Often I have read on the forums that people hate Novaguards (the common nickname for the standard Human Vanguard) because they suck, aren't team players, tend to glitch out, yada yada. I may be preaching to the choir here, but I'm here to tell you that Novaguards are perfectly viable in Gold. All you need to know are a few not-so-secret tricks of the trade. Remember, I am not telling you how to play; merely view this post as a guideline for good Novaguarding.
1. Hosting
If you want to play Novaguard, always, ALWAYS host. If you get the joining bug and are thus forced to join another host, switch to anything but Novaguard. The reason for this is that even a millisecond of lag is unacceptable. If there is even a tiny dissonance between pushing a button and the reaction of the game, you might be dead. Novaguards must always be on the move and ready to Charge, either to go on the offensive or escape, and any delay is a significant obstacle in that regard. If I, myself, have the joining bug, I always switch to Sentinel. It's not a big deal.
2. A good build
I mostly allocate my power points thus: http://kalence.drupa...77!48155!!G.0DG
You might consider abandoning Fitness for Shockwave because the latter is a rather powerful detonator power, but keep in mind that if you fire one at an inopportune time, you will most likely end up a smear on the wall. Or a snack for Banshees or Praetorians.
Concerning Nova, it is rather ambiguous whether Half-Blast or Power Recharge is best. Taking Half-Blast means that making a mistake will not immediately mean going down, whereas taking Power Recharge will most likely allow you to kill things faster. Which one of these is better is mostly up to your personal preference.
3. Weapons and cooldown
In my opinion, it is sensible to have a minimum of +150% cooldown bonus. You mostly rely on Charge to keep you alive first and to provide fuel for your Nova second. What kind of weapon to bring is up to your personal tastes. A fast-firing weapon will allow you to make good use of any special ammo you might have applied and a hard-hitting weapon like a shotgun will let you bring the pain.
4. Charging etiquette
If you see a group of only standard mooks, there shouldn't be any danger whatsoever. Only take care that you don't leave a flank exposed by mindlessly charging whatever you see first. If your group is highly mobile, however, it should be safe to charge at will. Charge is also immensely handy to navigate an escape route. Target an enemy far away from a hot zone, and your survival is guaranteed.
Give special consideration to the following enemies:
Reapers:
- Banshee: as Deerber explains in this thread, Banshees take a very short time to actually prime themselves for sync-kills. When they're teleporting around, you should come out unharmed if you charge and then immediately roll away. Note that this tactic will only work if you're hosting. If they are standing still with their barrier still activated, approaching them is a recipe for disaster. If you are absolutely certain that she has been primed for an explosion of any kind, charging her should be safe and would also be beneficial. If her barrier is down, she is less likely to sync-kill you, so charging is relatively safe. Keep in mind that, if you see a warp projectile coming towards you, you can nova-cancel to nullify any damage. However, this does not take away the damage-over-time effect, which will affect the regeneration of your health and barriers.
- Brute: they can sync-kill you if they have just performed a melee attack. Just wait until they are on the move again before approaching them. Oddly enough, it is perfectly safe to charge if they have themselves just performed their charge attack. However, you should take great care if the Brute is just about to use its charge attack. The instant it starts dashing forward is the perfect moment to charge. You will basically switch places with no scratch on you, while the Brute will take damage from your charge. If you get the timing on this wrong, however, you will be hit once or twice. This will leave you sufficiently weakened for its friends to kill you.
- Ravager: Charge on sight. They are a great threat to your team, and you are the perfect anti-Ravager. The only thing they can do to you in melee range is burst their sacs or send Swarmers at you, but either of those moves are barely a threat.
- Husk: They can be a real nuisance to your team, and they stand absolutely no chance against you. After killing high-profile targets like Brutes and Ravagers (you might want to consider leaving Banshees for last), prioritise husks.
Cerberus:
- Guardian: stagger them with a Charge or a Nova (if you do not spec Charge or Nova for maximum force, this will not always work, so do NOT engage Guardians if there are Atlases, Phantoms or Centurions nearby), headshot them, you're done.
