Battletanx: Global Assault Weapons Guide (Nintendo 64) Version 1.0 Table of Contents 1. Intro 2. Weapons Listing 3. Weapons Analysis 4. Weapon Strategies 5. Outro If you have any comments or questions or whatever, email 'em to me at spikyfire6@aol.com ---Introduction--- Battletanx: Global Assault is a very old Nintendo 64 game that hardly anyone ever plays anymore. Nevertheless, it's a very fun and addicting game; it's also got an excellent multiplayer mode. The purpose of this guide is to point you in the right direction when handling the game's many powerups and weapon upgrades. Now let's take a tour of the juicy innards of this FAQ... ---Weapons Listing--- Throughout the game, multiplayer or not, you will find spinning boxes with different pictures on them. To pick these up simply run your tank over it and then you have access to the powerup described on the picture. To use your regular weapon, press Z. With tanks that have machine guns mounted on them such as Rattler and Mototank, hold Z. You'll quickly find out that your default bullet attack isn't that strong when fighting groups of enemy tanks/minefields/hostile gun emplacements/buildings, etc... So use your selected weapon with the A(blue) button! Cycle through your available weapons/items with B. But wait! Is your weapon still not enough? If you have a large amount of one type of weapon, press A and B at the same time to fire off a very deadly version of that powerup. Unfortunately, such power comes at a high price; a large amount of that weapon's ammo is used up. Now that you know how to use your collected items, I'll list them in the order that they appear in the cycle. Health Flame Thrower Cloaking Grenades Bouncing Betties Gun Buddies Swarmer Missiles Laser Guided Missiles Mine Nuke Teleport Plasma Bolt Turbo The items that don't appear in the cycle are as follows: Shield Health(when your life meter isn't full, this will not be listed) Default Gun Ammo Hostages/Queenlords Simple, eh? It is. In total there are 17 different weapons/items. ---Weapons Analysis--- This is where the fun begins. The layout of the analysis will look like this: Power: How strong the weapon is on a scale of 1-5 stars. For multi-hit attacks, this will go for each individual projectile. Speed: How fast the attack comes out, and how fast it moves when it's deployed. Range: How far the attack will go before disappearing off the map. Reliability: How useful the weapon is. Description: How the item works. Notes: Other stuff. Let's get started. <><><>Health<><><> Power: NA Speed: NA Range: NA Reliability: * * * * * Description: Using this will restore some life to your life meter. The effect is greater on more fragile tanks. For example, using Health on a Goliath will net you a small amount of health while using it on a Mototank will heal you completely or almost completely. If you're damaged when you pick up a Health powerup, you'll get a better effect than if you were fully healed and stocked up on them. Overall, this is an excellent item and you're going to be using it quite often. Notes: If you're wounded in combat and you let your weapon cycle sit for a few seconds, sometimes the Health powerup will pop up next instead of what would normally be next when you press B again. <><><>Flame Thrower<><><> Power: * * * * * Speed: * * Range: * Reliability: * * Description: Using this move will shoot a stream of flames ahead of you a very short distance. It's very powerful but rarely do foes try to get up close to you. It can be useful for blowing up the occasional annoying Inferno tank that tries to rush you. It can also be used on the many Rhino tanks in the Crimson Guard stages in Campaign mode. Other than that, there's not much you can do with this thing. Notes: The flames will pierce through Rhino's armor, allowing you to defeat them much faster than strafing around behind them. <><><>Flame Thrower Special<><><> Power: * * * * * Speed: * * Range: * Reliability: * Description: This is even more useless than the regular Flame Thrower! Using this move will shoot 3 not-so-spectacular jets of fire out in front of you. The range and speed are about the same and the move consumes your Flame Thrower ammo like no tomorrow. It can be used on Rhinos, but by the time you collect enough ammo to even gain access to it, all the Rhinos in the level are already dead unless you purposely drove right past them. Notes: To use this move, you must acquire 300 Flame Thrower ammo. That's 3 boxes of 'em. To use this special move, press and HOLD down A and B. <><><>Cloaking<><><> Power: NA Speed: NA Range: NA Reliability: * * * Description: When you use this item, your tank will become invisible not only on the screen, but also on the map. This way you can sneak up on enemy tanks without being fired at. You can also get to an enemy's base and if there is a Queenlord there, you can steal it without being attacked by the tanks guarding it, if there are any. Unfortunately, collecting a Queenlord will cause your Cloaking to wear off and you'll be visible again, and the Goliath that's sitting next to you will now fire at you! Either RUN away, or drop a few grenades and then use a Teleport to get to a safe area. But anyways, Cloaking will be your friend the moment you get it. You will save yourself a lot of damage. Notes: You can