Joe McD's Liero Guide

This handbook is not written by this site. It is written by Joe McD.

Liero Handbook

Introduction:

This is a Liero handbook, created by Joe McD. In this book are strategies covered in every area, from moves to weapons, even battle strategies in various game modes. But first, I would like to personally thank you for having an interest in my handbook... but because I can't, this will have to do: Thank you.

Let me know any of your ideas, comments or complaints (be nice, please). You can figure out how to contact me at the bottom of the handbook called "contacting me". You can't miss it.

Contents:

Digging Technique

Jumping Technique

Ninja Rope Technique

Weapons

Game Types

Other Game Types

Battle Technique

Battle Strategies

Other

Will there be a second version of the Liero Handbook?

Links

Special Thanks

Contacting Me

Digging Technique:

There isn't a whole lot to digging, just hold the direction you want to dig, aim at the angle you want to dig, and repeatedly tap the opposite direction you are facing. But to dig at the most downward direction as possible, tap left, right, left, right and so on. Your direction may not be directly down, but it takes practice, and you will find it nearly impossible to fully master it.

Digging is a much better solution to blasting the dirt, for several reasons. Being up against an object and shooting with nearly any weapon often results in damaging yourself. You need those weapons for shooting your enemy, especially when he is near you. And if you just get out of the dirt, facing your enemy, and find yourself reloading, chances are a blast of the enemy's biggest weapon will follow.

Jumping Technique:

Jumping is simple. Press jump, and hold the direction you want to go, if any but straight up. Jumping is more useful than it is made out to be. Jumping will get you into/out of many places your ninja rope can't (say it ain't so!). For instance, you wanted to get to an area slightly above you, but it's too close to the ceiling to ninja rope in, or perhaps you don't have enough room to swing on the ninja rope. Also, you can scale the sides of near-sheer-drop walls by jumping and not tearing up the landscape.

Ninja Rope Technique:

Ah, the Ninja Rope. More than once a faithful companion when saving my skin. You have to love that elastic-like cord and the potential it holds.

Travel:

To travel at a good speed, angle your rope at a 45 degree and throw it to the ground above you. A little after you reach 2/3rds of the swing, let go, coast the air for a bit, and launch again. Repeat the process to travel across. Everyone knows how to travel up, right? Launch upward and hang on. Ah, but there is more. A little explained fact, that if you hold control (ctrl) while pressing up or down, yow will climb up/ slide down as far as the rope's length. This is a little cockeyed while swinging, but when hanging still, this can be a great speed ambush to an opponent halfway down your descent. Also, just shoot straight ahead and let the rope drag you across the floor, if you don't feel like going up. Oh, yeah, and don't forget that left/right makes you swing when hanging still or swing even more than you are.

Roping The Enemy:

Nothing says Liero fun like roping he enemy. Aim, shoot, pull, and let the dirt fly. Unfortunately, this is a rather stupid thing to do if you are playing, as they say, "for keeps". Because you basically shoot past each other, acting in a unstrategic berserkness that will ends up with 80% luck. But there are some, though few, reasons to rope the enemy. Roping the enemy is something to consider if you have the weapon "Flamer". And if you are stuck in an area with an explosive about to go off that you can't get out of in time, try roping the enemy so you will pull him in with you.

These are descriptions of the 40 weapons that come with Liero keep in mind that you may have a Liero game that has been hacked and the weapons may be different. After the name of the listed weapon (they are in alphabetical order) is a general description of the weapon and what it does. Then "Pros" shows all of the good things about the weapon. "Cons" shows all of the disadvantages. "Suggested Use" shows a suggestion for a way you could use it. And "Rating" shows it's rating from good to bad on a five star ("*") scale.

Bazooka:

This has a three shot clip of your normal heavy duty missile. It travels slow, and the blast radius isn't high, but if you're hit you will take a lot of damage. There is nothing overly special about this weapon, but it is used. It will be incredibly hard to hit moving targets, and I suggest you limit your distance of firing to medium range.

Pros: High damage

Cons: slow shot, low blast radius

Suggested Use: Oppression weapon, or for when the enemy isn't really going anywhere.

Rating: * * *

Big Nuke:

This doesn't act much like a nuclear bomb, but when it explodes, it lets off several smoking projectiles which then later explode. Unlike the Chiquita Bomb, the projectiles come to the ground faster. The Big Nike also has a much longer fuse.

