SEE the BOLD PROCLAMATION of FOOVUF!

• Alien: Merciful Lord In Heaven Above, The alien has been rewritten.

  DO NOT MAIL ME ASKING HOW TO GET THE ALIEN. I am sworn to secrecy under pain of death, and any inquiries will result in your email flooded with several core dumps.

  He's wierd, he's parasitic, he ain't easy but he's damn cool. He'll start with 1 life and can't pick up health packs. The only way he gains life is through a very slow (1 life/second/victim) proximal 'wraith attack' life drain, or the ammo in others' packs. His life is also his ammunition. So, you start off as Kannonfodder, Third class and become that again if you're too trigger-happy. In quest or single-player, he's a liability; monster-packs don't give him enough ammo to sustain himself. In deathmatch, he just might be able to maintain himself with the packs of his victims and his terrifying arsenal (CMPs, nuks, bfgs and other things the Geneva Convention frowns upon). In purge, he can be a nightmare if his teammates help a bit-- a beneficient deity to mass-heal, and a few donated packs from his teammates. The old alien was a complete hit-and-run character, this new one might enjoy an extended furball, provided there's enough kills/packs to feed his need. The tough part is living long enough to get your health in double digits. (NOTE TO STUPID PEOPLE: Killing an alien fresh off a respawn gets you an easy kill and nips a potential headache in the bud) The sort of idiot who will, fresh out of a respawn, charge a fully-armed opponent with his shotgun (natural habitat: map DM1, the Place of Two Deaths) should avoid this class until they learn that discretion is the better part of valour. When you pop in, RUN. I wouldn't even bother getting people angry with your wraith attack, just keep moving until you can steal a pack, then open up.
  
  
• Cyborg Camper: Officially one of the 'scrubs' in the new versions of FVF, An expert in directing lots of firepower in one general direction, give or take 45 degrees either way, a cyborg's the ideal choice for saturating a hostile altar. If you have any other weapons you can, of course, completely ignore the two machine-gun things (weapons 4 and 5); they do no proximity damage and aren't very damaging. Blowfishes and proximity bombs, though, make an altar boy's life difficult, and a loaded dual-rocket launcher can force the enemy to evacuate the altar altogether. He's also good for roving about on defense. Hang around the outside, around the altar, or go raiding to keep your opponents from getting an organized seige together. The homing scrubs (weapons 2 and 3) are relatively slow in speed and turning, but they'll still keep snipers and ninjas on their toes or in their graves. DO NOT try to camp the altar itself or play bodyguard to the Deity. Since most altars are in contained areas, you'll end up killing yourself as your bombs bounce back at you. Also, since friendly fire will still send you flying, you'll disorient your teammates as they go bouncing off walls.
  
  
• Cleric: Don't bother trying to attack. Unless you're much better than your opponent, you'll be eaten alive. The exception here is when you use divine intervention to make a quad damage or pentagram; then you become a headache (of course, a droid, camper, or mage with one would be even more of a problem). Radar has pointed out that a cleric can use his bolt to dust an unarmed or nearly-unarmed opponent, but I'm afraid his advice about using them successfully against commandoes is nigh-useless for us mere mortals. The cleric's best work is standing on the altar and generating stuff for the altarguard; in this way a cleric is easily as useful as any fighter or sniper in a deity's entourage. The new addition, the dread Guardian Spirit, is a camper's nightmare. Throwing one into a hostile altar is a great way of breaking the defense's concentration, as stupid players get repeatedly zapped and smarter players turn all of their firepower to eliminating the little bastard. Experienced players will be quite adept at taking Spirits out, but it still is distracting to them, so launching one will always make the attacker's life easier.

  NOTE TO CAMPERS: You have to learn to take Guardians out. Period. Otherwise they will kill you. I recommend using rapid-fire and area-affect weapons on it-- getting one in a sniper-sight can be a hassle. Even novices, on the other hand, can take it out without too much trouble using mass drivers and rocket launchers.

