As I see the popularity of XMP grow daily, I feel the need to write guides ([thread=121983]See my energy guide here[/thread]). As an avid and rabid tech player, I feel the urge to help all my aspiring tech bretheren out and give them all the advice I can as I've learned to play the class.
Before I begin I'm just going to say that I will no doubt cover things here that have been covered elsewhere. Some things will just seem like common sense. This is intended to be a complete guide though so I've got to cover everything .. that being said, lets begin
What does the Tech have that the Ranger and Gunner don't?
When comparing the three classes, they're best described as three points of the same triangle. All three classes are supplementary to each other, they have their own unique properties but when put together they end up being greater then the sum of their parts.
There are situations, however, when comparing the three classes that the Tech would be considered 'middle of the road'. The tech has more armor then the ranger but less then the gunner. The tech moves faster then the gunner but slower then the ranger. The tech has a combination of hitscan (think bullets) and splash/AE damage, whereas the ranger has no splash damage weapons and the gunner has no hitscan weapons. The techs jumpjets also rest somewhere between a rangers quick burst and a gunners sustained one, but it still carries you quite far.
As with all three classes there are a number of things that the tech has unique to him. Most of these things are his weapons (which I'll cover in the next section). The other unique feature the tech has is a faster hacking speed. Note that this will make your 'personal energy' deplete faster, but at the same rate .. so you use the same amount of energy to hack, you just hack and lose energy faster. If you run out of 'personal energy' (which I do all the time; the crazy jump jetting hacking turret dropping fool I am.), then you will still be able to hack, but at a much slower rate.
Finally, the tech can repair any teammates shields by targetting them at a close enough range and holding the "use" key. You will see a meter underneath their name if they're close enough representing how much shielding they have at that time. There will also be a far off indicator if they need armor because you will see the tech symbol (the wrench) floating as a green icon over top of their name. Gunners and rangers have similar abilities for ammunition and health respectively.
What are the techs weapons, and how do they work?
Well, I'll just go down the list. #1) Combat Assault Rifle (CAR), #2) Assault shotgun, #3) Grenade launcher, #4) Turrets & Walls, and #5) Armor supply packs.
Combat Assault Rifle
This is your bullet-slinger. It's a high speed hitscan weapon (the only one in the game too), that does decent damage and has a respectable range. Due to the properties of the other weapons, you will no doubt find yourself running around with this weapon in had most of the time, which is fine. If you're really good at aiming and dodging you can take down most targets between close and medium/long range, but being a hitscan weapon the best advice I have for this gun is to keep your reticle on them as best you can. I'll delve deeper into weapon strategy later
The primary fire is pretty straight forward. It keeps shooting bullets till you stop or have to reload.
The secondary fire shoots an orb of shrapnel (or something along those lines) that takes up a few extra bullets. These will shoot straight until their distance runs out, and do a good chunk of damage.
Assault shotgun
I've found with many of the new players their weapon #2 (shotgun, pistol, and flamethrower) don't get the proper use that they should. The shotgun is more situational then the CAR, but it can be far more powerful in those situations.
The primary fire is also straight forward. It's a shotgun, but has a longer range then most of the shotty's in other games I've played. It has a good sized spread too.
The secondary fire shoots an incendiary blast. You can see the range and spread exactly because it's a veritable wall of fire that you throw up. Its range is a bit shorter then the primary fire, can set your opponents on fire (partially obscuring their view), and I've found that it does more damage (though I don't have anything concrete on it). The risk here is that you can actually damage yourself if you get caught in the blast .. treat these much like a rocket launcher: Don't get too close to the end blast or you'll hurt or kill yourself; or even worse, set your ass on fire in the middle of a heated firefight
Again, tactics later.
Grenade launcher
All three classes have the grenade launcher, but all six grenades are different (two for each class).
The "primary fire grenade" is an EMP grenade with a small splash radius. I haven't done any tests on it but it seems this does the most damage to placements (deployables, manned turrets, vehicles) and shields. This will also damage a persons health but I wouldn't recommend it as a primary attack form.
The "secondary fire grenade" is a gas grenade. I'm sure you're all more then familiar with it .. The grenade will explode into a gaseous area of effect that will partly obscure a persons vision and do sustained health damage even after they leave the area of effect. As with all splash weapons you can damage yourself and teammates with this, so exercise caution.