still be hit even when invisible, so be careful. You won't be able to use Cloaking if you have any Queenlords in your inventory. Also, you will disappear off the map when you use Cloaking. Fire off a few rounds of your basic gun to reveal yourself for a scant moment so you don't get lost. <><><>Cloaking Special<><><> Power: NA Speed: NA Range: NA Reliability: * * * * Description: This nice powerup has dual features. You will become invisible for a prolonged duration AND create a mirror image of yourself to distract enemies! You can use this to save an ally from a powerful foe while you're around the corner, safe and sound ^_^. The mirror image will move around with you, and sometimes it will ever go on water or through buildings. This isn't a bug so don't worry. Overall this is a great move and will serve you well. Notes: This causes you to disappear off the map. Fire your basic gun to reveal yourself for a second. You can still get hit even when invisible, so be careful. You need at least 8 Cloaking powerups to use this move(A and B) and if you have over 8, then you'll stay invisible longer. <><><>Grenades<><><> Power: * * * Speed: * Range: * * Reliability: * * * Description: This is powerful when used against enemy tanks and can usually take lighter ones out in a single hit, but they're hard to aim at a fast moving object like a Mototank. So why did I give it a 3 in Reliability? Because they're good for destroyed gun emplacements, buildings and minefields. Beware that some minefields have Bouncing Betties strewn across them, so be prepared to back away if needed. A single grenade can take out any gun emplacement, whether it be a small, "popup" one or a four-cannon BIG one. Grenades, like in real life, take a moment to explode so you have time to get away if you need to. Notes: Grenades, like almost all weapons, take 2 hits to completely demolish a building. <><><>Grenade Special<><><> Power: * * * * Speed: * Range: * * * * Reliability: * * * Description: Grenades can be relatively easy to find so you usually can use one of these. Once deployed, you have about 8 seconds to get as FAR away as possible before it explodes. It grows bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until it bursts, sending a large fiery shockwave out, with smoke and debris flying everywhere. This is deadly when used in your opponent's base. Ride in, throw this baby in there, and then use a Teleport for mass destruction. In addition, this move is very useful for taking out multiple buildings at the same time. Note: To use this move, you need 15 Grenades(3 boxes) but to actually throw use it, it will only consume 10. So don't just collect 10 grenades and expect to use this move, because you can't unless you have 15. <><><>Bouncing Betties<><><> Power: * Speed: * * Range: * * * Reliability: * * Description: This thing works just like a mine. Lay down a few, back away, and watch your enemies run into them. When you or your enemies(or allies) run into one, it springs up from the ground and shoots out a multitude of blue lasers. Each laser is weak but it adds up, especially if you have more than one Bouncing Betty up in the air. I suppose it could be useful when destroying buildings, too. Run around the perimeter of the building laying down the Betties, and when you're satisfied, run through your Betty "track" and watch them blow up the structure. Of course, your regular weapon could destroy the building just as well(unless you're in a Mototank) and you wouldn't be wasting Betties, but it could be fun if you're bored. Or something. Notes: You don't need to be directly on top of the Bouncing Betties to set them off. You only need to be NEAR them. <><><>Bouncing Betty Special<><><> Power: * Speed: * * * * Range: * * * * Reliability: * Description: Using this will blast out ALL your Bouncing Betties very rapidly, demolishing everything with a lengthy barrage of lasers. Even though they're weak, there are so many of them that it really tacks on the damage. This weapon has great Speed and Range catagories, so why did I give it a 1 in Reliability? Because it's pretty useless, and it can kill YOU very easily because the Bouncing Betties spray directly out the top of your tank! Unless you're moving fast, you're gonna pay the price. Notes: To use this weapon, collect 3 boxes of Bouncing Betties(20 per box, 60 total) and then press A and B at the same time. Also note that once you start spraying out the Betties, you cannot stop. It eats up your ammo quickly too. <><><>Gun Buddies<><><> Power: * * Speed: * * * Range: * * * * Reliability: * * * * * Description: In the Campaign mode, you'll often see little gun emplacements shooting at you. With this weapon you can create your own emplacement to fight for you! It stays in one spot and rotates around, opening up on any foe that comes near. It's a very useful item for guarding bases when you're away or making a sort of wall to block a road if you've got enough of them. The Gun Buddy appears behind you when you lay it down, so move out of the way quick or you'll get hit by its shots. The Gun Buddy is long-range and can sometimes shoot down tanks on the other side of the map! Notes: You can find a LOT of Gun Buddies at Escape from Berlin in multiplayer mode. There are at least 6-8 boxes there. Here I will list a few