25. Use Her as an Intel Gatherer
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=70
As said in the main image caption above, Melusi is one of the best, if not the best crowd-control operators in the game, due to her ability to really slow opponents down. The thing is, she doesn’t even need to slow opponents down with her banshee sonic defense special gadget to be effective. She can be a really great intel gatherer too, and that’s because her special gadget lights up and emits a distinct sound when it’s activated.
And it only activates from enemy presence. Whenever you deploy one of Melusi’s special gadgets, you will see a white circle expand from it and that white circle indicates its range, similar to when you deploy one of Mute’s signal jammers. And the range of Melusi’s special gadget is pretty darn wide. That’s why it’s very effective when it comes to intel gathering. With its very wide area of effect, it’s almost impossible for an enemy to not activate it throughout the round.
24. Deploy the Banshee on the Other Side
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=78
This is one of the basics when it comes to deploying Melusi’s special gadget but it is often overlooked by many players because of the sheer range of the banshees, which is quite long. But it is very important to attach them on surfaces that are the opposite direction from where you’re going to hold an angle. As shown in the video, if you’re going to hold the left side of the door, you should put the banshee on the right.
That way, if the enemy’s reflex is to shoot the banshee, his aim will be away from you and you’ll get an easy kill. Even if he doesn’t aim for the banshee, the loud sound it emits and the screen shake from it will be a great distraction and even if he aims at you right away, he would be at a disadvantage. Similarly, if you’re not playing Melusi but someone in your team is, you can put yourself on the opposite side of the banshee and work with the same concept as described above.
23. You can Deploy it Almost Everywhere
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=149
What’s handy about Melusi’s banshee sonic defense is that they can be deployed almost everywhere, similar to Goyo’s volcan canisters. They can be deployed on most surfaces like floors, walls, reinforced walls, soft walls, barricaded windows and doors, etc. As long as you can reach the surface and it’s flat, Melusi should be able to attach her special gadget there. And because of this, the Melusi player can really get creative when it comes to deploying the banshees.
Because the idea is to not let the enemy see the banshees easily even when they’re already affected by its slow effects, you should experiment on hiding it behind objects or attaching it on higher places. Places that operators won’t normally reach unless they do something tricky. For example, the main stairs in Villa. The Melusi player can actually attach a banshee on the half-wall on top of the main stairs by vaulting from the top and landing on the handrails. That position will be high enough for the player to attach her banshee on the half-wall.
22. Be mindful of the Banshee’s Range
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=160
As mentioned in one of the entries above, once you attach Melusi’s special gadget on a surface, a white circle will expand from it as its center. It happens relatively fast, but you should keep its range in mind. That way, you will know exactly at what point in the map the enemies will begin to get slowed by the banshee and from that information, you can react accordingly.
This is very important especially because Melusi has impact grenades in her arsenal, and she can use her impact grenades to suddenly open up an unreinforced wall and surprise enemies from behind. And if the Melusi player has kept in mind the range of her Banshees, once she opens up a wall to confront the enemies on the other side that is being affected by the banshee, she would have a better idea where they are and she can effectively pre-fire them.
21. Don’t Be Too Early
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=255
Melusi’s banshee sonic defense special gadget is one of the best early warning devices in the game. As said before, its area of effect is quite wide and as soon as it activates, it emits a distinct loud sound and it will start slowing down the enemy that’s triggering it. However, if you put it too near from where you’re anchoring or the objective spot that you’re defending, it will kind of lose its purpose as an early warning device, because when it activates, it means the enemy is already very near.
So, ideally, what you really want to do is to place them on spots where they would activate even before the enemy reaches the default push spots, like the cool vibe's stairs in the video. However, you also do not want to deploy the banshee too far from the stairs because that will make it too easy for the attacker to destroy the banshee, and even though you might hear the banshee being activated, when you respond to it, the enemy is probably long gone. So, keep in mind that balance is the key.