Also, if you hit someone with one of your grenades (not just the splash area but I mean like .. in the face), I don't believe they can survive. Again, I haven't tested this out but if you can do it I believe it's an instant kill.
Turrets and Force walls
From what I've seen you guys are pretty familiar with these already
If you hit your #4 button multiple times it will switch between all availble types you have.
Some notes about deployables (turrets and walls): They all use TEAM ENERGY. This means if you have too many out you will start losing power, and if you lose too much power you will start losing everything that gets activated via team energy (from artifact nodes to all deployables, supply packs, even vehicle redeployment). A good rule of thumb to remember is that if you have half or more of the energy sources on a map and you're losing energy you have too many deployables. If the power dips too low and your auto turrets shut off they will explode after a few seconds.
Placing a deployable also requires personal energy, so if you attempt to put something down and you get a 'beep' (your personal energy meter will also flash), that means you don't have enough energy. If it is not possible for you to place something somewhere, it will just appear back in your hands (but only if you have enough energy).
The first type is the "auto turret". It's a bullet slinger-type turret. You will spawn with one at the beginning of the game. It's got a quick tracking speed, and does a hefty bit of damage.
The second type is the "rocket turret". It's physically larger then the auto turret and obviously shoots rockets. It's got a decent tracking speed, and does real good damage.
The third selection is your "force walls". Setting them up is like plotting a point on a piece of graph paper. You can't make a line until you put a second point down. The walls will auto-connect when you place two within range of each other, and each point will only connect to two other points.
Supply pack
This lets you toss out an armor resupply pack, you'll really only use this to replenish your own shields, as you can repair anothers armor directly, as stated above.
This seems like a lot of weaponry to keep track of, got any advice?
I thought you'd never ask!
The first thing to keep in mind with the weaponry is that you must learn the ins and outs of them all, because to be the most effective combatant you can you will find yourself switching between them multiple times to accomidate the situation.
CAR: This is your only long-distance solution. It doesn't have the range of the sniper rifle, but if you need to shoot at something further away then your shotty can reach, the CAR is your only choice. The CAR is also nicknamed the 'duster', and I've found that if you use small sweeping motions (aka 'dusting') as you hold sustained fire on your enemy you will hit more often then trying to hold the reticle right on them. I score a lot of headshots this way too.
The secondary fire I notice is almost never used. Against a mobile player this isn't all that useful. It travels slowly in a straight line (much like a rocket) and its splash damage is unreliable. This, of course, means that you won't be using it much vs. people. "What CAN you use it on though?" .. Well the best targets are immoble objects with lowish hitpoints. Yes, this means deployable turrets and force walls. You can also use it to easily clean up a burning vehicle; two shots at most will finish it off.
I use the secondary fire of this weapon all the time for these purposes, and one other. The bolt/orb/whatever actually does a respectable amount of damage to players when it hits, but thanks to its properties you have to treat it like a slow sniper rifle. In long, tight, hallways one of these can put a serious hurt on someone, and with the exception of the initial sound it's a silent kill. This only works in a long hallway (or a long distance where your opponent has little to no lateral movement); in a short hallway you're better off sticking to the shotty.
With its high ROF (rate of fire), the CAR is going to be the weapont that allows you the most mobility. All I can recommend here is to play a lot and get the exact timing and distance of your dodge-jetting down, and get used to using it a lot. Also, perfect your "slope jetting" (the process of dodge-jetting into a surface too steep to run up). This will not only get you into places and onto places easier, it can save your ass .. espically if your opponent can't do it.
Shotgun: Rule #1) BE CAREFUL WITH THE ALT-FIRE. I can't count the number of times I've blasted myself with the incendiary rounds. I've killed myself with it while hitting an opponent and watch as they live on. Use it as a tool .. make sure your opponent is always on fire, but if they are then switch to using primary fire. It doesn't do much (if any) less damage then the alt-fire, has a longer range, and there's no risk to yourself.
I think most people know basic shotgun theory though .. it shoots in a spread and is best used when your opponent can't run easily (such as indoors or vs. gunners .. more on that later). In a pinch the shotgun can be used to take out deployables up close, but stick to primary fire.
