Tribes Ascend Class/Map Guide

[Sekh765]

Hey folks, so we got a bit of interest going for Tribes: Ascend, more than I was expecting actually so I am going to go ahead and make the part 2 to my guide to the game. The focus of today is Classes! As always I appreciate feedback in the thread of what you think I did or didn't do right. Next I will probably do Maps.









The Pathfinder is arguably the fastest Light class in the game right now, and an excellent flag capper/chaser. It is also the cheapest light armored class and one of the first classes people are able to unlock once they start playing. Armed with a Spinfusor and a Shotgun, the Pathfinder is able to take on almost any class in a 1v1 battle. His grenade slot item is a Concussion grenade which knocks the flag out of enemy flag carriers hands, as well as gives him a substantial boost if thrown properly while skiing. This class is also the one which holds the Egocentric perk, possibly one of the most useful perks in the game by far.




The Infiltrator is the class for all you Tf2 Spy players out there. Quick, quiet, and deadly in the hands of a sneaky player. The Infiltrators goal is to sneak into the enemy base using his Cloaking pack and sabotage their generator, shoot people trying to repair it and generally be as trolly as possible. He is armed with a silenced SMG which can make short work of any light or medium class, sticky grenades which will stick to players and structures, and a silenced pistol for finishing folks off. Utilizing the ammo dropped by killed players the infiltrator can run around tossing sticky grenades like mad. High skill requirement but high reward class.




The Jumper is an interesting class still seeking its niche in the Beta. It is equipped with an explosive bolt thrower that functions as a light version of the Rangers Thumper, a sawed off shotgun and frag grenades. His big trick is his Jump pack, which gives the player a big burst of speed (0 to 85 on a flat surface), at the cost of their entire energy bar. The problem comes from the fact that you can't aim the jump pack, it always launches you forward, so currently the jumper cannot fulfill it's roll of chaser/flag capper as well as the Pathfinder. I expect this class to get a significant buff in the coming weeks.




The Sentinel fulfills the roll of Sniper on the Tribes team. Armed with the long range BTX1 Rifle, the Sniper functions almost identical to the Sniper in TF2. Unlike previous Tribes games, the snipers weapon charges up over 5 seconds just like his TF2 counter part, dealing a maximum of 500 damage at full charge instantly (hitscan). This may not seem like much when the medium armor class boasts more then 500 hp at default, but keep in mind that most players will attempt to boost their speed by disc/grenade hopping across the map, leaving them at low hp to be picked off by the Sentinel. I didn't find them paticularly useful since I am a bad shot, but I consistently get torn apart by good Senti players. He is also armed with a blaster pistol that deals decent damage and a claymore to surprise folks not paying attention. His backpack is a deployable sensor jammer that makes him very hard to see/locate from a distance.






The Ranger is one of the two default classes and like the Soldier, one of the most solid and well rounded classes in the game. Wielding the Assault Rifle and the Thumper the Ranger sports both powerful long and short range attacks. The Assault rifle is /not/ a hitscan weapon, but instead a very fast projectile gun (Earlier builds it was hitscan but it simply tore through everyone in the game). The Thumper deals 840 on a direct hit and is capable of giving the Airmail accolate on midair hits. The Assualt rifle is an excellent weapon for chasing down flag carriers due to how fast the projectile moves. He also carries a frag grenade and uses an energy pack for faster regen. The Ranger has the Survivalist perk hidden in his skill tree, making him an extremely desireable class to play so that you can have the perk which allows for health and energy regen when picking up enemy ammo packs.




The second of the default classes, the Soldier is more the traditional Tribes playstyle than the Ranger. Armed with the medium Spinfusor and the Eagle pistol, the Soldier is a simple class that serves one purpose, which is to kill everyone it meets. The Spinfusor is an excellent skirmishing weapon and allows for decent chase ability, while the Eagle pistol /is/ a hitscan weapon giving the Soldier excellent capabilities when it comes to finishing off wounded opponents. He is also armed with a frag grenade and energy pack. Many folks swear by his Bounty Hunter perk which gives the player more credits, I have yet to use it.




