Strategy & Tactics: Quake 3: Arena by Brehan Crawford So you’ve got your hot new G4, your fancy-schmancy graphics card and your broadband Internet access. You’ve got the game that the pros all play. You’ve even gotten yourself a non-hockey-puck-shaped-mouse. The only problem is, you don’t have the frags. The kills. The points. The mark that is used to measure your skill in Quake 3: Arena. Well, hopefully this brief guide will help you out. With any luck, you’ll soon start winning more matches, telling prospective clans to bugger off and getting asked to join more and more games on Game Ranger — just because you’ve got the mad skills! And speaking of mad skills, a huge load of thanks must be given out to the members of clan Qc, the Quake Crusaders, for several of the tips and tricks used in this article. They may not be the best clan out there when the time limit has been hit, but they sure know how to have fun in the process. And when they lose, they lose with style. Before delving into the specific game play types, it’s probably a good idea to go over some basics. For starters: use the mouse. This cannot be emphasized enough. Although there are people that can be competitive with a joystick or one of those funky space-orbs, probably 90 percent of all first-person-shooter (fps) players use the mouse and keyboard. To get comfortable with the mouse, one of the best things to do is to think of it as a physical representation of your character’s head. When you move it up, your character aims up. When you move it to the left, that’s where you’ll aim. If you’re new to using the mouse for control, this will seem very odd at first, and you’ll likely walk into several walls (and several rockets), but you’ll get the hang of it before you know it. Most high-level Quake players tend to keep their mouse pointed just a little bit towards the floor when running about, as makes for more splash-damage rocket hits (and most everybody goes into battle wielding a rocket launcher). Secondly, always keep tabs on your health and armor levels. There are far too many people out there that think they are Rambo and that no matter how profusely they’re bleeding, they can still take out their enemy before they die. Unfortunately, that’s not the case and your opponent (if he/she’s any good) will probably be keeping a rough estimate of your health level in his/her head, constantly calculating which weapon to use and when the optimum time to strike will be. In Free-For-All matches, pick up any health and armor you can find; you don’t need to save it for anyone else. In tourney mode, do the same (unless you’re trying to be quiet and sneaky by not making item pick-up noises). In team play, you may wish to save those life-saving items for your teammates, but that will get discussed later in the "team play" section. And third, find out which weapons you prefer. Quake is a game of using the proper tool for the proper job. If someone is half way across a space level from you, don’t use the plasma gun to try and kill them. Use something that is instant-hit, like a shotgun or railgun. First and foremost, make yourself skilled with the rocket launcher. It doesn’t matter if you’re morally opposed to flying explosives or if you hate the idea of being able to kill yourself on accident; the rocket launcher is the most versatile weapon in Quake 3, and to be a successful Quaker, you need to become proficient with it. This weapon does 100 points of damage for every direct hit it scores, and splash damage goes from five to 90 points, depending on how close your target is to the detonation point. Rockets travel fast, and the reload time for this weapon is quite quick as well, so it’s not a colossal task to launch a sizeable volley at your enemies in a short amount of time. Because rockets travel slower than, say, plasma gun blasts, it’s pretty tough to make a direct hit on a skilled opponent. Go for continuous splash damage by shooting at your enemy’s feet, and you’ll likely be much more successful. When you have a ton of practice under your belt, you may be able to do more direct-hit rocket shots (but don’t get cocky), and maybe, just maybe, you’ll start getting those mid-air hits on someone coming off a jump pad. It’s usually about this time that people on the Internet begin to accuse you of being a "bot." Just be careful not to shoot yourself in the foot with this weapon, it hurts something awful. In general, it’s a good idea to avoid using your gauntlet unless you are completely out of ammo for all your other weapons. As it is the short-range-only weapon in Quake 3, all the other weapons allow people to stay at a safe distance from you while firing, putting you in a major disadvantage. The only time to use the gauntlet over another weapon is when you are playing in a teams match and haven’t picked up anything beyond your standard machine gun. If you get in good and close to somebody, a few quick punches will take them out without too much trouble. It’s usually important in these cases to have the element of surprise in your favor. The machine gun is commonly under-rated and bashed by Quake players, and unjustly so. Although it doesn’t