This page is a part of the TGMC wiki.

TGMC is a project based on the CM-SS13 codebase.

Time to help xenomorphs by making this guide concrete.

Introduction

So you've read the Xeno quickstart guide and now you want to get better at killing marines! Look no further to here!

There is one rule to kill marines: DO NOT DIE

Intra-xenomorph Mechanics

Weed

Always yell at drone, hivelord, hivemind, shrike, and queen for weed when marines and xenomorphs are fighting in unweeded areas. When you are on weed, even standing, you regen plasma. You also regen some hp (very small amount). And also you receive a speed boost. Fight on weeds!

Targeting Limbs

You can select body parts on the doll in the bottom right corner, or via Numpad. (Remember, good xenos target the right arm until they see someone wearing a beret)

Damaging and breaking limbs have different effects. For them see Guide to medicine and Marine Mechanics. In short:

Dealing damage also damages organs in that body part
After some damage you can break bones
Broken arms forbid shooting
Broken legs give a major penalty to speed
Broken head, groin and chest deal organ damage to respective body part
In general case, it is better to hit chest - organ damage there affects a lot of organs which will eventually kill the marine if not treated
Targeting head sometimes gives more damage output. Like when he doesn't wear a helmet
Targeting arms can render the marine helpless
Targeting legs is not very useful, since dead marine can't run anyway

Bump Slash

Ability	Description	Plasma Cost	Cooldown
Toggle Bump Attacks	This ability allows you to toggle bump attacks on and off. If for some reason you want to avoid them, toggle this off. The red arrow means it's on; the green arrow means it's off.	N/A	N/A

When you try to push a marine, you attack him instead. Useful.

Intents and Not Dying

To Not Die™, you need to do a lot of stuff, but most useful - switching to HELP intent. While in help, you cannot directly attack (you'll hug marines instead), but also you will shuffle any living soul when moving. This is not true on HARM where you will often find yourself stuck between marines or xeno with low HP, and then die. Good idea would be to use hotkeys for intents. Defaults are 1-4. You may want to try 1 for help, 2 for harm. Others are not really used in TGMC.

Also, shuffling with marine and then going on harm will prevent him from escaping as well.

Lighting and Darkness

Toggle darkvision on full (eye on right side of screen). No downsides, see everything and through walls. Marines usually can't, you can check their view by toggling darkvision down. To Not Die™, avoid sleeping in lit areas - CAS can still hit you even if there are no marines around.

Xenomorph' Abilities and Keybinding

Keybinds

To be most effective in battle and Not Die™, you need utilize your xeno to the fullest. And this usually means abilities. In general case, each xeno has at least one skill which should be utilized quickly and in right place. Make sure to Keybind it, on button easily accessible for you.

Convenient buttons likely available for you are: e r f g z x c v, 3-0 (if 1+2 are intents).

Great idea to bind: abilities which require quick activation, like Warrior's Lunge, Runner's Evasion or just Acid Spit.

Good idea to bind: buttons which you press often. It's likely the Minimap (try 0), and Pheromones (try 3-5), Psy Drain (try random button like J).

Abilities

Learn what your abilities do
Bind important ones
Learn to utilize each one quickly and effectively, one by one
After that, learn to use them in combination, like Warrior combos
Having abilities on-cd means you do your best
Being dead means you are cannot use your abilities, so don't rush just to press the button.

Keeping Track of Health

Resting

You regenerate a little portions of your health when standing on weeds, but do so much faster when resting. About 2x increase in healing, plasma and sunder healing speeds. But note that you are vulnerable, as you need time to stand up. Do not rest near marines, because both them and CAS can be a quick fail to Not Die™ quest.

Even better: Rest on the resting weeds (the green ones) for +20% extra regeneration.

Corners and Firing Lanes

There are classes like Boiler or Crusher which need straight firing lanes, but also do marines. More on that here: Guide to resin construction.

In general, if you're a usual xeno, take advantage of your x-ray vision, and jump from corners. Note that marines DO expect you from each corner.

Inter-xenomorph Mechanics

Communication

This is the MOST useful thing you can do on any xeno.

Give info on where the marines are.
Tell them about new mining drills, or TAD landing.
If you're alone near silo, spam chat so somebody comes to help and defend.
Remind the Queen to spend Psy points and assign Leaders

Xenomorphs with numbered names

Most likely - these are players which have just started playing. This means they cannot utilize their caste effectively (and probably didn't read what their skills do). Do your best to be prudent, and mentor them (like - give them links to their respective wiki pages). Also, tell them to take easier castes (so no "Young Runner (123) has Died at Medbay"). Make it clear that they should not try some difficult castes, like Defiler. They should Not Die™.

Comboing with other xenomorphs

One of xeno's main strengths is ability to combo-wombo. You're not a stupid unga, and you've learned to Not Die™. Now, it's time to show these marines. You need to access what other xenomorphs you can combo with, and check the Hive Status. Find them (press on radar on the right side of screen for easier time), join them and tell them about the plan. Practice, and have fun!

Combo examples:

Carrier (Face/Acid/CLaw hugger) with any long stuns (Praetorian, Boiler, King, Queen, etc)
Defiler and Neurotoxin | you can spit yourself
Defiler + Carrier to get rid of masks
Boiler + Defender to protect Boiler while they are throwing globs
Warrior (lunge-toss behind) + Shrike (fling further back) + Crusher (toss backwards(help intent))
Ravager + Hivelord (regen and resin jelly)
Ravager (or any good melee class) + Gorger (link)
Ravager (or any good melee class) + Drone (healing link)
Gorger (Drain) + Stings (Queen, Shrike, Sentinel)
Wraith + Crusher | portals can be used to send a charging crusher anywhere
Wraith + Ranged castes | portals can be used to safely fire into target areas without fear of focused counterfire
Crusher + T1/T2 castes | Crusher can carry smaller xenos on its back, extra slash damage or xeno turreting from sentinels/spitters

TGMC:Guide to xenomorph cqc

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