Is it the total amount of XP you've earned? Is it your accuracy or proficiency with a specific weapon or ability? Is it the amount of hours you've put in? The answer...none of the above.


What makes you "good" at Brink is the impact you have on the battle. That is the defining trait that warriors are heralded by. It's there feats in battle, not statistics. The stats are nice, and a good way to gauge how you're performing, but numbers mean nothing when face with a situation that requires you to actual think rather then go guns blazing. Here's a scenario to demonstrate;

Three days ago I was reluctantly playing as Resistance on Refuel (I say reluctantly because I'm a Security player 100%, but my friends wanted to be Resistance). We're at the hack objective, 7 users on Security, 8 on Resistance. Naturally, the 7 other dug in at the warehouse controls, and 3 of them were rank 5 Heavy Engineers. So they had Gatling Turrets, mines and Pyro mines all over the place. Not even a mouse could get in without being ripped to shreds, and initially...that's what they kept doing. Every time we tried to advance, we'd get cut down at the stairs (both sets). So me being the expert Operative I am, what do I do? I go and hunt down the lone Bot on their side, kill him 'em, hack 'em and disguise as him. Needless to say, the 7 guys on Security weren't paying me any mind AT ALL. My only worry was to make sure I stayed out of the bots line of site, and I could maintain my disguise for as long as needed. So what do I do? I drop down from over where the MG nest is on top of the controls, and acting like a Bot, slip right in behind three of the guys who were camping the controls. My timing needed to be pinpoint, because I needed to wipe all three out for my plan to work...and my primary Op is a light. So I wait for them all to position themselves in an optimal manner, then I strike. I stab the guy closets to me with my bayonet, then incap him with a few bullets while not killing him on the ground. The other two had no idea what even happened, because they were both still facing away from me. Now these two were both heavies, so I reloaded (using a drum barrel) then opened up the whole clip to take both of them down, again, not finishing either off. I proceeded to then hack the two turrets and EMP the mines blocking the stairs.

Meanwhile mind you, all three of them never respawned. They were still laying their incap'd. More then likely hoping a medic would reach them. By this time, 3 of my team mates join me, and begin setting up defenses and I start the hack. Because these three guys decided not to respawn, their team was down three men for well over a minute, which is a LONG time when defending an objective. Their mistake was not realizing that. And my triumph was the fact that because I enacted a carefully laid plan and executed it flawlessly, my team reaped the benefits. THAT'S being good at Brink. What I did won't show up on the stats site. But it did cause us to take the objective, when they were clearly beating us back. Another tactic I've employed was as a solider defending SecTow's conduit. The 1st initial wave pretty much dictates if the conduit is destroyed or protected. I get to the high ground at the far right of the conduit (closest to the 1st spawn), and wait for the group of attackers to get in striking distance. There were 5 of them all bunched up. Knowing I was out manned, I used stealth to my advantage. I drop down the ledge slow enough not to be noticed by them, as they were focused on the 3 guys on the ground. I lead a Molotov into the crowd and knock them all down, and THEN follow that up with a heavy nade from my under barrel nade launcher. Needless to say, none of them got up. We finished them all off, then set up defenses, and held them at the conduit the who match. Again, forward thinking where no one else on either side was turned the tides of the battle.

I've done this in a number of matches. And it's gained me a rep among the PS3 community as being an extreme threat. And I take that honor proudly when people see my name and either attack me aggressively knowing that taking me SPECIFICALLY out of the fight means them having an easier chance at an objective, or running for the hills because they know I'm capable of doing some insane things to beat people. When your peers respect your ability as a tactician, and actually follow your plans as if you're really a superior officer, that's the ultimate show that you've "got it" as far as Brink goes. In summary, being good at Brink IMO has nothing to do with your numbers. It has on the other hand, everything to do with what impact you have in tipping the scales of the fight to your teams favor. Yes, it's a team game, but the guys who can excel and doing things individually for the good of the team, WITHOUT sacrificing the team's position are the skilled players.

team work leading to your team wining, if you dont work together and lose then your score or kills dont matter, your just the best of the losers

Another great post!

