[PVP] Guide on Team Battle

After playing numerous Team Battle games with a variance of players of all skill levels from many different corporations, I think that a quick guide for the Team Battle game mode is necessary for some players, and would help a lot of others. Look at this as more of a strategy guide than a “how to play” guide.

 

If you don’t understand how Team Battle works, check FunkyDonut’s post.

 

(I will reference T3 ships since that’s what I play most)

 

Basic Strategy:

 

Team Battle, despite its simple-sounding nature, is more complex than people like to think. When Team Battle comes up, most people think “yay, team death-match.” Which is somewhat true. While the objective of Team Battle is to get a certain number of kills, there is more to the game mode than just simply killing each other. A successful game of Team Battle requires a large amount of teamwork as well as knowledge of game mechanics and strategies.

 

The first part of being able to win a game of Team Battle is being able to work as a team with the other players, just as the name implies. While it helps to be in a squad of other players where you are directly connecting via Skype, TeamSpeak, or another method, you can play with a team of randoms and still practice teamwork. A huge objective that many people overlook with any PVP game mode is to defend the engineer(s). The engineer(s) of a team are an essential part of every team that must be protected at all costs. The engineer provides heal buffs for the team as well as the occasional warp gate. Having a great engineer on the team is great and all, but he/she won’t be able to do much unless the team protects them. Now protect does not mean constantly circle them with every ship on the team. Protecting an engie means that if they come under attack, if you are within 4-5k meters, you should do your best to intercept the attacker and either force them away from your engie or kill them. Part of playing as a team also goes beyond protecting your engie. If numerous members of your team are “pinging” an enemy, there is a good chance that enemy is either doing very well, or is a target that is vulnerable and can be taken out easily. It is important to differentiate. Good players can usually be judged by their skill rating before the game starts. If a teammate is pinging a player that you have seen has a good skill rating or you have seen getting a lot of kills, it is not smart to pursue them with the goal of killing them in mind. They usually are smart enough to lure you back to their team where you are suddenly a vulnerable target. Concentrating fire is a good idea, but pursuing is not always a good idea. A target can be deemed vulnerable if they are a ship with no easy-escape modes (tacklers and recons have the best modes of escape) that is way in front of their team. These players are usually good players to pursue, as it will usually result in a free kill for your team. Don’t pursue them farther than you can safely escape. There is nothing worse than getting lured into the entire enemy team.

 

That is about all there is to Team Battle, yet, some people still don’t seem to get it. Teamwork is the foundation for all successful games, but is especially important for Team Battle.

 

"Advanced" Strategies (for flying in a squad):

 

Once you understand and have made a habit of using the basic strategies of Team Battle, applying “advanced” strategies becomes very easy. When flying in a squad, you can either play with a designated leader (the squad leader) who calls most of the shots, or if your squad works well enough together, you can play without a designated leader. Most of the best squads you will see won’t have a designated leader, since they know how to work together.

 

Squad setups will vary from squad to squad, but most of the extremely effective squads will have and engineer. The squad members will always have protecting their engie in mind. Since they are usually using TeamSpeak or Skype, it is easy to know when your engie is being attacked, since he/she will usually tell you to help. Below will be some common and effective squad setups (for 4) and the purposes for the squads.

 

Kill Squad:

Engie

2x Gunship

Command

This squad setup is very popular in the top corporations. The engineer will usually be a Styx in T3, and the gunships a combo of 2 of the following (T3): Nukem, Desert Eagle, Wolf M. The squad will also usually have a command to provide resistance, damage, and/or speed buffs. Whether it is an Empire or Jericho command depends on the player’s preference. This squad setup is one of the best for Team Battle.

 

Survival:

Engie

2x Guard

Command

This squad setup is very common in T2 and fairly common in T3. It is very good at surviving large amounts of incoming fire while dealing a decent amount of damage. The engie obviously provides healing, the command resistance, and the guards provide debuffs likes missile shield, mass engine inhibitor, and weapon inhibitors. This squad setup isn’t the best for Team Battle, but it can work well if used correctly.

 

"Fast and Furious"

Engie (Federation required)

2x cov ops

ECM

This squad type is very effective and is also popular among the top corporations. A federation engineer is required for this to work well, since the engineer needs to stay fairly close to the interceptors. The Valor is probably the best choice in T3, but the Anaconda can work. The covert ops interceptors should be federation. The Kite and Eagle-B are the best choices. The ECM can be either Jericho or Empire, it depends on player preference. Jericho ECMs tend to be better dogfighters, while Empire ECMs are great for squads. This squad setup relies heavily on the engineer’s healing, the ECM’s disabling, and the high DPS of the covert ops. This squad type can shred enemies with little trouble.

 

While other squad setups exist, these are probably the most common and most effective for team battle.

I hope this guide is helpful. Sorry for the length, but many players don’t seem to do these things.

Leave comments, suggestions, or thoughts. Please share your ideas on how to play Team Battle better, I don’t know everything.

Engineer is in cover yet near enough to support teammates. Hark! A random interceptor approaches! No one returns the GD favor to the engineer.

Engineer is in cover yet near enough to support teammates. Hark! A random interceptor approaches! No one returns the GD favor to the engineer.

Every single time I put an engi in my lineup, play solo and apparently nobody wants to wear out their Styx this game.

