Please note you can also find it over on my web space. Link to whatever you want.
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This will be the last time this guide is updated. Ever. I do not care about glaring mistakes anymore.
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As before, this guide is intended for advanced players or those who want to know why Trico is so difficult to use effectively. However, now I am including information on all of Trico's shot types as well as general information about the mobile.
Remember, if you choose this mobile, you will be whatever shots you have available, not the ones you want to do. Even if this means ignoring someone right next to you. This is because Trico is extremely angle dependent. Teleports are your friend.
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Power is indicated in this guide in a scale of 0-4. That is, each 1 is 1/4 the total power, or one set of arrows on top of/bottom of the power meter. The slice/drag meter is 400 pixels wide, and evenly divides out to this scale. This means that 2.50 power can also be treated as 250 pixels.
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Trico information
HP: 925
Hit box size: approx 45x25
Pros:
- Very high power
- Very heavy shots
- Versatile array of weapons
- Good delay for its damage
- Smashes Boomers well
- Infinite supply of cabbage
- Constant supply of "omg" when you do it right
Cons:
- Very low HP, tied with Boomer.
- Extremely angle-dependent
- SS is a gamble
- Right shooting melee sucks
- Wind can be a huge pain in the ass
- Newbie bigfoots give you headaches
- Constant supply of "omg fukin noob" when you don't
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One important thing to note is that all of Trico's weapons have the exact same weight. This means that you can interchange them with no trouble whatsoever.
Something which causes some confusion is that larger weight is more wind resistance. This is, and is not true. All weapons in the game are affected equally by wind. However, the different weight means that you spend a different amount of time in the air, because the power required is different. Boomer's shots are very light, and thus require very little power to go a significant distance. You will also note that they take longer to move than shots of other mobiles. Thus, the longer something stays in the air, the more wind affects it. Trico's shots, being the heaviest in the game (next to Nak #1), tend to spend the least time in the air of all weapons in the game, and this means wind has the least effect.
Basically, Softnyx oversimplified: Weight is supposed to affect what power will do, and more importantly momentum through the wind. A higher momentum would be more difficult for wind to affect. However, all they did was change the gravity for different weapons, and nothing else. This is an important distinction to know.
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From this point on I'm going to include links to graphs made with gnuplot, showing the path and spin of the shots taken. This is meant as a visual aid for those who don't see what effect power and angle will have.
There are, however, a few things to note about these graphs:
- The numbers indicating position are in pixels. Gunbound's play area is 800 by 517 pixels.
- While the destination point is accurate, the spin is not exactly perfect, so take it with a grain of salt. Better than it was before, though.
- The graph covers an area 820 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall. However, for 'high' shots it will go up to 1000 pixels.
- The origin point of shooting is 20,40 (or -20,40 for left-shooting), to pretend that the center of the Trico, on level ground, is at the center. Note that this is not possible for high angles, and should be considered.
- I will mostly be using right-shooting pictures because they are both more versatile for range and easier to see the effects of.
- The purple oval is your target's hit box. This is to show how sometimes strange looking spins will hit the target.
- Lastly, the red line is the original shot, and the blue and green lines are the rotating cabbage.
- Yes, the green is searing on the eyes. Deal with it.
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Trico Shot #1
Damage: 160 avg
Weapon type: Explosive
Blast radius: 100x70 pixels
Delay: 740
True Angle: 20 degrees
Full Angle: 40 degrees
Lowest angle: 10 degrees
Starts at coordinate from center of mobile: 20, 40
The rather low damage and low vertical blast radius of this weapon makes it best for an angle destroyer, or for sinking multiple targets down if dualed. Fortunately, the delay is low.
I generally only use this weapon when I need angle, need to make sure the opponent doesn't, or if there is no other way to make a shot. I also find it useful for when meleeing when facing right; Drop one on their feet at the first turn to dig them in slightly, and to give yourself shotgun angle. If they move closer to use the angle, so much the better for you.
On many maps it can be valuable to spend one turn making angle by firing a shot at the ground. Practice will show which locations need you to do this and which ones do not.
One useful thing to know: 78 degrees, full power (not just short of, as stated earlier - I apologize), is Trico's full screen shot in null wind. This applies for all of Trico's shots. If you ever have the need to do high angle ruler Trico, that's the way to go. I find it most useful on Stardust. Here is a graph. Graph.
