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Hando's Civil War WINNING Guide


kamikrazy

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Hello all. I haven't posted much on these forums but I wanted to share my strategies and thoughts on the Alderaan Civil War Warzone. :csw_alderaan:

 

UPDATE: I am refreshing this guide (August 2, 2013)

 

Here is a crude layout of the map:

 

THEM

v---------vv---------v

==============

 

L--------M--------R

==============

^---------^^---------^

YOU

 

OBJECTIVE

The most basic element to understand about this WZ is that there are three turrets, and each turret that your team owns will reduce your enemy's points. The points start at 600 for each team and a team will lose once they reach 0 points. The object of the warzone is to own at least two turrets (if both teams are evenly balanced, taking three turrets is extremely difficult).

 

When the warzone first starts, there are two speeders that both will take you to mid. If your team owns a side node, a speeder will appear in the spawn area that will take you there directly (this is subject to change)

 

THE PLAN

Without a plan, your team will probably be doomed to failure. It really is that simple. However, what's more important than a plan is being adaptable.

 

For all intents and purposes of this guide, I will assume that your team consists of objective-minded players.

 

MACRO STRATEGY

Some argue that the opening is the most important part of the game. This is certainly the case in ranked matches since whichever team can cap their side-node generally has the advantage. What is important is to have a plan and to be able to react to what you see the enemy executing.

 

For example, I like going with a balanced 2-4-2 attack as an opener in regular matches. As everyone hops on the speeders and flies in, I am keeping my eye on the enemy players across the map to see which way they are going. If I see them flooding left, I will announce this and divert the 2 left players since they won't be able to overpower the 4 going left. This also means the enemy is spread thin in other places. Communication is key here since Knowledge is Power™!

 

What you must try to figure out is how many the enemy team is sending to each node so you can better understand how many of your own team will be needed. However, I have seen this scenario play out far too often:

 

Our team pushes 2-4-2 and eventually we capture both sides. Mid is still contested, respawns are told to go to either side to defend. The enemy caps mid, then start pushing for Left with 3 players. One of the four players there will call out for help and then 1-2 of your teammates leave Right to bolster Left. 4 of the enemy players hit the 2-3 remaining players at Right. They then call out for help but by the time your teammates arrive, the enemy have already capped Right and are now sitting in Mid and Right.

 

I'm sure many of you have seen similar situations. This is why it's incredibly important for the team to know where as many of the enemy players are at a given time. Educated guesses have to be made about stealthers. Knowing their positions will give you the initiative in repelling an attack or preparing for their counter-attack. The team in that scenario did the correct thing by calling out, but they should also indicate how many enemies are attacking them and whether they are likely to need help.

Furthermore, when I'm on the losing side I often see players trying to capture nodes by themselves, trickling in 1 or 2 at a time to attack 3-4 enemy players who are fully prepared to take them on. Group up first, use an operative/scoundrel's infiltrate ability to stealth a group of players to a side to not give away which direction you're hitting.

 

MICRO STRATEGY

Attacking

Left or Right Node: In the opening, the best way to capture the node is to have at least two people go to the turret. One will be the 'capper' and the other will be the 'interceptor'. The capper needs to use the node to deny LoS on any enemies trying to stop your cap. As long as they're hidden behind the node, the enemy will have to take those precious extra steps to reach you. The interceptor's job is to interfere with any incoming enemies to allow the capper enough time to take the node. If you suspect there is a stealther on the way, use AoE abilities to try to flush him/her out.

 

Middle Node: This one's a bit more straightforward, but the same principles apply. Depending on which node your team capped will determine which direction you should be watching for the enemy to be streaming in from. CC and snares are a must. I've seen all too often three enemies trying to capture my team's node at the same time while I just throw a grenade to stop them all from capping. They only need one person to cap while the other two should have been busy knocking me back, snaring and stunning me to give the capper enough time.

 

Be aware that the middle has two tiers. The upper level is great for ranged classes to just rain damage down from above. There's also plenty of columns for you to lose LoS against enemies if they start to notice you picking them off. You can also heal from the top, but I run into LoS/range issues when trying to get my casts off.

