ARSENAL AVRIL BIO RIFLE FLACK CANNON LINK GUN ROCKET LAUNCHER BIG KEG O HEALTH ARMOR BODY ARMOR HELMET SHIELD BELT THIGH PADS SPECIAL PICK-UPS UDAMAGE SPECIAL PICK-UPS FLOOR Arsenal is one of the more comple DM maps. It s a tightly interconnected network of rooms, many of which have numerous routes in and out. The majority of battles tend to occur at close or mid-range, making for some brutal combat. Close-range weapons ecel, but if you can predict your opponents movement, you can score many kills around corners with Shock Combos, fl ak, rockets, or occasionally even bio sludge. SHOCK RIFLE SNIPER RIFLE STINGER 84 DUEL It s a large map for duels, and with so many high-powered pick-ups, you are frequently going to get into inconclusive battles if you engage cautiously. There aren t any strict dead-ends on the map, so unless you can pin your opponent in one area, they can usually slip away to another part of the map. Timing the UDamage, Shield Belt, and Health Keg should be your major priorities. The UDamage in particular can break a lock. Trying to hold down the weapons is basically impossible, they are scattered everywhere on the level, and your opponent is going to be close to something no matter where they spawn. Stalking your opponent through the halls is tricky; make full use of sound to locate your target. If you can surprise your opponent, the advantage can be enough to tilt the battle in your favor. Don t hesitate to throw projectiles down the halls if you have a rough idea where your target is. Unless you re trying to be stealthy, it s worth going for some cheap damage when you can. Because there are only a few locations for regular Health pick-ups, if your opponent disengages after you dealt serious damage, try to intercept on their most likely route to recover from the battle. DEATHMATCH A constant battle, the more players present, the more vicious the combat becomes. You re going to want to go after the Flak Cannon and Rocket Launcher regularly, as both can score quick kills, and that s just what you need on this map. Trying to take down opponents with the Stinger or Link Gun may leave you frustrated when someone else swoops in and steals your kills. Again, time the power-ups, but prioritize the UDamage. Don t necessarily focus on obtaining it, but try to be in position to kill anyone else who does. A pre-loaded triple spiral rocket barrage to the face is a nice present for someone leaping up to the UDamage.
Arsenal is what it says; all the weapons are present, and indeed, the majority of them have a room built entirely around them. Each of these rooms connects to several nearby areas, creating constantly shifting engagements, though you can usually epect to run into players using the weapons around their spawn points, especially in vanilla DM. FLOOR 2 6 The map is arranged roughly in a north/south line, if you treat the UDamage as the north end and the Shield Belt and Body Armor as the south end. The Big Keg o Health is located relatively near the UDamage, though reaching it requires the Jump Boots (just below it). 3 5 4 There are only a few locations to pick up regular Health, by the Sniper Rifl e, by the Shield Belt, and by the UDamage. Each location has two Health pick-ups. Otherwise, the Health Keg and Shield Belt are your only other options for quick revitalization. 2 You re probably going to fi nd it impossible to lock down all the power-ups completely. If you favor one section of the map over the others, fi ght near the closest power-up and hope you can at least manage to control that one. TEAM DEATHMATCH Generally, your team needs to decide which side of the map you re going to try to control. Of the two power-up sides, the UDamage and Keg side have more offensive power, but the Shield Belt and Body Armor offer more defense, and the Body Armor respawns more quickly than the Keg and UDamage combo. Because the UDamage takes awhile to spawn, you should freely engage, and press any advantage you get between spawns, then return to guard it as its spawn time nears. Epect a rush for the UDamage as the spawn time approaches, you must either be the ones going for it, or be ready to paste anyone the instant they get near it. Jump Boots can help avoid a slip-up jumping up to reach it. If you end up on the armor side of the map, you re going to have to either make a timed push to seize the UDamage before it spawns, or epect to deal with a push from the other team when they acquire the UDamage. Long distance Sniper or Shock Rifl e fi re damage amped is not pleasant. If you re holding the UDamage side of the map, your lack of armor can be a problem, you may want to try to hold the area between the Health Keg and the Body Armor, using your players around the Sniper Rifl e and Shock Rifl e rooms to protect the UDamage area. A R S E N A L 85
