Remote Explodet Guide

[matattack]

Remote Explodet Guide

Introduction
Helloz, my altitude name most people know me as is Matattack or MATAPOTAMUS, but Mat works. I’m here to try to guide new and old players through how to play the Remote Mine Explodet for both TBD and Ball! After 5 years, I have 4000+ hours of gameplay and 300,000+ kills with Remote Mine to date and I play both game modes way too much!
Trust me when I say that there is a lot to read about in this guide.. Here goes!

Why Remote Explodet?
To be honest, because its hilarious! Explodets in general are slow, heavy planes with the most HP in the game! They specialize in stalling offensive attacks in both game modes using their rockets in front and mines from behind. They control areas on maps which can benefit your team in being both defensive and offensive. In this case, we will be looking in depth with the Remote Mine perk. This means the rockets do not turn enemies but instead are able to stall and push enemies around based off of the timing and location of the rocket. This is the same case with the mine. Remote mines only come out one at a time, so strategizing and utilizing it is as important as the rockets that come from the front.
When mastering the Remote Mine, one can become fast and powerful with their defenses and offenses. Perfecting positioning, timing, and location are key. I will explain more of how to achieve this for both TBD and Ball.

Perks

Red

-Director
-Thermobarics
- Remote Mine - This perk, among the three red perks, has the highest skill ceiling. The ability to have full control of the timing you can ignite the mine can turn any game around. Both the rocket and mine will explode on impact with walls and objects that are on the map, however, they do not explode when a plane flies through it. This inherently becomes advantageous(generally speaking) for explodet users on defense, offense, and even after death (yes, you can ignite it after you die! So watch carefully!). It is important to note as well that even when a shield reflects your mine and rocket, you still have control of the timing of ignition. Just be careful you don’t boost the shield user or players who follow!
The explosion of the Remote mine has a larger radius, as well as higher damage as opposed to its regular mine counterpart. The mine allows for very specific control on your back end. Just be aware that because it does not explode on impact of planes, you will not be able to boost off of an opponent directly behind you, also making it dangerous if a plane comes too close to your tail. Tactics to get around this issue will be explained in Plane Matchups.

Green

-Rubberized Hull - Assuming you know how to not fly into objects that do not move across the map, I highly recommend not using this perk. You will take more damage when boosting with your own mines, as well as take more damage from other Explodets. For a Remote player, you must know how to maneuver with precision for the sake of positioning and timing as well as killing.

-Heavy Armor - Not as effective as Repair Drone and Flexy wings, this perk has only been proven to do well by a player known as Esoteric cerca 2009. Even though you will have the most HP in the game with this perk, you are also brought down with slow maneuverability as well as turning. This can be dangerous as you attempt to defend pushes in our current meta.

-Repair Drone - Can be helpful sometimes where HP packs are sparse, but in general this perk can still bring yourself down. The current play style of altitude is very fast paced, and where having plenty of regenerating HP is great, the main goal is to protect your base or goal. So being in position more quickly is more beneficial. This perk may be more helpful for Reverse users, however, I will not go into reverse as there already is a reverse explodet guide.

-Flexible Wings - Arguably the best perk since 2009 (thanks Ku-bear). This perk allows Explodets to turn more quickly allowing players to kill with a rotation of mines and rockets as they spin in circles. The increased turning rate allows for quicker passes and shots in Ball, as well as faster blocks and positioning lock-downs in TBD.

Blue

-Turbocharger - The best perk to use for us! Turbo allows us to release rockets and mines more frequently, creating more opportunities for stalling / killing planes. We need energy for maneuverability as well, so the increased rate at which we obtain that helps dramatically with our positioning.

-Ultracapacitor - Not as effective as Turbocharger as the increase amount of energy does not help our rate at which we can kill and stall. When charging full speed with afterburning, you will last longer, however, that tactic is not the best or most efficient way to move quickly for explodet. Each attack is a burst for explodet. So an increase in overall energy doesn’t become effective.

-Reverse Thrust - I recommend watching M-Pilot as well as Snap play as they are very experienced with it. As for the purpose of this guide, do not use it. The extra energy increase is much more effective. If you really feel the urge of flying backwards, simply spam your rockets in front of you and see what happens!
To see Silent Skies reverse thrust Explodet guide: http://altitudegame.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5103


-Ace Instincts - As much as people love to kill as a remote mine user in Ball, I would say that using Ace Instincts does not help in the end. In TBD, our goal is also to block bombs, taking the main mentality of staying alive for yourself irrelevant. In Ball, after a goal is scored, your bars go away! Also, Explodets are too easy of a target when it comes to having bars. We have our vulnerabilities from above, below, as well as directly inside/behind our plane. So unless you have mastered positioning and still can find a way to be effective defensively without dieing, do not use this perk.