formations on where to put your Gun Buddies effectively, in multiplayer, in almost any level. | X | | | | | | | |GGGGG| | | X = Enemy G = Gun Buddy In this scenario, an enemy tank is travelling down a road or bridge with obstructions(a building, or water, or whatever) on both sides. On the other side of this road, you have a wall of Gun Buddies shooting down anything in a straight line. The enemy might be able to blow a few holes in one of your Buddies, but usually this formation can survive quite well. However, any stray shots from the other side of the map might hit the wall and damage it. Another con is that you might not leave enough room for you or your allies to get through! Then you're gonna need to shoot through your own wall. This formation, overall, is excellent of Escape from Berlin and similar stages but not of much use in the wide, open ones like SFO. | R | | O | | A | BUILDING | D | | --- | X G | | --- | R | | O | BUILDING | A | | D | X = Enemy G = Gun Buddy In this diagram, you have a main road and then a small, narrow space that's just big enough to hold a gun buddy. Your enemies won't see what's coming when they turn the corner looking for that Shield box, and get a surprise as their Mototank is blown to pieces by a hidden Gun Buddy! So it's best to put Gun Buddies in small spaces that conceal powerups and such. Of course, ones that don't have powerups are still good. Often I'm driving my slow Goliath down the street and suddenly 1/3 of my life bar gets blasted by shots coming from unknown locations. However, that's only going happen if you have SEVERAL hidden Gun Buddies, because just 1 usually isn't going to cut it. This formation is still good though, but you need to have them strewn across the whole map to be effective. X X G X G G X This is barely a formation at all, and consists of randomly putting Gun Buddies in a big, wide field with enemies roaming about. This is something you should never do. Your enemies will rip right through them, and your allies might hit some of them too. In addition, your Gun Buddies won't be hitting your enemies often unless they're very slow or very close ie. a Mototank that's 20 feet away will never get hit. This formation sucks badly and should be avoided at all costs. <><><>Gun Buddy Special<><><> Power: (varies) Popup: * Small: * Medium: * * Giant: * * * Speed: * * * Range: * * * * Reliability: * * * Description: Upon letting loose this one, from behind your tank will pop 8-15 Gun Buddies, all in a cluster, ready to decimate all in their way. That includes you, and all the Gun Buddies in the front of the pack. This means they kill themselves! After everything in front of them is cleared away, you don't have many Gun Buddies left. Therefore, it's usually better to place single Gun Buddies in a fashion so that they don't kill themselves. Notes: Refer to the diagrams above for some formations. To use this powerup, collect at least 8 Gun Buddies(4 boxes) and press A and B at the same time. <><><>Swarmers<><><> Power: * * * (per missile) Speed: * * * * Range: * * * * Reliability: * * * * * Description: Excellent weapon here. When activated, your tank will shoot forth 3 fiery missiles that go forward until they hit a wall or better yet, a tank. This weapon has great power and is very accurate, making it exceptionally useful for taking out tanks of all shapes and sizes. It's fast enough to hit Mototanks and rip throught them even if just 1 or 2 missiles hit, and it's strong enough to severely weaken medium-weight tanks like Marksman and Hovertank. In addition, the weapon has an excellent firing rate so you can rapidly deplete a Goliath's life meter, although this requires a little skill on dodging. You can also kill Rhinos from the FRONT if you have enough Swarmer ammo. Overall this is very reliable tool that will serve you well. <><><>Swarmer Special<><><> Power: * * * (per missile) Speed: * * * * Range: * * * * Reliability: * * * * * Description: When you use this baby, you will EXTREMELY RAPIDLY shoot forth all your remaining Swarmers. This move will rip through Mototank and Goliath alike with absolutely no effort. This weapon's strength is simply off the scale. Hmm. Let's say that this game is an RPG, and Swarmer Missiles do 50 damage. Now, if all 3 missiles hit, that's 150 damage, correct? Well say you have 20 Swarmers when you set off this move. 50 x 3 x 20 = 3000 damage. Impressive, eh? Well not all the missiles are going to hit the SAME target, but it'll still blast through anything in less than 2 seconds. Be careful when using this move near allies, because if they swerve out in front of you while you're using this weapon, don't bother trying to save them, because man...they're gone. Notes: To use this r0xx0rz move, press A and B at the same time while you have more than 15 Swarmer Missiles(3 boxes). Ph43r this move. <><><>Lasers<><><> Power: * * * Speed: * * * * * Range: * * * * Reliability: * * * Description: Nothing special, just a thin blue laser. It's got nice damage and big range, so I suppose it could be a substitute for Swarmers if you're trying to conserve them, or if you just need a good weapon at all. It's strong enough to usually take out Mototanks in one hit, but it's not very effective against bigger tanks like Rhinos and Goliaths because of its very slow