Also, check out our review of Titanfall.
Titanfall is an online, multiplayer only game, with just a handful of game modes, but a multitude of tactical options. You can play the same mode and map a dozen different times and have a dozen different experiences. That’s the nature of a multiplayer game; you never know what the other team’s going to do, and, in turn, how you should respond. With that in mind, we have a few tips and tricks on surviving each of the five modes in Titanfall’s multiplayer.
The tips are meant to be general, and we’d love to hear more from you. If you have any specific strategies for surviving Titanfall‘s different modes, let us know in the comments below.
ATTRITION
What it is. Attrition is a twist on Team Deathmatch, incorporating most of what makes Titanfall unique. Kill an AI-controlled enemy NPC and you earn one point. Kill a human-controlled Pilot and you get four. Destroying a Titan earns you five points. The winner is the first team to score 250 points. Kill enemies and you help your team.
Strategies. When you are still at low levels, you might find yourself overmatched by better-equipped Titans and Pilots, as well as players that are more familiar with the maps. Regardless, there are still ways you can contribute while you get your bearings. Target the Minions for a point each – the Smart Gun with auto targeting can be especially effective here. A Pilot (player-controlled soldiers) counts as four attrition points, so if you kill four Minions for every time you die, you are breaking even. That’s not a difficult goal to shoot for, and you can really help your team by picking off these easy AI combatants. At early levels, this is also an effective way to quickly level up.
Obviously you’ll want to target the Pilots and Titans too, but in Attrition everything is a potential target. With that in mind, consider using a silencer once you unlock it to keep a low profile. For those that prefer to attack from a distance, use your considerable traversal abilities to find an elevated position with some cover, then pick off the other team. If you score a Pilot kill though, run. The kill cam will give you away. Your melee attack is also very effective and it doesn’t give your position away, but note that there’s a brief pause before you actually strike.
Most maps have automated turrets that you can activate by interacting with the console at its base. Neutral turrets appear on your map as a white outline and enemy-controlled ones show up in red. Once your team controls it, it turns blue. The odds of an automated turret killing a Pilot are low, but the turrets may take out some Minions for easy points and they do lots of damage against Titans. Plus, it distracts opponents as they deal with the turret, and hacking it earns you experience.
When you do get a Titan, stick with the other Titans. The mechs are powerful, but they are far from indestructible. If you are caught in a one-on-one showdown with a another Titan, all it takes is an opposing Pilot to join in with their Anti-Titan weapon and you’re toast. Equip the Tier 1 Kit ability Nuclear Ejection to your Titan loadout, then run at a group of enemies if you are about to be destroyed. If you’re lucky the explosion will net you some bonus points to take to your grave.
CAPTURE THE FLAG
What it is. Titanfall’s Capture the Flag mode is identical to most other CTF modes. Each team has a flag located on one side of the map, and you score by taking the opposing flag and returning it to your base. To capture the flag you just need to run the enemy’s flag and you’ll pick it up. To score, return the flag to your base, and run it over your own flag to score (your flag must be in your base to score). Pretty standard stuff.
Strategies. First, don’t forget how mobile your Pilot is. When you are running for the enemy flag, don’t stick to the sides of the map as you might in other CTF games; head for higher ground instead. The top of a building often gives you a good view of the map and good routes to the enemy flag. If you’ve got a headset on, act as scout for your team. Coordinate and tell people where to go. Save your Prosthetic Legs Burn Cards – which increase your movement speed for the length of a spawn – for CTF matches, as the boost can help you reach and make off with the enemy flag. Capturing becomes more difficult once Titans begin to show up, but if you act quickly and as a team, you may be able to score within the first minute or two.
If you haven’t already, you may want to go to the options menu and toggle the Automatic Sprint to “Always.” It makes creeping around a little tougher, but that’s not an issue in CTF. You’ll appreciate not having to hold the thumbstick down all the time. Note that unlike many other shooters, you can sprint indefinitely in Titanfall. The Stim Tactical Ability is also helpful, especially when you’re escaping with the enemy flag, both for the speed boost and the rapid health regen it gives you.
