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Ok...so...I'm in game and I notice a lot of people complaining about the melee sucking that aren't using it properly. I just thought these players stunk at first (no offense), but then I had a friend in real life who was playing against me on my LAN. He was one of those "melee sucks" guys. When I watched him play though, I realized: he was doing it incorrectly!! And there's two sides to melee, too--recovering from hits is just as important but he didn't even know how to do that. So then I realized...wow, there are just a lot of stupid jerks out there who don't read the manual at all (there's no excuse, the damn thing is animated anyhow, even the illiterate should be able to figure it out).
Therefore it is my theory that a majority of the people who dislike the melee in the game are not using it properly. I've heard foolish complaints such as "dude melee sucks, you can't even get up," or "dude melee sucks, you go flying and can't do anything about it," or "dude melee sucks i never hit anyone even when I swoop right into them." So I thought I'd help set the record straight with a big-ass TUTORIAL ON MELEE. >:0)
--PART ONE: Basic Control Functions of Melee
The control scheme of melee doesn't work as simply as the rest of the game's attacks do. Depending on whether or not you are locked on to an opponent, the functions of your mouse are slightly different. Let's take a look.
NOT LOCKED ON:
Primary Fire (Left Click) = Locks on to the opponent under reticle
Secondary Fire (Right Click) = Melee Attack (when within close quarters)
LOCKED ON TO AN OPPONENT:
Primary Fire (Left Click) = Enters Swoop mode
Secondary Fire (Right Click) = Melee Attack (Held during swoop toward targeted opponent)
A few things should immediately come to your attention. The first of these things is that while you are "locked on" to an enemy, you may notice that your character does not intuitively swoop in a beeline towards the target. So technically you are not really "locked on" and shouldn't think of it in a traditional sense, because you will most likely get confused if you are a beginner.
Also, take notice: while swooping, HOLDING RIGHT CLICK is the best means of attacking your selected target, but this will ONLY WORK FOR THE TARGETED ENEMY (i.e. you cannot lock on to an opponent, enter a swoop, and swoop-melee another opponent by flying into them and holding right click, as you would the locked-on enemy).
Take heed: When you are NOT locked on to anyone, the only way to perform a melee attack is to right click while you are within a close proximity to a target. The disadvantage is that you cannot swoop (although many players substitute teleporting) to hit any target, but this form of melee is advantageous in the sense that when coupled with swoop melee tactics, it allows you to take on multiple opponents at once without having to worry about re-locking on to each target separately during the fight (which is rather difficult and inefficient), and also allows the technique of block-countering to be possible within the game.
Mastering the combinations of these techniques is the key to being able to manhandle an entire server with minimal effort.
--PART TWO: Offensive Tutorial
Offense is usually a point and click affair but in ESF Melee combat, things are a little different. There are two ways to attack an opponent: while locked on, and while not locked. Let's have a look:
Scenario 1: You get an enemy in your sights. Let's assume you want to melee him. Left-clicking/primary fire while the target is under your crosshairs will "lock on" to the target, causing a red box to appear around your foe. Think of this red box as a sign saying, "Swooping is Enabled" because that's basically what it does: you are able to now use primary fire to enter swoop, where you will move several times faster than normal.
Swoop is for gaining ground against enemies rapidly in melee combat. You can cover a lot of ground quickly but at the cost of ki. While swooping at your targeted enemy, melee is pretty simple: just hold down right click while you are swooping and ram into him to score a hit (assuming he does not block or teleport or move, which will be discussed later).
Things are a bit more complex when you aren't locked on. Holding down right click does not attack enemies, and nor does actually clicking it; for some reason or another, it is the RELEASE of the button that can trigger the attack. When an enemy is unaware, or when you are a great deal faster, or have the ki to do some serious teleporting, then this method of melee is a good choice because even though it is more difficult it is less notable by others, and does the relatively the same damage.
Now that we've covered the two basic types of offense, let's tutorial it up, tutorialman. >:0D We'll start with a basic offensive situation.
Offensive Scenario 1: An enemy is in your sites. Your options for melee are fairly varied. Let's review.
[SOLUTION 1] Left Click on the enemy to get a lock, then left click a second time to initialize a swoop, using your mouse to guide you towards your opponent, all the while holding down right click. If you hit your enemy and he is undefended, you will score a hit.
[SOLUTION 2] Get yourself adjacent to your foe and right click once you are within melee range to score a non-swooping melee hit.
See? It's not that hard, right? Now, on to the next part of the tutorial: Defense & Recovering.
--PART THREE: Defense & Recovery Tutorial
Many players do not seem to understand the in's and out's of defending themselves or recovering from a hit. It's pretty basic but still, those who do not read the Manual.swf file will not know this simple information, and to be pretty blunt, it severely hampers enjoyment of the game. Let's have a look.
When you are struck with a melee attack and you are not defending yourself, you will be sent helplessly flying across the map. Any landscape or object you hit will add damage to the wounds you've already suffered from being hit, and eventually you will tumble to an unconscious halt on the floor, where you will remain for anywhere from a few to several EXTREMELY VULNERABLE seconds.
This is usually the point where people who don't know how to use melee stop and type, "OMFG melee is so ***!" or something of that nature.
Well...you may or may not have noticed but a struggle bar appears at the far right of your screen while you are helplessly tumbling. By holding primary fire, your character will use some ki to right himself in midair, or do a cartwheel/handspring back to his feet if he is tumbling along the ground, thus avoiding the obnoxious "frozen" state, and also avoiding being slammed against buildings or mountains for additional damage.