Pros: heavy damage

Cons: long fuse

Suggested use: somewhere you can get out of but the opponent can't

Rating: * * *

Blaster:

A launcher that shoots out a heavy ball that, upon contact, explodes and showers out shrapnel. This is good if you like shrapnel, but try not to hurt yourself. The shrapnel is the big damaging thing here, so you may want to try firing it to a surface above the enemy.

Pros: lots of shrapnel

Cons: slow

Suggested Use: shrapnel tactics at a distance

Rating: * * *

Booby Trap:

Lay it out, it throws to a random nearby place. It takes the shape of a powerup, and if you touch it, it blows up. Similar to a mine, but it might be easier to detect, that is, unless the enemy is so thrilled at such a good powerup that he forgets to be careful.

Pros: Disguised

Cons: None

Suggested Use: just don't put a whole lot out or in a close area

Rating: * * *

Bouncing larpa:

See Larpa. No one really likes these much. I can say the same for myself. It works just like a larpa, except the projectile can bounce for a long time. Usually you end up hurting yourself. The advantage is, that the bounce can cover areas twice over, or get to angles that you can't normally get to with a gun.

Pros: The projectiles stick around

Cons: really annoying to deal with, you usually end up hurting yourself

Suggested Use: launch when the enemy is at a distance, and somewhere you can leave relatively fast.

Rating: * *

Bouncy Mine:

At first I thought this was exactly like the Zimm, but the Zimm continues at an angle, constantly reflecting as if it were a laser or something. This one bounces like a rubber ball, off any surface, but gravity works on this one, so it will come down eventually. The damage is basically the same as any kind of mine: medium. Also, you only get one mine per clip.

Pros: if you throw it right, it will cover a floor surface back and forth in no time, making it hard for those who are in the area.

Cons: not very damaging

Suggested Use: anywhere cramped, or a flat surface where the mine can't get away

Rating: * * *

Cannon:

This is a fast speed high power trajectory projectile (for those of you who don't know enough English it means that it comes down eventually). The clip size is good and so is the rate of fire. But the power is so strong you almost can't aim it like a falling bullet. When it lands, it explodes and lets off a bit of shrapnel. This one is nice for clearing dirt barricades on open areas, or for long distance firing from behind high cover.

Pros: good damage, high power, high rate of fire, good clip size

Cons: not easy to arc, poor for anything closer than medium range

Suggested Use: long range shots from behind cover

Rating: * * * *

Chaingun:

Almost on everyone's list of the top five favorites. It has an impressive clip size, and great rate of fire. There is a bit of kick and recoil, but it doesn't matter because the shots don't spread at their incorrect angle, so it's usable for any range and in any condition. The only reason a person would not use it in a certain condition is because some weapons handle EVEN BETTER on a particular situation.

Pros: Incredibly versatile

Cons: medium kick

Suggested Use: ANYWHERE

Rating: * * * * *

Chiquita Bomb:

An explosive worth it's praise. You toss the large yellow capsule with approximately a 2 1/2 second fuse (so you'd better get out fast), the initial explosion is damaging, but the real fun is the shower of fruit (you guessed it, bananas) that explodes on contact with anything... even you. Great for clearing large areas of dirt or to mangle a trapped opponent.

Pros: High blast radius, high damage

Cons: Short fuse

Suggested Use: anywhere you can get out of fast

Rating: * * * *

Cluster Bomb:

A long fuse, long range explosive that has and initial blast but sends out several small explosives afterward. This is similar to the Chiquita Bomb, except the fuse and range are much longer, giving strategy more room. Just make sure you stay out of the way, because the projectiles fly far.

Pros: long fuse, large radius, long range

Cons: lower damage for an explosive

Suggested Use: a place that is wide open. Toss to an enemy that has a bit of distance from you.

Rating: * * *

Crackler:

The danger comes as soon as you throw it. The flying explosive sprays shrapnel in every direction until it lands, then it explodes in a cloud if shrapnel that breaks into even more shrapnel, raining like hail over a large radius. Very cool, as long as you don't mind taking a little damage, and it doesn't work as good in closed in areas.

Pros: large radius, lots and lots of shrapnel

Cons: you almost always get hurt with this

Suggested Use: oppression weapon or for covering a large area

Rating: * *

Dart:

Commonly overlooked weapon, because of it's low rate of fire, slow travel, and average (though still good) clip. However, the dart gives off medium damage, and is still a formidable weapon of you are a good shot and the enemy isn't really moving fast. Try it out and experiment.

