Some LG Notes on Aiming at CFO

[Loosy Goosy]

Here are some notes I've taken regarding aiming at the CFO. I invite everyone
to add their input on aiming as well, and hope it'll provide a full spectrum of
experiences in dealing with the the CFO.

If cranework depended solely on timing and position, it would be a very
difficult fight. So, it becomes obvious very quickly that you have to create
your own opportunities to successfully grab, aim and throw items at the CFO.

For reference, I refer to the technique of neutralizing the magnet's swing
motion as countering. Its done by moving the crane right when the magnet
swings right, and left when the magnet swings left.

To aim for items:
Use the crane and magnet's shadow on the floor. You'll quickly notice that
when you add forward swing, the crane's range is quite large.

To aim at the CFO:
After you grab an item, counter its swing motion while you retract the crane
back toward you. You'll be countering constantly. Once you're retracted all
the way, look toward the ceiling to see the actual crane's position. Point
the crane arm directly at the CFO and counter while extending toward him.
Keep glancing at the ceiling while extending. Once the crane is nearly fully
extended, stop the forward motion and release about 1/3 of a second later.
The timing for releasing is very similar to tossing a softball underhand style. If
you release too late you'll go over his head. It's almost better in general to
aim for his midsection, which will give you a margin of error.

Have fun!

If folks get any use out of this, maybe the mods would be kind enough to move it to the
Tips forum after CashHQ gets released. If I've repeated anyone else's methods or missed
an existing thread, I apologize in advance. No harm was intended.

[BigWayne]

On aiming for items....

It is very common to have trouble getting the stomped goons, especially at the start as many very efficient stompers will get them before they have a chance to wander away from the CFO.

Finally, I figured out that if you do the in-out motion of the crane while you have it angled towards the door, you can reach them right there where they come out. When I am waiting for a goon to be stomped, I will start the in-out motion aimed at that spot, so I have the reach needed as soon as the goon is stomped. My teamates have remarked on how strange it is to have the goon disappear as soon as they stomp it.

Another tip I have for crane operators. When you have time, position your safes to have them ready when needed. 1st thing I do is to take the safe that is on the side where goons will come out and move it so it is between me and the CFO. This does two things....1st it clears the safe away from the area where I am most likely to be getting goon ammo from so I don't accidentally kill my ammo with a safe or delay my pickup by getting the safe when I want a goon. 2nd - If I am able to stun the CFO with a goon, I have a safe there in front of me that I can get and deliver quickly to really hurt him with.

[Loosy Goosy]

Good points Wayne.

Do the goon's rays penetrate the safes? How cool would that be, building a
wall of protection out of the safes. Then they'd also be readily available
when the CFO is stunned. I'll have to look at that closer next time. That
would be awesome hehe.

You could configure it like this (s=safes):

...........xxCFOxx...........
..............xxx...............
.................................
.................................
..............sss...............
.........sss.sss.sss.........
.........sss......sss.........
.............YOU..............

[WizardHawk]

The safes do not block the light from reaching you, but if placed far enough away it does help deflect their path. When they run into a safe they change directions and can really help slow down the advance of clusters/swarms of goons. Too many safes can make it hard for you to escape if a cluster traps you. I've seen a few high toons go sad from such a situation.

For me, I keep at least one in front of me about half way between me and the CFO but no more than 2. If I find I have more than 3 safes I'll toss them to a neighboring zone if I can to make sure everyone has at least one.

[P. Cheezypuff]

Originally Posted by BigWayne

On aiming for items....

It is very common to have trouble getting the stomped goons, especially at the start as many very efficient stompers will get them before they have a chance to wander away from the CFO.

Finally, I figured out that if you do the in-out motion of the crane while you have it angled towards the door, you can reach them right there where they come out. When I am waiting for a goon to be stomped, I will start the in-out motion aimed at that spot, so I have the reach needed as soon as the goon is stomped. My teamates have remarked on how strange it is to have the goon disappear as soon as they stomp it.

Another tip I have for crane operators. When you have time, position your safes to have them ready when needed. 1st thing I do is to take the safe that is on the side where goons will come out and move it so it is between me and the CFO. This does two things....1st it clears the safe away from the area where I am most likely to be getting goon ammo from so I don't accidentally kill my ammo with a safe or delay my pickup by getting the safe when I want a goon. 2nd - If I am able to stun the CFO with a goon, I have a safe there in front of me that I can get and deliver quickly to really hurt him with.

Hey Big guy, where you been hiding?

Last I checked you can also push the stunned goons closer to the crane operators. Although not sure how efficient moving them really is.

[BigWayne]

Originally Posted by Loosy Goosy

Do the goon's rays penetrate the safes? How cool would that be, building a
wall of protection out of the safes. Then they'd also be readily available
when the CFO is stunned. I'll have to look at that closer next time. That
would be awesome hehe.

I tried that early on when it was common to be left as the last toon. I tried to move all the safes to one crane and make a wall. The light does shine "under" the safe, but the fact the safe keeps them at some distance helps. The real problem is that the "physics" of the game do not seem to assign any different weights to objects so the goons, as well as toons BTW, can push the safes around. So even though you can build a wall, it won't last without a lot of maintenance.

