Overview
Comprehensive guide for Rocket Launcher. Now with contextual Screenshots and new strategies section.
Basics
First of all, the Rocket Launcher cannot directly hit the enemy units. You have to aim at the surrounding walls, objects etc to create an explosion which kills the enemies in the area of effect.
To hit half height objects, you have make the unit duck. Though it is obvious, it is common mistake new players make in multiplayer.
Unlike any other unit in the game, Rocket Launcher has an infinite range and the rockets will cross the map without creating an explosion if there isn’t any obstacle in the path of the rocket which may occur due to careless planning or negligence to review the turn. So, make sure the rocket exploded at the desired target before hitting the prime button.
The Rocket Launcher can only fire once per 5 seconds. So use the rockets intelligently. Make Sure the rocket explodes within the current turn by using it at the turn start.
It is advisable to time your rocket such that it explodes in the same turn in which it is fired. If you fire a rocket very late or planned the explosion to occur in the next turn after firing it in the present turn, the path of your rocket in the next turn is now predictable to your enemy and it won’t be difficult for him to dodge it. (Some players may deliberately use this to clear an area in the next turn, but a grenade would be more efficient in most of the cases if available)
So assume the turn ended as in the above pic. Now the Red player knows the rocket path and moves his unit away from the blast radius. The rocket just went waste which would have killed the enemy unit if it had exploded within the turn it was fired.
Here are the specifications for the unit from the frozen synapse wiki.
- Animation length: 0.65s, which means a unit which is not in cooldown takes 0.65 seconds to launch a rocket after receiving the fire order.
- Cooldown: 4.35s, the unit cannot fire for next 4.35 seconds after launching a rocket. It implies that only one rocket can be fired for every 5 seconds.
- Range: Infinite i.e.,the unit can hit obstacles at any distance and as already stated above, the rocket will cross the boundaries of the map if it doesn’t encounter any obstacles to it’s path.
Strategies
Since the maps and combination of units are all randomly generated there are no fixed strategies like other games. The mentioned strats are the roles assigned to the unit for best possible outcome which is dependent on terrain, style of play, position in match. The strats may not be fixed for entire match and may vary turn to turn depending on the outcome of previous turn.
Rocket Launcher is often used as a offensive unit during first couple of turns for early picks. This basically requires out thinking the enemy player and blasting off those spots where you think the enemy would most probably move his units. This can be game changer as the first few turns are the ones which decides who has the upper hand in game. The even 4 vs 4 boils down to advantageous 4 vs 3 or even better 4 vs 2 if your offensive plan worked.
eg: match id: 806642, turn 1.
c’mon bro, move your unit to the cover ………………. boom. hostile down.
Rocket Launcher can be used as an aiding unit to clear the view for your direct fire units especially a machine gunner.
eg: match id: 806642, turn 3.
eg1:
Cuz my machine gunner is in advantageous position to pick a hostile unit other side but the walls are blocking his view.
eg2:
clearing view blocking walls for machine gunner.
Pre Clearing involves blasting off the terrain that you think would be advantageous to enemy in later turns. You don’t see players using rocket for this purpose regularly in multiplayer but few players do, often when the player is in a dominating position.
eg: match id: 806642, turn 4
As already stated, it is the style of play and position in the match that decides which role a unit takes in a particular turn and experienced players often have their own strategies.
Thanks for reading and leave a comment if you have any suggestions or queries.