Umbrella
From Undead Assault II Guide
Umbrella Corporation is a conglomerate company devoted to multiple areas of development, primarily military and medical fields. Over many years they have became the largest and most influential company in the entire world -- and the largest non-Governmental military. They take the place of being partially individualised and partially a PMC (Private Military Company). Many non-world power governments fear them and comply with their demands to sustain good relations -- whoever's side they are on is usually victorious. At first they were a small, unnoticed company, but exponentially grew after participating in and winning various wars in the Middle East and Asia, with the use of their advanced technology.
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In Undead Assault II
In Undead Assault II Umbrella Mode, they will try to drive you out of the sector by force, whereas you must attempt to do the exact same to them. The outbreak is directly linked to them in the normal modes, which gives the general assumption of a cover-up. In the end USMC and Umbrella face off in a large battle to decide the ultimate victor.
Umbrella mode differs from all the other modes in that other MOS units controlled by the computer will also be present. These units share similar appearances as you but serve as an additional opponent to both you and the zombies.
Key Differences
- The "outbreak" setting is generally the zombie spawn setting in that only smaller zombies spawn with the exception of the giant pudge.
- Umbrella squads or platoons spawn periodically and patrol the map. If contact is made, the squads or patrols may make their way towards your location.
- The missions are always in same order and you cannot continue to the next mission without completing the previous (the exceptions to this are the second mission which has a time limit, and the APC supply drop, for which the APC must survive. If these missions are failed then the game will continue onto the next mission with an experience penalty for the players, and the game will be more difficult).
- The RQ-7B Global Hawk can not be used.
Umbrella Units
- Umbrella units are minis; units which share similar abilities to your own hero units. Even some of the unique MOSes (such as the Combat Engineer, Ghost, or Detachment Commander) make appearances as the mission continues and players' ranks increase.
- The amount of umbrella resistance is proportional to the amount of loaded exp. That means if you have a general with you, expect a lot of heavy firepower throughout the game.
- Never stay too close to each other. Umbrella units love to take out multiple units with their grenades (umbrella riflemen will only use their grenades if they can hit multiple targets. This is not true however for the umbrella DC).
- Some unique umbrella units are especially dangerous. Be especially careful when handling enemy Assualtmen, Designated Marksmen, Detachment Commanders, Machine Gunners and Combat Engineers.
- Umbrella units do not require line of sight to use their special skills on you. Be aware that enemy Detachment Commanders, Assaultmen, Combat Engineers and Ghosts will use their abilities once they are within range. In addition to this, HEAT and cluster rockets, and the Ghost's ion cannon give sight to where they go off, allowing umbrella marksmen and machine gunners to quickly dispose of anyone too close to an explosion.
- The Assaultman in particular is one of the most dangerous enemies on umbrella difficulty. Their HEAT rockets have extremely long range and give little warning before impact. A small red laser which appears approximately 3-4 seconds before the rocket hits is the only indication that an assaultman has locked onto you. Keep an eye out for this mark underneath your unit to avoid a quick death. Large umbrella spawns typically have 1-2 assaultmen with them.
- Another dangerous MOS is the ghost. It has an invisibility and usualy travel alone or in groups of 2-4. Be careful since they can sneak up on you and kill you within seconds. Use items that provide true sight such as flashlights and flares.
- Umbrella never use Grenadiers, Scouts, Cyborgs, Forward Observers, and Heavy Supports. Take advantage of this.
Suggested MOSes
As well as Navy Corpsmen, MOSes used should be able to locate and dispatch Umbrella units safely.
This is (arguably) the best team:
- Navy Corpsman (2 or 3): These are a must have. There is no global revive in umbrella mode and you do not receive Minis.
- Designated Marksman: Excels at killing umbrella units from long range. Can also place cameras. The DM usually guards backdoor, using wire shot on larges squad comming.