Lag aside, lead your targets just a bit with the shotgun. People are always jetting all over the place and if you shoot exactly where someone is shown you'll miss one to two thirds of the time.
Good dodge-jetting is crucial to good shotgunning (is that a word?). You can move from the edge of the CAR's range into shotgun range in one good dodge-jet. This will both confuse and astound newbies, assuring an easier kill Again, more on this later.
Grenades
Best advice I can give you is practice with the arc of the grenades a lot. All six grenades seem to have the same arc, so you can practice with any class. Grenades are no good if they don't go where you want them to.
Try to save your grenades for vehicles and deployables (espically in the artifact room). One good EMP will take out any deployable turret in its splash range, two direct hits will take out force walls, and three direct hits will take out any vehicle (except maybe a Juggernaut at full strength). Manned turrets will vary based on size, but they're often not in a position to be fired on directly. Three direct hits will take out most medium manned turrets, and one direct EMP hit to the turret controller will also destroy it.
Gas grenades are very good. Some might think they're almost too good. I just think they're lazy
Just make sure they land as close to your enemy or your enemys landing spot as you can get, and as far away from all friendlies as you can. I don't recommend gas spamming, it won't help except to cover a wider area. If you need an area wider then one gas grenade then I suggest either not using it (it would just be a waste), or using it to soften them up then following up with your CAR (you shouldn't be close enough to shotgun them. Remember gas hurts you too!).
If you die a lot then you could probably use the grenades to your hearts content, but if you're a gas spammer realize that there will be people that will get upset at you. Me, I'll just back off until you run out of grenades then come back in to clean up
Turrets and Force walls
I cannot stress this point enough:
Deployable turrets and walls take team energy. If you use too many you will lose power regardless of how many energy sources you have.
For your teams sake and for the sake of your opponents frustration .. use turrets wisely, don't just spam them. Turrets are defense COMPLIMENTERS. They help defend. They are not actually defense by themselves.
That being said, both turrets follow the same basic rules. They're stationary, unless they're picked up (and any tech can pick up any turret or force wall by 'use'ing it). They are also only forward seeking, at about 45 degrees to each side of where it points.
If you're wondering about what the best placement for your turrets are, just imagine if you were standing where you want to place the turret with either a CAR or rocket launcher (depending on the turret you want to place). Would you want to be up high, with a good line of sight on everything? Would you like to be hidden in the dark or around a corner? Would you like to be a nice surprise for anyone who comes to hack that energy source? .. Just use common sense and you'll be alright. (Such as .. crossfire = good
Force walls will never prevent someone from coming through somewhere, no matter how well you have them set up. They are best used to stall someone from progressing, either out of a teleporter or through an artifact node (for example). Using them to stall, you can set up turrets behind the force walls and behind where the person would run into them and you'll often get a couple good kills from that.
Watch where you deploy force walls. If they're in an open area then they can be easily jumped over, and just last night I saw a poorly placed force wall that I could crawl underneath.
Remember when putting down any deployable .. a smartly placed turret is far more effective then 3 randomly placed one. Also, just like the three classes of XMP, all three deployables (auto turrets, rocket turrets, and force walls) work well individually but work great together.
Those are some great tips, but I'm still having trouble with <insert class here>
Gunner: Stick and move, stick and move. Using the CAR against gunners is a risky move; the range you have to be in to use the CAR is also the effective range of their rockets. If you're good at staying just at the edge of your CAR range you should be able to keep them pinned down because your weapon is a hitscan, and they're using a rocket.
The strategy I've found that works best is the old hat maneuver of circle-strafing. Get in close by any means you can (I use dodge-jet often) and use your shotgun. Blind them with fire if you can do it safely and keep on them. If they switch to the flame thrower get out of its range fast and then switch to your CAR until they switch from the flame thrower.
Remember the gunner moves slower then you, so use your speed to run circles around them.
Specific tactics: ..
Rocket launcher - Dodge as much as you can while getting up in their face.
Flame thrower - back away out of its range, there's nothing else you can do.
Grenades - See rocket launcher.
Landmines/tripmines - Keep a sharp eye out, a single CAR bullet will cause them to explode.
Also - Thanks to the Gunners high armor rating, they can be a little tougher to take down. If you can spare the grenades, or in an emergency, use EMP grenades to soften up their shields before you go in for the assault.