Pros: Good damage, Good clip size

Cons: Slow rate of fire, slow travel

Suggested Use: at a moderate distance with a clear shot

Rating: * * *

Dirtball:

Similar to greenball in use, but with less shots per clip, and it takes a while for the "dirt capsules" to explode. The dirt content in the shot is larger though, about three worm lengths. Getting stuck in one of these will slow you down, and it is a quick source of ground level cover. But no one ever picks these, because of their "cockeyedness", and I give them a rating of "*" because they have few uses.

Pros: ???

Cons: takes too long, too inaccurate

Suggested Use: in fleeing or to open an ambush

Rating: *

Doomsday:

A gun that sprays a large clip of inaccurate mini rockets that damage relatively well. this is useful of getting swinging or fast moving worms, or when you really what to scare the brains out of the fleeing worm. A personal favorite. Use for oppression, try not to use for defensive measures. Don't fire from behind cover unless you want to hurt yourself, and who would want to do that?

Pros: Height rate of fire

Cons: High accuracy, and recoil.

Suggested Use: just about anywhere

Rating: * * * *

Explosives:

A fast reloading trio of TNT sticks. Low blast radius, moderate damage, 1 and 1/2 second fuse, so for close combat only. Don't worry about aim, since if you ware throwing them as close as you would there's not much of a chance to miss. Just make sure you're not open to powerful gunfire while you are reloading.

Pros: fast reload, good damage

Cons: short range, short fuse

Suggested Use: run in, throw it, and then run back... or at a close enemy from some cover.

Rating * * *

Fan:

The most useless weapon ever. what looks kinda like Minigun shots is really a gust of wind. It does not destroy dirt, or damage the enemy. Instead, it pushes your enemy away. I can't tell why you could want this. I can only think of one scenario, which is explained later in the handbook. Any other way, all you really do is just get the enemy away from you, though it really would be better to blast him instead.

Pros: none

Cons: doesn't damage enemy

Suggested use: are you kidding? what can you do with it?

Rating: *

Flamer:

Very short range, no accuracy required. Relatively high damaging, provided you get enough time to continually burn your opponent. The clip is long so don't worry too much about wasting it. And that's about it. It doesn't really part the waters for you, so you may want to use a more versatile weapon instead.

Pros: good clip size, excellent close range damage

Cons: Very short range and slow travel speed

Suggested Use: at very close range

Rating: * *

Float Mine:

Throw it in the air. Shortly afterward, it will stop and stay in midair. There are two shots per clip with a descent reload speed. ...and that's about it.

Pros: stays in midair

Cons: short range

Suggested Use: Blocking up thin passageways

Rating: * * *

Gauss Gun:

An excellent weapon with speed and damage. The accuracy requirement is high, though. If you are relatively close to the enemy without obstacles for shooting, this should be the weapon you use. A high damage bullet with a bit of shrapnel after the initial explosion. Unfortunately, there's only one shot per magazine, so if you miss, or even if the enemy survives, you'd better have an escape plan. This is best shot when the enemy is in your view screen and when he is relatively still.

Pros: high speed, high damage

Cons: slow reload, 1 round clip

Suggested Use: just about anywhere (try not to blow yourself up)

Rating: * * * * *

Grasshopper:

A launcher weapon, that once it hits something, it bounces randomly whenever hit hits something or even changed direction in the air. No matter how many times it hits the enemy, it keeps going until the fuse runs out, then goes away. This one is nice for special situations, but not often used.

Pros: continues going even after contact

Cons: uncontrollable after the first contact

Suggested Use: throw it into an enclosed area where the enemy is

Green Ball:

An... interesting weapon, though it isn't really damaging. This has little use, but there are still situations in which it can save your bacon. It spits out a large automatic magazine of green pellets that quickly expand into a green foam that is diggable and destroyable. It's uses are numerous, though many not important. You can engulf the enemy in it, slowing him down while you make a run for safety or the powerups. You can also clog up passageways and build walls, perhaps for protective purposes. But when pushing comes to shoving, those things may not help you as well as a weapon slot is worth.

Pros: ???

