Hey guys,

I really wanted to try comparing gsf strategies, and learn from what you guys have experienced as good or bad strategies! For TDM I ask my team to make a nest in an upper asteroid or crevice in a hard to get place, with a wide range of sight. The scouts protect them while they nest, and then the scouts fly out and lure the opponents to the nests (unless the scouts take them out in one pass), where they instantly get incinerated as soon as they come into range. For Outposts, I usually take A and B, having scouts intercept enemy fighters while bombers and gunships nest up under the outposts. Once the nesting is done, the scouts employ the "drawing in" tactic, making short work of the enemy team. If the team tries to spread across three outposts, we become stretched too thin and the enemy can compromise our positions, thus staying at A and B.

What tactics do you guys typically employ? I think it will be fascinating to see what other people do.

Cheers,

-Catherine Skirata

Cool thread! Our guild has a "strategic database" where we have threads where we can develop and archive different strategies which we utilize during our premade vs. premade matchups, and we refine them as time goes on. In there we have our standard SOP's (Standard operating procedures) as well as AOP's (alternate operating procedures) which can be deployed against atypical team compositions as well as more unique and experimental strategies. While I won't post any of our SOP's, one of our more exotic strategies which I developed in 2015 and has been successfully deployed is known as the "Map tilt strategy", or, as my guildmates affectionately refer to it "the aussie strat".

To quote myself:

For a long time I have wanted to attempt this type of strategy, but I have never had the full 8 man organized team that I wanted to be able to pull it off. It requires that we make full use of the three dimensional nature of GSF, and turn the entire map on its side to confuse the enemy, make their maps ineffective, and pull them out of their element.

 

This post will be further edited as more suggestions of how to build the loadouts and proper positioning are suggested. This strategy requires a beacon bomber to be present, as well as a full 8 man team to be co-ordinated properly....one person out of place will compromise the unique positioning.

 

Another thing we will need to properly illustrate this strategy is to draw up a new map which shows lost shipyards from a side view rather than a top down view, so we can illustrate where everyone is supposed to go on a three dimensional plane rather than a two dimensional one.

 

The strategy revolves around spawning mid and immediately flying downwards towards the imperial captial ship (which usually contains DO's). At this point, we angle ourselves upwards and fortify the position down there, an area that hardly anyone goes and not many people are familiar with. A beacon bomber will set up shop behind us so that anyone spawning will immediately spawn into the proper orientation.

 

If we can practice this positioning properly, it will be something that we can either start with to throw organized opponents off guard, or to pull out if our enemy has figured out our tactics and we need to change the pace. All of us, and all enemies worth a damn, have memorized Shipyards TDM and the proper spots for cover, attack and defense like the backs of their hands, but by pulling out something very unfamiliar, I believe we can change the paradigm and utilize team co-ordination to truly take advantage of GSF's three dimensional nature.

 

If anyone has read the book "ender's game" the strategies in the battle school are inspiration for my line of thinking here.

 

This strategy may not work at all, it may be counterproductive, it may take too long, and it may not offer any tangible benefits. However, I believe, with the team we have now, that a whole new array of possibilities exist for us when we are not burdened with defending goofy PUGS.

I have a lot of ideas for tactics/strategies, but most require teamwork and coordination (as well as a modicum of pilot skill and some ship upgrades); as such I haven't been able to try out any of them.

The tactics/strategies that I have tried with some success are far simpler. For DOM (sat map) matches I try to get my team to run for all 3 nodes (with one of them as a diversion/delaying tactic, which will depend on which satellite the opposition rushes heavily) at first, then triage and defend/hold two for the match (taking possession of another satellite if need be, such as when the opposing team makes a concerted effort to take one of our satellites). A variant of this is a tactic in which I pose a credible solo threat to an opposing satellite (AoE ion shots plus rapid destruction of satellite turrets via slug railgun with armor penetration), causing the opposing team to dedicate 2 or more pilots to neutralizing me (thus leaving 6 or fewer opposing pilots for the other 7 members of my team to handle). While I call both tactics "baiting," they have different uses and different objectives. In both cases, however, while the original intent is not actually to take the satellite in question (rather the idea is to cause imbalance and induce disadvantages on the opposing team), should the opposing team fail to counter me, they will end up losing the satellite.

