Hey all,

I've been PVPing for a little while now and come to realise I do better at warzones like ACW, AH, Voidstar than at huttball.

I know in huttball, snipers should not be ball carriers but are they supposed to run and try to chase down enemy ball carriers? Some of them pass so quickly its hard to keep chasing them. Should snipers be following team ball carriers and trying to peel attackers off them?

Or should they be trying to dominate the middle and let others like melee classes fulfill the objectives? And where should snipers be positioned?

TY

I tend to stay up in mid. closer to mine or enemy line? depends. if we are winning, I'm more to enemy side for faster pass, assuming alteast 4 people have brain in my team, 1 person should be with me, he will go down for ball, pass to me, so I can pass forward.

if we'r losing/close game, I'm closer to my goal, for defense in case I won't make it to the ball.

if I see we will score in a moment, and none of my team mates around, go down next to where ball spawns, entreh, wait for ball with my fonger on aoe mezz.

what we do? we gun down/root carriers, pin healers, and pass. targets would probably be enemy carrier>healers>smash monkies>sages/sorcerers (not cause they grant nice hits, but they can pull enemy carrier)

I treat my sniper as recreation pvp activity (I do main as assassin/operative) so I bet I will get corrected by more expierenced snipers (hopefully, I like to learn new things),

I've been PVPing for a little while now and come to realise I do better at warzones like ACW, AH, Voidstar than at huttball.

 

I know in huttball, snipers should not be ball carriers but are they supposed to run and try to chase down enemy ball carriers? Some of them pass so quickly its hard to keep chasing them. Should snipers be following team ball carriers and trying to peel attackers off them?

 

Or should they be trying to dominate the middle and let others like melee classes fulfill the objectives? And where should snipers be positioned?

 

TY

You should always place your sniper at the highest perch. I usually place mine on the catwalks around the central area of the map, mainly because I can start picking out enemies from afar and it's not exactly easy for melee to approach me without my knowing.

What a sniper does in a game is highly dependable on his team composition and what is needed to be done. For a pug match, as a sniper your main task in just about any game is areal denial in my opinion. You safeguard contested nodes in ACW, NC and AHC; the doors in Voidstar; and the center area of Huttball where the ball spawns. Any enemy that enters 'your zone' should be exterminated.

Having said that, you should always place yourself in such a way that the enemy ball carrier has to go through your zone, and start picking them apart as soon as you can. Also, you should lookout for enemy players who are going into positions for favorable passes. Root them on traps, slow them down, do whatever you can to get them out of the game.

Should you chase them once they are past you? It depends. If you think you can finish them off, then you should. Otherwise, you keep that central area free of the enemy team. Remember, a sniper without cover is like an operative without stealth: a free meal for any DPS. You are not a melee, you don't have to chase the enemy. If they do get past/beyond you, move on to the next person who is within your range.

Edit: Here a nice video of a sniper doing his thing in PVP. For more information on how to play your sniper effectively, see NoTomorrow's guide on sniper PVP.

Interesting question. Both phylosophies are right. Either stationa and defend some more, or be mobile with your team. Your ability to provide near instand on demand burst, while having range at your disposal allows you to quickly help your team with focus fire.

Try both tactics. go mobile with your ball carrier if your team alteady has a stationary sniper. I like preventing fast caps at the match beginning. sorcs like to storm your side of the map with the ball, or pull e carrier. You must be vigilant to quickly kill these guys.

I usually start out by camping mid from above, as long as the rest of the team is doing okay with ball movement without me. I'll move forward situationally when it makes sense but generally speaking I like to slow down the initial possession and give my team time to get back after a failed offensive effort.

Plus, I can keep an eye on the defensive wings behind me, and catch anyone who's snuck back there and is camping out waiting for an opportunity for a quick score or pull (sage/sorc). Too often people die and completely miss folks, even unstealthed, who just try hiding there - behind the physical barrier at the far edge.

Snipers are also fairly good at picking up the ball -- they have the CC to stop others from rushing for it, and they can plop down beside the spawn & entrench to prevent the same happening to them. (Once you HAVE the ball you need to be looking for your pass-target, though; you don't have a lot of survivability on the move. Don't be afraid to chill in cover for a few seconds to think about your next move or wait for others to get in good positions for passes. You'll last longer in cover than on the move and it will be easier to get off passes / ditch the ball.)