pack quite as much wollop as the shotgun, it is quite a bit more accurate, and has a good firing rate. This is a great weapon to use as when following someone around on jump pads as well, as its projectiles are instant-hit and require no leading (except to counter for lag). The shotgun in Quake 3 has the unique ability to do more than 100 points of damage in a single blast; each of its 11 pellets do 10 points of damage — if they hit. The spread from the shotgun is quite wide at long range, and this weapon is generally used in close- and mid-range quarters. But it does pack a wallop, and can often save your hide in a clutch situation. It is frequently referred to as a "poor-man’s railgun." The grenade launcher is not found on very many maps in Quake 3, and with good reason: it is very hard to learn to use effectively. Because there is a large lead time between when a grenade is shot and when it detonates, timing them for people to run over is very difficult, and because of the bouncy nature of grenades, it can be tough to hit people with them directly. The one thing that the grenade launcher does possess, though, is the ability to cover your heinie. If you’re being chased, lay down a couple of grenades behind you as you go, and your opponent will have to think twice before chasing you down. The lighting gun is absolutely amazing to watch when used by an excellent player. The key to proper lighting usage is to have a great deal of control. Broad, sweeping motions will get you nowhere with this gun. You have to hold it directly on top of your target for as long as it takes to cook his or her body to a crisp. The railgun is also a magnificent beast to behold when viewed in the hands of a master. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the hardest weapons to master. While it is incredibly powerful, and instant-hit, it requires a keen aim and quick reflex that few people possess. But practice does make perfect, and before you know it, you’ll be picking off players from all the way across q3tourney6 or q3dm17. This is the other weapon that, when you get really good at using, will have people accusing you of being a bot. The plasma gun is a fantastic all-purpose sort of weapon. Its projectiles travel pretty quickly, making it useable at medium range, it has a very fast rate of fire, and the plasma balls to a good amount of damage. There is a slight danger of using it in close quarters, as there is some splash damage from the projectiles, but in general it makes for a good backup weapon to the rocket launcher. And finally, the BFG. Point, shoot, repeat. Just make sure you aren’t too close to a wall, your target, or death. It’s A Free For All Probably the most common type of game play in Quake 3 is Free For All, commonly abbreviated to "FFA." FFA is your basic every-man-woman-and-child-for-him-or-her-self kind of game: you spawn, grab a weapon, and frag everything in sight until someone frags you. Then you repeat the process. This goes on until some lucky bum hits the frag limit or the time for the game runs out. FFA is also the reason that many people dismiss quake as a "mindless killing game." To be fair, there is a significantly smaller amount of strategy to FFA than to, say, tourney mode, but there is still quite a bit. FFA, more than any other game play mode, requires the successful player to be a psychologist. Or maybe even a sociologist. You have to know where people are going, what they are thinking when they go there, and how you can best take advantage of that situation. Free-For-All games are a group-mentality sort of thing. Especially in games with numbers of people above eight or 10, it becomes fairly easy to predict where the "party" is. Groups of people will congregate in areas where there are lots of powerful items, particularly weapons such as the rocket launcher or the BFG. This is both a good and bad thing; while it makes for lots of easy targets, in order for you to take advantage of those targets, you must become one yourself. Practice dodging, or dive in to the fray with a lot of armor. People who play lots of FFA tend to get rather lax in their one-on-one skills, preferring to shoot area-effect weapons into a group of people, so if you happen to encounter someone in a lonely dark hallway, you’re probably in a pretty good position. One mistake that is commonly made by free-for-all newbies is that of trying to hit too many people at the same time. If you are running amok taking pot shots at anybody that happens in front of your crosshair, you will be lucky to score two or three frags over the course of a 20-minute game. Remember, those players you’re taking pot-shots at aren’t going to be polite and stay in your sights for you. One of the best ways to rack up frags in an FFA match is to pick someone who looks like they’re either vulnerable or occupied, and start going after them. If they go around a corner, so do you (provided they aren’t immediately aware that you’re following them). If they jump down to a platform below you, use your height advantage to pick them off, or jump down to follow them. Just don’t get to follow-happy, or you may end up unsuspectedly following