Cons: non-damaging

Suggested Use: block up or smother enemy at any place

Rating: * *

Grenade:

For those of you who don't already know, the real damage caused by real army hand grenades is not the explosion, but the shrapnel created from the metal hull of the grenade exploding. That's why there are grooves in a hand grenade (or raised squares, whichever way you look at it). The same effect works here. The grenade is useful for it's initial explosion, but even if your aim is off, the spray of the shrapnel is bound to get him. However, the 4 second fuse gives the enemy too much time to run, and the shrapnel isn't that damaging. Try it if you want, but I'm sticking with the Chiquita bomb.

Pros: wide shrapnel radius

Cons: not very damaging

Suggested use: throw at a distance

Rating: * * *

Handgun:

A pistol that has a large clip of weak bullets. They fire at a good rate, and it has a laser sight. Unfortunately, the bullets travel slowly. Sniping can be a pain to try to use, but you can give it your best shot. But it's an over-all accuracy weapon, which doesn't work out too well. But reloads fast.

Pros: large clip, laser sight

Cons: low damage, low speed

Suggested Use: accuracy at medium range

Rating: * *

Hellraider:

It launches a flaming... thing. It bounces off surfaces, and eventually explodes into smoking chunks that also damage the enemy. This is pretty damaging, but it's not very long range, and you have to make sure you fire at a surface that won't make it bounce toward you.

Pros: bounces

Cons: short range

Rating: * *

Larpa:

A good weapon, with a few shots per magazine. No components of the shot do individually high damage, but if you can't really shoot the projectile at them, the rain of shrapnel the larpa trails behind will likely still damage the enemy, though not very much if only one or two hit him. If you are confident in your aim, you can arc it higher, so if they are nearer you can focus a higher density of shrapnel in one area. Also, if the enemy is making his way towards you from a distance, fire several larpa (not the whole clip if you have "change+reload" off) over his head, then go for a more accurate, damaging weapon.

Pros: almost always damaging, versatile

Cons: not that great at up close combat

Suggested use: somewhere without a closeby ceiling, at a distance from the enemy

Rating: * * * *

Laser:

A weapon with a good feel to it. It provides a long, steady stream of burning laser that constantly drains life as long as you are hitting the enemy. Missing altogether is nearly impossible, because you can't get much more automatic that a constant straight line. However, just a little bit of exposure does little damage, and any player besides the AI will not sit still for you to shoot him, or will return with a volley of more powerful weapons. The Laser is good for many situations and is effective at any range. Also, it is the best digging wean available. No escape route? No problem, just quickly burn straight up and fire your ninja rope. Just be sure not to move while you do this.

Pros: constant stream, long clip

Cons: low damage

Suggested Use: strafe up/downward while standing still, or terrorize while enemy is reloading. Also, burn through dirt.

Rating: * * * *

Mine:

A decent weapon that looks just like the normal dirt pattern, making it camouflage. It's medium/high damaging, with one mine per clip. Lay it somewhere you know the opponent will go, and be sure not to forget where you put it, because it will blow you up too. Don't throw it on rocks or other non-dirt colored areas, because the enemy is bound to figure out you put a mine there. And don't use it for close combat, because even though it explodes on contact when flying through the air, it's damage is too low and clip too short to make it worth the risk you take of getting pulverized.

Pros: disguised

Cons: you might not see it and it blows you up, useless for engaging combat

Suggested use: lay it anywhere the enemy is sure to go, but cannot see it.

Rating: * * *

Minigun:

A wicked gun that virtually "sprays" a cloud of low damaging gunfire with ludicrous recoil and major kick. This is virtually unusable at medium or long range. The best use would be with you VERY near the enemy, but any close combat would work. But with the kick, you could find yourself flying backwards through the air.

Pros: wicked rate of fire

Cons: terrible kick and very inaccurate

Suggested Use: any time you are right in front of the enemy

Rating: * * *

Mini Nuke:

A few small "big nukes" in one clip. The initial explosion is useless, the green smoky projectiles then rain over a small area and create havoc after 4 seconds. Make sure whoever's the target can't get away if you want to get him. Back up after you throw it, but it's not that dangerous, as long as you aren't very near one of the dark green projectiles.

Pros: heavily damaging

Cons: long fuse

Suggested Use: in a closed in area

Rating: * * *

Mini Rockets:

A gun that shoots rockets similar to the Bazooka, but with lower damage and a higher rate of fire. There's a large clip in here also. All of this adds up to a good suppression weapon, if you're a descent shooter. But even as long as the clip is, you can still empty it out fast, so make sure you have a backup plan.