  
  
  
• Deity: (NOTE: This information is largely out-of-date. The deity has evil new attack capabilities-- homing weapons that make a Vore look cuddly-- that must be taken into account-- feedback on this matter welcome.) The best way to think of him is as an extreme form of cleric. He's even better at giving stuff, and even worse at attacking. Unless you've got an opponent with his back to you and wearing a "SHOOT ME" sign, don't attack; remember that everything you do cuts into your health. Even worse, when you attack, you don't regenerate health as quickly and are far more vulnerable. If you just stand on the altar and catch bullets, there are lots of weapons that can't deal enough damage to kill-- for example, the droid's plasma and mass-drivers, the worm gun, etc. If the altar's overrun, the best idea is to retreat and keep moving. since you can regenerate health to 60 instantly, you're a hard target even off the altar. It helps to know little out-of the way corners and secrets to hole up in until your teammates can clear the altar for you. And when you're fleeing wildly, remember this: THE DIETY CAN FLY. I've seen too many deities trying to dodge bullets on the ground when a bit of altitude could save their ass. However, you can only fly while your health is above 60, so don't overdo it. Unless you've got a cleric or two, cast mass weapons when you've nothing better to do. Remember that this little manuever, aside from making cyborgs and wasteland warriors a bit meaner, lets snipers and warriors become walking nightmares. There's a reason that they get new skins with all their weapons; it's the same reason that coral snakes are brightly colored: nature's way of saying do not touch me, I will bite. Of course, mass-bless can le your team really rip into the opposition.
  
  

  DO NOT MAIL ME ASKING HOW TO GET THE MARINE. I am sworn to secrecy under pain of death, and any inquiries will result in your email flooded with several core dumps.

• Doom Marine: A problematic case. On paper, a marine should suck. It looks like he consists of just mediocre weapons of other classes: a Quake Soldier's rocket and shot gun, a Droid's BFG. However, I've seen too many truly nasty marines to believe this. The truth is, his weapons are all more powerful than the other classes' versions; his rocket launcher is a particular headache. The one exception is the plasma gun; I've never seen a battle where the droid's mass-driver doesn't come out on top. All in all, the marine is good for altar-raiding and guarding outside, around the altar where he won't kill himself with his rockets. In close quarters, his shotgun can be a headache. With a super-medkit, he can have 200 health without it draining off, but this isn't terribly important-- we all know that the super-medkit boost gets blown off by opponents long before it ever gets a chance to bleed off on its own anyways.
  
  
• Fighter: Often getting the shaft in deathmatches, the fighter becomes a nightmare in purge. On a base raid, he can charge the defenders head-on while other classes hang back and carpet-bomb. His best place, however, is as altar guard. It's bad enough when a deity gives out mass-weapons and suddenly you need two snipers and a camper to put him down, but when his only job is to guard a small area (like, say, an altar) where you can't get a safe distance from him, he becomes a major problem. If you've got two or three fighters guarding an altar, a nuk is probably the only way to clear it out without losing half your team. The fact that he can regenerate health means he won't have to make health-pack runs like droids and snipers. So, when you're holding the altar, don't waste fighters on gratuitous raidings when he can hold the base so well. Since the fighter now regenerates health even when attacking, even a novice can scare people away, running around with the fire button held down all the time.
  
  
• Laser Android: My personal favorite and a good general-purpose dogface. A master of laying down suppressing fire, he can serve as an altar-guard, using ion guns and mass drivers to take out opponents before they get close, and then use the plasma gun to bake whoever manages to get through. The fact that he generates his own ammo means he can stick around when snipers need to make ammunition runs. When guarding the outside of the altar or raiding, you can play sniper with the BFG, play scorched earth with your mass-driver, or charge people with a plasma gun. On offense, use plasma and mass drivers to fill a hostile altar with support fire, or use the BFG to take the edge off all the defenders in sight (Remember that plasma and mass-drivers aren't damaging enough to take out a deity or alien). A plasma thrower is quite possibly the best weapon in the game to use against a fighter; backpedal and bake him as he tries to catch you or just fill a room with fire. And, as one of the premiere droids in the business, I think I can speak for all of the Scuds, LoTechs and Terminators of the world when I say, YEEEEEHAAAW I CAN FLY!!! The new versions of the game let us mechslaggers take to the air, acid and lava. The droid's flight capability, however, is not as useful as the Monk's or deity's: since it uses cells (ammo for weapon 8) it doesn't last too long. A monk can fly around grabbing enough shotgun ammo to stay in the air indefinitely. A droid however, won't find many placed cell-packs, and he doesn't regenerate any when flying. A full stock of 100 will keep you in the air for quite a while, but if you start shooting, you'll find your ammo burning away quite quickly. So, a droid's flights will generally be limited to transportation purposes and sniping BFG shots, not generalized air assault. One thing to mitigate this factor: while you're flying, if you hold down 'jump' while firing another weapon, you only use ammo for the thing you're firing, it 'forgets' to burn ammo for flight. Overall, though, the droid's major downside is that a droid without weapons is possibly the most defenseless player there is; don't even bother trying to attack with just your shotgun-equivalent. Also, for you ninjas, campers, wasteland warriors, clerics and anyone else with a good weapon #8: cells are usually hard to come by on any level, but a droid generates them-- any ammo he picks up gets converted into cells. Finding a less-than-competent droid and fragging him repeatedly is a good way to keep yer weapon 8 stockpiled.
  