Engineer is in cover yet near enough to support teammates. Hark! A random interceptor approaches! No one returns the GD favor to the engineer.

 

And thus there are moments when I started off with a Styx, and ended up flying a Parallax.

 

 

Every single time I put an engi in my lineup, play solo and apparently nobody wants to wear out their Styx this game.

 

If they even have an engie to begin with.

I see people bringing T1 engineers without heals into a T3 match…

Few days ago there was a guy with only 1 ship in team battle, engineer (the only one of the team for that matter) that had the 2 stations, warp gate and the wall. 

Was on <100 hp, barely any shields and under heavy fire, saw the [+] and went for it.

Saw the station buff, but no auras. Then saw his barrier placed between him and an asteroid (could’ve saved me in this situation).

He was “smart enough” to sit on his drones, so a single missile destroyed the 2 drones and both stations at once.

 

But he is forgiven. Every newbie have his troubles.

 

The problem is that it needs to be said that some mods are CONTINUOUS, so we do not see engineers and commands that do not use their auras and when you draw their attention somehow they start turning them on and off. And I am sure not to troll you, because they are damaged as well, but still do not get full benefits.

Re: Buff auras

 

First, the player in question may have recently respawned and not noticed.  Second, the player in question may have been hit by an ECM and not yet noticed.

 

Option three, he hasn’t learned the game yet and shouldn’t have advanced the ship tree.

 

We all know that three is more than one.

yeah, they should include tutorials for persistant buffs in the game. (like the tutorial for new players, where you get to fly an op ship on training grounds and next match then have to fight super weak bots in a practice match)

 

And while your at it, include in the tutorial, that you’ll benefit and live longer, if you protect your engies.

 

Sometimes, engi is a sucky job, because noone cares to give you some backup, if your sitting in a position where everyone gets your heals.

TDM is the easiest and most plain game mode in SC. Just kill stuff, and don’t die. Any ship will do, because all your team will stay close and you will be able to bring support ships (ecm-command-tackler) which in other games won’t be that useful playing solo.

 

It is not the funniest match, but it is entertaining.

 

The main problem is that sometimes, your team just keep feeding and no matter what you cannot keep on killing people at the same rate than your allies are dying.

that lonely silent fox player feeding the oncoming frigball

Need to add the FOLLOWING if playing an Engineer in Team Battle.     

 

As the designated HEALER you job is to stay ALIVE and HEAL and NOT to be going toe to toe with opposing ships.   You should be taking care of the second line… meaning assisting in taking out any ships that have cross into your area ( behind the front line) 

Need to add the FOLLOWING if playing an Engineer in Team Battle.     

 

As the designated HEALER you job is to stay ALIVE and HEAL and NOT to be going toe to toe with opposing ships.   You should be taking care of the second line… meaning assisting in taking out any ships that have cross into your area ( behind the front line) 

Tell it to ELMustacho…

I see people bringing T1 engineers without heals into a T3 match…

 

Those tranny engies. They cheat my feelings.

 

that lonely silent fox player feeding the oncoming frigball

 

Not always… I found the Silent Fox more effective than the Katana AE. 

 

 

Tell it to ELMustacho…

 

There’s a difference between overextending and advancing with backup.

Another piece of good advice - Get to the middle of the map! It’s where the best cover is, and it’ll help give a space buffer to prevent spawncamps if your entire team dies. If you stay in spawn, you’re asking to be spawncamped, and if you go to the enemy side of the map, well, you’re probably out of position.

 

I say this because for some reason I got put in the <1300 SR queue for T4/5 and was thus put on a team that was more or less all frigates that stayed in spawn, quickly dying to several interceptors that knew how to focus fire. Finding out that your entire team is half a map away is a bad thing!

Tell it to ELMustacho…

 

 

LOL    Keyword   Designated Healer  meaning your the ONLY engi.      

 

Also   ElMustacho when in his attack type and Ludwig in his support type mantra ( and a few others) along with thier exceptional level of skill with the engineer frigate and should not be considered as an NORM level of plain\average Joe or Jane frigate engineer.

Engineers should be at the front.  It tells your teammates they’re a bunch of little xxxxxxx for not advancing.  The engineer’s there, buf auras are there, why aren’t you?

Tell it to ELMustacho…

I love it when he warps onto our spawn in the first second in sector conquest, to try and kill our engi.  He almost managed as well! (Came back in his cov ops to finish the job).  A good job his fourth ship was a Mauler that he could sit back and hide in…

 

In don’t know how he plays as an engi though

I love it when he warps onto our spawn in the first second in sector conquest, to try and kill our engi.  He almost managed as well! (Came back in his cov ops to finish the job).  A good job his fourth ship was a Mauler that he could sit back and hide in…

 

In don’t know how he plays as an engi though

CovOp, Mauler on ELMustacho, what reality is this…

If I have a bad team it seems they all like to hide behind me instead of protect me and attack the other team.

Need to add the FOLLOWING if playing an Engineer in Team Battle.     

 

As the designated HEALER you job is to stay ALIVE and HEAL and NOT to be going toe to toe with opposing ships.   You should be taking care of the second line… meaning assisting in taking out any ships that have cross into your area ( behind the front line) 

 

Being an aggressive engineer is good if you know how to do it. Putting constant pressure with your weapons on the enemy and not simply staying hidden for 12 minutes while your mates do the rest.