Spiral Knights - Lockdown for Dummies (A long list of tips and advice)

Lockdown for Dummies (A long list of tips and advice)

86 replies [Last post]

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 05:50

marles

Legacy Username

Are you tired of losing game after game of Lockdown? Looking for advice about Lockdown in general or what to do in certain situations? Your questions will be answered (hopefully mostly) here.

First off; who am I and why should you care about what I say about Lockdown? My IGN is Skankingrove and I have played A LOT of Lockdown since the release. I was ranked 2nd overall between release and the first reset. (Yes, we know ranking depends on most time spent playing; but it also helps to win most rounds that you play in.) I decided to write an advice thread for Lockdown because I constantly see people make poor decisions while playing Lockdown. These generally bad decisions frustrate the player and their team because, who are we kidding? Everybody likes to win, especially when winning involves beating other players senseless.

As you go through and read this thread please let me know what you think about it through in game mail, message, or responding to the thread to keep it on the first page. I have a lot of tips to give, so if I miss anything or if you have any questions still, respond back here or by mail and I will try to answer them.

My advice is based off of playing in tier 3 Lockdown, I am unsure how the game plays out in tier 1 and tier 2 so if some of the advice does not fit in all tiers I am sorry in advance. I will first go over some general tips, then I will give tips for each class and tips for how to deal with each class.

Remember, this is a game involving a lot of STRATEGY so think about what you are or will be doing, don't just blindly charge into battle around the map. Work as a team.

Again, please please please let me know if this is helpful for you with bumps or messages or if you really enjoyed it a small donation, anything helps and it was time consuming to put this together. Thank you.

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GENERAL TIPS
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What kind of armor should I wear?
So far, it doesn't really look like any high defenses really contribute to keep you alive long. With that being said, skolver and vog sets work very well if you use swords. Try to wear an armor and helmet that give some sort of bonus to you, be it attack speed, attack damage, or extra health. Charge time reduction (with the exception of bombs) is not as useful in Lockdown so try to get other bonuses. Also, if you have status UV's on your armor/helmet it can prove to help enormously. The most common statuses in Lockdown are freeze, shock, stun, and fire. Freeze and shock resist should be your priority.

What kind of weapons should I use?
This mostly depends on preference but try to have more than one option. What I mean is, even if you only have 2 weapon slots, carry a sword and a gun around with you (or bomb etc.). It isn't a good idea to have all your weapon slots filled with the same exact type of weapon (for example 2 weapon slots available and filled with gran faust and divine avenger). Different situations call for different actions and your weapon choice can make or break those situations. As stated before, armor and helmet defenses don't seem to make much of a difference so use what you prefer and are used to using (2 hit heavy swords, 3 hit quick swords, guns, etc.)

What if I am placed in the wrong tier?
This happens fairly often, tier 1 or 2 players are thrown in with tier 3 and don't stand much of a chance. I suggest picking guardian no matter what class you normally play as. Being in a higher tier, you will have much less health and won't be able to stand up to even a single hit from an enemy. By picking guardian not only will you be able to stay alive by shielding, but you can help heal and defend your own team. The healing ability of the guardian will help your team pull ahead much better than you trying to cloak or charge your way in to getting (most likely) only one or two hits in before getting killed.

What to do about freeze bombs:
If your teammate is the one freezing opponents (first be thankful) make sure you protect them. A frozen opponent is an easy kill but only if you play your cards right. Whatever you do, DO NOT shoot them with a weak gun. By shooting your opponent you are freeing them with little damage, afterward they can run away or move in to attack you. Instead, even if you primarily use guns, pull out a good sword and run around behind to hit them a time or two.

If your enemy is the one laying freeze bombs (or any bombs really), be very careful fighting near them. In Lockdown, any status effect is VERY unwelcome and can be an easy cause of death. The best thing to do in a situation like this is pull out your gun and try to shoot them as many times as possible. Shooting keeps you out of range from being frozen but also interrupts their bomb charge. If you interrupt their bomb charging enough, the freezing mist will end and you can run in to finish them off. After a couple shots they may run away or you may be luck enough to even get a kill out of it.

What do I do if the other team moves together and is hard to kill?
Time after time I see people throw themselves against this sort of brick wall hoping to be a hero. This is NOT what you want to do, you are NOT Rambo. Very very rarely will you see one person go up against most or all of the other team at once and be the one to survive. There is a very powerful option to solve this problem which seems counter-intuitive to most. Your team should split up completely and take as many points as you can simultaneously. Usually when a team is clumped up at one point they have taken all or most of the capture points already and are just trying to defend. Run around them to every other capture point. When they see a capture point go neutral they will start to run there to retake the point. If you neutralize more than one point, their group will become disorganized (due to having to stand still defenseless if they want to type orders) and all split to which ever point they think they should take. Once they split they will be much easier to kill and it will then be easier to take back control of the map. This strategy works VERY well in maps with 5 capture points. Just remember that all capture points are equal and you don't HAVE to have the point right in front of your base at all times, the important thing is to have more points than the other team.