  
• Mage: Best as a second-line attacker, hanging back and saturating the place with fireballs and such as the droids and warriors move in. Delayed fireballs make the defender's life difficult; the slow incoming streak tends to be an unpleasant distraction. Not too good on altar-guard (lightning column usually kills too slow to save yer deity), since you're rather vulnerable in close quarters. When on defense, try to hit attackers when they're a ways off to break up offensives. Do not let anyone get close to you; backpedal and blast your attackers with fireballs and combo spells. Mu$a$hi recommends weapon #7, the instant fireball, and I have to agree with him. It's more damaging than your average rocket, and travels a lot quicker. Cloudkill is good for fire support and discouraging head ons; it's noisy, it reloads quick and it does considerable damage. And, in close quarters, the batch spell gets unfriendly. There's too much ordnance for your opponent to avoid; all the pretty lights tend to confuse. Just make sure you're not too close to the fireball when it hits. Overall, though, #7 is yer best bet.
  
  
• Monk: Basically an aggressive cleric, you should consider being a monk instead of a cleric in any game where you don't hold the altar consistently. He has the bare bones of a cleric, health, armor and intervention, and he has some unfriendly attack abilities. While they might not look threatening at first, they can be very unpleasant surprises. On offense, the monk's ability to fly lets him attack from unusual angles. Many have died from forgetting to look up. Megacrushes can turn a securely held altar into a graveyard if you're not careful. The shadow fireball and psiboom's delays limit their usefulness, but it's still unfriendly. On defense, stay on the altar and make stuff for your team. Let the other altarguards deal with single attackers, but if you're beseiged, start shooting the crushes and fireballs. On both offense and defense, the lunge punch is deceptively useful. The burst of speed makes you very hard to hit, and you can also rip apart anyone who gets in your way. This is absolutely the best class to use in Ziggurat Virtigo or any other zero-G levels you find yourself in; flying good. And when you're flying, hold down your 'jump' button to really move around. Another thing: hold down 'jump' and keep firing the lunge punch (weapon 1) and you don't lose any ammo at all-- it 'forgets' to burn up ammo for flying.
  
  
• Ninja: Ninjas require more finesse than the rest. They're mostly lacking in firepower, and critical hits will never come when you want them to (FvF seems to have some sort of Murphy's Law algorithm built in). Ninjas are good with hit-and-run methods. On offense, charge in, drop some bombs/flamewalls, and run out while others are keeping the defenders occupied. If there are high ceilings, use your grappling hook and reign death from above. On defense, use similiar methods. When guarding the altar, hide in a dark corner. When the enemy shows up, drop a few bombs and run. Come back and use daggers and darts to finish off whoever's left. Keep in mind that a ninja can easily become cannon fodder if there's no one else to draw fire. Follow in or lead attacks; trying to go solo will get you killed. Also, you play a decoy, which may sound silly, but ducking bullets can be fun (remember dodgeball?). Also NeonJesus suggests another tactic: teleport. It seems that, since every altar is on the starting point of a level, there's always a teleport dropsite on it. Just grab some cells (I recommend beating on droids to do this) and keep teleporting until you've dropped in behind God and take him out.
  
  
• Quake Soldier: Like the android, the quaker is a good all-around character. On defense, the double shotgun and lightning gun are good altar- protectors. On offense or perimeter guard, the rocket launcher can create headaches from a distance. When attacking an altar, throw lots of grenades in ahead of you to soften up the defense.
  
