40 = 64 x 6 = 384 per bomb at 10 ups, wont take long to polish him off, especially an 800 HP marine @ 6 auto-attacks per stun. You'd be hard pressed to kill this Assault with Ops, plus you cannot afford to go HP if you wish to avoid consistently dodging the bomber with rifle. He will bomber dodge any attempt for you to sniper him offensively. Berserker bomb just adds to the rape and sets you up for no further options and fakeouts, either way you look at it, you are hard countered. Just not as hard, as say 3.4.

Ops vs Volt: Still hard counters you, but now u have a slight chance to kill him with EMP and Sniper. Stay far away

Ops vs. War: He still slams you until you get insane sniper ups, if he has two stuns and 10 ups, you're most likely finished unless you are near a safe zone. HP on this guy makes sniper a dodge mechanic more than anything else, Even worse if he has even more mana for an L2 after two stuns. His L4 eats your L4 for dinner as does his L3. However punish him if hes out of position or tries to rush you with low health. Evade any L2's he does.

Read carefully because some of the things you say are contradictions, I agree with you on for example like archer.

Agreed. No matter how much sugar you add the bat still hard counters rine. Therefore it is important for the marine to preserve and stay away from the bat as far away as possible. Did I miss out scourge? I did, that scourge is pretty pesky in 3.4 because most players uses a hack which makes the scourge go over your head automatically. Still pesky in m8/m9 without that hack, though!
But towards late games, the sims that you have set up will start paying you back, provided you didn't let them destroy/steal them over and over again. It is rarely seen for a firebat to upgrade his dropship armor, so I'd say try gain more on weapons rather than armor---sims are more desired in this match up compared to others!

I have to say, I find it really hard to land an emp on a volt and not have him run away spamming l3/l1, stunning everything trying to chase and hunt him down. I tend to avoid him in general----Ithink I SUCK.

Agreed, and do not think you're safe even if you're near canons, the war can still get a couple hp kits, l3 you, tank the canon shots and still come in to kill you. Once you see the zealot's xp go over 80, make sure you distance him at least one or even two SCREENS away unless backed up with goodies.

Thanks for everything!