This leads into another good point. You don't have to control everypoint to win a game. Sure you want to outscore your opponents as much as possible, but being too greedy in Lockdown can come back to cost you the game. Play it safe on the capture points. Try to always be ahead by one capture point or at least even with the opponent. Don't start out by trying to take every point at once. It's also important to stay on a capture point as much as possible during fights.

If you are defending a point, staying on the point while fighting keeps the opponent from capturing it for that much longer; this means more points for your team and less points for theirs. The same idea goes for when you are attacking a point; you will take the point quicker after killing your opponents and earn more points.

Use the vision range of the spiral knights HUD to your advantage as much as possible. Because of the angling of the screen, you can see much more above your character than below your character. Take advantage of this by approaching enemies from below. You will be able to see how many there are and what they are doing well before they even know you are there. The element of surprise can give you an early hit in the battle and really win it for you, even if you are fighting more than just one person. Similarly, a large amount of the left side of the screen is filled with teammate health bars; approaching from the right may help you the say way as from below. You might walk under the cover of their teammates health bars!

Do something unexpected! There are many examples that can be said here, but what is important is that you surprise your enemy and don't let them predict and respond to what you are doing. For example, if you are running away from somebody, if they get close, quickly turn and smack them. Most often they are planning on hitting you only once they have caught up to you. They think you will continue running, so you will be able to get in your hit first. Similarly, if somebody is approaching a point you are defending meet them half way with your sword first.

When approaching a capture point occupied by an enemy that isn't taken by them yet, try to scare them away before completing the capture. By stopping the enemy from completely capturing a point you will save time recapturing it and stop them from getting a few points too. It is fairly easy to scare somebody away from a capture point by shooting at them while you approach. The threat of damage usually pushes people away, at least until they figure out what is going on and decide what to do. By that point you will be close enough to also occupy the capture point to stop the capture and fight with them. Even if you lose you will have cost them several points. Doing this throughout the game can cause a lot of lost points. If you find yourself being shot at while on a capture point or attacked in general, try to dodge and stick it out. If you hang in there long enough for the capture you will gain some points and cause them to lose time by having to capture the point for longer.

Whatever you do in Lockdown, standing still should never be one of them. With the ability for recons to cloak, you never know when you'll be hit next. To make yourself a little harder of a target keep moving, even if capturing a point.

Random sporatic movements on a capture point can help you dodge a poorly timed recon attack and save you. If you are standing still and get it, it is mostly too late for you to survive the ambush.

When being attacked by a swordsman, wait for the best time to swing, don't wildly try to hit them. In lockdown most swordsman use a Gran Faust or Divine Avenger or a Barbarous Thorn Blade or Flourish. Time after time I see swordsman get greedy with their attacks and finish their combo, desperately trying to hit you. An easy time to hit such attackers is right after the final combo swing. For the slow weapons, wait until the second swing goes before running in for your hit. For the faster swords, wait for the third. But don't make the same mistake, try only swinging at them once and backing off. By doing this you won't be hit and can hit them again once they make the same mistake over and over again.

If you are farther away from somebody with a sword out, shoot at them! You can wittle down their health to make your close ranged fight easier. Sometimes, you may even get them to pull out a gun of their own; take advantage of this by running in and changing to a sword, you will be able to do more damage like this.

If you are being attacked by a gunner, try to move in as close as possible. When shooting, they cannot move as fast so keep dodging and closing the gap between you and them. They will have to run around while aiming at you which won't be too easy. Once you get within range, a couple sword swings can mean easy victory.

If you get low on health, don't be afraid to run back to base and heal; those heal pads are there for a reason! This is especially true if you are already close to the base or are a striker and can dash there and back. Any amount of missing health can save your enemy from having to hit you an extra time. You never know when you'll survive by only half a pip and be truly thankful you healed. It's much better to run and heal real quick than to die and be stuck with a long respawn time and then run back to where you were.

Be one step ahead of your opponents. If you see on the map that they just took a capture point, it isn't necessarily best to run and take back that same capture point. Instead, try running to the next capture point that they don't own next to where they just took one. Most likely you can head them off and hopefully kill and stop them. Then you will have more time to go take the point they just took. Sometimes it's better to run between your own points and defend than to run to neutral or their points to capture.