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Trico Special Shot
Damage: 300 avg
Weapon type: Explosive
Blast radius: Varies
Delay: 1290
True Angle: 20 degrees
Full Angle: 20 degrees
Lowest angle: 20 degrees
Starts at coordinate from center of mobile: 20, 40
Trico's SS is the most random in the game, making it somewhat less than reliable for deathblows and such.
Basically, wherever you hit, it spawns several mini-explosions around it, and they are randomly placed. The amount of damage done is based on the proximity of the mobile to the mini-explosions. The more of them you catch, obviously the more damage you will do. This is why hitting directly on top of someone tends to not do very much: They only catch the bottom half of the explosions.
Blasting it so that it goes into the mobile in some fashion is ideal, and generally landing it at their feet will do well enough; The explosions seem to have more horizontal tolerance than vertical tolerance.
This does not mean that you will get proper damage if you hit someone perfectly: I once SS'd a mammoth perfectly and watched it do an awe-inspiring 173 damage.
A much better use of the SS is for bunging. While, again, the randomly placed mini explosions make it unreliable at times, you are generally guaranteed at least 100 pixels of vertical destruction wherever you hit.
Also, similar to shot #1, you can drop it at the feet of your enemy on the first turn to give yourself some angle for right-shooting.
Given how random it is, I cannot tell if Force has any effect on its damage.
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Trico Shot #2
Damage: 270 avg total
Weapon type: Explosive
Blast radius: 64x48 per cabbage
Delay: 890
True Angle: 20 degrees
Full Angle: 40 degrees
Lowest angle: 10 degrees
Cabbage distance: approx 43 pixels apart
Starts at coordinate from center of mobile: 20, 40
Finally, the meat of this guide. Trico #2 is a very versatile weapon, if difficult to control. It has a significant amount of power for its delay and can be used to destroy the land in a variety of different fashions.
The first thing to understand is how Trico shoots - Read this part carefully, as it contains the fundamentals of all Trico use.
When fired all three cabbage are contained at the same location. In a small fraction of a second they will split apart. This means that if you do not give enough power, they will expand into your mobile. This is similar to other mobiles that have more than one projectile on a shot, and should be well familiar to Mage and Turtle users.
The center cabbage is your normal shot and has the same trajectory as shot #1 or SS. The other two rotate around an imaginary central shot. If they are separated, they will continue to spin around where the original would have been. In tornadoes, the outer cabbages move independently, and do not spin around their tether. Yes, this is a royal pain in the neck: I vote against even trying to use it in them.
Firing left has all three cabbage coming out in a straight line with respect to your firing angle, and will spin counter-clockwise. ie: If you fire at 60 degrees, they will come out at a 60 degree angle. At less than 0.5 power or thereabouts, the rear cabbage will expand into your mobile. Functionally, this means that you have a 'minimum' range, because at close range you will be unable to put enough spin on it at lower angles. On the other hand, it is very easy to do melee lobs in this direction; A little bit of practice is all it needs. It will do this for all directions <90>
Firing right has them at a right angle to your firing angle, or perpendicular. In other words, sideways. It also spins in a clockwise fashion. This causes a rather significant problem: A significant amount of airtime is required to cause them to spin into the target, which in turn significantly degrades your ability to melee when facing right. If you just shoot normally, they will land flat on the ground, which unless your opponent has about 60 hp is not going to do much good. It will do this for all directions <90>
One way to compensate for the weak power in right-shooting melee is to walk up VERY close to your opponent and shoot with the lowest true angle you can get and extremely low power. As in, 1/10 to 1/4 power. Odds are fairly good you will hit yourself a little (70 seems like a good average here), but it's better than hardly doing any damage at all.
The spin and initial spawn of 90 degrees is based on your current direction.
Due to the fact that the spin is different depending on the angle, it means that backshots are in no way easier than normal shots. And are probably more difficult, to be honest. Anyone who says otherwise is a dirty liar.
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Shotgunning is, of course, an important part of playing Trico. But there are a few things to note: Because of the way the cabbage split, the direction you are facing affects the effectiveness and range of your shotgun. When shooting left you can hit with all three with little land damage for up to half a screen. Here is a graph at 9 degrees. Graph. (I think this graph is way wrong. but what do I know, anyway?)
When shooting right, you will still hit for up to about 1/4 of a screen, but you cannot dual because it will chew up the ground. Only if you hit them on the top of the mobile, where the land damage won't be as much, can you dual safely when shooting right. Additionaly, if you are far enough away, you can shotgun well at range. Here is a graph at 9 degrees. Graph.