- Ghost: A solid choice. Can place field cameras (he is the main cammer) and locate enemy umbrella units safely using flares and binoculars, and can kill great amounts of umbrella units with energy orb, plasma grenade, ion cannon and his high dps and above average range.
- Detachment Commander: Close Air Support and reinforcements provide great firepower, and distract umbrella fire from the DC himself. These two things can allow the detachment commander to go rambo. However, reinforcements will often make avoiding a grenade or HEAT missile more difficult.
- Forward Observer: Can destroy large squads using CAS, White Phosphorus and orbital artillery from long range, as well as place cameras and use binoculars. You only have 150 shells though, so don't waste them. Reduces experience gain by 15%.
These MOS are also good to have:
- Combat Engineer: Can build barricades and sentry cannons to distract enemy fire and wipe out umbrella units. Sentry cannons will not be targeted by HEAT missiles or grenades, so a well-placed sentry can often wipe out large amounts of units. Cluster missiles are also excellent.
- Cyborg: Excellent dps and tanking ability. Also has cluster rockets and can place cameras. Typical rambo class.
- Scout Recon: Like the ghost, he excels at placing field cameras and locating enemy umbrella units with binoculars and flare gun. Pick scout if you can't pick ghost! His low range makes it difficult to directly engage umbrella units without a terrain advantage, however.
- Assaultman: EMP and HEAT rockets can kill umbrella from long range. Rockets are more effective when used in conjunction with a flare gun to slow umbrella units. Explosive charges will detonate should they be rifle-butted; a few explosive charges placed along umbrella patrol routes can destroy entire squads.
- Heavy Support His normal attack and energy orb are deadly against umbrella forces.
General Strategy
Map awareness is key
For any given fight, you will almost certainly be outnumbered by umbrella forces; as a result, you will almost certainly lose a 'fair' fight. Ambushing umbrella forces with a range, terrain or sight range advantage is necessary to winning firefights. As a result, it is vital to know the position of nearby umbrella units in order to plan an ambush and avoid being jumped without a terrain advantage. When camping, you should maintain a ring of cameras or ground flares around your position, covering all possible entrances. When moving to complete objectives, you should keep vision in-front of you and to your flanks using binoculars or flare guns, and cover your rear with cameras or ground flares. Toggle your minimap colours to display enemies in red - this makes it much easier to locate umbrella soldiers.
Map awareness is also key to eliminating umbrella assaultmen (and to a lesser extent, ghosts) who will continue to bombard your position with rockets if they are not taken out. Be aware when hunting umbrella forces to keep an eye close to yourself, to avoid dying an embarrassing death to a few zombies while you are distracted by umbrella units.
Navy Corpsmen are the most important MOS
While this is arguably true for most modes, it is especially true for umbrella, as there are no global revives, and you are not even given minis should you die - and death can come in a much more swift and surprising manner than in other difficulties. If you end up dying, you rely on a friendly NC to ensure you can continue playing. As such, you want to make sure that there is a friendly NC alive to revive you. NCs should typically be the first to be given any body armour found, and a dead player's body should be well-guarded when it is time to revive them.
Similarly, new players should usually pick the NC as their first MOS when playing, as it can contribute much more to a team than other low-rank MOS such as riflemen, grenadiers or machine gunners in umbrella. Veteran players are also more likely to help out and be patient with a new NC than a less useful class (who may risk being left dead as a "field camera").
Combat basics
If possible, you should try to engage umbrella with a line of sight advantage, such as from higher terrain. A flare gun will give sight of the oncoming umbrella forces and slow them, giving you more time to dispatch the squad. Fragmentation, plasma and smoke grenades, as well as ground flares, cause umbrella units to avoid the target location. Forcing umbrella units to scatter is often as desirable as killing them outright with a grenade, as this gives you time to get away or eliminate dangerous squad members. Umbrella soldiers will generally be able to successfully avoid a grenade, unless they have already been slowed by a flare gun. Other abilities which cause Umbrella soldiers to scatter (but usually serve a different use) are cluster missiles (which simply kills outright), HEAT and EMP missiles, fire mission, illumination rounds and ion cannon (which are all too slow to be used to buy yourself time). Carrying a stack of saline syringes can save your life if you get into a scrape, as the instant 150hp boost can sometimes be enough to save you.