20. Deploy Banshees on High Angles
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=486
If deploying the banshee on the opposite side from where you’re anchoring can mess up an opponent’s aim, then imagine what a banshee deployed at a high angle can do. If an opponent goes through an entryway and he’s hit by the slow effects and the distracting sound of the banshee that is deployed above the entryway, chances are that the opponent will panic and he will have to choose whether to find where the banshee is or keep looking out for defenders.
That sense of panic, and even very experienced players feel it, can really mess someone’s aim. Especially if the opponent chooses to find the banshee. Even if he eventually finds it, he will have to shoot it to disable it, and if you arrive before or immediately after he shoots it, you’d most likely win the gun fight because his aim has already been messed up due to aiming high for the banshee. This is why Melusi’s banshees are so great of a distraction.
19. Consulate Deployment Spots
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=609
One of the default push spots is the yellow stairs, or the exit stairs as it's officially described in the game, and you can really halt a push from these stairs with a Melusi banshee. From the top toilets, all you need to do is make some holes at the base of the right wall, and you don’t really need to make them as big as the holes in the video above. Once the holes have been made, put the banshee on the center of the wall, and it should activate when attackers reach the top of the floor.
The great thing about this banshee placement is that you’ll be able to wall bang the attackers from the bathroom, or from the small wall on the CEO closet. You can also use this intel to rotate from the CEO office into the yellow stairs and hit them from behind, all the while the attackers are stuck with the slow effects of the Melusi banshee, especially if the holes on the base of the wall that you’ve made are small, because it could take them a while to realize where they’re being slowed from.
18. Smart Banshee Placements in Villa
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=1017
I talked about this briefly in one of the earliest entries above, but one of the best spots for putting a Melusi banshee on Villa is on the surface of the half-wall of the main stairs. Normally, you wouldn’t be able to reach it, but you can just simply vault from the top of the stairs in order to land on the stairs’ handrails. Once you’ve successfully landed on the hand rails, just turn around, aim high, and you should be able to reach the base of the half-wall.
Once you’ve attached a banshee there, it should get triggered the moment an attacker steps on the base of the stairs, and that will give you valuable intel while you’re anchoring the top of the stairs. Nobody will be able to catch you by surprise from the bottom of the stairs if you place a banshee there. Another spot where you should put a banshee is at the top of the red stairs. That will protect your team’s Mira from getting hit from behind through the zombie door.
17. It Works Through Soft Walls
https://youtu.be/0nNQB6qFP5k?t=72
It’s quite simple, as long as the signal from the Melusi banshee gets through, it will work, and if you want opponents on the other side of an unreinforced wall to be slowed, all you have to do is put small holes on the base of the wall. You can do this by shooting the base of the wall, or by simply attacking it with melee. This is a really great way to gather intel using Melusi’s banshees and know the general location of your enemy.
You can also use this intel in other ways like simply wall banging the opponent on the other side of the wall, or by surprising him with an impact grenade on the soft wall and that will fully expose him. Be mindful though that your banshee will most likely be destroyed if you impact the soft wall, so only do this if you’re certain that you can frag the enemies on the other side of the wall.
16. Her Combo with Castle
https://youtu.be/0nNQB6qFP5k?t=78
To be precise, it’s a combo with her banshee sonic defense and a doorway that has been reinforced by Castle’s armor panel. When Castle puts up his armor panel on a doorway, it will leave a gap on the base of the doorway which is enough for drones to get into or for you to strafe enemies’ feet if they stand in front of the Castle armor panel. Once a Castle armor panel is set up on a doorway, all you have to do is place your banshee behind it.
Care not to put it too closely on the base though because it might be enough for attackers to destroy it with a melee attack from a prone position. So, put it a few inches behind the armor panel, and that banshee will get triggered by any attacker that walks in front of the armor panel. This is a great info to know because you can use that to warn your teammates of the enemies’ location or you can deal with them yourself by using the impact grenade to suddenly destroy the armor panel and fragging the enemies behind.
