Version 2.1
December 20, 2007
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Table of Contents
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( Use Ctrl+f to find things using characters next to section names )
i. Introduction
I. General Information (gni)
i. Ice Statistics
1. Shot 1
2. Shot 2
3. Super Shot
II. General Strategy (gns)
1. Shot 1
2. Shot 2
3. Super Shot
4. General Strategy
5. Item Selection
III. Shot Guide (shg)
1. Standard Windchart using 70 BJSL
2. Power Chart
3. 70 BJSL Usage
4. Ultra High Angles
5. Butt-shots
IV. Mobile Specific Strategy (bss)
V. Avatar Selection (avs)
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i. Introduction
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The Mammoth is a great bot. Very well balanced, very well designed...but
at the same time, very often do players not know the purpose of each of
the Mammoth's shots, their uses and everything of the sort.
Hopefully this guide will educate many players, and motivate more people
to play Mammoth, or at least give it its desired shot as a popular bot.
I have had many friends who have...."seen the light" so to speak and
made Mammoth their bot of choice :D.
The Mammoth is easily one of the best bots to use in Team games, not so
stable in 1v1 or 2v2 games because it thrives on a long and healthy match,
not one that is quickly over. Its ability to make you and your team
mate's attacks do more damage is unrivaled by any other bot with the
possible exception of Aduka-only teams.
Some think of the Mammoth as the grown-up's Aduka, with added perks and
more room for variation in bots that can be a part of the team and still
get very high levels of damage...levels that aren't normally seen in
games without a good Mammoth user.
Enjoy.
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I. General Information (gni)
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(Angles in brackets represent Ice's True Angle for each shot.)
At 1200 hit points, the Mammoth has the distinction of being the bot
with the highest life total in the game. This is his main strength in
that he aims to survive longer than any other mobile in the game, and
while doing so he maintains a decent level of damage output. Couple
this with the fact that he has a very large angle and decent delay
and he becomes a very competitive mobile.
Mammoth is a good beginner mobile in that he is extremely simple in
terms of strategy: aim and shoot. While A.Sates have to be concerned
with elevation, Kalsiddons with airtime, and Tricos with shot rotation,
Mammoth needs only to aim and shoot to be effective.
Because of his higher life total, healing items have a greater effect
on Mammoth (they all give a % total bonus). They should be used in all
games that allow them, but more on this in the Item Selection section.
[ 1. Shot 1 ]
Base Delay : 740 (490+250)
Average Damage : 150*
Angle Size : 50 degrees (70-20, 60-30 True)
Weight : Light
The general first shot of a Mammoth's game. If you are up against bots
like Boomer, A.sate, JD, who use their shot 1's and get less than 750
delay on a shot one, you are better off using a shot 2, as now you
cannot beat their delay unless you want to be beating it on a turn in
the foreseeable future.
Shot 1 is a very good bunge shot when it hits right in front of the
opponent, so use accordingly against in situations where you want to bunge.
Shot 1 is amazing in Big Bomb death, even on avatar off so use this over
shot 2 for bunge games at all times.
General Notes: Shot 1 fires from the gun located above the Mammoth's head.
Changing to or from shot 2 will make the same shot hit the same target, but
change the trajectory of the bullet. Just a heads up about it, but usually
it wont matter unless you're trying to do Ultra High angles with boomer shots
or backshots or anything like that.
*Shot 1 damage has the ability to increase, read Shot 2 Gen. Information.
[ 2. Shot 2 ]
Base Delay : 890 (490+400)
Average Damage : 190*
Angle Size : 50 Degrees (70-20, 60-30 True)
Weight : Light
The bread and butter shot of the Mammoth. You want to be using this as
frequently as possible against an opponent unless you risk getting out
delayed, or are in situations where Shot 2 will not hit.
General Notes: Shot 2 fires from the Mammoth's trunk, which makes it
have a much lower shot than shot 1. It is really only a problem when
you're trying to fire out of a hole or a cliff, because otherwise the
shot hits the exact same place as Shot 1. There is an advanced trick to
be able to shoot in these situations, detailed later in section III.5:
(Butt-shots).
