Defense, why is it important?

[Anathema-]

Defense, why is it important?

Well, I would think this part is self explainitory, but defense is needed so people don't capture your artifacts. Letting the other team capture all the artifacts makes you lose the game, so defense is obviously important.


But defense is boring and I'll be behind in points!

Well, not that it's the objective of the game, you can get tons of points on defense. Killing people with artifacts will net you quite a few points, and with a proper set up it's quite easy to net these kills. If nothing happens for quite a while then you can feel free to venture out to sate your bloodthirst, but don't hesitate to go back on defense when your artifacts disappear.

There are also different stages of defense, you don't always have to be sitting at the artifact node to defend.

Just remember that XMP is not like any other team based game you played before. You can do quite well (even lead the board) just mounting an effective and pervasive defense. Blowing up offending vehicles, artifact carriers, and making sure the outskirts of your base are locked down by keeping deploy points and nearby energy hacked will get you lots of points and help you win the game.


So what are these 'stages of defense' you were talking about?

Well, one is left almost exclusively to the ranger, and I'll just call it 'forward defense'. The objective here is to prevent people from ever entering your base. Of course this will be easier on some maps then others (and on a map like Sirroco there is no real 'base'). The gunner and the tech can be on forward defense but they have to be outside of the base and more vulnerable to attack then rangers would be. Also this wastes their talents as interior defense.

The next one is quite obviously interior defense. Rangers should really try to stay out of the inside of the bases (of maps that have them). Their slow fire hitscan weapons are much harder to defend with indoors and really wastes them as forward defenders (though of course when someone has an artifact all bets are off). Techs are really best for this, having the CAR and gas for long range hallway battles and the shotty for when things get close. Not that the gunner wouldn't do well here but in this situation I would go with the tech because of his versatility (and because the gunner is best at node defense).

Node defense is best taken by the gunner because a) they have mines which need to be replaced often (as opposed to turrets and walls which don't need as fast of a replacement) and b) They can kill the easiest and quickest in a tight space. Now I know what you're thinking .. the sniper rifle does the best damage. Well, that's true, however having two people jump through your artifact node is going to be a nightmare trying to kill them before they can get out when it's a minimum of 2 shots per person. A rocket or flamethrower or grenade (either) from the gunner is best in this situation.

(( Of note in this section: Don't feel confined into anything I list. You can really do anything you like with any class, I'm just giving advice on what I feel would be the best way to go about it ))



Seems to make sense, but now that I've chosen what defensive position I want to be in, where do I go from there?

Forward Defense:

Well in forward defense you're not going to be putting down any deployables much (and if only rangers are on forward defense then none at all). The area is too wide open for turrets and mines to be terribly effective, espically since on forward defense you're often too busy shooting to be placing deployables. Your number one goal in forward defense is keep people out of your base. Your number two goal as forward defense is shoot anyone coming out with an artifact .. and if you see someone running off with one of your artifacts then he becomes your priority.

Do whatever you can to keep people out of your base. Make sure all the doors nearby you remain on your team. Many a game I have seen people neglect these doors on all maps and the team suffers for it. With a full and proper defense you should be able to let anyone who gets past your defenses escape, and the defenders inside would be able to take care of them in their weakened state.

Your final duty as a forward defender is to keep an eye out for your offensive teammates (the ones on offense, not the ones that forgot to shower today) heading back with an artifact. They may have enemies following him that need killing, and regardless you should stick tight to him on his way inside just in case enemies come out of the woodwork. Also this is a backup in case the carrier dies and you have to pick the artifact up (though proper etiquette says that if you can, revive him and let him take home the prize).

Also, if you're on forward defense and not a ranger hanging back at the base, keep all deploy points and energy sources that are right next to your base hacked to your side. This is vital because it will prevent enemies from spawning too fast for you to handle.

Interior Defense:

Your defense is probably going to be the one that changes most from map to map. Each map is unique in this setup, as opposed to just sitting near the edge of the base and killing or sitting at the node and killing .. because each base interior (if there is any, if not just ignore this section) is different.

