This file should only be hosted on GameFAQs. If you see it anywhere else, the webmaster is a bum. Sneaky update 24 October 2009 to remove useless junk & outdated contact email. This FAQ ain’t no longer being updated. -----TABLE OF CONTENTS----- 1. What exactly is Liero? 2. Getting Started 3. Playing Liero 4. Weapons 5. Hints and Strategy 6. Miscellany 7a. Legal Crap b. Revision History 8a. Contact Info b. Credits ======================================================================== 1. What exactly is Liero? ======================================================================== Not too many people have heard of Liero, which is a bit of a shame since it really is a fun, addictive game. It runs in MS-DOS mode and only takes up 550 kb of space, but it’s still very fun and very replayable. Liero is a freeware game loosely based on the popular strategy series Worms (I think Liero is Finnish for “worm”). As in Worms, players have set amounts of health, and health can be whittled away by weapons; the last man (well, worm) standing is the winner. The main differences are that Liero involves real-time instead of turn-based fighting, and players choose five weapons out of 40 available and stick with those weapons throughout the match, unlike Worms where there are lots of weapons (but limited ammo) at your disposal at any given time. Instead of using ammo as a constraint, players in Liero are hampered by loading times, which vary among weapons. Your worms live in the dirt and can dig through it, with stones being the only obstacles. Your worms also have built-in ninja ropes to swing about on. Periodically, bonuses may pop up, providing extra health or weapons. Apart from this it’s all just about shooting and killing. Despite the simple gameplay and graphics, Liero really is damn fun, because there’s nothing like shooting your opponents with tons of different weapons and letting the blood fly. Depending on your settings you can have a free-for-all with no load times and no constraints, or you can have a slower-paced, more strategic battle. Liero is available at several websites. For lists of Liero sites and downloads, you can check out some of the other Liero FAQs on GameFAQs or simply search for “Liero” on Google. The current version, and the version this guide is made for, is version 1.33; future versions may include upgrades like more human/computer players, better editors and more varied surroundings. In any case, this guide is meant to provide you with some information on Liero - its basics, controls, weapons, and hints/strategies. Hopefully you’ll find this guide helpful, and don’t forget to write in with your own contributions. ======================================================================== 2. Getting Started ======================================================================== When you first open the game you’ll be presented with a menu screen. This is where you set up the game and fiddle with the options. On the left side of the screen there are several choices: ---RESUME GAME--- This only appears if you're paused during a game. ---NEW GAME--- This takes you to the Start Game screen, which will let you (and the other human player, if there is one) pick your five weapons. You can also randomise your weapons if you want. ---OPTIONS--- The options appear on the right side of the menu screen. They include: GAME MODE Change the type of game you'll play (see "Playing Liero" for more details). LIMITS Depending on the game mode, choose the number of lives (Kill 'em All), the time needed to lose (Game of Tag) or the number of flags for victory (Capture the Flag/Simple Capture the Flag). LOADING TIMES Change how long it takes for the weapons to reload. The lower the loading times, the more fast-paced and frantic the game. MAX BONUSES Set the maximum number of bonuses that are allowed in the playing field at any time. If a player grabs a bonus, the weapon they're currently holding is replaced with the bonus weapon. Be sure to replace a weaker weapon! NAMES ON BONUSES Choose whether the bonuses have names indicating what weapons are inside. MAP Toggle the mini-map (which appears at the bottom of the screen and shows the layout of the arena, as well as the positions of the two players) on or off. AMOUNT OF BLOOD Change how much blood your worms have. On the higher settings, there can be some distracting slowdown, so I recommend you keep it low. 50% is my usual setting. LEVEL There is only one level included with the game, "Random". This level has few stones and a few randomly placed holes; the rest is just dirt. If you want to, you can make your own levels with the editor (see "Miscellany" for more details). RELOAD LEVEL Choose whether you want the level to regenerate (i.e. the dirt that has been blown up/dug through becomes replaced) between matches. SHADOWS Turn shadows (from the dirt, rocks, etc.) on or off. SCREEN SYNC If this is turned on, it will adjust the speed of the game and compensate for fast/slow computers. LOAD+CHANGE If this is set to on, then players will be able to change weapons while one is reloading. If you change weapons, the one that is reloading stops reloading (so the next time you select that weapon, it will still be in the process of reloading). If this option is off, then players can't change weapons until the reload is completely finished. PLAYER 1/PLAYER 2 OPTIONS Change each player's options, which include: Name Health Colour (toggle Red, Green and Blue fields) Controls (see "Playing Liero" for details) Controller (select either Human or CPU) WEAPON OPTIONS Change the weapon settings. For each weapon, you can toggle its status between Menu, Bonus and Banned. Menu means that the weapon is available from the weapons select screen and can pop up as a bonus; Bonus means that the weapon can't be selected as one of your five starting weapons but can appear in bonuses; and Banned means that the weapon can be neither chosen nor taken from bonuses. You can save or load sets of options by going back to the left side of the menu screen (press Esc) and pressing Save Options or Load Options. Note that the "Liero" file contains the options that you're currently using, and is updated after every game (that way, you don't have to change or load your favourite settings every time you play the game; your last game’s settings are saved in memory). ---QUIT TO OS--- Quit Liero and return to Windows. ======================================================================== 3. Playing Liero ======================================================================== Liero is a fairly simple game, but it helps to be familiar with the game modes and controls before starting out. Other than that, most of the game is self-explanatory, so don't fret, we'll soon be getting to the better stuff like weapons and whatnot. ---GAME MODES--- There are four game modes, each with its own style and strategy. For example, Kill ‘em All is all about using the weapons and using them efficiently, while Tag rewards cunning, dodging and more defensive play, and Capture the Flag is about smart and efficient use of time and movement. In any case, there should definitely be something to match your tastes in the four modes: KILL ‘EM ALL Ah yes, a fight to the death, plain and simple. You and your opponent each start with a set number of lives, and the last man standing wins. Learn how to use weapons, how to aim and reload properly, and of course, how to corner opponents and take advantage of your location. And don’t forget to get yourself a nice strategic firing spot. GAME OF TAG A bit different from Kill ‘em All, in that more defensive and evasive strategies are required. In Tag, the first person to die becomes “It” and will be it until they kill the other player, upon which the other player will become “It”. Basically, the last person who died is It. When you’re It, the timer will start counting and the first person who has been It for a predetermined amount of time will lose. So, whoever’s it has to try and kill the other person, and whoever’s not it has to RUN LIKE HELL (note that killing whoever’s It will accomplish nothing). And booby-traps around your