firing rate. Notes: The laser is very quick and appears almost instantly on the screen after you press A, but after that you'll suffer a dreadfully long recovery time. <><><>Laser Special<><><> Power: (varies) Tight space: * * * * * Wide, open area: * * Speed: * * * * * Range: * * * * * Reliability: * * Description: Using this weapon will fire off a regular blue laser than bounces around the nearest walls furiously, damaging anything in its path. If you fire this at a wall in a small street, it'll decimate everything nearby, including your own tanks and allies. If you use this in a big field, however, it'll be very inaccurate and probably won't hit the enemy more than once. The move is extremely quick, and it goes REALLY far, but use this anywhere near your base and you'll be sorry. Overall, it's not that bad of a move if you know where to use it. Notes: Use this special weapon when you have at least 15 Lasers(3 boxes) by pressing A and B simultaneously. Avoid using in a VERY narrow place, as it will cause serious lag on your N64. <><><>Guided Missiles<><><> Power: * * * * Speed: * * Range: N/A Reliability: * * * * Description: Ahh, everyone's favorite weapon! Using this weapon will shoot forth a slow-moving white missile that does good damage if it hits. Now, if you press and HOLD down the A button, you can control the missile with the control stick! Ain't that awesome?! Now you can snipe from a distance and pick off those annoying Mototanks when they least expect it. However, a downside to this is that your tank is completely vulnerable while controlling the missile. A good way to tell if your tank is being attacked is by watching your health bar down at the bottom. If you see it being depleted, then let go of A and try to ward off the threat. Of course, sometimes you're chasing a target that's far more important than your tank, such as a quick Mototank bearing a Queenlord that you need for your base. Also, if your health is low and you still are in control of the missile, you might want to keep control because it could be too late, and you've wasted a missile. Let your tank be destroyed...but go seek out the tank that killed you(look on the map) and get REVENGE! It also might be a good idea to position your tank in a concealed area, and maybe throw down some Gun Buddies to defend you while you control your missiles. Notes: Press and hold A to control Guided Missiles. Let go of A to resume control of your tank. Guided Missiles can NOT be fired rapidly...they have by far the worst recovery time in the game. <><><>Guided Missile Special<><><> Power: * * * * * (hit) Power: * * * (laser) Speed: * Range: N/A Reliability: * * * * * Description: Using this creates a big Guided Missile with shark teeth on the front(you can't see them when you're controlling it). In addition to being very powerful when connecting a direct hit, you can fire lasers with Z! The number of laser shots you have depends on how many Guided Missiles you created the big Guided Missile with. For example, if you had 18 Guided Missiles when you activated this move, you'd get 18 shots with the laser. If you had 40 Guided Missiles, you'd get 40 shots. Unfortunately, there's no way to tell how many shots you have left so use them wisely. But enough on the lasers. Let's talk about RAMMING THINGS!! Yes, with this weapon you can actually ram your Guided Missile STRAIGHT THROUGH BUILDINGS! You won't lose your Missile either, it will just crash right through. Of course, you can't ram through indestrucible buildings. If you're unsure if a building can be rammed through, fire a laser at it(if you have any left, it's easy to use them all up) to see if it blows up partway. You can also ram through dead tank "corpses" to get them out of the way. However, be careful when flying low because hitting a raised patch of ground will cause you to lose your Missile. Now be sure to put your tank in a safe spot, hard-to-reach if you can, and perhaps defended with a Gun Buddy or two just to safe. If you see your life bar being lowered, you're being attacked. You don't want to let go of your missile, right? Well you could try to find your tank on the map and blast the living hell out of whoever's attacking you, but since the big Guided Missiles and are slower than regular Guided Missiles, you probably won't reach your tank in time unless you're close. Just be careful to defend yourself well before you deploy this weapon. Notes: Get 15 Guided Missiles(3 boxes) and then press A and B at the same time to use this weapon. <><><>Mines<><><> Power: * * Speed: * * * * * Range: * Reliability: * * * * Description: Right about now you're just itching to read the description of the Nuke, right? Well hold your horses because you're not there yet. Anyways, using the Mine will set down a little mechanism directly below your tank. Be sure to move off of it quick or you'll be hit by your own mine. This is a nice tool or defending your base(s). Setting a row of mines will cause your opponent to take an alternate route around your defenses or take time to clear away your mines with Grenades. If they try to go around, you'll know exactly where they're going and you can coordinate an attack with your allies(if any) or surpise them with Gun Buddies or a quick Swarmer Barrage. Either way, they'll have to regroup