Dont grief! Support your team's Mantis!

Games Other Halo
1

This is something I advocate and want to get the word out to as many of you on the waypoint forums as possible, as I’m sure you’ll agree.

The Mantis is a powerful vehicle, but it is NOT a lone wolf. Even a single enemy player could completely wreck you. I find that it works best when being used in support of teammates.

The chaingun isnt that good, and requires near overheating to kill one player.

The stomp has very limited range.

The missles take ages to reload.

So when using the mantis, STICK BY YOUR TEAMMATES.

When not using the mantis, STICK BY THE MANTIS.

Too often, I’ve been ganged up on and taken out, when a couple of teammates could easily saved me. Likewise, I’ve been able to save my teammate’s mantis by shooting their attacker (who usually used the plasma pistol) a number of times.

And the big point here is simply DONT GRIEF. Dont be that guy who throws a tantrum cuz someone got the mantis first. It’s not invincible, and with everyone running around with plasma pistols and plasma grenades, you’re a very big target.

This topic is meant to advocate a more mantis-friendly mindset. Maybe even share stories of how you and another player watched each other’s backs and it paid off.

EDIT:
Hey everyone, I’ve got some Mantis-related videos to share to better illustrate my points. Best of all, most of these are as recent as last night; so you’ll see just how easy/common these events are. Unfortunately, because file share isnt working right now, they only way to view these is to do an in-game search for my gamertag “Ghidorah14” in the file browser. Allow me to break each one down.

Mantis antics.
Shows a few things.

  1. Someone abusing the rock glitch on Shatter and getting handily dealt with.
  2. What I’m calling “The Preemptive Stomp.” THIS IS IMPORTANT SO TAKE NOTE. If someone is close to you and you anticipate getting plamsa’d, try stomping and see what happens. Works more than you’d think!
  3. How easy it is for a team to coordinate an attack on the mantis. I got swarmed.

Mantis gets owned BAD.
A prime example of a Mantis driver thinking they’re on top of the world. I humble him by proving how easily the Mantis can be dealt with, and make a sly grab for the flag while I’m at it.

Wheelman earns it’s keep.
A short and simple video, demonstrating how the Wheelman mod could make a world of difference.

Mantis killing frenzy.
I’m sure most of you will appreciate this one. I get a killing frenzy on Ragnorak by using the Mantis the proper way; in support of and in defense of my teammates.

Helpless Mantis.
A simple video. Starts off with a teammate getting butthurt that I got the Mantis first. Two plasma grenades and a PP. How nice. I try to help my teammates, but they didnt try to help me, and I get taken down by someone who, in all good sense, should’ve been killed long before he boarded me. And even when he did, he had no shields, and the one teammate who was actually attacking him couldnt get a headshot with the carbine. What a waste.

Mantis killer.
Last one. This clip is meant to humble anyone who thinks the Mantis is God mode. Not only do I take out TWO Mantises all on my own, but I do it with nothing but a plasma pistol and a jetpack. Best of all, they were RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER. Two mantises, with all that firepower, and they could stop one little lone spartan.

2

Take care of the Metal Gear, and it will take care of you.

Seriously, though. Very nice tips. The Mantis always seems to do a lot better when having two friendlies near it to prevent it from being hit by power weapons or being boarded by the enemy.

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I still remember that “BUSTED!” I got when some blue idiot tried to board my buddy. Good times…

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Yes! The deadliest thing to a Mantis is a lone Spartan with a Plasma Pistol.

Best way to stop those kind of Spartans is to have teammates moving with the Mantis.

And besides it is so satisfying when you get that Busted when you save that Mantis’s butt.

5

Good post, I always try following Mantis in big team, using it for cover is also great

6

Very good post… Oh yeah, I always work to support the Mantis because the opponent can sneak up on it and destroy it.

7

I laugh every time a stupid Mantis dies. We can only hope that one day all Mantis’s will have died, and Halo will again be Mantis-free…

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I would like to add one more thing:

DON’T MOVE THE MANTIS WHEN YOU ARE BEING BOARDED. Seriously, you can’t shake him off. He’s is already on it. Stand still and hope that one of your teammates kills the boarder. It’s a little hard to kill the boarder when you stomping and dancing around.

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I agree, worse still team mates who EMP you because you reached the mantis first.

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Yep hopefully this will see widespread adoption

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> I still remember that “BUSTED!” I got when some blue idiot tried to board my buddy. Good times…

Busted and Showstopper, easily the best medals in the game and the two that I go out of my way to try and get.
Still, pretty hard to get through.

I support any idea that increases teamwork, nice thread OP

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I really hate it when people start EMPing you and sticking you just because they didn’t get the vehicle they wanted.

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> > I still remember that “BUSTED!” I got when some blue idiot tried to board my buddy. Good times…
>
> <mark>Busted and Showstopper, easily the best medals</mark> in the game and the two that I go out of my way to try and get.
> Still, pretty hard to get through.
>
> I support any idea that increases teamwork, nice thread OP

True… I love hearing that… BUSTED or SHOWSTOPPER… It’s a great feeling too!!! :=)

14

i got a running riot in a mantis…BY GOIN LONE WOLF!

15

Yeah, good advice. Mechanized units always work better with infantry support.

16

My name is FragsturBait and I support this message.

17

I “busted” someone who tried to jack our Mantis.

This was risky, I don’t recommend it but I hit the enemy with a Binary Rifle shot. I had to be careful because if I missed, I would have killed the very teammate I was trying to save. But I didn’t and the Mantis was successfully preserved :slight_smile:

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The sandbox is not without its own RTS-like element for the Power Triangle.
Infantry protects medium sized vehicles, mediums protect heavies, heavies protect infantry. Especially on Infinity Slayer settings where PW’s can be collected without necessarily having to go outside and risk getting shot.

Removing anyone 1 corner does not mean one removes another to concentrate and it is poor sportsmanship AND just plain stupid to waste your team’s time and resources by attacking the player that took something you want.

I agree that if a player really is good, either they’ll keep their Mantis alive due to knowing how to exploit its weakness’ (which are strengths) and if indeed the that fails, there’s always the respawn.

Now I believe in special circumstances where you can destroy your own Mantis to get the player out, but those are rare and require the Mantis user to be harassing its own team… OR running away from the battle in a purposeful act of cowardice/troll… I only have one rule.

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agree 100% with OP… when i play on shatter i usually get the mantis one mate gets the sniper rifle at the teleport base and i mantis it out below there so he can cover me and busted anyone who tries to board… with my other mate on foot around me legs keepin folks away… works a charm … have gotten several killing frenzies with the mantis this way and its not unbalanced… cause those two guys get a whole bunch of kills too keeping guys off me… since the mantis is an enemy magnet…

covering each other makes the mantis godlike… giving kills for the mantis player and the covering player