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The first step is to know your zero wind shots with Trico, and how to adjust for position.
Left-shooting:
- Melee, no spins: Low angle, low power. Graph. You'll notice that the top cabbage goes over - This is normal. If you think about it, you'll realize that the hit boxes of enemies are large enough that it will soar into them anyway. This shot should require practice and you should not require figures for it.
- Half screen, 1st spin: 66 degrees, 2.05 power. Graph. Yes, adjusted. The old figure has been slightly wrong for a very, very long time. Even I wasn't using it.
- Full screen, 1st spin: 44 degrees, 2.5 power. Graph. Note that this is just barely on the edge of being able to hit them. This shot does not extend much further without a significant power increase.
- Half screen, 2nd spin: 81 degrees, 3.2 power. Graph. Yes, it really does require 81 degrees. But think of the "omg" spam you'll get when you hit with it.
- Full screen, 2nd spin: 71 degrees, 3.22 power. Graph. Yes, almost no power adjustment, believe it or not. High angles don't require much adjustment.
Any further spins will require more than full power to do, and thus are not to be attempted. The high angle shots are for reference only, and are not recommended to be used unless you have absolutely no choice, due to the sensitivity of power required.
Right-shooting:
- Quarter screen, 1st spin: 68 degrees, 1.45 power. Graph. Some things (almost) never change.
- Half screen, 1st spin: 50 degrees, 1.72 power. Graph. You'll note that one cabbage goes over. Again, with the low angle and speed we are coming in at, we are going to smash the hitbox anyway. Remember that the cabbages themselves have some decent radius (6-7 pixels or thereabouts)
- Half screen, 2nd spin: 76 degrees, 2.55 power. Graph.
- Half screen, 2nd spin: 77 degrees, 2.65 power. Graph. For comparision purposes.
- Full screen, 2nd spin: 60 degrees, 2.7 power. Graph. Again, some things never change.
- Half screen, 3rd spin: 84 degrees, 3.9 power. Graph. Ultra High Angle Trico!
- Full screen, 3rd spin: 77 degrees, 3.85 power. Graph. This shot is crazy.
Any further spins will require more than full power. Heck, the 3rd spin ones are almost full power themselves. I don't recommend using the really high angle ones... They're not as reliable.
I removed the section on angle ratios because, on further inspection, it's wrong. ;)
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Of course, being able to hit just certain points of the screen isn't terribly useful. Adjusting your shot it going to be the bulk of your time playign Trico, and learning how to use it.
Horizontal changes are relatively easy: Treat the angles for a given spin like you do rulers for high angle shots. For example, if you know 60 degrees is full screen right, and 76 is half screen right, then 3/4 screen right is going to be 68. Interpolate power and there you go. Example: 68 degrees, 2.6 power. Graph.
Note that yes, this means each individual spin type will give you a different 'ruler' to go by. They're fine-grained enough that you generally do not have to worry about things like between angles for the shots under 3 power.
This does break down for lower angles, however, and you will need to add power. How much is difficult to tell.
Vertical changes involve a change of both power and angle. When shooting up, you will need to add angle. When shooting down, you will need to lower angle. The reason why you have to change angle will be explained in the next section.
An example here is the right full screen shot: Shooting up by 200 pixels requires 4 degrees and .35 more power: 64 degrees, 3.05 power. Graph. If you don't raise angle, you get this: Graph.
Shooting down by 200 pixels requires -4 degrees, and -.28 power: 56 degrees, 2.42 power. Graph. If you don't lower angle, you get this: Graph. (This one comes out moderately alright, but is not sustainable for much further!)
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Of course, if all we ever shot in was null wind we'd never actually have to think about our shot. We could just ruler everything. So unless we all run aimbots, we have to know how to adjust our shots.
The first step is to know how to adjust the spin of the cabbage. Since that they spin downwards/outwards from you regardless of the direction you face, it keeps the process fairly simple.
This part is very important, learn it well. The key to controlling spin is to control airtime. That is, how long your shot stays in the air. The way to think about this is that power affects airtime, angle affects destination. Angle also affects initial spin, meaning you may have to change power again too!
The general rule is that you raise power (and thus, angle) for more spin, because your shot will stay in the air longer. Conversely, lower power and angle for less spin. In general you only need minute amounts for both for proper adjustment - Practice will tell you how much.