Snipers are also good offensively at being receivers for ball passes, because they can't be leaped to for intercepts, and are good at being friendly leap targets, because they can't be pulled while in cover and with entrench they are difficult to dislodge with knockbacks.

1. Camp mid.

2. Camp mid.

3. Camp mid.

4. Occasionally pick up the ball (drop down into Entrench unless you are alone at mid) if no one else is around to get it but you need to be ready to pass it immediately or reset it to buy time since you have no survivability.

5. Camp mid.

Mid is where the ball respawns after each score and after any reset or failed pass. If you're playing to win, help your team get EVERY respawn of the ball. You don't need to kill everyone at mid but you should be scooting them out of mid and out of your range at least so that your team can get the ball if it respawns. Bonus points for roots, Flashbangs and the accuracy debuff in MM to help your ball carrier escape from mid.

Not happy with rules 1, 2, 3, and 5? Here's a variant: Camp mid on the enemy's side to help your team forward. The only time I leave mid in Huttball is when NO ONE on my team is running the ball or getting open for passes. Just last night I had to get the ball three times to setup passes/scores even with a Jugg standing there at mid.

Thanks guys.

I realise that in huttball there are so many LOS obstructions that its actually more efficient to just be stationed somewhere and try to pick people off and not chase them if they try to run (like jumping below into the pit).

Problem is that in pugs you see one group of teammates just fighting enemies on one side of the map while the ball carriers (whether enemy or friendly) in another area running to try to score. That leaves you with the un-ideal job of trying to run with the ball carrier, peel off them, etc. And we're not exactly very mobile.....lol.

Sometimes when it comes to that and the pug team doesn't bother about objectives in huttball, I just think 'what the heck' I'll just go for my damage and kills medals myself, rather than try to do the melee's job of running around. But the dilemma is that thinking logically I should still try to peel of ball carriers.

Hence the questions.

One other thing. If there is a sorceror behind you at the goal line and a ball carrier in front of you trying to get to goal , and you're alone, which should you run to kill first?

Sorcerer, although its best to actually move him out of the way of being useful, versus going out of your way to kill him.

If you can use your ambush or cover pulse to get him out of there, that is more useful as it takes less time over actually burning him down.

If hes at your goal line/end zone specifically, you gotta kill him - or anyone else for that matter. In fact, you should be posting in ops chat when possible "other team camping our end zone" and hope someone comes back there to help you clean up. huttball gets out of hand QUICK when the opposition is allowed to 'set up shop' back in your defensive zone.

A lot fo winning huttball matches I'm at the low end of medals on the winning team, specifically because I'll sit back and play defense by default , especially if we're up only one or two late. All I care about is winning. I don't care who gets the glory. Losing sucks.

Now that I've covered the basics -- CAMP MID -- a few other pointers:

--Keep the high ground at mid and stay in cover so melees can't jump to you (duh, I know). Drop into cover as close to the edge as possible so that if you get stunned, and a melee tries to leap to you, they fall down of the platform.

--Cover Pulse is the tool you use to 1. knock peeps into the fire and acid pits and 2. knock peeps into the pit.

--Rooting, flashbanging, snares, knockdown 'nading and cover pulsing guys into the pit are often better than killing enemies. Killing them just puts them right in front of your ball carrier at the goal line. DELAYING them is FTW.

--Use Entrench on the rare occasion that you are going to go for the ball and are waiting for it to respawn.

--Use your three second melee/ranged defense to get across the fire pit in the extremely rare occasion that you are running the ball.

--Use your roots, stuns, mezzes and other controlling abilities to stop the enemy team from getting the ball while your team tries to get the ball.

--Root ignores resolve. Use it on ball carriers over the fire pit and in the acid.

--Stop enemy advances. If you see the enemy team advancing en masse toward the ramp at mid, hunker down, pop Entrench, pop Ballistic Shield, call in an Orbital Strike and blow every ability you have, saving cover pulse to knock the ball carrier back into mid. You'll be dead at the end, your abilities will be on cooldown, but you'll have slowed, weakened or stopped the advance or at least weakened them and bought time.