hideout don’t hurt either, if you’re on the defensive. To succeed at Tag, you’ll have to be able to kill the other player quickly, and perhaps more important- ly, hide and hold your ground with nice weapon placement and use. CAPTURE THE FLAG A nice mix of aggression and evasion here. When you kill your opponent (or if he/she commits suicide) then you will be able to capture flags. You can then capture the opposite-coloured flag and return it to your own base to gain points. If you’re killed or commit suicide, the other person gets the ability to capture flags and you’re stuck with nothing to do except kill the other person so you can become the capturer again. The first person to capture a preset number of flags and return them to the home base is the winner. SIMPLE CTF This is the same as Capture the Flag except that either player can capture the flag at any time, regardless of who’s died last. This is a bit faster paced than Capture the Flag, and you can essentially win without any actual fighting; however, don’t expect to, because good players will fight it out instead of conceding their flags to you. It’s a chase of sorts, but there’ll still be some foul play as both players try and prevent the other from gathering flags too freely. ---CONTROLS--- Liero doesn’t (yet) have controller pad support, so if you want to play with a human opponent you’ll just have to share sides of the keyboard. The default controls are okay, and if you don’t like them you can fiddle around in the options. Just make sure none of the controls for Player 1 and Player 2 overlap, otherwise the game goes all screwy (even if Player 2 is a CPU-controlled opponent). If you’re just playing by yourself (against the computer), you can assign the CPU opponent to a few buttons you’ll never use (to prevent overlap) then choose the direction-pad and whatever nice keys you want for yourself. This is much more comfortable than playing with another human on the same keyboard, trust me. Anyway, here are the basic movements (I’m not assigning each action to a key since that’s up to you): Aim Upwards Aim Downwards Move Left Move Right Fire Change Weapon Jump In addition to these basic movements there are two more advanced actions, digging and ninja roping. To dig, press and hold in the direction you want to go, then quickly (and continuously) tap in the other direction. That is, if you want to dig right, press and hold right, then quickly tap the left key. If you want to dig in a diagonal direction, you can do so by using the aim up and aim down buttons to alter your course. Keep in mind that it’s hard to dig upwards at angles of more than 60 degrees. To ninja-rope, jump and then press the change weapon button. You’ll shoot out a ninja rope in the direction that you’re aiming. This rope will stick to rocks, dirt or the sides of the level, and once it sticks your worm will be flung towards the sticking point. You can then swing around on the rope, using the direction keys to alter the length of the rope as well as give yourself some extra momentum. To put away the ninja rope, just jump while using it and it will disappear, and you’ll fall according to your momentum. Ninja roping is useful for getting out of tight situations (e.g. evading grenades or nukes) as well as evading gunfire. Learn to aim and shoot whilst swinging from the ninja rope; that will surely befuddle opponents. Try launching bombs or booby-traps from above an opponent – great fun! You can even latch onto another worm with your ninja rope. It won’t do any damage by itself, but if you’ve got another weapon ready and primed... ======================================================================== 4. Weapons ======================================================================== The weapons. Can't have a Worms-type game without weapons, can we? This is the good stuff: the stuff that you'll need to know well if you're going to win. For each weapon I'll list its properties and add a description (note that most of my comments assume that you’re using regular reload times, instead of no reloads which skews the whole system). Anyway, here's the key: NAME The weapon's name. Duh. DAMAGE How much the weapon hurts your opponent. Note that I'm assuming you connect fairly well with the weapon. All damage figures are approximate, and damage ratings (low, medium, high, etc.) are based on damage per FULL LOAD, as well as other factors such as ease of use. RECOIL How much the weapon pushes you back upon shooting it. Weapons with high or very high recoils may screw up your aim. SPEED How fast the weapon or the projectile produced by the weapon travels. RANGE How far the weapon's effects go. RELOAD TIME How long the weapon takes to reload. This aspect is crucial in slower games, not so important in fast games with low reload times. DESCRIPTION My take on the weapon. Okay, enough briefing... on with the good stuff, the weapons! Arranged in alphabetical order for your convenience. Aren’t I nice. ---BAZOOKA--- Damage: medium-high (35% per rocket) Recoil: low Speed: medium-slow Range: long Reload Time: medium-long The bazooka shoots three rockets with a pause between each shot. The rockets, which detonate on impact, travel straight but slow with fairly good impact damage. It’s a good weapon if you can get it to connect (and fairly easy to aim too, since it’s not affected by gravity) but beware of the slow speeds and rather long reload times. ---BIG NUKE--- Damage: extreme (100% easy; up to 500% in confined areas) Recoil: none Speed: slow Range: medium-short Reload Time: very long This baby is one sweet weapon. The Big Nuke is a little grenade-like object that’s thrown slowly and with short range. After a few seconds it releases a half-screen’s worth of green rings which spread out and then explode, causing lots of damage and wiping out whole tracts of land (well, dirt). For best effects, use this in confined spaces: dirtball an opponent in, or dig a short tunnel, then throw the Big Nuke. After a few seconds...BANG! Just remember to ninja rope the hell out of there. Unfortunately, the Big Nuke doesn’t work well in open spaces because of the slow detonation time, but that’s balanced somewhat by the large blast radius. ---BLASTER--- Damage: high (up to 60% per rocket for direct hit) Recoil: low Speed: slow Range: medium Reload Time: medium The blaster is a very useful weapon – if you know how to use it. Like the bazooka, it fires three shots with pauses inbetween, but unlike the bazooka the shots don’t detonate on impact with a worm. Instead, the roundish projectiles arc and detonate only when they hit the wall or ground, making them rather hard to aim. A good shot that lands right at a worm’s feet will do lots of damage, but if your aim’s slightly off you’ll be wasting your time. Good against stationary opponents, but hard to pull off as your opponent may jump or ninja rope away. Best for use against entrenched opponents. ---BOOBY TRAP--- Damage: medium (30%) Recoil: none Speed: slow Range: short Reload Time: medium This weapon isn’t especially useful for out-and-out combat (you can try and use it as a missile, but the slow speeds and short range will deter your efforts) but it’s good for blocking your opponent’s path or even better, throwing down a tunnel at the enemy. You can pile several booby traps at someone’s doorstep and dare them to walk out; just be aware that these things self-detonate after a while. They can also be detonated by gunfire or explosions. ---BOUNCY LARPA--- Damage: medium (15% per rocket with 15-25+% typical shrapnel damage) Recoil: low Speed: medium-fast Range: long Reload Time: medium-long The bouncy larpa consists of four rockets that detonate on impact with a worm. While they fly along, the rockets release a steady stream of moderately damaging shrapnel. Although the bouncy larpa only shoots four rockets as opposed to five for the regular larpa, the fact that the rockets bounce around means that there’s more shrapnel damage. However, the bouncy larpa can also backfire and end up showering shrapnel on you, so make sure you have a tunnel or escape route handy. ---BOUNCY MINE--- Damage: medium-low (25-30%) Recoil: none Speed: slow Range: long Reload Time: medium-short True to its name, this mine bounces back and forth when launched, and keeps going until it hits a worm – be it you or your enemy. Handy as long as you don’t use it in too confined a space (you wouldn’t want to hit yourself now would you?) and remember to ninja rope out of the area if needed. The bouncy mine is good for throwing down tunnels or hitting enemies who are entrenched in spots normal gunfire can’t reach, but in out-and-out combat it’s not so good. ---CANNON--- Damage: medium-high (15-20% per ball) Recoil: medium-low Speed: medium Range: long Reload Time: long This weapon is great for all-out combat: six cannon shots are fired, each of which flies fairly straight (over long ranges) and does a good deal of damage. If you can pin an enemy down or trap them then you can do lots of damage with this weapon; just be careful of the long reload times and the rather slow speed at which the cannonballs travel (don’t fire over very long range or the enemy will see it coming). ---CHAINGUN--- Damage: high (140-150% damage per full clip) Recoil: medium-low Speed: fast Range: long Reload Time: medium-long This great weapon shoots a steady, fairly accurate stream of bullets towards your opponents. The relatively low recoil makes it easy to aim, and while each bullet doesn’t do too much damage the full clip combined (the chaingun has the largest clip of any gun) is very nasty indeed. If you can pin a worm against a wall or trap them, they’re toast, but this weapon is handy in just about any situation. The reload times are a bit long, but manageable, and I’d advise you to pick this weapon whenever possible. ---CHIQUITA BOMB--- Damage: very high (up to 200% for nasty hits; 100-150% damage typical) Recoil: none Speed: medium-slow Range: medium-short Reload Time: very long A lovely weapon, indeed! The Chiquita Bomb is a yellowish grenade of sorts that explodes and releases a flurry of banana-shaped projectiles a few seconds after being thrown. The bananas detonate on impact with worms or soil, and can cause lots of soil destruction. More importantly, a well-placed Chiquita bomb can do huge amounts of damage – rivaling and perhaps even excelling the Big Nuke’s damage – as the bananas will devastate a worm if they explode right on top of it. The Chiquita bomb also detonates rather quickly, so enemies don’t have too much time to react. However, the bomb’s effects aren’t as wide-ranging as the Big Nukes and any worm not in the immediate vicinity will suffer only slight to moderate damage, which is very bad given the long reload times. ---CLUSTER BOMB--- Damage: high (80-100%) Recoil: none Speed: medium-slow Range: medium-short Reload Time: medium-long The cluster bomb is a small green grenade that explodes and releases a shower of green shrapnel several seconds after being thrown. Like other grenades and bombs, it’s handy for throwing at opponents in confined spaces or enemies who are camping, but it’s not very useful in the open. As with the Chiquita Bomb, damage decreases sharply with distance, so make sure you’re accurate. ---CRACKLER--- Damage: medium-high (around 100% in confined areas; 35-50% more typical) Recoil: none Speed: medium-slow Range: medium Reload Time: long The Crackler is a unique sort of projectile: it’s a tan coloured ball of sorts that bounces around for five or six seconds. While it bounces it launches shrapnel in all directions and it’s the shrapnel, not the bomb itself, that does most of the damage (although the crackler’s eventual explosion can do moderate damage). It’s a handy weapon to have, but be careful not to be hit by the ricochet – the crackler has a knack of bouncing right back at you. ---DART--- Damage: low => high (10-45% per dart) Recoil: none Speed: medium Range: long Reload Time: short You’ve got five darts to shoot per load, and each dart is capable of doing a good amount of damage (45% per hit = 225% damage per load). However, you must hit your opponent square on the body with a dart to get good amounts of damage; a glancing blow or a dart that lands at their feet will do a piddling amount of damage. If you’re going to use this weapon, you’d better use it well: if you’re a good aimer you can do lots of damage with this weapon as it flies straight and true, but if you’re not good at hitting moving targets (like enemy worms) then don’t bother. Because of the medium speed of the dart, enemies may see it coming, so use it from short or medium ranges lest the enemy jump out of the way and receive little if any damage. ---DIRTBALL--- Damage: none Recoil: none Speed: medium Range: medium Reload Time: medium-short The dirtball is a nice little gun that can be used defensively or offensively. It doesn’t do any damage directly, but it can be extremely useful if you use it correctly. What the gun does is shoot five balls of dirt that travel for a little while (bouncing off walls if necessary) and then turn into clumps of dirt. You can use this dirt to seal off tunnels, act as a shield from explosions, or trap other worms. It’s particularly good with weapons like big nukes: throw a big nuke at a worm then dirtball them in to maximize damage, or shoot a few dirtballs around you to seal yourself away from the explosion. ---DOOMSDAY--- Damage: medium-high (15% per pair of rockets) Recoil: low Speed: medium-fast Range: long Reload Time: very long Scary name huh? Well, this weapon rapidly fires eight pairs of rockets at the enemy. Each pair of rockets gradually separates, but unless you’re operating at long ranges the separation won’t really make much of a difference and both rockets will hit at the same time for around 15% damage. The Doomsday rockets fly fast and detonate on impact, so they’re ideal for a quick assault in the open (it’s hard to get away from the barrage of rockets). Just beware of the nasty reload times. ---EXPLOSIVES--- Damage: medium (30-40% if all three barrels hit) Recoil: none Speed: medium Range: medium Reload Time: very short There are three pink barrels of explosives that are fired simultaneously in each load. They move in an arc and spread out a little bit before detonating after a second or two, and can do upwards of 30% damage. While the damage figure isn’t all that good, the fact that the explosives are hard to dodge (as they detonate quickly and spread out) and the very short reload times make this a pretty useful weapon. Perfect for flushing out an enemy hiding in a tunnel or between rocks. ---FAN--- Damage: none Recoil: medium Speed: medium-fast Range: medium-short Reload Time: short The fan is a very, very handy and fun weapon. It does no damage by itself, and simply sprays a stream of air towards your opponent (if it hits your opponent he/she will be blown back a little bit but won’t take any damage). What the fan is good for is blowing projectiles right back in the enemy’s face: Chiquita bomb bananas; big nuke rings; shrapnel; rockets; even chaingun/minigun/uzi bullets. Almost anything can be reflected back at your opponent, with the exception of weapons that travel at very fast speeds (rifle, Gauss Gun, laser, etc). Thus, the fan can be extremely useful for counterattacking your enemy (and probably surprising them, too), and it’s also good for defensive measures (just blow explosives and napalm away from you). Take advantage of the short reload times. ---FLAMER--- Damage: high (up to 200% per full load) Recoil: none Speed: medium-slow Range: short Reload Time: medium The flamer is capable of inflicting high levels of damage, but the thing is that the flames come out slowly and must burn the enemy for quite a while to cause significant damage (the load takes a LONG time to deplete). So, if you can trap an enemy, the flamer will be very handy, but otherwise it’s fairly easy to evade and so won’t do much against the enemy. Perhaps a better use for the flamer is clearing dirt – the flames eat away dirt with ease (surpassed only by the laser) and the large load allows you to easily create large tunnels. ---FLOAT MINE--- Damage: low (15-20% per mine) Recoil: none Speed: very slow Range: short Reload Time: medium-short The float mine