them into a trap or the fog of death. One of, if not the greatest resource in FFA — much like in team play — is the quad damage. This magical item makes your rocket shots basically one-hit-one-kill (or one-hit-three-kills, if you aim them properly) and can be a fantastic boon to a player who has started to fall behind the lead, or who needs to get a quick five or six frags. Since just about everyone who has ever played a game of Quake knows this, the quad damage icon is usually hotly contested. If you don’t feel like camping the area where the quad is going to spawn in, a great (if not widely appreciated) means of acquiring said quad damage is to camp somewhere a little ways away from it with a railgun and a good view of the spawn point. When somebody runs to grab it, pop ‘em in the head! This tactic actually works quite well with any desirable item; if you’ve killed someone, and they have dropped their rocket launcher, instead of picking it up go stand in the corner and wait. Another player is bound to run by and think "oh my, what a nice, pretty rocket launcher that is, sitting all by its lonesome self!" Frag the disillusioned twit when he goes to pick it up. Tourney Play The one-on-one playing mode of Quake 3 has become the game of choice for the various professional gaming leagues. There is good reason; it’s fun, it’s challenging and it requires not just a keen sense of aim and timing, but one of strategy as well. Knowing what your opponent is up to is almost as important as knowing which weapon to use when you find him/her. Because the final outcome of a one-on-one game is dependent on your score versus your opponent’s score, it is equally as important to keep yourself alive as it is to frag your enemy. This relates to one of the key points of tourney play: control the armor and health items. If two people of equal skill match up against one another, and one is healthier and/or better armored than the other, guess which one will win? That’s right, the one who is more aptly prepared for combat. Armor in Quake 3 re-spawns every 25 seconds. Health comes in every 35 seconds. And the mega-health, which is the most important one to control, comes in every two minutes. This doesn’t mean that you have to time each of these exactly, but it’s generally a good idea to be in the vicinity when the various items decide to show their respective faces. One of the other great things about tourney play is that many of the popular tourney maps have several places where it is easy to fall to one’s death, be it in lava, fog or the void. Because a fall is treated like a suicide with the loss of a point, using the rocket launcher to "push" your opponent into some nasty black pit of death can be a great way to regain a lost lead, grab some style points from the spectators and lower your opponent’s morale. A Few Notes On Popular Tourney Maps Q3tourney2, also known as "map 3" from the old q3test days, is a great example of how hoarding armor can win you a match. Because there are only two major armor items, and a handful of armor shards, the armor is easy to control, giving you a huge advantage over your opponent. This level is a rather simple mix of close-quarters and medium-range areas, making quick switches between rocket launcher and lightning gun a must-have skill. Again, the proper tool for the proper job. Because of the tight-quarters nature of several areas of this level, many players actually prefer the shotgun over the rocket launcher, as it has no danger of killing the user. A great trick to use when trying to switch between rocket launcher and lighting gun is to pop off a rocket, hopefully scoring a few points of damage on your enemy, and then to hold your crosshair on him/her while switching to lightning. You won’t start shooting for about one and one-half seconds as you switch weapons, but when you do, your crosshair will be right on target and you’ll start charring him/her very quickly. Q3tourney3 is a great map for people with short attention spans who want a match to be over quickly. Because it is possible to see your opponent from almost any point on the map, good railgun skills are a necessity. Predicting where your opponent is going to be is also a huge help. And as a pointer, whenever you pick up the battle suit, immediately rocket-jump to one side or to the front. Because of the battle suit’s protection, you’ll take no splash damage, and if your opponent has his/her sights on you, he or she will be immediately thrown off by your sudden movement. Q3tourney4 is a level that requires a great deal of patience, as it is fairly large. And, like q3tourney3, it requires a lot of rail skill, especially for those quick "peeking" shots. Be sure on this map to keep control over the red armor and the mega-health. Q3dm13 is a great map for people who loved Quake 1. Its winding, crossing hallways and fast elevation drops make for exciting one-on-one play and the lava at the bottom adds an element of tension to the mix. Because it’s hard on this map to see your opponent coming from a distance, be sure to listen carefully for item pickup sounds and the like, which will give away his or her position. Team