adt1983
08-10-2007, 09:42 AM
I’ve been playing pretty consistently since the release of Beta 2 and wanted to share my thoughts on GDF strategies and tactics for valley. I don’t have any clan match experience and I haven’t managed to find anyone with vent yet to play with so this post is only really applicable to 8v8 – 16v16 public server matches. This is by no means intended to be the last word on valley – just some quick pointers that will hopefully elevate the level of GDF play and maybe even result in some (gasp) teamwork.
Remember, more important than any set strategy is that whenever you’re playing you should continuously be asking yourself: “Am I really doing the most I possibly can be doing to help my team?”
Phase 1 – Building the Bridge:
Upon your initial spawn your immediate objective should be to extend your defenses up far enough to cover any engineers working on the bridge. Drop 1-2 AVTs up far enough to cover the objective from Icarus pilots and 1-2 APTs as far up as possible to mow down any Strogg infantry assaulting the objective through the valley. If you have 3-4 engineers that have all deployed forward turrets consider dropping an AIT to cover the objective from artillery if it is proving to be a problem.
I prefer taking a conservative approach with the Titan and having it hang about halfway between the base and the objective using it to disable any deployables that the Strogg place outside their spawn and suppress any snipers that are on the mountain above the Strogg spawn. The Titan should not be in range of any Violators that are being tossed on the objective. With the Armadillo I usually try more aggressive strategies. If I get an Armadillo on my first spawn I take it to the crater to the right of the road en route to the objective and try to mow down the first wave of Strogg infantry while waiting for the APTs/AVTs to arrive. After the first spawn I take the Armadillo either just outside the Strogg tunnel on the left side of the valley or inside the tunnel just past the rear exit to the Strogg spawn to lay waste to any newly spawned Strogg and move the most intense fighting as far forward as possible away from the objective.
Medics for this phase should stay stationed close to the objective but far enough away that any explosives won’t kill both the medic(s) and the engineer(s) working on the objective. Assist the APTs in taking down any infantry assaulting the objective. Drop a supply crate close to the objective but not on top of it because it will crush any engineers working on the bridge which is more than a little self-defeating.
Covertops, you NEED to drop smoke on the objective! This alone will do far more to prevent your engineers from getting sniped than even the most amazing of counter-sniping headshot streaks. Another good method of keeping enemy snipers at a minimum is to spawn with a SAR, grab a Husky/Armadillo, head for the east of the Strogg base, bunny-hop up the mountain and eliminate any pesky enemy snipers at point blank range. A SAR should give you a huge advantage over a RG in CQC. Remember, your objective is to keep the enemy snipers off your engineers, not to rack up frags.
You should be able to get through this phase relatively quickly before the Cyclops/Tormentor/Desecrator become major problems but if any of them do show up take them out with the Titan, Soldiers and Rocket Artillery. Keep in mind that any Rocket Artillery you deploy in phase 1 is going to be almost completely useless in phase 2 so make sure to have Artillery/Hammers deployed once phase 1 is complete.
Phase 2 – Capturing the Outpost
Immediately upon completing phase 1, anyone in or close to a Husky/Armadillo needs to beeline for the forward spawn. Remember that you can reach it either by going through the tunnel which will often be mined and have AVTs waiting at its exit or by going left of the tunnel and across the narrow pass. As soon as someone manages to take the forward spawn anyone not doing something more important (MCP/Titan driver, etc.) should wait for the respawn clock to tick down to 2-3 seconds then use the kill command to respawn at the forward spawn to ensure its protection. Mine the forward spawn (I prefer proximity mines but feel free to experiment) and start heading out to wear down the defenses the Strogg have started to erect. Speed is critical in phase 2. Don’t give the Strogg the chance to catch a breath.
