Shadows Recon

Recon

Cloaking….

I freely admit I don’t know much about it, haven't played it that much, nor do I enjoy it all that much as opposed to my beloved rexo with all that backpack space and weapons slots. However what I DO know about is organization; and it is there where we will start to build this Recon squadron from the ground up based on teamwork and support. Here are some of the most BASIC rules regarding cloakers and squads of cloakers. A team of invisible soldiers works in a VERY different style than solo men. To my knowledge, a successful, long term, squad of cloakers has never been truly realized in game. So we are here to show that it can be done.

Lets look at the psychology of fighting an enemy that cannot be seen, and fighting AS that enemy.

When you are attacked by an enemy in most games, there is an on screen indication of the direction of the enemy fire against you. Planetside does NOT contain this most useful little tool so you are now at the mercy of what you can only SEE in order to find where the shot came from. When you are fighting a NON cloaking character, it’s easy enough to trace the fire back to its source.

Moving is your enemy

Open Ground is your enemy

Sound is your enemy

So a soldier spinning around 360 degrees and finding NO enemy to fire back at automatically has to change his strategy to deal with this invisible threat. IF he has darklight, he merely turns it on and spins 360 again to deal with the threat. If he does NOT, then he does his 360 with his weapon of choice spamming until he connects with the non target. It is essential that your victim has NO IDEA of your presence until the first shot is fired. IF by movement, or sound, or some implant your target uses, he gets ANY suspicion of your presence, you should immediately break off your plans and move on to another target.

That is how lone cloakers work in the field. This squad, however, will consist of upwards of 5-10 cloakers working as a team to take down individual targets, both people and places. They will often be working side by side with the formidably armed Sentinels so they have certain advantages that a lone cloaker does not. Firstly, when soldiers fight, they like to keep their stamina maxed out so it’s free to use for personal shield, or surge or other important situations. IF the enemy has a VISIBLE target to go up against, he will almost NEVER turn on his darklight even IF he has some hint of a cloaker around. So it is important to use the Sentinels as cover fire so the Shadows can move up without fear of being detected. And when the Sentinels are not available, use whomever happens to be around for the enemy to shoot at that they CAN see, so you can remain in … well… their ShadowS.

‘the max viewing distance of darklight is 30 meters

The max shooting distance of the beamer is over 60 meters’

Movement kills both you and the enemy, in some ways it IS your enemy (see above), but also a close friend. Your eyes are drawn to movement in life as it is on the screen, so the best way not to be noticed at all in either is to STAY STILL as much as possible.

To this end, the proper way to move in the battlefield is as follows

Never use the main roads to move whenever possible, they are the most likely places to be mined, and also where you will run into enemy armor more than anywhere else. There are times you will NEED to travel by road to get places, but if you’re on foot, your in the bush, period, or you’re gonna get tanked.

When moving, use the buddy system, never travel alone. Taking down two soldiers is much harder than wiping out one. Most people run around this game in a quake style alone, use their play style to your advantage and go in teams of no less than two to intercept them. When teaming up, try to have soldiers with different kits available so they can access multiple targets. Have one become the ‘Target’ perhaps while the other zooms in on the enemy.

When running as a squad, stay in close visual contact with the rest of your squad. Not so close that one grenade can wipe you all out together, but close enough that you can all support each other at times of crisis.

Here are the big rules of soldier movement in the game, master these, and you will up your survivability substantially.

NEVER TRAVEL WITHOUT YOUR NEXT SAFE SPOT ALREADY SELECTED. When you are under cover, chose your next point you will move to. Then scan the surroundings from RIGHT to LEFT (opposite of the way you read, things will pop out more in real life when you use this, not certain about virtual) Once you have chosen your next spot to travel to, go to it and fall back under cover. This is absolute for outdoors, always move with an end target in mind. You should use the ‘6 second’ rule of open ground travel. That is, you should set your path up so that you need only be visible between 6 and 10 seconds at any given time before you are once more under some sort of cover. Use a leapfrog pattern to maximize your cloaking ability and minimize your ghost signature.

Never Stand in open ground, always be moving to avoid snipers, open ground is your enemy. If you have to reach a location via open ground, do it quickly as possible and look for your target cover area you need to reach before you step into the light. Come to think of it NEVER STAND. Whenever not moving, try to crouch. The lower to the ground you are, in ANY situation, the harder it is to see you, and the easier it is for the enemy to miss you on a sweep.

Use unconventional attack patterns. Like the Sentinels, use the under the spawn path to attack that area. Also take paths less traveled so as not to be noticed until the time is right. Find ‘DEAD ZONES’ in bases and towers that have no reason for anyone NOT hiding to go into, and for the most part, you will find a safe place to rally before your attack. A prime example of this is the room under the spawn rooms. It is a great place to hide after hacking a base or securing the tubes.

CARRY JAMMERS!!!!

Recon

Positioning