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GUNBOUND - LIGHTNING GUIDE v1.00
by EverNoob


June 5, 2004

e-mail: gentil_requin@hotmail.com

Copyright 2004 Son-Hai Mai

This work is copyrighted material and is for private use only. Anybody who
intends to post this guide elsewhere needs to email me first for permission.


Introduction
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've been using Lightning (aka Lovebot) ever since my newbie days (maybe those
days aren't over yet), and have become fairly proficient with it. Seeing how
painful it was to for me learn how to use Lightning properly, I thought I'd
write a guide to make it easier for those who want to start using this mobile.
Some of the info in this guide is synthesized stuff spread across the late
www.gunbound-hq.com forum, and most is from my own experience. I know this
guide is long. But I've tried to be as comprehensive as possible, and Lightning
is a complicated mobile. Take note that Lightning is most suited for novices to
experts, and *intelligent* players, not beginners. This guide is written with
the assumption that the reader is an experienced Gunbound player.

No Love for Lovebot!

There are a large number of players out there who hold the opinion that
Lightning is weak. Do not believe them! This belief usually stems from not
understanding how this mobile really works. I can't blame them though, because
Lightning's strengths aren't immediately obvious, and it requires a different
way of playing. Lovebot is a strategic mobile, to be used by players who
understand delay, avoiding being hit, trickshots, etc...Lightning is simply an
underused and underrated mobile.


Table of Contents
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1. Basic Information

2. Lovebot Quirks

2.1. Non-solid tracer
2.2. Tracer trickshots
2.3. Electrical splash damage
2.4. Tiny firing angle
2.5. Light projectile
2.6. Constant bunging

3. How to Win with Lovebot

3.1. General Lightning strategy
3.2. Tactics
3.2.1. Putting the enemy in a hole
3.2.2. Opening up holes
3.2.3. Melee
3.2.4. Using dual and dual+
3.2.5. Defensive tactics
3.2.6. Using SS
3.2.7. Hitting multiple enemies

4. Game Settings/Items

4.1. Maps
4.2. Game types
4.3. Items

5. Avatar Equipment

5.1. Stats
5.2. Suits

6. Comments

7. Credits


1. Basic Information
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Strengths:

- high defense and high total HP
- great damage to delay ratio
- good movement
- can hit multiple targets far apart

Weaknesses:

- very small firing angle
- requires a lot of accuracy
- hard to use attack items effectively
- can easily hit yourself or teammates

Mobile type: shield
Weapon type: electricity, tracer
Natural enemies: Boomer, Turtle, Ice
Natural prey: ArmorMobile, RaonLauncher, Bigfoot, Aduka

HP: 800
Shield: 300
Shield regeneration: 20/turn

Firepower: average
Defense: high
Health: high
Movement: good
Climbing: poor
Bunge: average


Shot 1 ---------------------------------

Angle: 22, 12 true
Max damage: ~200
Delay: 750
Weight: light
Description: a single vertical lightning bolt strikes to where the tracer
lands. Has a wide electrical splash damage area which does ~75 damage to nearby
bots. On natural prey bots, shot 1 can consistently do ~220 damage. Requires
high accuracy to do maximum damage.

Shot 2 ---------------------------------

Angle: 22, 12 true
Max damage: 250-300 (on a single target)
Delay: 800
Weight: light
Description: this is the shot that makes Lightning complex. 2 bolts of
lightning strike diagonally roughly 50 degrees from the left and the right to
where the tracer lands, like a V. The left bolt strikes a fraction of a second
before the right bolt (there's still debate over which bolt strikes first).
For this reason, when you hit a speck of land, the bolts will make a y instead
of a V. In practice, damage is around 200-250 on reasonably accurate shots.
To do more damage requires you to land the tracer ever so slightly to the right
of your target with *pinpoint* accuracy. Personally I've only done 300 twice,
but I've heard of people doing more. However, it's extremely hard to
consistently deal >250. Shot 2 has a wider splash area than shot 1, which makes
it good for double kills (dk).

SS ---------------------------------

Angle: 12
Max damage: ~160 (on an isolated target)
Delay: 1300
Weight: light
Description: shoots a bird shaped projectile and creates a huge radius where it
lands. For every enemy inside the radius, a single vertical lightning bolt will
strike precisely where the bot stands. The bolts do splash damage, so that if
two enemies are near each other, they will each be hit for more damage than if
they were far apart. When 2 enemies are close they each get splash damage from
the lightning bolt of their neighbour as well. The SS will do more damage to a
group of enemies close together than to the same number of enemies further
apart. Teammates are not targeted and are only hit by splash damage. VERY good
for dk. I've had 6 dk so far, 5 of which were with Lightning, and 3 of them
were from the SS.


