There’s a lot of stuff in Versus mode that isn't immediately obvious for new players. This guide will attempt to get more of that info out for players in the world.

The big thing is that Versus mode is about attrition. You aren’t going to take down a Survivor team with a single Gooper or even a single attack. The name of the game is forcing them to use more resources than they’re finding, whether that’s health, grenades, ammunition or just patience.

Scoring (or How You Win)
Scoring is based on the maximum progress each player makes through the map + the length of time you made it into each event + a survival bonus for each survivor.

We’re working on several different ways for teams that are behind to catch up, and will let folks on the Discord know when we have stuff to test.

Practice Mode
You can practice the different Aliens without playing in online games. Create a Lobby and set it to private with AI Survivors on and AI Aliens off. If you set the Respawn timer to None, you’ll be in a game where you can practice the alien abilities with no respawn timer. In a private Versus game that only has one player, the human player will only play the Alien team. The game will automatically skip the Survivor turn if Alien AI is turned off.

General Alien Strategy

• The alien team generally works better together. A grabber on its own can do a small amount of damage with a successful grab. But a successful grab followed by a gooper disabling the person who came to rescue their comrade from the grabber can incapacitate half the Survivor team.
  
• Use the Horde. Gooping a Survivor who is separated from their team is great, but stopping them in a giant patch of flaming goo where the Horde can pummel them is even better.
  
• Downed players are a huge opportunity for the alien team. Target the Survivors coming to rescue them.
  
• Use the Survivor health information provided on the Mission menu (Tab on keyboard or View on gamepads) to pick your target. It’s almost always a good idea to go after the Survivor with the least health to force the other team to consume their healing items.
  
• Coordinated attacks on the Survivors from the front and the rear at the same time can be devastating. The more spread out you can make the Survivors, the more likely you’ll be able to incapacitate one for massive damage
  
• Use your time as a ghost to scout the level. Look for commons, upcoming Matter Compilers, and other loot that the Survivors will want to grab. If you play the Survivors second, you can even use your time as a ghost to scout the level for loot that will be useful when you're a Survivor.

Gooper
The Gooper is a workhorse for the alien team. It can slow their progress, do direct damage, pick off a straggler, and fill an area denial role. Additionally, the Goo produced by the Gooper is flammable and can be ignited by Survivors and environmental fire.

• Primary Attack - This is a long-range single-shot goo ball that’s capable of incapacitating a single Survivor on a direct hit or creating a blast of goo that slows the Survivors who need to traverse it. The game automatically adjusts the angle of attack for the Gooper’s shot so that it will land at your cursor. This allows you to lead moving targets reliably, as well as shoot over some cover.
  
• Secondary Attack - The Gooper’s secondary attack is a massive area effect goo detonation. It kills the Gooper in the process, but it also creates a ridiculous amount of goo (slowing the Survivors), knocking them back (or over edges, if they’re close), and doing massive damage if paired with a nearby fire source. A well-timed Gooper Happy Dance can push groups that are close to collapse over the edge. If you start a Happy Dance and want to cancel it, you can hit the same button a second time to disarm it.

Grabber
The Grabber is a single-target incapacitator designed to make life hell for people who straggle behind or run ahead. Once the Survivor is grabbed, they take massive damage from the Grabber’s stabby tentacle arms and any horde that’s around. Before you spawn, you should look for survivors who are running ahead or lagging behind and position yourself to punish them for their mistakes.

• Primary Attack - Grabbing an enemy from across a room and bringing them back, pulling them over and edge, or stopping them from healing or reviving a teammate can turn the tide of a battle. The Grabber’s grab attack can be blocked by a well-timed pulse from a Survivor or obstacles in between the player and the target, including crates, rubble, and even furniture. Attacking from above is a strong strategy, and if you’re standing close enough to a ledge, you can even pull a player off a big drop.
  
• Secondary Attack - Sometimes the only thing a grabber can do is get in there and start swiping. The secondary attack does decent damage, but should be a last resort. It’s much better to hit and fade with the Grabber’s primary attack than to resort to punching.

