Curse

Patrograd · May 31, 2006, 11:50 PM // 23:50

In another thread, Ensign wrote

Quote:

Burning Isle is obsolete with the introduction of Jade Isle and Imperial Isle. Both of those restrict movement more than Burning Isle did. If you want to spike play Imperial, if you want to play pressure in a bandbox play Jade. Burning Isle is downright reasonable in comparison......

I honestly don't know why you'd ever run fire in a serious match again. It's kinda like Hunter's or Wizard's - sure, you *could* use it, but it's basically inferior to Warriors in every way that matters, so why bother?

And so, this got me thinking. what hall is really best for which kind of tactic?

So you have:

Imperial - for spiking
Jade - for 8v8 pressure builds where you dont want the enemy to split - disease, smiting etc
Warriors - For balanced builds that can split if need be
Druids or Frozen - for specifically designed split builds

Is this a fair assessment?

where does this leave the other new halls - meditation and weeping stone? Are these in the bin along with hunters, wizards, nomads and burning?

Wasteland Squidget · Jun 01, 2006, 12:48 AM // 00:48

We've been running a heavy pressure build with split capabilities on Druid's, and its worked pretty well for us. The build has a lot of movement control and independent characters so we can out-split most teams, but we usually fight 8v8.

The strongest aspect of the map for us has been the ability to control spike. Our build is fairly weak on spike disruption, but the Druid's Isle allows us to split versus spikes and run them around the map easily until VoD. With no thief to worry about we can usually maintain flag control and drop their NPCs, putting us in a position to win when VoD rolls around.

On Warrior's Isle it doesn't work as well to split versus spike because you're limited by your ability to move around the map by the guild thief. Even if he doesn't bug on the res shrine, he's still an annoying NPC who gets stuck a lot and is easily spiked out if you're not completely careful in how you play. The catapult is similarly annoying in that it can randomly determine the outcome of a match based on where the catapult hits. It also provides yet another reason why split builds need to be executed flawlessly, because all that NPC advantage you've worked for can be undone in a second if the enemy manages to fire the catapult at VoD. All in all, it's a pretty random map and I'm not a big fan of it for that reason.

Burning isle is strong for both pressure and spike, but doesn't really reward a lot of movement control since things are already pretty close-quarters. The exception to this rule is assassin teleportation - almost all the fighting along this map takes place on multiple levels, and the assassins' ability to teleport from one level to another to gank characters is incredibly useful. We've won and lost matches based on our assassin's ability to teleport and spike out a flagger, bodyguard, or other crucial character. Burning Isle is also a great map for wards or ritualist spirits, since there is less concern about a team running you around the map.

Nomads is an interesting one. It supports splits okay, but the quick run back to the base can be devastating if a split team doesn't have good communication. In an 8v8 fight it gets very chaotic, since everyone has to be positioned on that little island at the flagstand. It's much more difficult to protect your backline or see where a spike might be coming with everything so close-quarters. It's also very difficult to effectively pressure an opposing flagger on this map, since the quicksand will drain your warrior's energy very quickly if they're attacking a flagger as he comes in. You only have the short stretch between the quicksand and the flagstand in which you can apply effective pressure, and that usually isn't enough to get a kill. I'd agree with Ensign that this map is a strong choice for spike, but it can give an advantage with any build simply because most teams aren't prepared to deal with the special conditions on this map.

LaserLight · Jun 03, 2006, 05:17 AM // 05:17

I support this plea for detailed, experienced explanations of the virtues of each Hall. Yeah, a few Halls a moron can figure out (Imperial), but this is important knowledge left largely unaddressed by the community.

Inexperienced Tactician LF Knowledge!

CAT · Jun 06, 2006, 02:59 PM // 14:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaserLight

I support this plea for detailed, experienced explanations of the virtues of each Hall. Yeah, a few Halls a moron can figure out (Imperial), but this is important knowledge left largely unaddressed by the community.

Inexperienced Tactician LF Knowledge!

When i get home from finals today, ill diagram the two halls im experienced with, Burning and Imperial in a new thread. Maybe other top guilds will add on with their hall(s)

Medion · Jun 06, 2006, 06:29 PM // 18:29

I think that would be very helpful CAT!

Now on the topic of this thread...
We just changed guildhall, from warrior to meditation. It's just that we think that will fit into our playstyle better. Besides that, we have a dedicated runner, so that might be an advantage on this map. At least..that's what I though

.

And could someone explain why wizards and hunters are worse than warriors?

Patrograd · Jun 06, 2006, 07:38 PM // 19:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Medion

And could someone explain why wizards and hunters are worse than warriors?

IMO, unless there is something I am missing, wizards is now pretty much identical to warriors. It used to be that the flagstand was a further run for the home team, but this has been fixed according to the update notes

Hunters gives the attacking team too many options because of the link between the front and back gates on the home base. Once you are forced back into base it is easy for them to keep you there. This disadvantage does not apply to the away team who have a standard away base.