 

Defending

Not the most glamorous job in the world, defending is important nonetheless. Depending on the scenario, you might be alone or your team might be making a last stand to fend off the enemy's push. As mentioned earlier, when you see an enemy, it's vital to call out where the enemy is (L, M, R) and how many are incoming. Try to keep updating that number since your teammates will hopefully be making decisions about how many people should be reinforcing you. Do not stand too close to the node as it will allow a stealther to mez-cap you very easily. If you're defending in stealth, this is extremely important not to get found out first by an enemy stealther.

 

Another very basic rule is to always keep your eye on the node in case someone tries to ninja a turret from you. On the flip side, this tactic should be used against a stubborn enemy who might be spending a few seconds on Facebook instead of watching the node. Everyone should also try to stay on the platforms or on the ridges to the side, but spread out enough to not all get smashed at once.

 

 

If you die, try to use the appropriate speeder to get you to the most contested node as quickly as possible. When your team has the advantage and is holding at least two turrets (with your points more than double the enemy's), the initiative is on the enemy to make the next move so as long as your team can smoothly shift defending between different points, you should eventually be victorious.

 

 

CLOSING

I've gone back and made some changes to the guide since I wrote it a long time ago. I hope this is still useful to new players. Feedback is always appreciated ;)

Edited by kamikrazy
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Great guide.:rak_03:

My only suggestion would be to replace L/R with E/W.

I know this is a raging debate amongst people with lots of free time, but I am in the camp that believes clarity is better.

A little standardization would be awesome.

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Great guide.:rak_03:

My only suggestion would be to replace L/R with E/W.

I know this is a raging debate amongst people with lots of free time, but I am in the camp that believes clarity is better.

A little standardization would be awesome.

 

OK, that's a fair point. Incidentally, Civil War and Huttball are the only warzones where I will use L/R, but I will take your advice and change it just to keep everything consistent and as clear as possible. Thanks for the feedback!

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Yay Hando!

 

Now I know all your secrets. Be prepared to lose all your Civil Wars now! Muhahahaha!

 

 

-Zimbra

 

I thought you already knew our secrets? Don't worry, I'm keeping the best tricks up my sleeve just for you

<3<3<3 :p

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Great guide.:rak_03:

My only suggestion would be to replace L/R with E/W.

I know this is a raging debate amongst people with lots of free time, but I am in the camp that believes clarity is better.

A little standardization would be awesome.

 

And why do you think that your respawn zone is at south?

Then other team apparently is start at north? And from their point of view your «East» is actually «West»..

East-West is lame.

 

Right-Left is more suitable and correct for BOTH teams.

And more easealy understandable by all the people.. Because at any occasions people definately know where is his right arm and where is left.

Just go to the strret and make an poll - ask people where is his right and left and then ask where is east and west. Compare the results of correct answers and time the people take to make the answers .

Edited by Missandei
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And why do you think that your respawn zone is at south?

Then other team apparently is start at north? And from their point of view your «East» is actually «West»..

East-West is lame.

 

Right-Left is more suitable and correct for BOTH teams.

And more easealy understandable by all the people.. Because at any occasions people definately know where is his right arm and where is left.

Just go to the strret and make an poll - ask people where is his right and left and then ask where is east and west. Compare the results of correct answers and time the people take to make the answers .

 

I guess you never look at your map?

 

The point of using E/W is that it is impossible to use it incorrectly, unless you failed 3rd grade Social Studies and don't understand the concept of cardinal directions.

 

Calling E/W has become standard convention on my server. I'm just hoping for established consistency for when cross server WZs come.

Edited by Subatia
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Not a fan of 2-4-2;

 

I send my teams out on a 1-6-1 with my two strongest players hitting the wings. In most cases a stealth class to the enemies closest turret, a shadow really shines. I would say 90% of the time we end up with middle, and one of the wings. Some times we end up with all 3. Worse case scenario we end up of with just the middle. <-- Not a bad starting turret to control.

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  1. I'm personally a fan of "grass" and "snow" impossible to confuse, even if you are directionally challenged.
  2. The guide should cover terrain manipulation, liking hoping the side of the middle building to shortcut your way in.
  3. The guide should also cover the "lesser known" way of attacking, like going the long way around to come-behind middle, or going the long way underneath middle to attack the opposing side.
  4. The guide should also cover proper use of crowd control when defending, things like blind/concussion/whirlwind that are VERY effective at stopping caps for reinforcements.