It is VERY important to stay in capture points with your allies until it is competely captured unless it is a dire circumstance. Too much do players sit in capture points until it is neutral and then run off just to find an enemy to fight. By waiting just a few more seconds until it is completely captured you gain many things. First, you will can points quicker, nobody ever complains about more points. Second, when you leave the capture point, you won't be alone! By waiting to complete capture your ally is available to run off with you wherever you go, greatly increasing both of your chances for survival.

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GUARDIAN TIPS
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The guardian is a very important class in lockdown and can really help your team win. It is important as a guardian to be shielding as often as you can. By healing your teammates and shielding them you can really change the tide of a battle. The healing can help your teammates survive much longer and accumulate more points than if you weren't there.

If played right, the guardian can also single handedly defend a capture point for long periods of time. Remember to shield attacks if fighting against somebody and, again, waiting until the right moment to strike. You want to make sure

you have ample time to attack and put your shield back up so that you don't take damage. And when you do take damage, you can heal yourself with the shield.

Follow your teammates around making sure they have as much health as you can give them, this cannot be said enough.

When fighting a guardian be careful not to linger in front of them attacking, otherwise the shield will lower right when you are done and cannot escape and you will surely lose the battle.
If you are a striker, try rushing in for one attack at a time to chip at their shield. Once it breaks you can hit them several times easily without them getting away. Try to bait them into taking a bad swing at you so you can hit them while their shields are down.
Recon players should cloak and wait for the shield to lower for attacking.
The best time for any class to attack a shieldless guardian is when they are moving between capture points, shielding will slow them down greatly so they will most likely be running unshielded.

If you are capturing a point and a defender is running towards you, shoot them! The guardians will 99% of the time raise their shield to stop incoming damage. This is exactly what you want. When their shield is hit they will be stopped

for a small period of time. Just keep shooting and then by the time they make it to you you will have already taken the capture point because they moved too slow.

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RECON TIPS
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The most important attribute of the recon class is patience. Waiting on the sidelines cloaked for the right moment to strike is what you should be doing. Try to put death marks on your opponents before striking to get the full effectiveness of your attack.

Be VERY careful of where you walk when you are near capture points cloaked. I get asked often in games "how I can see cloaked people," the answer is simply that I can't but I use a few tricks to know of their presence. Regardless of cloaking, there are capture point cues to tell people that you are near them. If nobody is on the capture point and you are, the "capture" ring will begin moving. If somebody sees the ring moving but nobody in the point, they know a cloaked person is there somewhere.

Do NOT stand in the direct center if capturing while cloaked. Most often people will swing at the middle first as it is instinct to wait in the center. Try standing on the very edge and moving away from somebody approaching.

If somebody is capturing a point, do NOT run onto the point while cloaked. The capture ring will stop moving because you are contesting the point and this will also let them know that they are not alone. Take the few extra seconds to walk to the nearest edge around the point before moving in for the attack.

Use the radar jam and death mark notifications to your advantage. Sometimes giving these effects to an enemy is enough by itself to have them running away, off a capture point, frantically swinging and shooting in every direction.

When fighting a recon, use your gun to try to find where they are standing. Shooting some bullets into where you think a recon might be could reveal their presence and save your life while damaging them a little bit. When standing on a capture point be aware of the capture point ring indications described above. Also, if you are defending a capture point that is in your possession, stand outside of the capture point on the far side from where attacks would approach. By doing this you could get the recon to run into the capture point while moving towards you, when the capture ring starts moving, you know there is somebody cloaking coming to you.

If you are capturing or defending a point, shoot your gun where a recon might come from to get an early warning if you land a hit.

If you see a recon cloak while running somewhere, try to gauge their move speed and attack at that location. Recons very often continue running the same direction they were before cloaking, by leading their path a bit you can usually get a hit on them while they are cloaked (and not expecting to be hit).

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STRIKER TIPS
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The biggest advantage you have is speed and this leads to very crucial gameplay but the striker. Being able to out run the other classes opens up many good uses of this ability.

Sprinting to capture points obviously means capturing the point a second or two earlier than normal. However, it might be smarter to boost most of the way there and walk a short distance so that the boost ability recharges. Allowing the ability to recharge before you get to the capture point keeps you a safer if an attack from an enemy comes shortly after arriving. If you arrive to the point with no boost left and come under attack, you are left defenseless until the ability recharges.

Use boost to catch fleeing enemies and kill them before they can make it back to base to heal and return to the fight. By killing the enemy instead of letting them run allows you to reduce the pure strength of the other team for a short period as well as their ability to take and capture points.

