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[GUIDE] Gold Difficulty


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#1
D4rk50ul808

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This is my guide for Gold difficulty.  It doesn't cover every single aspect but it should help newer players be successful.  General information is at the bottom below the faction.


Reapers

#1 Rule of Reapers.  Stick Together and Focus fire.  No matter where they push you on the map, remember the kill order and focus fire accordingly.

The kill order itself.  Some may disagree because certain enemies are more difficult than others.

#1 - Banshee UNLESS you see Cannibals or Marauders in the same room.  Generally Banshees make it to you very quickly so the first set will be alone.  Stay out of melee range obviously, but since the last two patches boosted her teleport range give her an extra step or two breathing room.

#2 - Marauders/Cannibals/Husks.  I know this may look like wtf he forgot Ravagers, but they are slow and should only be bumped up the rank if they have direct line of sight into your current area.  Cannibals also throw grenades which in a heated battle with banshees can take you by surprise as you walk right into one.  Marauders are just generally aggressive and we all know about their shields.  I added Husks here because they can cause huge problems if you ignore them.  Use them to setup detonations or just kill them as soon as you see them, just don't let them get in close while you are fighting other enemies.

#3 - Ravagers.  They can long distance nuke you, and potentially cause a wipe by having you spawn killed as you revive.

#4 - Brutes.  They are dangerous in conjuction with long ranged enemies and Banshee's but alone they are low on the list.

#5 - Swarmers.  You don't want to leave a large group wandering as they always hit you at the worst possible moment.

The kill order will constantly change depending on what is within sight of you but thats a good general rule.


How to fight them is different than Geth or Cerberus because they come right at you.  Only the foot soldiers stop for cover.  You need to be ready to move when it gets too chaotic.  Generally designating a "home base" to return to is a good idea, then rotating away from them around a smallish area of the map until you return home works.  Make sure as you retreat you are focus firing and stagger how you fall back.  DO NOT stay in the open as its just a matter of time before a Ravager or foot soldier lights you up from across the map.

Reaper Tips and Tricks

Reapers are easier to control with "aggro" than other enemies so use this to your advantage.

Always have someone watching your flank, and ALWAYS leave yourself a way out of where you are.  Movement is much more important than bunkering down.

Brutes can hit you through cover, don't count on it to protect you.  They also have a one hit kill so no melee parties unless you are well versed against them.

Banshees will "detonate" 1/2 a bar after their barrier is gone and again about halfway through their armor.  This is how much damage you need to do to release a teammate from the sync-kill.  Pulling a missile out after it starts usually isn't fast enough to save them.  They also "glitch" on cover and will try to teleport over it repeatedly but will not be able to.  This is a cheese way of killing one if you have the time to abuse it.

Marauders are more aggressive with each teammate that goes down.  If you are the last one prepare for all of them to rush you at once.  Stay in cover as much as possible and use a rocket if you absolutely must.

It is an extremely good idea to have 1 person lone wolf the level as an infiltrator, systematically killing the Cannibals, husks, and Marauders.  This makes life much easier on the team.


Cerberus

Fighting Cerberus is much different than other factions because they use your tactics against you.  They have units specifically designed to counter each play style.  Rather than give a kill order I'm going to go over each unit and what they do, followed by why you should kill them.

Atlas - This unit is meant to make you move and keep you supressed.  It has very high life totals and is extremely dangerous when up close.  If you are camping this is the one you do NOT want to let close off your escape route, or get close enough to melee.  They also have homing rockets and cannon blasts that almost never miss so they force you to use cover.  These guys are low priority as long as you keep them at a distance, they are great for Biotics as they tend to block groups of minor enemies behind them.  They can OHK you at melee range.

Phantom - This unit is a bunker buster and works in conjunction with an Atlas.  While the Atlas keeps your teams attention they sneak in behind you and go for the one hit kills.  You need to be calling these girls out as soon as you see them and focus them down ASAP.  They fire 3 blasts per volley with their palm gun so wait for all of them before breaking cover.  They also throw a melee combo that leads into their OHK, you do NOT want to charge/melee them between this 2-3 hit combo.  The last thing they do is a "ninja" stance which almost negates damage.  Strip down their barriers and then go offensive as they cloak and retreat to heal.

Guardian - This is the enemy that is meant to slow down the movement oriented teams.  You run into one and suddenly you are stopped cold.  They have very strong melee so stay out of range.  Armor piercing rounds or abilities such as Stasis or Pull make quick work of them.  You can also use Concussive Shot/Carnage followed immediately by a headshot to kill them.

