Dodgeball Guide

[mikesol]

Heyo - so since there is this cool new game mode that there seems to be a lot of confusion about - I figured I'd write a guide for it.

The Servers
You can find this on any AltitudeRank.com ball server. To vote for this you need to have 4-8 players in game and type: /votestart auto db_beta

The list of playable planes
So unlike in other modes - many planes are banned in dodgeball. Emp loopy, explodet, and randa are all banned because they simply would be too op. Emp reduces your movement making it easier to hit you. Whale can push you out of the way or stall you. Randa have op movement capabilities and can turn around or dodge quickly. That means the planes you can play are:

1. Acid loopy
2. Any bomber
3. Any biplane

The basic game outline

1. The server initializes and introduces you to the mode. It will list off some info and eventually say "The game is now live!"
2. Players can try and be greedy by spawning a bit early because you have a second or two before you get spec'd. This will let you spawn faster and get the ball earlier but if you mess up you get spectated and will spawn later.
3. Once the game has started players rush to grab the ball in the center but have to be careful not to pass the center line. If you pass the center line you will get killed by the rets and lose your life.
4. The team who obtains possession of the ball proceeds to try and throw it at the players on the other team. If that individual manages to pass the ball to them and it touches them within a second (as in bounces do not matter; it's simply time based) - they are out.
5. Once you're tagged you still have a second or two to live. You can do one of three things: pass the ball back at the other team immediately (and potentially kill one of them), pass the ball to your team and hope your team retains the ball, or do nothing and die (in which case the ball spawns in the middle after a few seconds).
6. The first team to eliminate the entire other team wins.

Basic Strategies

1. Try and kill the other team when possible. By damaging them or killing them you make it easier to control the ball and make it harder on them as they have to think more quickly on what to do before they die.
2. Take your time to aim. It is better to die on your side without throwing the ball than it is to throw it wildly and end up with the other team having the ball.
3. DO NOT spend the game rev'ing around. Rev can be useful if you use it to stop quickly or back out of a tricky situation. Flying around with rev otherwise is a waste. You are slower and have a harder time stopping - which makes you an easier target to hit.
4. Try and avoid the middle of the arena as much as possible. If you don't end up killing yourself by diving over the line you will probably die anyway as you are such an easy / close target.

Advanced Strategies

1. As a bomber - you can shoot at the other teams wall to damage turrets and get bars. By getting bars you can turn more quickly, are faster, have better energy regen, and increased damage. (I have to admit that this is really lame and can give bombers a HUGE advantage over other planes if they know what they're doing)
2. Because of the above point - trying to kill the enemy team bombers is a priority. They launch the ball faster and if they get bars can be much more of a nuisance.
3. Wait until the opponent is turning around or slowing down to aim at them. You are most likely not going to hit them by throwing it as they're going full speed.
4. Be careful of the strategy where a plane stalls out and lets themselves fall down slowly. This is a hard thing to dodge - you either have to get up past them quickly or hide behind the pegs at the bottom. Sometimes you can bait them by pretending to go up but then turning down (but then you leave yourself vulnerable as your speed is reduced).
5. Crossing the line *can* be good if done properly. If you are in a 1v1 and manage to get the ball to them before you die from crossing the line - you still win. If you are in a 2v1 (your team has 2) then one of you can potentially try crossing over to get a closer shot at the enemy. You will die but you can hopefully take them with you.

XX2's Tips
PLANE STATS

Ball Ejection Speed | Turning Speed | Engine Speed

Loopy: 14.5 | 8.4 | 10.947

Biplane: 19 | 7 | 9.374

Bomber: 23 | 6.8 | 9


Numbers taken from the following:
http://altitudegame.com/forums/showt...lodet+ejection - Ejection speeds
http://nimblygames.com/wiki/index.ph...ane_Statistics - Turning, Engine speeds
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The two biggest things I could tell you to master is ball aiming and becoming unpredictable (fast reaction timing, etc). If you can get those things down, you will do pretty well in dodge ball.

-learn to time the countdown and get an early spawn. Once you learn that you can spawn with a speed setup like loopy/ultracap to further increase your chances of getting the ball first. Then you
can pass it too your bombers or switch yourself.

-If you are not confident with your aim, pass the ball to someone who is. This is especially important for loopies, who have the lowest ball ejection speed.

- Have your team control the ball, if immediately puts pressure on the other team and you have the game in your control.

- Aim not where the enemy plane is currently located, aim where the plane WILL be. You must observe how people fly and make your judgments based on their patterns. (note: at higher skill levels
this gets a little more complicated)

- Get veteran bars if possible. Bars increase health, turning, damage, and energy. Health/damage improvements do not really matter here though... Winning the game involves having your enemies alive. You can make the argument that having very little health is better, but this is more applicable to bomber than the others.

- Bomber may abuse getting bars the easiest out of all the planes simply because of the splash damage they can do to the turrets that sit against the vertical walls on each side. Bars will really
help make up for the bomber's slow speed and makes the largest plane in the game mode more slippery.

- Understand the objective and setup your perks accordingly. Dodgeball is about avoiding being passed to within a certain time (one second, after they have ejected the ball), and successfully
completing a pass to the enemy. Perks like rubber hull, repair, and heavy armor have little use here. Flexible wings, and reverse thrust on the other hand are very strong here. Why? They make half
of your job easier, by allowing you dodge the passes from the enemy. The bomber also has the highest ejection speed which will help when you are trying to pass to other team. Another selling point
of this plane is that it can farm gold bars to make up for its lack of speed.

- Loopy is the best plane for dodging, but lacks the ball power to take out planes effectively.

- Biplane is like a middle ground between bomber and loopy.

- Bomber has the highest ejection, better turning than biplane, slowest, can acquire bars to compensate for disadvantages the easiest, and largest plane. It is the mlg no scope carry hard plane that makes
plays happen. My personal favorite in DB.

- Oh yeah, don't be afraid to try new things, dodge ball is still being tested and may change over time. So what if you lose a game for trying something different out... It's worth it in my book if
you have learned something new in DB from the experience. Remember, it's just internet points.

Hope that helps you all get started with this! Good luck out there

[Slender]

a++

thanks mike

[Fartface]

i like it

[Kafka]

This is news to me. Up until now I've only seen poorly conceived attempts at alti dodgeball.

+1, thanks mike!

[mikesol]

Added some more tips courtesy of XX2

[Oyster]

Tips from Oyster:

- Full HP is the weakest position. If you stay injured and close to dead, you can suicide into the wall on defense rather than get hit by the ball.

- You can spawn as a Randa if you get on a hot streak. Don't try to tag the Randa out, just hold the ball, kill it and wait for them to respawn as a normal plane.

- When there is a countdown, try to spawn right as the 2 fades to 1. That way you will always be first to the ball.

- Stay away from the top and bottom of the arena. Try to hang way back in the middle at the furthest point away from the other team while on defense.

- Flak/Flexi/Rev is the best setup for bomber

[More to come, I'm sure]