In TDM matches, I sometimes fly out first as a T2 scout and head all the way to the opposing lines (especially if I can grab a DO while doing it) and cause confusion and mayhem; a kill or two in the process would be nice, but that isn't the point - the idea is to get the opposing team confused and cause them to hunker down where they are (either aiming at/laying mines against me or trying to dogfight me while I fly all over their back line) - with the effect of pinning them at/near their spawn when the rest of my team catches up.

I should note that partly due to their simplicity and because I'm not the only one who consciously employs these tactics, these tactics are effective against less experienced teams and not as much against those full of skilled veterans.

I have a lot of ideas for tactics/strategies, but most require teamwork and coordination (as well as a modicum of pilot skill and some ship upgrades); as such I haven't been able to try out any of them.

 

The tactics/strategies that I have tried with some success are far simpler. For DOM (sat map) matches I try to get my team to run for all 3 nodes (with one of them as a diversion/delaying tactic, which will depend on which satellite the opposition rushes heavily) at first, then triage and defend/hold two for the match (taking possession of another satellite if need be, such as when the opposing team makes a concerted effort to take one of our satellites). A variant of this is a tactic in which I pose a credible solo threat to an opposing satellite (AoE ion shots plus rapid destruction of satellite turrets via slug railgun with armor penetration), causing the opposing team to dedicate 2 or more pilots to neutralizing me (thus leaving 6 or fewer opposing pilots for the other 7 members of my team to handle). While I call both tactics "baiting," they have different uses and different objectives. In both cases, however, while the original intent is not actually to take the satellite in question (rather the idea is to cause imbalance and induce disadvantages on the opposing team), should the opposing team fail to counter me, they will end up losing the satellite.

 

In TDM matches, I sometimes fly out first as a T2 scout and head all the way to the opposing lines (especially if I can grab a DO while doing it) and cause confusion and mayhem; a kill or two in the process would be nice, but that isn't the point - the idea is to get the opposing team confused and cause them to hunker down where they are (either aiming at/laying mines against me or trying to dogfight me while I fly all over their back line) - with the effect of pinning them at/near their spawn when the rest of my team catches up.

 

I should note that partly due to their simplicity and because I'm not the only one who consciously employs these tactics, these tactics are effective against less experienced teams and not as much against those full of skilled veterans.

I really find this interesting! I do like your TDM strategy, and may try that soon. As you said though, it may not work against veterans. Given the dynamic of GSF of harby, the majority of players are considered veterans. Maybe if two scouts rushed to wreak havoc, so they can watch each other's back as the whole enemy team is caught by surprise? Inevitably you will get people tailing you, so having a wingman might prove extremely helpful. Otherwise, that plan seems pretty solid as long as you target the enemy gunships. If you focus bombers and scouts, the GSs will set up and tear you to shreds in fifteen seconds. Love it!

Cool thread! Our guild has a "strategic database" where we have threads where we can develop and archive different strategies which we utilize during our premade vs. premade matchups, and we refine them as time goes on. In there we have our standard SOP's (Standard operating procedures) as well as AOP's (alternate operating procedures) which can be deployed against atypical team compositions as well as more unique and experimental strategies. While I won't post any of our SOP's, one of our more exotic strategies which I developed in 2015 and has been successfully deployed is known as the "Map tilt strategy", or, as my guildmates affectionately refer to it "the aussie strat".

 

Is your Guild on Harbinger, and if so what is it? I really like that strategy, and think it would completely destroy if executed properly. Teamwork may improve if you guys were on teamspeak or some sort of mic channel. Again, I would love to try that sometime with a coordinated group. Sounds way too fun

Our guild is quite mobile and tends to hop servers a lot. We have toons on harbinger but lately we have been more focused on JC as there is another GSF guild there that we like to play friendly 8v8's against, and give each other the opportunity to test out new strategies against one another. The guild is called Shadowlands Reconnaissance Wing, and you can usually identify our toons because they have a -srw at the end of their names (or -srw'i for imp side).