  
• Snipers: There is no situation where a sniper isn't useful. They are possibly the best altar-guards there are; find a dark corner and pick off anyone you see. Or, stay outside the altar, find a nice high place, and pick off people before they even get close to the altar. When on offense, hang back and take potshots as tougher teammates charge the altar. Generally, just hang back and take what kills you can; a well-armed sniper is too useful to waste on a cavalry charge. Of course, you can afford to be more daring when your deity can give you all your weapons with a wave of the hand.
  
  
• Wasteland Warrior: There's one key reason a WW should be part of any altar raid: the nuk. A reasonably well-loaded nuk will, If they're not observant, kill all hostiles on the altar, eliminating any other difficulties. if your opponents are observant, it will still force them to either abandon the altar or cower in the corners. If they hole up, you can let rest of the force charge in to mow them down (keeping the nuk-launcher out to avoid an inadvertant suicide). If they run, they'll certainly be scattered, and your job of killing them off becomes a good deal easier. Also, since the altar is often in a small room, a cancer-gun can wreak havoc as well. They're not too good on defense, although a shotgun or worm-gun can make an attacker's life difficult. When defending, stay on the outside of the altar and help break up any attacks before they get close. Save your nukes unless your opponents gather together and stay put. Also, you can use a nuke to clear a beseiged altar: when it's being overrun by the infidel, drop one and run. Your enemies will either die or flee, and friendlies will only get thrown back a bit. (Of course, it's best to warn friends first so they don't run from a bomb they think is hostile).
  SEE ALSO: The Men In Suits' Wasteland Warrior Page
  
  
  

• On defense, you want to divide defenders up. There should be, along with the deity and any monks and clerics, at least two guards. Snipers and fighters work best. Then, some others should set up a perimeter, guarding the inroads and breaking up attacks before they get within range of the altar. Anyone left should act as raiders, roving the board and keeping the opponents from getting organized outside the range of the outer guards. (Note that there will be people doing this anyways, those who connected looking for a deathmatch server and don't know how to play purge. You don't need to plan for it.)
  
  
• If you really like your weapon 8, go a-droid hunting. Clerics, Wastelands Warriors, Campers and even Quake soldiers should know that droids generate cells, and one of their backpacks will always have a generous supply, and will often have a full stock of 'em.
  
  
• Keep your priorities straight. A wasteland warrior or cyborg isn't friendly, but when there's a lightning column or guardian spirit running amuck, everything else is on the back burner--hunt down its owner.
  
  
• And finally, when you see the Android clad in red and named after a vitamin, run. I'll be gunning for ya.

bind y "messagemode2"
bind n "say_team NUK!!! CLEAR!!!"
bind r "say_team NEED HELP AT ALTAR!!"
bind m "say_team MY nuk, friendly"
bind b "say (YOUR BATTLECRY HERE)"
bind e "say_team INCOMING ENEMY!!"

alias gimp1 "impulse 1; alias gweap "impulse 1""
alias gimp2 "impulse 2; alias gweap "impulse 2""
alias gimp3 "impulse 3; alias gweap "impulse 3""
alias gimp4 "impulse 4; alias gweap "impulse 4""
alias gimp5 "impulse 5; alias gweap "impulse 5""
alias gimp6 "impulse 6; alias gweap "impulse 6""
alias gimp7 "impulse 7; alias gweap "impulse 7""
alias gimp8 "impulse 8; alias gweap "impulse 8""
bind 1 gimp1
bind 2 gimp2
bind 3 gimp3
bind 4 gimp4
bind r gimp5
bind 6 gimp6
bind 7 gimp7
bind 8 gimp8

• Death From Above: Simply the best Purge server on the net. You'll see a lot of the FvF clans there, and a few of the good players too (har!). It's the only one on the FvF Server List that has a decent number of players most of the time. Even if it does crash hourly, it always restarts quick. Also home to the FVF Gab Center.
  
  
• Freeform Interactive: Known for manic updates and brilliant ideas, The madmen who started this particular form of silliness.
  
  
• Id: The people who started this mess and, ever since DooM, a major source of productivity loss in any office/campus/covert military computer project with a network.
  
  
• Beige: Whose computer I usually play on since my poor old machine is too slow to run the game.
  
  
• The Care Bears (Formerly Clan Khan): Where I learned all the CTF tricks I've brought over to FvF.
  
  
• Those I've sent to Valhalla: (You know who you are) You were all such wonderful target practice.