is an odd little weapon. Fire a mine and it will travel a short distance in front of you, gradually coming to a halt in mid-air. Anyone who bumps into the mine will suffer a little damage. Now, the float mine is a bad offensive weapon because of its poor speed and range, but it’s fairly good for defence (blocking off openings, either yours or your opponent’s). Another thing about the float mine is that you get two mines per load and reload times are fairly short, so you can place quite a few of them around the place. Still, the low damage makes this a fairly mediocre weapon. ---GAUSS GUN--- Damage: medium-high (40% per hit) Recoil: medium-high Speed: very fast Range: very long Reload Time: medium-long One of my favourite weapons in the game, the Gauss Gun shoots out a ball (note: #The fREaK! tells me that there are actually three projectiles, not one) that travels in a slight arc at extremely high speeds (you can just barely see the ball as it flies by). The projectile does a good deal of damage to any worm unlucky enough to stand in the way, and because of its speed it’s almost impossible to avoid. The Gauss Gun also has good penetrating power, and can go through a few layers of dirt, so don’t be afraid to use it! The only things standing in your way are the long reload times and the weird arc of the projectile, but once you get used to it the Gauss Gun will be a dangerous weapon. ---GRASSHOPPER--- Damage: medium (20-25% for the first hit; 10-15% for each thereafter) Recoil: none Speed: medium Range: medium Reload Time: medium The grasshopper is a small grenade-like object that bounces around and explodes on contact with dirt or worm. There are a total of eight explosions, meaning that the grasshopper has the potential to cause severe damage, but because it bounces around so much you’ll be hard- pressed to get more than two or three hits on your opponent. The grasshopper can also bounce back and hit you, so be careful. Unless your opponent is in a confined space (like at the end of a tunnel) I wouldn’t advise you use this weapon, as it’s all a matter of chance. ---GREENBALL--- Damage: none Recoil: low Speed: fast Range: long Reload Time: medium-short The greenball shoots out small green bullets that spread out and become green globs on contact with dirt or worm. These green blobs have the same properties as dirt – the only difference is their appearance. The greenball is similar to the dirtball in that both “make” dirt; the differences are that with the greenball you get more shots per load and the projectiles travel much farther. The amount of “dirt” created is smaller though, so it balances out in the end. In any case, the greenball is useful for sealing off tunnels, making a barrier of sorts or trapping other worms. ---GRENADE--- Damage: medium-high (40% typical; up to 100% in rare cases) Recoil: none Speed: medium-slow Range: medium-short Reload Time: medium-short The grenade is a trustworthy little bugger. It detonates a couple of seconds after being thrown and launches shrapnel in all directions. The main blast can vaporize fair amounts of dirt and is pretty powerful, so the grenade is good for lobbing at opponents who’re trapped or otherwise inconvenienced. If you can get your placement right, it will do lots of damage, but even an inexpertly hurled grenade take off 30 or 40%. A useful weapon indeed, especially given the good reload times. ---HANDGUN--- Damage: medium-low (8-10% per round; 15-round clip) Recoil: very low Speed: fast Range: long Reload Time: medium-short The handgun is more effective than you might think. Sure, the damage figures are low, but with fifteen rounds per clip they can really add up in the end, especially given the very nice accuracy of this weapon and its long range. The laser sight is nifty, too. Combine this with the low reload times and you get a nice long-range weapon that’s good for pissing off the enemy and consistently, accurately chipping off their health. It’s not incredibly powerful, but it’s still useful, especially for more defensive-minded players. It does take a certain degree of skill to use, though. ---HELLRAIDER--- Damage: high (60-80% typical; up to 250+% in rare cases) Recoil: low Speed: medium-slow Range: medium-short Reload Time: very long The menacing name and the nice graphics (of a trail of flames that bounces around and explodes in all directions after a while) make the Hellraider look damn nasty, but the reality is that it’s not that good of a weapon. While the damage figure can be very high to extreme in certain cases (namely, where your enemy is trapped deep within dirt), it’s hard to get more than 80% damage in more typical situations because the Hellraider bounces around everywhere and is pretty much impossible to aim past the first bounce. YOU have as much chance as your opponent does of getting hit. What’s more, the mediocre traveling speed and range of the weapon make it a somewhat risky gamble: use it if you think you can nail the enemy (it’s potentially devastating) but beware of the long reload time should you miss. ---LARPA--- Damage: medium (10% impact damage, 15-20+% shrapnel damage/rocket) Recoil: very low Speed: medium-fast Range: long Reload Time: medium-long The Larpa is a useful weapon. Five rockets can be shot per load; each rocket flies at a fairly good pace and rains shrapnel down on the enemy. While the rockets themselves aren’t particularly damaging, the shrapnel can really add up, and it’s fun to rain shrapnel down on an enemy who’s trying to take cover behind a rock. Note that the Larpa is one of the few weapons which are best used from above. ---LASER--- Damage: medium (80% per full load, if you’re very accurate) Recoil: none Speed: instantaneous Range: very long Reload Time: medium-long Although the laser is capable of doing a good deal of damage (80% per load is pretty useful), you won’t be able to get anywhere near that figure if your opponent’s moving. Thus, use the laser only for long range ‘sniping’ of relatively stationary opponents. If your opponent is firmly entrenched, try using the laser to cut through dirt and either damage the opponent, or create an entrance. The laser’s sight can also set up other weapons, as well as cut a thin path for you to take (you may have to use several laser shots to create a path that’s wide enough). Just don’t use the laser in the open, because an opponent with half a brain will be able to evade your fire. ---MINE--- Damage: medium-low (25%) Recoil: none Speed: medium-slow Range: short Reload Time: short The mine is quite a handy weapon. It’s a little brown rock-like object that, after being thrown, settles in the dirt and stays there until a worm hits it or its time fuse runs out (it has a long fuse, though, so don’t worry about them exploding too quickly). The ensuing explosion will take 20-25% off whichever worm hits it, and also throw up a little bit of shrapnel. While mines aren’t all that damaging, the fact that they’re almost invisible and can be placed in large numbers (note the short reload times) makes them very handy to have. You can rain down mines on an enemy position (use them as grenades, if you have to) or simply place them at the lip of a tunnel and watch the fireworks. ---MINIGUN--- Damage: high (140% damage per full clip) Recoil: high Speed: fast Range: long Reload Time: very long Think of the Minigun as the Chaingun’s faster, meaner brother. This big boy inflicts the same amount of damage as the Chaingun, but it empties its load MUCH faster: instead of shooting a steady stream of bullets like the Chaingun does, the Minigun shoots a huge, brief burst of them. Hence, the Minigun can do a lot of damage in a little time, but at the cost of accuracy: the high recoil makes it hard to aim, and the stream of bullets spreads apart after traveling long distances. I recommend that you use this at close or medium ranges to shoot the crap out of your opponent – just don’t miss, because the reload time is long. ---MINI NUKE--- Damage: high (up to 150-200% damage per nuke; typically 35-45% per nuke) Recoil: very low Speed: medium-slow Range: medium-short Reload Time: long The Mini Nuke is not quite as