[matattack]

Plane Matchups
Vs Loopy - When coming up against a loopy that uses EMP, be ready for a very linear aggressive attack. Generally speaking, loopies will EMP first, followed by several loopy spams to finish you off. Luckily, because of your HP, you will have the time to see and counter this if done right. Firstly, I say linear because once EMP’d when you attempt to turn, it will be too late for you to counter with a mine. This means that your initial rocket is extremely important assuming they’re coming straight on.
A loopy can either slowly (and creepily) spam their bullets forward until it locks on, or they will speedily fly through to kill you. Regardless of which direction they come from, notice their speed. If a loopy is flying slowly to spam you, your rocket or mine should hit above it, causing the slow speed loopy to stall. If done right, they will essentially be boosted downward, causing crashes or at least the freedom for you to escape. If the loopy is flying fast, attempt to boost them through you so less bullets from them will hit you. If they come around for seconds, they will also realize that because of the boost, it will take longer for them to turn back to kill you, allowing you an option shot to kill them. It should only take 1-2 ignitions of any rocket or mine to finish a loopy.
If the loopy is an acid player, be aware that their fly speeds are never that slow or fast. Most of the time acid players fly at a mildly normal speed for a light plane, and because it isn’t EMP, you have the room to spin and use a rocket / mine spin combo to finish it off. Just be aware of other planes around you if you have been hit with acid. It won’t take much to finish you off if you’re hit with acid!
In general, block chokes with your mine to zone out where loopies can attack you from. This will allow you to prep more quickly against any loopy.

Vs Bomber - Bombers normally have an advantage over Explodets. If the bomber is experienced, they will know generally where Explodets spam from. This allows them to use their range with nades to spam the chokes where we would otherwise roam free. To play against bombers, you must be in positions that are out of the ordinary in terms of positioning. Be unpredictable. Spamming rockets and mines while circling in a single spot gives away your position as well as turning location, so try different means of movements to fool bombers into not knowing where to spam. Also keep in mind that where their nade spam comes gives away their position as well! When being chased by bomber spams, stay low during your escapes as grenades tend to arc over. When chasing bombers, both flak and suppressor can be deadly to you. A good tactic is to boost them up or down so they miss their hind shots. This gives you the edge in finishing them off.
The best way I have found to kill bombers is to catch them while they focus on spamming other locations. With 1 rocket and 1 mine placed above or below a bomber, they will very quickly be thrown out of their comfort zone, making them a target to pick off before they can turn to recover themselves. Because bombers have quite a bit of HP, the best way to kill them is to knock them into walls or objects in the map as opposed to straight damage from the rockets or mines.

Vs Biplane - Biplane users in general kill best from above or below an Explodet. Dog Fighter as well as recoilless also tend to kill best when they are in your close proximity. Against both Dog Fighter and Recoilless, do not allow them to come near you. Use a remote mine to block off the high or low choke, depending where you are on the map, and spam wisely. Do not engage them first or else they can easily pick you off around a corner. Instead, let them come to you. If one does get close to your proximity, you literally have 1 second to do anything about it. My best advice for that situation is to be near a wall of some sort, and use a remote mine to boost yourself off of that wall. This will toss them away as well as give you the space you need to escape. If there isn’t a wall nearby, the best thing to do would be to boost them if that means stalling yourself with a rocket to boost them off of you, it is worth it.
Against Heavy Cannon however is slightly different. Although they too are deadly at close proximities, Heavy Cannons have incredible damage that can be dealt slightly off screen from where they are. This means that not only must you protect yourself with mines to prevent flanks from the Heavy Cannon, but you must also engage them on the front end how you would against a Bomber. Understand where the Heavy Cannon bullets are coming from, and engage them from a different angle. Use objects on the map to stay behind corners and if you see a Heavy Cannon spamming elsewhere, engage them immediately. If they are going after you, however, be cautious around corners and use the explosion radius of your rocket as an advantage to chip away damage.
In general, in close proximity with a biplane, you want to get them off of you. Both Dog Fighter and Heavy Cannon have recoil so stalling them is an efficient way to get them off you. A recoilless user, on the other hand, must be boosted off. Killing a biplane from a distance is still effective with boosting as they tend to worry about their position greatly in order to make strong flanks. Protect flank chokes and spam.

