Tournament Map Tactics

Our Tournament Team has some pretty set strategies that we use for each map and I thought I'd share them here in detail. We obviously welcome feedback and no one is saying this is the only or even the best way to win on these maps. This is simply what we have found works best for our composition after many Tournament games. I should also say that these are simply base strategies to follow as a guideline, we often adapt them or change them on the fly as needed.

All 3 Maps:

We sometimes change our comp up but our standard is:

• Engineer (Crowd-Control)
• Thief (Damage/Roamer)
• Necro (Point-Tank)
• Elementalist (Damage/Roamer)
• Mesmer (Damage/Group Support)

The individual builds have been covered in the specific class threads so I won't go into detail here. The roles are what is important, the class/build can be swapped out as long as you can fill the described role. We always have a point tank and we always have a roamer. The tanks job is just to create imbalances in team fights. If he is staying alive 1v2 or 1v3 for any relevant amount of time we are outnumbering them somewhere else. Having a good roamer is key as he is the guy that will always disengage from a winning fight first to move to another point and reinforce.

Forest of Niflhel:

The Thief goes straight to the near side NPC while the other 4 drop out the far door. The Necro is simply there in case a large team fight happens and to throw any chills or disruption he can at someone crossing over to steal. The other 3 will move quickly through mid and attempt to steal the far NPC.

The Necro will fall back to take Mine and then move up to keep eventually. The Thief finishes his NPC quickly and then races across the map either providing help at a prolonged NPC fight or holding down Keep until the Necro arrives.

Once both NPCs are down the team will attempt to hold Keep and the Near point. The far point will only be sought after if they commit 4+ to one of the other points and we can't hold it. We then disengage the roamers and everyone else tries to keep them fighting as long as possible while we back cap.

It is incredibly important to know the spawn timers on your NPCs and to be in position before they spawn. If there is a player that is not mid-fight when one dies it helps to type into team chat the current time +3 minutes so that everyone has a visual indicator.

If we do move to take the far point we make sure to sit the Necro on it as you want him to be in as many fights as possible. Even if they try to ignore him on the point he can still throw chills and cc at people as they come out of spawn.

Legacy of Foefire:

The Necro goes to the near point while the other 4 move for mid. It's important to immediately call out how many people are coming to mid and how many people are going to the Necro so that you can have your roamers swing to assist if needed. This first fight is by far the most important on Foefire so hold nothing back. We burn all of our elites in the opener including Time Warp which is game changing in a large team fight.

After that hunker down on 2 points. If you get an opportunity to beat on the door do so but don't choose it over making sure you successfully defend your 2 points. The preferred door is always the smaller one. They'll come out of it far less often and it forces re-spawns to actually make an effort to look over and see if it's down or not.

NEVER RUSH THE GUILD LORD. It doesn't work against any team that is even sort of half awake, so stop trying. We sit on our two points like good little boys until the score hits 350. At that point if you have the lead, abandon everything and 5 man rush the Lord. There is almost nothing they can do to stop you. Even if they respond to defend you should be able to burn down the lord before they kill all 5 of you.

If you get to 350 and you aren't in the lead it becomes a judgment call. Sometimes rushing the Lord is your only option while sometimes you have to sit and defend what you have. If and Which doors are down will play a large part in your decision. Often if the doors are already down a Thief can go in alone with all cool downs and solo the guild lord before they even get a message that he's under attack.

If they are stupid enough to rush your Lord congratulate yourself on a quick and easy win. You can respond to defend if you want but the absolute priority is to 3 cap them while they are beating on the doors. If they actually succeed watch for which point they are moving to try and take back first. Rally to that point and make that and one other your new 2 points. Eventually they'll get the 3rd point back but you'll be ahead on points and still have a Lord to kill when they do.

Alternatively you can bunker down on Mid and the Far point. This will give you easier access to their door to beat on between fights but it also gives them easier access to yours. This version is riskier but can often reward a more aggressively minded comp. I've seen some teams try and hold both outside points so that they can defend the door and attack yours but this rarely works against good teams. You have effectively cut off your ability to reinforce and unless you are way way more mobile than your enemy you'll be playing catch up the whole game.

Siege of Khylo:

This is by far the most complicated map and you will often need to adjust on the fly to compensate for whatever comp they are running.

The Necro moves to mid and sets up shop. The Mesmer gets on the treb and fires mid. The Thief will shoot straight to the enemy treb and kill or disrupt them. The Engineer sets up the house of happy time love in YOUR courtyard. Finally the Elementalist will take the near point and then respond to whichever fight he is most needed in.

It's incredibly important that the Thief does not die at the enemy treb. You are there to stop him from firing, if you can do that by landing a quick kill then by all means. However, if it's not a fight you'll be able to win, abuse Inf Strike to keep him from firing until your Ele can show up to help out. Dying without killing the Treb can possibly cost your team a huge lead early on.

The Engineers entire job is to slow down anyone that wants to stop your treb. You have a ton of nets and snares so this is pretty easy even if 2 of them come. Worst case scenario they do their best to ignore you and go straight for the treb. Just stay on their back and slow them down as much as possible. Best case scenario they actually turn to fight you in your courtyard. At this point net them and laugh maniacally as the Mesmer rains down treb hate from above. The courtyard is your home base. Feel free to roam where you are needed to win fights but always fall back to here so that you can be ready to slow down the enemy trying to get to your treb. If you do roam, leave your net turret behind just around the corner from the enemy entrance to your courtyard. If you have it placed correctly it will often land the net before they even see the turret, negating the chance to dodge. 

The Mesmer will initially make the courtyard a priority if there is a fight there and then shift to make sure you win the fight mid. After that it's just a matter of your team calling out where you are needed and you having good aim. Occasionally the Engi will need assistance and you can hop off and give it before getting back on. Always let him stomp players unless they are in direct sight of you trebbing and can stop the shot. If they eventually commit 3+ to kill your treb and you can no longer save it, drop your portal and abandon ship.

After this initial chaos the game should settle into a pretty simple 2 point hold. Necro holds mid, Ele holds near point and the Thief and Engi respond where they are needed. Keeping their treb down is always a priority. Usually the Thief will be able to handle this alone, but don't be afraid to leave a point undefended for a short time while you help him kill it.

Special Mesmer Note: If they put a Mesmer on the Treb. DON'T KILL IT. Just follow him around beating on him until he dies. It might sometimes feel like he's leading you on a marry chase but it's better than him laughing at you while he instantly repairs and kills your friend.

Kingdeath 80 Mesmer
Sobeknofru 80 Guardian
Justice Hole 80 Thief