Shot 2 reduces an enemies HIT TYPE defense by 5% each round (making
your Shot 2 do about 20 more damage each shot), thus causing each
consecutive Mammoth shot (of any type) to do more damage to an opponent
with reduced defense. Once you deal damage with Shot 2 to an enemy, a
red -XX DEF counter is displayed to the right of their mobile that
tracks the level of defense they have been reduced. The maximum amount
you can reduce any bot is -50% DEF.
This means you are increasing: Shot 1/2/SUPER SHOT (!) damage of the
Mammoth, and any teammates that are using Boomer/Turtle/Nak
Machine/Mammoth do more damage anytime they shoot an enemy that has
been hit with a Mammoth shot 2/SS during the match. Obviously, a huge
boom to damage for nearly half the mobiles you can select. With all
other hit type vehicles being above average if not top tier mobiles,
this is extremely useful because you will almost always have an ally
that can benefit from the reduced defense.
This DOES cause your team mates, as well as enemies, to do more damage
(assuming they are hit type) to the bot you are hitting with shot 2.
By the end of the matches, with Boomers being so popular, TK becomes a
VERY, VERY bad thing for the opposing team to have happen. Boomers
hitting a bot that's got its defense reduced by a Mammoth can do upwards
of 700 damage (during Sudden Death/Dualing), even more if the bot is
a Natural Enemy!
This effect of defense reduction DOES last the entire round in a score
game, which is why Score should be Mammoth's game of choice...by Sudden
Death you should have an opponent who is taking damage horirbly bad vs
any hit mobiles on your team. Try and focus on shield bots, if possible,
instead of Machine chassis bots when choosing your targets. The effects
are much more apparent versus Mammoth's Natural Enemies.
During Tag games, the defense reduction only applies to the bot that was
hit by Shot 2/SS; each bot has a separate counter.
*Shot 2 damage can be increased, stated above in Shot 2 Gen. Information.
[ 3. Super Shot ]
Base Delay : 1290 (490+800)
Average Damage : 250*
Angle Size : 30 Degrees (60-30 True)
Weight : Light
The saddest moment of my Gunbound career was when I logged in and saw
that Mammoth's Super Shot had been nerfed, for almost no apparent reason
(Mammoth has never been a terribly popular bot). Traditionally, the SS
did -20% defense reduction, with about the same damage as a shot 2. It
also used to have a radius that would reduce defense for any mobiles in
the area of effect.
Now, Super Shot is all but useless. It only reduces 5% defense, and only
if a mobile is directly damaged by it (similar to shot 2). With this
change, Super Shot should almost never be used, because now it is
basically Shot 2 with an extra 400 delay.
The ONLY time you should ever use this is when you cannot Dual+ and
desparately need to kill a bot in a situation where you can't risk Shot 2
leaving them with a sliver of life.
*Super shot damage can be increased, discussed in the SS Strategy section.
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II. General Strategy (gns)
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[ 1. Shot 1 ]
The premiere bunge/delay shot for a Mammoth. There is not much strategy
concerning this shot. You only want to be using it in around four
situations:
-First turn out-delay
-Assured Bunge Shot
-Assured Enemy Kill (where extra damage is definitely NOT necessary)
-Extremely changed shots (new target, across the map, unreliable wind)
- First turn out-delays -
Self explanatory, if your opponents have greater than 750 delay, you can
definitely beat them out to get a significant edge on them in terms of
turn placement. Any enemies with less than 750 delay you should be
somewhat cautious of trying to out delay unless you are quick about it.
This can also be done mid-game, just pay attention to delay and shot 1
anytime your mark is above 750 delay (if you are slow, 790 to be safe).
- Assured Bunge Shot -
Shot 1 is a very nice bunge shot. You should probably know that you
want to aim at the ground at the front of the person you're trying to
bunge. You don't want to hit them directly from above, but you should
know this.