intimidating as the Big Nuke, but it’s still a very dangerous weapon in the right hands. The Mini Nuke lets you shoot two nukes, one at a time, which explode fairly quickly (much more quickly than the Big Nuke) and do fairly good amounts of damage. The green rings don’t spread as much (and so the explosion’s splash effect is diminished somewhat) but the faster explosions mean that it’s harder for the enemy to evade or counter with a fan. You’ll need to aim it right, though, since the explosion isn’t huge. The damage figure varies quite a bit, depending on how close the opponent is to the center of the explosion. ---MINI ROCKETS--- Damage: medium (~8% per rocket) Recoil: very low Speed: fast Range: long Reload Time: long These rockets aren’t quite as powerful as the Doomsday rockets, but they’re useful nonetheless. With ten rockets, the damage can mount up, and these things fly straight and true (with low recoil) so aiming shouldn’t be too difficult. If you have a steady aim you’ll find these rockets useful, as they can leave an opponent pretty badly injured. Vary your aim upwards or downwards as you’re shooting the rockets to make sure your opponent doesn’t just jump out of the line of fire. ---MISSILE--- Damage: medium (35-45%) Recoil: none Speed: medium Range: very long Reload Time: long The missile is a rocket that you can control – press the Up key to speed it up, and press the Left or Right keys to make the missile curve upwards or downwards. The missile isn’t easy to control in confined spaces, but out in the open you can make it go wherever you want (you can even do loop-de-loops). This is nifty, but the thing is that the damage isn’t really that good, considering the effort required for controlling the damn thing. If you want to, you can use the missile to sneak up on your opponent from afar, but in most situations you should rely on more powerful weapons. ---NAPALM--- Damage: high (up to 80-100%) Recoil: none Speed: medium-slow Range: medium Reload Time: medium Napalm is damn useful. You throw it (it looks like a yellowish grenade), it travels lazily through the air, and then explodes on contact with dirt or worm, or after a few seconds. The explosion produces several flames that shoot out in all directions (the explosion has a fairly large splash effect) and are quite damaging. Napalm is easy to use and doesn’t require pinpoint aiming, which is great; the only negatives are its susceptibility to the fan, and the possibility that you may hurt yourself as well as your opponent. ---RB RAMPAGE--- Damage: medium (35-40% per full clip) Recoil: very low Speed: medium-fast Range: long Reload Time: medium-short The RB Rampage is a unique weapon. It shoots a stream of bullets, similar to the Uzi, except these bullets will bounce around if they don’t hit their target (the target being a worm). The short reload time and good accuracy make this a fairly versatile weapon – you can use it in regular combat, or you can shoot it into an enemy base and watch the bullets bounce around (they’ll find their target eventually). The damage per clip isn’t too high, but the short reloading times mean that the figures will mount up. ---RIFLE--- Damage: medium (40%) Recoil: medium-low Speed: very fast Range: very long Reload Time: medium-long The rifle is the perfect weapon for sharpshooters. It comes with a nice laser sight to help your aiming, and the bullet flies straight and true (and fast – it’s pretty much impossible to see coming). The damage figure is fairly good, as well. If you like long-distance shootouts or sniping, then this (and the Gauss Gun) is perfect for you. Just don’t miss, because you only get one shot. ---SHOTGUN--- Damage: medium (~15% per round) Recoil: medium Speed: fast Range: long Reload Time: short A useful gun for those who don’t particularly like precision aiming and would rather go all out at close ranges. The shotgun can be fired five times per load, and each shot consists of a burst of pellets that spread out over distance. At close ranges the shotgun will inflict 15-20% damage per round, providing all the little pellets hit; the damage figure decreases sharply from medium or long ranges as the pellets spread out too far. The short reload times of this weapon mean that you can afford to take a few risks – for example, the shotgun is good for hitting moving opponents, and is a fairly good all-round assault weapon. ---SPIKEBALLS--- Damage: medium-high (75% if all balls hit) Recoil: none Speed: medium-slow Range: medium-short Reload Time: long The spikeballs don’t look all that flash, but they’re one of the most useful weapons in the game. Eight balls are launched simultaneously; if they don’t hit a worm right off, the greyish things will settle in the dirt, where they’ll stay until a worm foolishly walks into them (or until a certain length of time has passed, at which point they’ll self- destruct). The great thing about spikeballs is that they’re hard to escape, because there are great deals of them and they bounce around a bit. You can use them as grenades out in the open, or try and corner someone and then take them down with a nasty barrage. ---SUPER SHOTGUN--- Damage: high (~40% per round) Recoil: high Speed: medium-fast Range: long Reload Time: long The bigger, meaner brother of the shotgun. This weapon also does around 75-80% total in a load, except you only get two powerful shots instead of five middling ones. The Super Shotgun shoots a huge burst of pellets, which spread out fairly quickly. Because of the spread effect, it’s vital to use this from close range, unless you feel like slaughtering dirt. Because of the mediocre accuracy, I usually use from close range as a quick hit-n-run weapon. It’s very useful if you can aim well at moving targets – shoot, then escape (or switch to another weapon). ---UZI--- Damage: medium-low (30-35% per clip) Recoil: low Speed: medium-fast Range: long Reload Time: very short An often-overlooked weapon, the Uzi is very deadly in the right hands. It shoots a brief, accurate stream of bullets that will inflict modest damage on an opponent. The strength of the Uzi is its fairly good accuracy/low recoil - gravity is pretty much the only factor you have to take into account, since the gun itself is quite true. The accuracy and short reloading times make the Uzi very versatile, as you can use it from medium or even long ranges, or you can use it as an assault weapon in close. One clip won’t hurt the opponent too much, but you can shoot three clips in the time it takes for your opponent to shoot one. ---WINCHESTER--- Damage: medium-high (12% per shot) Recoil: medium-low Speed: very fast Range: very long Reload Time: long Think of the Winchester as a cross between the rifle and the handgun. It has a nine-round clip; the rounds can be fired fairly rapidly (it’s semi-automatic) and do a good deal of damage. With pinpoint accuracy, a large clip and relatively reasonable reload times, the Winchester is excellent from medium or long ranges (it’ll be hard to hit a target up close, since your opponent will likely be moving or roping). If you’re accurate, this weapon will definitely come in handy. ---ZIMM--- Damage: high (50% per shot) Recoil: very low Speed: fast Range: long Reload Time: very long A useful weapon, the Zimm fires two whitish, round bullets, one at a time. The bullets (for lack of a better word) travel fairly quickly and will bounce off walls or dirt until they hit a worm. Each shot does close to fifty percent damage, so the weapon is very powerful: use it either as a regular rifle-type weapon, or shoot it into an enemy tunnel and watch the inevitable slaughter. Just be careful to aim it at an angle where it won’t come right back and hit you in the face. ======================================================================== 5. Hints and Strategy ======================================================================== These are all the hints and tips I can think of for now. If you have any good strategies or hints or whatever, feel free to send them in! I appreciate all input. ***GENERAL HINTS/STRATEGY*** ---Use the terrain to your advantage! Entrench yourself if you can get a