To apply this properly, you have to watch your shot as it sails gracelessly past your target, and then note what changes you'll have to make. Not just position, but also in spin. This, needless to say, takes a sizable portion of time.
Because of all this, whenever you change position, you must also change spin - this includes when changing vertical position. If you cut power enough so that you hit your target, the spin ends up being just short enough that it does not hit properly.
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That's great and all, but we have to hit the first time. Or at least the second. And certainly not the fifth. So, for this, we have to understand how wind affects Trico's shots and how to adjust for them.
Vertical wind is relatively straightforward. It changes gravity, and thus it affects airtime only.
Upwind you have to reduce both power and angle. This is because if you reduce only power, you will over-spin: Remember, you are travelling the same distance, but it takes longer because your power is lower. This also means that you will have difficulty making some shots because it will significantly reduce your range: Some shots become nearly impossible. The 1st spin half screen right shot comes to mind. Here is a graph of full screen right, 2nd spin, in 20 wind up: 54 degrees, 2.33 power. Graph.
Downwind is, obviously, the other way around, and forces you to raise both power and angle. For a similar reason: You will underspin if you do not raise angle, because you are traveling the same distance, but going faster doing it. Unlike upwind, this actually increases the range of your shots significantly. However, doing the mental math to actually make this worthwhile (and not doing a, I don't know, EASIER shot...) is more work than it is worth. Here is a graph of full screen right, 2nd spin, in 20 wind down: 66 degrees, 3.2 power. Graph.
Yes, there IS a ratio here. There has to be, it is only a gravity change and nothing more. 20 wind is equivalent to a 20% change in angle based from 90 degrees. Power is then compensated for based on expected spin. (Picture the new ruler position for that angle, then cut power until you get the destination you want.) Total airtime does not change. This is important to know when you are compensating for multiple winds. While your trajectory changes, your spin time basically does not. Since this means horizontal wind's effect will be identical if you compensate for vertical correctly, I recommend figuring out vertical wind after you do horizontal calculations.
Horizontal wind is NOT straightforward and is very difficult to do correctly. Even I have significant trouble with it, although far less than I used to. Horizontal wind does not affect airtime at all, and this is very important to remember. However, power does control airtime, and you do need to change power in order to change spin.
Power is what controls the width of the rulers, so to speak, and the strength of the wind affects the starting position of it. The starting position is exactly the same regardless of power. 79.3 degrees at 20 wind left will hit yourself regardless of how much power you put into it. Upwind affects the ratio here, as it does with most things. (The 20% rule still holds.) This is why the common wisdom is add or subtract half the wind power to your angle. However, it's still wrong once you move away from the very high angle shots, because the ruler is non-linear, and that means each angle will move less than the last.
Wind at you requires lower angle and more power. Why? Because you need to both travel further, -and- the wind will change the angle which you will come in at, so you need a different power. Only practice (or entirely too much math) will tell you how much you need to do. Again, use power to control the spin it comes in at, and then choose your angle. Here is a graph of full screen right, 2nd spin, in 20 wind left: 53 degrees, 3.0 power. Graph. And here's one of it at 3rd spin, 67 degrees, 4.0 power. Graph. Half screen right, 2nd spin, 66 degrees, 2.75 power. Graph.
Wind away from you, of course, requires higher angle and less power. This is because you need to travel not as far, and you need to come in at a lower spin for when you impact. I still have yet to come up with a decent algorithm - But the amount of angle that requires changing is significantly greater than that of wind towards you. Maybe 1.5 to 2x. Here is a graph of full screen right, 2nd spin, in 20 wind right: 70 degrees, 2.55 power. Graph. And here is a graph of full screen right, 3rd spin, in 20 wind right: 88 degrees, 3.8 power. Graph. Aaaaand here's half screen right, 2nd spin, in 20 wind right: 87 degrees, 2.55 power. Graph. Note that the only one that had its power changed was 2nd spin full right. This is because of its lowish angle by comparision to the rest.
It is important that you interpret each wind separately. This means if you are facing 16 wind at a 45 degree angle, you want to treat it as 11 wind of both. I recommend compensating for horizontal first, then vertical.
Yes, this means that your initial shot in strong wind will be very time consuming and difficult. But from then on you can rely on your knowledge of shot adjustments.