Control is the key. The hallways should be locked down with force walls and/or turrets (if you're not a tech I suggest going tech to set up defenses like this, then going back) .. and when I say locked down I mean arranged in a way that the force walls guide them into a path where they're easily killed by the turrets. This will help your defense a lot .. just remember that turrets and walls and mines by themselves are not a defense, they're only defense assistants.

You should be making sure all of the interior doors remain on your side. You'll have the easiest access to all of them, so make sure they're all the right color. (This doesn't mean you other defenders should be slacking!).

Make sure not to put yourself too wide open and keep appraised of where all the regeneration nodes are, you're going to be needing them the most. If your forward defenders are doing their jobs you shouldn't be getting big groups of people coming in at once, but a sparse offensive that you should be able to either kill or severely cripple any invading force. Also, don't be afraid to float between node defense or forward defense if they need help, you're in the only position to back up both of them.

Node Defense:

Sit and wait is the gameplan here. This one is for the patient people who like to score some easy kills. With a properly set up defense any enemy coming through should be very low on health and with little to no backup. Not to mention they must chute through a small area to get an artifact, making them pratically sitting ducks.

Mining the artifact node is not all that bad, but make sure you tell people over voice chat that there is a mine there. If you see someone coming in with an artifact (or get a prior warning) then just blow the mine up yourself. Setting up force walls is good, and I usually suggest zig-zagging them through the node instead of a box around the outside. Turrets are best either pointed from a long distance away directly at the node, or near the node pointing out. Or both, if you can spare the energy.

You can certainly venture out into the halls for a little more action, but remember that the node is where your focus should be. If it needs to be resupplied then resupply it. If you have constant attackers then I would suggest sitting in the artifact node room as much as possible.

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In conclusion .. remember that these are only suggestions for defense. Feel free to modify them to best suit your tastes. In XMP the best thing for you to be and do is much like what the best type of knife is .. the one that feels most comfortable for you.

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Anything past this for defensive guides would be map specific, and I would like to compile my offense guide before I do that. Of course anyone can feel free to add on anything they'd like to. I wrote this at work so no doubt there are things I'm missing.

 

[schizophrenia]

Playing as ranger defense is free points.

 

[BulletProof]

nice post

 

[Pawnbroker]

But defense is boring and I'll be behind in points!

Great post!

People don't realize the multipliers that rack up on defense. Protecting the node, killing arti carrier, returning arti all add up to big points. Most of my big point games (10000+) were spent entirely on d.

Its a common misconception that the Ranger is no good on d too. Its great fun sniping escaping arti carriers or blowing up that jugg/raptor with the shock lance.

Don't forget the juggernaut makes a great defensive weapon. Half the time people just let them sit there and rust. I usually jump in, park it in a good spot and blow the heck out of incoming arti runners.

 

[TossMonkey]

You could categorise me as playing forward defense with a ranger. Only problem is that I seem to do all the work when I play.

 

[[LNS]ICovetYourChild]

I usually (when i play defence) play Inside defence... im always the Tech... In my opinion he is the best for that... in normal and low grav...

 

[Bang Yr Head]

Damn good stuff This should definitely help out anyone new to the game.

 

[TherMight]

Respectfully, If you end up doing all the work in the game then you need to consider that some of your work is not being done. If you know the game that well you should be coordinating other positions. Or at least recognizing what the highest priority is.

For example, if the "left side generator" has been the opponent's color for a while, while you're singlehandedly covering the right side one and nobody else seems to be making any attempt on it... organize a coup to break their defenses.

There are still *many* players who don't even know how to read the radar so you can remind some of them to 'go after any red generator and deploy that are near'.

Sometimes I think the very best players end up on defense instead of grabbing artifacts when they should be switching roles for the win. It's a lot easier too drone over to a generator and take it with numbers than it is to finesse your way through the whole map and enemy defenses for an artifact. Sorry, this is getting into offense.