Engineers - These guys are priority #1.  They aren't the most dangerous enemy but the turrets that they lay down are.  They will place them right on top of you if you allow them to, and can cause a game over if you get downed between 1-3 turrets.  They also heal Atlas armor so if you see its life going up, flank and kill the Engineer.  NEVER LEAVE A TURRET ALIVE.

Centurion - Assault troopers with Shields.  They are more aggressive and will walk through your gunfire to get to you at times.  Take them down to avoid the all in rush they are known for, and the grenades they throw.

Assault Trooper - Grenades.  They do hurt when they shoot you, but watch out for the grenades.  They are easy to kill so focus them down fast to avoid the spam.  Call out grenades that are near the team whenever possible.


Geth

Geth rely on slow moving pressure to corner you and overwhelm you.  They are best fought from cover because they love to be grabbed and insta killed.  They have no OHK abilities and lack any type of grenade.

Primes - These guys are what ruin your day while bunkered down.  They cannot be grabbed and have a terrible tendancy to throw turrets behind you, that quickly kill your team.  Killing the turret helps but less than 3 seconds later there will be another.  They need to be taken down quickly with headshots, or you can use the Combat drone around them to set off fire explosions.

Hunters - These guys are probably the most annoying enemy in the game.  They move cloaked very quickly and weild Geth Plasma Shotguns.  You cannot target them unless you either remove their shield, or hit them to make it flicker.  If they hit you it will stagger you, and not allow you to use any powers or rolls.  You need to be watching out for these guys constantly and never let them get close.  99% of the time you lose Geth games is because a Hunter flanked your team and broke down your system.

Pyros - They have insane range and do high DPS with their flame throwers.  They can hit you through cover and if you go down by one the chances of you surviving a medi-gel respawn is almost zero.  Hitting them in the upper left chest with an armor piercing round can puncture their gas tank and insta-kill them.  Also using powers or weapons that stagger will give you a moment of opportunity to escape as it breaks their attack.

Rocket Troopers - These guys like to hang back and shell you with rockets.  They almost never miss and can shoot multiple rockets periodically.  They are more of a bother than a threat, but you should definitely have someone with a long range weapon take them down to avoid the stuns from the rocket blasts.

Troopers - There isn't too much special about these guys.  They can hurt if you take direct bursts but generally they are cannon fodder.  They do use cover so keep in mind when turning a corner one might be camped out waiting for you.


General Rules of Gold


Everything hurts a LOT.  You do not want to take shots from anything if possible.  Learn to play safely yet still get out good damage.  Burst damage weapons make this much easier as you can lessen the time you need to be exposed.

Use your Mic.  In the pre-game lobby you should be choosing classes that complement each other, and believe it or not talking to experienced players will generally prevent you from getting kicked.  If you are new just say you are and if they recommend you ditch the Geth Pulse Rifle for a Geth Pulse Shotgun on your build, be open to the idea.  During the game you need to be able to call out targets, announce the time to move, let everyone know the extraction timer is low, etc.  The mic is even important when you are dead as you can spectate your team and call out enemies behind them they might not have seen.  Do not use your mic to sing songs, announce everything you are doing step by step, or let us hear everything that is happening in your house.

Don't try to be the Hero.  It's actually harder to solo Gold with a team scattered trying to follow you without a clue what you are doing than it is without.  You aren't there to get top score you are there to get max credit/xp possible.

Keep your positioning.  If you decided to have 2 on each entrance to a room, don't leave your side unless its absolutely required.  Nothing wipes a team faster than getting hit from behind because the person covering that zone decided to freelance.

Use your equipment!  Each one has a place and time and should be used if needed.  If you are sitting on 255 Thermal Clips and Ops packs you are not being as effective as you could be.

Rockets are your friend.  If you get a hack on wave 10 just pull the
launcher out ahead of time, you are going to need it more than likely. 
You can spawn camp them with rockets on rotation leaving 3 teammates in
the hack.  Also if it seems like the room is just filled with high risk
targets, nuke them.  Generally its better to shoot a wall or ceiling if
you can to avoid the rocket glitch.

Help your teammate, but don't run into a mess to get them.  If you get downed in a swarm let them leave then medi-gel.

Try
to form a team that compliments each other.  3 Engineers and a Biotic
isn't a good idea.  A team of Biotics or team of tech users would be
better.  Obviously a soldier or infiltrator will work with either
explosive branch.  Even if you are mix matched remember that you will
always kill faster together.