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Some example shots: (All diagonals are at 45 degrees from the axises)
- Full screen right, 2nd spin, wind 12 upright: 62 degrees, 2.45 power. Graph. (From 60, up to 64 due to rightwind, then down to 62 due to upwind)
- Full screen right, 2nd spin, wind 12 upleft: 54 degrees, 2.65 power. Graph. (From 60, down to 56 due to leftwind, then down to 54 due to upwind.)
- Full screen right, 2nd spin, wind 12 downleft: 59 degrees, 3.00 power. Graph. (From 60, down to 56 due to leftwind, then up to 59 due to downwind.)
- Full screen right, 2nd spin, wind 12 downright: 67 degrees, 2.85 power. Graph. (From 60, up to 64 due to rightwind, then up to 68 due to downwind)
- Full screen right, 2nd spin, wind 8 left: 56 degrees, 2.80 power. Graph. (From 60, down to 56 due to leftwind.)
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Other things you can do with the crazy swirly cabbage:
If you use the wrong direction's shot, you get what is equivalent to a spreadfire. Good if your opponent has very little life left or if you want to flatten out the ground to thwart their attempts at angling.
If you come in slightly short of your target, both in position and spin, you will 'dig' your opponent in. The first cabbage will hit at his feet, then the next will hit in the hole (digging him in), then the third will go in further. It generally does about 150-160 damage. I did not practice enough to be able to do this reliably, but it can be useful. Warning: This WILL give him angle. You'll have to follow up with a #1 or SS to cut that off.. Preferably the latter.
Yes, 90 degrees full power straight up will make you hit yourself with all 3 in zero wind. Not that there is any reason to do this other than goofing off.
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Trico vs other mobiles: (alphabetical order)
Aduka: DINO SMASH. High power mobile balanced only by its HP/angle vs delayed power mobile with little to no angle destruction power (if it wants to do anything!!!) equates to pretty fast death of the Aduka.
Armor: This is a nightmare matchup in melee. Armor has high hp, high def, and hurts like hell. Your best bet is to run the hell away and get into a lob war. You may have to deal with the SS nuke, but it's better that he misses and you get a chance to take him and his angle down. Armor can't do anything without its angle, like Trico. Even better, its firing point is fairly low, so you don't have to worry quite so much about that. Trico has fairly low delay, but it's not enough to make up for Armor's power.
A.Sate: High damage, but not that much trouble at range. The real problem is at midrange, where it tends to flatten the ground as well as pack some serious punch. Either melee it or long range it, but try not to stay where it's going to cause you problems in more than one way.
Boomer: Pray for non-null wind. All in all though, this could go either way. They are both low HP, high power mobiles, meaning it becomes more a matter of who hits who more, and who uses delay better. Neither can really mess up the other's angle. Staying in lob position from them generally tilts the odds in your favor though. If you can melee them, you have already pretty much won. It takes 4 solid hits to kill a Boomer. That is not much. (I have even killed them from full in a mere two duals before.)
Bigfoot: Skilled bigfoots are actually not your biggest worry here. It's the "flattening all the ground around you and pecking you for 80 damage" type that's a problem; Continuously losing your angle and also position can be a serious problem in the long run. Yes, even newbies will cause you trouble. Not much can be done about it though. Just don't play bigbomb or something. ;) On the other hand, Bigfoots have hilariously low defense, giving Trico the most damage it can do against any mobile.
Dragon: What is fun? Landing an SS right in the belly of an airborne dragon.(450 damage average!) Additionally you don't eat any ground when shotgunning, so you can safely dual right at further distances than you normally could. Thor won't take any either: I once did a 1/3rd screen right dual shotgun during Thor to kill one. If you can't utterly clobber the thing (with help from teammates, heh) like this, you'd best stick to range. Real no brainer here.
Grub: Some basic precautions basically nullify most of their power, but you have to be worried about their ability to mess up your angle and dig you in. Meaning you should never, ever let them roll their shots into you while you're in a ditch of any form: You'll get completely screwed.
Ice: Smart ones will lower your def then go into serious angle destruction mode at range. You're best off meleeing them if you can, otherwise be prepared for a long, drawn out angle destruction war. In general, I tend to favor the Trico in this fight in the long run though.
JD: Oddly, not as much of a problem as you might think. The ones that just machine gun #1 aren't really a big threat at all. Only at range, when they are smart enough to eat your angle... But the explosion radius is big enough to usually give you angle again. One smart enough to Dual #2 you into a hole, though, will be problematic. You're basically going to be fighting a war where you plow through the ground in order to hit your target. Depending on the wind you can generally get out of having this happen with a good teleport.