if they took any damage and that buys you time. If they decide to blow through your mines with Grenades, you'll also know where they are and you can ward them off with a weapon of your choice. Unfortunately, Hovertanks can just float right over mines so you'll have to deal with them another way. Overall, mines are a great asset to any bases's defenses. Notes: Mines will hurt you and allies as well as enemies. <><><>Mine Special<><><> Power: * *(per mine) Speed: * * Range: * * * Reliability: * * * * Description: This causes a HUGE minefield to appear behind your tank. It's a quick and easy way to defend a base if you're about to be attacked. Be sure to space yourself right or some of the mines might appear IN your base, which is bad! Good news about this move: In addition to laying down craploads of mines, you'll automatically lay down a few Bouncing Betties hidden within the minefield. Bad news: If an enemy steps into the minefield, he'll probably die, but it destroys the ENTIRE field(or most of it). That means you wasted ALL those mines on just one enemy?! I suppose it's better than nothing, but when compared with the other weapons, the ammo per kill ratio is just horrible. That is, if you can lay down the mines in such a fashin that it kills 2 or 3 tanks at once, but's that a difficult task. Notes: Press A and B simultaneously to perform this move when you have at least 60 mines(3 boxes). Hovertanks are immune to the mines, but not the Bouncing Betties. <><><>NUKE!<><><> Power: * * * * * Speed: * Range: (bah, off the scale) Reliability: * * * * Description: These are rare, but generally worth the trouble of finding one. After throwing a Nuke out and hearing the ominous "Nuke Deployed!" sound effect, you'll be given a few scant moments to go hide FAR, FAR away or underground...before you hear an explosion. The screen flashes, the sky turns rusty, and then you see it. A gigantic wave of energy devours everything in its path. Tanks, gone. Buildings, vaporized. Gun Buddies, done for. A large mushroom cloud and a few shockwaves can be seen hovering in the air in the distance for a few seconds before the ENORMOUS yellow wave of debris rips right through your tank, killing you instantly. Ok, enough drama. Still though, this weapon can completely wipe off everything on the map with ease. Well, anything that can be NORMALLY destroyed. Steel reinforced indestrucible buildings will remain, railings, etc... This weapon of mass destruction has incredible range however. Unless the map you're on is HUGE and you put the Nuke down at one end and raced ALL the way down to the other end before it blows, you'll be killed. Unless you're a Goliath. Goliaths can withstand a Nuke with some effort, and sometimes TWO nukes. Other than that, all tanks will be wiped clean off the map. Unless, as I said before, you're underground. Fallout shelters are pretty common so throw out a nuke, and then head down into the tunnels and wait until you hear the explosion. Then you can poke your head out and review the carnage. The Nuke can also be useful for clearing out buildings. However, it's not too reliable about that because it will often leave half-destroyed buildings there. Try this in the Parliament and you'll see what I mean. Still, the Nuke is a great weapon and is awesome to watch. Notes: This item is very rare and usually appears in hard-to-reach spots. Be careful when using Nukes because it will kill your allies as well. <><><>Teleport<><><> Power: NA Speed: * * * Range: * * * * * Reliability: * * * * * Description: When you use this, a small shockwave emits from your tank and you're transported to a random location on the map. The perfect way to explore, sightsee, and...destroy. Earlier mentioned, a good way to attack an enemy base is to throw Grenade Specials in, take their queenlord if you think you can do it, and then use Teleport to get out before the grenade explodes. It has other uses, as well. If you see a barrage of missiles coming at you and you're using a slow tank, you can dodge them easier by teleporting. Of course, you don't know where you're going to end up. You might just end up in a WORSE situation, like in the middle of a battle, right between two fighting tanks. Ouch. However, if you can use this well, you can use it to dodge a Nuke's shockwave too so you don't get blasted to pieces. Notes: The place that you wind up in is random, so be careful. <><><>Teleport Special<><><> Power: NA Speed: * Range: * * * * * Reliability: * * Description: Using this device will make your tank deploy a weird glowing portal. It flies around the level very slowly, seeking out enemy tanks. When it reaches one, it makes the enemy disappear from the map! The tank is gone for about 5 seconds, and it's transported to a random location of the map. This can be good and bad. Good if a strong tank is attacking you and you're losing. Bad if a tank's running away with a Queenlord and then gets teleported directly to his base. Very bad. While it's usually good to use, this weapon is very hard to find because Teleporters are quite rare in most levels. Notes: To use this move, collect 15 Teleporters and press A and B at the same time. Have I said this enough?! o_O <><><>Plasma Bolt<><><> Power: * * * Speed: * * * * Range: * * * * * Reliability: * * Description: This