| Author |
Combat Tactics:Point Jumping, Psychological effects. |
Delando
Marshal
Joined: May 04, 2007
Posts: 260
|  Posted: 2009-01-11 17:58
I promised myself that I was going to write a section on Point Jumps when I finally made Grand Adm, so here it is.
Throughout the long evolution of Darkspace Combat, The single most devastating and deadly tactic used by all players, yet only truly mastered by the very few: Point Jump.
The act of bringing ur ship into point-blank range of an enemy ship and excuting Alpha strikes till the enemy flees or is destroyed. ^_^
This seemingly very simple, very sexy, very macho =) move holds vast amounts of variables, creating equally complex styles of the actural technique.
The most basic of these variables are summed up below:
1.) Speed of Enemy Ship -- is it going full throttle, or in stationary orbit.
2.) Direction of Enemy movement -- Coming twoards ur ship, speeding away or heading across ur fore.
3.) Speed of Ur ship-- Dead stop, crusing speed, full millitary speed.
If ur just auto selecting ur target and jumping, u could come out at every possible distance from ur target. Veteran player know to use Manual target on F2 to select a jump destination that overshoots the target, but bring their ship only a few gu from them.
NOTE: From deadstop, overshoot the target by 240gu, and u'll land right in front of him.
But someone with more expertise on this tactic takes much more into consideration:
1.) Status of the enemy: Is he damaged? If so at which arc, fore, aft, left,right? Did it just waste a jump or is it's jumpdrive charged and ready to flee at the first sign of u.
2.) Type of enemy: Which type of ship is it, does it have a weakness? I.e. Assult crusier have no Aft armor and most weapons face forward. It's a Ugto Support station, it's got 3 reloads and possibly reflective armor. Do u expect to finsh with one or two alphas, or turn into a prolonged fight.
Yet only a true master of this are take in to account the psychological impact on the target:
There are basicly 3 reactions to being point jumped, Flee by jumping way, charge/stand ground and counter attack, or run while shooting with intension of out manuvering. The target's hull class, weapons selection, pilot's personality could be used to predict the reaction.
Overall, since most players pilot their ship by looking forward, Point jumping them head on causes the most panic. While hitting them from the aft are less noticable (epecially in large fleet engagements).
The first important insight i've had, is that if u jump a target head on, even if the target has 10%hull left and intends to flee by jumping out the second he sees u, 9 times outta 10 he try to turn away from u first before jumping, wasting precious seconds. This is a version of the flinch reaction. And since he will be already running scared at high speeds, that's going to be a rather slow flinch. 
The second insight, The most excellent/optimal/sexy Uber point jump is not "ur-stationary-i'm-stationary-I'm-5gu-from-u, Assult-Ruptor-Facial-Wahahahah!", while garanteed hits, the target has plenty of time to rotate in place and impose fresh armor in ur face.  Reserve these for moving wounded targets that u can cripple or kill with in 2 Alphas.
Rather, the ideal situation is u droping behind a enemy going a full throttle with u matching his speed. There is almost no way to get out of this postion besides jumping away, at those speeds, even icc ships will handle like bathtubs. So long as u match his turns and breaking, he's dead meat. Just don't get hyper and run out of energy.
Lastly, to Point jump the target that is likely to Charge/stand his ground, (Undamaged Assult-class dread or station), The best option is to Jump in at full throttle at a short distance but not point blank(torpedo rang would be preferable, 400-500gu). Optium direction would be the target's aft. This way, is the target intend to charge u, he must turn to face u first, if he stands his ground, then ur highter speed will give ur more manuverablity to doge his fire, while he remains the sittng duck.
^_^
[ This Message was edited by: Delando on 2009-01-11 18:06 ]
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Bryghtblade
Vice Admiral
Joined: January 29, 2007
Posts: 22
| Posted: 2009-01-11 19:11
Nice,clearly and concisely explained...a must read for all those wannabe uber combat pilots ........like me!
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Dead Girls Dont Say No
Cadet
Joined: January 09, 2009
Posts: 5
| Posted: 2009-01-11 19:38
tl;dr
Short version:
1. Hit F2
2. Hold down CTRL
4. Compensate for enemy/your velocity
4. Click left mouse
5. Hit F2 then hit 'j'
6. ???
7. PROFIT!
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Sixkiller
Marshal
Courageous Elite Commandos
Joined: May 11, 2005
Posts: 1786
From: Netherlands
| Posted: 2009-01-12 02:37
Quote:
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On 2009-01-11 19:38, Dead Girls Dont Say No wrote:
tl;dr
Short version:
1. Hit F2
2. Hold down CTRL
4. Compensate for enemy/your velocity
4. Click left mouse
5. Hit F2 then hit 'j'
6. ??? <-- spacebar smashing
7. PROFIT!
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Enterprise
Chief Marshal
Joined: May 19, 2002
Posts: 2576
From: Hawthorne, Nevada
| Posted: 2009-01-12 02:44
Quote:
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On 2009-01-12 02:37, Sixkiller wrote:
Quote:
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On 2009-01-11 19:38, Dead Girls Dont Say No wrote:
tl;dr
Short version:
1. Hit F2
2. Hold down CTRL
4. Compensate for enemy/your velocity <---guesstimate
4. Click left mouse
5. Hit F2 then hit 'j' <--you don't even have to leave F2
6. ??? <-- spacebar smashing
7. PROFIT! <-- rest of the enemy fleet turning on the lone, stupid dread that jumped on a cruiser
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I also find it funny that anyone thinks this takes a great deal of skill, thought, or anything approaching sexy and terrifying.