Vs Explodet - There are a couple things to consider when coming up against another Explodet. Know that just because you knock people into walls does not mean that they can’t. Expect to be tossed, stalled, boosted, and turned. First look at their rocket. If you see blue trailing the rocket coming towards you, be prepared for a slight turn. be ready to place a mine in this situation. When fighting against Thermobaric users, Remote Mines have an advantage. The spin will cause you to turn around, meaning you’ll already have half of a loop of a circle ahead of them to use a remote mine on them. Be aware that they will have the ability to mine boost off of you, causing you to stall out. The way to counter that is to mine yourself with your remote mine off of whatever object you fall towards. Your boost will be stronger so take advantage of either escaping or pushing towards the Thermobaric or Director user in that situation.
Fighting against another Remote user is when things get tricky. The battle becomes a circle game. Who will hit who first? First one to stall out or get pushed tends to lose. The best strategy I have had is to not circle. Instead, use a remote mine to capture them off guard. Place a mine in a location where you could potentially push them towards. This means extra movement for you. Stay fast and sharp. Even the slightest push can cause another Explodet to get on edge. If you do end up circling, however, make sure you’re the rocket that ignites before his does in those scenarios. normally, when an Explodet is hit with a rocket, they tend to ignite their own out of panic and attempt to escape. Use the first hit as a cue to engage. Also, by all means you do get hit first, don’t ignite your rocket. focus on your hit as well as you will have time to bounce off the floor or wall with your remote mine.
Vs Miranda - Miranda is arguably the best 1v1 plane in the game. They also happen to counter Explodets fairly well due to their mobility, warps, shot speed, and bounce shots around corners and other objects. Each perk type of a Miranda has different ways of taking out an Explodet so I will explain how to counter each one individually.
Trickster - Tricksters will always have an edge when using distance. If they are proficient in aiming and killing, a good trickster will keep their distance and snipe you before you can even make a full circle. This basically removes your ability to use your remote mine. Instead of attempting to snipe the Trickster with your slower rockets, I recommend boosting yourself and engage them as quickly as possible in closer proximity. Even though they will have the ability to warp through you as well, at least you can notice the glow on the miranda and prep a remote mine to kill them right after they run through you. Also, try to stay near walls, as they do as well. If they do get too close, you can always boost off the wall to push and damage them as well as give yourself slightly more room to finish the Trickster off. In the end, however, avoid as much 1v1’s vs a Trickster as possible. They rarely end well for us!
Laser - After the nerf, going up against a laser has become slightly easier. This matchup is still a challenge, however. Because Lasers do most damage at close range, you will want to keep your distance and use your remote mine to cover chokes. Abuse Corners as well. The main opportunity you have against a Laser is right after they finish their full beam. Laser needs a chance to recover their energy and that very second they have to do so is when you need to engage them. Because they are out of energy, you will have the time to land 1 full hit, so make it count. Whether its boosting them into walls or finishing them off with straight damage from your attack, you will really only have 1 opportunity. Hopping off of them works well near walls and corners so try to do that. Just don’t get baited into a stalling randa as they can quickly turn out of it and warp through you or away from you. As lasers are very linear, stalling / boosting is not as effective as pushing them up or down.

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Time Anchor - In an open 1v1 situation, Time Anchor will probably beat you even more easily than a Trickster due to their ability to quickly remove themselves from close combat scenarios. Although this is the case, of all the Explodet types, a remote mine is the best against them. When igniting your mine or rocket, always attempt for a stall against Time Anchor. If you do stall them, and they anchor away, they will still end up stalled at a further distance away from you without much energy left to do anything about it. The spin tactic of using a mine and rocket is easy for an Anchor to pick up on so try to avoid doing that at all costs, as they will pick you off every turn you make. The best way to kill an anchor is to use your mine first before engaging. Place the mine in the general direction of the anchor. This makes them have to focus on two points of explosions rather than 1 after another. If they are warping towards your mine, shoot a rocket at their anchor point instead of where they actually are, and ignite both. That will result in capturing the anchor at either location, making him an easy target. Failing to ignite one or the other on time can result in a boost or lack of damage though so be careful and practice that a lot. Always keep the mine between you and the Time Anchor you are playing against. Also, be creating with your turning. If you force an anchor to aim up or down, their anchor radius decreases because the curve bends, allowing an easier time to pick them off with the explosion radius that we have at our expense. If you do end up boosting an anchor while they turn, if they do anchor back, it can cause them to boost into an object without control. A solid way to pick them off as well as make them look just plain silly.

General Matchup Comments - When going against light planes, boosting is more effective. When going against heavies, stalling is better (with the exception to recoiling biplanes and occasionally laser). Use the gravity in this game to your advantage. Play near walls, and avoid standard circle-spinning killing. You will be caught! Use baiting strategies to pick players off (see Baiting). Keep in mind that mouse players tend to fail harder against pushes and shoves. Also keep in mind that players with 100-250 ping will need to change your detonations to be earlier rather than on target.

TBD (Team Base Defense, duh)