As a side note, shot 1 is VERY nice is bunge games/Big Bomb Death in
Avatar on, with a full bunge suit. It rivals Trico's shot 1 in terms
of total explosion area (not like raon or bigfoots depth power.)
- Assured Enemy Kill -
Situations where the enemy has a SLIVER left. You for sure do not need
a shot 2 to kill, and you should recognize these situations. The mistake
of many rookie players is to kill with shot 2s/duals/super shots when
it is not necessary and add extra delay to their turns, giving the other
team and edge to get back at the person severely if he lets himself fall
behind two or three enemies when the game is very close.
Remember that after several shot 2/ss your shot 1s will do more damage.
You can use this to your advantage to save yourself the delay of a shot
2 dual and instead use a shot 1 dual. If you keep track of your defense
reduction on enemys you can generally gauge what a dead on shot 1 will do.
For example, if you have hit the enemy 3 times with shot 2, their defense
is reduced by 15%. This means that your base damage 150 shot 1 should do
around 175 with an accurate shot. Make sure to include Natural Enemy
bonuses or penalties, as well.
- Extremely Changed Shots -
Sometimes you will have killed your mark, and look to shoot someone
else, but they are all far away, or in areas that are hard to hit with
the current wind. In most of these situations you want to use shot 1 to
save delay in the event you miss. If you hit, beautiful, but you want
to get into a habit of saving the delay in these hard situations instead
of wasting it on a missed shot 2.
There are also situations where shot 2 will be stuck on a cliff, and
you can use shot 1's hired angle to be able to shoot over the cliff
or hole without damaging yourself. Take note of these situations and
save yourself GP and gold you would otherwise be losing from the team
kill penalties :). Again, a trick shot to get shot 2 out of the cliff
is detailed in section III.5 (Butt-shots).
[ 2. Shot 2 ]
The premiere shot of the Mammoth. Only situations you should not be
using this is when you are in one of the situations described in the
above section regarding Shot 1 usage.
Regarding who you want to shoot, try to be hitting Shield type vehicles.
Screw who is right next to you.
The game is a team game, not an eight player 1v1 fest.
Hitting shield type vehicles increases your effectiveness with
each shot, because of the natural enemy bonuses. This is obviously
a good thing. By the end of a score game if you have been attacking
shield type vehicles with shot 2 throughout the game, you should be doing
near lethal damage during double death. This is especially true versus
weak mobiles, like the JD, from whom you can easily score 800+ damage during
Sudden Death. Add in Thor or a Force beam and sometimes you can even one
hit kill shield mobiles!
The type of confrontations you want to try to avoid are mainly only
versus armor mobiles. They are your natural enemy and the scales are
in their favor. In this situation, go for a shield type, or even an
organic bot. The armor vehicles will be natural resistant towards your
attacks, so you will have to spend a few turns just to be able to do
normal damage to them. This coupled with their generally high life is
a not so good matchup for you.
All in all, not too much strategy to shot 2 other than shoot and hit.
The main idea is just who to shoot. :)
[ 3. Super Shot ]
As stated in the General Information for this shot: Never use it.
The only situation it should be used in would be to definitively kill
a bot and you are either out of Dual+ or Item Lock is present. Any
other situation can now be handled by Shot 2 rather than using Super
Shot.
[ 4. General Strategy ]
Shoot and hit. Mammoth isn't magical.
[ 5. Item Selection ]
Generally, you should pick a variety of items that fits your play style.
Personally, I like to pick Dual, Dual+, and Two Bandaids. If you play
with Nazis you might not have access to bandaids or the medical kit,
in which case you should go for utility items such as Blood or Power-Up,
and barring those you will probably be in a game where you can only
play with Dual and perhaps Dual+. In this case, pick what you prefer.
Despite the number of idiots who complain about them, don't be afraid
to pick healing items. They are part of the game, and should be allowed.
In that you have the highest life total in the game, your access to these
items offsets the fact that you have low defense. You also benefit most
from these items, so in a game where all players have heals it should
provide for a good game.
