[Darth Mario]

Huzzah, finally finished! Here goes nothing...

Parasite 2
A Guide by Darth Mario and Slaanesh

Parasite is a 11 player paranoia-style map set on a space station in orbit around “Planet XGRM”. Up to nine players are humans. One player plays the robotic AI, and the last is the Parasite, who is disguised as one of the humans. The humans and AI’s goal is to discover and kill the Parasite. The Parasite must kill or spawn all of the humans and the AI to win.

The Chat/Alliance System:

Spoiler

Parasite 2 uses a custom chat system which allows for a private message line between any players that you wish to communicate secretly with. Type -add color to add a player to your line. To send a message to these players, put a . before your message. Be warned, other players will be able to read this message in the chat log unless you set your chat mode to Observer (this won’t affect normal communication, just the log). Similarly, the Parasite can put a = in front of it’s message to communicate with any humans that it has spawned.

To ally a player, type -ally color. To unally, type -unally color. It’s that simple.

The station's layout:

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The station is essentially circular in nature. Each floor leads to and from the next on the list.

Cargo: Cargo contains vendors for every type of armor available (except the Disruptor suit), a bomb vendor, and all four scout ship docking bays. It also contains a Containment Blockade, which the Parasite can destroy to release its spawns into the ship.

Power: This floor contains nothing except for the power generator. The generator has an on and off switch; just step on them to change it.

Oxygen: Oxygen has the oxygen generator (with switches that work like the ones in power) and, more importantly, the first bridge door. Captains are advised to lock this if the parasite is loose. Or not. Depends on what kind of mood you're in.

Bridge: The Bridge contains access to the cameras around the station, as well as pilot functions, security turret functions and, least used, the self destruct button. Only the person holding the Captain's card can set turrets or self-destruct the station.

Weapons: Weapons contains the RSM room, where the AI creates new drones, the weapons bay, which contains all but one of the suit vendors, the AI upgrade box, and the Disruptor suit, the Nuke room, where the nuke will spawn, and a Containment Blockade.

Medical: Medical contains a Bomb vendor, the Blood Tester room, the Autodoc and a Containment Blockade.

Biology: This floor contains the animal room, which holds creatures that the Parasite can spawn, three Spawn rooms, which the Parasite can let free, a Containment Blockade, and the switch the Parasite uses to turn spawns at blown Blockades on and off. Basically, this is a very dangerous room to let the Parasite play in.

Quarantine: Quarantine contains a Containment Blockade. It also contains the alcohol vendor and drug vendor.

Quarantine leads back to Cargo.

Suits:

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In order for humans to survive, they have to use the various suits scattered around the station in vendors. These suits have various weapons and abilities. A comprehensive list of suits would be pages long and not very helpful, but I’ll list the most significant and unique.

Stealth: Despite it’s weak attack, the stealth suit is a very useful tool for staying alive and is the best friend of the “Human Parasite” (parasite in human form, which is often necessary early game). It grants the ability to turn invisible for a short period of time -- useful in any number of situations.

Medic: The human player’s best friend. It’s almost always a good idea to have at least one human in a group equipped with a medic suit -- they can keep the group alive in a number of situations.

Ripper: The only suit with a melee weapon attached. Also has the highest damage of any suit. This is great against buildings and slower enemies -- use as the Parasite to destroy a containment blockade or the blood tester without needing a bomb.

Sonic: Primarily useful for a technique known as “sonic bombing”, which I will discuss later.

Nuke: High damage, but with the risk of blowing up in your face. One of the best suits in the game -- it does give you a few seconds warning before exploding (enough time for you to move out of the way -- the suit drops when it goes off) and basically acts as an impromptu bomb. When it’s not detonating, it grants wonderfully high damage, better than any suit except the Ripper.

Other suits are worth trying out, too, and it all comes down to personal preference which one you use. Just be sure to take note of armor/damage type when you pick.

Items:

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There are all kinds of items in Parasite. Here’s a list of the most common and most useful to new players.