Eliminate the most dangerous umbrella units first. Umbrella units with difficult to avoid explosives, such as the detachment commander and combat engineer should typically be your first priority, so that they do not get in range to use them on you. After them, target machine gunners and designated marksmen, who have the most devastating firearm attacks. Of course, don't wade though a bunch of riflemen just to get at a DC; if they are (relatively) far away, they are less of a threat. Similarly, if an umbrella rifleman is about to climb a ramp and gain sight of you (leading to very quick death if there are more umbrella units nearby), then this rifleman is currently your greatest threat.
When facing a large squad, be aware that it likely has at least one assaultman with it, who will launch a HEAT missile at you as soon as he is within range - often before you will have sight of him. As well as the danger of the explosion killing you outright, the vision it gives can be enough for umbrella designated marksmen to immediately pincushion you. Make sure you get well away from an incoming HEAT.
If it appears that Umbrella soldiers will soon be able to target you, or you are surprised by some, immediately target them with a grenade (or anything else that will cause them to scatter). Next you should do one of two things. If you can get to high ground quickly (before the Umbrella units can return fire after dodging the grenade), then do so. Otherwise, go prone and fire on the enemy soldiers, and try to kill them before they can kill you. If you have the time and equipment, scatter the squad further with more grenades. Obviously there are exceptions to this - if you are too outnumbered to have any chance of winning by going prone and attacking then you should simply run, even if your odds of survival are tiny. Similarly if going to high ground will mean getting into the range of a DC's grenade, then trying your luck with a firefight on even ground might be your best option.
Other Tricks
If camping at North Hill, the first sentry gun should be placed next to the power generator, so it covers the reat entrance to the west. Thus, you can place more men in the front.
Umbrella units that can rifle butt will destroy explosive charges as they walk past, blowing it up in the process. Placing explosive charges where you expect umbrella units to move can kill enemy squads painlessly. You can also place explosive charges at checkpoints in order to blow umbrellas a soon as they spawn.
Fire Mission is unlikely to hit anything. FO's limited shells are better spent on Orbital Artillery or White Phosphorus.
If you can't find Bonnie and Dolly, they are probably at their spawn point to the west of the starting point.
Clear the majority of Umbrella forces at your base before going to pick up corpses. They stop spawning after the start of the mission. Drop your stuff before going for corpses (keep flares if you have any). The DC can give marine corpses to his minis, allowing him to carry up to 12 corpses.
When defending south town, send CAS in the west forest and WP or ion in the east road. Ghost should destroy the bridge. How to: FAQ.
Missions
1. Recharging the generator
Recharging the generator requires 17 batteries, so you will need to find at least 5 stacks to charge it. Batteries are guaranteed to spawn near a hut in the mid-north of the map, on the north side of the north road, as well as near a tree stump to the right side of the road between the body of water near the centre of the map, and the low-lying area to the south-east of the north town. In addition to these spawns, you can find two stacks of batteries in one of the ammo caches, and will need to find a 5th random spawn. Ambushing the first umbrella spawn just above the east side of the umbrella facility (you should try to be there by 2:00 on the in-game clock) will give the team about 5 minutes to search for batteries.
If you don't find enough batteries, then someone will need to run to where 5 batteries are dropped in the landing zone at the south town. Generally this mission will be done by a ghost, but any MOS is capable of doing it.
2. Eliminating Umbrella checkpoints
This is the first risky mission. You can either have the entire squad move through the checkpoints, or else have one person (dm, ghost, dc and cyborg are the most suitable MOSs for this) do the majority of the checkpoints, and a second do the two on the far right of the map. The main danger present is that of running into a patrolling squad while trying to eliminate the checkpoints. Don't be afraid to shamelessly toss ground flares all over the place to make sure you are not ambushed by umbrella patrols. As always when moving, reveal the area ahead of yourself with binoculars or flares before you advance.