General TBD Mentality and Tips -
Idea - As a Remote in the competitive 5v5 TBD scene, the general thinking you want to have is that you are your team’s last hope on protecting the base. That is your priority. Controlling the map, getting kills and assists, and making great pushes are all additionally important; however, the most is making sure the enemy bomb does not reach your teams base. The reason behind this is because your plane is the best at changing speeds and directionalities of planes. Being an aggressive remote is only good if your team has another explodet who is covering your defensive end, so try not to be too aggressive. Remotes who play extremely defensively and generally go for assists rather than kills will put the enemy team on edge, knowing that they are not capable of getting a bomb hit. This gives your team the advantage of map intelligence and patience when it comes to pushes and counters.
So why assists?
Here is an example of what I mean by assists, not kills. Imagine being on the map, and you have an epic battle against some enemy Miranda. You manage to take him out(you did it!), but in return you have been injured as well. You return to your base knowing that out on the field its a dead even 4v4 assuming everyone is still alive out there. Was it worth it? Remotes are great at covering areas on the map for control, so you should still be out there doing so! So instead, trust your teammates and go for assists. Imagine you see that miranda (its a laser omg!). You see it creeping up to you from low and you stall him and escape with minimal damage, continuing forward with your team. Your fellow creeper randa then has an easy win over the stalled laser who is out of energy. A wild Biplane appears! If you manage to stall or boost it out of the way of your fellow bomb carrier. This means that in this situation, not only is that miranda dead, but you were also able to help push your team into a 5v3.5 situation as well as stay alive for the pushing bomb hit.
The idea is that by stalling and touching as many planes as possible, your team has the advantage of picking off their planes. With this strategy then, you should only be in the front line when pushing. Besides that, follow your teammates (either adjacent above or below them or behind them), and keep your rockets and mines firing! That is the best way for a remote to control space as well as be beneficial to your team on both the offensive and defensive ends.
*note this does not mean to not take a kill when you know you can. Kill when you know you can without harm dealt to yourself and keep a presence for map control.
Friendly Fatty - Look at what type of Explodet teammate you have, if any. If you have a teammate who runs Thermobarics, an advantageous form of attacking is to boost the enemies instead of stalling, assuming you are attacking along side with him. Forcing the speed increase followed by an immediate spin from a Thermobaric missile will easily cause planes to lose control, if not crash. If it is another Remote or Director user, stalling is the key as the second rocket can lead to a backward push or shove into a wall. Stay close to your friendly explodet to increase your own chances of survival as long as there are fewer enemy bombers or loopies.
Baiting - Baiting enemy planes is effective for all plane types, but Remote users are probably one of the best at mind games as well as control using this strategy. Baiting is essentially using items, gold bars, smoking allies, or other temptations to bring enemies into scenarios where they get caught into a no win situation. When spamming rockets and mines into different areas of the map, consider the item spawn locations, and when they appear on the map. Fly around and see where items are spawning soon. Use mines if you are within the proximity to see people try to take items or use rockets off screen if you can aim that accurately. Also, if someone dies with an item and it drops, be ready to use a mine to detonate the path at which an enemy can swing by to try to pick it up. Sometimes, detonating early before the enemy gets there brings them to rush in towards you, seeing an opening. Simply place out a second remote mine and hit them once again. This strategy works well for items and bombs that drop out of people as they die. The same goes for gold bars. When your teammates have gold bars, use their position to zone out players. Enemies normally prefer to pick off players with gold bars before you, making them easy targets to pick off. Just make sure they do not go for you instead! (This starts to happen once you have established yourself as a dangerous player).

Offense - Although Explodets are the best defensive planes in the game, one aspect that remotes in particular have advantage over other Explodets is the fact that they have the ability to be great offenders as well. Remotes have the ability to ‘hop’ with their mines, giving themselves a boost as they ignite it right as they fly in front of it. This is an inherent advantage as Explodets have such high HP, with speed and health, we become a moving force that is even capable of pushing while bombing simultaneously. Remote mine players also can push very well, where not only can the rockets stall and boost people out of the way of the bomb, but the remote mine can push away flanks from behind as well.
Pushing - Pushing is one of the most simple and yet powerful plays a Remote has to offer. There are several ways to push for your bomb carrier to get the hit. Pushing with items that you picked up on the map offer various opportunities and options and pushing without items requires more intelligent movement.
Shield - Pushing with a shield means you should definitely be in front of the bomb carrier, but not so far in front that players can run by you and snipe the carrier as they pass by. Don’t hesitate to use it the second you see an enemy plane, and make sure your carrier is covered. At the same time, do not fully throttle while pushing. If you do this, you will not have enough energy to push with your rockets and mines so conserve your speed for attacking. As you fly towards the base, place a mine at the first flank choke point of any map. Immediately afterwards, spam rockets forward, targeting the Explodet first, then miranda or bomb carrier. The remaining plane types should not be an issue as you push forward with a shield. Remote mines, as noted prior, can detonate to stall people with a shield, so removing them from the picture should be first priority. I say miranda second because they have the highest mobility to block bombs quickly as well as warp through shields to damage enemies. Do not be afraid to take a warp from a miranda. If you do see it coming, ignite your mine at choke position and lay one once you see him glowing to warp through you. Ignite it immediately as the miranda passes through and it will be out of the defensive picture.