- Atlas: Charge/Nova/shoot away, except when they try to melee you. Backpedal away after they melee and wait until they shoot at you again, or they will most likely insta-kill you, as I have found out the hard way. Teammates will love you for distracting this big baddie so they can shoot away at it without any fear of having their shields stripped with one shot. By the way: the claim that they can only insta-kill you after their ground pound is a myth. You must also backpedal away after they do a swinging attack.
- Phantom: If I am not mistaken, the stagger threshold for Phantoms on Gold and Platinum is 1000N. The build I have linked to above achieves this for Charge, so you should be able to charge Phantoms safely. Of course, the universe might decide to hate you and make Phantoms sync-kill you mid-charge, so charging might not always be prudent. As an alternative, you can nova-cancel towards them to keep yourself safe from their palm shooter, but take care not to get too close particularly if you cancel your Nova with a light melee, because you might end up meleeing the Phantom, which will generally end with her sword in your gut. Once you are within a Nova-distance of them, fire your Nova to strip them of their barrier. If you see any Phantoms in a mixed group of enemies, they are your priority targets. They can easily ruin your team's day if they are not dealt with. See to it that multiple Phantoms don't surround you as well, because you're as good as dead when they all slash at you at the same time.
- Turret: it might be handy to know that if you string several nova-cancels together, you are as good as invincible. This might save you if you round a corner only to find one waiting for you. Wait out their bursts this way and bring the pain afterwards.
- Dragoon: their whip attacks can stagger you, which will likely spell death if you are facing a combined attack. Do your team a favour and dispose of them as quickly as possible. However, if there are Phantoms with them, you might want to target the Phantoms first.
Geth:
- Geth Hunters: if you don't see them coming, you are dead. Strip them of their shields as soon as possible so they cannot cloak and finish them off as soon as possible.
- Geth Rocket Trooper: they can easily ruin your day if you're distracting a Geth Prime, for example. Target them after you've killed any Hunters. After that, feel free to run rampant.
- Geth Prime: their shots can keep you from firing a Charge. Numerous times I have died because they kept me from Charging. If you're not in Nova-range, combat roll to the side if they're currently targeting you and Charge them. After that, you can safely distract them without fear of dying. Be wary of their melee, because that can stagger you, leaving you exposed for lesser baddies to kill you. You can generally avoid that melee by backpedalling every time you charge the Prime. Kill every enemy that is not a Prime in the vicinity before distracting Primes. While you are doing this, ensure that you destroy any combat drones the Prime might have deployed, because they are also a major threat to your team due to their staggering Incinerate. Turrets are also a nuisance, so you might want to destroy them every time they throw one your way.
- Geth Bomber: their bombs as well as their shock attack can stagger you. BSN has as good as declared these guys Public Enemy #1 for a good reason. Terminate with extreme prejudice.
Collectors:
- Abomination: the possessed variation is an endless source of entertainment for those who have a team-killing streak. If you see one that is near death and not too close to a squadmate, you can charge them and immediately after activate your Nova. This will let you survive the explosion with not a scratch on you, but you will still be staggered, so you might not want to do this if you are surrounded by, say, Scions.
- Scion: if these guys manage to land even one hit from their gun on you, you will most likely die (unless they're firing at you at long range and your Charge is not on cooldown, then you will probably be able to charge them in order to save your life). You will want to charge them to provoke them into meleeing and then keep your distance. Much like an Atlas, they become capable of sync-killing right after performing a melee. They will have to first lift their cannon before firing, so this is the perfect time to charge.
- Praetorian: the boogeyman. The only times it is safe to charge them are when they are floating, are firing their eye lasers, are staggered, are preparing to pounce or are being possessed, but you should roll away immediately afterwards. If they are walking towards you, you can also charge and then immediately roll backwards in order to dodge their melee attack. To deal with them effectively, bring a large gun. If you have squadmates around that can prime them for an explosion, you will want to exploit this. To bring these guys down efficiently, you will most likely have to rely on your squadmates if you have not applied special ammo.