15. Don’t Sleep on Her Shotgun
https://youtu.be/0nNQB6qFP5k?t=749
The Super 90 shotgun is one of the best shotguns in the game. It doesn’t just pack a heavy punch, it has a pretty good range as well, especially of course if you aim-down-sight before you shoot or attach a laser to it. Melusi is also one of the best operators to equip with a shotgun because she would mostly be dealing with enemies at close range due to the nature of her special gadget. Whenever she has to react to the intel that her special gadget gives her, it will mostly mean a close-range encounter with the enemy, and for close-range encounters, shotguns have the superiority.
14. Cheeky Bank Banshee Placements
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=1163
When the objective spot is on the open area and the café, one of the default push spots for attackers is the printer area. And as the Melusi player, one of the best spots for you to place your banshee is above the entryway from the printer area. Of course, you wouldn’t normally be able to reach that, so what you have to do is to shoot or melee the objects that are on top of the black cart and the long file cabinet. That way, you’ll be able to vault on top of the black cart, and go to the top of the long file cabinet.
Once you reach the end of the long file cabinet, you should be able to reach the top portion of the entryway and it will start slowing down enemies once they reach the brown table spot. And when you’re defending the top floor, you should definitely put up one of your banshees on top of the red stairs and right beside the doorway of the janitor room. Those are two of the default pushing spots in Bank and your team will greatly benefit from the intel that your banshees will provide from those spots.
13. Place a Banshee on a Dropped Defuser
When you kill a defuser carrier, there will be a message on the right side of your screen that will tell you that you’ve killed the defuser carrier. And that presents a wonderful opportunity because when that happens and you’ve taken control of the area where the defuser got dropped, all you need to do is anchor the defuser until the round ends. And one of the best ways to prevent attackers from retrieving the defuser is putting one Melusi banshee near it. That way, the attacker who’s attempting to retrieve it will be greatly slowed down, and even if he shoots the banshee, he will leave himself vulnerable to your gunshots.
12. Use the Suppressor on Her Pistol
Melusi’s handgun, the RG15, is one of the best handguns in the game when it comes to long-range shooting. That is because its default sight, the Romeo1 Reflex, resembles that of a red dot sight, and it gives the user a good sense of accuracy, because the sight itself is wide and there is only one small reticle in the middle. That is why this handgun is a headshot machine and is really great for shooting enemies at medium to long-range.
And when it comes to long distance shooting, equipping your gun with a suppressor is the best, especially if the gun’s recoil isn’t that strong. That’s because it won’t provide enemies with a directional threat indicator telling them where your shots are coming from. It will also greatly dampen the gunshot sounds and hide the weapon’s muzzle flash. So, with this handgun equipped with a suppressor, you’ll be shooting enemies at long range and it’ll take some time before they realize where you’re shooting them from.
11. Cheeky Banshee Deployment Spot
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=1279
While the default push spots when the objective spot is on the office and bedroom in the second-floor of Chalet are the lobby, library hall, and the office balcony, there are also times when opponents will try to push from the solarium area, worse, at the start of the round, an Amaru could rush through there. And that’s why a Melusi banshee in that area will be extremely helpful.
All you have to do is to vault and get on top of the short-wall surrounding the carpet and attach the banshee on the corner that is closest to the window. That will definitely slow down an Amaru that is rushing from the windows, and it will slow down an attacker that is pushing from the stairs. That will notify any defender that is anchoring the bathroom or the bedroom area.
10. Use the Suppressor on Her MP5
Since the devs removed the damage reduction penalty from attaching a suppressor, suppressed guns have become the meta in Siege, and Melusi’s MP5 is one of the perfect guns for equipping a suppressor with. That is because the MP5 has an inherently low recoil, so even without a barrel attachment that provides recoil benefits, its weapon kick will be very manageable to the user.