I've found that executing similar moves (affectionally dubbed "Shake and Bake) with my Soldier friend makes enough chaos to get an advantage for my team. People love numbers, we use standardize testing, the value of our being is often determined by our bank accounts, jobs often score us on a rating system. However all of these things, including the stat website for BRINK, fail in comparison to our human side of things. We may be able to put a number on something, but never in a thousand years be able to put a number on an act so human as the one you described.

Being good at Brink is just like being good at any professional sport... if the other team has to game-plan for you specifically, it's a decent sign that you're good at Brink.

And yes, Oz, when you're on the other team, I game-plan for YOU specifically.

i do this alot too, i'll be a heavy and just be a massive distraction/meat shield while my team gets to where they need to be and completes the objective, i might not be the top of my team doing this (i do occasionally get most kills) but we won, and thats what matters

IMO what determines a great player is how he plays. If he favors the team instead of himself, does objectives actively and thinks strategically.

The ability to Risk it all to help your teamates out.

There is no real gun skill in Brink, but skill lies in how you read a chaotic situation and make decisions. In the middle of battle you are presented with a lot of options... Kill someone still standing, finish off the objective class, finish off the medic, revive someone, complete an objective (such a hack/defuse a few seconds)... meanwhile having to get away from grenades and downed operatives...keeping an eye out for downfire. A good player is basically one who can read a situation where a lot is going on and know what the best action is and how to navigate the chaos.

For the record, as I think a couple people didn't exactly catch the point of my post, what I stated as the telling factor of being "good" is the ability to improvise, adapt and overcome any situation, offensive or defensive, without putting your team mates at risk. It's not being a "lone wolf" when you're not only doing it yo benefit the team, but letting your team (if they are human) know of your plan so that they can adapt their strategy to facilitate your plan.

What makes you good at Brink? Doing whatever it takes to complete the objective, even if it means sacrificing yourself.... the statistics are a nice bonus too. In matches however, I have led my team to victory even when all odds were pointed at Resistance, my most recent was Founders Tower: We had just accessed the elevator and were on our way to the demolition objective, but the Resistance had already set up their defences and were cutting down my team mates instantly, me and my friends (In an Xbox live party) who were made up of a Soldier, Engineer, and Medic flanked the enemy with the side vent, and before they knew it their turrets had disabled or destroyed, the Resistance members turned their attention away from the rest of the team to us, we held out for a while before back-up came and wiped them out I planted the HE charge and blew the door, not long after we won. This is just one of many strategic moves I've made against the enemy, on Xbox LIVE we're now known as the 'Security Kill Team'.

I'm surprised obvious strategy is so well respected.

I said 'recent', this literally happened a couple of hours ago.

I think the only time I've done anything even close to that level of awesome was simply being stupidly efficient, When I can tell that my teammates are going to get an objective, I'm already at the next one, with changed class if I have time (took me a while to get that sixth sense about impending victory). Refuel again, once the first drop off is made 6/10 times the hackbox is started up right away by yours truely and even if I don't succeed, having that 40% up before anyone even gets there is something I take pride in.

I take advantage of the assumption that not many are as OCD as I am. On some matches as the newly DLC'd Engineer, I've decided to set up Turrets and Mines for the next Objective just in case anyone does what I do in matches. Knowing that they'd either go off if the opposing team gets there first OR them having to be a man down just to disarm/shoot them all. On smaller maps I've gone to the effort to Landmine Command posts as well knowing that at some point, one player will feel the need to take one.

To the point, OP I concur. Stats are just numbers and if your not exaggerating your Awesomeness you are truely a valued teammate and a feared enemy.

Oh I have far more interesting stories of epic awesomeness and sheer luck I've done, and people here on this forum such as Amish, VG_Junky and other have witnessed, as we all play together regularly. I think we might actually need a separate thread for people to post their harrowing or skin of their teeth moments in.