The most important character in the game and the second most powerful marine. His job is:
- hacking
- leading the team
- stopping hordes and big drone spawns
- unwelding and destroying doors and rocks
- killing big aliens (shieldbugs, mortars, antlion guards and uber drones)
- holding spawners

Vegas is the best tank in the game. He's first person in formation, using radar to give his team important information about what is in front of them. Playing Vegas requires good map knowledge and ping (50 or less will be the best. However, Vegas is still playable with around 150 ping. If you have 200+, playing him effectively is really hard as you'll take a lot of damage).

Primary weapon:



Vegas has the highest melee damage bonus. This bonus affects chainsaw as well, so Vegas is the best chainsaw user. Two other characters that are effective with chainsaw are Jaeger and Sarge. Sarge has no melee damage bonus, but his amount of HP in combination with Leadership bonus and Electric Charged Armor (ECA) makes him very resistant to melee damage.

Chainsaw is the most ping-affected weapon in the game. Your ping often decides if you'll get hit or not. The lower ping you have, the faster the drone will die so you can aim for another one.

Chainsaws do not require any kind of ammo. The most effective way to use it is by walking straight to the drone that focused on you so he'll run into your chainsaw and die. That's one of the reasons why Vegas is first in formation. You should always aim for the closest one as he'll hit you first. If you get surrounded, try to hit all drones around. Every kind of damage will stun them for a moment so it'll give you and your teammates time to finish them off.


Secondary weapon:



Chainsaw is good with taking down almost everything. But there's a few problems with that. Chainsaw is a close range weapon and killing Xenomites with it is very hard. Also, dealing with Harvesters and parasites is risky. When harvesters die, they will spawn Xenomites that can hurt or even kill you. Parasites on the other hand can just jump over you and land on one of your teammates. Just like with drones, your ping decides if you'll be able to kill them in time.

It's usually Jaeger's job to kill Xenomites and Parasites. However, Vegas is first in formation and have a radar, so he'll see spawns earlier and react faster. In 4 player teams, Jaeger also needs to help at the back from time to time, so sometimes you need to deal with those spawners by yourself.

Grenade Launcher (GL) will be the best choice as it works on mid and long range. Vegas does not have an explosives bonus so his GL deals low damage, but for xenomites and parasites 2-3 nades is usually enough. You can also use it against drones and harvesters but do not overdose it. There's nothing worse than Vegas killing himself because of this one drone that came from nowhere.




Vegas is the first character that should pick a flamer when a map requires it (like SynTek Residential). He's going first so there shouldn't be any teammate that can be ignited. It's good to use it against parasites, but on Brutal difficulty, one click may not be enough. If they stop burning, they can still infect other people. So be sure to deal enough amount of damage to kill them. There's also a small chance that burning parasite will infect you, if you use flamer too late. Burning Xenomites can hit you anyway, so be careful.

You can also use flamer against hordes and big spawns. However when I was trying to use Chainsaw + Flamer, I've noticed that drones on fire are more "aggressive" and less predictable. This can be really annoying while using chainsaw. Also, having Chainsaw and Flamer means that you will not have any mid / long range weapon.

It's better to take GL on maps that don't require flamer as it works on a mid and long range. You can also swap your GL with Jaeger if he is low on ammo. GL in Jaeger hands is much more effective.



When there's a good Jaeger and at least 2 Grenade Launchers in team, some people prefer to take ammo instead. There's a few benefits from it:

1. You don't need to change weapons at all. This way you'll never swap your weapon at the wrong time and can fully focus on using chainsaw. You can use command "ASW_ActivateSecondary" to place ammo while holding chainsaw.
2. You'll never suicide. One GL less also means less chance to kill a teammate.
3. Jaeger will never be out of ammo. This way you'll always have nade support when needed.

If you want to take ammo, you should know all the ammo placements on maps. There's no reason to place it if there's another ammo box around the corner. You can also see other people's ammo on your HUD.

Most good players have binds like "Need ammo" so they'll let you know when they need it. And if they're using voice chat, it's even better.