Knight: Treat it like a Boomer. It has basically the same effect on your fighting. As long as you don't get clobbered with Thor on you're good.
Lightning: Do not underestimate this mobile. In the hands of a good player a dual can send you into a hole where you can't do anything. And he'll keep digging it deeper. Lightnings are tough to destroy, as well, so you have to keep dancing around your terrain while fighting them. Beware ones below you on Metropolis. Getting rid of their angle is not always the best solution: Odds are good they can still hit you with #2 unless you are sufficiently far away.
Mage: Kinda like a low grade Armor with better delay. Except this one you can melee safely; Trico basically has the advantage as long as the Mage is not playing the angle-destruction game. What's he going to do? SS your Trico shield?
Nak: Now this is a problem. You need angle to hit them, but, oops, they smash the ground out from under your feet if you try to get it. Skilled Naks can cause you more trouble than any other mobile, since there really IS no safe terrain. You'll be forced to stick to low angle shots. Trying to stay at long range here is a real no-brainer.
Raon: #1's hole-making ability is not anything to worry about, since, hey, it gives you angle. The damage is low, as well. The SS can be problematic (Especially in SSDeath. Curse you pockets) if the terrain is not in your favor about it. The real trouble here only lies in the hands of the kind of skilled Raon players that can dump mines on either side of you at about 20 pixels apart from half the length of the arena. This is more a war of hitting more than they hit you, and keeping the mines from doing too much damage. (Walking over one of them to get far enough away to make the other fall asleeep)
Turtle: I have fought so few skilled turtles that I can't even think of anything to say on this matter. Keep screwing their angle, is about it. They can't move terribly far, so if you flatten the ground out they really can't do much.
Trico: In the unlikely event you find yourself playing a skilled Trico user, you should know the mobile well enough by now in order to thwart them. If not, there is no real strategy: Keep doing damage, and try to screw up angles whenever possible.
You may have noticed a theme about your angle by now. That is because it is far more important than taking damage. Trico is about dealing damage, not taking it! If you want that, play Ice.
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Maps:
Adiumroot: No wind changes, which could be blissful or nightmarish, depending on what you get. Dozens of tornadoes don't help you much, especially not in double death unless you go the bunge route. Trico #2 can chew through half of the pipe's thickness, though, so if you use the bunging technique with it you can get some good effects. If I'm not meleeing I pretty much always spend one turn to make some angle, though.
Cave: Everybody's favorite map of complete mindlessness! If you start facing left, you're good. Otherwise, you're not, unless you can get some good distance. Back in the old days I'd have suggested teleporting to the left head and sniping away, but seeing as how half the time you are now either eating wind change or tornado, sniping from there is not very viable anymore. Feel free to try though. Since you have low HP you cannot face two mobiles at once, so either try to get someone to meat shield or try to run away if that circumstance occurs. The terrain at least gives you decent places to angle from.. Not that you need it.
Cozy Tower: The center bridge is a bad place to be. Everyplace else is good though. Strategy is really no different from that of any other mobile - Stay away from where you are easily bunged.
Dummy Slopes: The right perch on the leftmost platform is the tastiest place for Trico to be. Perhaps in the entire game. There are lots of places to get angle here, but not always where you need them. Being on a downward slope is a bad thing, especially on the far side platforms.
Dragon: This map is the worst, because the ground is predominantly curved downwards, and you have lots of humps to shoot over. This means you don't get much angle and you need a lot of it. The best position to get is just left of the first large ridge left of center.
Meta Mine: Cave with more breathing room and readily available angles. This would be Trico Map Of Ultimate Doom #2 if it weren't for the fact that you have to deal with 2x wind change and 2x tornado, as with Cave. Either way, the terrain works well for you, so use it.
Metropolis: A headache, but not as bad as Stardust. Shooting up the right incline is cake. For the most part you're going to be itching for some terrain to angle from, though - This is one of the maps where I prefer to make myself some angle if I spawn up top and cannot get any easily.
Miramo: Here it is, Trico Map Of Ultimate Doom #1. Free angles everywhere, long distances, a tolerable amount of wind changes, almost no chance of being bunged... What more could you ask for? A good Trico can dominate on this map if not stuck into a melee fight.