Play Quake 3’s team deathmatch mode is a great way for a lot of people to have a good time all together. It’s also the most popular mode of playing for Quake’s clans. While in Quake 1, team deathmatch relied a lot more on item control than anything else, in Quake 3 the emphasis is on the skill of individuals working together. Quake 3’s most common team play map, q3dm6, is nearly impossible to "lock down" by controlling weapons, armor, and power-ups. There are just too many items, and they re-spawn too quickly. The key to team deathmatches in Quake 3 is communication. Proficient team players like to "bind" common phrases to keys on their keyboard such as "need weapon," or "item available." This allows you to tell your teammates where you are at all times, what your status is and what (if anything) you need assistance with. Make sure that your teammates do the same. Camping is also an important part of team play, much to the dismay of those antsy people who can’t stand staying in the same place for more than 20 seconds. While q3dm6 is tough to lock down, it is still possible to control some key items, like the quad damage and the rocket launcher, so it’s important to time these and to make sure the other team never gets their grubby little hands on them. If one of your teammates is slain with the rocket launcher, recover it as soon as you can. Similarly to tourney play, the final score in team deathmatch is your team’s combined score versus that of the opposing team. This also means that although gaining frags is great for your team, making the other team lose theirs is just as important. Some great Q3dm6 strategies (many courtesy of Pikachu]Qc[): • Because q3dm6 is such a varied level, proper weapon switching is important. The level is large, but there is enough architecture to prevent the railgun from being dominant. In fact, the level has so many different areas that no one weapon sticks out above all the others. Becoming proficient with at least two (like the shotgun and the rocket launcher, or the railgun and the plasma gun) is extremely important. • Keep moving constantly. Although this is a general pointer for all modes of game play in Quake 3, it is extremely important in team play on q3dm6. Because everywhere on q3dm6 is basically visible from at least three directions, it is easy to sit around somewhere and get killed by a railgun shot to the back of your head without knowing it — until you hit the ground. • Learn to use the shotgun effectively, even if you despise it. There are two on the level, which means one is almost always available, and it will frequently kill someone in three partial-hit shots. It’s also one of the best weapons in close quarters, since it will kill in one or two hits and has no splash damage that can hurt you too. • Don’t forget to share! Resources are limited. There are limited weapons and limited armor. These play off each other pretty well; if you have a nice weapon you don’t just want to get armor to protect yourself, you want to get it to prevent your weapon from falling into the hands of the other team. If your teammate has a better weapon, let him or her take the armor. They need it more. Capture the Flag Capture the Flag, or CTF for short, is very similar to team deathmatches, only there is a slightly more defined goal at hand. Killing your opponents yields no points; the only way to do that is to steal their flag and return it to your base. Weapon re-spawns in CTF are back to the normal five seconds, not every 30 seconds like in team deathmatch, so hoarding weapons is not a necessity. However, because there is a common goal for both teams, a change in forms of communication is usually necessary. A great strategy is for both teams to have two people defending the flag and two attacking. Or, one defending and three attacking. That way, the three attackers will have a better chance against whatever number of people the enemy has defending. The one defending player needs to be able to call out the status of the base, however, as they likely won’t be able to fend off three of the enemy on their own. So again, communication is key. Binding popular phrases, such as "We’re Under Attack, Return to Base!!!" or "I’m Off To Get the Flag, Attackers Back Me Up!!!" will really help things out. You can even bind something like "Doh!!!" for when you fall into those nasty pits of death. Conclusion So, that’s it as far as basic strategies go. The advanced ones tend to be more personalized and will come to each player as he or she plays more Quake. Once you get down the basic skills of moving around and figuring out what the other players are doing, you’ll start to advance your skills at a good rate. And don’t forget: Quake 3: Arena is a game. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t win. And never say that you "suck." If you’re losing to someone in Quake 3, likely the only thing that means is that they play the game more frequently than you. The best thing anyone can do for his or her skills is to practice, practice and practice some more. When you’re done practicing, let your fingers rest for a good 20 minutes, and then go back to practicing. Frag away!