2. Lovebot Quirks
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some unique characteristics of Lightning and how to deal with them
effectively. Most of them can be bad or good depending on usage, and the
situation.

2.1. Non-solid tracer ---------------------------------

When you shoot, you must remember that the projectile itself will go through
bots. The tracer only stops when it hits land. Likewise, the resulting
lightning bolt will also go through bots and only stop when it hits land.
That's why Lightning always bunges by the same amount, whether you hit a target
directly or not. Maximum damage to a mobile is dealt when the bolt travels
through the center of the bot. Therefore, you have to aim so that the tracer
lands at the center of where the target is standing, not the bot itself. This
explains why shotgunning with Lightning is rarely effective. Trying to hit a
bot standing on a pixel can be very frustrating. On the bright side, you can
safely fire right through teammates!

2.2. Tracer trickshots ---------------------------------
Lightning is a tracer bot. Like A. Sate and Aduka, you don't necessarily have
to shoot where the target is to hit. So it can be really useful when you don't
have a direct shot at your enemy. But also, if there is land between your
target and the trajectory of the bolt, then the bolt will be blocked by the
land. Very annoying on "layered" maps like Stardust, Metamine B side, and
especially Nirvana B side.

Shot 1
The easiest trick shot to do. Simply fire so that the tracer lands directly
below your target, either at the chuck of land they are standing on, or at the
ground below them. If the land they are standing on is thin, fire at the ground
below. This is because a hit will bunge them, and they will fall straight down
to where the tracer landed. If you fire upwards to where they were standing and
they get bunged down, you will have to recalibrate your shot to hit them again.
But if you shot at the ground below, you won't need to recalibrate your shot,
since they get bunged down to where your tracer landed. Avoid using shot 1 when
there is land right above your target.

The shot 2 V
Since the shot 2 bolts come down in a V pattern, you can shoot a tracer
diagonal to a target and hit them. This is the most useful shot for hitting
multiple targets and getting a dk. It just takes abit of thinking to estimate
where the 2 bolts will strike. It's easier for you to see shot 2 for yourself,
and imagine how to hit multiple targets with it, than it is for me to describe
how to do it here. Not to be used when there is land blocking on both sides of
your target, such as when they are in a hole. It's also very easy to hit
yourself or teammates with this shot, splash damage isn't too bad, but a
direct hit of a bolt can do 200+. All it takes is abit of thinking before
shooting to use shot 2 effectively.

The shot 2 y:
Because the shot 2 left bolt strikes before the right bolt, if you fire on a
speck of land, the left bolt will destroy the land, and the right bolt will go
right through where the land used to be. This creates bolts in the shape of a
y, meaning that you can hit targets diagonally below and to the LEFT of where
your shot landed. Also explains why you do better damage by landing the tracer
slightly to the right of your target. Whenever you see this, it will be in the
shape of a y, never a reverse y. This trick also works well on ledges. The
situations where you'll have the opportunity and the need to use this y effect
are rare. But it's important to keep it in mind to avoid hitting yourself or
teammates.

2.3. Electrical splash damage ---------------------------------

Similar to JD and Aduka, Lightning shots deal electrical splash damage in
addition to their base damage. The way each bolt deals damage is roughly:
shot 1 = 125 base + 75 splash = 200 total damage. The splash part of the damage
is not cumulative and only happens once per shot. This means that a dual would
not deal splash damage twice, it would deal base damage twice and splash damage
once: 125 base + 125 base + 75 splash = 325 total damage. Splash damage has a
fairly wide area, and is useful for damaging more than one enemy. On the other
hand, in close combat situations you might end up damaging yourself or your
teammates.

2.4. Tiny firing angle ---------------------------------

A *major* weakness of Lightning, given that fact that shotgunning isn't very
useful with this bot. With a total firing angle of 22, of which only 12 is true
angle, you will need to rely heavily on terrain to get a good angle. Fixed
power shots aren't very useful with Lightning because, more often than not, you
will need to shoot with whatever angle you get. However, you should use the
highest true angle possible, because of the way Lightning bunges (see Constant
bunge). Your enemies will find it very easy to screw up your angle. In
desperate times, shoot the ground next to you to make an angle for yourself.

2.5. Light projectile ---------------------------------

Lightning is the only mobile that fires a light projectile. It actually has the
same weight as a teleport shot. This means that your shots are very sensitive