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Wall - Most players with walls attempt to push by charging as quickly as possible expelling all their energy to place it in front of players who wait to block at their base. While effective on occasion, this is not the best way to abuse this item for a push. Again, do not use all your energy to charge in and do so. If it’s competitive play, teams using mumble will know you’re coming with that wall and your play would most likely not work. Instead, stay at a comfortable blocking pace with your bomb carrier and watch for flanks. Do not waste energy placing a mine at the choke and instead watch to wall a flanker. If there is no flanker coming and you see yourself only dealing with planes ahead of you then push forward targeting players with your rockets (explodet first, bomb carrier second, bomber / biplane third, and miranda / loopy last). Place your wall on the front and top of the enemy base if you are able to get that close. Just give enough space for your carrier to drop without a block. If you see yourself about to die, place it before you die, and let your carrier abuse it for spare time to decide where and when to drop.
Missile - Consider this item as 1 rocket worth of energy saved in your push. Remember that it can be reflected back at you, so be aware to take one if you use it. Knowing that the missile will target the closest target, still focus your rocket spams on the Explodet first. Following planes can be pushed in order of who is closest for the block. Most important thing to do is clear a path for the bomb to land on the base.
No item - If you do not have an item and you are pushing, there are two options. If you are low on HP, fly fast and attempt to stall the explodet as you may only have 1 chance to do so. If you have remaining time, proceed to kill flanks afterwards. If you see regular mines, run into them and stall the explodet as well. If you see a remote mine, pray he uses it on you. If not, continue to pick him off and go for another kill. Remotes who leave their mine to stall a carrier also leaves their guard open as they circle, so take advantage of their turn. If you have quite a bit of HP, I recommend trying to pick the explodet from a distance. If you have teammates pushing with you, slow down and pick behind your carrier. If he dies and you have a lot of HP, take advantage of your distance towards the base and swoop as quickly as possible to drop or get the bomb closer to the base since your HP is so high. If behind the carrier, stay lower than the it to swoop. Bomber spam tends to arc over mirandas causing severe damage to people who follow in a push. Also if the enemy bomb carrier is still alive, keep your distance and prepare to hop off an object to catch the bomb when your carrier gets nuked.
If there are not many players left, proceed to casually shove them out of the way and stay with your teammates until the bomb has been dropped. Do not leave assuming your teammates will not fail as turrets and minor spam can cause error.
Bomb running - Remote is the only plane that can launch a bomb across many maps to hit the enemy base. You can do that by simply boosting yourself with the mine while simultaneously releasing your bomb. This sends the bomb flying extremely fast. As fun as this is, it is very predictable and I personally think its a waste to even try. Not only do you have a high chance of missing, but the team will know its coming. Also, there are other benefits for being able to boost yourself while carrying a bomb besides sending the bomb from an extremely long distance.
Instead, I recommend being smarter. Firstly, when carrying a bomb, (this probably applies to all planes) note on the bottom right corner who has been killed by whom. I tend to back off to base when I see two allies being killed and I am not even past the ¾ mark of the map. Now that you have kept that in mind, note who has been killed on their team. Noticing that this works very well on myself, when I see the enemy explodet die, I push forward quickly asking my team for backup. If enemy mirandas have been killed, I tend to push low. When biplanes or bombers have been killed, I push high. As you fly towards the enemy base, do not hold the throttle. Use objects to hop off of to keep speed high while spamming rockets forward into enemy planes. Once experienced enough you can basically push for yourself to hit bases. Keep in mind that most players in this game do not fully understand how to swoop when an explodet is hopping around the map while carrying the bomb. I tend to slow down knowing when I am about to be killed. Never go too far ahead as naturally the defense will defuse it before your teammates arrive. Because turning is slow for an explodet, do not be hesitant. Once you have picked a direction for pushing, continue forward while changing your pace. If you try to do fancy turns and swivels, not only will you confuse your push, but you are also giving time for the enemy defense to gather.

-Sometimes speed isn’t always the best strategy, however. Keeping a strong forward pace in front of your teammates while spamming rockets works very well as well. Keep in mind that you must keep firing rockets. Pushing for yourself makes Explodets extremely strong carriers as well. An important skill I had picked up recently was watching where enemies were thinking of placing walls. If you see a plane charge at you extremely quickly, shoot a rocket directly in front of you as they get close. This will slow you down and give you time to avoid the wall and continue pushing forward. As long as you keep a steady pace, the ease for the swooping allies will be much better.
- If you are running the bomb while another one of your teammates has a bomb then there is actually more to consider. First, know that since two people are running, you only have three people pushing, killing, or swooping to help out. They, on the other hand, will have 4-5 depending if one of their players has their own bomb. If they do have a bomb then keep in mind it is still your job to defend, but keep pressure if you are already on their ⅓ of the map. Second, consider “opening the map”. Keep distance from your teammate bomb carrier in terms of height, but still aim to drop the bomb roughly the same time they do. It becomes extremely hard to keep track of who to defend when the enemy bombs are coming from different angles. Ideally, you want to take the top route. Explodets are fairly easy to stall out because of our size and general speed. So heading through top routes increases your chances of recovering and still attempting the bomb drop. Lastly, do not rush. Keeping pace with teammates and your friendly bomb carrier is always better than hoping to sneak one in before someone spawns to block. Although this is the case, do not be afraid to drop if you know you are taking out at least two players. This can allow for your teammate to get a better drop chance.

