Strategy:Former commando

Main Guide (0.9.9.5)

Version Changes (0.9.9.6)

Nothing significant to the enemy itself.

General Tactics

Basic strategy written by ZicherCZ 12:00, February 03 2012 (GMT).

Former commandos are the toughest of all formers, and one of the deadliest enemies throughout the whole game. With a good enough accuracy and a plasma rifle in their hands, they can easily take you down in two volleys. Their ranged offensive power is something to be afraid of, but they share all formers offensive weakness - their pitiful melee attack. On the defensive side they do not go down easily as well. They have natural two points of armor and will happily grab and wear any armor from the ground to become even more hardy. Their double health, compared to other formers, doesn't help either.

Sometimes commandos spawn with a pack of 4-6 former humans and sergeants. If you happen to start a level close to them, and you can't retreat, they should be your top kill priority. Commandos wield a plasma gun that is left for you to take after their death. On Nightmare! and Angel of Darkness they ressurect with a new, fully loaded one, so farming one commando for plasma cells is a viable option.

So, how does one deal with them? If possible, don't allow them to get a shot at you. When you see one, retreat behind a corner and wait for them to come into melee range. Gift-dropping can help a lot, cornershooting can beat them down a bit before they come close. But beware of knockback of your weapons - you don't want to push them away and let them shower you with plasma.

The best position you can get them in is this:

 ###h
 # #
 ###
   @

or

 ###
 # #h
 ###
   @

This works for any side of any corner. In these positions, the commando cannot attack you and potencial knockback (for example from shotguns) will send them back along the wall. If retreat to a safe position is not a viable option, you may simply want to whip out the biggest weapon at your disposal and try to one-hit-kill them.

Weapon Usage

Melee

Commandos are pushovers in melee combat, but you have to get to their melee range or lure them to you. Again, gift-dropping and waiting around a corner is probably the best idea. Or simply leave them alone.

Pistol

Pistols, unless heavily modded, exotic or unique, are very weak against commandos. An unmodded standard pistol would need seven bullets on average to kill them. Thus, it's definitely wise to retreat if you meet one in the open. Unless you can use any of the strategies mentioned before, that is.

Shotgun

These fare better against commandos. A double shotgun can fairly reliably kill them point-blank in one shot (approx. 70% chance). On the other hand, if you find one on the edge of your line of sight, even a normal shotgun has a good chance of knockback. With the commandos normal speed, they will then return to your line of sight on your reload without firing. This can be a bit ammo-consuming though.

Rapid Fire

Chaingun will not make it for you. It takes three volleys on average to kill a commando, and you may not get the chance to fire three times. Plasma gun works quite better - the chance to kill a commando is about 55% when all the shots hit.

Explosive

With the rocket launcher, a standard attack has slightly below 50% chance of one-hit-kill, and even if it does not kill the commando right away, it will push it back. Then you can just wait for it to come into your line of sight again to kill it with a second rocket. BFG 9000, on the other hand, allows for a nearly 100% chance to kill a commando in one hit. And you'll get those 40 plasma cells back if it's plasma rifle is not destroyed in the blast.