When actually eliminating a checkpoint, scout it with binoculars or a flare and use firearms to take them out. Cluster rockets are also very effective at taking out checkpoints. If you are running out of time or several team mates have died, a forward observer can take out checkpoints safely from a distance with orbital artillery (but at significant shell cost).
3. Bonny and Dolly
This mission is quite simple. Two A-class enemies (they are weak for A-class, only as strong as a typical B-class enemy) spawn alongside a small number of horrors near the centre of the map. They are only a threat if isolated team members are tardy in returning from the previous mission and are caught by the two. Even so, flaring them will provide an escape, and it is easily possible for a single person to kill them. Often umbrella soldiers will kill Bonny and Dolly without you even seeing them.
The true threat in this mission are the two large squads of umbrellas that spawn with the mission. Being 'Large' squads, they will have an assman with them by this point in the game, and can be dangerous to unwary players. Prioritize destroying them if no other immediate threat is present.
4. APC cargo drop
Success on this mission is often random, without risking the safety of your team. An APC spawns along the south road alongside a few USMC soldiers, and attempts to make it to the south town to drop off supplies. If it makes it, you succeed, and you fail if it is destroyed.
It is possible to be in position to escort the APC, but risky as you will be on even terrain with umbrella soldiers. Instead it is usually better to simply remain at a safe location and attempt to draw umbrella to yourself (and so away from the APC) by engaging them. If the APC makes it to south town it will drop off two sentry cannons, medical supplies, grenades, flares and ammunition.
5. Casualty evacuation
This is the second dangerous mission, and you'll want the entire team to move together when completing it. You need to bring a number of corpses (the amount depends on the total loaded rank) from the two roads to the east back to a random landing zone. The possible landing zones are:
- The east part of North Hill
- Slightly to the east of North Hill (only about half a screen from the previous LZ, but a fair walking distance when considering terrain)
- Near the lake to the south of North Hill
- A clearing north of the Umbrella facility
- South town
After the first part of this mission, umbrella forces stop spawning. As such, the safest (and the method that gives the best preparation for the final mission) way to complete this mission is to remain camping until the majority of umbrella forces on the map are defeated. At this point, bring important equipment to the chosen location for the final fight, then carry the corpses to the given landing zone.
If high ranks are present, then umbrella ghosts and helicopters will spawn for this mission, bringing with them ion cannon and the ability to see players on high terrain respectively. Ghosts will typically use ion cannon as soon as they are within range, (approximately half of the map's width), which makes them nigh impossible to kill at this stage. Umbrella helicopters should be taken out as quickly as possible.
6. Turning the tables
The final mission has Bravo company move in to south town, before huge amounts of umbrella units (including tanks and helicopters) spawn and assault your position. Generally, you'll either want to face the assault alongside Bravo, or else at north hill, though many locations are suitable. If the APC has survived, then grab the sentries it drops (and any others you may find) and place them where they have high terrain. At south town, a small mesa overlooking the road to the east (only accessible via lift boots) is ideal.
The assault itself is much like previous encounters with umbrella, simply on a larger scale. Thankfully there are no more ion cannons for this mission. Keep in mind that you won't be able to rambo a tank, and let someone with a suitable special ability take it out. CAS (and the rest of FO's arsenal) can take out huge amounts of umbrella units, while intelligent use of other skills such as cluster missiles, energy orb and HEAT/EMP rockets can decimate oncoming forces. Always keep an eye on your feet, as enemy assaultman numbers can build up quickly (FO can take them out easily, as can ion cannon or return fire from your own assaultman). Use ground flares to ensure you always have adequate vision.
Once the assault is over, you will need to explore the map to kill off any remaining umbrella forces. Generally they can be found at the spawn points to the north and west of north town, along the edge of the map south of the umbrella facility, and along the east edge of the map.