Good places for ammo are where team needs to slow down / stay for some time.



This sentry is used mostly when fighting with queen or other bosses. Just like with ammo, you can place it without switching weapons by using command "ASW_ActivateSecondary". It's the only sentry that is worth using on higher difficulty levels.

Extra:


This is a must-have for Chainsaw users. Fighting drones in close combat can be tough sometimes. If they surround you, taking damage is almost certain. There's a lot of parasite spawns as well. This is the best time to use ECA. It will:
- stun all drones nearby and slow them down for 5 sec when used
- stun and slow down every alien that hits you
- greatly increase your melee damage resistance
- heal you from the infection
- protect you from parasites
- deal a small amount of damage to every alien that hits you

You'll be in "tank" mode for 12 seconds. That's enough time to kill the horde or clear the whole area from parasites.

ECA can be also used to help your teammates. If Jaeger is infected, you can drop your ECA next to him. Or if he's surrounded by drones, running to him and using it will stun all drones nearby, giving him time to escape.

Warning!
ECA is not gonna protect you from Xenomites and Rangers.

Melee attack

The only reason to use melee as Vegas is while switching weapons. If you're holding GL and a drone is close, punching will stun him. That'll give you enough time to use chainsaw. You can also use it if a xenomite or parasite is close to your teammate and using chainsaw is risky.

Hacking

Another reason why Vegas is first in formation is to arrive to the hacks as soon as possible. There's 2 types of hacks:



In this one you need to connect all cables. There's usually 2 lines to complete, but can be from 1 to 4.



Here you need to make all "1" in line. When you press "E", you'll see this logo:



You can skip that logo and go to the hack immediately by pressing "E" again. When you complete the hack, it'll start downloading files:



You can minimize this window to see what's going on around you. Don't go too far from a computer, otherwise you'll stop downloading. If you only need to download, the logo can't be skipped. Downloading speed depends on your engineers bonus. Vegas will download the fastest, Crash a bit slower and every other character will do it incredibly slow.

You can see a small red triangle on both hacks. If it reaches the end, fast hack will be failed. If you're able to hack before it reaches the end, that's pretty good.


Leading the team

Vegas is the first one in formation and it's his job to decide how fast the team will move. He should know the way, the objectives and where team may have problems or can be blocked by drones. If Vegas is moving too fast the rest of the team may be blocked by side spawns and end up dying, so sometimes you need to slow down or wait for the team. There are also places where you can't stop or you'll be destroyed by a big amount of aliens. The best places for slowing down are those where you can be attacked only from 1 or 2 directions (front and back for example). Vegas also decides if it's worth it to skip shieldbug / mortar in dangerous places. For example, if a shieldbug can follow you or you need to go back the same way (like on Rydberg Reactor), it's better to kill him early so he'll not become a problem for people at the back or block the way.


Stopping hordes

Cooperation with Jaeger is very important here. You need to attract the attention of as many aliens as possible, so Jaeger will be able to safely use Grenade Launcher. If you hear a horde, switch immedietly to chainsaw, stay close to wall and wait for them to come. Some people who play Vegas are trying to use GL in this situation, often suiciding. Don't be afraid of using chainsaw. If they surround you, you always have ECA.


Doors and Rocks

Clearing the way for your team is your task. Chainsaw isn't much worse than laser if talking about destroying rocks. Doors can be unwelded or destroyed with Chainsaw.

It's also worth mentioning that the Engineers bonuses will stack, so if second tech is close, you'll weld / unweld doors and set up sentries much faster.


Killing big aliens

Chainsaw is the best weapon for taking down big bugs. Here's how to do it:


Uber drone


A little bigger and stronger version of common drone. Just stay in front of him and hold M1, but if shaman is around, you need to kill him first. Even Vegas with chainsaw does not deal enough damage to kill an uber that is healed by shaman.

