Satchel charge
From Tribes2Wiki
The Satchel Charge was a powerful explosive that any player could deploy. The charge requires about 5 seconds to arm after deployment. After it has been armed, it can be remote-detonated by the player who deployed it. Satchel Charges can be destroyed with weapon fire (causing a much smaller explosion) or it can be removed from play by killing the person who set it.
In classic mod, satchel charges could be stuck to walls.
Contents |
[edit] Usage
Make a loadout and change your pack to the Satchel Charge Pack. Go to where you want to set it and throw it down with your Pack button. Once it lands, it will make a sound as it arms itself. 5 seconds later, you'll be able to send the signal to detonate it by pressing your Pack button. Remember that it takes 1 second after you send the signal for the explosion to take place, and you should adjust that time for your ping.
Your GUI will give you signals as to the state of your Satchel Charge. YELLOW means that the Satchel Charge is still arming itself. RED means that it's ready to detonate. If it disappears, then it blew up on its own, probably from weapon fire.
[edit] How to use the Satchel Charge effectively
The Satchel Charge can be very effective in the right hands. The Siege game type in particular is a perfect match for the Satchel Charge, because of how many maps require you to go indoors.
- Putting a Satchel Charge on a switch in Siege is almost a necessity. One touch on the switch and the round is lost. Everyone will look the other way if it was the only way to stop the capture.
- Satchel Charges are often placed at major chokepoints in large bases. It's even better if you can take out multiple enemies with one detonation. Note that Satchel Charges should be placed in such a way that your explosive is out of range of other Satchel Charges, or you may end up destroying the other ones.
- It is definitely possible to use a Satchel Charge on a generator in Siege more effectively than in other game types, especially when a generator only has to be down momentarily to allow a capture. The best tactics for pulling this off ranged from throwing Whiteout Grenades at people in a position to stop them to just slipping in while the enemy is distracted with other things.
- Throwing a Satchel Charge into lava will instantly detonate it at full damage. This bit of information is mostly harmless, as mortars were a much better weapon to use.
[edit] How to counter Satchel Charge usage
There were a few major ways Satchel Charges were countered in Siege.
- Satchel Charges used on generators were best countered by just blowing them up with weapons. If caught early enough, it was best to use a spinfusor to minimize collateral damage to base equipment. A plasma rifle could take it out more quickly and was a better option if you didn't catch it early on, but this could cause a bit of damage to the generator.
- When going into areas where Satchel Charges are expected, teams would often move single-file and try to have full Health/Energy with a shield pack. By moving only a single player forward at a time, they exposed less people to the explosion, while the Shield Pack actually allowed Medium/Heavy armors to survive the explosion itself.
[edit] How NOT to use the Satchel Charge
Unfortunately for the Satchel Charge, it has fallen into the hands of complete newbies who have no idea how to use it effectively. There is pretty much no valid time to use it in CTF. Seriously, anyone who uses a Satchel Charge outside Siege is probably hurting more than he's helping, unless he's playing on a crowded server with Team Damage disabled and he sucks so much that it's the best thing he can do.
- Detonating a Satchel Charge on your own flag causes collateral damage to deployed equipment and players in the vicinity of the explosion.
- Detonating a Satchel Charge on the enemy flag to stop an enemy's flag capture is a worthless gesture because it's highly unlikely that you have anyone in position to return the flag.
- Using a Satchel Charge on an enemy generator is not recommended because putting it in your loadout gives you no camping power and any generator defender could just blow it up if they noticed it. It's much better to blow up the generator yourself and use a Shield Pack.
- Using a Satchel Charge to defend your own generator room is not recommended because you can't guarantee your opponent's position, and because teams usually only have 1-2 people on that duty anyway. It's better to farm out a bit and then carry a Shield Pack or Repair Pack.
[edit] Technical info
| Base | Base++ | Classic | Version2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damage (detonated) | 1.0 | ? | 1.15 | ? |
| Blast radius (detonated) | 20 | ? | 25 | ? |
| Kickback strength (detonated) | 2500 | ? | 5000 | ? |
| Damage (destroyed) | 0.3 | ? | 0.35 | ? |
| Blast radius (destroyed) | 10 | ? | 15 | ? |
| Kickback strength (destroyed) | 1000 | ? | 2000 | ? |
Note that a detonated Satchel Charge deals triple the listed damage against armors, making it pretty much impossible to survive without a shield pack. This multiplier does not exist on a Satchel Charge that has been destroyed by weapons fire.