 

Otherwise I really like your guide. I hope many people read it and understand a bit of the strategy.

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I'm planning on adding a Warzone guide section to my guide so when it gets stickied, people will always be able to have a link to various guides, including this one for reference. If you're able, try to keep it up to date and detailed as much as possible. Thanks!

 

I'll be adding your thread to the following thread of mine:

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=451701

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  1. I'm personally a fan of "grass" and "snow" impossible to confuse, even if you are directionally challenged.
  2. The guide should cover terrain manipulation, liking hoping the side of the middle building to shortcut your way in.
  3. The guide should also cover the "lesser known" way of attacking, like going the long way around to come-behind middle, or going the long way underneath middle to attack the opposing side.
  4. The guide should also cover proper use of crowd control when defending, things like blind/concussion/whirlwind that are VERY effective at stopping caps for reinforcements.

 

Otherwise I really like your guide. I hope many people read it and understand a bit of the strategy.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'll stick some of those advanced attacking strategies into the guide since many people don't know about ledge-jumping over the walls (I've always wondered if that was left intentionally).

I did cover some usage of CC, but mostly when on the offensive.

 

After thinking some more about E/W and L/R, I've decided to just stick with L/R. Not just because I'm lazy, but because it would be different for Imperials. Either way, it's arbitrary because the map is mirrored.

 

Someone else mentioned not liking 2-4-2. I will admit that it requires a good team to execute properly. I like sending the faster players Right so they can interrupt the enemy's cap. A lot of times, the enemy will panic and call for help even though there are just two people. This should ease pressure on the two other turrets such that if Right falls under enemy control, the other two turrets should easily fall under my own team's control.

 

I will keep working on this guide and will try to add a section with some thoughts for more advanced players. I will also try to keep it concise and well-trimmed :cool:

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"The 4-1-3'"

 

This is another useful opening strategy that's meant to take the enemy off-guard.

4 players will head left, with 3 of them running interference for any potential enemies looking to slow down or capture your team's left turret. Once any enemies are dealt with, they then swing into mid from behind.

 

The player that goes into the middle should be good at staying alive and keeping the enemy off the turrets. Most strategies send the bulk of players to mid, so a tank or ranged DPS works best in this role. Provided no enemies went to your left turret, your 3 players will be swinging in from mid from behind to clean up the mess.

 

The players hitting right should theoretically be able to take it as long as your teammates are able to counter their interference against you. The key there is to stun first while others who have stealth or stun immunity rush straight to the turret to prevent the cap. 2 DPS and a healer should be a good balance to take the right turret.

Once right is secured (if it is), 1 person can be sent mid or wherever help is needed.

 

This strategy requires a decent amount of coordination to pull off. It definitely won't work with any PUG since the notion of only sending 1 person to middle will escape most PvP'ers, even though 3 people from Left will swing around from behind. However, those 3 players coming in from behind should be able to surprise the enemy. Pulling enemies away from middle one-by-one is the best way to focus them out.

It's a very aggressive strategy that ends up in a three-cap if the enemy is not prepared or coordinated enough to shift their players accordingly.

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  • 1 month later...
And why do you think that your respawn zone is at south?

Then other team apparently is start at north? And from their point of view your «East» is actually «West»..

East-West is lame.

 

Right-Left is more suitable and correct for BOTH teams.

And more easealy understandable by all the people.. Because at any occasions people definately know where is his right arm and where is left.

Just go to the strret and make an poll - ask people where is his right and left and then ask where is east and west. Compare the results of correct answers and time the people take to make the answers .

 

I think the best method for calling out which side you are on is Snow/Grass. This way all you have to do is take one look and you can figure out where you need to be.

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In the opening, you need to sacrifice the node where most of their players go. You need to send players who know how to LoS and stealth and CC to keep as many people at the losing node as possible for as long as possible. If you send two guys who occupy their four players for a minute or two you are in good shape. If you send no one they will immediately move players to the nodes where you had the numbers advantage.