Bring a heavy hitter.  You need someone that can take single targets
down FAST.  This could be a biotic, soldier, infiltrator, etc.  If you
cannot deal with a heavy before it reaches your team, your DPS is too low.  On the flip side don't bring ALL heavy hitters as you need some form of crowd control against the minor enemies. 

Just because you have one guy running into the spawn to assault the enemy, doesn't mean you all should follow.  Its best to stay in position to force the spawns and not get flanked while the 1-2 guys go out to kill off the initial spawns.  If you are doing a speed run this is null as you will all be rushing the enemy.

Enemies get more aggressive each time a teammate is taken out, so if you are the last one alive prepare to be rushed.  The best course of action is to find the biggest threats and group them up for a rocket, then kill off the remaining enemies.

Objectives

All enemies spawn forever until the objectives are complete.  Once complete no additional enemies will spawn.

Kill the Targets - This should be done as quickly as possible as the enemy will stop spawning once all the targets are dead.  On Wave 10 you should consider using 4 rockets to speed up the process.

Capture the Points - This should be done solo by preferrably an infiltrator.  DO NOT follow him there as you will bring enemies with you, instead try to shoot at everything you can to distract them.  At times these are in such a bad place that the entire team is required, make sure that is communicated.  When you do bring the team do not stand next to the objective with the person getting it, fan out to create a perimeter to keep the stray fire off of them.

Hack - Stay in the circle as much as possible.  Prepare to expend rockets on this as some hack points are impossible to hold every direction and its better to keep everyone up with a rocket than to play the revive each other game.  If you have a player who can grab the enemy attention and lure them around the map this will make the hack much easier.  This is especially useful versus Banshee's as only 2 can occupy the map at a time.  If it simply becomes too hard to stay in don't be afraid to retreat as a team to the other side of the map to spread out the enemies, then take an alternate route back to the objective.

Final note is have some fun.  This is a team based co-op game not a competitive shooter.  Rather than bash newer players try teaching them a thing or two so they become better.  Sometimes all it takes is a few pointers and that noob turns into your most trusted teammate.

Edited by D4rk50ul808, 12 May 2012 - 01:04 AM.

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#2
HiGamerCAT

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Nice little guide, did not know exactly hw much damage needs to be done against our screaming friends for them to let teammate go, good to know.

#3
veramis

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It's very circumstance dependent, but if your teammates can't take down banshees fast enough, then on waves 8, 9, and 10, it may make more sense to go after everything else but banshees first. Tthere can only be two banshees on the field simultaneously, and during waves 9 and 10, I think there is a max of 6 and 8 banshees, with wave 10 ceasing banshee spawns as soon as mission objective is complete. So delaying killing them means delaying the new banshees' spawn. If you can manage to wipe out most of the marauders and ravagers on waves 8-9 before dealing with banshees while at the same time avoiding getting ganked by the banshees, it's usually a lot safer then to work on all the banshees.

#4
D4rk50ul808

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Banshees SHOULD melt if you focus fire them. They usually die in under 7-10 seconds. Forgot to mention they teleport up ladders and through walls now so be careful.

Any ability that lowers armor resistance makes very quick work of reapers. Often it is better to leave a warp with expose and pierce on and focus firing it than it is to detonate them. You can detonate in a pinch that way if someone gets grabbed. Also if the banshee is walking and you run out of her sight prepare for her barrier to be back up next encounter.

#5
fdgvdddvdfdfbdfb

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I'd put husks above brutes. Not only will they follow you anywhere on the map and see through your cloak(somehow) but their grabs leave you open for 10 minutes. and yes, swarmers too lol, but only if you're geth. Brutes are predictable and easy to dodge if there aren't ravagers blasting you to hell.

#6
Sailears

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fdgvdddvdfdfbdfb wrote...

I'd put husks above brutes. Not only will they follow you anywhere on the map and see through your cloak(somehow) but their grabs leave you open for 10 minutes. and yes, swarmers too lol, but only if you're geth. Brutes are predictable and easy to dodge if there aren't ravagers blasting you to hell.

Yeah husks are more dangerous than they seem, because you're completely vulnerable to everything else around during the melee lock if they happen to sneak up on you.

I'd always use them to detonate off in a group, or finish them before they get near.

#7
D4rk50ul808

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Curunen wrote...

fdgvdddvdfdfbdfb wrote...

I'd put husks above brutes. Not only will they follow you anywhere on the map and see through your cloak(somehow) but their grabs leave you open for 10 minutes. and yes, swarmers too lol, but only if you're geth. Brutes are predictable and easy to dodge if there aren't ravagers blasting you to hell.