The Technician is the TF2 engi of the Ascend world. Armed only with a small but powerful SMG, the Technican does not present a very intimidating enemy. However when on the defense, the Technican has the capability of laying down small defense turrets which will rapidly tear apart even the Heavy if he doesn't kill them quickly. With abilites he can put down two of these at a time, making him an excellent class for defending the flag/generator. The Technician is also armed with an improved repair tool for fixing the base at a much faster rate than normal classes. He is also armed with frag grenades for self defense.





The Raider is a mix between the Ranger and the Juggernaut. He posses a rapid fire SMG similar to the Assault rifle, and a rapid fire grenade launcher that has a timed explosive similar to the Fusion Mortar. The Raider is designed to rush into the enemy base and start exploding things as quickly as possible. This design is supported by his use of the Shield pack which uses the players energy to protect him from hits. Fully upgraded the Raider makes a vicious base raper. His grenade is the EMP grenade which will instantly drain someones energy reserves, as well as disable base defenses if I remember correctly.




The Scrambler is one of the most interesting classes avaliable, able to quickly flag cap as well as base rape. Armed with the ARX Buster, the Scrambler can fire off 3 sticky grenades which explode moments after they stop flying, giving him tremendous strength in close quarters. His secondary weapon is the Sparrow, a weaker but faster firing version of the Eagle pistol. He is also armed with the Scrambler backpack which will mask him and nearby friendlies from the enemies sensors, as well as makes them harder to see. His hidden strength though is his Whiteout grenades, functionally the same as a Flash bang, these grenades will completely blind anyone looking at them when they go off. They ALSO will function as a minature conc grenade and launch the scrambler across the map if used properly, however he will blind himself if he screws up and tosses it too far. The Scrambler is currently the go to flag capper for experienced players.







The Juggernaut is the first Heavy armor class most people will unlock, oweing to its cheap cost, it is also the closest to the traditional Heavy from the original Tribes. Armed with a Spinfusor MKD and a Fusion Mortar, the Juggernaut is a nasty opponent to fight indoors, as well as a excellent long range bombardment class. On maps such as Drydock where the enemy has a very exposed flag zone, and your opponents enjoy stacking up there, a Juggernaut hiding off to the side bombarding them will make people miserable. The Fusion Mortar has the highest damage of any weapon in the game as far as I can tell and will instakill any light, and most mediums caught close to the blast. The Spinfusor MKD gives the Juggernaut decent self defense capabilities, and his Regen pack lets him regen his huge amount of health much faster. He is also equipped with a super Frag grenade which does rather ridiculous damage but is hard to aim.




The Brute is as far as I can tell the most hated class in the game currently. This is due to his huge amount of damage he can dish out, as well as his Fractal grenades which are capable of killing just about anyone in a few seconds. He is armed with a Heavy Spinfusor and an Automatic Shotgun which while simple, are very effective weapons, especially indoors. He has a rather irrelevant energy pack in the overall scheme of things, which you shouldn't really rely on for anything significant. The Brutes main strenght comes from his Fractal Grenade, which look like big green disco parties when active. If thrown in an enclosed space, these grenades will usually kill just about anyone, and the Brute can have up to 5 with perks. Very dangerous class, keep away from them in close quarters. Excellent at base rape.




The final class in the current Beta build is the Doombringer. Designed to be a stationary defender similar to TF2's Heavy, the Doombringer is a class in dire need of some tweaks to bring him up to the current power level of the game. Armed with a Chaingun and a Sabre Missile Launcher, the Doombringer is capable of grinding up most targets that stand still, as well as causing serious pain on anyone skiing paticularly high, or using a vehicle. The problem comes from the fact that the Sabre launcher has an enormously long lock on time, and there is no ability to dumb fire his missiles instead of waiting on it. He is also equipped with sticky grenades, for some reason noone has explained to me. One of his more useful abilities though is the Doombringers backpack is a stationary forcefield tied to your generators power. It will cause serious damage to anyone passing through it as well as blocks all projectiles, making it excellent for defense. The Doombringer will be a much more viable class once they have tweaked his weapons a bit.




These are all my opinions, I've been playing for a bit and thought I'd write this up to help folks out with picking where to spend their tokens. Drop anything you think about it in the replies!