Upon the completion of phase 1, 2 new deployable locations open up near the maps larger bridge. I recommend using these spaces for an AVT pointing towards the outpost in the nearest space and either an APT covering the forward spawn exit and the AVT from behind or a second AVT either also pointing toward the outpost or pointing towards the bridge to hopefully catch a Cyclops off guard. If you’re either of the Covertops that dropped two radars on these spaces in my last game please unbind your deployable key. I feel that at least one AVT pointing towards the outpost is critical because it gives the Titan that we are about to bring up a little bit more safe room to work with.
The Titan is the pivotal unit during phase 2. Once the forward spawn is captured, bring it up on the left path being careful not to drive it into the lake. I don’t recommend going through the tunnel unless the MCP has made it at least to the ramp between the tunnel exit and the objective because you won’t have any space to maneuver which is extremely dangerous. When driving the Titan in phase 2 try to adopt a blitzkrieg mentality. You want to shoot any deployables you see enough to disable them but you really can’t afford to take even 2-3 extra shots to completely destroy them, let your infantry come up and do the mop up jobs. You should keep the Titan close enough to the battle to be able to disable any Strogg deployables and destroy any Strogg vehicles that are a threat to your infantry but no closer. Do NOT try to “go Rambo” and hold the outpost or the Strogg spawn by yourself. The Strogg are just going to swarm you to death then run over your infantry with their own vehicles.
The really hard part about driving the Titan in phase 2 is the shear number of effective weapons the Strogg have to throw at you: the Cyclops, Tormentor, Desecrator(s), Hog(s), Icarus(es), AVTs, Violators, Plasma Artillery, Soldiers, and Grenades all can make short work of you. You need to constantly think to yourself “What is the biggest threat to me on the battlefield? Where is my next threat going to come from? How can I get to a relatively safe spot to make repairs?” and react accordingly. Always have a gunner. A gunner can drastically reduce the level of threat you face from infantry grenades, Soldiers, the Icarus, and to a lesser extent Hogs and the Tormentor. The best combos I have found so far are either medic driver/eng gunner or eng driver/eng gunner. You are going to have to repair the Titan several times if the Strogg team is anywhere close to evenly matched.
If you aren’t confident in your ability to quickly move in/out of the Titan to repair it as necessary, launch decoys, effectively evade incoming fire, and accurately return fire all simultaneously then I don’t recommend using the Titan in phase 2. Practice on one of the many empty servers till you get the hang of it. I personally find binding mouse2 to _vehicleCamera in the vehicle context to be very helpful at quickly switching between “driving” and “firing” modes. Try not to run over too many of your teammates while evading enemy fire.
If your team has designated you (either by request or by default) to be your teams Titan driver make sure to set your respawn to the main GDF base.
If you want to be more aggressive with vehicles try grabbing an Armadillo and parking it right in the middle of the Strogg spawn. Use the machine gun to sliver any vehicles (take out 95% of their health but do not destroy them), disable any deployables, and mow down as much infantry as you can. Your life expectancy isn’t going to be very high with this tactic but if you can sliver a few vehicles, disable a deployable or two and hold back 1 or 2 waves of Strogg reinforcements it’s a huge win for your team.
The biggest mistake I see most GDF teams guilty of after poor (or even no) use of the Titan during this phase is too many medics/engineers making suicide runs on a MCP that is getting hammered from all directions and is just going to be immediately disabled even if they miraculously manage to get it repaired. If your team is being almost completely suppressed by vehicles and turrets you need to think hard about changing your class to Soldier to help with the vehicles or Fieldops to disable/destroy the turrets. 2 engineers and a medic is really all you need to repair the MCP during this phase, additional engineers/medics would really do more for their team by helping to clear the way for the MCP, changing class if necessary.
NEVER drive the MCP backwards and remember that you need to hit the _activate key to deploy the MCP once you have reached the objective.