And without any damage reduction penalty, the suppressor is a really strong attachment, especially for operators like Melusi who can perform the role of a roamer or a flanker after deploying her banshees. That’s because with the suppressor, she will be able to strafe opponents without them immediately knowing where they’re being shot from because it will be hard to hear the gunshots from her and they won’t get a directional threat indicator.
9. Go with the Impacts
https://youtu.be/0nNQB6qFP5k?t=409
There is no question that when playing Melusi, the best secondary gadget to run with is the impact grenades. Even when many of your teammates are already carrying the same secondary gadget, it would still be much more helpful for Melusi to carry the impact grenades instead of the bulletproof camera. That’s because, as discussed many times in many of the entries above, her banshee sonic defense special gadget is already a great tool for gathering intel.
Sure, the bulletproof camera can also act as a supplementary intel gathering tool, but at the moment, having two impact grenades is just a lot more useful for Melusi. She can use it to create rotation holes during the prep phase in order to help her teammates move around and inside the objective spot better, or she can use it to surprise enemies by suddenly bursting out of a soft wall when they’re detected by one of her banshees.
8. Oregon Banshee Deployment Spots
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=915
Oregon is one of the maps where Melusi really excels because there are some spots where her banshee sonic defense is really valuable and can really deny an area to the attackers. But first, let’s start with a spot for intel gathering. When you’re defending the second floor, a lot of times, an attacker will try to flank using the white stairs, so if you put one near its base, no defender will catch you and your team by surprise. The white stair is a popular spot for Nokk, so an early warning device there will be extremely helpful.
The other spot where a Melusi banshee would be extremely helpful is at the blue bunker when you’re defending the basement area. That’s because the default push spot is there and the attackers will typically try to control this area. But with a Melusi banshee deployed on the blue bunker’s left path, the Smoke and Mira on your team will really be able to lock down this area and the attackers will be forced to use another path of attack.
7. Deployments in Kafe Dostoyevsky
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=786
Kake Dostoyevsky is another map where having a Melusi on the team is a really big plus, because her banshee sonic defense would be very useful in gathering intel and it’s almost sure that whenever they’re triggered, they’ll really be slowing down enemies, especially of course if you deploy them on the right places. As shown in the clip above, one of the best spots to place them is right between the entryway from the top red and the cabinet in the new hatch area.
A banshee there will definitely give the attackers pushing from the red stairs area a hard time because if they want to shoot it, they’ll be vulnerable to defenders who are on the cigar or on the entrance of the piano lounge. The banshee that’s been deployed there would also be a hindrance to enemies that would drop down from the new hatch because if they don’t want to trigger it, they would have to push forward, which could make them vulnerable to defenders on heaven and bar.
6. Drone Holes are your Friends
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=685
As discussed in one of the entries above, the slow effects from the banshee sonic defense can actually be felt by attackers even through soft walls as long as you create some holes on the base of the wall. So, of course, drone holes aren’t an exception. BikiniBodhi discovered this, and if you watch his Melusi video, there’s actually a lot of instances and maps where he uses the drone hole to slow down enemies and then surprise them with an impact grenade.
This technique is very useful in places like the freezer in Kafe’s first floor where there’s a drone hole on a path that is commonly used by enemies which is the VIP hall. From inside the freezer area, you can deploy a banshee right in front of the drone hole and leave the right wall unreinforced. That way, if attackers are in the VIP hall and they walk in front of the drone hole, the banshee will be activated and you’ll know exactly where they are. That’s when you impact grenade the unreinforced wall and frag the enemies that are being slowed by the banshee.
5. Always Notify Your Teammates
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=675
Melusi’s banshee sonic defense special gadget is one of the best intel gathering devices in the game because it remains bulletproof until it’s activated, and even when it’s activated, only its top area becomes vulnerable to gunshots. Because of this, unless the attackers destroy the banshee from long-range using a gonne-6 or Ash’s breaching round, it will almost always be activated before getting destroyed, meaning it will gather intel first before it gets destroyed.