Hop locations, routes, coming later! (not soon, im lazy T___T)

Defense - Position and confidence (clam) plays a huge role to defend well. When enemy bomb carriers are more than halfway across the map coming towards your base, it is your responsibility to be in front of them. You should be spamming, controlling, and stalling for your team to get the flanks and pushes to defend well. When you sense a push coming with items or more than enough planes that you can handle, focus a remote mine to detonate on the carrier while attempting to handle the remaining pushers with your rockets. This takes lots of practice, but once when reaction time and spamming locations become muscle memory, all you need to do is see who is fighting where and you will not have any problems.
The preferable scenario with your mine is to stall the carrier while boosting the pushers who fly in front of him, as seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b52yX0IGmxY#t=234
Offscreen Defense - Keep in mind that the difficulty it is to stall out enemies increases the closer they come to you. Keep remote mines in front of you as long as possible to keep distance away from flankers and I highly recommend practicing spamming rockets outside off screen to see how well you can stall. Also note how the bomb icon moves as they carrier moves towards you. If you see the icon jitter, you will know its a miranda coming. If you sense that, look at the timing and size of the icon at which it comes towards you. There is a distinct pattern that can allow you to stall a miranda off screen once noticeable. Other planes fly more smoothly and shouldn’t be an issue for you to stall. Although stalling is the best tactic to use against a bomb carrier, this is true only up until it is nearly on top of your base. At that point boosting is your best bet as you can hope for a miss toss (this happens more commonly when against laggy players) or a boost into the base before they can react to press S to drop the bomb.

[matattack]

1, 2, 3 Defense - This play is essentially just about energy management and timing. It is key to causing full stalls or even backwards pushes from a full speed bomb carrier. First set up a remote mine in the path that is assumed easiest for a direct bomb hit. Do not spam rockets yet and wait for the carrier to pull towards it, assuming there is no defense because of the lack of rocket spam. Right when the bomb carrier comes close, you must already be facing the direction of the bomb carrier and shoot the first rocket. Right when he thinks about dodging your mine, he will see the rocket. As you are about to ignite your rocket, be spinning to your back for another mine detonation. And within a matter of about .5 seconds, you should ignite the remote mine for a stall, followed very closely by the rocket stall, and finish with a remote mine ejection and ignition. Basically, this play allows for 3 stalls in that half second. It takes solo bomb carriers off guard and is great for not only killing, but allows for a stall when you know you only have half a second to live before you are flanked.
Turret Awareness - While on defense, know the amount of turrets still alive and their range. When defense becomes tight and you are the last one standing, the turrets can be extremely helpful. Stalling the enemy bomb carrier is the most important objective in that scenario. If you kill them, and the enemy bomb carriers teammate picks up the bomb, they can easily use their speed as momentum to finish off the bomb drop. If you stall them, you force the carrier to deal with getting back into the right elevation to gain speed again, as well as possibly take them out with turrets later. This tends to cause the bomb carrier’s teammates to decide whether to finish you off in front, or run back to get the bomb and try for the hit. Regardless this puts you at an advantage to pick them off. If there are no turrets to depend on killing and you are the last one standing, know that your lifetime span will be very short as teammates will rush you. the 1, 2, 3 Defense strategy works well. Just make sure you’re targeting the carrier, not the closest enemy in front of you, knowing that you will die very soon regardless.
Knowing When to Die - Planning your death (as odd as that sounds) is actually an effective strategy for defense. When the enemy bomb carrier is on their side of the map still flying near their base, then that moment is an ideal time to die. If you do die being aggressive and attacking their bomb carrier on their side of the map, then by the time they realize your defense has dropped and they fly across the map, you would have had time to respawn, gather position, and hold defense. This, of course, varies on the map. For a short map like Cave, you want to make sure not to be too aggressive. The spawn time can sometimes be longer than what it takes for an enemy light plane to run across and hit your base. Keep in mind that this strategy is also more effective on non-neutral bomb maps because they take their bomb from their side of the map. If it is a neutral bomb map, the best time to die is when the bomb icon is halfway visible. Any later, and it can become dangerous for you to get back into defensive position before they get to your base. This isn’t to say that you should just crash into the floor every time a bomb is about to spawn. Gathering yourself into a defensive and safe position would be more ideal than forcefully dieing as long as you have the health to take on a couple planes charging at you.
Showing Openings - Another effective strategy is to know when to reveal opportunities for enemies to drop bombs. Occasionally, there will be teammates on your team who intend on shielding a bomb. A preferred strategy is to slow down the carrier enough to where they realize they must drop, but also give them hope that you cannot block the bomb, forcing an early drop. This creates easier opportunities for your teammate to shield the bomb easily. This also applies if you have allies resting on the base or with walls / missiles ready to defend. Forcing fast drops and knowing your teammates can handle the block works well in your favor. Just make sure they are ready and let them know a the carrier is coming. Keep in mind that the best way to force early drops is to push the carrier upwards or slow them down dramatically. This means detonate below or slightly in front of them.