 

You should always keep an eye on their players count and if they ever leave a node defended by one you should attack it, even if you have two nodes. This is not being Rambo, this will force them to defend nodes with two so you don't lose the numbers battle. If you are a good 1v1 player this is a good strategy. If your side has one node and your team is attacking left and you solo attack right, you may force them to move players right and thereby help left. So don't assume this player is trying to Rambo. This is only true if you can attack well and not die fast. This works if you make them think they are in danger. If they think that one more attacker will jeopardize the turret they will call for help.

 

When calling inc you should always call the number incoming, if one player is incoming you should not cry wolf and get your entire team come to kill one guy.

 

When you are behind, the key to gaining a node is switches. you should switch between nodes often, but not predictably, to try to catch them in the wrong spot.

 

Sincerely Yours

Rambo

Edited by richardya
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I think the best method for calling out which side you are on is Snow/Grass. This way all you have to do is take one look and you can figure out where you need to be.

 

Whoa, I forgot about this thread... thanks for resurrecting it!

Snow/grass is a perfectly acceptable, non-confusing way to call out. I have never played PvP on an imp character so I never thought about how the map might be reversed, but it always made sense as a Republic player to call out L/R or E/W.

 

I will have to revise this guide since I heard they're removing the ability to jump up the sidewalls on the outside of mid for that minor advantage in reaching the middle from the side nodes. Will make calling out early that much more important.

Really, what I never see anyone focus on in terms of strategy is counting your enemy and counting your teammates. A team full of players with good awareness could probably get by without communicating much, but good luck with that in a PUG. It's a struggle to ensure people don't get stealth-capped, let alone relying on people moving to the nodes where they are needed the most using their own judgment. In fact, I generally see the opposite occur. :rolleyes:

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In the opening, you need to sacrifice the node where most of their players go. You need to send players who know how to LoS and stealth and CC to keep as many people at the losing node as possible for as long as possible. If you send two guys who occupy their four players for a minute or two you are in good shape.

 

You should always keep an eye on their players count and if they ever leave a node defended by one you should attack it, even if you have two nodes. This is not being Rambo, this will force them to defend nodes with two so you don't lose the numbers battle. If you are a good 1v1 player this is a good strategy. If your side has one node and your team is attacking left and you solo attack right, you may force them to move players right and thereby help left. So don't assume this player is trying to Rambo. This is only true if you can attack well and not die fast. This works if you make them think they are in danger. If they think that one more attacker will jeopardize the turret they will call for help.

 

When calling inc you should always call the number incoming, if one player is incoming you should not cry wolf and get your entire team come to kill one guy.

 

When you are behind, the key to gaining a node is switches. you should switch between nodes often, but not predictably, to try to catch them in the wrong spot.

 

Sincerely Yours

Rambo

 

Great advice there. The key is to time your "Rambo run" to coincide with when your team can comfortably defend your turrets. If you leave mid during a pitched battle where only 1 person is trying to keep them off the node, you're better off staying to help defend. Once your team is able to get the upper-hand, sending a quick stealth to the enemy-held node is generally a good idea, if only to keep them honest.

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The key is to time your "Rambo run" to coincide with when your team can comfortably defend your turrets

 

100% true, the best time is when you see a batch of rezzed comrades joining a battle.

I don't do this on my GS .

Edited by richardya
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And why do you think that your respawn zone is at south?

Then other team apparently is start at north? And from their point of view your «East» is actually «West»..

East-West is lame.

 

Right-Left is more suitable and correct for BOTH teams.

And more easealy understandable by all the people.. Because at any occasions people definately know where is his right arm and where is left.

Just go to the strret and make an poll - ask people where is his right and left and then ask where is east and west. Compare the results of correct answers and time the people take to make the answers .

 

I completely agree. I started off playing as republic and east west worked just fine...but then I rolled Empire and east west was broken so I started using R/L and its much much better...also on the empire side if you're controlling the right turret I've noticed the little green red icons in the top right corner of the UI are all backwards so it really screws people up trying to figure out what is E/W. Snow/Grass works really good to and I've noticed more and more games with people using it.

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  • 1 year later...
As everyone hops on the speeders and flies in, I am keeping my eye on the enemy players across the map to see which way they are going. If I see them flooding left, I will announce this and divert the 2 left players since they won't be able to overpower the 4 going left.

 

This isn't relevant anymore since you can only fly to the same place as everyone else now, right?

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