Make some sense now, people?
(Look for SaiyanPrideXIX's Advanced Melee Techniques Tutorial, coming soon)
Therefore it is my theory that a majority of the people who dislike the melee in the game are not using it properly. I've heard foolish complaints such as "dude melee sucks, you can't even get up," or "dude melee sucks, you go flying and can't do anything about it," or "dude melee sucks i never hit anyone even when I swoop right into them." So I thought I'd help set the record straight with a big-ass TUTORIAL ON MELEE. >:0)
--PART ONE: Basic Control Functions of Melee
The control scheme of melee doesn't work as simply as the rest of the game's attacks do. Depending on whether or not you are locked on to an opponent, the functions of your mouse are slightly different. Let's take a look.
NOT LOCKED ON:
Primary Fire (Left Click) = Locks on to the opponent under reticle
Secondary Fire (Right Click) = Melee Attack (when within close quarters)
LOCKED ON TO AN OPPONENT:
Primary Fire (Left Click) = Enters Swoop mode
Secondary Fire (Right Click) = Melee Attack (Held during swoop toward targeted opponent)
A few things should immediately come to your attention. The first of these things is that while you are "locked on" to an enemy, you may notice that your character does not intuitively swoop in a beeline towards the target. So technically you are not really "locked on" and shouldn't think of it in a traditional sense, because you will most likely get confused if you are a beginner.
Also, take notice: while swooping, HOLDING RIGHT CLICK is the best means of attacking your selected target, but this will ONLY WORK FOR THE TARGETED ENEMY (i.e. you cannot lock on to an opponent, enter a swoop, and swoop-melee another opponent by flying into them and holding right click, as you would the locked-on enemy).
Take heed: When you are NOT locked on to anyone, the only way to perform a melee attack is to right click while you are within a close proximity to a target. The disadvantage is that you cannot swoop (although many players substitute teleporting) to hit any target, but this form of melee is advantageous in the sense that when coupled with swoop melee tactics, it allows you to take on multiple opponents at once without having to worry about re-locking on to each target separately during the fight (which is rather difficult and inefficient), and also allows the technique of block-countering to be possible within the game.
Mastering the combinations of these techniques is the key to being able to manhandle an entire server with minimal effort.
--PART TWO: Offensive Tutorial
Offense is usually a point and click affair but in ESF Melee combat, things are a little different. There are two ways to attack an opponent: while locked on, and while not locked. Let's have a look:
Scenario 1: You get an enemy in your sights. Let's assume you want to melee him. Left-clicking/primary fire while the target is under your crosshairs will "lock on" to the target, causing a red box to appear around your foe. Think of this red box as a sign saying, "Swooping is Enabled" because that's basically what it does: you are able to now use primary fire to enter swoop, where you will move several times faster than normal.
Swoop is for gaining ground against enemies rapidly in melee combat. You can cover a lot of ground quickly but at the cost of ki. While swooping at your targeted enemy, melee is pretty simple: just hold down right click while you are swooping and ram into him to score a hit (assuming he does not block or teleport or move, which will be discussed later).
Things are a bit more complex when you aren't locked on. Holding down right click does not attack enemies, and nor does actually clicking it; for some reason or another, it is the RELEASE of the button that can trigger the attack. When an enemy is unaware, or when you are a great deal faster, or have the ki to do some serious teleporting, then this method of melee is a good choice because even though it is more difficult it is less notable by others, and does the relatively the same damage.
Now that we've covered the two basic types of offense, let's tutorial it up, tutorialman. >:0D We'll start with a basic offensive situation.
Offensive Scenario 1: An enemy is in your sites. Your options for melee are fairly varied. Let's review.
[SOLUTION 1] Left Click on the enemy to get a lock, then left click a second time to initialize a swoop, using your mouse to guide you towards your opponent, all the while holding down right click. If you hit your enemy and he is undefended, you will score a hit.
[SOLUTION 2] Get yourself adjacent to your foe and right click once you are within melee range to score a non-swooping melee hit.
See? It's not that hard, right? Now, on to the next part of the tutorial: Defense & Recovering.
--PART THREE: Defense & Recovery Tutorial
Many players do not seem to understand the in's and out's of defending themselves or recovering from a hit. It's pretty basic but still, those who do not read the Manual.swf file will not know this simple information, and to be pretty blunt, it severely hampers enjoyment of the game. Let's have a look.
When you are struck with a melee attack and you are not defending yourself, you will be sent helplessly flying across the map. Any landscape or object you hit will add damage to the wounds you've already suffered from being hit, and eventually you will tumble to an unconscious halt on the floor, where you will remain for anywhere from a few to several EXTREMELY VULNERABLE seconds.
This is usually the point where people who don't know how to use melee stop and type, "OMFG melee is so ***!" or something of that nature.
Well...you may or may not have noticed but a struggle bar appears at the far right of your screen while you are helplessly tumbling. By holding primary fire, your character will use some ki to right himself in midair, or do a cartwheel/handspring back to his feet if he is tumbling along the ground, thus avoiding the obnoxious "frozen" state, and also avoiding being slammed against buildings or mountains for additional damage.
Make some sense now, people?
(Look for SaiyanPrideXIX's Advanced Melee Techniques Tutorial, coming soon)