Personally, I've never subscribed to the thought of limiting items, and
think that they add a good extra dimension of strategy in terms of delay,
but also many other areas, such as the strategic use of Lightning on a
bot like Grub.
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III. Shot Guide (shg)
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Because Mammoth is one of the most straightforward mobiles in the game,
his basic strategy defaults to shoot and hit, making accuracy the only
thing you really need to learn besides the fundamentals of item usage
and delay. This secion presents a method of being 99% accurate with
your shots, allowing you to become a powerhouse very quickly.
[ 1. Standard Windchart using 70 BJSL ]
(original credit from long, long ago goes to remark!)
The formula: 70 (+/-) (Wind strength * wind factor)
At first this might seem a bit intimidating, but it is fairly
easy to use. The way it works is that you have a base angle of
70. At zero wind in any direction, an enemy that is Dist away
from you requires the associated power level to hit. If there
is wind, take the wind value, multiply it by the value in the
direction the wind is pointing, and either add or subtract from
your angle, depending on which direction you are facing. Your
angle should only be changed to compensate for wind. Using the
distance/power values at any angle other than 70 with no wind
will certainly miss. Also, the chart only works for a base 70
shot. Trying to adjust a non-BJSL shot for new wind will likely
also miss.
Some notes:
1. * on the chart represents null wind; at this wind (any
strength), there is not effect on your shot.
2. The null point also represents the barrier between reducing
and increasing your angle, so remember it well!
3. General rule: If wind is against you, you reduce your
angle; if with you, increase your angle. The null point
delimits the two.
4. The chart displays when you are shooting to the right (->),
if you are shooting left, you need to invert the chart
horizontally.
5. Distance is measured in screen lengths, or fractions of.
1/1 represents a full screen from your mobile to the enemy.
1/2 represents from your mobile to the middle of the screen.
In this way the screen is measured in eighths. Remember that
the wind compass can be used as a 1/2 screen marker!
6. Power is represented in bars. The game makes little lines
on the power bar, each line seperates a "bar" of power. For
example, full power is 4 bars. 25% power is 1 bar. 40% power
is about 1.6 bars. Thus a full screen shot at 70 angle with
no wind would require 2.7 bars of power to hit.
Some examples:
If wind is 10 -> and you are shooting -> as well, your shot
should be angle 77, and power would depend on how far your
enemy is. If he were at exactly 1 screen distance from your
mobile, it would be 2.7 power. Adjust accordingly based on
the table; if they are off by a little you should be able
to figure it out : )
If wind is 20 down and you are shooting ->, and your enemy
is 7/8 screens away, your shot should be angle 66 with 2.55 power.
Ultimately, you should be able to hit any enemy with this,
barring any obstacles. If you have obstacles, you may need
to use an ultra high angle, or figure out the shot on your
own. (Note: if the obstacle is a hole and you cannot shot 2
there is a trick detailed in section III.5 (Butt-shots) that
can get a shot off in this type of situation!)
Again, just measure the distance between you and the target, set angle
and shoot at full power. If you need a half degree angle, you can do so
using 3.8 power. You can continue using this for more than 1 screen
length, just remember that the screen is divided into ninths for this,
not eighths.
For example, to hit with no wind at half screen, you shoot 85 angle with
3.8 power.
[ 5. Butt-shots ]
In certain situations you cannot directly Shot 2 because of a cliff in
front of you there is normally no way to hit the enemy, BUT there is a
trick shot that solves this. To do so you MUST be using Slice instead of
Drag. The trick is when you let go of spacebar to shoot, you immediately
push back (the opposite direction of your shot) and you avatar will flip
around and the shot will appear to fly from Mammoth's back. What actually
happens is that the avatar turns around, but still shoots the original
direction. This is not unique to Mammoth, and can be done with any mobile,
but because of the trajectory of shot 2 it is more useful with Mammoth.
This will allow you to shoot in almost any situation for Shot 2, adding
a whole new aspect to your game. This also works with Shot 1, but you
should almost always have a shot with Shot 1 anyways, so risking a failed
butt shot is usually not worth it.