shoots of 3 green bolts ahead of you. The stats are close to the Swarmers, so why did I give it a 2 in Reliability? Because it bounces off walls, is hard to aim properly, and it hurts you and your team. It sucks. The damage is not bad at all, but the bolt might hit a wall and bounce right into you. In the hands of an expert they're not that bad, but the overall usefulness of this weapon is low. Notes: This will hurt you and your allies. Beware. <><><>Plasma Bolt Special<><><> Power: * * * Speed: * * * * Range: * * * * * Reliability: * Description: Using this weapon is just like Swarmers, except you're basically killing yourself too. The sea of green bolts will devour your enemies, Goliath or not, but it will also bounce all over the place like a hyper 6-year old and it'll slaughter you in a second. Unless you're FAR away from the action, in which you probably can't aim anyway. Let's think of the good parts of this move, however.......nope. Notes: To use this move, collect 3 boxes of Plasma bolts and pres- ahh dammit. You know. <><><>Turbo<><><> Power: NA Speed: * * * * * Range: * * * * * Reliability: * * Description: This is mostly for fun. Using this move will make your tank go twice as fast as normal for a few moments. It can be used to take you to the other end of the map in seconds if you started out with anything but a Goliath or Rhino. However, there's usually no need to RUSH to the other end of the map quickly unless you're racing another tank for a good powerup or such. Notes: Use this item with a Mototank, go full speed, and hit one of the high mounds of dirt. Lots of fun. <><><>Shield<><><> Power: NA Speed: NA Range: NA Reliability: * * * * * Description: This allows your Mototank to take two hits instead of the usual 1. It also makes your Goliaths even MORE sturdy. It's very useful but it can be a pain to find sometimes. It's well worth it, though, so remember where it is. When you take a hit with Shields on, it flashes a certain color. Blue = good shield. Red = breaking shield. When your shield is running low, look for another shield powerup so you can replenish your shield strength. Overall this is an excellent item. Notes: Uh...none really. <><><>Default Gun Ammo<><><> Power: NA Speed: NA Range: NA Reliability: * * * Description: The amount that is refilled depends on your tank. If you're driving a Mototank, you'll be given LOTS of ammo. If you're using a Goliath, you'll only be given a few. If you like using your default blaster then this could be pretty useful. Otherwise it's just another powerup that you don't care about but pick up anyway. Notes: These are very common, so you don't exactly need to search for them. <><><>Hostages/Queenlords<><><> Power: NA Speed: NA Range: NA Reliability: NA Description: A staple item needed for any base. Except your enemy's base. Acquiring all the Queenlords on the map will net you a victory. Note: If you're killed while toting a hostage, it becomes "neutral" and anyone can come by and pick it up. ---Strategies--- This is where I'll list the most effective ways to use your weapon ammo. Don't waste it! Instead of providing walkthroughs for each level, I'll just give you general tips, base strategies and team attacks. <><><>General Tips<><><> 1. Use Swarmers wisely. While they're not rare at all in most levels, it's easy to use them up quickly. If you see a Rattler, for instance, don't start firing off round after round of swarmers. The tank will get killed with the first 1 or 2 missiles, and the rest will be wasted. Only lob out your swarmers en masse when you see a Goliath. Try to be accurate too, if you can. In some levels it'll be very difficult to win if you only have regular ammo because you were inaccurate with your Swarmers. 2. Use mines for a quick escape. If you're being chased down a road by a slow tank, then what do you do? Use mines. The enemy is likely firing at you, so if your tank can strafe, do it. While you're doing that(and hopefully taking minimal damage), lay down a line of mines behind you. This will either... A. Stop the opponent in its tracks. B. Damage it so you can perhaps fight back. 3. The joys of the Laser Special. While perhaps it can cause lag to your N64, it can be a deadly weapon if you use it correctly. If you have at least 15 lasers and maybe some shields, use the Laser Special to clear out the immediate area around you. If you're in a tighter space, then even better! Unfortunately allies will get hit and maybe die, but that's what shields are for. Stock up pre-blast and hope you survive. After all, if you can kill 2 or 3 tanks with one attack, then sacrificing your tank could be worth it. However, killing 2 or 3 tanks and SURVIVING is much more favorable. Try to back into a corner right as you fire, so maybe some of the lasers will miss your tank. Remember, each laser is very thin, so it could miss your tank by a hair! 4. Grenades. If you can aim them right, grenades can be one of the most lethal weapons out there, even stronger than Swarmers. Of course, these things are hard as hell to throw right. An enemy can easily move out of the way of the blast. Unless, of course, you spam the screen with them in a tight space. You probably won't encounter such a scenario, but if you do, then you might as well do it right. Try to bounce the grenades