I've been trying for two days to kill an Aputech Guardian. First, I tried going head to head with one. But they never seem to run out of energy, and I do.

Then, I tried getting them to chase me. But they won't chase for long, and I have to head back to them after a while.

And I can never seem to get one alone. They seem to work in pairs.

Any tips? Do I need a joystick or something?

it's a matter of tactics.

1. They generally attack in pairs
2. They generally fire at 200m
3. They generally dodge proportionately better the longer your firing burst is.
4. They're bots.. so they tend to be a bit dumb

So, instead of just going head on into a hail of fire, try strafing hard on a diagonal, use short, well aimed bursts of fire and whittle it down slowly.

Quick general tips against Guardians:

1. Watch the couple, allways turn to opposite direction that the far one is. Imagine the nearest in center of radar, the far bot is at its left/top. Move to right/down, so you narrow their line of fire.

2. Keep ALLWAYS moving in at least one direction, i.e. keep at least one of (qawsedrf) keys pressed, while alternating other keys. Like, keep pushing "up" while alternating left/right/fwd/back. Add frequent rolls (q,e) to keep bots calculating where you are.

3. Distance control: When they start shooting, it is time to close in, in zig-zag pattern, then start shooting. Another practical way to do distance control is using F/A - Flight Assist. Turn it on to approach, off to retreat.

4. Make sure AA - Auto-Aim - is ON. there must be "AA" above/right your HUD's reticle.

5. Choose the fastest guns you can, with good autoaim. For light, Gauss. Large, Gatling turrets.

6. Use a heavier, combat ship. A Hog is a good choice, but bare minimum is a Revenant (for a newbie!)

Good luck there. Guardians are nasty, problably the most dangerous bots in game. Overseers have a heavy punch but are really slow and fight alone... While guardians are agile and fight in couples...

Large, Gatling turrets.

You're a fucking idiot, Alloh. You'll only hit the damned thing if you're within 50m.

Use the Plasma Devastator, Eliminator, or Annihilator. They're the Gauss of Heavy weapons.

----

Guardians seem to suck against roll strafes. Any strafe key (a,d,r,f) plus a roll (q or e). Then shoot as they get within 130m. Only 2 shots at a time max though, otherwise they dodge. Warthog is usually a good mix of S&L-port.

Geez Kierky. The gatling turrets may not be the most efficient weapon choice, but Alloh was trying to help. Did you really have to attack him?

I agree with endercp12 in that moving on a diagonal and firing in bursts is the way to go. Sometimes I turbo for a second just to break their pattern if their aim is getting too good. These are tough bots and you have to watch that you don't run out of energy or they will overwhelm you,

Let me clarify what Alloh means by "fastest" guns: You want to use weapons with high velocity. This reduces the amount of time your target has to dodge before the shots hit them. Higher velocity is better.

+1 Kierky, saved me the trouble

I happened to watch a video tutorial today, and in one of the videos, the maker made a point of mentioning how nasty guardians are, so I'm feeling a bit less bad.

I guess I'll just have to commit myself to dying enough times to learn how to fight these.

I'm not sure if there's much reason to kill guardians. If you're looking for xp, you get better xp for the time with other bots. Assaults are a good way to go.

You're still better off fighting Assault class bots, still more efficient, even after the EXP buff.

I used to practice my flare-flinging (well, Jackhammer-flinging, anyway) by taking potshots at Guardians. Hardly an ideal weapon for bot hunting, I know, but they make such inviting targets. :^D

The exp buff made crap for difference. Mostly didn't work.

Keep strafing and fire short bursts. Works on any bot.

Errrm, ever actually tried botting with an AGT? AGT+Hog = Botticide. AGT is actually a great choice against hive, get up close, let em have it and retreat, you dont even have to point right at the target to hit it, giving some ace evasion angles.

You suck Kierky. So ner ner.

Thank you, Master Yoda. All said!

Also, a Centaur with 2xAGT and a Gauss3 is one of my favourite de-botting tool! But since centaurs are not for newbies, go with Hogs, muffledcry. And save your shots if you wanna hit (bursts), spam when you want to retreat.

The Plasma (Devastator, Eliminator, Annihilator) are great weapons too, great aim, heaviest punch, but each shot drains too much energy for a newbie's Light/Medium Power Cell. Surely a good alternative once they get the Heavy cell.

It does not drain too much energy. It takes only four or so hits to kill an assault and that's well within even a light cell's power capacity.

Yeah a Plasma Devestator MkII is rockin in hive skirmishes. You can mow down hive assaults so fast the mission will be over before you know what's happened. :)

Get the megaposi. Get a Hog Mk II and a fast or ultra charge. Go kill bots. So easy an Alloh could do it!

Indeed, Plasma Devastator will be available for newbies much sooner than AGTs... so better is take them, or the best you can.

A smart not-so-newbie would also pay a quick visit to grayspace and enjoy the lower license requirements...