Curse

Lux Aeterna · Jul 22, 2009, 03:35 PM // 15:35

I pug in ab and it works out well, the trick is to hang out until you can get 4 decent players (today I had a monk from super kaon action team) then stick with them for a while, also on ancestral I always rush the base right at start and win but when you do that you gotta be uber careful about getting locked in. Many people regard capping the base as a suicide mission, which I find quite odd because my team makes it out 97% of the time.

TheodenKing · Jul 22, 2009, 03:48 PM // 15:48

HellzHere: Your strategy for Ancestral Lands is not the best way to run it as a Lux. The following are the 10 keys to success for the Lux on that map:

1) Clean off the walls. You can do this even if you don't plan on entering the base. It doesn't take long to nuke the npcs.

2) Always blast open the door when you take a shrine with the bomb, even if you aren't yet entering the base. (This not only helps the Lux, but also forces the Kurz to divert attention to the broken door).

3) Always start clockwise, and keep moving with a priority on capping. Those that defy that starting direction screw the whole team up when they insta-mob in the center of the bridge. It's a losing strategy. Don't do it.

4) Take the base only when you have at least 2 doors open, and don't stay in the base unless the Kurz are dumb enough to try fighting you there instead of locking you in. (Note that a not-too-old update now allows a team to fix the doors and prevent you from leaving their base unless you die).

5) Utilize the Elites when you cap their shrines. Npcs don't play good defense. They are better used as offensive cappers.

6) Keep your team of 4 together as much as possible. Solo cappers do not help the cause. (This applies to all maps).

And the next one is an advantage so many people haven't figured out yet:

7) When we have at least 2 doors open, we have a SHORTCUT across the map. You don't have to go in a big circle around the outside when you can cut through the base. Every edge helps when playing on their home map. So use it!

8) Pay attention to the cap advantage and the score. If we are way up on caps, then fighting the Kurz at key points earns us more points than it earns them. Likewise, if we are down on caps, they earn more points than we do in a fight. Most of the time, you are going to want to focus on capping. But an even fight at a key point where we are earning twice the points per kill is good for the cause.

9) When your group of 4 is getting wiped, the first guy dead shouldn't go running off after rez without figuring out first where his teammates are going to rez. Keeping the team of 4 together is more important than getting back to the fight too quickly.

Last but not least:

10) Mobbing is for losers, not for Lux. When they mob, the counter to it is to outcap them elsewhere since they are not covering the areas they would otherwise. Occasionally 2 groups of Lux will end up in the same fight. That's ok, but you need to separate after you pummel the Kurz at that spot. Don't continue on with a mob. If some noob is running around the board with your team of 4, but he belongs with his own team elsewhere, you should point that out to him so he understands they need him more than you do.

OK, so you have the ten keys to Ancestral Lands. I won't argue with your other points. But your strategy about entering the base right away is perilous now that they can lock you in.

Also keep in mind that even if the Lux do everything right, following all 10 of the keys, the Kurz can still win on their map if they follow their own keys to winning on their home map. But, I have found that following the ten keys will at the very least make the match competitive, and will fairly often result in an upset.

Fril Estelin · Jul 22, 2009, 04:13 PM // 16:13

AB game a few minutes ago (I'm waiting for the next one

): 2 groups meet on the North ranger shrine, luxons gain an advantage which leads to kurz wipe, our monk leaves the party, it's 1min into the game, luxons get the advantage by more than 50 points after around 4mins, but we continue fighting and regain control of all 7 shrines, in particular due to a bad luxon push inside the castle. And win the game.

No one called names, no one complained, people played. The game ends when you get 500, not when you get a wipe or feel you're surrounded by "noobs".

Jensy · Jul 22, 2009, 06:13 PM // 18:13

JQ gives much more faction, so anyone still playing AB is likely just there to have a good time and not be SRS BZNS *g* Which is fine, we all like having fun. AB is fun, especially when you can call out the shitty skills you see people using. I'm watching you, flare rangers.

refer · Jul 22, 2009, 07:23 PM // 19:23

Talk is only talk. I hate people who say cap as if saying it will just magically make it happen.

