First thing to excel at javs is to know your map that you play on. Just being good at javs isn't going to help. A strict baseelim player normally has trouble doing well in the javs map since there are different strategies to employ in every map. So back to the point, the first to do to be a good jav player is to know the jav map you're playing on like the back of your hand.
Simple Tips For The Impatient
1. Never shoot unless you are 100% sure you will do an effect.
2. Stay away from any possible angles that may cause harm.
3. Be alert at all possible ways of killing. (And killing YOU)
4. Always go for the shot with the least possible chance of failure.
5. One life may end up winning the game.
^topControl the Stretches
Ok the stretches are very very important in a game. Stretch 1 is more important than stretch 2. Normally, the team who has control over these stretches will majority of games. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, they are wide open areas so bombs don't kill unless its a direct hit. This is very important since you normally have 2-3 bombs flying at you simultaneously. Therefore being in these stretches makes it easier to avoid bombs. Secondly, the stretches are a link between the right and left of base. Therefore, if you control the stretches then you can split their team between the two halves and team better. Therefore, you are always at an advantage being at the stretches.
The recharge points are just that. They are recharge point. It is near impossible to get cornered if you do it correctly. You can go round and round the blocks even with your energy on red and recharge. So, if you shot and missed horribly and the other team is chasing you, your best bet is to head towards a recharge point and circle it until you recharge. This is more effectively when the game has dwindled down to a 2v2.
Now the third point is, approaching through the main entrance when the other team has the base must be avoided at all costs. Use the side entrances its much safer. The main entrance is just a lame pit. This is where bombs will be flying all over the place and is a spot where the people on top have a great advantage over the people at the bottom. The idea when you are faced with this situation is to go through the side entrances and form a beachhead from which you can advance to the top. One thing you have to note. When entering through the side entrances, never be the first to shoot bombs. The idea is not to kill people but is to gain ground so the rest of your team can actually enter base without getting lamed. As long as you don't shoot bombs and keep the enemy guessing on when you are going to shoot you can always gain ground and buy enough time to get reinforcements.
So what are these deathpits about? Well to answer this, refer back to the original picture. It is where we want the enemy to be and where we do not want to be. I mean with all those possibilities, a good player will easily be able to get kills and even the best players will find it hard to dodge all those possibilities. The best defense therefore is to simply just avoid the deathpit and force yourself out of there.
^topUse Bullets
Bulleting in a 5v5 is very important. It takes away a lot of opportunities for the enemy javs shots. The stretches which I mentioned in my first post play a very important role here. Myth has suggested something back that we should all have our individual roles in javs. I've tried to do this many times and it doesn't work. Finally, I came to this conclusion. It doesn't work because its all the same ship. When one of your specialist jav dies, another of your team member needs to take up the task to cover until they return. Normally what happens is that when your "bulleting jav" dies everyone else does their own thing and get owned. Therefore, everyone needs to be able to the basics atleast no matter how they tend to play. That is everyone needs to know when to provide cover fire, when to provide advancing bullets etc.
Things you need to know when bulleting.
- Firing bullets take energy
- You recharge between each set of bullets fired
For those who don't know, single does the same as multi except increased fire rate. Therefore, I normally prefer multi since you can get more area coverage. Some people like switching between them. I mean if it works go for it. Ok, things to note: firing a constant stream doesn't work. Since ships can advance through the steady holes the bullets create. I also found the magic number of continuous bullets you can afford without making yourself a liability is about three. By liability I mean having enough time to recharge enough to shoot a bomb when the enemy advances.
In conclusion, bullets is every man's job. try to bullet max up to three times and then recharge so you can have shot options. Worst case scenario you can bullet up to 5 times but no more! Try to cascade your bullets so you form effective walls where the enemy can't breach without hitting and also try to advance with your own bullet cover since it doesn't take long to recharge back to full energy.
^topHow to Escape
One of the most important things in javs is to know how to live after you shot. Why is this so important? This is because unlike any other league, in javs when playing against good players; you will not survive if they are within chasing distance. This is so important since its applies both ways, if you get the opportunity to chase you can almost always kill the opponent 95% of the time when they miss a shot. The only way this can be countered is with teaming in team games.
Well to understand the situation fully, lets take all the facts. The facts are you are 1100 short of the other guy and he's in rushing distance of you. So, what can you do. Now its time to rely on the least thought of skill in javs. The actual movement of the jav. Movement of the jav is probably one of the most underused skill in the jav game. Masters of this rank only with the best. By movement I mean, not only do you need to know what your ship can and cannot do. You also need to know what your enemy ship can and cannot do.
The objective when you miss is to try and regain enough energy to successfully get a shot off. As far as I'm concerned if you can get a shot of, you're a legitimate threat. There are exceptions to this but only in the very advanced level like when you're retreating and backward momentum. To explain the former will take a whole post so I'll do it when I get time later. For for now the general rule is retreating is always good. In fact as a general rule of thumb, if you don't have an escape route, you shouldn't attempt to take a shot.
Now, to get down to things: An important fact to know. It takes six seconds to recharge back to full, but it only takes 4 secs to recharge back to the point you have enough energy to shoot again. So, the goal when escaping is to outmaneuver your opponent to gain the extra 4 secs. You can gain this time by forcing the opponent to take a longer route, or to take routes that are unexpected so you gain the reaction time plus the time it takes them to change direction. Thrust is an important factor in this but there is a kickback. For every ounce of energy you use for thrust, you have to buy yourself that much recharge time back. For example, after you shoot for every part you thrust, the enemy can also thrust for that much amount. Taking this into account, this leads to the fact that you'll never be able to beat your enemy by just thrusting.
Basically, after you miss - most of the time its the end of the world, unless you are well versed in the art of escape. In that case, only against very good to extremely good players will you have difficulty escaping. The techniques you can use to get away are taking tight corners, flight path, high degree turns and to some extent bullets. Sometimes you can combine two of these skills together to get about a 1.5 times the gain what you would get if you did them individually. An example of this is to let a bullet trap out while doing sharp turns.
^top