Plus, even if it gets destroyed from long range, there’s really no silent weapon that can destroy it. So, even if Ash destroys it with her breaching round, or Zofia does the same with her special gadget, it will still be gathering intel through the sound cues that their weapons made. So, you should never waste the intel that your banshee gathered. Always act on it by issuing a callout to your teammates or acting on it yourself by coming out and engaging the enemies.
4. Hide the Banshees
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=430
Aside from deploying the banshees on awkward angles or on surfaces that are on the opposite side from where you’re anchoring, one of the best ways to deploy them is by hiding them behind objects. A fine example, as shown in the video, is on Coastline’s second-floor aqua area. You can hide one of your banshees behind the white chair that is beside the entrance by destroying the yellow pillow and putting the banshee on the spot where the yellow pillow used to be.
From that spot, the banshee will slow down opponents that are pushing from the entrance and chances are, they won’t see it because it’s hidden behind the white chair. Even if they figure it out and shoot it, they will leave themselves vulnerable to defenders who are anchoring behind the bomb or rotating through the rotation spot. Whenever you’re deploying a banshee, imagine the point of view of the attackers. That way, you’ll know their blind spot and you’ll be more creative when it comes to deploying your banshees.
3. Coastline Deployment Example
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=321
Coastline is one of the smallest maps, if not the smallest, in Siege. And if you’re playing Melusi in Coastline, it is almost impossible for one of your banshees to not get triggered by an attacker. This makes Coastline one of the best maps to play Melusi, and one of the best spots in Coastline for deploying Melusi’s banshee is on the right wall near the base of the cool vibes’ stairs. That way, the defender on top of the stair will be alerted of the enemy presence.
The enemy would also have to aim to his right if he wants to destroy the banshee and that could leave him vulnerable because typically, the defender from the top stair will try to peak and that will be on the enemy’s upper left side. Another important spot is on the right-side of the entrance to the VIP area. That way, if an attacker is coming from the VIP area, he would have to aim to his left if he wants to shoot the banshee, and that would leave him vulnerable to the defenders on the billiards and the vase area.
2. Banshee on Default Plant Spots
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=112
One of the most basic but also the most important part of playing Melusi is protecting the objective spot from attackers who are attempting to plant the defuser. Typically, there are spots that the Siege community calls default plant sites, and they are called that because they’re usually the easiest spots to push and get into, and they offer more cover when planting, so the one who’s planting is typically safer when he’s planting the defuser.
But you can make those default plant sites one of the hardest places to push and plant the defusers in with the use of Melusi’s banshee sonic defense. That’s because the banshee sonic defense has a wide area of effect and will greatly slow enemies that are within it. Naturally, that will make it harder for attackers to push the default plant site, and because of the loud sound that the banshee creates when it's activated by enemy presence, most of the defender team will be alerted and flock to that site.
1. Don’t Put Them in the Same Line of Sight
https://youtu.be/wN-3m51SUJ8?t=274
Melusi is one of the best operators in the game because she allows the player to be more creative and tactical with the game, and to unleash the full potential of her special gadget, being creative and tactical is what you need to be. One of the best ways to deploy her special gadget is by deploying it on angles that will mess up your opponent’s crosshair placement or aim in general. Experienced Siege players use proper crosshair placement in order to score headshots easier.
But if you force them to aim further down, upwards, or to another direction using your banshee sonic defense, then their aim will be messed up, and if you engage them while their aim is messed up from shooting one of your banshees, chances are you’ll get an easy kill. And that is why you shouldn’t deploy your banshees where they’ll be on the same line of sight as the common angles that defenders hold. Always make it harder for the enemies to aim.
Attention operator, please be advised. There is a new directive from Six. Read up on these related articles, and prepare for deployment:
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