Guide on Capturing

I noticed that a lot of players, even many nightmare league players, lack some understanding to the capture zone, so I decided to share my advice on this topic
Tactical Captures (the captures that don’t capture to 100% but to gain advantage in play) isn’t discussed in this thread, I’ll keep that for another day.
If you disagree with anything I stated please share your thoughts in the comments!

First of all, I will address the 5 key factors in a successful capture.
1. Enemy Location - Capturing is more likely to succeed when the enemy is isolated from the capture zone.
2. Teammate / Enemy ship types - For example having multiple speeders vs no speeders is an advantage that should be utilized, different maps have different optimal matchups for capturing.
3. Teammate Mindset - Capuring is rarely a one man job, if you know your teammates won’t cooperate, then you shouldn’t attempt a capture.
4. Map - Some maps are easier to isolate the enemy away from the capture zone than others.
5. Capture Call - A person should call “Capture” if they think time is right. Other players should respond “Yes” or “Negative” after evaluating the situation. If the player is highly experienced, I recommend you to just reply “Yes”.

Now after the basics, here are the 4 roles I determined in a capture process.
1. Camper (1~3)
A camper should always stay out of the enemy’s line of fire, don’t risk taking shots at the enemy when you are at risk of getting hit.
Losing a high Capture Percentage(CP) could be the turning point in a game. In most situations, campers should be ships who have the least firepower/lower infamy. There is no point in having more than three campers since CP maxes out at 3%/sec!
Preferred ship types: Varies for each map & matchup. Use brain!

2. Blocker (1~2)
The main idea of a blocker is to protect the campers while being in the capture zone too. Your main job is to trick the enemy thinking that you have high CP and taking hits for the campers. You should keep track of how much CP each camper has and try to get the enemy to focus on you.
Preferred ship type: Anyone.

3. Distractor (1~2)
The distractor should focus on keeping the enemy away from the capture zone. For example, blocking narrow pathways with mines, slowing them with ice, launching mortars in their paths etc. But most importantly, hide around corners, play cat & mouse with your opponent, DO NOT die quickly or else the enemy will have a clear pathway to stop your capture.
Preferred ship type: Shooter, Yellow Boats.

4. Suicider(0~1)
When CP is close to 100%, and the enemy is on the verge of hitting a camper, a blocker or distractor can turn into a suicider, the suicider should speed right into the opponent and absorb as much firepower as they can, low hp targets usually have a higher priority than stopping captures. Suiciders need to be smart and get the timing right otherwise it’ll look like a stupid play.
Preferred Ship type: Speeder, Fixer.

Hope this helps

P.S. Don’t even try to capture by yourself when there’s less than 1:40 on the clock please. It’s so frustrating when you get a draw instead of guaranteed win like this

 

Really good guide pls add one more pt never ever go for capture when the match has just started.

 

Wayward pains and chillzone require speeders be in the capture zone at the very start

 

No they don't I will show you a perfect example watch antisnipe video on yt titled don't wake the kraken or something there he went for capture In the start and his team started to lose if he hadn't comeback the team would have lost the match.
Having one member doing capture from the start of the match means less fire power on your team which means your team can be easily overpowered and it usually leaves the capture guy in the end for unfriends to pick him/her off at Thier own pleasure

 

you can get away with it easily if your mates are supportive on hammering and keeping your unfriends busy. they won't even notice the capture until 50% or so. at times i saw speeders laying up mines on pathways and choke points before even stepping in the capture zone. (sneaky bastard)

 

Thanks, but I think sometimes it’s ok for players to go straight for the capture zone, if the team knows how to complement it.
For example, 2 speeder 3 non yellow boats vs 5 non yellow boats on Chill Zone, then the 2 speeders going straight to the Capture zone is a viable option. Only if your team knows how to cooperate, of course.

 

HEY NICE GUIDE


I POSTED IT IN ANOTHER THREAD, THESE ARE SOME MAPS WHERE CAPTURE WORKS BEST ACCORDING TO ME.

CHILL ZONE AND WAYWARD PINES :-You can effectively capture if there are speeder in your team and enemy doesn't. Since capture points are too far from spawn sites

DAMAGE DEPOT :- capturing divides the team, either they get exposed while trying to stop capture from main entrance or Get diverted in choke point in corner(entrance near spawn site). Again advantage when you have speeder and enemy doesn't.

THE FOUNDRY :-Most effective central capture point when you don't have a fixer in your team. If all 5 teammates co-operate either enemy team loses while healing and hiding, or they have to attack continuously without healing to prevent capture

Although we did win once in SUB ZERO Against three fixers by capturing

 

Yeah thats what I want to say but in my opinion it's not good to go straight to capture zone if other team has even one yellow boat and no one should not go about capturing when team has not provided with an affirmative for that.
Like they will help with capture or not.
I really think the capture requires greater team effort than the normal winning requires.

 

I said that pt because ur answers seemed kinda generic and without any consideration for the composition of opposite team members and whether your team is supportive of it or not.

 

I don’t think i needed to elaborate that you also need to consider your team composition. As already said by @Babablacksheep you ought to use them noggins before deciding to capture. The point is these maps (chill zone / wayward pains) gives you the best chances to win by capture.