WIP

Xonotic Beginner Tutorial

brief short and simple

by Drummyfish

for Xonotic 0.8.2

released under CC0 1.0, public domain (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

about

Xonotic (formerly Nexuiz) is a completely free as in freedom (including the content) and free of cost community made arena shooter similar to e.g. Quake III, but more rich, complex and modern, and runs on GNU/Linux, Win and Mac. Improvements over older games include many more weapons and game modes, mutators, improved physics and movement, grapling hook, voting etc.

weapons

weapon	description	similar to QIII's	prim. fire (LMB)	sec. fire (RMB)	good for
blaster	spawn weapon, fast precise shots, low dmg, strong push, infinite ammo		shoot (small quick blast)	switch to prev. weapon	movement (high jumping, climbing, getting speed, ...), pushing enemies (off the map, away from items, ...)
shotgun	spawn weapon, spread shots, can bash	shotgun, gauntlet	shoot (big spread)	bash (melee, strong but with initial delay)	close and mid range
machine gun	quick firing rate, long magazine reloads	machine gun, lightning	shoot (higher spread)	rapidly shoot multiple bullets (lower spread)	finishing low HP enemies, mid (prim. fire) to long (sec. fire) range
mortar	throws grenades with high splash dmg	grenade launcher	on-touch explosive grenade	timed grenade	splash damage, attack behind corners (sec. fire)
electro	fires direct shots and sprays highly explosive balls, has splash dmg Overusers are considered noobs		shoot direct shot	spray electro balls on floor (prim. shoot explodes them)	against groups of enemies, defending, area denial (tight corridors, key spots, ...), attack behind corners
crylink	shoots diverging particles bouncing of walls		fire diverging bouncing particles, releasing the button makes them converge	fire multiple particles flying forward	slowing down players (e.g. flag carriers), pulling players (off of map etc.), movement (sec. fire under self gives high speed and allows climbing walls), saving self when falling off the map (climb with sec. fire) attack behind corners
vortex	very strong sniper, long range laser beam, goes through multiple enemies, difficult aiming	railgun	shoot laser beam (recharges over time, charged gives more damage)	zoom	long range
hagar	rapidly fires small rockets directly forward, difficult to master, splash dmg		shoot rockets forward	holding loads up multiple rockets, releasing fires them at once (very strong)	against enemies in tight corridors (prim. fire), quick surprise shots (sec. fire)
devastator	shoots rockets with high splash damage	rocket launcher	shoot, hold the button for curving the rocket	explode rocket in air	attack behind corners (prim. fire), movement (jumps and double jumps, getting speed), pushing enemies
following are extra weapons, not normally available, not important to know	---	---	---	---	---
tuba	joke weapon, plays music (with mouse buttons and movement keys), does damage in a small radius		play a tone	play a different tone	entertainment
mine layer	lays mines that explode when someonw walks on them		lay a mine	remotely detonate mines	area denial, defending, creating traps
HLAC
rifle
T.A.G. seeker
Grappling Hook
Port-O-Launch
vaporizer	sniper, similar to vortex, used in instagib mode	railgun	shoot instakill laser beam	shoot a blast (same as blaster's)	long range
Fireball

game modes

Mode rules can differ by server.

| mode | abbrev. | rules | notes |
| ------------------- | ------- | ----- | ------| | deathmatch | DM | All vs all, self dmg on, first with X frags wins. | classic and common mode | | team deathmatch | TDM | Two (usually) teams, self dmg on, instant respawn after death, first team with X collective frags wins. | With unequal number of people on teams can be a more fair team mode than CA, but a weak player can hurt its team by being fragged a lot. | | clan arena | CA | Two (usually) teams, self dmg off, everyone spawns with all weapons, ammo, HP and armor, no item pickups on map, played by rounds (no respawn within round, first eliminated team loses round), first to win X rounds wins | One of most common modes, good for learning. Electro can be abused too much in this mode. Thanks to no self dmg and all weapons for everyone movement is extremely fast and fights are rough. | | capture the flag | CTF | Two (usually) teams, each guarding a flag, self dmg is on, taking enemy flag and carrying it to own base scores points, first with X points wins. | | | last man standing| LMS | All vs all, everyone spawns with all weapons amd anp (available on map), full HP and armor, no item pickups on map, everyone starts with X lives, the last surviving player wins. | Encourages camping, not good on large maps. | | freeze tag | FT | Two (usually) teams, self dmg is on, players spawn with all weapons, ammo, full HP and armor, played by rounds, first to win X rounds wins, killing an enemy freezes him, frozen player can be revived by a teammate. | | | duel | | |

console

Open with ";".
tab autocompletes command, double tab shows all possibilities.
More details in links.

command	description
vcall	vote
status

tips

Binding weapons is essential. Bind to keys around WSAD for fast switching and comboing (switching weapons after each shot, makes you fire faster and make best use of them). Most important combo is likely devastator, mortar, vortex -- master it.
Movement is crucial (for evasion, taking cover, quick position changes, ...), and though is very similar to other arena shooters (strafe jumping, circle jumping, rocket jumping, sliding, ...), there are many new elements, such as turning mid air (releasing forward key), crylink speeding, double jumping (exploding devastator below self), speeding by landing on skewed surface etc. For details see links.
In order to play well the game settings need to be configured, importantly e.g. binding keys, turning off music and some effects (damage blur, 3D items, ...), field of view (FOV), force player models, crosshair and HUD etc.
Devastator can be used to jump high (shoot under your feet) or even jump mid air (double jump) or accelerate fast (shoot with RMB pressed so the rocket immediately explodes and pushes you). Though mostly only in modes with no self-damage (use blaster if self damage is on).
Crylink can give you high speed instantly, shoot sec. fire aiming 45 degrees towards ground. Same can be used to climb walls. Mostly usable only when self damage is off.
Explosions (and piercing shots) go through thin walls, so you can kill people through ceiling etc.
Low level players make a distinct screaming sound -- finish them off whenever you spot them (good for this are machine gun or shotgun).
Sound gives you a lot of information (position of enemies, low HP players, items being taken, ...), so it is best to play with headphones and no music.

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