The boost ability is also useful to catch opponents off guard and get in an easy first hit if you are charging in from a blind spot. Use the speed to your advantage so that they don't have enough time to react.

Don't be afraid to use guns as a striker. The striker class doesn't give a direct stat boost to guns but it the speed boost can help you keep your distance from a fight and continue to shoot at your enemies. If you are able to shoot at

an enemy with a sword AND boost to keep your distance from them you can pack in a lot of damage (not to mention frustration) without being hit.

If you see a group of enemies near you, boost by them and keep going. The recons and defenders cannot keep up but you may manage to pull some strikers from the pack. You will have a better chance fighting just the strikers than the whole group and your team will have an easier time fighting the group now that the strikers have run elsewhere. Try to use the boost to split up or distract the enemy team.

When fighting a striker, do your best to predict their moves. Most often they will try to boost around to hit your back. Instead, if you are swinging, attack directly backwards with the next combo swing. You may hit them while they are charging right into you.

Try to keep them sprinting around until you see the shield break animation. Once their speed boost is run out you will have the advantage and they will be slow and defenseless. With the health decrease for the class they will take fewer hits to kill.

The lowered health also helps finish them with guns. Try shooting an approaching striker, you may do enough damage to them to allow you to kill them with only one sword swing. If you hit them with a sword and they start to back off, try shooting them; again, you might finish them off before they flee back to get healed.

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 06:10

Negimasonic

If your teammate is the one

If your teammate is the one freezing opponents (first be thankful) make sure you protect them. A frozen opponent is an easy kill but only if you play your cards right. Whatever you do, DO NOT shoot them with a weak gun. By shooting your opponent you are freeing them with little damage, afterward they can run away or move in to attack you. Instead, even if you primarily use guns, pull out a good sword and run around behind to hit them a time or two.

This so much T_T I've been killed because someone poked them and they unthawed and killed me instead >.>

I like just about everything written here.

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 06:31

Marcet

Hey thanks!

I've actually played a couple rounds with or against you not realizing you were one of the leaderboard players and honestly I found those games really enjoyable regardless of whether I won or lost. I have a lot of respect for people who play for the fun of the game.
I read through all your tips and they're especially helpful compared to the 'so and so weapon is overpowered' drabble that's been on the forum lately. Thank you for taking the time to write this. I've been a solid guardian player but I think I might test out a few other classes and strategies soon with some of your tips. I'm also glad to hear that damage type resists don't matter as much, I've been playing in a mixed set so seeing so many skulver and vog sets when I first started playing PvP did alarm me at first that I was going to have big issues.
Any survival tips for a (mostly) 4* player going up against 5* players?

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 07:13

Arimal

This is all top notch advice

This is all top notch advice and fairly well written maybe something to be assimilated into the wiki along the lines of the sword master and gunslingers guides.

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 07:29

Rangerwillx

Excellent advice, as me a

Excellent advice, as me a recon I believe I will be much more skilled at surviving and dealin dmg now. Thanks!

Regards,

~Rangerwill~

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 07:30

Rangerwillx

Double post..

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 12:55

marles

Legacy Username

Ferbulo, I'm glad to hear

Ferbulo, I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed our games together win or lose. It's also nice to know that you remembered me :). As a 4* player going up against 5* (and what I have been calling T3+ or 5*+, which is somebody with 5* equipment and 2 really helpful trinkets), I can't give too much more advice about surviviing. If you find that you are dying in one hit from other players in the game, I cannot stress enough how careful you have to be. I realize it must be frustrating at times playing in games with people that have better equipment but if you focus on playing well and thinking things out instead of charging in to your death, you can probably perform pretty well. Also, like I said somewhere in the original post, if all else fails, switch to guardian and try to support the guys on your team with the godly equipment; I know I always appreciate being healed and shielded.

I hope this helps, I know it wasn't much of an answer different from my post. If you have other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

I am also glad you others enjoyed the post.

EDIT: I realized something else to say. I THINK but am not 100% about how the defense system works in Lockdown. It doesn't SEEM like resistances help at all, not to say that the don't actually do anything. What I mean is, I primarily use the gran faust in battle, regardless of another persons equipment (I have been using the gran faust a long time and am very comfortable with the swing speed, radius, and range of the attack). I usually kill people in two hits with it, and I've killed people in full skelly gear in two hits with it also. They may actually be taking a little less damage than people without and shadow defense, but the knights do so much damage in lockdown that it isn't enough to save them from dying in two hits.

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 13:13

Xylka-Mkii

Rawr

We Die so fast because we use swords made to make short work of enemies in the clockworks. No reason why we can two-shot each other...and then whine about it... ( you know who you are)

Anyway great tips for LD

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 14:04

skyblaze101

Legacy Username

Your tips seem very helpful! I should try them out!