Anyway enough of a tangent there. The point is, an organized team has a much better chance. Even if you pick one guy who seems good on offense and say 'Dude, you and me let's take a couple artifacts. meet me at Raptor deploy' and you guys just keep going after the artifact you're often going to get a lot done regardless of generators flipping back and forth to different colors. ANd I notice when I've got an artifact and the node is offline, something happens really quickly when my team puts two and two together

TherMight

 

[KingOfHearts]

I play... MEAT SHIELD DEFENSE!

Seriously.

CHAAAARGE!
*splat*
*respawn*
CHAAAARGE!
*splat*
*respawn*
*repeat*

If you do it right, you can keep several people occupied / held off on your own or with one other teammate. Underground access on SunsetBeach, for instance.

 

[TossMonkey]

King, It's a good tactic that I myself have used too. It's good to distract the oppositions defense while one of your guys sneaks into the node room. But I tend to come out alive.

 

[fireball]

Yeah King, that's very fun, esp. with concussion grenades and land mines I tend to be rather useless on defense, so I spend most of my games hacking the energy sources that my team doesn't know exist (first person to find all four energy sources after me on xmp-aftermath gets a cookie
If I'm a tech, I'll often drop turrets that I know will get killed, but just to keep the enemy distracted. Same with gunner and mines (though I did nail two guys on the upper entrance to Alcazar with one land mine.. that was one dumb ranger)

 

[Anathema-]

Yes if you can avoid dying then you will defend better

 

[Saito]

If I'm a tech, I'll often drop turrets that I know will get killed

I sense a deploy spammer amongst us

 

[W0RF]

Technically I expect ALL of my deploys to get killed, so when I do placement I try to maximize their effectiveness WHILE they're alive, things like crossfire, or maybe having an rocket somewhere that it has time to track and blast while the ranger is trying to shock down my autos. I place my walls in places where it will slow down the offense long enough for me to come and blast them. However (take notes), I don't think that's an excuse to cover the art node in multiple concentric boxes of forcewalls. That's indescribably irritating.

This is an attitude I think more people need to adopt. They'll go to a critical area, drop 5 turrets and walk off thinking it's an impenetrable fortress. When it gets overrun, the feeling seems to be that there weren't ENOUGH turrets, so they go back and drop 10. When those die, they drop 20. Turrets aren't people. They don't move. They don't dodge. They don't switch weapons. If you think an area needs to be held, you need to hold it. Yourself. Let the turrets help you, but defend the things worth defending, don't drop and walk.

What's funny is watching rangers drop smoke nades and try to use the cover to sneak in, blow up turrets and walls, grab the arti and leave, particularly when they drop them in the room but not on the node (they have to see, after all). Gee, where could he possibly be going? So I got to the node, wait for the red armor to show up and shotgun him in the face... or the back

You could categorise me as playing forward defense with a ranger. Only problem is that I seem to do all the work when I play.

That's impressive. Forward defense ranger who defends the artis, caps for his team, hacks gens and deploy points... you must be tired.

 

[fireball]

I sense a deploy spammer amongst us

No, I mean they're going to die in about 5 seconds. If by some miracle I and the turrets live, I pick them up again to avoid draining power uselessly.

 

[Anathema-]

Four force walls zig-zagging through the artifact node does the exact same job that huge boxes of force walls around all sides do.

 

[Saito]

Four force walls zig-zagging through the artifact node does the exact same job that huge boxes of force walls around all sides do.

one wonders if people realize that you can just jump over force walls, unless it zigs through the node you can just leap it and be off.

 

[W0RF]

depends on how you place it. The collision on the mesh allows for some pretty hairy problems trying to get into / out of the node... especially if I have rox trained on it

 

[Anathema-]

You can set the force walls up far enough so that you can't just leap through .. though I've done it before myself

The purpose of the force walls is not to prevent someone from getting your artifact; it's to slow them down enough so that you can prevent them from getting your artifact. The zig-zag is the superior shape in this case.

 

[Lizard Of Oz]

This is generally how I block the node. It can't be jumped over, and generally takes more than one EMP shot to take down.