A cert guide for new infils

I had a request to put together a basic cert guide for the infiltrator, starting at BR1.  I admit, it has been a while since I had anything left to cert into my infiltrator… the last thing I got was nano armor cloak back when they finally buffed it.  But I have made alts on other servers recently and had to relive the fun of a 12 second hunter cloak recharge, 2 crappy recon darts and no medkits 🙂  I’ll try to make this simple and practical, but realize there is a lot of room for flexibility based on preference and style of gameplay (SMG vs. sniper, etc).  I’m going to throw in suggestions for higher level players too, because there are a few things that I consider mandatory that aren’t often thought of for infils.

I also am going to assume nothing has been bought with SC, and that the player using this guide isn’t making 200 certs per hour with boosts, etc.  In other words, I won’t be recommending that you drop 1000c on nanoweave 5 or an SMG before getting some cheaper alternatives.

 

The Infiltrator cert guide

“Wow this game is awesome!  It’s so pretty!!!  I want to be a super secret ninja, lets do infiltrator!  Uhh…. hey I’m dying a lot, this starter weapon sucks, I have no idea what I’m doing… HELP!!!”

So, you want to infiltrate huh?  Well as you start learning how to kill people and get those certs, here’s a quick and dirty little guide to how you can start spending that bank.  For the sake of brevity, we won’t focus on HOW you are getting those certs, lets just assume you have found a way to get them 🙂

AMS for Sunderer: 30c
-This is mandatory for all players starting out.  Mobile spawn option from your Sunderer.  Get it, learn how to use it, and help your team.  Also, you can hack them out from hostile vehicle terminals, which has the potential to be the most useful thing an infiltrator can do for their faction

For TR and VS: The M77B (TR) or XM98 (VS) bolt action rifles 100c
-As a new player, the default semi-auto weapons, while usable, can be very frustrating.  That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to use them, but for any alt I make, this is a very early cert investment.  I actually don’t put any certs into the attachments; my preference is the 6x default scope, and until nanoweave is nerfed, I don’t use a suppressor.   Suppressors are tough to use for new players anyways.

Hunter Cloak: 1-3 (10, 50 and 100c respectively)
-I think early cert investment in the cloak will deliver a significantly noticeable improvement in your performance.  This reduces the recharge time for your cloak, which leads to more “uptime” that you can spend looking for targets or moving to cover.

“Suit slot” 1-3 (Nanoweave is 1, 10, 50c respectively)
-We are days away from a nanoweave nerf.  Previously I’d recommend nanoweave as a good default suit for all infiltrators, especially as a beginning with precious few certs to spend.  I suspect it will remain a good starting option (bullets kill people mmmkay?) but flak is also very good looking now.  Either way, this a cheap investment that increases survivability.

Medical Kit 1-2 (50, 100c respectively)
-I know not everyone believes in medkits, but since infiltrators are not usually in the thick of battle with nearby medics, I find that the medkit allows us to be self-reliant and last substantially longer in battle.  I cert these up very early on with my alt characters, and go through em like candy.

Automatic Scout Rifle: SOAS-20 (TR), Stalker (NC), Artemis (VS) – 250c
-These are not the easiest weapons to use, but give the infiltrator a relatively affordable fully automatic weapon to use in close quarters.  This is an early purchase for my alts because they allow you to have at least something to take into a base for hacking and infiltrating.  It used to be 1000c but was adjusted early 2013.  Suppressor and forward grip recommended (100c each).

Advanced Equipment and Terminal Hacking 1-4 (1, 10, 50, 100c respectively)
-There’s a reason I save this for later on.  While hacking is very useful, all this cert line does is speed up the time you are vulnerable while hacking.  Even for active infiltrators, most don’t spend a lot of time hacking, so it can wait until more important cert lines are invested in.  Once you get the scout rifle though, you can start working on base infiltration and hacking is pretty cheap to cert up to rank 4.

Recon Detect Device 2-3 (30, 50c respectively)
-Sadly the recon dart, while one of the most useful tools the infiltrator has, receives very little significant benefit with the low level upgrades.  It is not until you start getting additional darts to carry around, that the range and duration levels reach a point where you will really appreciate how good this device is.  I almost didn’t bother putting this in the cert guide until later due to the massive cert dump required.  But go ahead and get it to rank 3 since that is cheap… but be prepared to grit your teeth later on for this baby.

Wraith cloak 1 (150c)
-The wraith used to be very powerful and the flash was a cheap vehicle to use.  Paired with a fury mounted gun, the infiltrator became a battlefield menace.  Nowadays, it is probably best to save your certs, as the flash is not the best place to dump certs.  I do recommend getting rank 1 of the wraith cloak, which turns the flash into a viable transport mechanism to slip behind crowded enemy lines.  Any investment beyond this is for the enthusiast who wants to get more out of the vehicle and has certs to burn.

Antipersonnel mines: 200 and 400c respectively
-I have a personal bias against AP mines, as I find medkits more useful in 95% of situations.  However, they should be certed out for laying traps, especially if you can hack a nearby terminal, pull out mines and swap back to medkits once the mines are out.  At this point in the cert guide, you can start investing in non-essential items to supplement your playstyle and diversity.

Ejection seat for ESF (500c)
-The first big ticket item, I highly recommend using an ESF with ejection seat for infiltrating behind enemy lines.  It is the most efficient and reliable way to get where you want, and the mechanics allow you to drop exactly on the spot you want.  This is useful in squad play, as well as solo infiltration.  Once you have the rest of the infiltrator certed, you can consider certing out stealth, racer frame and the timer in order to further improve the ESF for this specific purpose.

It’s now time to go back and finish a few things.  These bear little explanation and the specific order is rather arbitrary.  These cert lines will take a bit of time.
-Finish certing hunter cloak to max rank
-Take nanoweave (or preferred suit) to second-to-last rank
-Recon darts to rank 5 (200c for 4 and 500c for 5).
-Cert up an SMG, and consider one of the 1000c variant sniper rifles if you are so inclined.  You could skip this and stick with the ASR and 100c bolt action flavor.
-Finish medkits (rank 3 and 4)

Now that these items are in the bag, get some toys:
-EMP grenade (200c)
-Advance Shield capacitor 1-5 (1, 10, 30, 100, 200c respectively)
-Ammo belt 4 (1, 10, 100, 1000c respectively)
-Close range bolt action (250c – TSAR-42, Ghost, SAS-R)

Lastly, time to bite the bullet and get that last 5% (1000c each)
-Nanoweave/Flak 5
-Recon Dart 6
-hacking rank 5 (500c)

Well, that’s it for the guide.  If you want more information on cert lines, check out the PS2 wiki at http://planetside.wikia.com/wiki/Infiltrator  At some point,  you don’t really need to stick to the guide as you will want to spread certs around in other classes a little (I maxed the medic gun early on because it’s so good).  But for those who want some help getting started, or want to find the most economical way to spend some certs on the infil class, hopefully this guide was helpful.

Feel free to leave feedback, comments and suggestions for improvements below!