Placement location, mine location, routes, coming later also! (super lazy T___T)

Ball
General Ball Mentality and Tips -
Idea - Ball is much faster paced as compared to TBD. Fast spawn times and planes holding the “Up” key are very common here. Because the matchup is 6v6, the game also plays out more advantageously to Explodets than other planes in killing as well as area control and defense. The priority, once again, is defense. Protect the goal as well as steal kills. Stall for assists and transition or break away opportunities. Keep in mind that being aggressive is also okay as long as you know you will have enough time to die and respawn in time to be in defensive position.
- As compared to the favorite Explodet type in this mode, (Thermobarics), Remote has a slightly different role in this mode. Remotes are better at causing turnovers. They make great defensive / midfielder positions. Although we do not turn enemies into floors or ceilings, causing misses in passes and shots, we stall incredibly well and kill more instantaneously then Thermobarics. Stalling players who have the ball forces passes (generally upward passes as they fall downwards). This can create great turnovers for you or your light planes to steal the ball and go for the score. Killing more quickly than a Thermobaric is also beneficial. Because most players are used to running by mines, your remote mine can easily pick players off as you detonate them as they pass by. They may not realize the mine is a remote and will die while carrying the bomb, causing another opportunity for a turnover. While causing damage on the midfield area, it is also important to make sure you cover lanes and goals in the process. Killing can happen one to two mines down the road. As long as the goal is covered then your job is working.
Offense - general notes
- Before running into offensive position, I find it extremely beneficial to be watching the deaths on the bottom right hand corner of your screen. When the ball is pushing forward, make sure you know your lighter planes are not removed from the picture. Due to the speed of this gamemode, it can quickly throw you out of position if you push without realizing the ball has been turned over; allowing an easy goal due to lack of positioning.
- The one important aspect about offense is to always be shooting near the ball by any means. Ball is definitely a mode where cluster ducks* can happen. Especially around the ball. Tossing rockets into that forward position will provide the carriers to be able to have space to shoot or pass or not be killed as they progressively move forward into position.
**Ball is very map dependent**
- As much as possible, try to keep lanes secure. Pick a lane and stick with it. Do not second guess lanes as the speed will not allow your fattie butt to get back into position. This means that while firing ahead, place a mine into smaller chokes. Try to block off paths. In many scenarios, having a mine in one path will scare the enemy team into flying to another route. If they assume it’s safe and try to run through it, simply pop your mine onto them. try to stall the first person that flies through so if a teammate passes to the person in front, then they are forced to wait and pass or die. That being said, it is also smart to bait players through longer choke points. routes where they think its safe until they see a mine at the end of the tunnel.
-When the ball is near the enemy goal, but you cannot see it yet, fire rockets towards the goal, and don’t ignite the rockets if you feel uncomfortable estimating distances of your rockets. if you allow shots to fire into the goal, it will push all planes away from the goal, allowing your teammates to dunk or kill their way through.
Shooting - Explodets in general have a super fast shot. The ark is less extreme due to the velocity of the shot. Because our shots are so powerful, take your time to aim and understand where enemies are. Because you are able to push people out of the way, it is alright to be patient and push people away before shooting. This also can allow opportunity for your light planes to go for a pass and dive in. When you see many enemy planes die, however, take advantage of the opportunity to hop and shoot forward. As you will notice from experience, when you shoot right on the end of an enemy tail you will shoot through them. take advantage of that as well. Mine hopping into strong positions always helps. Opening the map by flying either above or below (preferably above) the goal also allows open shots as well as opportunities for your teammates to kill or grab the ball themselves for a goal after you die.

[matattack]

Passing - Passing is still very efficient for fatness. Because of our powerful tosses, making the right play is just as easy as making the wrong play. Our shots are very fast and thus, if intercepted at close range, can cause an easy turn-over. Be mindful of where to pass. Understanding player tendencies will be your best bet as to knowing who will be open when and where on the map. Knowing when people die on both sides of the map will help you realize when is a good time to shoot or pass. Because of the high velocity, it is also easier to plan and execute bounce passes successfully off of objects. Try it out!

Routes, tactics coming later! (or not! cuz of the laziness etc)

