A guide to "Pulling" on Outer Limits
Hello :) This is my guide for commando pulling on the Outer Limits in the Numa Prime Campaign. This will really only work and benefit commandos, and is especially effective in a team of multiple commandos. I didn't really play PL all too much, just really started playing games on my phone because I got bored one day lol. But I understand the concept of "pulling" for faster levels. For those who don't know what pulling is, let me explain.
Pulling, in a nutshell, is when someone runs ahead of the group while the other stay put, and gets the attention of all the enemies in the area. He/She keeps running and getting the aggression of the enemies, who will in turn follow him/her. Once enemies are gathered, they are lead back towards the waiting team members, who in turn destroy the mobs. It's a dangerous method that speeds up the level if done correctly. This was probably more efficient in PL because of the Mage's insane AOE spells, but the commando works very well here too.
Well when I was playing Numa Prime levels back when I was in the lower 20's, I saw an opportunity for a pull in outer limits. First things first, here is a map I've drawn of The Outer Limits. Hard to draw with a laptop track pad, but you get the general idea :(. My brother is the artistic one...I could barely figure out how to change colors.
http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/3...imetanking.png
However, not the entire map is good for pulling, only a certain area, which I will now discuss in detail. The area we are going to focus on is right before the first chest, continuing through to the areas by the first and second mini-bosses (assuming you take that left turn first, as I'm sure most people do):
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/3631/numatank1.png
This area has high enemy density, and great turns for getting all those enemies in a nice group. To blow this area up and discuss the method, let's use this picture now:
http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/8410/tankspank.png
First off, make sure your team knows what you're trying to do. If someone else follows you into the pulling area, the pull will not work and you'll be stuck with a bunch of little battles and no organization. Your team should stay out of reach, with the best spot being right next to that alcove before the first chest where the dogs spawn 1 at a time from the ground. Here is a description of what each of the "steps" involves:
Step 1 - Run forward to the first group of mobs you see. It should be about 3 of those floating yellow thingies and 2 men with guns. They will attack you almost instantly when you head towards them.
Step 2 - Run left, ignoring the chest, and pass by the enemies here. Keep going till you see 2 men ducking behind a bush. Move forward and collect them, and continue a bit towards the dogs.
Step 3 - Inch towards the dogs, just enough to collect their aggression. Immediately loop back, staying near the wall. This is the LEFT wall if you are looking at your characters back, and the RIGHT wall if you're looking at your characters front.
Step 4 - Take the turn up towards the second chest. Using the same Left/Right idea from above, this is the direction of your turn. You will pass by a mob with a rifle, one of the main problems of this pulling method. More about him later. Continue forwards passing by all the enemies, until you are near the second chest.
Step 5 - Turn and cross the area, heading AWAY from the chest towards the opposite wall, collecting the enemies on the other side. Ignore the chest and do NOT head towards the mini-boss.
Step 6 - Head back down the way you came, hugging the wall. You should now have every enemy following behind you if you did the pull correctly.
Step 7 - Round the corner, heading back towards your group. Once the last enemy rounds that turn, circle back towards the large mass.
Step 8 - awww little cute ducky. Hi duuuuuckyyyyy...HI DUCKY!!....I mean ATTACK!!! ATTACK THEM ALL! SPARE NO ONE. Ehem...yes.
A good combo for attacking is to cast Growing rage,then Gravity Well, followed by Nebula immediately after. This gives gravity well time to pull the enemies into an even tighter clump while nebula is activating. Pop off a few shots with the AOE cannon, a stomp here or there, and you just murdered an entire group of innocent recruits...I mean bad guys.
Here is a list of things that might get asked or need to be addressed:
Things to watch out for
- As I said before, if someone on your team follows you, the whole thing gets ruined. Have them wait patiently.
- The rifle mob will sometimes knock you down or hit you pretty hard. He is also hard to get to follow you, and usually won't.
- Watch your health! There's a lot of guys attacking you at once! Don't be afraid to use stims.
- That many mobs on the screen at once might lag you a bit depending on your connection. Be careful out there!
Who does this benefit?
- Simply put, the commando gets the most out of this. With all those AOE skills and all that armor, they're the only one's who can survive this onslaught with ease.
- Smaller parties will benefit the most. If it's 2 commandos, you'll absolutely slice through them like they're paper. It's amazingly fast and effective. A large team could probably just line-run through every mob on this map just as fast.
- This was tested on my lvl 30 commando in both full custom meganaut and captains plat armor. I cannot say if a lower level with lesser gear could survive this.
- Vanity farmers will benefit the most as they are usually maxed out players playing numa prime for a chance at the more attractive vanities.
When should the team run up to fight?
- The best time for the team to run up to help you is when you've started to get out of sight. This is around the times of step 3/4. The team can slowly make it's way up to where steps 7 and 8 are, making sure to not get too close or to attract any aggression.
When to use Increase Mass
- Increase mass can save your life here if used at the right times. I found that using it at step 3 allowed me to be able to use it again at step 6/7, which was helpful because this is when all the mobs are raining fury upon your back. A well timed armor boost can really save your life.
Do NOT attack any of the mobs before step 8
- Attacking might not cause any issues...but it might also ruin everything. The mob might stop in place, and your auto attack walk is harder to control than your directional walking. Save the attacking for the end...it's worth it, and fun to watch.
What weapon do I use?
- AOE cannon all the way. You can use the pistol/shield or the rifle up until this, but I highly suggest the AOE cannon for the killing. While the shield does give a nice boost (only applies to lvl 26 and up), the time it takes to switch to the cannon after pulling and the damage loss heavily outweighs the armor. That is why we have increase mass. If you find yourself having problems, use the shield, but you'll notice the speed difference. Unless you have a big team who can do the killing for you after you pull and your job is just to group them up, AOE cannon all the way
What skills should I use?
- Nebula lvl 6 is your best friend here. If you're going to be doing these runs a lot, spend the 2 plat for a respec and put nebula to 6. It's ridiculously fast at dispatching groups.
- Gravity well lvl 6. Stand against that rock and pull everything even closer than they already are.
- Neutron Stomp. Whatever level you have points left for. Gives them all a nice tumble, keeping them off your back and letting nebula kill them off.
- Increase mass lvl 6. Pretty obvious
- Graviton Slam. Directional AOE attack, but pretty devastating if shot out at a huge group
- Growing Rage lvl 6. Huge crit increase + Nebula = LOL GF TY4PLAYING
-See the trend here? The only skills that you really need 6 in are Nebula, Increase Mass, Growing Rage and Gravity Well. Other than that, the floor is yours. Go with all AOE and just destroy, or throw in some regen skills. I'll warn you though, when you're getting hit...your health regen skills won't be able to keep up as fast and stim packs.
Can I do this with a class that's not a commando?
- Well yea....but good luck. Hope you've got money for stims.
I'm sure I forgot stuff...I'll edit in things as they come to me. Lost my place a while ago lol.