nice mound of dirt; throw bombs into an opponent’s lair (especially if the opponent will be somewhat trapped or inconvenienced by rocks or other obstacles); ninja rope in large, airy spaces. Try not to walk too much, as this is slow and laborious. ---An example of the above tip: In Capture the Flag or Simple CTF, you can make the flags or bases (either your own or your opponent’s) drop by using weapons to destroy dirt. You might want to make your opponent’s base more accessible, or make your own flag less so. ---If you’re unlucky enough to be playing against the computer instead of your friends, then you’ll probably notice sooner or later that the CPU isn’t very smart. It doesn’t know how to use some guns effectively (i.e. it treats the dirtball and greenball as any other weapon, making for amusing effects) and also doesn’t see booby traps. It also can’t see anything coming – it’ll open fire with a minigun even if your fan is blowing right in its face! ***MOVEMENT TIPS*** ---Get used to tunneling and ninja roping, as they’re vital for defence and evasion. The ninja rope is particularly important: learn how to swing around artfully so you’ll avoid gunfire and explosions, and also make sure you’re quick on the keys so that you’ll be able to dash out of tough situations via ninja rope. ALWAYS look at the mini-map to see the nearest rock/wall/dirt/etc that you can latch onto with the rope. ---The ninja rope can go through stone – that is, while the rope’s head will latch onto any rock it comes in contact with, the remainder of the rope will ignore the physical properties of rocks. In other words, if your worm is located at point B and the ninja rope is latched onto point A, and there’s stone (or dirt) between points A and B, you’ll be able to swing right through the obstacle. Note, though, that only the body of the ninja rope has these properties; the tip of the rope and your worm do not have such traits. ---The ninja rope will latch onto the sides or top/bottom of the arena, not just dirt or rocks. If the arena is totally devoid of dirt, then you can use the sides and top of the arena as ‘ladders’ or a ‘monkey bar’ and slowly rope yourself up or across, bit by bit. ---If a mound of shell casings or worm guts are blocking your way, you can dig through them. They’ll disappear just like dirt will. ---If you’ve just regenerated (or if your opponent has just regenerated) and there’s a pause in the action, then reload each weapon while you’re moving around and waiting to meet your opponent. Making the most of this time will ensure that you’re prepared for your firefight. ***WEAPON TIPS AND TRICKS*** ---If you and your opponent are fighting at different levels (heights), then it’s usually better to attack from the bottom up rather from the top downwards. You can aim your weapon 90 degrees upward, but only around 70 degrees downward, meaning that you can shoot someone who’s right above you but they won’t be able to shoot back. This extra bit of aiming flexibility for the lower player can be a big help. ---If you do happen to be the player “on top” (heh), don’t fret too much. Try and dig into some dirt and get yourself a nice little cubbyhole from which you can launch grenades, bombs or other similar weapons. As long as you can find some cover (dirt works well) then you can experiment with chucking grenades down and hoping they bounce around and hit your opponent below. This tactic is especially useful if you’re trying to hide from and deter your opponent (thus, it’s always good to have a grenade/Chiquita bomb/cluster bomb in your inventory). In you happen to be above your opponent and you have no cover, or no grenade- type weapons, get the hell out of there before the person below you does some sharp shooting. ---Shooting at an object from too close of a range will actually make you miss. This is because your gun sticks out in front of you, and so if you press right against an opponent (or anything else) then your gun will go right through them. Since the firing end of your gun is on the other side of them, anything you shoot will emerge from that end – in other words, it’ll be as if you were standing on the other side of your opponent. Interesting, eh? This is an important trick, since you can do all sorts of funny things like shoot through a dirt (or even rock) barrier that’s separating you and your opponent: as long as the barrier is thin, you can just press yourself against one side of the barrier and your gun will stick out far enough for you to shoot straight past the wall. Very handy, and it’s always fun to press against someone, stick your gun through them and shoot your load. (Hey, don’t give me that dirty look!) ---If you’re using a grenade-type weapon (grenade, cluster bomb, napalm, etc.) you can shoot it a little further by pressing the Fire key (whatever one you’ve assigned) hard. If you fire right after you start a jump (while you’re still going upwards) you can also get more momentum and thus lob the projectile further. This seems to work extremely well with Napalm and grenades. ---If you’re using the Missile and you have Reload+Change on, you can switch weapons while the missile is in mid-flight, fire the weapon you’ve switched to, and then change back to your Missile and you’ll be back in “missile view”, as long as your missile hasn’t hit an obstacle and exploded. This is very useful; aim a Missile at an enemy and then start shooting them with a Rifle! They won’t know what’s going on, and after your shot you can switch back and retake control of your missile, if needed. ---If you’re using a high recoil gun like the minigun, and you’re afraid of the recoil screwing up your aim, then try and open fire while a tall rock or mound of dirt is at your back. This will prevent you from constantly being pushed backwards by the recoil, and will also steady your aim. ---Another way to minimise recoil is to use your ninja rope, although this only works with multi-shot weapons like the Doomsday, Uzi, Chaingun, Minigun, etc. All you have to do is ninja rope downwards so that you’re attached to the ground ahead of you. Then, aim and open fire. You will start to be jerked backwards at first because of the recoil, but the elastic tendencies of the ninja rope will make you stop moving backwards at some point when the elastic force of the rope is equal to the recoil force of your gun (they’ll be pushing you in opposite directions). This is great with low reloads and works with any gun, even the rifle and Gauss Gun! ---Or, if you like the feeling of being pushed back by recoil, then try flying! You can use some weapons to fly, because their recoil will push you back enough to overcome gravity. Such weapons include the Gauss Gun, rifle, minigun, or even the Uzi – just be aware that the flying doesn’t last very long, and is more apparent on low reload settings. Still, it’s always cool to use a minigun to launch yourself in the air, just like in those Hollywood movies. ---If at all possible, try and corner your enemies – this might mean trapping them up against a mound of dirt, successfully infiltrating their little tunnel, or trapping them through the use of a dirtball or greenball. Whatever method you use, take full advantage of your situation by blasting the hell out of your opponent with a weapon like the minigun, Chiquita bomb, napalm, or anything else that works well against stationary opponents who have little room for maneuvering. Some guns specialise in taking out entrenched or dug-in opponents -- for example, the Big Nuke or napalm will do massive damage in confined spaces. 
---The only danger with the above strategy is that cornered opponents 
will not have to be worried about aiming much since they’ve already got 
a secure position. Thus, don’t go after a cornered or entrenched 
opponent without expecting a bit of a firefight: they can just as easily 
lob bombs or shoot bullets back at you. The only difference is that they 
have the advantage over you while you’re trying to come in (they’ve got 
the established position) but once you’ve actually come close, you’ve 
got a huge advantage in that you can move around while your opponent 
can’t.