Spawner
A well-played Spawner can do more damage than any other Alien class, but managing the Spawners turrets requires a fair amount of finesse. Picking the right place and time to spawn turrets is everything for the Spawner. The most effective strategy is to get them to arrive while the Survivors are dealing with other threats that they may perceive as more important. Whether it’s a Flasher horde, a Brute, or just piling on to a Gooper or Grabber attack, teamwork is essential for the Spawner.

• Primary Attack - The Spawner can lay eggs when out of sight from, but still close to the Survivors. Spawning ahead of the Survivors can allow you to create a ton of turrets behind a closed door, or you can trail behind the Survivors and constantly harry them from the rear. To spawn eggs, you need to be within range of the human team and looking directly at Survivor. When your cursor turns red, you’ll be able to drop a batch of three eggs, which will immediately aggro the nearest human player they can reach. (If they can’t reach a human player, they’ll attack you until a human becomes available. Don’t worry, they don’t do any damage. )
  
• Secondary Attack - We don’t currently have a secondary attack for the Spawner in the game. We have some ideas that we’re testing, but we’d love to hear your suggestions on our Discord[discord.gg].

Brute
The Brute represents such a massive amount of danger to the Survivors that most teams will drop anything they’re doing and focus fire on you the moment they see you. While a Brute is relatively robust against a single Survivor, it will last just a few seconds against a concentrated attack from all four humans. The basic strategy is to get into the fight using the Brute’s big leap, then do some damage with its swipe attack before you’re killed, but smart Brutes can devastate a human player who is running ahead or lagging behind.

• Primary Attack - The primary attack is a horizontal charging leap that does a massive amount of knockback along its path and impact damage over a large area at the point of impact. The knockback itself doesn’t do damage, but if an affected player hits a wall or falls over the edge, they’ll take damage from it. There’s a brief windup for this attack, but you can trigger it while you’re in the air or even in an elevator, so the leap happens at precisely the right moment. At this time, the primary attack doesn’t do as much damage below the player, so you want to primarily attack targets at the same level as you. You can also visualize your landing point by pressing and holding the attack button. You’ll begin the windup when you release the attack button. There's also a slight amount of air control during the leap.
  
• Secondary Attack - The Brute’s secondary attack is a close range, fast swipe. It does damage plus knockback, so you can use it to push a Survivor over the edge for massive damage or into a corner where you can pummel them.

Flasher
The Flasher gives players control over a lot of battlefield chaos. It’s Flashing effect starts the moment it spawns, and its secondary attack gives it powerful control over the common alien hordes. It’s important to remember that when you’re the Flasher, the Survivors will all be disoriented by your bright light. You can get in close, provide cover for your teammates, do some damage, and get back out.

• Primary Attack - A powerful single target punch. Riding in with a large horde, getting a few shots in, and then ducking back out is a powerful strategy.
  
• Secondary Attack - The Flasher’s secondary attack summons nearby common to you. They’ll follow you until you release secondary fire, at which point they’ll target the nearest Survivor. Releasing the alien horde with a batch of turrets or waiting at a tight choke point with a massive number of aliens can cause real problems for the Survivors. When you’re choosing a spot to spawn with the Flasher, make sure you have plenty of common around. The Flasher is much less effective without a horde around.

• Never stop moving, backtracking is almost always a mistake. Since scoring is based on your forward progress, you want to be pushing foward all the time.
  
• Check your corners - if you’ve played a bunch of Campaign mode, you’ve likely picked up bad habits. The AI is much more predictable than players are. You need to check everywhere to avoid getting surprised.
  
• When there’s a brute on the field, if all players focus fire on it, the Brute will go down fast.
  
• You can parry goo balls, grabs, and Spawner turret shots with the Pulse.
  
• There are two levels of Pulse: the half pulse only affects aliens and projectiles in front of you, but a full charge will reflect items in a 360 degree arc
  
• Parrying spawner shots will bounce the shots back to the turrets, killing them
  
• Fire is really useful for killing Goopers. Because they leave a trail of goo everywhere they go, if you ignite the trail, it will eventually reach the Gooper.