Yeah husks are more dangerous than they seem, because you're completely vulnerable to everything else around during the melee lock if they happen to sneak up on you.

I'd always use them to detonate off in a group, or finish them before they get near.


They definitely are more dangerous if they grab you, but against Reapers generally you kill the closest things to you first anyways.  The problem is that brutes in combination with other enemies are a nightmare because you sometimes won't even see them charge and they wipe out your shields/life leaving you wide open for a death.  Brutes are also cover busters as they cannot be grabbed and will hurt you through it, forcing you to move into wide open positions.

#8
HolyAvenger

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Reaper Gold on Glacier with a 3 biotic and infiltrator team (KV, DA, HS and a SI I think) was the most fun I ever had in MP.

#9
shadowkinz

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The thing about kill priority vs reapers is that it constantly changes.. when i fight reapers with people i know or played a few matches with already, i call out targets..

If there is a banshee, ravager, and brute in the same room (so a banshee, ravager, and brute walk into a bar.... lol jk), who you will target depends on many things.. But actually the ravager should die first, not the banshee. The ravager dies SO FAST that it is silly to leave it alive, and then brutes should go b/c they have a nasty tendency to get you stuck between them and a wall..

Honestly, banshees should be last on the kill order, and you just keep switching to them as you keep isolating them by clearing out the room..

So banshee, ravager, and brute are in the room, kill ravager->brute->banshee, then if something walks into the room while you are on the banshee, say another brute, quickly drop him, and switch back to banshee.

Banshee alone is ok, banshee w/ brute + ravager = you are going to get grabbed running around.

Also, this combo is with 3 adepts and 1 infiltrator... ideally, the infiltrator will work on the marauders and cannibals (if splash damage doesn't kill them), and do objectives... Also he will prioritize ravagers as well, so that the adepts might be able to avoid a "switch."

It works really good, with 3-4 adepts (but like i said, try to squeeze in an infiltrator), brutes will die SO FAST that you will DEFINITELY find a smile on your face, i PROMISE.. i STILL laugh out loud after the first brute kill of the game b/c they die so fast

#10
D4rk50ul808

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I thought I mentioned that depending on the situation the kill order changes, any Ravager with direct line of sight should be taken care of right away. We usually have someone break from the Banshee slaughter to wipe it out. The same goes for a Marauder but I play Engineer a lot and make quick work of them without help. If there is more than a couple Banshee's and a target or two extra you might want to slightly relocate to be out of line of sight anyway.

The thing is Banshees when focus fired die extremely fast and if there is two Banshee's and a Brute you are better off melting the Banshees while keeping the brute at bay by moving away. They also put DOTS on you that can quickly ruin your day, and the bug ridden sync kills coupled with their new found ability to teleport completely irregularly make them a very dangerous enemy to leave alive.

We play with random classes and do just fine I don't think any class is a must. Regularly do them without adepts, or with just a justicar, or with all soldier type classes. Speed runs of course are a different story. I prefer playing what you like and letting the strategy win you the game, rather than having to play certain classes to be effective.

#11
CNevarezN

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Mauraders and Cannibals are usually overlooked by the masses. 50% of your 'man/women down' will be due to those two. They are extremely vicous. Banshee's can be taken care of. i find it easier to have em come at you in a straight line. It's easier to knock their barrier's down.
Also, notice how they teleport, stop, then teleport again? Rather than shooting at them while teleporting, time your shots to when they pause briefly. This helps out alot. Reaper Slaying is extremely fun and this guide is a spot on way to start crackin on em.

Edited by CNevarezN, 23 April 2012 - 06:10 AM.


#12
adrenaline1983

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 I personally have Marauders, Cannibals prioritized at the top of my list in any waves involving Banshees/Ravengers.  The reason why is because it's very difficult to focus fire on Banshees when you're being hit from the flanks (unless you're in good cover).  
When I see a Banshee(s), I always check to see where the Marauders/Cannibals are.  Once I have sighted them, if I have time before the Banshee(s) converge on my squad's position, I will throw Stasis and then take them out.  Or I will Stasis them, move to well covered area and then allow someone else to take them on while I move up front to take on the Banshee(s) with a partner (likely a Justicar or another Adept/Sentinel).  

#13
malakim2099

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Marauders are just generally aggressive and we all know about their shields.


I see what you did there! :lol:

But thanks for the guide, it's much appreciated!

#14
D4rk50ul808

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Updated the guide to include information about other factions, as I get more time I will refine and add specific strategies for each map/faction combination. Hope this helps out.

#15
D4rk50ul808

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Bump for Operation Silence. Happy Hunting All.