: SHIELD BELT Flak Cannon Health 2, Vials The Shield Belt area holds the Flak Cannon, two of the four Health pickups on the entire level, and access to the Body Armor, Shock Rifle, and Bio Rifle areas. There are three distinct levels to fight on in the Shield Belt area. The first is the walled area around the Shield Belt itself, giving plenty of cover to dodge around. The last is up near the Health pickups, and a ramp leads up into the hall towards the Bio Rifle. With the considerable cover in this area, close range weaponry is quite powerful, as are indirect fire weapons. If you re going to use instant hit weaponry, you may want to keep your distance from the Shield Belt itself. The second is the lower level, where the Flak Cannon is located. This area actually has a bridge crossing over it walldodge to this bridge from behind the Shield Belt area to avoid dropping down to the Flak Cannon. 2: BODY ARMOR Rocket Launcher, Stinger Body Armor Just to the west of the Shield Belt, the Body Armor area has several important items, with the Rocket Launcher just under a bridge in front of the armor, and a Stinger in the open room to the west of the armor. The long ramp across the bridge from the armor leads up to the Sniper Rifle area, and the hallway below takes you into the network of tunnels leading to the Jump Boots. Below the ramp is a passage that leads below the Bio Rifle. There is a smooth curving ramp that leads down from the Body Armor to the Stinger area, and the halls towards the Shield belt are also quite tight. Otherwise, this area is more open. If you prefer fighting with less cover, you may wish to haunt this area, as you can put the Shock Rifle or even Sniper Rifle to decent use, with fairly clear lines of sight compared to most other sections of the map. 86 955-3.08 DM Arsenal.indd 86 0/3/07 :03:02 PM
Sniper Rifle Health 2 Big Keg O Health BATTLEGROUNDS 0 DM 3: SNIPER RIFLE 0 The only way to get up to the Health Keg is impact jump, or (preferably) to take the Jump Boots just below the rifle and jump back up. ARSENAL The Sniper Rifle room is important, as it contains the Health Keg, located on a rafter above the Sniper Rifle, and the pair of Health pick-ups, on the spiral ramp beside the rifle. The Sniper Rifle area is connected to several parts of the map. To the south, you can reach the bridge to the Body Armor. Below, by the Jump Boots, you can go down the tunnel to the Stinger, east to below the Bio Rifle, or north to the UDamage room. It is also possible to go east from the Sniper Rifle directly to reach the Bio Rifle itself. The area around the Sniper Rifle is fairly constricted, not ideal for use of the rifle itself. You may have better luck with it in the Body Armor area to the south. 4: SHOCK RIFLE Shock Rifle Vials in side hall There isn t any health aside from the Vials here, or any armor, so you aren t likely to survive long if you try to hold out in this room for an etended period of time. The east side has a hallway that connects the upper and lower levels with a few Health Vials in it. The south side has a tunnel leading down to the Shield Belt. If you need to restock, make your way over to the Sniper Rifle or UDamage rooms. North up the ramp takes you to the UDamage, and west, either to the upper Bio Rifle hall, or the lower area below the Bio Rifle. A R S EN A L The Shock Rifle room has interesting terrain, with significant height variance and a lot of cover. Eploit Shock Combos in this room, if you choose to hunt in here. 87 955-3.08 DM Arsenal.indd 87 0/3/07 :04:45 PM
5: BIO RIFLE AND LOWER HALL Bio Rifl e The Bio Rifl e hall is quite narrow and constrained, running north to the UDamage, south to the Shield Belt room. You can also quickly drop down to the Shock Rifl e to the east, or the lower area below the Bio Rifl e to the west. The lower area is fairly etensive, but it has no useful pick-ups, so you aren t likely to see a lot of traffi c in that area. The Bio Rifl e hall itself is actually ideal for charged secondary shots with the Bio Rifl e, so be careful if you re running through this area, or you may die a gooey death to a freshly spawned player who just picked it up. Generally this area is used purely for transit through the center of the map from one place to another, there aren t any items in the area worth fi ghting over, and you re dreadfully eposed to attack from any number of directions while in this location. 88
6: UDAMAGE The UDamage is the other end of the map from the Shield Belt. The room itself is quite simple; a ledge runs around the edge of the room, and a lift at the back goes between the ground fl oor and the ledge. Down on the ground fl oor, you can grab the Link Gun, and take a tunnel out to the Jump Boots. The ledge eits to the Shock Rifl e room, or the lower Bio Rifl e area. Bio Rifl e Health 2 The UDamage itself is located up in a small niche, only accessible via Jump Boots, or lift jumping up from the lift behind it (the usual way to access it). The room itself is quite defensible, and with speedy access to the Sniper Rifl e area, you can resupply on health, possibly grabbing the Keg as well. The lack of armor on this side the map makes getting tanked up rather difficult, a sacrifice for the power of the UDamage. BATTLEGROUNDS A R S E N A L 0 DM ARSENAL 89 0