Cadet I/Pods and Killbonus
Wikify This article needs formatting This article is using features provided by Mediawiki poorly, if at all. For example, it may contain sections without
section formatting, lists without list formatting, links without link formatting, hardlinks to images, or similar issues.You can read the crashcourse and help by improving this article!
Images required This article is in need of more, better images. If you can, please take the appropriate screenshot and then contact an Allegwiki moderator for them to upload. As an ad interim measure, you can use [img] tags.
See the list of pictures which need to be retaken for more images that need help.
| ← Targeting and Autopilot | When to run! → |
The Eject pod
Belter Pod
When your ship is destroyed, the pilot is launched in space in an eject pod, a small, slow and defenseless craft that serves no other purpose than saving the pilot's life, with supplies of oxygen that can last no longer than 5 minutes, after which the pod explodes and the pilot respawns at a base.
Getting a pickup
A pilot placed in an eject pod is completely useless. He can do nothing more than sit there and wait to get back to base using the pod's weak thrusters. As a pod pilot, it is your responsibility to get home as soon as possible so you can work again.
One way to do this is by selecting friendly pilots to come and pick you up. If a friendly ship flies in to you, you automatically reappear in the nearest station. When a pilot accepts to pick you up, make sure that you fly toward him, and not miss him. A good way to do this is by using the autopilot, which will make sure that you fly directly on your target, the friendly ship. Press `np to request a pickup: "Need a pickup!" Rescue probes and pod beacons can also pick up friendly pods. Sanctuaries, the Belter version of rescue probes, can serve as a pickup for pods of any team.
Two commands, when accepted, will set your pod on autopilot for pickup. Use `np (I need pickup) and the responding fighter will use ~co (I gotcha, hold still), hit "insert" and your pod will autopilot to them. `yi (I need rescue help) will also autopilot you to the responding teammate in the same way.
Tip: If you are picking up a large number of your team's pods in a sector, fly to a safe spot, STOP and let them come to you. It takes skill to grab a large number of pods on the fly. It is always better to get close to the group and stop so they can come to you.
As a pilot, you must make an effort to pickup all pods you see to help bring pilots back in the action. This is most crucial when under attack. You are in a remote sector and 6 pods are coming out of the aleph, at 5000 meters. Then your minimap indicates that your home is under attack! The worst thing you could do in this case is ripcord home. What you must do is quickly pickup the pods. This will instantly bring 6 pilots back in action, which can greatly help the defense. You can then ripcord home yourself and also help defend.
If you are Bios, however, the best thing you can do is ripcord home. This way, you can stand by the teleport receiver and pickup the pods that are ripcording in.
Be sure to lay rescue probes when possible, at key moments. For example, a rescue probe must remain available when you are on a bomber run, so that the many pilots that participated in the bomber run must be able to quickly get back home.
A team's greater capacity to quickly pickup pods can easily make a difference between defeat and victory, mostly in smaller games where every pilot is downright crucial.
Taking suicidal action
If no friendly ship is around, you must find another way to get home quickly. The only possibility left is suicide. When a pilot dies, there are no consequences, other than losing the kill bonus, which can often be lost because it's so low. Colliding with an enemy ship and flying through mines are the only ways you can kill yourself. Be sure to take the opportunity when it is available. However, although it is rare, you can play a game with limited lives. Things are different then, as enemies may kill your pods to take one of your lives, and killing yourself would be very costly.
Kill bonus
As we have already slightly covered, the kill bonus, indicated in the orange circle, represents a damage bonus in percentage. It is calculated by the following formula:
Kill Bonus = Kills / (Kills+4) * 50 ex.: You have 3 kills - KB = 3 / (3+4) * 50 = 21.4285 = 21 (rounded to nearest whole number)
Fwiffo@BS has created a simple calculator for you.
Something has to be done about this calculator.
A 10% kb will result in a 10% damage bonus. As you destroy more ships, the kill bonus slowly rises toward a maximum of 50 (396 kills). The kb cannot get any higher than 50 because it is a mathematical impossibility with the formula. Note that killing eject pods does not increase your kill bonus. Your kills bonus will apply to every weapon, missile and piece of equipment that can inflict damage.
When a pod is destroyed, the pilot dies and so does the kill bonus, which is reset to 0. This is why even though a pilot has 100 kills, s/he can still have a 0 kb. The kb is only higher with the number of consecutive kills, without the pilot dying. Note that getting podded has no effect on your kill bonus, you won't lose anything, but get yourself rescued or you might lose it.
Pod killing
There only exists one strategic reason for pod killing: remove a high kill bonus. (There's another, non-strategic reason: revenge.) The general rule is that any pilot with a kb of 28 or higher must be killed. Any pod with a lower kb must be allowed to live, so that the pilot is kept in the pod, unable to help his/her team.
A common misconception is you will get a "kill" for killing a pod. You do not. It does not increase your kill bonus, nor affect your stats.
Note that Bios pods are killed with lower KBs, because those pods can get home quickly through ripcord. Because Bios pods are going to be home quickly anyway, you might as well pod kill them with lower kill bonuses since it's not much of a difference to them in terms of the time to get home (this does not apply if they do not have a home teleport receiver, in which case the Bios pods can't get home quickly either).
If you are preparing an attack, keeping all enemy pilots in their pods, even those with high KBs, is a good idea. It will increase the chances of success of your assault. This is why, when many enemy pilots have been podded, pilots will order others to not kill pods, so that they remain stranded and unable to defend while you're bombing.
Don't get yourself podded
Many games with respawn make dying a very small issue. It is not a small one in Allegiance. Depending on the situation, getting yourself podded can be extremely costly, and running away IS an option. Many scouts early in games attack the enemy utility ships and get podded immediately. They should run away, but don't, and so suffer a five minute pod ride. Similarly, some pilots accumulate high KBs with many consecutive kills. In such a situation, it is a good idea to run if you're in serious danger, because getting podded may result in the enemy seeing your high kb, and thus killing your pod, removing your kb.
The only faction that can consider sending ships to their deaths is the Bios. Since their pods are equipped with ripcord devices, getting podded is nowhere near as bad as it is for other factions.
| ← Targeting and Autopilot | When to run! → |