Nirvana: This map is far too lacking in good angles to be a Map of Ultimate Doom, but it's still above average. Bunging is usually not much of an issue. Try to stay away from the flat center and the downcurve to the right of it. Neither is particularly healthy for you.
Sea of Hero: For the most part there are few 'bad' positions on this map. Far right is the worst if you need to do ranged, but it's great if you've got osmeone to melee up there. Second to far right is probably the worst overall because you are in a relatively easy to hit spot if you try to get angle to hit in either direction. Overall this map is right about average for Trico though.
Stardust: This map is a serious problem after a few turns. Why? Because when you are in the middle, when facing right your ONLY choice is to high angle and smash through the ground above you. This is the only place where I can seriously recommend high angle ruler Trico with #1 and SS. On the other hand, as long as you can stay up top you're pretty much safe.
Cozy Tower Side B: If nothing else this map is great ranged practice. And punishing with bad aim on teleports. No real good or bad positions here.
Meta Mine Side B: Now this map is a problem. As in Stardust, you need to be able to lob over: You have more range to do so, but trying to aim all the way up to the top of the screen, accurately, is a... problem, to say the least. If you can get everyone down low you're pretty much safe. Also, similar to Adiumroot, there are no wind changes, which is another major problem.
You'll notice that I have a preference for long range combat. This is correct - Melee is too much 'smash or die', and Trico doesn't have enough HP to really sustain it for very long.
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Items:
Dual, 600 delay: Good ole trusty Dual. Given that Trico is such a powerhouse, this item is probably going to be more or less a given.
Dual+, 250 delay: Less useful than it could have been, since trying to do shot #1 first tends to pulverize the ground enough that they get knocked down a smidge too much before the #2 lands. If you can compensate for that, then great. Better off doing #2 first, though, which reduces the usefulness of this as an item. Sine Trico is all about damage, plain old Dual is likely better in the long run anyway, especially with Trico's decent delay all around.
Blood, 0 delay: Lose 74 HP, do 1/3rd more damage. See Powerup.
Powerup, 150 delay: Do 1/3rd more damage. Generally this is about +90 more damage, which is not insubstantial, but is not particularly substantial either. It takes three of them to make a Dual, and in general if you're using damage up stuff you want enemies dead right now. They're a nice idea, but they just don't work out all that well in the long run. If you're playing Tag, you want deathblows, not slow, creeping death. And no, one of these will not be enough to allow you to kill a Boomer in two hits unless you are very lucky.
Bandaid, 100 delay: Half a medkit. Heals 138 HP. Not too fond of these: Generally, when you need healing, you need it right now. I'd rather play the delay game and use a medkit -- Trico's decent delay helps that immensely.
Medkit, 300 delay: Heals 277 HP. Enough to survive one more hit, or cancel out a Dual. Only good for buying you enough time to hone your aim more, which Trico needs as much of as it can get.
Shovel, 50 delay: I am not convinced of the usefulness here, but I suppose using the bunge trick in combination with this would be able to make some very nice holes for your enemies to stay in. I'll have to try it more thoroughly one day.
Wind Change, 150 delay: The best defensive item in the game, as long as you're not stuck in null wind. A good way to thwart Boomers, if nothing else. If I am facing a big pack of them, I'll seriously consider taking one.
Thunderbolt, 200 delay: I honestly do not see this as terribly useful for Trico. The increased damage is better off gotten with a Powerup, the attack is too inaccurate to really screw up position, etc, etc.
Teleport, 100 delay: Teleports are your friend. There are far too many times where you will have trouble making your shot from your current position, or end up meleeing someone that you really do not want to.
For the record, my usual loadout is Dual/Medkit/Teleport in a Tag/Solo game. In Score, it's Dual/Dual/Teleport. I don't play Score very often anymore, though. Jewel tends to be the most entertaining Blood/Blood/Blood/Blood/Teleport combination.
And no, I didn't cover Team Teleport. Three guesses why.
It's a long road to Trico mastery. You can get reasonably competent in a few days, but being able to just toss out whatever you want is extremely difficult and is the largest challenge in this game IMO.
Well, that's about it. If you have any questions feel free to PM me in the forums, or post a topic on it. It's fairly likely I'll respond. I do not play very much anymore, but usually I'm willing to give a few interactive lessons. (Particularly with some incentive to do so.)
You are free to use this guide wherever you wish, as long as I am credited as the author. If you don't credit me, I will tell you to go stick your head in a pig in a violent fashion. And nobody wants that.
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