off the walls to catch your enemies off guard. The multiple blasts may damage or even kill them. Be sure to protect yourself, too, because you can die to your own grenades. <><><>Base Strategies<><><> 1.Gun Buddies I cannot stress this enough. Gun Buddies are absolutely the best way to defend your base. They provide quick firepower and you can use them defensively as a wall of sorts even. I'll map out some scenarios below. The large box with a hole is your base building. Key: G = Gun Buddies The "Generic Formation" __________ | | | | | | | | |___ ___| G G G G This is the most common form of base defense. Throwing down Gun Buddies just outside your base's entrance will threaten to blow anything away in seconds if they get near. However, they have trouble hitting things far away, and it's very easy to snipe at them from a distance. This is reccomended if you need some quick defense(it's easy to set up) and you want to focus on other aspects of the battle instead of entirely relying on your base camp. Another good thing about this formation is that it's cheap and it requires only 2-4 Buddies to be effective. The "Wall Formation" __________ | | | | | | | | |___GGGG___| This formation involves gathering a bunch of Buddies and making a sort of wall to completely block any entrance to the base, even your entrance. Unless you shoot your own buddies down. The major problem with this strategy is that your guard Goliath, unless dead, will blow up your own wall, wasting your Buddies. For this single reason I don't reccoment using it unless your Goliath is dead. In addition to these problems, you usually won't be able to get out of the building if you die and start with another tank! The "Surprise Formation" __________ | | | | | | |G G| |___ ___| This is one of the best base defenses out there. Putting down 2 or more Gun Buddies just inside the corners of your base means that your enemy won't see them until it's too late. They're blocked by the wall so they won't be able to accidentially hurt you either. Note that the picture is sort of misleading. You want the Buddies to be as close to the corner as possible(the corner closest to the entrance) because if they're against the back wall then they're vulnerable to sniping with Guided Missiles. 2. Mines Mines, in conjunction with Gun Buddies, can be a force to be reckoned with. They can be used to completely stop your enemies in their tracks or force to take an alternate route. Key: o = Mine G = Gun Buddy The "Wall Formation" __________ | | | | | | | | |___ ___| oooooooooooo This formation isn't as bad as the Gun Buddy version because the mines are not as dangerous to YOU, but they're still effective to enemies. Try to shove them into the mines(easiest against Hovertanks) but try not to get hurt yourself. The "Branch Formation" __________ | | | | | | | | |___ ___| ________ ooooo | | G G G | | | | This one involves having a building or other obstacle in front of your base, effectively creating 2 paths. On one path you have mines, that most tanks can't pass without dying or at least taking heavy damage. So they go over to the other road and they find Gun Buddies, ready to take them down, supported by your tank. If they get past either road, then they have your nice fat Goliath waiting for them :-) The "Scatter Field Formation" __________ | | | | | | | | |___ ___| G G G G o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o This is generally not the best option, but it CAN be viable. It requires using the Mine Special to lay down a crapload of mines, but not before throwing in Gun Buddies. This means that NOTHING can get through. Absolutely nothing. Hovertanks can float right over mines, right? Either you, your goliath, the Bouncing Betties or the Gun Buddies will get them; they will NOT be able to break through. If the tank isn't a Hovertank, then your base is nearly invincible. This can be even better(if humanly possible) if you put Gun Buddies on the inside corner of your base, making escape absolutely futile. The main drawbacks of this setup are: A. If a tank comes by and sets off the entire field, then the resulting chain reaction may put your Gun Buddies or even YOU in danger B. Guided Missiles can be used to snipe your Goliath/Gun Buddies, so Hovertanks might have a chance at survival C. A single Grenade Special can ruin the whole thing. Ouch. The "Ultimate Formation" __________ | | | | | | |G G| |___ ___| ooooooooooooo G G G G ooooooooooooo G G ooooooooooooo This is probably the best strategy to use in an intense multiplayer game. The ingredients to the perfect base defense are: 50-100 Mines 8 Gun Buddies Lots of time The Mines must be spaced in a manner than one tank running into one mine will not set off all the rows. The Gun Buddies must not be placed directly in front of each other or else the Buddies in the back row will kill off the ones in the front row. There must also be NO Buddies in the middle of the formation or else your Goliath won't have a clear shot, and it may kill off the one in the center. Gun Buddies assist your Goliath inside the building. So the enemy will be confronted by a row of mines, with 6 Gun Buddies firing at the intruder. If he runs into the first row of mines, the row will be set off, but you still have 2 rows left AND your Gun Buddies are safe from the explosions too, if you spaced them correctly. And if by some chance a tank gets THROUGH that hell then they're confronted by your Goliath, who started shooting at 'em as soon as the enemy came into sight. And if by some MIRACLE your foe steals your Queenlord, they have to get past those 2 Gun Buddies sitting in the corner, blasting them to death. It's the best defense there is! You can expand on this even more, though it's usually unessecary unless more than 2 tanks are about to attack your camp at the same time. You could add Bouncing Betties to the mix, although I don't reccomend it because their damage is inconsistant and they tend to mess you up often. <><><>Team Attacks<><><> These apply to multiplayer games only; they won't work with computers. 