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-- Battle tactics (http://kishu.ca/forums/showthread.php?threadid=420)

Battle tactics

Unfortunatly, in the game of Initial D, skill is all that matters. This being said, at high level - the person infront will win. I can't describe how to achieve getting infront other than the obvious get the start. To pass at high skill is to win the race as there is almost no chance of recovery.

The following points I am going to discuss are usually only applicable at the beginner - intermediate skill level.

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Blocking
Blocking is the act of being infront and making sure the opponent is behind you.
Remember that while blocking your opponent's actions can not be grater than your own. What this means is that if you're confident in your skill and your opponent's skill, you know that what he does can not be faster than what you're doing. This being said, the only thing that matters is the inside line. It will be impossible for the opponent to pass on the outside.
Stay keep inside and you will not only block the opponent but you will blind him as well (assuming he's not using 3rd person). If he chooses to move outside to see the road, he will lose distance.
The key to blocking is keeping inside, staying close to the apex during corners and never give your opponent a chance.
If you are really unsure, cut your usual speed for entering a corner by 5km/h or so, it is more important to block than to try and gain distance.

Following
Since this is stated before as beginner - intermediate, your opponent might be unsure as to what to do at a corner, especially if they can not see because you're blocking.
They will most likely follow your actions.
Keeping this in mind, you can get creative - early shifting then shifting back so it sounds like one shift down.
Fake a turn.
Shift down quietly so the opponent thinks you're staying in gear
etc.

Reversing
One of the key elements of skill is reversing.
Reversing is the act of making your opponent go reverse.
The key to a successful reverse involves knowing your opponent. You have to be 90% sure that the next line they'll follow is the inside line. Extreme noobs in this case should not require this tactic because likely, each turn is a mystery, even to themselves. Its better to just distance them. Trying to pull a reverse might prove detrimental to yourself.
Anyways, to reverse simply keep a lower gear or touch the apex. If they are right behind you, they'll hit your car and reverse. This is the imfamous tactic on Irohazaka but can also be used on Happogahara (First pin on inbound) and Akagi (V-Turn). If you screw up on akina up or down, a key place to try this is the RHOD/LHOD as in most cases, the opponent will try to take the gutter for maximum cornering speed.

Merging
This is the ulimate tactic.
A successful merge into the opponent on high speed courses will leave them utterly screwed for the remainder of the battle. However I am not sure as to how a merge happens 100%.
I know that it is successful at sharp turns into the side of your opponent's car (Note me vs Spoon_EK9 usui) as this has happened many times before, and on video. Its risky to attempt a merge as spoon did on C-121 because a screw up will leave you eating the wall. When merging, you absolutely need to be the winner and come out infront, how to do this, I don't know.
Counter it as much as possible, or if you're the attacker, steer in as much as possible.
If merged, don't give up as taking the Spoon_EK9 example again, I won that match with a -500m deficit
But in most cases, with no screw ups or whatever, a merge will end the game. Know this and avoid or exploit it to your advantage.



more shit later when I want to procrastinate more...


BOOST ON

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kishu 4 life

oh yeah, feel free to add your own strats or comments or whatever.

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kishu 4 life

distracting an opponent is also important, if you can get his mind to wonder he will mess up a bit. some ways of doing this are:
1) turning your lights on and off while coming into a hairpin while following close. what happens is a sharp white light in the rear view mirror and a sharp white number in the advantage box. this can kinda distract your opponent
2) view change. if the player your against has a good feild of vision, and can notice your side of the machine he might wonder what the fuck your doing pressing the view change over and over.

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teh noooooooob = me

I've heard opponent fustration works as well so racing in the dark and turning off the lights works well...only if you know the track :P because they cant tell where you really are whether tailing or leading

If someone was trying to merge you in order to take you outta the race, would it be a possible idea to let go of the gas, let them get in front of you, then resume attacking?

nope, once your in a merge, you fight to get infront. If you ungas or get behind, the result is the same - you lose, you'll drop 80+km/h and slowly regain as if you hit a wall, hard.

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kishu 4 life