Flags can only be picked up by a Pilot on foot, but Titans make excellent guards. If you plan to stay on defense, position your Titan in view of your team’s flag and set it to Guard Mode. Then hide your Pilot and wait. If a single opponent makes it into the base and past your Titan, you can be ready for them. Shotguns and SMGs are especially effective for this type of work, as you’ll always be fighting close quarters if you stick near the flag. The Cloak Tactical Ability can also be useful, but only on defense or when you’re approaching the enemy flag.
Cloak is less helpful for getting away with the flag because whoever grabs it is immediately marked with an icon that is visible to all, even through walls. Sticking with a group of fellow attackers is the safest strategy for taking the flag and ferrying it back to your base. Bring Titans if you can, as the confusion the lumbering mechs create can keep the enemy distracted while you slip in and grab the flag. It can be a good idea to hop on the back of a friendly Titan and ride it home (or drive your own) – its shields extend to you – but be ready to jump off at a moment’s notice if there’s incoming fire. Even the fast-moving Stryder Titan is still slower than a sprinting Pilot. If you don’t have the luxury of a Titan to back you, look for covered routes. Sometimes you’ll want to stick to rooftops and sometimes you’ll go underground; it varies from map to map. Try to read the map layout and plan your return route accordingly.
LAST TITAN STANDING
What it is. Last Titan Standing is a twist on Team Deathmatch. There are no respawns, and each Pilot starts the match in the cockpit of a Titan. You don’t have to stay inside the mech, but a round ends when all the Titans on one side have been destroyed. The first team to win four rounds wins the match.
Strategies. There is a simple tactic that will always help you win in Last Titan Standing: Stick together.
If you run off on your own, you will almost always come to a moment when you’re facing two or more Titans, and you will almost always lose. Don’t do it. If a teammate decides to embrace their inner Leroy Jenkins and runs off, don’t let them take you down with them (unless it’s part of a flanking strategy). Better to be down one friendly Titan than run into a wall of bullets yourself and be down two. Before you rush into the fight, look for enemy Minions. Take them out quickly to help unlock your Titan’s Core Ability, then use it as soon as you see the opposing Titans.
Hope for the best when it comes to Last Titan Standing, but prepare for the worst. If your Titan is destroyed, eject and hide. You are extremely vulnerable in this position, but you can still help out your team. Remember that most of your enemies will be running around in Titans, so stick to rooftops and building interiors when you’re on foot. Sneak behind the opposing Titans when they get into a firefight with your team’s Titans and shoot them in the back.
Go with higher damage anti-Titan weapons for this mode; the Sidewinder is a useful rapid-fire weapon in most situations, but the Archer Heavy Rocket – which requires a lock-on before it can be fired – does massive damage with one shot. Carry Arc Grenades, which briefly disrupt the enemy’s ability to see. Same goes for your Titan loadouts; stick to weapons, ordnance and Kits that favor Titan-on-Titan engagements.
Just don’t forget about the Pilots. When you destroy an enemy Titan that’s being controlled by a player (as opposed to an Auto-Titan, which means the Pilot is on foot somewhere), keep a close eye on the explosion to see if a player ejects. The game report on the right side of the screen also lets you know if you’ve destroyed an Auto-Titan. It’s rarely a good idea to leave your Titan in this mode, but that doesn’t mean players won’t do it.
HARDPOINT DOMINATION
What it is. Hardpoint Domination is Titanfall’s “point capture” mode (think Call of Duty’s Domination), with three locations on the map that either team can take control of. In order to take a hardpoint, you must be within range of it and wait for the circular gauge that wraps around the capture point’s letter (A, B, and C) to fill up. It takes twice as long to capture an enemy-controlled point since you’ve got to wait for the red to drain gauge out before the friendly blue gauge can fill in. The more hardpoints you hold, the faster your team earns points – each hardpoint your team controls earns you one point every two seconds. Your team’s controlled hardpoints are highlighted in blue, the opposing team’s are in red.