Covertops don’t seem to be particularly effective during this phase. 1 player on your team should keep counter-sniping enemy Infiltrators if they are proving to be pesky but remember your mission is to keep them off your engineers, not to pick off the whole Strogg team from a hawk-eye view. EMPing important vehicles and critical turrets as well as hacking the Strogg AIT to open the door for hammer strikes are two notable ways that experienced Covertops can really distinguish themselves and contribute to a quick phase 2 completion for their team.
Remember, more important than any set strategy is that whenever you’re playing you should continuously be asking yourself: “Am I really doing the most I possibly can be doing to help my team?”
Phase 1 – Building the Bridge:
Upon your initial spawn your immediate objective should be to extend your defenses up far enough to cover any engineers working on the bridge. Drop 1-2 AVTs up far enough to cover the objective from Icarus pilots and 1-2 APTs as far up as possible to mow down any Strogg infantry assaulting the objective through the valley. If you have 3-4 engineers that have all deployed forward turrets consider dropping an AIT to cover the objective from artillery if it is proving to be a problem.
I prefer taking a conservative approach with the Titan and having it hang about halfway between the base and the objective using it to disable any deployables that the Strogg place outside their spawn and suppress any snipers that are on the mountain above the Strogg spawn. The Titan should not be in range of any Violators that are being tossed on the objective. With the Armadillo I usually try more aggressive strategies. If I get an Armadillo on my first spawn I take it to the crater to the right of the road en route to the objective and try to mow down the first wave of Strogg infantry while waiting for the APTs/AVTs to arrive. After the first spawn I take the Armadillo either just outside the Strogg tunnel on the left side of the valley or inside the tunnel just past the rear exit to the Strogg spawn to lay waste to any newly spawned Strogg and move the most intense fighting as far forward as possible away from the objective.
Medics for this phase should stay stationed close to the objective but far enough away that any explosives won’t kill both the medic(s) and the engineer(s) working on the objective. Assist the APTs in taking down any infantry assaulting the objective. Drop a supply crate close to the objective but not on top of it because it will crush any engineers working on the bridge which is more than a little self-defeating.
Covertops, you NEED to drop smoke on the objective! This alone will do far more to prevent your engineers from getting sniped than even the most amazing of counter-sniping headshot streaks. Another good method of keeping enemy snipers at a minimum is to spawn with a SAR, grab a Husky/Armadillo, head for the east of the Strogg base, bunny-hop up the mountain and eliminate any pesky enemy snipers at point blank range. A SAR should give you a huge advantage over a RG in CQC. Remember, your objective is to keep the enemy snipers off your engineers, not to rack up frags.
You should be able to get through this phase relatively quickly before the Cyclops/Tormentor/Desecrator become major problems but if any of them do show up take them out with the Titan, Soldiers and Rocket Artillery. Keep in mind that any Rocket Artillery you deploy in phase 1 is going to be almost completely useless in phase 2 so make sure to have Artillery/Hammers deployed once phase 1 is complete.
Phase 2 – Capturing the Outpost
Immediately upon completing phase 1, anyone in or close to a Husky/Armadillo needs to beeline for the forward spawn. Remember that you can reach it either by going through the tunnel which will often be mined and have AVTs waiting at its exit or by going left of the tunnel and across the narrow pass. As soon as someone manages to take the forward spawn anyone not doing something more important (MCP/Titan driver, etc.) should wait for the respawn clock to tick down to 2-3 seconds then use the kill command to respawn at the forward spawn to ensure its protection. Mine the forward spawn (I prefer proximity mines but feel free to experiment) and start heading out to wear down the defenses the Strogg have started to erect. Speed is critical in phase 2. Don’t give the Strogg the chance to catch a breath.
Upon the completion of phase 1, 2 new deployable locations open up near the maps larger bridge. I recommend using these spaces for an AVT pointing towards the outpost in the nearest space and either an APT covering the forward spawn exit and the AVT from behind or a second AVT either also pointing toward the outpost or pointing towards the bridge to hopefully catch a Cyclops off guard. If you’re either of the Covertops that dropped two radars on these spaces in my last game please unbind your deployable key. I feel that at least one AVT pointing towards the outpost is critical because it gives the Titan that we are about to bring up a little bit more safe room to work with.