Pros: large clip, high rate of fire

Cons: low damage

Suggested Use: suppression

Rating: * * * *

Missile:

This one should have been called "TOW Missile", because you can guide the missile after you launch it. The missile is slow, and it takes practice to get the controlling right, but in the hands of an expert, it is very dangerous. No one is safe from a missile.

Pros: player guided

Cons: slow, one shot per clip

Suggested Use: when you are in a far away area from the enemy

Rating: * * * *

Napalm:

Throw a long range, medium fuse, "canister". After the fuse is up, flaming balls shoot everywhere, and fall. At close up it is very damaging, unfortunately, it's not really a very "mangling" weapon like the Big Nuke or the Chiquita Bomb, and at the range you must get to throw it at the accuracy required, you have to get out FAST. So this makes it very annoying to use.

Pros: heavily damaging

Cons: short fuse, short radius

Suggested Use: out in the open

Rating: * * *

RB Rampage:

This is a very stupid weapon. You shoot out a clip of what looks like 8 shots at a high rate or fire, and they continually bounce like the zimm for 30 seconds. The damage is low, but you often just end up shooting yourself. If you think you want to try this one, just remember to PRACTICE. And to also make sure the shots don't come back to yourself.

Pros: bouncing (reflective, whatever you want to call it)

Cons: low damage, short clip, often you hurt yourself

Suggested Use: when you can't shoot the enemy from where you are with a normal weapon

Rating: *

Rifle:

A good weapon for sharp shooters. A very heavily damaging weapon that is wicked fast and has a laser sight. Just one problem, one shot per clip. It probably should have been called "Sniper Rifle", because of it's apparent use. Whatever you do, don't use it at any range shorter than long range.

Pros: high damage, laser sight

Cons: one shot per clip

Suggested Use: long range shots from behind cover when the enemy is relatively still

Rating: * * * *

Shotgun:

The shots are what you'd basically find in a shotgun type weapon, an expanding could of pellets that damages heavily at close range, and has a better chance of hitting at long range. The shots travel kinda slowly, and you have a descent clip size, though the rate of fire is slow.

Pros: heavy damage

Cons: kick, low rate of fire

Suggested Use: when you don't feel like missing your target, also good for suppression

Rating: * * * *

Spikeballs:

My preferred close combat weapon. Throw a barrage of spike balls at one time for a toss per magazine. Many will hit, and though the are medium/low damaging by themselves, after they've rained on you you'll probably have lost at least a 1/4 of your life, but likely more. in about 5 seconds they disappear, so don't use them as a trap or mine. And make sure you have a clear shot, because the spray of balls goes wide and a few may hit a wall or ceiling and bounce towards you.

Pros: wide spray

Cons: low damage per spikeball

Suggested Use: when the enemy is in front or below you, at relatively close range

Rating: * * * *

Super Shotgun:

This is just like the normal Shotgun, but with a much larger cloud of pellets, and only two shots per clip. Low rate of fire, and slow bullet travel. But the large cloud of pellets makes it easy to hit your target, and at close range it has devastating damage.

Pros: LARGE cloud of pellets

Cons: kick, and low clip size

Suggested Use: moving/swinging targets, when you aren't very accurate

Rating: * * * *

Uzi:

This is an interesting machine gun. What this one does is spout out a short stream of a incredibly high rate of fire (faster than the Chaingun). It's almost completely accurate, but is a pain when trying to blast dirt with it. The damage dealt is ok, but the shortness of the clip makes it virtually impossible to strafe. However, the Uzi has a ludicrously fast reload. This one is for close combat.

Pros: high rate of fire, fast reload

Cons: short clip

Suggested Use: when the enemy isn't going anywhere

Rating: * *

Winchester:

A good ol' standard assault rifle. A good rate of fire, but not exactly a machine gun. the shots are straight, and medium damaging, but they have a bit of a kick. The clip size is nice and the reload is moderately fast. The bullets travel at fast as the rifle does. So if you are a sharpshooter, go with this one. If you aren't, try it anyway. It is useful at mostly medium range, and can be used for long range. I wouldn't suggest if for close range.

Pros: good damage, fast speed

Cons: Kick

Suggested Use: anywhere where you've got cover and an aim

Rating: * * * *

Zimm:

One shot in a clip. It shoots an incredibly annoying thing that bounces off walls continually until it hits somebody. It goes fast, and is high damaging, so you'll find you kill yourself a lot with this. And that's all that there is to it.

