Aliens

The Alien (A.K.A. Xenomorph) is a moderately difficult antagonist role to play aboard the Colonial Marines server. The aliens' strength comes mostly from close-quarters combat. You'll have to maintain at least a noticeable level of role-play and avoid meta-gaming situations at all costs. Your job is to serve the queen of your hive. You do not feel remorse or compassion, no needs other than to propagate and protect your own kind. If you do well, then there will be little in your way to stop you.

Starting Out

In the beginning, you are spawned in with a group of alien Drones aboard the ghost-ship known as the NSS Nostromo, the alien infested station. The amount of starting Drones scales with the number of Marines that initially join at round-start. The original drones should have full knowledge regarding the rooms and areas of the station to assist them in their mission of repopulation.

Several locations within the ship are prime nesting grounds, complete with a few monkeys to help repopulate:

First-timer tips:

• Speak in Hivemind by using :a before your message.
  • Example: Say ":aMy life for the Queen!"
• You are a slave to the Queen's will. Follow her orders or die trying.
• Grow the hive. Gather together any hosts and bring them to her chosen nest for repopulation.
• Weeds weeds weeds. Plant weeds everywhere. While on weeds, aliens regenerate health and plasma very quickly.

Tier 1 Evolution

You have a choice of three castes of xenomorph: the Runner, the Sentinel, or the Drone. After that, advanced evolutions become available through the use of Royal Jelly secreted by the Queen. Each caste has its pros and cons.

Drone

A Drone is meant for utility: Building resin and using acid to dissolve weapons or walls so your sisters can continue forward. Drones defend the hive and keep an eye on the hosts currently within it. Spreading weeds, building resin structures and helping the Queen is your job.

Sentinel

Sentinels are ranged defenders. Their Spit Neurotoxin ability allows them to instantly stun a potential host from a distance, but their relatively low speed make them more useful to a group of xenomorphs rather than working alone.

Runner

Runners are melee attackers. They are the fastest of all alien castes, but also the weakest. A few well-aimed shots will bring down a Runner. However, even a single skilled runner using the Pounce ability and keeping a few Facehuggers with them at all times can bring down an unaware, untrained squad of Marines with careful planning and a little luck.

Tier 2 Evolution

Carrier

The Carrier evolves from a Drone, but no longer has the ability to build resin, spit acid, or plant weeds. Instead, it is able to carry up to 8 facehuggers and use its Throw Facehugger ability with extreme accuracy.

Spitter

The Spitter evolves from a Sentinel and has an upgraded corrosive acid and neurotoxin.

Warrior

The Warrior evolves from a Runner. It has reduced speed in favor of a unique ability: Stealth. Though not 100% invisible, the Warrior can make an easy host of unsuspecting prey while standing still on weeds.

Tier 3 Evolution

Hivelord

The Hivelord can also evolve from a Drone, and is the ultimate utility-defense caste. With upgraded health, plasma, and a much stronger acid, its versatility is unmatched out of all other alien castes. However, it is slow and unwieldy, making any offensive actions less than ideal. The Hivelord is best served spitting acid on host's weapons and armor within the hive, planting weeds everywhere, placing nests just behind the front lines for offensive castes to use for new hosts, and building resin around them to contain them.

Praetorian

The Praetorian evolves from a Spitter and has the strongest corrosive acid and neurotoxin out of all castes.

Ravager

The Ravager evolves from a Warrior and is the ultimate killing machine. It has double the reach of any other alien caste, allowing it to take down defenses and prey that might otherwise not be reachable. It also has a Charge ability, which can quickly close the distance needed to handle one or more terrified Marines.

The Queen

The final tier. Evolved from a Drone, the Queen is the mind of the hive. She is responsible for laying the many eggs that will aid her brood in victory. She is also a capable fighter when threatened. She has the highest health of all the aliens, making her very tough to kill. Furthermore, her Paralyzing Screech ability causes nearby Marines to drop what they're holding and be frozen in place long enough for assisting aliens to take down a small squad. She also has a strong corrosive acid that allows her to open new pathways or dissolve enemy weapons quickly. She is very slow, however, making her increased health a trivial encumbrance to a squad of Marines when caught in the open.

Tips

• Plant Weeds often to spread weeds as far as possible. Plasma is the life force of the xenomorph.
• Aliens do not need to breathe. You can traverse open space without permanent damage.
• If you are injured, you will regenerate plasma at a much slower rate.
• Aliens only heal when standing on weeds, and some castes will die slowly if they've been off of it for too long or knocked unconscious.
• As a Queen, there is no greater advantage you can give your brood than to plant as many eggs as possible. Not only is it an excellent defense, but a powerful weapon when your sisters have access to facehuggers to immobilize their prey.