Thermal Shields: A must take for everyone if there are bombs in play. A thermal will completely negate bomb damage if it explodes near you. It also blocks the station’s turrets from damaging you (useful for a Parasite on the run) and also stops Temperature Damage suits and most negative abilities. Don’t leave home without one, or do so at your own peril.

Energy Paks: You will go through energy very fast in Parasite 2. Make sure that you’re carrying refills.

Oxygen Paks: While these are not normally necessary, they can be useful if the Parasite or some crazy human turns off the oxygen supply. Your starting oxygen will last five minutes, plenty of time to find yourself a refill.

Bombs: They go boom and kill things dead. You place a bomb on the ground and can remotely trigger it by using it’s detonate ability. Note that bombs are invisible, but they do give a 3 second countdown before exploding -- if your enemy is paying attention, they will have time to run or raise a thermal shield. Useful in many situations -- as a diversion, for building distraction, or for killing slow units such as the Gargantuan spawn.

Healing Stimpaks: If you’re not hanging with a friend in a Medic suit and don’t have a stealth suit for yourself, it’s usually a good idea to have one of these for tight situations.

Adrenaline Stimpaks: Attack and move speed buff, though they raise your damage taken. Useful in that slug-out final battle with the parasite and all his minions -- or just picking him off when he runs away.

Nightvision Goggles: In the likely event that the Parasite turns off the power, you’ll need to have a set of these -- your sight range is reduced to nil without them.

Odessa Strain: This is a form of alien parasite that you can directly control. When you use the item, you will gain control of two small aliens. These are useful for killing things where you can't -- though they can't move through doors, they can still be useful taking out cameras, assisting the parasite in destroying the Blood Tester/a Containment Blockade, or just supporting you in combat.

Parasite Strategies:

Spoiler

As the Parasite, you have the hardest job in the game, but also the most fun (in my opinion, at least). The parasite has the ability to disguise Early game, you have several goals and priorities.

The first is to deal with the Blood Tester, a device that activates within 5 minutes of the start that allows the humans to identify you VERY easily. There are several ways to accomplish this, the first and usually best way is to destroy it before it can be activated. This can be tricky, since usually there will be a human guarding the thing, but if you can, slip a bomb into the room. For destroy that happens sooner, but takes longer, I would recommend getting a Nuke Suit and an Odessa strain from the blue vendors (one can be found in the main Bio room, that's probably the closest to the Tester room). Buff yourself to explode, spawn some Odessa to speed things along, and attack by hand (make sure to destroy the camera in the room first). With either strategy, be sure to have a stealth suit and energy paks ready for your retreat.

Another option is misdirection. Again, there are a few ways to accomplish this. My favorite strategy as the Parasite is to open up a containment blockade first thing. If this succeeds at drawing a guard away from the room, just walk in and destroy it. If it doesn't, start getting your spawns and hide yourself (non-launched explorer vessels work, although there are little-used rooms all over the station). Wait until you have two Gargantuans, then march right into the place. The Gargantuans can't destroy the tester themselves, but they will be able to spawn a human hanging around there.

Alternately, if you're able to spawn a human very early in the game, you can order them to test for you (or pretend they're trying to avoid it). This makes it look like you are innocent, since early spawns are hard to get. Go along and pretend to be human, then start sabotaging when you can (in this scenario, you may be able to leave the Blood Tester alive, since the humans already think they know who's guilty).

Turning off the Power will deactivate the tester until someone can get it back online. This is useful as a stopgap measure.

Once that’s taken care of, you can focus your attentions on acquiring Spawns. When people talk about spawns in Parasite, they are referring to one of two types. One type are human players who have been converted by the parasite. The parasite does this by attacking them in it's natural form. If they die while they possess the "infected" debuff, they will become a spawn and work for the parasite. The other kind of spawn is directly controlled by the parasite. They come out of destroyed containment blockades. They're very good at damaging and spawning players; in fact, I would say that they are the parasite's best tool. Containment will usually go down with a bomb, but can also be taken down by attacking them manually.

