Reloading out in the open is incredibly stupid
Above: There are some obvious benefits to not being visible
Considering this game gives you a “turn me invisible” option, there’s no reason you should ever die while reloading a weapon. Ever. Cloak, damn you.
Clap On Clap Off
The Cloak ability is a camper’s wet dream… or any type of player’s wet dream, really. Not being seen rocks. The only thing you really need to remember is that firing while cloaked is a giant no-no. Not only will this completely drain your energy, but you’ll also experience screen-obscuring white flash effect that will blind/disorient you for a split-second. Assuming you didn’t instantly kill your target, this crucial moment can give your enemy an opportunity to activate his armor (if it wasn’t up already) and murder you.
Instead of prematurely discharging your weapon (heheh), remember to deactivate the ability before firing to avoid the energy penalty. Once the target is dead, activate Cloak again. Simple. Since you can’t have Armor and Cloak active at the same time, consider simply activating Armor before ambushing an opponent – it could help if your ambush doesn’t drop him immediately, and it’s especially useful in case another enemy sees you ganking his buddy.
Practice responsible energy management
Above: This prompt means bad things for you
Everything in Crysis 2 costs energy, including sprinting and jumping. This basically means that hauling ass to hotspots on a particular map (or using abilities when it isn’t necessary) can make you much less effective when the actual shooting starts. Just make sure to keep this in mind. Directly engaging an enemy when you only have a fourth of your energy bar left typically won’t end in your favor. Consider “flickering” your abilities – turning Armor or Stealth on and off for brief intervals when you’re unsure if a threat is around. Getting in the habit of not keeping an ability on for long will keep you from getting too low on energy – but also realize that keeping your energy at 100% isn’t particularly efficient either, since energy that’s not recharging is wasted energy.
The other aspect to think about is playstyle. Are you good at face-to-face firefights? Focus less on sprinting and stealth so you can conserve your energy for mostly Armor. Are you clever at being sneaky? Don’t use Armor or sprint as much. Are you good at running and gunning (or the gametype provides advantages to mobility)? Ease back on your Armor and Stealth and save your energy for sprinting and jumping. The way you configure your Suit Modules and weapons will also maximize these playstyles, so we have…
Some custom class suggestions
Above: They’re different. We swear
Sniping for idiots
Suggested Weapon
Any Sniper Rifle (Obviously)
Suggested Suit Modules
Armor: Proximity Alarm
Stealth: Visor Enhance
Power: Aim Enhance or Retriever
These Suit Modules make sniping almost comically simple. The Proximity Alarm should be a boon for all you lone wolves as it warns you when an enemy player has happened upon your little sniper nest. Not getting shot in the back of the head makes for good times, yes?
Above: This guy would be doing much better if he were cloaked
Visor Enhance is awesome in that all the enemies you see through your scope will be outlined in bright red. Obviously, having all enemy players light up like Christmas trees should help your sniping game a fair bit.
The power module is a tie between Aim Enhance and Retriever. The Aim Enhance helps keep your rifle’s recoil under control (i.e. it stops kicking up ten feet every time you fire off a round) while Retriever automatically collects dog tags from dead enemies. We honestly prefer the Retriever module because there’s no way in hell you’ll be able to hike out across the map to pick up the dog tags of every guy you sniped. Plus, the kill streak bonuses in this game are awesome.
The Predator
Suggested Weapon
Any Sub-Machine Gun w/Silencer Attachment
Suggested Suit Modules
Armor: Energy Transfer
Stealth: Stealth Enhance
Power: Mobility Enhance
“The Predator” is basically a loadout for those of you who like to move quickly and quietly, but are having a particularly tough time with cloaked enemy players. The idea is to rely heavily on Cloak to stay hidden, coupled with Nano-Vision so that you don’t have any problems seeing where other Cloaked individuals are hiding. Add to that, the sub-machine gun will afford you a high mobility to get in and out of combat and the silencer will keep you off enemy radar.
Above: Believe us… this does help
Energy Transfer is the first pick for the Armor module because it refills a portion of your energy bar every time you kill an enemy. This means you’ll be spending less downtime (if any) waiting to reactivate Cloak. Of course, if you aren’t feeling too confident in your ability to murder the other team, you could always replace this module with a more defensive option, such as Armor Enhance.
Stealth Enhance is a must-have module for this class because it speeds up the transition between jumping in and out of Cloak. You don’t have to wait as long to start firing once you deactivate Cloak and you can immediately jump right back into it once the guy is dead.
Lastly, the Mobility Enhance module helps to decrease the energy drain from sprinting around and using your super jump while Cloaked. As we already said, high-speed mobility is a real factor with this loadout and being able to glean as much as you can from your Cloak is key.