1. Strength in numbers Round up as many allies as possible before sending them out. Traveling in a group is far better than going in by yourself. Try not to hit your own team either. Have Goliaths and Rhinos up front and the weaker tanks behind them. As always, use Swarmers often. If a friend asks for you to meet at their base before launching an attack, on the way there you can look for Shields to enhance your tank. 2. Sniping If you're in a scenario where two armies are facing off, both using the above strategy, you can use this one. Take a weaker tank from the back and use Guided Missiles to kill tanks in the back of your opponent's force. If you can hit two or more tanks you might be able to outnumber them. You can also use Guided Missiles to take out Gun Buddies from your enemy's base, if they're a threat. 3. Being outnumbered If YOU get overpowered, it's usually best to spread out. This causes your enemies to scatter around looking for you and you might have a better chance to take them out slowly one by one. You can use Cloaking to hide yourself. If you see a teammate being hit by an enemy, you can sneak over there and fire at the attacker without being noticed. Check out your friend's face when he's being shot at from nowhere! 4. Friendly Fire The following attacks should NOT be used during a full-scale assault because they're do damage to your allies too. Most weapon Specials -These devour an entire area, decimating your own tanks. Grenades -They're small and hard to see, and you might accidentially run into one. Gun Buddies -Sure, they're handy for defense, but not offense. Their aim isn't very good and they'll shoot your own tanks if they're in the way. Nuke -Unless you can somehow gather up all your tanks and get them away from the Nuke before it explodes and at the same time getting the enemies to stay near it, don't try the Nuke. It's suicide. 5. Pincer Attack If possible, attack from more than one direction. If the enemy squad is moving down a narrow road or bridge you can block their progress from both sides. That way, their weaker ones in the back will still get plowed through and you'll have plenty of time to help out your frontline Goliaths/Rhinos. If you get attacked from two sides, try to focus on one side at a time. If you can strafe, do it. It's very hard to survive a pincer attack if the enemy is a good player. Use all the Swarmers and Lasers you have to beat them. If you're really outnumbered you can Teleport out of the situation but you'll be leaving your allies behind! 6. Take the enemy down with you If you're being beaten badly and you're down to the last tank, whip out a Nuke or other powerful area-effect attack and use it for all you're worth. After all, you're gonna die anyway so why not deal a little carnage before you do? 7. Minefields If you encounter a mine field, simply use a Grenade to clear it out. It'll set off Bouncing Betties too. If the field is very large and you're in a hurry to get going, using a Grenade Special can be a little quicker. Even though it takes longer to explode, the Grenade Special will clear out EVERYTHING nearby, quicker than using single grenades. It'll also damage any enemy tanks or gun buddies nearby too. Take care to position your tanks accordingly so you don't get hit by your own grenade. 8. Flamethrower While generally useless in single player, it does have its merits in multiplayers for being one of the single fastest tank killers. One of the quickest ways to destroy a Goliath is to take two tanks with Flamethrowers, preferably Special ones, and blast the thing to death. The life bar will deplete and blink off so fast you'll get a seizure. 9. Hitting fast tanks One of the hardest enemies to hit is a circling Mototank. To hit it, you either need fast default gun(Rattler and such, Goliaths and Marksman will not cut it) or Swarmers. They're very accurate and you have a good chance of hitting the Mototank if you aim a little ways ahead of it and fire. 10. Avoiding flamethrower Simple. Back up while laying mines and shooting. If the threat comes from the side, rotate your cannon and blast away, strafing if you can. ---Outro--- Thanks for reading this guide. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did making it. And yes, this is a very short outro. If you have any comments or questions or whatever, email 'em to me at spikyfire6@aol.com. Remember that this guide was made by ME(neonjohn779) so that means you can't rip it off/sell it/whatever without a large tree appearing out of nowhere and ramming up your...ahem.