Ranger: Rangers seem to pose a large threat to many people, they really shouldn't. As always the best advice one can give for battling a sniper is to always act like there is one that's got you in his crosshairs. Just last night I was running home with the last artifact when I did a random dodge, only to dodge just out of the way of a sniper shot that would have killed me.
The thing to remember about the sniper is that a) If you're at full health it's not possible to be killed in one shot and b) A sniper shooting at you will always reveal his exact position, just follow the tracer back. If you get blasted with a sniper rifle and you're still alive your #1 priorty should shift to killing that ranger. Dodge is your friend in this situation, and dodge jetting diagonally toward the ranger is a good tactic.
Like the gunner you'll want to get in as close as you can to the ranger, but because the ranger can potentially move faster then the tech you'll have a fight on your hand if he tries to jump back and snipe you. Just stick with your CAR and maybe toss down an auto-turret (rocket turrets are too slow vs. rangers in the open field). Once you get in close keep them set on fire (with alt-fire of the shotty) as much as you can. All the rangers weapons require them to aim well, and being on fire will screw that up nicely.
Specific tactics: ..
Sniper rifle - They only have 3 shots per clip, and the tracer gives them away. Dodge!
Pistol - Just stick and move. Try to get in as close as you can and blast them with the shotty or try to put pressure on them with the CAR from a longer distance.
Grenade - The ranger only has one damaging grenade, and it's got a small splash radius. You'll rarely see them using it, but if they do just dodge.
Shock lance - Just try to be a hard target, treat it like the pistol listed above.
Tech: Yes you'll have to face your evil twin sometimes too.
Hopefully you'll know enough by now to be familiar enough with the tech class to know what it's capable of. What you need to do in this situation is control the pacing of the fight. This is something you should be doing anyway, but because a fight between techs is going to be using the same weapons, it's crucial that the fight progress how you decide. Getting blasted up close? Back off and use the CAR/turrets. Having a tough time vs. their gas grenades? .. Back off and come back later. Jump up in their face with the shotty if they're trying to stay away. Control!
Woah that's a big post! Please tell me you're done!
Ok ok, I actually had a whole big paragraph here that I'm taking out because just half this post is probably twice as long as people will read
Before I begin I'm just going to say that I will no doubt cover things here that have been covered elsewhere. Some things will just seem like common sense. This is intended to be a complete guide though so I've got to cover everything .. that being said, lets begin
What does the Tech have that the Ranger and Gunner don't?
When comparing the three classes, they're best described as three points of the same triangle. All three classes are supplementary to each other, they have their own unique properties but when put together they end up being greater then the sum of their parts.
There are situations, however, when comparing the three classes that the Tech would be considered 'middle of the road'. The tech has more armor then the ranger but less then the gunner. The tech moves faster then the gunner but slower then the ranger. The tech has a combination of hitscan (think bullets) and splash/AE damage, whereas the ranger has no splash damage weapons and the gunner has no hitscan weapons. The techs jumpjets also rest somewhere between a rangers quick burst and a gunners sustained one, but it still carries you quite far.
As with all three classes there are a number of things that the tech has unique to him. Most of these things are his weapons (which I'll cover in the next section). The other unique feature the tech has is a faster hacking speed. Note that this will make your 'personal energy' deplete faster, but at the same rate .. so you use the same amount of energy to hack, you just hack and lose energy faster. If you run out of 'personal energy' (which I do all the time; the crazy jump jetting hacking turret dropping fool I am.), then you will still be able to hack, but at a much slower rate.
Finally, the tech can repair any teammates shields by targetting them at a close enough range and holding the "use" key. You will see a meter underneath their name if they're close enough representing how much shielding they have at that time. There will also be a far off indicator if they need armor because you will see the tech symbol (the wrench) floating as a green icon over top of their name. Gunners and rangers have similar abilities for ammunition and health respectively.
What are the techs weapons, and how do they work?
Well, I'll just go down the list. #1) Combat Assault Rifle (CAR), #2) Assault shotgun, #3) Grenade launcher, #4) Turrets & Walls, and #5) Armor supply packs.