I believe that covers every notable enemy.
5. Nova
This is your main source of damage and one of the major contributors to your survivability. There is a certain trick known as the nova-cancel: firing a Nova grants you a few invincibility frames to keep you from getting killed while in the middle of one. If you do a Nova but roll away or light melee before the attack actually lands, you get to keep those invincibility frames with the added bonus of not draining your barriers. You can string these together to escape from a particularly dangerous situation. You can take enormous amounts of abuse this way. Be creative with nova-canceling. The possibilities are endless.
As an example of an application of nova-canceling: the Novaguard is one of the classes perfectly capable of meleeing turrets to death from full health. Simply charge them and cancel your Nova by light meleeing. You can circle-strafe the turret to make it look cooler. Admittedly, it's neither efficient nor very helpful, but damn if that doesn't make you feel like a badass. Don't mash the melee button though, because you will start a light melee combo that way. You don't want that.
6. Objectives
- Hacking: if you are sufficiently confident in your abilities, Charge away to the other side of the map. This will take a large amount of pressure off your team that is most likely camping in the circle. Alternatively, you can stay in the circle and help complete the objective faster since you are more likely to survive than some of your squishier teammates when you get swarmed. Although, I would still encourage using missiles if this comes up on wave 10.
- Targets: if the target is not a Banshee, rush it and kill it right away. Support your team in killing it. If this comes up on wave 10 Reapers, just missile those screaming ****es. Actually, always use missiles on wave 10 targets.
- Four devices: a Vanguard almost never goes to (de)activate the devices. Instead, he/she draws attention to him/herself on another portion of the map to keep the teammate who is going for the objective safe.
- Device retrieval: if you love nova-canceling, this is your time to shine. Pick up the device and power through to the drop-off zone by nova-cancel meleeing (do not roll, as that will make you drop the device). If not, let another teammate pick up the device, if possible. Next, evaluate the situation. Is the zone where the device spawned swamped? Do your magic and distract all the baddies until your teammate can get away without a scratch on them. Are there enemies on the path between your teammate and the drop-off zone? Kill them as soon as possible so your squaddie can move unimpeded. The survival of the one who is carrying the device is paramount, as you undoubtedly know. Do not be afraid to fire a missile at a cluster of enemies if it ensures the survival of the device carrier.
7. Team synergy
Adepts or Sentinels will love you for your ability to quickly detonate any powers they use. Infiltrators will adore you for distracting big baddies for them so they can headshot them. Everyone will worship you for your ability to single-handedly lock down a flank.
If your team tends to stay in one spot, you must be close-by at all times in case a Hunter or a similarly deadly enemy goes through. If your team is mobile, you can afford to be more erratic. They tend to come to your aid, at least if you don't suddenly go off to the other side of the map.
In any case, the Novaguard's most significant trait is that he/she can take enormous amounts of damage and come out none the worse for wear. Crudely said, you are a tool to be used by teammates that have a larger damage output than you have. Enemies will focus on you, only to discover they have been shooting the wrong guy all along.
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Changes:
- Fixed faulty grammar and spelling
- Added tactics on Geth Primes
- Nova Cancelling is also possible by doing a light melee
- Alternative tactic for Hacking objectives
- Alternative tactic for Phantoms: nova-cancel melee towards them.
- Added the device retrieval objective to the objectives section.
- Nova-cancel meleeing works when you're carrying the 'pizza'
- Rewrote the Phantom section to reflect the buff Biotic Charge has received. Phantoms are now much less of a threat, provided you don't give them a chance to sync kill you.
- You should prioritise destroying any combat drones a Prime deploys. They are a much bigger threat than their turrets ever were.
- Added a section for Collectors.
- 09/04/2013: my information on the Brute was flat-out wrong. Updated it with more correct information.
Edited by Olaf_de_IJsbeer, 14 March 2014 - 01:58 PM.
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