#16
Cundu_Ertur

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Hey, one thing about turrets and geths, if it is glowing orange it's probably been hacked. Pay attention to who is on your team, Quarian Infiltrators can hack stuff so it helps you out. For QI's, I would say don't hack Geth hunters -- the aura isn't always obvious on hunters. Hack rocket troopers or pyros, especially ones that are in a group by a prime. Hack primes, too, but remember the hack fades real quick on a prime. Also, avoid hacking something that is close to a decoy, even hacked things attack the decoy. Also, sabotage strips shields from organics and reapers. Hack centurians, nemesises, marauders, and anything else with a shield. I'm not sure about barriers, but it can't hurt. Sabotage can also stun unshielded things. Sabotage is your friend.

#17
D4rk50ul808

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I don't believe in this whole don't shoot the hacked thing, leaving a turret alive is a liability you should never take. Hacking synthetics and turrets should be used for a way to gain the ability to kill them without taking damage IMO.

#18
mybudgee

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Nice work D4rk, very informative..

#19
Cundu_Ertur

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I like letting the turret shoot at phantoms. The phantoms will take it out soon enough. Them girls just can't take a practical joke.
Hacking things far from where the player's team is works best. That way the enemy isn't moving inward, but turning to deal with the threat from behind. A good hack shouldn't even be noticed by anyone else, I guess, now that I think on it.

#20
xelf207

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D4rk50ul808 wrote...

I don't believe in this whole don't shoot the hacked thing, leaving a turret alive is a liability you should never take. Hacking synthetics and turrets should be used for a way to gain the ability to kill them without taking damage IMO.


Even still, as someone who used to primarily play QI, I won't shoot the hacked Geth first. If the Pyro wants to melt the Prime's legs down, let the thing have at it for a bit! Turrets go down as soon as I get the chance-- even in my days of hacking them those went down ASAP. (Unless everyone else is safely away from it... those turrets can be helpful. When you spend enough time on a familiar QI build you have a sense of when your sabotage wears off on these things, anyway.) But the hacked pyro on the other side of the map doesn't have to be your first target.

When I was a QI, for some reason the snipers always chose the orange targets first. I never got why they didn't just shoot what was actively firing at them and then worry about the hacked units.

#21
tallinn

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tl;dr

Actually I stopped at your reaper kill order. Banshees are last, not first, and ravagers are the most threatening enemies, then marauders, then brutes. Marauders are less important then brutes if you manage to engage a brute within a building and no marauders in sight. If you have someone with tech-bursts or BEs in the team he should focus on those heavy armored beasts and try to pull off as many explosions as he can, as it will clear the battlefield of all marauders and cannibals fast.

It is just for this weekend that you have to put banshees first, even if you die after killing those.

#22
Stardusk

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We actually need a Gold Solo Guide...

#23
defleshing

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good job thanks for taking the time to post this.

Edited by defleshing, 12 May 2012 - 07:09 AM.


#24
D4rk50ul808

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tallinn wrote...

tl;dr

Actually I stopped at your
reaper kill order. Banshees are last, not first, and ravagers are the
most threatening enemies, then marauders, then brutes. Marauders are
less important then brutes if you manage to engage a brute within a
building and no marauders in sight. If you have someone with tech-bursts
or BEs in the team he should focus on those heavy armored beasts and
try to pull off as many explosions as he can, as it will clear the
battlefield of all marauders and cannibals fast.

It is just for this weekend that you have to put banshees first, even if you die after killing those.


Banshee's make it to your group first, can insta kill you, and put a AOE DOT on you that generally wreaks havoc on less durable players.  The dynamics change depending on what is shooting at you at the time, but Banshee's are definitely not last.  Ravagers are slow and take FOREVER to get into a position to shoot at you unless you are being wreckless.  Like the guide says you should move them to the top when they are in such a position, otherwise focus on the Banshee's and other ranged units.  If a Brute gets mixed in with a couple banshee's, focus the brute down.  Its not rocket science.

The ONLY reason you would ever leave Banshee's for last is on a hack or extract, where you have someone kite them around the map so you don't have to kill never ending sets of them.



Stardusk wrote...

We actually need a Gold Solo Guide...


I've done every map but not with a lot of different classes, I think if all of the guys and gals who have done it added in their 2 cents a great guide could be put together.  I would be happy to spend the time formatting all the information into a cohesive guide while giving credit to all those who contributed.  The only problem is that I think only the top 5% are even capable of soloing Gold.

#25
MartialArtsSurfer

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good guide!