Now that I've had a few groups and ran to 9-0 with the big dogs, I wanted to post up some of the stuff I'd noticed about the mode in advance of a weekly setup for me to roll with more casual players on Sunday evening, time TBA. God knows I can't carry to 9-0 like our stars here can, but hopefully I can at least help people put together a solid run and at least get 5 wins for easier access to level 34.
Basic Strategy
Two basic styles of play dominate the strategies you'll see out in the while:
passive and
aggressive. Passive playstyle means either staying at your spawn point or another feasibly defensible point and basically remaining still for as much of the match as possible. Sniper rifles, other long range weapons such as Red Death and Thorn, and grenades are the main tools of a passive playstyle. If playing passively, you rarely want to expose yourself to the enemy and general want to take their entire team out from afar without any close quarts fights. If two passive teams are playing one another, round length is extended dramatically. Teams that are disciplined enough not to leave their hold points will often run up against the round timer and trigger the capture point that will instantly end the match- this point is the same every time on each map.
Aggressive playstyle means that your objective is to hunt down the other team as soon as you spawn. When playing aggressively, you will very rarely spend any time in the same area you spawn into. You want to push immediately. The Last Word, Hawkmoon, the Vex Mythoclast, shotguns and other mid-to-close range weapons are best suited to the aggressive playstyle. When an aggressive team is playing a passive team, the three of you will push and call out the area being held by the other time, and ideally have two players attack from a direct point, while the third flanks around to attack from behind. When an aggressive team plays another aggressive team, they will each be hunting each other down from spawn, and may even end up circling around fully to effectively trade spawn points. Mostly, however, these rounds wind up with quick engagements typically at the mid-point of the map.
The
aggressive playstyle turns out to be by far the superior of the two. Many passive teams will simply not be ready for it and will get overwhelmed while trying to snipe, especially if a player was able to set up a flank. Other aggressive teams can present tense challenges depending on where fights happen to break out. Simply
being aggressive and constantly pushing on enemy positions if you have even a slight advantage is the key to ending rounds quickly and building up momentum to end the match.
The
heavy round should ideally be cleared as absolutely rapidly as possible. I prefer to never see a single heavy weapon fired- just eliminate the drop as a factor. The 15 seconds of countdown is usually enough time to clear out the entire other team or at least disrupt them from picking up their heavy. Thus, picking up your own heavy is
not prioritized. Saving a super for this round is not a bad idea. If the round is extended and heavies are picked up, rocket launchers with tracking or proximity detonation prove much more effective than Machine Guns. Long kill streaks are of no use in elimination- but a single rocket that kills 2 or all 3 players is tough to come back from. Truth is the overall best weapon to have in your heavy slot for this, each shot being a near guaranteed kill.
Revives are absolutely critical. When a player is revived successfully, both the revived player and the reviving player get an overshield. That means if you're in a 2v1 against a newly revived player and their rescuer, you'll stand almost no chance. Securing a revive is typically the right move if you can do so. Perhaps 8/10 times, a revive is the right choice over a kill, unless that kill will end the match from safety. Remember, even if you take down the last of their team, go for revives immediately. Tricksy Warlocks may self revive and immediately get their teammates up too.
Callouts and general communication are paramount. If you don't know the maps from control, look them up and attempt to memorize the A, B and C capture points along with the two heavy spawns. Knowing these 5 callouts plus the generic term "mid" will get you much of the way toward being able to inform your teammates properly on many maps. Here's Burning Shine:
(credit Zoba)
I (in my ignorance) will sometimes refer to the High Corner as "A Corner"- it's also sometimes called "C mirror" and "across from C." I'll also sometimes call A Mid and C Mid "A hallway" and "C hallway." Using these callouts frequently along with simple descriptors such as "weak/one-shot" for a target near death, or "Golden Gun/Arc Blade/Bubble at X" for supers, is key. Having just slightly more information about the position of the enemy team than you would if just playing alone and not speaking is the difference between a loss and a win.
Here are more callout maps for
eight of the maps in the Crucible to acquaint yourself with. Playing Control with GAF (though it's my least favorite mode) is a great way to learn these quickly as well.
Other random tips:
- While heavy ammo exists only for the round in which it is accessed and will disappear even if unused, Special ammo and Super energy persist through rounds. Thus, it's always a good idea to rush for Special ammo boxes and opening them even after the round has ended is incredibly valuable. If you're anywhere near one when the round has ended, grab it- any teammates in the radius will get Special as well.
- In the same vein, it's a great idea to have no more than one person use their Super per round, and ideally have one saved for the Match Point- snapping a 5th round win with a single Golden Gun can never be a bad idea.
- Thorn vs. TLW vs. Hawkmoon: TLW is the most consistent and best killer of things if used in the right hands. Out of the other two, as much as it pains me to say it, Thorn is the more effective in ToO. While Hawkmoon's lucky bullets can rack up tons of kills, merely getting a kill- especially one at long range- isn't all that much of a big deal in elimination. Initial revives are quick and even benefit the person doing the reviving. As it stands, the occasional two-shot from Hawkmoon is far less beneficial to the team than the consistent benefits AND increased range of Thorn.
- The overtime capture point on Burning Shrine is near B, on the other side of the stone tower.
- Crest of Alpha Lupi for Titans and Hunters, with Light Beyond Nemesis for Warlocks, are the most valuable exotics to equip in the Trials by far. While they may not be a great match for your build, the aforementioned overshields as well as the ability of a revive to swing a match make them more than worth it. Remember that the effect applies both to the person you're reviving and you while being revived- so technically, pro teams need only have 2 out of 3 teammates wearing them. But it's never really a bad call. The additional orbs are icing on the cake.
- Level differences are subtle, as in Iron Banner. However, you may run into unusual situations- for example the DoT from Thorn may not kill someone after two headshots as it would in regular Crucible. It's more important than ever to call out the status of any target you're shooting at, even if you think you've killed them easily, just in case they need one more shot from a teammate before they recharge.
- All that matters is the W. I've heard people in multiple groups now tell me that they felt like they weren't pulling their weight or were doing poorly because they had few kills per round. But if you're alive, and we win the round, that means that at the very least you stayed alive until everyone on the other team was dead. Focus more on staying alive and assisting your teammates- pushing any time you have a 2v1 advantage- regardless of your personal K/D.
I hope this helps as a start and I look forward to playing with lots of you in the coming weeks.
