DoW II: The Last Stand. Help, anyone?

[Kiro]

Title says it all, I'm looking to beat wave 20 on DoW II's Last Stand. Ideally without having to resort to the glitch trick. I only have the CR expansion, not Retribution (bloody typical: when it came out, I was off the hobby, now that I wan't it, I can't afford it ). The Sorcerer and Tyrant are my highest levelled characters, with the Captain falling behind, the Farseer on around lvl 3, and I'm not going to bother with the Mekboy. I've only ever reached wave 20 once, and that was one of the first few games I ever played. Now that I know what I'm doing, the highest wave I usually reach is the one with the Wraithlords. Frustratingly, it doesn't help that I tend to get teamed with young/inexperienced gamers. The last sesh I had, I spent most of it rezzing a SM who didn't know how to run.

Any tips or tricks? Build suggestions? Strategies?

I've noticed that unless I'm paired with some geared out, experienced team mates, the hardest wave I struggle with is....10, I think. The one with the plasma marines and scouts. Weirdly, the waves get easier until the Wraithlord/Carnifex hordes. Or maybe that's just me...

Does anyone else think the Tyrant is appalling? I want to love him, but get endless frustration as his pathfinding is God-awful, he runs away when assaulted if he's armed with a ranged weapon (even forcing him to engage in melee is an exercise in terrible pathfinding and aligning), and his maneuverability is pants.

[stazba]

First things first. You wanna play Last Stand with randoms who are more likely to know what they doing (and therefor help you get further) DOWII Retribution is MUCH more likely to have em then the old versions. Also (correct me if I am wrong but I am pretty sure) people playing Last Stand on DOWII vanilla or CR can not coop with those playing retribution. Steam has occasional sales for this title (almost will def in Summer sales) and even its normal price of 29.99USD is not so bad, but since I dont know your finances that may actually not be something you are interested. One more note for Retribution Last Stand what might interest you......Achievements with cool accessory rewards, 2 new characters (Tao Shas O + IG Lord General, DLCs (costumes+more accessories), and a brand new hell themed level added. Good deal you ask me and that is just with the last stand.

Now to the meat of your question (I am a Ork Mek myself generally but love the Lord General)

General tips to get to and beat 20:
-Friends are better than randoms, but randoms can surprise you in a good. However my best games (distance and fun) have always been with friends
-Know each level (especially after 12 imo). That means, know what is coming on that wave, when they come during the wave, and even what gate they will come out of. All of this is possible, and will help you plan how to beat each level
-Know your kit, and try them out in diff combos. You might be surprised what you get.
-REALLY know when to use abilities and when to save the "mana" (for lack of a better word). Sucks when a well placed ability would have saved the group but you just used a different one 10 seconds before.

Some strategies that I have seen work

-Camping in one gate corner (even better if you have a Farseer with mass transport who knows what he/she is doing)
pros-You get a jump on one gate occupants while the other three gate gribblies gotta hoof it at you and also limit the axis of attacks from the side
cons-If the wave has mass suppression weapons (f-ing eldar, and later nids) you will be in for a world of hurt if you dont get rid of the suppressors soon (and naturally they are all behind a wall of first melee and then shooters)

tip= prioritize which corner to camp if you know what will be coming out. dont get trapped with suppessors when meleers are charger in (instant death). Get out of the corner ASAP if issues (tranport farseer excels at this, but most classes have some form of quick escape)

-1 Tankman with 2 killers (1 meleer + 1 shooter or if they are really good 2 shooters)= one man maxed out to take damage and survive whose only job is to draw aggro and maybe dish a little pain.
pros-If you kit one guy out to survive rather than kill, and he/she is good at getting the aggo away from the killers, the tank will be merrily leading that waves meleers in circles while shrugging off most of gunfire (especially when abusing cover)
cons-tankman dies early, you got worlds of hurt coming and likely not as much protection as you wished you had if you play the role of killer straight. tankman when caught by mass mob meleers is toast (ie is suppressed or makes a stupid mistake). a tankman not aggroing good % of the hate can = dead partners. A tankmans role nets you really low points + can be very boring if you are at heart a hunter/killer....make sure you are a team player if you want to tank.

tip = tanks should move ahead of their group towards as many mobs as possible at beginning of level/end of major mob threat to draw as much hate as they can than begin the old run away. Support your tankman by target priority as a tankman hates suppressors or units with knockback...kill them ASAP. Tanks, prioritize which targets you want to kite (ie the most dangerous to the group that will not kill you if it cant catch you...high dps meleers/shooters, walkers, ect)

-Hit and Run= players designed to both kill and survive move around picking battles, and avoiding ones that they cant win atm while slowly killing off mobs until all can be handled
pros-the better your team is as a team, the better this works (ie as one person is running around, kiting mobs, and killing select targets, the other players are doing the same)
cons-if your team doesnt work well together and are able to almost know just by what direction you are heading in what your plans are (or you are not live chatting) this strategy becomes more and more difficult the higher the level.

Tip = talk to eachother over chat if you can. learn to kite without the benfit of being as tough as a tank. Know when to attack and when to run. Target prioritize based on the mobs (ie if you see slow meleers, leave em for last and take out the suppressors and shooters as possible)

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There are tons of more strats I am sure, but I personally have had pretty good success with all 3. Even moreso, I have had great success with combining and abandoning strats as the levels progress (depending on your loadout of course as a pure tank is useless as a hit and run killer, but excels with campers with some fast mobility).

Sorry for wall of text

Cheers.

[PointBlank]

As an FYI - The Steam summer sale will be along shortly, you might be able to pick up retribution for a bargain price.