We can definitely let you know when we visit harbinger sometime and you can fly with us if you would like! We do use teamspeak as well, it is very important for cohesion.

Our guild is quite mobile and tends to hop servers a lot. We have toons on harbinger but lately we have been more focused on JC as there is another GSF guild there that we like to play friendly 8v8's against, and give each other the opportunity to test out new strategies against one another. The guild is called Shadowlands Reconnaissance Wing, and you can usually identify our toons because they have a -srw at the end of their names (or -srw'i for imp side).

 

We can definitely let you know when we visit harbinger sometime and you can fly with us if you would like! We do use teamspeak as well, it is very important for cohesion.

I would love to! My character is Cäthërine (special a is alt 132 and e is alt-137), Shoot me mail anytime yall hop on, and I'll see if I can join. I'm typically a friday-sunday player because of my work schedule.

Early in the process enemy capital ships fired at you if you got too close. Now people can place mines around the capital ships where people exit. Forces you to find an alternative exit point. Makes me wonder if people hid there before. Maybe the solution is to allow the capital ships AI to shoot at all stationary targets.

The solution would be to just hide the goodies out of the LoS of the turrets. Conquering the enemy spawn is a thing to do in TDM; best not to let it happen.

The solution would be to just hide the goodies out of the LoS of the turrets. Conquering the enemy spawn is a thing to do in TDM; best not to let it happen.

The Capital ships typically keep us out of range, but we just sit there with our gunships and bombers, making it just boring if the other team is that bad. I've never been able to get close without dying, what is the strategy to that?

Some of my simple (i.e. actually used) strategies are map-specific. In the Lost Shipyards TDM, the structure at D2 (I call it the "cage" or "D2 cage") near the upper Republic spawn can be used in multiple ways. The typical (and weak) defensive strategy is to mine/drone the cage itself, and use it as a sort of sheltered base. When this occurs, it is very easy to pin the defending team there by surrounding the cage, taking AoE ion shots at everything in the cage, and picking off stragglers that leave the cage.

When spawning from the Republic side, the D2 cage is useful as a sort of sieve. By this I mean a bomber or two can set up some drones/mines as targets within the cage, but no other ships on my team actually go in there but instead set up around the cage or between the cage and the upper Republic spawn. As the most direct route for most opposing pilots to us will be through the D2 cage, basically those going through the cage will be subject to any mines/drones we have in the cage, and those who make it through can get picked off by my team as they do so. Going around the cage generally leaves opposing pilots exposed for an extended period of time, and only the strongest pilots will consistently flank the cage instead of going through it with success. This "sieve" employment can also be used offensively by teams coming from Imperial spawn points if they can capture it, though this sort of use is vulnerable to flanking/attacks from behind when the opposing pilots approach from the other Republic spawns. The key to the "sieve" employment is that the team using the D2 cage doesn't actually go into the cage (with the exception of the occasional bomber in order to replenish mines/drones) but uses it to trap/slow opposing pilots; otherwise the team using the cage runs the risk of being pinned there.

There's the double beacon bomber slingshot, which used to be a thing in the old days.

1st Bomber Full burn then pop beacon. 2nd bomber wait in hangar, then appears at beacon with full engine power, sling-shotting you to the node- Hopefully by then your scouts have capped or are keeping the enemy from doing so.

Though without support it can all go horribly wrong quickly, so it's a risky move- like 'fools mate' in chess, you can leave yourself exposed.

If the enemy are half asleep you can get several bombers close/ behind the enemy spawn points in TDM to massacre them the second they come out of the hangar.- But that's tactics not skill, and can be seen as unsporting.

I'm not much of a bomber pilot, but I have a few nice spots to lay a RSD or MSD, where they can snipe or harry the enemy from a nice cosy cubby hole almost unmolested.