To confirm you actually butt-shot there are a few indicators. If you
press back too early you will hear the walking sound effect, this means
you failed. If you press too late, you will shoot normally and if you
are in a hole you will likely hit yourself. The true way to know you
butt-shot is that your avatar flipped around, shoot backwards but the
shot travels forward AND your "last angle" counter shows the angle used
as if you really did shoot backwards. This is the telling factor in all
cases.
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IV. Mobile Specific Strategy (bss)
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On a very basic level, go after your natural enemies, avoid those that
have an inherent advantage over you!
+-----------+-----------------------+
| | Attacking | Defending |
+ Mobile +-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | + | - | + | - |
+-----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| Aduka | | x | * | x |
| Armor | | x | | |
| A.Sate | x | | | x |
| Bigfoot | | x | | |
| Boomer | | | | |
| Dragon | | | | |
| Frog | | | | x |
| Grub | | | x | |
| Ice | | | | |
| JD | x | | x | |
| Kalsiddon | | x | * | |
| Knight | | x | | x |
| Lightning | x | | x | |
| Mage | x | | | x |
| Nak | | x | | |
| Raon | | x | | x |
| Trico | | | | |
| Turtle | | | | |
+-----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Note: Natural enemy bonuses are 4% advantages (+) or disadvantages (-)
when attacking or defending against a particular mobile.
From the table we see Mammoth has the advantage in terms of natural
enemy bonuses when fighting Shield or Electric mobiles. Aduka and the
Kalsiddon are noted by * because Aduka's shot 1 is eletric, which we
get a defense bonus against, but shot 2 is laser, which we get a defense
reduction against, and Kalsiddon is sick damage regardless of natural
enemies :).
Your hardest matchups will be in terms of tier. You actually don't have
much of a problem against Mages and A.Sates, even Boomers aren't too
tough of a fight, and only Raon gives you a problem naturally (Aduka
takes too long to power up...). The harder battles are against other
bots: Trico, Turtle, and Kalsiddon. These are arguably the three best
1v1 bots in the game, so naturally they are a tough matchup. Delay
management and proper item usage are really the only way to win in a
professional match. Both Kalsiddon and Trico can produce obscene amounts
of damage, and Turtle has the highest defense in the game, which makes
him very hard to kill while still maintaining a very high damage level.
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V. Avatar Selection (avs)
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This section is outdated, and only applies to early versions of Softnyx's
Gunbound. For new high level suits just peruse GBWC/GBRV forums and see
what people are using nowadays :D
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[ 1. Introduction ]
The Mammoth is generally regarded as one of the best tanks (by "tank" I
mean a sort of punching bag) in the game, second only to Turtle. He can
take the most damage HP-wise, but is somewhat lacking in pure defense to
make up for that fact.
The type of suits you generally want to be purchasing for a serious Avatar
On for any bot are Defense based suits. Defense -is- a better choice than
attack or life, when going for a specific suit. Believe it or not point
for point you would rather be trying to take less from an enemy attack,
than deal more points of damage if you want to win the matchup.
As a secondary factor, Attack and Life are both mutually beneficial, so
you can choose either one, or a mix; it is essentially the same thing.
The main advantage life has is that it increases the potency of healing
items by quite a bit. For example, a 50 life suit would have the effect
of +500 life as well as increases heals
(Remember that heal items restore life based on total HP %, so increasing
the Mammoth's life stat is a very useful way to make heals insanely good.)
Note: The Heart item adds 10 life points for each +1 of the stat you have.
Now, in all seriousness the Life/Defense suits that will give you a
fighting chance in the cuthroat world of Avatar On ARE very expensive to
someone who is just starting out, but they are worth it.
[ 2. High-Level Suits ]
There are few select Life/Def suits that are very solid, but all 500K+.
In no particular order... (any stats left out should be assumed at +0)
******************
Cost: 725,000 Gold (All Gold Only Items)
Items:
Helm : Pharoah
Eyes : Pet 02
Armor : Archangel
Flag : Robot-X