Combat Assault Rifle
This is your bullet-slinger. It's a high speed hitscan weapon (the only one in the game too), that does decent damage and has a respectable range. Due to the properties of the other weapons, you will no doubt find yourself running around with this weapon in had most of the time, which is fine. If you're really good at aiming and dodging you can take down most targets between close and medium/long range, but being a hitscan weapon the best advice I have for this gun is to keep your reticle on them as best you can. I'll delve deeper into weapon strategy later
The primary fire is pretty straight forward. It keeps shooting bullets till you stop or have to reload.
The secondary fire shoots an orb of shrapnel (or something along those lines) that takes up a few extra bullets. These will shoot straight until their distance runs out, and do a good chunk of damage.
Assault shotgun
I've found with many of the new players their weapon #2 (shotgun, pistol, and flamethrower) don't get the proper use that they should. The shotgun is more situational then the CAR, but it can be far more powerful in those situations.
The primary fire is also straight forward. It's a shotgun, but has a longer range then most of the shotty's in other games I've played. It has a good sized spread too.
The secondary fire shoots an incendiary blast. You can see the range and spread exactly because it's a veritable wall of fire that you throw up. Its range is a bit shorter then the primary fire, can set your opponents on fire (partially obscuring their view), and I've found that it does more damage (though I don't have anything concrete on it). The risk here is that you can actually damage yourself if you get caught in the blast .. treat these much like a rocket launcher: Don't get too close to the end blast or you'll hurt or kill yourself; or even worse, set your ass on fire in the middle of a heated firefight
Again, tactics later.
Grenade launcher
All three classes have the grenade launcher, but all six grenades are different (two for each class).
The "primary fire grenade" is an EMP grenade with a small splash radius. I haven't done any tests on it but it seems this does the most damage to placements (deployables, manned turrets, vehicles) and shields. This will also damage a persons health but I wouldn't recommend it as a primary attack form.
The "secondary fire grenade" is a gas grenade. I'm sure you're all more then familiar with it
.. The grenade will explode into a gaseous area of effect that will partly obscure a persons vision and do sustained health damage even after they leave the area of effect. As with all splash weapons you can damage yourself and teammates with this, so exercise caution.Also, if you hit someone with one of your grenades (not just the splash area but I mean like .. in the face), I don't believe they can survive. Again, I haven't tested this out but if you can do it I believe it's an instant kill.
Turrets and Force walls
From what I've seen you guys are pretty familiar with these already
If you hit your #4 button multiple times it will switch between all availble types you have.
Some notes about deployables (turrets and walls): They all use TEAM ENERGY. This means if you have too many out you will start losing power, and if you lose too much power you will start losing everything that gets activated via team energy (from artifact nodes to all deployables, supply packs, even vehicle redeployment). A good rule of thumb to remember is that if you have half or more of the energy sources on a map and you're losing energy you have too many deployables. If the power dips too low and your auto turrets shut off they will explode after a few seconds.
Placing a deployable also requires personal energy, so if you attempt to put something down and you get a 'beep' (your personal energy meter will also flash), that means you don't have enough energy. If it is not possible for you to place something somewhere, it will just appear back in your hands (but only if you have enough energy).
The first type is the "auto turret". It's a bullet slinger-type turret. You will spawn with one at the beginning of the game. It's got a quick tracking speed, and does a hefty bit of damage.
The second type is the "rocket turret". It's physically larger then the auto turret and obviously shoots rockets. It's got a decent tracking speed, and does real good damage.
The third selection is your "force walls". Setting them up is like plotting a point on a piece of graph paper. You can't make a line until you put a second point down. The walls will auto-connect when you place two within range of each other, and each point will only connect to two other points.
Supply pack
This lets you toss out an armor resupply pack, you'll really only use this to replenish your own shields, as you can repair anothers armor directly, as stated above.
This seems like a lot of weaponry to keep track of, got any advice?
I thought you'd never ask!
The first thing to keep in mind with the weaponry is that you must learn the ins and outs of them all, because to be the most effective combatant you can you will find yourself switching between them multiple times to accomidate the situation.
CAR: This is your only long-distance solution. It doesn't have the range of the sniper rifle, but if you need to shoot at something further away then your shotty can reach, the CAR is your only choice. The CAR is also nicknamed the 'duster', and I've found that if you use small sweeping motions (aka 'dusting') as you hold sustained fire on your enemy you will hit more often then trying to hold the reticle right on them. I score a lot of headshots this way too.