---Another tip about trapping opponents: use the dirtball or greenball 
to do this. Both weapons make ‘dirt’ (well, the slimy crap produced by 
the greenball counts as dirt, I suppose) and so work wonders in suddenly 
trapping an opponent in a healthy layer of soil. Once you’ve trapped an 
opponent, quickly go up to them, stick your gun in through the dirt 
(according to the trick I mentioned earlier – dig a little, if need be) 
and then give them a Big Nuke or Chiquita bomb. Ouch.

---A quick note about the greenball, though – it’s usually better for 
surrounding *yourself* (instead of your opponent) with dirt, since the 
greenball pellets are hard to aim and will probably only create a 
weakish barrier around your opponent. The dirtball is easier to aim and 
use against a mobile enemy.

---Not only are bombs useful against enemies in confined spaces; other 
weapons like the spikeballs and explosives work well too. The spikeballs 
are especially good, and can be extremely dangerous on low reload 
settings because each spikeball does a fair deal of damage, and there 
are A LOT of them.

---If you happen to have entrenched yourself, and the opponent has made 
his way in and is preparing to blast you, don’t lose all hope! You 
should be disappointed at yourself for not defending your base better 
(when your opponent is trying to sneak in he’s perfect prey for a well-
timed Gauss Gun shot or a booby trap), but you still might have a few 
tricks up your sleeve. For example, it’s always handy to carry a fan 
since doing so will enable you to blow away an opponent’s big nuke, 
napalm, spikeballs, Chiquita bomb, or almost anything else he’s using 
against you. In fact, you can even blow away the big nuke’s explosive 
rings and the Chiquita’s bananas, so you’ll be able to escape relatively 
unscathed IF you manage to use your fan effectively (i.e. DON’T be 
forced to reload before the explosion’s over, and aim your fun 
accurately!).