--Use the Force to cultivate a good target priority list. Top targets are (1) ball carrier, (2) ball carrier healers, (3) runners running ahead for passes; (4) enemy Snipers/Gunslingers smart enough to camp mid; and (5) anyone else at mid. The ball carrier is usually the top target, but sometimes the healer is a better choice and sometimes the runner is a better choice. Don't get target fixation. If you're going to lose the DPS vs heals or guard race, switch targets.

--Don't be a hero; every other scrub in the game is doing that. Stay at mid and control it like a node. Yes, you don't get the glory of scoring but that's what your role is and, having played heals and tanks in Huttball, I can tell you that no matter how good you are, if you don't have dedicated DPS at mid you WILL lose. So it is an ESSENTIAL role.

If hes at your goal line/end zone specifically, you gotta kill him - or anyone else for that matter. In fact, you should be posting in ops chat when possible "other team camping our end zone" and hope someone comes back there to help you clean up. huttball gets out of hand QUICK when the opposition is allowed to 'set up shop' back in your defensive zone.

With a lot of respect to my fellow Sniper and Pot5'er, I could not disagree more. Defending your own endzone is how you lose Huttball every time. I see this in pug groups all the time. The enemy team gets the ball, so your team follows trying to stop them. What does that do? First, it gives leaping classes more targets to leap to in your own end zone. Second, immediately after they score guess where the ball is? Mid. And guess where you and your team are? Not at mid. Defending your endzone is how you allow the enemy team to set up a relay of score --> get respawn at mid --> score until they hit six points.

Worst still: lots of times puggers will put the whole team trying to stop the score in the end zone and if they get lucky and stop the score, they immediately reset the ball to prevent another score. Well, guess who controls mid if most of your team was defending immediately before that reset? Hint: not your team.

If you see a solo guy or even two guys in your end zone, IGNORE THEM AND RUN PAST THEM TO MID. If you control mid, your team gets the respawns and those enemies are twiddling their thumbs and lightsabers in your end zone while you and your team control mid and push forward to their end zone. Let them waste time in your end zone. Run past them to mid, control it and push forward.

With a lot of respect to my fellow Sniper and Pot5'er, I could not disagree more. Defending your own endzone is how you lose Huttball every time. I see this in pug groups all the time. The enemy team gets the ball, so your team follows trying to stop them. What does that do? First, it gives leaping classes more targets to leap to in your own end zone. Second, immediately after they score guess where the ball is? Mid. And guess where you and your team are? Not at mid. Defending your endzone is how you allow the enemy team to set up a relay of score --> get respawn at mid --> score until they hit six points.

 

Worst still: lots of times puggers will put the whole team trying to stop the score in the end zone and if they get lucky and stop the score, they immediately reset the ball to prevent another score. Well, guess who controls mid if most of your team was defending immediately before that reset? Hint: not your team.

 

If you see a solo guy or even two guys in your end zone, IGNORE THEM AND RUN PAST THEM TO MID. If you control mid, your team gets the respawns and those enemies are twiddling their thumbs and lightsabers in your end zone while you and your team control mid and push forward to their end zone. Let them waste time in your end zone. Run past them to mid, control it and push forward.

Listen to this guy, he makes more sense on this one.

With a lot of respect to my fellow Sniper and Pot5'er, I could not disagree more. Defending your own endzone is how you lose Huttball every time. I see this in pug groups all the time. The enemy team gets the ball, so your team follows trying to stop them. What does that do? First, it gives leaping classes more targets to leap to in your own end zone. Second, immediately after they score guess where the ball is? Mid. And guess where you and your team are? Not at mid. Defending your endzone is how you allow the enemy team to set up a relay of score --> get respawn at mid --> score until they hit six points.

 

Worst still: lots of times puggers will put the whole team trying to stop the score in the end zone and if they get lucky and stop the score, they immediately reset the ball to prevent another score. Well, guess who controls mid if most of your team was defending immediately before that reset? Hint: not your team.

 

If you see a solo guy or even two guys in your end zone, IGNORE THEM AND RUN PAST THEM TO MID. If you control mid, your team gets the respawns and those enemies are twiddling their thumbs and lightsabers in your end zone while you and your team control mid and push forward to their end zone. Let them waste time in your end zone. Run past them to mid, control it and push forward.