A person with actual brain cells only uses the point jump as a last resort against a particularly troublesome enemy or as an opener - with a fleet. A person who wastes his jump drive while in battle is asking to die.
You might be a dreadnought, with awesome firepower and brutal defence, but you are not invincible, ever.
-Ent
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Dwarden
Admiral
CHIMERA
Joined: June 07, 2001
Posts: 1072
From: Czech Republic
| Posted: 2009-01-12 08:35
since dictors aren't working the close jumping became way how erase any ship as long you have 2-4:1 predators:prey ratio
i barely saw (except some lone dueling ships) any 'moving' action (fleets just sit waiting other fleet to split or mass jump edge of other fleet in hope that inficted dmg to jumped ships weight the victory on theirs side) ...
as (thx backslash) pointed out to me there is missjump 'buffer' (which differs on ship size and speed and range / so as long you are small ship it's really minor to notice at all) so it's not anymore fixed distance difference
anyway because it's still too easy to mass close jump and enjoy smashing spacebar the old 'fight' on speed is very rare to see ...
in short i don't want to see close jump to go nor dictors go but mixture of both to pressure people to use both speed combat and if possible close jumps
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Darksworde
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: September 06, 2002
Posts: 806
From: The Zoo
| Posted: 2009-01-12 10:32
I still think the best combat / scare tactic is to point jump your opponent whilst whispering 'Boo'.
I imagine the results on the other side of the monitor and it always makes me chuckle.
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Live by the sworde, die by the sworde
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BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2009-01-12 11:14
Quote:
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On 2009-01-12 10:32, Darksworde wrote:
I still think the best combat / scare tactic is to point jump your opponent whilst whispering 'Boo'.
I imagine the results on the other side of the monitor and it always makes me chuckle.
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I always found a simple:
"WHUR MAH PANTS?!"
"D'KNOW WHUR MAH PANTS IS?!"
"BORDIN' COMSENSIN' FOUR SURCH OF PANTS!"
Works perfectly. Who says cloak is needed to confuse the enemy? Pah!
[ This Message was edited by: BackSlash *Jack* on 2009-01-12 12:02 ]
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Leonide
Grand Admiral
Templar Knights
Joined: October 01, 2005
Posts: 1553
From: Newport News, Virginia
| Posted: 2009-01-12 13:50
ahaha...jack wins! XD
yeah, any competent pilot can practice the art of Point Jumping and get it down. just takes practice and knowledge of the ship jump distance at certain speeds.
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captain of the ICC Assault Cruiser C.S.S. Sledgehammer
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Darksworde
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: September 06, 2002
Posts: 806
From: The Zoo
| Posted: 2009-01-12 15:02
I must admit, i point jumped someone the other day, dumped some inf on them and sent them a whisper that said 'Space monkehs away', all at the same time.
Must admit to feeling proud of myself at that moment
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Live by the sworde, die by the sworde
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Light-of-Aurora
Grand Admiral
Joined: December 01, 2003
Posts: 602
From: NJ, USA
| Posted: 2009-01-12 18:57
When I'm 'point-jumping,' all I know is fast = 'more' distance, and slow is 'less.'
I didn't think it was so involved.. 
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Sanity Assassin (K'Luth propaganda)
Grand Admiral
Sanity Assassins
Joined: February 19, 2006
Posts: 919
From: Pittsburgh PA, USA
| Posted: 2009-01-12 19:06
Quote:
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On 2009-01-11 19:38, Dead Girls Dont Say No wrote:
tl;dr
Short version:
1. Hit F2 <---Find F2 quickly, even though your motor skills at the time are hampered by 15 year scotch
2. Hold down CTRL <---Hold down shift, thinking it is CTRL since the keys seem to be moving before your eyes
4. Compensate for enemy/your velocity <--- ya right, maybe when I play sober (2% of the time)
4. Click left mouse <--- woops, where did that mouse go?
5. Hit F2 then hit 'j' <--- 1 at a time now people
6. ??? <---- Hit "J"
7. PROFIT! <--- Hit "k" or "v" in the new version to cloak after realizing that scout you want to fry is sitting in between 4 Battle stations and yell "OH FARKLES!"
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[ This Message was edited by: Sanity Assassin (K'Luth propaganda) on 2009-01-12 19:08 ]
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Borgie
Chief Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: August 15, 2005
Posts: 2256
From: close by
| Posted: 2009-01-12 19:09
Quote:
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On 2009-01-12 15:02, Darksworde wrote:
I must admit, i point jumped someone the other day, dumped some inf on them and sent them a whisper that said 'Space monkehs away', all at the same time.
Must admit to feeling proud of myself at that moment
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i dunno point jumping doesn't always work out good, had some person point jump me in a ead, vrs my cd. he jumped right in to nearly all my weapons. needless to say failed point jump
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Firekka
Fleet Admiral
Joined: October 27, 2002
Posts: 285
| Posted: 2009-01-13 02:29
Quote:
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On 2009-01-11 17:58, Delando wrote:
Throughout the long evolution of Darkspace Combat, The single most devastating and deadly tactic used by all players, yet only truly mastered by the very few: Point Jump.
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Good story but I thought actual flying combat was only mastered by a few and everyone else just pointjumps? 
Imo pointjumping should only be used if you have a fleet and really dislike one of the enemies... and ofcourse to finish off that dread that jumped out on 10% hull
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