In any case, if you equip yourself with a fan and use it well, you might 
just be able to give your opponent a taste of his own medicine. If you 
haven’t got a fan, take out a weapon that shoots quickly and powerfully 
(shotgun, minigun, etc.) and give it your best shot. You never know, it 
might work, especially if your opponent isn’t expecting it.

---The fan is really quite effective! You can blow away bouncy larpas 
(and create a whirlwind of shrapnel in the process); you can negate 
otherwise deadly Chiquita bombs; and you can trick your opponents by 
reflecting their crap right back at them! Two opponents with fans and 
other weapons going at each other is really quite interesting, and makes 
for a good battle – so make sure you know how to use this handy weapon. 
Just remember that the fan doesn’t work on every gun, and don’t blow 
your load (hehe) too quickly!

---If you’re playing with no reloads, then the whole game changes, as 
the most effective weapons are SINGLE SHOT weapons. For example, the 
Rifle is amazingly effective during no-reload battles because there is 
absolutely no pause between shots – the only pause, that of reloading, 
has been taken out. The same principle goes for the Big Nuke, Chiquita 
Bomb, spikeballs, and more. Weapons that have multiple shots (for 
example, the cannon) won’t fire as quickly because there is still a 
slight, built-in pause between shots, even within the same load.

========================================================================
6.   Miscellany
========================================================================

This section is for all the stuff about Liero that doesn't fit anywhere 
else. You can submit your own miscellany here - levels, stories, 
websites, Liero mods, whatever. Currently the only miscellaneous stuff I 
have is a tutorial on the level editor and a description of Wormhole (an 
advanced Liero level editor), but send in your contributions and you can 
help this section grow.

---LIERO'S LEVEL EDITOR---

The Level Editor lets you create your own levels. It's rather basic, but 
hopefully it will be fleshed out in future versions of Liero, and in any 
case it's a handy tool for making creative and fun levels of your own.

You can load, save or clear levels. Clearing a level returns you to the 
basic level template, which is just 100% dirt (there are a few graphical 
embellishments like randomly-placed dinosaur bones and soft gravel, but 
they don't actually have any unique properties).

You can do two things to this basic template: you can dig (remove dirt) 
or you can place stones. The pinkish circle icon means "dig", and you 
just have to left click and then drag the mouse around to create nice 
tunnels, holes and whatnot in the dirt. To place a stone, left-click on 
the stone icon (both the dig and stone icons are at the top left on the 
screen) and left-click where you want to put the stone. Right-clicking 
changes the stone's appearance and size; there are ten types of stones 
for you to choose from.

You can make some pretty creative levels. Stones can be used as walls or 
obstacle courses, or can be placed strategically to make nice ninja-
roping courses or redoubts (place two big stones next to each other with 
a little gap inbetween, and a worm can then sneak into the gap and use 
the stones as shields from gunfire).

---WORMHOLE---

This is a damn fine level editor made by Johan Otterud and available 
free off the ‘Net – the official Wormhole site is located at 
http://hem1.passagen.se/otterud/wormhole.

Wormhole is a much more powerful tool than the level editor that comes 
with Liero, and so you can create more advanced, detailed and fun 
levels. Among the features are the abilities to use custom brushes (for 
different painting effects), custom dirt types (with different 
properties and colours), and custom objects. You can even take a 
favourite picture of yours, tweak it a bit, and make it into a Liero 
level! In addition, there’s support for use of other programs such as MS 
Paint, and you can use all these features to edit existing levels as 
well. Sweet.

If you’re into Liero and would like to make some nice levels, I highly 
suggest you check out Wormhole. It’s very easy to download and the 
readme that comes with it should explain everything. Go on, get it!

---OTHER MISCELLANEOUS STUFF---

This is where you come in – yes, YOU.

If you’ve got any nice stuff about Liero (editors, stories, other 
resources, anything) then submit it and I’ll add it. I know there’s some 
good stuff out there, but you’ll have to bring it to my attention!


========================================================================
8b.   Credits
========================================================================

Thanks to #The fREaK! for some handy information about the Gauss Gun.

Thanks to my parents and friends for their support.

Thanks also to Jeff “CJayC” Veasey, for posting my FAQ on his great 
site; MetsänEläimet, for making such a great game; and Johan Otterud, 
for making Wormhole (I hope he doesn’t mind my mentioning his project).