Defense - Clearing is a part of passing as well. In some situations, (generally in ladder), when your team is feeling pressure of the offense and are all frantically trying to get the ball away from their side of the map, there may not be anyone to pass to. Be mindful of the routes and toss the ball into areas of which you believe you can defend. Due to the speed and weight of our plane, it is generally easier to defend southern pushes as opposed to ones that come from the top. Keep in mind, you are the best defensive plane in this game. This also means you are most likely being picked on the most by other planes who come intending to score a goal. Protecting yourself is sometimes the only way to protect the goal, so be aware of flanks.
Layering Defense - In ball, I find that creating layers of defense is the most efficient due to the speed of which teammates respawn. That means that your ideal setup would be to have light planes flank the carrier and other lights up front, and keep yourself and other fatter planes in the back, spamming chokes. Layering your defense allows more opportunity for your team to catch/steal passes and shots to turn over into an offensive position.
Chokes - As long as you are aware of your mine at all times, Remote Explodets are the best when it comes to slowing down pushes through chokes. If a shield pushes your mine, immediately pop it once reflected. This can break down their frontal push and allow you and your teammates to push back. If there is no shield, be smart about who you ignite and when. Boosting the carrier ahead of teammates can be better at times so passing routes are cancelled out of the equation. Stalling the carrier is always better when it is a randa. Preferably stall them right after they warp, as they will not have energy to regain speed for a while, causing panic or frantic tosses.
On-Goal Defense - Remotes do not stand much of a chance when it comes to protecting a goal when enemies are very close to scoring. Due to the delay on igniting rockets after releasing, if you were in the goal, shooting a rocket at an enemy right in front of you will boost them into the goal. The best advice I can give would be based off of two situations. Firstly, if you are already at the goal, face the goal and as they are flying through you to score, shoot a rocket and let it hit the front of you. this will boost you out of the goal, but possibly boost them out of it as well. Although it is difficult to time, it is possible. also mine hopping of the edge of the goal as they fly in can pop them to the opposite edge of the goal and kill them. Assuming you are in front, you can then grab the ball before scoring. The second situation would be if they were flying towards the goal as you were spawning and really only have one rocket to shoot before they score. If this happens and no other teammates are there to block the shot, boost them to the outer edge of the goal. Sometimes, players lack the response time to recover from a boost so it can be a great way to save a shot. If you do have a teammate, however, try to stall them. This would force a shot from that location, which should be easy for your teammate to steal and turn over.
Bait Defending - Generally speaking, people are pretty mindful of when to take a shot or drive it to the goal. Some try to kill before they shoot or score, others just try to take the early shot. If people do take early shots, try to bait them into releasing earlier. Stay at a further distance and when released, assuming it was a light plane that shot, you will have time to catch and recover. Another baiting scenario is when planes try to kill before shooting the ball. If they do that, bait their planes target above or below the goal. This would force them to aim their plane away from the goal to kill you before readjusting to shoot the ball again. This could save time for a shot or even cause them to miss fire.
Stay Alive - Staying alive, gathering bars, or even just maintaining such a distance where you can off screen shoot the enemy, keeps your teammates into better locked scenarios. As a push is coming towards you, try to not fully engage an oncoming push, rather, keep distance. Watch your mines and rockets and keep them at an edge of your screen. This will protect you for a longer period of time, giving them a harder time to push forward. Distance is your best friend as long as you know how to time your shots. Practice makes perfect!

Placement location, mine location, routes, survivability coming never! (you’ll figure it out...right? T__T)

Conclusion -
The tips and tricks from both TBD and Ball can apply to one another. Use them well!

Thank you for reading my far too-long essay of a guide . If you have any questions or want to help out in giving more tips or discuss anything, please post below
REMEMBER: Hippo’s are OP (even after all the nerfs, hehe)

[Goose]

It's great to see this guide finally seeing the light of day, after having been in the making for the past 4 years!! Lots of great information packed into this guide for any Explodet to learn from. A+ 10/10 would read again!!!

EDIT: after anaylzing Mat's dissertation i found this part really awe inspiring

Originally Posted by matattack

Defense - Position and confidence (clam) plays a huge role to defend well.

Also Mat, how often do you shoot missiles while your swooping in and landing on the base to heal? I find myself doing that on maps like cave and asteroids and i think its a viable tactic, but what are your thoughts on the matter?

[wolf'j'max]

Will read through this tomorrow when I have time.
Good stuff mat \o/

[Clapon]

oh mang mata gonna make me go and read a ton o text.

cant wait im excited! will edit with thoughts

[matattack]

Thanks for the feedback so far guys
To answer gooz:

Originally Posted by Goose

Also Mat, how often do you shoot missiles while your swooping in and landing on the base to heal? I find myself doing that on maps like cave and asteroids and i think its a viable tactic, but what are your thoughts on the matter?

I find myself almost always being picked on. Probably 80% of my play time there will be someone, whether light or heavy, firing at me. Even when landing on the base. I find it very valid to shoot a rocket or mine out behind you as you take your landing course. I personally prefer laying a mine just in reach of my vision as I land and ignite it on any enemy traffic! Rockets are alright too but to me a mine shows more of a statement that there is a barrier there so it prevents people from thinking about attacking you. Where a rocket will just randomly appear to attack, making enemies feel like you have your guard down. And if that rocket misses, they have the opportunity to attack which can be devastating. Hope that helps!

[Soneji]

Originally Posted by matattack

As you will notice from experience, when you shoot right on the end of an enemy tail you will shoot through them.

Can this be further explained?

[matattack]

Soneji, that issue generally has to do with lag. I realize that when shooting or passing to teammates when an enemy plane is directly in front of you, if not slightly overlapping you, that it'll still go through him regardless. I feel its due to lag mostly but also because of the speed of which it releases that it doesn't have time to register to the plane in front of you. Happens a lot. Not 100% on the reason why but you all are smart computer peepz

[Mango777]

WOW wall of text indeed. I shall read it.

[Bluth Frozen Bananas]

Now all we need is a Loopy Tracker Rubber Rev guide!

PS you are only 6000 hours away from World Expert status!