Pros: It bounces, very high damage

Cons: everything that goes wrong will

Suggested Use: forget this one. at least you don't kill yourself with the Fan or Geenball.

Rating: * (I'd make it lower if that were possible, but going out of boundaries seems unprofessional).

Game Types:

There are four types of games available in Liero: Kill 'em All, Tag, Capture the Flag, and Simple Capture the flag (Simple ctf).

Kill 'em All:

There isn't much of a trick to this one, because the way to win is to be the last one standing, which means you have to kill the other until his lives run out. Just read the weapon and strategies to get through this one.

Tag:

In tag, the person who died the last is "it". If you are it, you must kill the opponent once, and he will become it. Those who are not it have a timer ticking, and after the time limit, the person with the most time on his clock wins.

The key is to go totally defensive when you are not "it". So you should pack at least two mines and traps of any kind. When you are on the run, place them behind you and in routes to you, creating a sort of fortress.

When you are not "it", you must put as much distance between you and your opponent as possible and as fast as you can, making getting to you more difficult by using dirt weapons or mines. When your enemy engages you in combat, don't fire back unless he is badly wounded and you are in good health. Instead, use the ninja rope to get out fast (digging is too slow, and you can't go upwards).

When you are it, go berserk in an all-out offensive, pursuing the enemy relentlessly. Good weapons to use here are suppression weapons. Try Doomsday or Mini Rockets. Another good idea is the Chaingun or Minigun. Chaingun is also useful for quickly eliminating dirt, which is good if you are in a hurry to get to your opponent.

Capture The Flag:

In this game, it works a bit like Tag, except when you are not "it", you can capture the enemy's flag (the color of the enemy) and take it to your fort (your color). You can do this as many times as you want until you become it by dying. Once someone collects the selected amount of flags, he wins.

You should arm yourself similar to how you would when playing Tag, except you must also lay traps and protect your flag. Once someone is holding a flag (indicated by a flag shown in the bottom of their screen), they can loose it by dying, leaving the flag where they died.

No one get's points for loosing the flag, so when you get it, run back to your fort as quickly as possible. Be careful, because your opponent is likely to chase after you once you get his flag, in hopes of liberating it again.

Simple Capture The Flag:

In this case, there is no "it". Anyone can capture a flag at any time. You still need defense for guarding your flag, but now there is less concern for guarding yourself when you are not "it".

The first thing you should do is load up the are surrounding your flag with traps. Then go to the enemy's flag and capture it. Since it will be likely piled up with traps, use an explosive, since most traps blow up when exposed to an explosion.

Get the flag, and you know the rest. Just make sure you don't run into the enemy on the way to your fort.

Other Game Types:

There are a few game types you can play without specifically selecting one. This basically means someone came up with their own game that goes beyond the rules of normal game settings.

Race:

There are a few "race track" levels available for download at www.liero.gamershell.com/index2.html . When you race the rules are simple: using your ninja rope, or walking abilities, be the first person to make a designated number of laps. You may or may not use items, depending on your preference. But if you do, you should probably cut out the real manglers. Try keeping Float Mine, Greenball, Dirt Ball, and other simple "trap" weapons, and maybe a small gun like Handgun or Shotgun. If you die, you can continue at whichever lap you are on, continuing from the place you reappear. So in some cases it's not a good idea to kill your opponent.

Mission:

This is basically a normal "Kill 'em All" game but certain objectives give you extra points to be added to your "kills" or whatever. You can make your own liero level with buildings or landmarks that can be destroyed for points, or any other thing you can think of.

Battle Technique:

These are ways to hone your skills. There are a few suggestions here, but your best instructors are practice and experience.

Aiming:

Aiming is moving your normal sight (a red square, if you are not using a mod that alters it). However, aiming is a little tough, especially when the target (or you) is moving. Close combat isn't so bad to aim with, but it's the precision stuff you worry about. Aiming while walking is very difficult, so don't try it if you can avoid it. For those of you who can't get an exact aim on a worm, try holding the direction you want the sight to move, then quickly hold the opposite button. The sight will then travel slower. Aiming straight up is a very nice ability when the enemy is above you. instead of trying to aim from where you are, just point straight up and try to move under the enemy. In any direction, moving your sight into the enemy manually is much quicker and easier to control, but you must make sure you are going where you want at you move into the target.