You should also take the opportunity to Evolve when you get enough points (your first evolution becomes available about the same time as the Blood Tester activates, assuming you haven’t spent your points on Spawns or gained more by getting Human Spawns). You have two choices for your second form: Mental and Physical. Without going into detail about either one’s abilities, I would use this rule of thumb: if you have been discovered, use Physical -- it is a better combatant against groups and tough humans. If not, pick Mental -- it’s good at picking off lone humans and gains extremely powerful evolutions later on in the game -- just beware a combined attack, it has relatively low HP.

While in Human form, you should wear a suit and select items as if you were not the Parasite, if you can. Nightvision Goggles can fool even advanced players, since they are unnecessary for the Parasite, who still has it’s full range of sight when the power is off. The Stealth suit can prevent you from being discovered if used well. Bombs are useful against Containment Blockades, the Blood Tester, the RSM, or the AI’s upgrade box. Energy Paks work even in Parasite form.

Human/AI Strategies:

Spoiler

As a human or the AI, your job will be to identify and kill the Parasite. The earlier in the game this happens, the better for you -- the Parasite gets much stronger as the game progresses.

Your first order of business, though, is to identify the Parasite. This is most easily accomplished by using the Blood Tester. The BT comes online within five minutes of game start, meaning it’s vulnerable to attack within this time frame. Get a group together to defend it.

Remember, if the Blood Tester goes down, all is not lost. You can still identify the Parasite (especially one that accidentally revealed itself while destroying it)! Portable Blood Testers are sold at vendors across the ship, although they have a low accuracy rate (enough that you shouldn’t trust a negative reading from one, only a positive). Stick together with another human -- if the Parasite evolves while you two are together, you can confirm that neither one of you is the Parasite (if the entire crew does this, you’ll have him identified after just one slip-up).

If the Blood Tester manages to survive, the Parasite will likely be the player AS FAR AWAY FROM IT AS POSSIBLE. I recommend that the AI keep an eye on the cameras from the Bridge while the rest of the crew is testing, to identify anyone running the other way.

Next order of business for humans, once they have identified the Parasite, is to get ready for a battle. The Parasite will be wrecking havoc wherever it can, blowing up Containment Blockades, destroying the RSM or the AI’s Upgrade Box, or playing with the power/oxygen switches. Try to stay in a group -- a lone human quickly becomes Parasite food after it has a chance to evolve. Take down any spawns you find, and don’t let your friends get spawned themselves -- use Portable Autodocs or the Medic suit on any human who gets the Infected debuff.

One of the hardest things to deal with as humans is an open Containment Blockade. The Parasite-controlled spawns that come out of these can be some of the most deadly units in the game -- the Gargantuans in particular (be warned, they Bash, and they Bash HARD). Luckily, Gargantuans are slow, so a group of humans can use hit and run attacks on them to take them down -- just don’t use the Ripper suit.

Once you fight your way to the open blockade, you can use Repair kits on it to close it up. It takes three uses of a kit to seal the blockade, during which time more spawns can come out, so be careful. Often humans/AI will send in a Drone to repair while the rest of the force is still dealing with the live spawns.

Above all, avoid getting separated from the group. Unless you’re a very skilled player who has selected items and equipment focused on survival, you will likely not last very long against a prepared Parasite. As a team, try to keep your foe on the defensive -- the more time you give the Parasite to prepare, the worse off you will be, as the Parasite gains far more from battle preparation than humans/AI do.

AI-Specific Strategies:

Spoiler

So, you drew the short straw, and got the AI. Bummer. Well, be glad that the AI is now much more fun to play than it used to be -- the system has been completely redone in the last version.

In addition to the goals you share with the humans, you will be focusing on upgrading throughout the game. The Ultimates of the various kinds of AI are some of the most powerful attacks and abilities in the game, but even a Tier 1 ability with upgrades on it can be deadly in the late stages. I can’t recommend specific upgrade choices (pick whatever feels right for the moment, just don’t overlook stacked upgrades of your lower level abilities).