Shieldbug


You need to wait until shield will hit the ground. Then quickly run behind him and use chainsaw. He'll get stun for 1 sec. Repeat until you kill him. If there's a medic with Tesla around, you can just walk left and right infront of a shieldbug. He'll not be able to hit you.

Antlion Guard


There's 2 versions of him; red and green. Red one can be slowed down with Tesla. Green one must be frozen to stop. Just run around them with chainsaw.

Mortar


Just run to him and use chainsaw. He's dies very quick, but don't get too close as his body is dealing damage just like Harvester and biomass.


Holding spawners

There's a lot of vents like this one:


They spawn drones. Chainsaw is the best weapon for clearing those vents. You can also block them by standing on them or placing an item like a weapon or extra. It's useful especially with those that can't be cleared and the only way to stop them spawning drones is by a trigger (e.g. completing a hack).

Stay close to walls



This way it will be much harder for drones to surround you. Also, you will lure drones to the one side so Jaeger will have more space to nade.

Jumping

There's not many situations that require jumping. Sometimes you'll need to jump over range projectiles or jump out of mortar / boomer bombs range, but Vegas is usually fast enough to avoid them without jumping

Never run behind Jaeger

Jaeger rarely has ECA or chainsaw and if drones surround him, he'll die really quick.

cl_cmdrate 59
cl_updaterate 59
rate 196608
cl_interp 0
fps_max 300

Those commands may help you with using the Chainsaw and decrease delay in game. If your game feels worse for some reason, here are default settings:

cl_cmdrate 30
cl_updaterate 20
rate 10000
cl_interp 0.1
fps_max 100

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

asw_camera_shake 0 - no camera shaking during nading

asw_player_names 3 - it'll show colorful player names and character they're playing

rd_ammo_under_marine 1 - You'll see ammo bar under marines. This can help you realize how much ammo other people have left

asw_fast_reload_under_marine 1 - reload bar under marine and its size
rd_fast_reload_under_marine_scale 2.5
rd_fast_reload_under_marine_height_scale 2.5

asw_magazine_under_marine 0.3
asw_magazine_under_marine_frequency 0.5
asw_magazine_under_marine_offscreen 1
asw_magazine_under_marine_recall_time 3

Those commands will show ammo sign next to the player for 3 seconds everytime when he ask for ammo, or will be low on ammo in the weapon he's holding.

bind "3" "say >>> Go! Go! Go! <<<;asw_OrderMarinesFollow"
bind "4" "say >>> Stop! <<<;asw_OrderMarinesHold"
bind "5" "say >>> need Ammo! / Ammo here! <<<;cl_emote 1"
bind "c" "ASW_ActivateSecondary"
bind "f" "say >>> Need Medic! / Need Tesla! <<<;cl_emote 0"
bind "kp_pgup" "asw_afk"

Marines

Reskins

This is the reskin I'm currently using. It have some glowing parts, making marines easier to see in dark areas
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=910947792&searchtext=
This one is even more visible
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=911598270&searchtext=

Radar

It's a bit louder and have more noticable sound
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1418106780&searchtext=
animated arrows will make your teammates easier to see offscreen. There's a few colours to pick
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1432178499&searchtext=
This will make all 8 players visible on HUD
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=910871185&searchtext=
Some people asked me about crosshair that I'm using. Here he is, small and simple
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=936628688&searchtext=

Aliens

Reskins

I was using this mod for a long time. It's making all aliens visible in dark areas
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1109650591&searchtext=
Those I'm using right now. They'll give red glowing claws to drones and parasites
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=859463203&searchtext=parasites
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1503327922&searchtext=
Here's another pretty cool reskin
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1505397383&searchtext=

Performance

If you have problems with stable fps and want a better view, check this out

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1201160228&searchtext=fps
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1440291995&searchtext=fps
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=920351563&searchtext=bubbles


If you want to know more about boosting your fps, check my other tutorial

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1208854269

If you're not afraid of close range fights, tanking dozens of drones at the same time and killing the biggest aliens, this character will be perfect for you.

If you want to know more about Alien Swarm, go to:

http://alienswarm.wikia.com