The secondary fire I notice is almost never used. Against a mobile player this isn't all that useful. It travels slowly in a straight line (much like a rocket) and its splash damage is unreliable. This, of course, means that you won't be using it much vs. people. "What CAN you use it on though?" .. Well the best targets are immoble objects with lowish hitpoints. Yes, this means deployable turrets and force walls. You can also use it to easily clean up a burning vehicle; two shots at most will finish it off.
I use the secondary fire of this weapon all the time for these purposes, and one other. The bolt/orb/whatever actually does a respectable amount of damage to players when it hits, but thanks to its properties you have to treat it like a slow sniper rifle. In long, tight, hallways one of these can put a serious hurt on someone, and with the exception of the initial sound it's a silent kill. This only works in a long hallway (or a long distance where your opponent has little to no lateral movement); in a short hallway you're better off sticking to the shotty.
With its high ROF (rate of fire), the CAR is going to be the weapont that allows you the most mobility. All I can recommend here is to play a lot and get the exact timing and distance of your dodge-jetting down, and get used to using it a lot. Also, perfect your "slope jetting" (the process of dodge-jetting into a surface too steep to run up). This will not only get you into places and onto places easier, it can save your ass .. espically if your opponent can't do it.
Shotgun: Rule #1) BE CAREFUL WITH THE ALT-FIRE. I can't count the number of times I've blasted myself with the incendiary rounds. I've killed myself with it while hitting an opponent and watch as they live on. Use it as a tool .. make sure your opponent is always on fire, but if they are then switch to using primary fire. It doesn't do much (if any) less damage then the alt-fire, has a longer range, and there's no risk to yourself.
I think most people know basic shotgun theory though .. it shoots in a spread and is best used when your opponent can't run easily (such as indoors or vs. gunners .. more on that later). In a pinch the shotgun can be used to take out deployables up close, but stick to primary fire.
Lag aside, lead your targets just a bit with the shotgun. People are always jetting all over the place and if you shoot exactly where someone is shown you'll miss one to two thirds of the time.
Good dodge-jetting is crucial to good shotgunning (is that a word?
). You can move from the edge of the CAR's range into shotgun range in one good dodge-jet. This will both confuse and astound newbies, assuring an easier kill Again, more on this later.Grenades
Best advice I can give you is practice with the arc of the grenades a lot. All six grenades seem to have the same arc, so you can practice with any class. Grenades are no good if they don't go where you want them to.
Try to save your grenades for vehicles and deployables (espically in the artifact room). One good EMP will take out any deployable turret in its splash range, two direct hits will take out force walls, and three direct hits will take out any vehicle (except maybe a Juggernaut at full strength). Manned turrets will vary based on size, but they're often not in a position to be fired on directly. Three direct hits will take out most medium manned turrets, and one direct EMP hit to the turret controller will also destroy it.
Gas grenades are very good. Some might think they're almost too good. I just think they're lazy
Just make sure they land as close to your enemy or your enemys landing spot as you can get, and as far away from all friendlies as you can. I don't recommend gas spamming, it won't help except to cover a wider area. If you need an area wider then one gas grenade then I suggest either not using it (it would just be a waste), or using it to soften them up then following up with your CAR (you shouldn't be close enough to shotgun them. Remember gas hurts you too!).
If you die a lot then you could probably use the grenades to your hearts content, but if you're a gas spammer realize that there will be people that will get upset at you. Me, I'll just back off until you run out of grenades then come back in to clean up
Turrets and Force walls
I cannot stress this point enough:
Deployable turrets and walls take team energy. If you use too many you will lose power regardless of how many energy sources you have.
For your teams sake and for the sake of your opponents frustration .. use turrets wisely, don't just spam them. Turrets are defense COMPLIMENTERS. They help defend. They are not actually defense by themselves.
That being said, both turrets follow the same basic rules. They're stationary, unless they're picked up (and any tech can pick up any turret or force wall by 'use'ing it). They are also only forward seeking, at about 45 degrees to each side of where it points.