Strategies. Make sure one person grabs the point nearest your spawn at the start of a match and have everyone else sprint for the next closest capture point, which is usually B. Expect a firefight, but the team that takes a second location immediately enjoys an early lead. If you can hold the point for even a few moments, your team will have a significant advantage. If you are on defense, the Cloak Tactical Ability and shotgun/SMG are good tools to have. Cloak is also useful for attackers on approach; just be wary of enemy defenders as you walk into a capture location. You’re not completely invisible when the Tac Ability is active, so stick to cover if you can.
Two Titans set to Guard Mode and two Pilots are generally enough to hold most points, at least long enough for backup to arrive when there’s an attack. If the enemy does start to take a location, you can “contest” it – locking the capture gauge wherever it is – by sneaking into the capture zone. Hide nearby with a cloak, or hang off a wall out of sight by holding LT mid-wall run. If you need to leave the point, let your Titan stay there; just know that Auto-Titans (and Minions) don’t count as friendlies for the purposes of capturing a location. They’re helpful defenders though, and they act as an early warning system when they are destroyed or kill an attacker.
If you are leaving your Titan on guard duty, you may want to consider using the Nuclear Ejection perk. If your Titan is destroyed while defending the point, the subsequent blast may clear out some or all of the attackers. In general though, your team’s best bet is to keep a tight hold on two points and let the enemy come to you.
PILOT HUNTER
What it is. Pilot Hunter is another Team Deathmatch variant, but with a different scoring system than Attrition. The only kills that actually count toward a win are – as the name suggests – Pilots. Taking out Minions and Auto-Titans helps to speed up your Titan build time or Core Ability meter, but Pilots are the primary target.
Strategies. Since killing the Pilots are the goal to winning, you should be cautious when rushing into the fray. Silencers and offensive equipment that won’t give you away (grenades, satchel charges, etc.) are especially useful, since “going loud” makes your fat, red Pilot dot visible on the enemy minimap for a short time. Keep an eye out for those dots on your own minimap, as they’re your primary targets in this mode. Don’t completely ignore the Minions though, especially if you’re running a silenced loadout. It might not help your point total, but you’ll get your Titan faster… and that’s something you want to do as soon as possible.
Titans are useful in Pilot Hunter since the opposing team gets no points from destroying it (unless you happen to be in the cockpit at the time). Riding in (or on top of) one makes you a very obvious slow-moving target, but Auto-Titans are useful for creating confusion. Be careful using an Auto-Titan on Follow Mode though, as that can give away your position. Instead, stick your Auto-Titan on Guard Mode in a map’s central, open area (if there is one) and let it draw fire. Similarly, stay away from such locations if you’re on foot, since they’ll likely be swarming with Titans. If you do operate your own Titan, you may want to equip the Auto-Eject to get you out of it when necessary.
Titans on the battlefield also puts a premium on higher ground. If the Titans own the streets, take the battle out of their reach. Head for the rooftops and upper-floor building interiors, places where Titan fire can’t reach you. On the ground, stick to cover and avoid spending too much time under the open sky. Rooftop vantage points allow you to call out enemy movements and pick off the odd Pilot that is caught out of cover, but be wary. Only Pilots can reach most rooftops, which means you’re an easy target for any enemies that happen to be looking up.
Of all the different game modes, Pilot Hunter is the best suited for sniping. Use a cloak, head for high ground, and keep moving. You can do a lot of damage if you’re careful and patient. When you earn a Titan, leave it nearby in guard mode, ideally to protect your flank and give you some warning if someone is coming for you.
The Universe
A closer look at the fiction behind Titanfall and the state of the universe as we know it when the game opens.
Pilots
Hints and tips for surviving as a Pilot and a look at all of the loadout customization options you unlock.
Titans
Hints and tips for surviving as a Titan and a look at all of the loadout customization options you unlock.
The Maps
A closer look at all 15 maps in Titanfall along with some general hints for success on each.
The Modes
An explanation for each of Titanfall‘s five multiplayer modes and strategies for surviving them.
Burn Cards
An explanation of how Burn Cards work, how to best use them, and a list of every known Burn Card in the game.
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