One of the problems IMO is that there is only 2 Kurzick maps... it is eternally Grenz/Ancestral Lands and that is horribly boring. At least add new ones to switch it up! Having a map like the Kurzick GH would be AMAZING IMO... I really like that map, with the field of mushrooms and the little areas, like the scarecrow one.

I also hate the game is cap and run, merry go round style... there should be a "nobody can cap for the next _______ seconds" period to force PvP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by glacialphoenix

Tip: If you're monking, don't PUG. Nobody will listen to you.

threaten to not heal.

glacialphoenix · Jul 22, 2009, 07:41 PM // 19:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by refer

threaten to not heal.

As if they don't run off in three different directions the moment game starts. (Which is a pet peeve of mine - groups end up scattered all over the place, nobody knows what anyone else is doing, and it becomes a game of 'let's all follow the first person who appears to know what he's doing, even if he screams at us to MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE!')

It's frustrating. AB is frustrating, of course, but since I enjoy the format I go in there with friends.

Puebert · Jul 22, 2009, 07:49 PM // 19:49

I don't why anyone thinks AB is fun.
Its worse than RA. :S

EPO Bot · Jul 22, 2009, 08:35 PM // 20:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Puebert

I don't why anyone thinks AB is fun.
Its worse than RA. :S

But you can be good at it even wile eating ramen at the same time.

GW = fun

ramen > GW

GW + ramen = awesome

Martin Alvito · Jul 22, 2009, 08:37 PM // 20:37

OP: The reason that players in AB fail is that the rewards are terrible. Compare Amber and Jadeite (or faction farming for an alliance and holding a town) to Halls Chest drops, zkeys and the acclaim of your fellow man for your skill. Good players don't go down there because it's a waste of time, and because they know that other good players don't go down there. This means that good players would have to carry a team with eight idiots on it, which only leads to frustration.

Randomly pairing three teams of four is a lousy mechanic. Good players would go down there periodically for a lark if they could pick their twelve. Of course, then you would have to face them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheodenKing

4) Take the base only when you have at least 2 doors open, and don't stay in the base unless the Kurz are dumb enough to try fighting you there instead of locking you in. (Note that a not-too-old update now allows a team to fix the doors and prevent you from leaving their base unless you die).

Should this happen, the optimal play is often to suicide on the base defender. Sure, you're conceding points, but you'll more than make up for it with the additional kills and caps you manufacture. If the Kurzicks want to lock you in, punish them for it. When they go to recap the center, kill them.

An alternative is to bring sufficient snares that you can farm any players that spawn in the base before they can get out. They'll keep respawning every 20 seconds, and you'll get to keep farming them over and over until enough of them turn up in the base that you finally get pushed out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheodenKing

8) Pay attention to the cap advantage and the score. If we are way up on caps, then fighting the Kurz at key points earns us more points than it earns them. Likewise, if we are down on caps, they earn more points than we do in a fight. Most of the time, you are going to want to focus on capping. But an even fight at a key point where we are earning twice the points per kill is good for the cause.

Honestly, this decision depends on the relative skill level of you and the opponents. It's always a mistake to not farm bad Kurzicks. The marginal impact of deferring one capture for 30 seconds is much less than the impact of farming the bad Kurzicks for another 12 points in that same 30 seconds.

However, it's usually unwise to fight Kurzicks that are hard to kill. You're best off capping and compelling such a team to fight you at a newly capped shrine where you have additional damage backing you up.

I Angra I · Jul 22, 2009, 08:47 PM // 20:47

the key is taking ab a lot less seriously, and just having fun and messing around in it rather than actually trying to put in effort to win

Sarevok Thordin · Jul 22, 2009, 08:54 PM // 20:54

AB is not true PvP, just remember this and you'll be fine

RA is more PvP than AB.

lord of all tyria · Jul 22, 2009, 10:19 PM // 22:19

Wander into the central fort type deal with your team of 4, then smash bad people til the game ends. Who wins is irrelevant.

(Datura) · Jul 23, 2009, 08:09 AM // 08:09

Op, you need a team and not 3 random players with you.

if you gotta pug it have everyone ping their builds including you. talk a little bit about what your gonna do. you'll know in an instant if your with mobbers.

sounds like you wanna boss around the uncontrollable majority. and you know ab is where all unorganized pvp players go.

go with guildies/alliance mates so you can have a balanced team that chooses to do their jobs.