Sniping:

Sniping is basically using your laser sight on your weapon, and looking on the other's screen to tell if it is touching them. If your laser is touching them, your normal sight will change to green (unless you are using a mod that changes it). Sniping takes time, so it is useless when the enemy is in your view screen, or has a clear shot to you. You'd best snipe from behind cover, like a rock protruding slightly from the dirt.

The best sniping weapon is the Rifle. It is very damaging and very fast. Check it's description in the "weapons" section".

If you are out of danger, only shoot if you are sure you can hit. If the enemy gets too close and you are desperate, you'll be temped to shoot, but if you are using the Rifle, just keep your cool and switch to a better weapon for the situation.

To target moving objects, remember the following. If they are jumping, they will probably float slowly, so shoot them just when they land. If they have cover once they do that, then shoot them when they reach the apogee of their jump, or on their way down. Forget about shooting them if they are falling off something, because they are usually going too fast. If they are swinging, they will likely have a rhythm to it. So just concentrate on one part of the swing, when they enter your laser sight, fire.

Explosives:

Explosives as a weapon type are anything you throw that explodes, like Mine, Explosives, Chiquita bomb, etc. The varying explosives cover a wide range of close combat situations, and you must figure out which one you can master and select that one, or maybe two.

The big problem with explosives is that they have a problem of hurting the one who threw it. That can be almost eliminated with the following precautions. Be sure you can get out of range of the blast, or throw the explosive out of your range. Be sure it doesn't accidentally hit the walls or ceiling and come bouncing back to you. To prevent it from coming back, you should check your estimated trajectory if you have a spare tenth of a second.

Shrapnel Weapons:

Shrapnel weapons are weapons that work mainly on the damage of shrapnel, like Larpa, Crackler, and Grenade. Most shrapnel weapons are explosives, and ALL shrapnel weapons have a risk of you hurting yourself. To use shrapnel weapons, you have to examine your area and decide if it's really a good idea.

For instance, the worm called Joe has the worm called Bob pinned up in a opening in the dirt. Bob is trying to escape while he reloads, but Joe doesn't want him to get away. Joe doesn't think, and he throws a Crackler. From the time it leaves his hand shrapnel sprays everywhere, raining down on Bob, pushing the boundaries of the clearing in the dirt much wider, and sprays on Joe too, because he couldn't get back through the tunnel he dug fast enough.

Here's how it should work. Joe and Bob are at the top of a level stretch of dirt. Bob hastily unleashes hit Doomsday and hits Joe a few times. Bob is now out of ammo, and he waits to reload. Joe throw a Crackler, and as it leaves his hand he is hit by a piece of shrapnel. No problem, he has plenty of life to spare and losing some is to be expected. So Bob sees that it is coming, and is aiming straight up to fire his grappling hook. Before he launches, the Crackler lands. Bob's back absorbs a lot of shrapnel, and he has fired now, but the ceiling is far away, if he makes it at all, it would take almost 3 seconds. So now the shrapnel that was blown upwards is now coming down, and the shrapnel that exploded before is turning into even more shrapnel. Just then, his grappling hook meets the ceiling and he is pulled up, unfortunately, he is pulled through the cloud of shrapnel. He survives, and gets to the top, but his health bar is on red. Bob swings to safety and Joe had already reloaded. Bob lands well away from Joe so that Joe can't throw another Crackler and make it effective. So Joe chooses Larpa, fires well above Bob's head, and two pieces of shrapnel hit Bob, and he dies.

There you go, boys and girls. Shrapnel 101.

Battle Strategies:

When in the heat of battle, one will fall for the oldest trick in the book. Here are some strategies and battling techniques you will find useful. Please note that though it may seem like you don't have time enough to decide which technique applies, there is time to think where the game starts or someone dies (at that time the worms are separated at a distance). Many of these techniques don't really work on the computer AI, which isn't a big deal because the AI is incredibly easy.

Oppression Snare:

Get a good oppression weapon or an explosive with a long fuse. Let's say a Doomsday or a Big Nuke. Block an escape route with Mines or Booby Trap. Then get to the worm and blast away or throw the explosive between you two. The enemy should run through the escape route, and in his haste to flee, loses his caution and hits the Mines or is lured to the Booby Trap. However, the enemy may run in your direction in spite of the danger of the explosives or your gun. In that case, you've got a clear shot so go ahead and blast him. For best results, try when your enemy is reloading, and preheat your oven to 350 degrees (just joking about the oven thing).

