as I saw from many posts before the stealth hands seems to be quite a problem for many GDI-players. I played the games for several weeks now and have developed a new Hobby of mine:

Hand Hunting
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1.Reasons
2.Who
3.How
4.Summary
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1. Why should you hunt down those stealth soldiers ?
In Maps where the GDI usually dont have an advanced guard tower the base is quite vunerable to stealth attacks. On the first look NOD seems to have quite an advantage, because it is much more difficult to plant an ION-Beacon than a nuke. One thing the newbies often forget is that disarming a nuke device gives a lot of points. So you see there are some reasons to do that.
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2. Who is best prepared to do the job ?
My personal favorite for the job is Patch, followed by moebius and sydney(150).
Why Patch ?
He has a high fire-rate, doesnt cost too much and has a good fire range. See Point 3 and you will understand
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3. How to do it ?
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3.1
As far as I have experienced it(plz feel free to post more info, if you have) NOD-stealth soldiers only become visible,when
- they perform an action (shooting, planting C$ or nukes)(visible for quite a long time)
- they are hit by an shoot(visivle only for a few seconds)
- when they touch or run into an enemy infantry or vehicle(visible only for a few seconds(if they survive touching the vehicles )
I haven't experienced yet that any of the GDIs have the ability too spot them without any of the conditions above fullfilled (and I tried a lot). If anybody else knows something plz feel free to post it here.
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3.2
Take your character of choice and begin patrolling your base, if your summarized cash would be above 1400. This is usually the time, when the first NODDies are starting to move out to plant a device. Run on random routes around the base and try to keep the endangered points protected. Usually the favorite targets are(in order):
1. Tiberium Refinery
- mostly placed in the backyards fo your base
- the docking point is a good place to plant the nuke
- cash flow is interuppted when destroyed
2. Power Plant
- costs double when destroyed
3. Weapons Factory
- no more vehicles which are usually the bane of Stealthers
4. Barracks
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3.3
While you are patrolling shoot in random directions on estimated routes of the stealthers( just imagine you are one of them)and try to "spray" to cover as much ground as possible. Here you can see why patch is my favourite over moebius: he has a bigger shooting range. For this you need an good instinct and very good eyes. If you have spotted one this way, keep shooting at him to keep him visible and hunt him down.
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3.4
Keep your ears open, if a Stealther activates a nuke it makes a certain noice. Memorize that. If you have stereo sound you can even recognize the direction from where it came from. If you have discovered the nuke immediatly spray the area with shots to uncover the stealther and take him out. This way the engineers/Hotwire can do their Job. If nobody is near or it the countdown is quite advanced immediatly change to Hotwire if you can afford it and disarm it. Same procedure if nobody is near.
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4. Summary
This way I were able to hunt down several nukers before they could even place their goodies. I could really significantly reduce the number of sucessfully planted devices compared to the games I had before. Honestly this is not the frontline-action-job you may be looking for, but it gives you a lot of points. And can be anything more satisfying in this game then to hunt down one stealther before he could even plant his device ? If the hand of NOD is destroyed you can quit your job and go on the offensive.
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So this is it. Plz feel free too make comments, critics,...

Thx for reading
Avalarion

[ March 27, 2002: Message edited by: Avalarion ]

[ March 27, 2002: Message edited by: Avalarion ]