Flank your opponent!

[sakhmet]

Hey Noobie! Are you having trouble running the ball right up the middle? Try an end run!

Up the middle is fast, but it’s predictable. Run up a flank, use cover, and approach your opponent from the side. Most of them aren’t looking for a flank attack, so you might get a few shots off before they figure out who’s hitting them. When they turn to deal with you, your team mate (who ran up the middle) will be hitting them from the side. Crossfire!

Of course the good players know to look for it and watch their radar; still, you’re forcing them to watch in two directions which helps your team. Also, you should mix it up and not consistently take the same route in, and don't forget about the objective!

[Shiv]

omg i never thought of this, thankyou high and might sakhmet, i shall bow down and make a shrine to you imediatly.

i suggest everyone else does right away.
might i have your picture as the center piece to my glorius shrine?

[sakhmet]

Oh, Shiv...

Are you a "Noobie"? Of course not so;
1. I wasn't addressing this thread to you.
2. You have surely watched in baffled amazement as noob’s run head on into the thick of the enemy forces again and again and again….

Should we not then point out the painfully obvious in a constructive way? Or do you so enjoy racking up points against cannon fodder you prefer leaving them to their own tactical device?

[Szakalot]

the issue with chokepoints isnt the fact of going through them, but standing there behind cover doing nothing. People with reloaded guns and full health (or no means to regain it) that wait behind the lines is the problem, and ultimately a nade magnet.

What im afraid your idea will cause is a sense of justification to all those hill huggers and hikers that consider it worthy to spend 1,5 min going somewhere in order to get to the objective.

[xxcommodusxx]

I think sakhmet is definitely right in his point, but that it doesn't provide enough information for it to be truly useful to someone who doesn't already know this.

Flanking is a highly impacting technique in this game, allowing a single player to destroy a team while taking very little damage when done correctly. If your not the best shooter on a server you can easily still get the most kills by back-raging the other team effectively. However, it isn't a matter of taking long routes or even routes that are that far out of the way to do it.

This is where the crux of the problem comes in, because of the size of the maps and the fact that people learn, the path changes that you need to take. For instance on Slipgate when playing GDF you can take the road, go through the buildings into the courtyard area on the right, go over the buildings while taking the route on the right or head through the ruins to the left (where the guard tower gets built).

Each of these routes are relatively short, only adding a small addition to time to get to the objective. However, you can't say that any one of them is a flanking route since that completely depends on where the Strogg are during the match. By having an idea of where they are you can make decisions based upon that to alter your route and have a strong advantage over your opponents. For instance you may find that taking the road actually allows you better flanking then taking the route over the buildings since they are being heavily guarded by the Strogg.

The issue, unfortunately, seems more related to people's unwillingness to adapt while playing. Which is something that no amount of posts will fix.

[sakhmet]

There is much that has been left unsaid.

Once you get used to the idea of slipping sideways against an enemy position, you may begin to find yourself using terrain while you move (buildings, ground features, etc.) to limit the enemy’s ability to do the same to you. And then, you will find that the enemy finds tricky methods for countering this advantage, like setting mines along the nice side routes so that they don’t have to cover them, taking high ground and firing down on your position, cooking grenades and bouncing them off walls to kill you around a corner, etc.

The next step is to start using your own team as a “feature” to guard a flank, and it’s better than a building as they will (hopefully) fire at the enemy as well, and they can advance (move forward). Where you have several team mates together, you will be able to concentrate fire on any approaching enemy and quickly dispatch them (again, hopefully). When you get to this point, you may begin to notice a kind of nebulous “line” form between players on your team and obstacles on the field. A “front line” to the battle in which strategic movement routes and choke points are controlled, and you will notice after time, that some lines are strategically better than others being easier to hold once taken and more effective against enemy attacks. The forward spawns can be a crucial element to this kind of play, but there is a danger to playing them. Most are far enough forward that if your line fails, the enemy will have a clear run to the objective with little resistance.

Sometimes, you may find yourself at the objective and with no enemies. It may be that your team has pushed forward, and you are behind the line, and you will have to decide whether it is better to advance and support your team, or stay and protect the objective against any attackers that get through or around (flank) their position.

There is so much more. A well placed airstrike can destroy a line. An arty strike can briefly act as a “terrain feature”. Vehicles…. The game is dynamic, lines are always shifting, and you can’t always count on your teammates working together. I still make rudimentary mistakes like starting a firefight with half a clip, selecting a grenade rather than paddles when I go to revive…. CRAP!

It’s enough to just start thinking about the context within which you play.

[Szakalot]

it may depend on distance but up close half the clip should be enough, except perhaps against an HB