Bouncy Maneuver:

You find the enemy in an enclosed area, like a large clearing in the dirt. However, it must be a relatively large area because if it were small enough, explosives would better do the job. Dig (or shoot) your way in and use a "bouncy" item. After that, if you have a dirt shooting weapon, seal off the exit. If you don't have a dirt shooting weapon, forget it, because it will come back to you.

Flag Liberation (Capture The Flag and Simple ctf):

When your enemy is closer to your flag than you are to him, you may want to position yourself between the enemy and his fort. Once he has the flag, he has to come to the fort sometime. Use a heavy weapon and then hold him off.

If you're really desperate, throw a short fused explosive like a Chiquita Bomb when your enemy is right on top of you. At that point, missing is virtually impossible, and you could take him out. Unfortunately, you'll likely die, too.

Fan Maneuver:

Get a bunch of float mines or explosives that the enemy is sure to bind difficult getting past, and when he is near, use the fan and "blow" him into it. And that's about it.

Other:

These are little bits of info that you may find useful.

Making Your Own Levels:

To make your own levels, you can use the standard liero level editor that comes with the liero game, but we all know there isn't enough options with that. So if you want, you can download Wormhole off the internet. Wormhole is a program that lets your design levels just like in paintbrush with many different colors and lots of options. You can even scan pictures and put them in as levels. You can download Wormhole at nearly every Liero website, but the official page for Wormhole is:

http://hem.passagen.se/otterud/wormhle/

More Blood:

Some of you sickos actually want more blood than available with liero. There is a program available at the same site shown at the bottom of "Making Your Own Levels" above. If you don't have the patience or availability to download it, you can run liero with the suffix "/b00%" (example "C:/Windows/Games/Liero/Liero /b 3200). If you aren't running it through DOS, just go to the properties of the program. Go to the "program" tab in the properties window. The first line of input should have the directory that liero is in, and the file itself (that means that you need to put the "/b 3200" command there).

Graphics Mods:

Graphics mods are basically the graphics files, but altered. You can make some really weird looking mods of any characters (like instead of worms, they'd be soldiers, or bugs). You can alter just about anything except the dirt in graphics mods, and download all kinds on the net. To activate them, you must get a special program. There are many different ones. My favorite one is a program you can download from the site address above in he section "Making Your Own Levels".

Weapons Mods:

Using a very special program called LieroKit, you can alter or completely change the a weapon that comes with the game, or make a whole new set. Just make sure that you save a backup copy of the original weapon list. You can download it at the Liero Hellhole website (don't worry, it's not satanic).

Will there be a second version of the Liero Handbook?

Likely, though it will come about much faster if I get plenty of feedback from those who read this (check out the "Contacting Me" section). I'm interested in any comments, questions, or suggestions. But most of all, I'm looking for battle tactics, and strategies of any kind.

Links:

www.liero.net -This is Liero Net. A site that covers a lot in the liero world, but not much in the level and mod selection.

http://liero.gamershell.com/index2.html -This is Liero Hellhole. It's a site with a ton of downloads and pictures to show you what they'll look like. They update often.

http://hem.passagen.se/otterud/wormhole/ -This is the Wormhole web page. A

few nice programs to download.

www.liero2.com -The unofficial Liero 2 web page. I say it's unofficial because the original creator of Liero it's behind this site. The unofficial Liero 2 project is called "L2", and was created because people were getting tired of not hearing from the original creator (first name is Joosa) very much about his sequel. We don't know what it has, or how long it will take before it gets here. So these people got together and started on L2. I'm rooting for it to be the best and come out first.

Special Thanks:

Tim Verweij- a great Liero fan who runs the Liero Hellhole site. He helped me spell check this document and had some good suggestions for it.

Dominic Orchard -The maker of the L2 site and one of the masterminds behind the L2 project.

Joosa -The original maker of Liero. He made a good game, and without Liero, what would become of our lives (I don't even want to think about it)?

All of the Liero fans... especially those who read this! -I'm glad you guys (and girls) have taken the time to read this handbook and make my efforts worthwhile.

Contacting Me:

Allright, here's how you contact me. I have MSN messenger.

E-mail: joystick_jockey1985@hotmail.com

ICQ#: 85891889