If you're wondering about what the best placement for your turrets are, just imagine if you were standing where you want to place the turret with either a CAR or rocket launcher (depending on the turret you want to place). Would you want to be up high, with a good line of sight on everything? Would you like to be hidden in the dark or around a corner? Would you like to be a nice surprise for anyone who comes to hack that energy source? .. Just use common sense and you'll be alright. (Such as .. crossfire = good
Force walls will never prevent someone from coming through somewhere, no matter how well you have them set up. They are best used to stall someone from progressing, either out of a teleporter or through an artifact node (for example). Using them to stall, you can set up turrets behind the force walls and behind where the person would run into them and you'll often get a couple good kills from that.
Watch where you deploy force walls. If they're in an open area then they can be easily jumped over, and just last night I saw a poorly placed force wall that I could crawl underneath.
Remember when putting down any deployable .. a smartly placed turret is far more effective then 3 randomly placed one. Also, just like the three classes of XMP, all three deployables (auto turrets, rocket turrets, and force walls) work well individually but work great together.
Those are some great tips, but I'm still having trouble with <insert class here>
Gunner: Stick and move, stick and move. Using the CAR against gunners is a risky move; the range you have to be in to use the CAR is also the effective range of their rockets. If you're good at staying just at the edge of your CAR range you should be able to keep them pinned down because your weapon is a hitscan, and they're using a rocket.
The strategy I've found that works best is the old hat maneuver of circle-strafing. Get in close by any means you can (I use dodge-jet often) and use your shotgun. Blind them with fire if you can do it safely and keep on them. If they switch to the flame thrower get out of its range fast and then switch to your CAR until they switch from the flame thrower.
Remember the gunner moves slower then you, so use your speed to run circles around them.
Specific tactics: ..
Rocket launcher - Dodge as much as you can while getting up in their face.
Flame thrower - back away out of its range, there's nothing else you can do.
Grenades - See rocket launcher.
Landmines/tripmines - Keep a sharp eye out, a single CAR bullet will cause them to explode.
Also - Thanks to the Gunners high armor rating, they can be a little tougher to take down. If you can spare the grenades, or in an emergency, use EMP grenades to soften up their shields before you go in for the assault.
Ranger: Rangers seem to pose a large threat to many people, they really shouldn't. As always the best advice one can give for battling a sniper is to always act like there is one that's got you in his crosshairs. Just last night I was running home with the last artifact when I did a random dodge, only to dodge just out of the way of a sniper shot that would have killed me.
The thing to remember about the sniper is that a) If you're at full health it's not possible to be killed in one shot and b) A sniper shooting at you will always reveal his exact position, just follow the tracer back. If you get blasted with a sniper rifle and you're still alive your #1 priorty should shift to killing that ranger. Dodge is your friend in this situation, and dodge jetting diagonally toward the ranger is a good tactic.
Like the gunner you'll want to get in as close as you can to the ranger, but because the ranger can potentially move faster then the tech you'll have a fight on your hand if he tries to jump back and snipe you. Just stick with your CAR and maybe toss down an auto-turret (rocket turrets are too slow vs. rangers in the open field). Once you get in close keep them set on fire (with alt-fire of the shotty) as much as you can. All the rangers weapons require them to aim well, and being on fire will screw that up nicely.
Specific tactics: ..
Sniper rifle - They only have 3 shots per clip, and the tracer gives them away. Dodge!
Pistol - Just stick and move. Try to get in as close as you can and blast them with the shotty or try to put pressure on them with the CAR from a longer distance.
Grenade - The ranger only has one damaging grenade, and it's got a small splash radius. You'll rarely see them using it, but if they do just dodge.
Shock lance - Just try to be a hard target, treat it like the pistol listed above.
Tech: Yes you'll have to face your evil twin sometimes too.
Hopefully you'll know enough by now to be familiar enough with the tech class to know what it's capable of. What you need to do in this situation is control the pacing of the fight. This is something you should be doing anyway, but because a fight between techs is going to be using the same weapons, it's crucial that the fight progress how you decide. Getting blasted up close? Back off and use the CAR/turrets. Having a tough time vs. their gas grenades? .. Back off and come back later. Jump up in their face with the shotty if they're trying to stay away. Control!
Woah that's a big post! Please tell me you're done!
Ok ok, I actually had a whole big paragraph here that I'm taking out because just half this post is probably twice as long as people will read
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