The Titan is the pivotal unit during phase 2. Once the forward spawn is captured, bring it up on the left path being careful not to drive it into the lake. I don’t recommend going through the tunnel unless the MCP has made it at least to the ramp between the tunnel exit and the objective because you won’t have any space to maneuver which is extremely dangerous. When driving the Titan in phase 2 try to adopt a blitzkrieg mentality. You want to shoot any deployables you see enough to disable them but you really can’t afford to take even 2-3 extra shots to completely destroy them, let your infantry come up and do the mop up jobs. You should keep the Titan close enough to the battle to be able to disable any Strogg deployables and destroy any Strogg vehicles that are a threat to your infantry but no closer. Do NOT try to “go Rambo” and hold the outpost or the Strogg spawn by yourself. The Strogg are just going to swarm you to death then run over your infantry with their own vehicles.
The really hard part about driving the Titan in phase 2 is the shear number of effective weapons the Strogg have to throw at you: the Cyclops, Tormentor, Desecrator(s), Hog(s), Icarus(es), AVTs, Violators, Plasma Artillery, Soldiers, and Grenades all can make short work of you. You need to constantly think to yourself “What is the biggest threat to me on the battlefield? Where is my next threat going to come from? How can I get to a relatively safe spot to make repairs?” and react accordingly. Always have a gunner. A gunner can drastically reduce the level of threat you face from infantry grenades, Soldiers, the Icarus, and to a lesser extent Hogs and the Tormentor. The best combos I have found so far are either medic driver/eng gunner or eng driver/eng gunner. You are going to have to repair the Titan several times if the Strogg team is anywhere close to evenly matched.
If you aren’t confident in your ability to quickly move in/out of the Titan to repair it as necessary, launch decoys, effectively evade incoming fire, and accurately return fire all simultaneously then I don’t recommend using the Titan in phase 2. Practice on one of the many empty servers till you get the hang of it. I personally find binding mouse2 to _vehicleCamera in the vehicle context to be very helpful at quickly switching between “driving” and “firing” modes. Try not to run over too many of your teammates while evading enemy fire.
If your team has designated you (either by request or by default) to be your teams Titan driver make sure to set your respawn to the main GDF base.
If you want to be more aggressive with vehicles try grabbing an Armadillo and parking it right in the middle of the Strogg spawn. Use the machine gun to sliver any vehicles (take out 95% of their health but do not destroy them), disable any deployables, and mow down as much infantry as you can. Your life expectancy isn’t going to be very high with this tactic but if you can sliver a few vehicles, disable a deployable or two and hold back 1 or 2 waves of Strogg reinforcements it’s a huge win for your team.
The biggest mistake I see most GDF teams guilty of after poor (or even no) use of the Titan during this phase is too many medics/engineers making suicide runs on a MCP that is getting hammered from all directions and is just going to be immediately disabled even if they miraculously manage to get it repaired. If your team is being almost completely suppressed by vehicles and turrets you need to think hard about changing your class to Soldier to help with the vehicles or Fieldops to disable/destroy the turrets. 2 engineers and a medic is really all you need to repair the MCP during this phase, additional engineers/medics would really do more for their team by helping to clear the way for the MCP, changing class if necessary.
NEVER drive the MCP backwards and remember that you need to hit the _activate key to deploy the MCP once you have reached the objective.
Covertops don’t seem to be particularly effective during this phase. 1 player on your team should keep counter-sniping enemy Infiltrators if they are proving to be pesky but remember your mission is to keep them off your engineers, not to pick off the whole Strogg team from a hawk-eye view. EMPing important vehicles and critical turrets as well as hacking the Strogg AIT to open the door for hammer strikes are two notable ways that experienced Covertops can really distinguish themselves and contribute to a quick phase 2 completion for their team.