Viability of Ravener Alpha in 2v2?

[Clovermite]

I'm new to Elite - only just recently discovered it. In earlier versions of Vanilla, I used to enjoy playing the Ravener Alpha, but I found it harder and harder to find replays from better players as time went on, as it seemed all the good nid players went HT or LA.

Likewise, I find very few videos on youtube involving RA in 2v2 games. Is this due to an inherent weakness of RA, or is it more due to play style preferences? I need to replace my video card, so I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, so I wanted to ask the opinion of other players.

My play style in most games tends to favor mobility, and I've always enjoyed the flavor of the nids, so I'm hoping RA is still a viable option.

[Dark Riku]

It has to do with the preference and play style of the people you are watching.

[Atlas]

RA is just fine, but his game is very different than a lot of other heroes. You need to be on the ball with the tunnels or well, you might as well just play HT/LA.

RA's wargears are also pretty damn good imo.

[Clovermite]

Awesome, good to know. Back in retail, I remember I seemed to do worse and worse with RA as I ended up playing better opponents, and I just kind of gave up when I didn't have many role models to look to on how to fix up my play. Now that I'm coming back with a fresh perspective, and reading some of the general guides, I'm getting an idea for what I was doing wrong.

Another question: do turrets benefit from cover? I had completely forgotten that RA could set up the hive nodes. I'd given up on it after my first few attempts to build them, but that was before I really understood how the game worked. Having seen some games where the Plague Champion has used turrets to good effect, I'm thinking this is something worth experimenting with on the RA.

[Element]

@O.P.
Dependent on whom you to talk to, some (I certainly am in that pool of players) would consider the R.A. to be one of the best commanders in the game let alone for Nids regarding what the commander brings in strategical options & play. Tunnels are everything with this commander, but a well- versed Tunneling R.A. player will always be miles better than a L.A. or H.T.player I.m.h.o. The R.A. utilizes mobility, tactical out positioning, & conscious thought requiring a greater in depthatude of understanding regarding all the game elements for you finish out the day; Naturally Complimenting the already Hit & Run mechanics of Nids in synergistic combination with Saturation, & Overwhelming pressure directing what is usually an (Un- Focused force of random niblets) into a concentrated ranged & melee pressure arc, :alongside assassination flanking force with utmost competence. A R.A. with the lead in a 1v1 is much like the Farseer. "When you're ahead...you're really ahead" and closing out games is more so a means of technique than actually out playing the other player because you just have too much field presence and well- established influence throughout the most critical areas of the map which you have easy acess to ( instantly ) because of tunnels, and finally forcing off a R.A. just sees you often at times having to push a lot and in many cases over extend yourself to dig out and/or deconstruct, & take-up the R.A. players fantastic Critical Position & Location play. A good R.A. player is miles better than the other 2 Tyranids commanders (In relations to a personal Individual standpoint, less so commander, faction, & player standpoint) when played right and by the right player whom knows how to naturally bring out the said commander's utmost efficientcy by being an utmost progressive optimal efficient person as well, well...metas change.

[Clovermite]

I found some good RA games (though most not 2v2):

Here's one with Tex vs Big Mathis (FC). Tex ends up losing in the game, nonetheless he demonstrates some really good gameplay. I unfortunately couldn't find a corresponding replay on gamereplays.org.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2AV5skEW7Y

Here's an awesome one from forest radio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PidXiYgry0U

Luckily, he posted the game up on gamereplays, and it's version 2.4.2 so I won't have to back-patch in order to study it.
http://www.gamereplays.org/dawnofwar2/r ... &id=305638

It's crazy to see how devastating the RA can be with acid splatter and toxic miasma. I had never really tried those wargears in vanilla - I was afraid to go full melee with him because I'd tried it before with the crippling talons and burrow ability, going off advice from another player, and found that I sucked horribly at that playstyle. Part of that though is that I became overconfident in his infiltration and didn't adjust when detectors got on the field, and did not properly support. After watching Forest wreck the heretics, I'll definitely work on adding this build into my repertoire.

I also just found this 2v2 match up on an older version of elite. I'm going to try back-patching to see if I can get it to work (thanks Elite team for leaving the old installers up, and for choosing to have the installers just overwrite the existing version rather than requiring an uninstall first).
http://www.gamereplays.org/dawnofwar2/r ... &id=292208

[Forestradio]

just saw your response in the "what hero do i main thread" and then this one and now the double sent thread so i figured i would drop by and say something, all in one thread

first off there is probably no "dedicated" RA player atm, as toilailee said Soom and Acra were both extremely good but neither of them is active, Fear is also someone who was quite good at RA but im not sure how much he plays anymore, try and find some of his old casts if you can

BUT RA is my favorite nid hero, and i have played it now and then, so ill just say this:

RA is not the big solid slow steady tank that HT is, nor is he the colossal ball of imba-as-fuck-cheese that the LA is. RA is a bit more about utility and careful strategic planning and whatnot, especially in t1. Basically, you play RA so that when you successfully execute something out of your bag of tricks, you can do this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb8fWUUXeKM

there's a lot of different options as well, from a massive ranged blob to a melee blob to something of a mix, if you have questions on specifics, whether it's globals or wargear just post them here and i will try and help

edit: about 2 sents, as Ser Topi said you can do 2x terma into warriors into ravs, always get the ranged upgrade on your ravs in this matchup, it's absolutely amazing, OR you can do 3x termas and then adapt to what your opponent brings out, get a bswb if he has catachans and raveners if he has a hwt, then tech into a zoan and venom brood
the key here is to play a bit more defensively than you normally would in the early game, sticking the RA and termas behind cover and not overcommiting stupidly while hormas can cap, until you can consolidate your units for big pushes. with 3x termas against ig i generally get 2x toxin sacs before anything else like t1.5 units