[kyga42066]

I am asking about strategies in the CFO battle, but I am finding what appears to be lag glitches during the battle. Below is a problem I reported to Toontown.

There are a few things I am wondering about. I have just rebooted my computer and went into the CFO battle. Having noticed that there is a time lag in selecting gags in the gag shop, I became aware that I could not release the goonie for a hit on the CFO's head. I timed my release for the upswing to compensate, and behold!, the goonie was still attached when the magnet came to bottom of its arc of swinging down and away from him. I could never compensate enough for proper swing. I have had perfect movement of the magnet in several battles, so this appears to be a lag glitch or something!

Secondly, I noticed a safe leaving the floor on its own (no magnet attracting it) and it landed on the CFO's head. Is this normal as a similarity of a cog coming out of lure in a cog battle? That is, he is coming out of 'lure' and is on the move of making attacks again.

[BigWayne]

Originally Posted by kyga42066

Secondly, I noticed a safe leaving the floor on its own (no magnet attracting it) and it landed on the CFO's head.

Maybe thrown by an invisible toon on a crane? I think you have really bad lag. I would compare it to when the timer freezes at 2 seconds in a cog battle round and then all of a sudden you see cogs spinning and blowing up.

[Lady Freckles]

This doesn't directly relate to 'hitting' the CFO, but is something I noticed happening a lot in battles yesterday and today....

If you are in with a good team who really know how to smack the CFO with the safes at the right time, hardly any goons will come out. We had a couple of runs earlier that went by so quickly that the goons didn't have a chance to do much damage to anyone. When I mentioned this to the others there, they said they had noticed it too, and that when he is 'stunned' he isn't releasing goons or not many anyway. I'm not certain whether it is None or Just a Few, so if someone can clarify that, it would be great.

Without the onslaught of masses of goons, the stompers can keep the goons under control and there is less damage to all toons. In one battle there were so few goons, that a couple of us were standing outside the door trying to call them out...we wanted something to stomp!

[LuckyToon2004]

I'm beginning to think I may not have the hand-eye coordination to be a good crane operator, so I am just going to have to perfect my goon stomping. So far I have had the good fortune to run with excellent operators. I mean my two battles to date were done in a matter of minutes! That's part of what I like about the CFO -- everyone can work to their strengths.

Lucky (open)/Rosie Rockentoon (test)

[Candy Twinkletoes]

To add to all the good tips so far (nicely done Mr Goose)

Safes Leaving the Floor - its not lag,
a safe close to the CFO will be grabbed by him for use as a helmet
try to avoid leaving safes too close to the CFO.

When the CFO is sitting down watching the birds circle his head he is stunned, you can then hit him with a safe,
be carefull, if he recovers before your safe hits he will take it as a helmet.
If another team member has a goon on it's way to the CFO try and time your swing so that you can release the safe as soon as the CFO is stunned.

The CFO when stunned releases fewer goons.


Aiming the crane
in the image below you will note i have enlarged one area,
when the rope on your crane is in direct line with the corner (enlarged in green highlighting)
then you are in line for a direct hit,
of course the CFO may duck, dodge or get stuuned and your goon or safe may miss him altogether,
but that corner is your aiming point.

You can with practice hit him with a sideways/forwards swing - if in a tight spot it can save your neck.

The wall behind the crane operator is solid, you can retract the crane and the magnet will swing into the wall behind you and it will lose momentum.
Handy when you want to change the angle of "swing" quickly.

[Candy Twinkletoes]

please do NOT try to make a "fort" using the safes,

the lightbeams can penetrate the safes and you leave nothing for your team mates to throw at the CFO when he grabs a "safety helmet"

[Loosy Goosy]

Originally Posted by Candy Twinkletoes

please do NOT try to make a "fort" using the safes,

the lightbeams can penetrate the safes and you leave nothing for your team mates to throw at the CFO when he grabs a "safety helmet"

On a related note, any time someone knocks the helmet off the CFO and you
have a safe on your Magnet, when you release it to grab a goonie, release as it
swings toward you (shooting backward). It'll settle comfortably nearby your
crane for the next time you need it. A good portion of the crane operator's
battle is in retrieving safes, so it helps to try and grab safes on the way back
from your goonie/safe tosses.

[WizardHawk]

Am I the last to notice that you CAN damage the CFO with a live goon? Not sure why I thought it had to be stunned, but if you do it just right you can toss a live one at him and do some damage to him with it.

I've done this many times now in the last few days and it works like a charm. The best use for how I do it is when you are short on stompers.

Aim your crane just past his door to the point where the goons first come out and pause. With the crane all the way in the back position, wait for a goon to come out. In one motion, move the crane forward and as soon as you get the live one, move right (or left depending on what side you are on) and release within a second or two. The timing of the turn and release are everything but easy to master.

[BigWayne]

Originally Posted by WizardHawk

Am I the last to notice that you CAN damage the CFO with a live goon?

No. I will have to try this tonight. Never thought to do it. Thanks for the tip.

Friend of mine says the goons come out faster today with the update, but I have not been on.