In addition to your main unit, you’ll be controlling several Drones throughout the game. Your first couple Drones will likely be sent to the two Bomb vendors in Medical and Cargo. Try to prevent the humans from getting the first bomb spawn -- remember, one of them, any of them, could be the Parasite -- but don’t freak out if one of them manages to acquire one from under your nose, everyone wants to have a bomb, not just the Parasite. Your next few drones should be sent to the four Explorer vessels and hidden within the cannons (you can move right through these buildings, so keep your drone hidden from the naked eye). The Parasite has a tendency to hijack one of these ships and destroy the security camera within, so it’s good to have a backup set of eyes.

Lastly, should you die, make sure you have a drone nearby to pick up your memory chip -- do NOT let the Parasite acquire this. With this chip, a friendly unit (or even just one of your drones) can revive you at the RSM, but an enemy unit can SPAWN you. Avoid this at all costs. Of course, should you get spawned, have fun -- you’re on Team Evil now. Wreck havoc on the humans who once made you serve.

Advanced Strategies:

Spoiler

Sonic Bombing: This is a technique used to propel a bomb down a corridor at high speeds, so that it’s impossible for your opponents to see coming. It requires the Sonic suit, a bomb, and a Thermal Shield to work. First, plant the bomb on the ground in front of you, between you and your target. Next, raise your shield -- if you mess up, the bomb may blow up on you, and you do not want to die by accidental suicide. Then start the bomb countdown. The Sonic suit has a stomp ability with a great deal of knockback -- use this while the bomb is counting down, and it will be sent flying down the hallway; since the bomb is considered to be a unit in Parasite, this trick works. Also remember that since it is a unit, a moving bomb can use elevators -- one of the best places for this trick is the elevator from the Bridge to Oxygen. From just outside the elevator in Oxygen, you can Sonic bomb anyone standing on the Camera or Security Gun pad. This can take practice to do correctly, and even advanced players can mess it up. The Thermal Shield is therefore absolutely ESSENTIAL.

Remote Power Switch: This one is much easier. All it requires is a bomb. You simply place the bomb on the on or off switch of the Power Generator (whichever one you want to do). When you need the power flipped, simply detonate the bomb. Just remember that the bomb auto-detonates after enough time has gone by (several minutes).

FAQ:

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Help, I'm trapped on an explorer vessel! I call glitch!

Okay, explorer vessels are the banes of new players. Though they're easy to use if you know what you're doing, it's one of the most common ways for a first timer to die -- floating through space on an explorer vessel, unable to land.

There are four pads in a vessel -- two are for the turrets, one is to take off/pilot, and the last is to land. When you first launch your ship, step on the green pad. Keep standing on it -- within a few seconds you'll be granted control of the explorer vessel unit in space. You keep control of this as long as you stand on the green pad. To land, pilot the vessel as close as you can to either the station or Planet XGRM -- and wait until the vessel has stopped moving. Then switch back to your main unit and step on the red pad. It's that simple.

If you have anyone else in the ship with you, you can have them stand on the turret pads to grant you an extra +100 damage to the vessel's guns.

What are those mech suits sitting in Cargo, and why can't I use them?

Those mech suits don't come online until the Parasite reaches its fourth and final evolution. If the Parasite makes it this far, the human force is usually scattered on the planet or in space, and unable to reach them. Consequently, I have NEVER seen a game where they are used. Just think of them as lethal decorations.

I found the Celestial Sword/Skeleton Key/whatever, what do I do with it?

You don't do with it. There are several secret and unique items scattered around the station that used to combine to form a super-powerful suit. These have since been removed from the game, but the items are still there. The only one with any real use, as far as I can tell, is the Celestial Sword, an item that, when used on an opponent, will stun them for a couple seconds.

Find it yourself.

Please, if I missed anything, let me know. I'll edit it into what I have now.

Edit: Gah, as soon as I posted this, I realized that I hadn't addressed piloting at all. I'll write up a section on it as soon as I can. Right now, I'm going to bed.

Edit two: Added information on Piloting, the Mech suits in cargo, and the secret items, in addition to a writeup on the Odessa Strain item.