These are some very solid points. I shall follow your advice.

specced leg shot is a god send in huttball. I love it. It drives me nuts on my assassin (along with the jk/sw jump mez), but it works, very well.

The great thing with MM and staying at mid is that it almost doesn't matter who you're targetting cause they're gonna get melted by you.

Interestingly enough, a lot of times, enemy stealthers at the very beginning of the game seemingly decide to seek you out, when they should be doing other things. Which is both a good and bad thing they go after you, haha.

Ok thanks all for your insights. I certainly have a much better perspective now.

Key message: Dominate mid!

Cheers.

Ok thanks all for your insights. I certainly have a much better perspective now.

Key message: Dominate mid!

Cheers.

Depends if it normal warzone or rated.

In normal wz you just pew pew pips (what else sniper can do) sitting high as duck.

In rateds you just pop entrench before ball pillar, praying for heals and wait for taking the ball after first (and consequent) score. If there is no score in the nearest future, you just do as always - pew pew sitting high.

These are some very solid points. I shall follow your advice.

Thanks, man. Big fan of your guide.

specced leg shot is a god send in huttball. I love it. It drives me nuts on my assassin (along with the jk/sw jump mez), but it works, very well.

 

The great thing with MM and staying at mid is that it almost doesn't matter who you're targetting cause they're gonna get melted by you.

 

Interestingly enough, a lot of times, enemy stealthers at the very beginning of the game seemingly decide to seek you out, when they should be doing other things. Which is both a good and bad thing they go after you, haha.

Yes, to all of that. As to the second point: killing peeps at mid... It almost doesn't matter who you kill (I still think the BC, heals and enemy runners are top priorities) because you just need to keep the bad guys away from mid. If they run behind cover, that's fine. They won't be there to get the next respawn or waylay your BC and you've weakened them if they come back in or given them a "time out" by forcing them to go heal.

Legshot, Flashbang, Cover Pulse and the knockdown nade are how you give people a "time out" especially if you don't break the CC with damage. Time outs, not kills, are how you win the game; kills just send them to the respawn. Time spent away from the ball is a huge penalty in Huttball. Never chase a kill into the pit. Knock guys into the pit, wait for the Cover Pulse 5 root to expire, then Legshot them, then Flashbang, and so on, then they STILL have to walk all the way out of the pit. Don't break your own CC with DPS. Use it to give them a timeout.

Never chase a kill into the pit

I am so guilty of that it's just hard to resist if it's someone you know

Yes, to all of that. As to the second point: killing peeps at mid... It almost doesn't matter who you kill (I still think the BC, heals and enemy runners are top priorities) because you just need to keep the bad guys away from mid. If they run behind cover, that's fine. They won't be there to get the next respawn or waylay your BC and you've weakened them if they come back in or given them a "time out" by forcing them to go heal.

 

Legshot, Flashbang, Cover Pulse and the knockdown nade are how you give people a "time out" especially if you don't break the CC with damage. Time outs, not kills, are how you win the game; kills just send them to the respawn. Time spent away from the ball is a huge penalty in Huttball. Never chase a kill into the pit. Knock guys into the pit, wait for the Cover Pulse 5 root to expire, then Legshot them, then Flashbang, and so on, then they STILL have to walk all the way out of the pit. Don't break your own CC with DPS. Use it to give them a timeout.

Haha, I realise the healers are priorities and whatnot, I just find burst so helpful, that if anything you'd outheal anything they can do. (Hence the "generally)

Plus I'm not always alone at mid, always someone else there to help kill.

Depends if it normal warzone or rated.

 

In normal wz you just pew pew pips (what else sniper can do) sitting high as duck.

 

In rateds you just pop entrench before ball pillar, praying for heals and wait for taking the ball after first (and consequent) score. If there is no score in the nearest future, you just do as always - pew pew sitting high.

Why wouldn't you do that in normals too? It's not LESS effective, and picking up the ball is still pretty key to victory. (Though ball carriers aren't quite as invincible.)

Why wouldn't you do that in normals too? It's not LESS effective, and picking up the ball is still pretty key to victory. (Though ball carriers aren't quite as invincible.)

Because in normals - solo queue u will not get peels/heal and usually get wtfpwned in 3 sec. In normals 4 man queue u would have min 2 of your pips going forward with the ball inc healer so all "support" you will get is probably your another dps.