As of now, I haven't tried your tips, but they seem very helpful! You gave me a new perspective on each class, not to mention tips on how to conquer the class I'm most horrible with: Striker.

Also, if you don't mind, I'd like to add that using bombs to uncover Recons is very useful. The only bomb I have at the moment is the Crystal Bomb (I'm a Tier 2 player), and it has been useful in uncovering Recons I had no idea were in the area. And if you have a Fiery Vaporizer (or some sort of bomb that creates a cloud with a good range), you could stay in the explosion's radius so the most common thing a Knight would do to stop you from bombing would be to use another bomb or use guns, both will reveal Recons. Then, you could just switch to your sword or gun and get rid of the Recon.

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 14:07

marles

Legacy Username

You're very correct about the

You're very correct about the bombs skyblaze. Although, I wouldn't solely rely on this type of revealing because of how the status resist seems to work. If somebody is recon with high enough resist to your bomb they will just stroll up through your mist to hit you. I hadn't thought about the bombs too much because I don't have any good bombs to use in T3 lockdown, thanks for your addition to the tips.

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 14:16

#10

Orangeo

Hi Skankingrove, I was in

Hi Skankingrove, I was in your guild for like, two days :\
Good good points on the armor, I emphasize that. I have all four defenses, in equal amounts, and nothing seems to one hit kill me. Tried elemental hood line, and only elemental weapons didn't kill me insta. Basicaly, my well rounded set takes 1.1 hits of everything, wheras jelly, skelly, and magic take 1.9. better to have 1.1 on everything, becuase that means it still takes two hit's to kill you. Less is more.
Status ressist's on the other hand, I cannot vouch for in that manner. Better to have full one status, just walk through fire/ice bombs and such. My set has full fire, half posin, and half curse weakness. and low ASI.

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 16:15

#11

Gwenyvier

Not a lot I can add to this

Not a lot I can add to this honestly, as you covered most of my strategies.

Can not agree more on marles advice for the people that get put in the wrong tier match (although from what I've seen its not usually accidental, they have a single 4* item equipped that puts them there). GO GUARDIAN! If you are 3* and in T3 people will target you first just to knock the number of opponents down faster otherwise. You would not believe how many times I've seen Duskers in T3 matches that decide to be Strikers and die to the first swing of my sword when they charge right at me.

Recons make amazing assassins if you know how to play the class correctly. Maxing out your damage with Skolver and trinkets can mean the difference between your enemy dying or not from the initial attack.

If you are good with more then one class do not be afraid of changing class and tactics in the middle of a match. I have seen close matches where a single person that knew what they were doing changed their loadout and class and that was what made their team win.

And a bit of advice I got from Vlad. If you have heart trinkets use them effectively. Your extra health does not mean anything if you do not use some skill, and the above advice by other posters, to keep yourself alive! You can take an extra hit, 2 max, use it to your advantage.

~Gwen

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 16:26

#12

marles

Legacy Username

Thanks for your approval and

Thanks for your approval and additions Gwen. I hope to see you around Lockdown more often, your skill in the game is refreshing and keeps the games more interesting.

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 19:07

#13

Gwenyvier

After reading the edit and

After reading the edit and thinking I remembered a couple other things. :D

Full Vog is immune to AoA, Skolver is immune to Shivermist, and I assume (but have not tested) that Mercurial is immune to Voltaic. Note that immunity does not mean it doesn't try to hit you, so if you walk through mist you're immune to while in Recon stealth mode your stealth is going to break (it counts as getting hit). How do I know? Take a wild guess... and the outcome of that little lesson.

You are right on the damage, at least in T3. Somebody in full Dread Skelly dies to Gran Faust just as fast as somebody in Vog. It's brought me to the conclusion (again, for T3) that while having 5* gear is useful for the HP boost and the normal defense. It would be interesting to see if somebody in one of the sets with insanely high normal defense would last longer versus the swords. You'll find that people in T3 lockdown don't use the armor as armor, they use it for its status resists and weapon bonuses. It is why for the most part Vog and Skolver still dominate, even though shadow damage rules supreme.

I hear that T2 is more balanced, but I actually have to craft gear for T2, lol. So I have not gotten a chance to try it yet. Although since heart trinkets give such a nice advantage in T3, I would assume they'd make you close to a god of death in T2 (two 3* trinkets, +8 HP, hello T3 HP amount).

~Gwen

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 19:29

#14

solkanar512

Legacy Username

One other thing I'd love to

One other thing I'd love to add:

STOP RUNNING OFF ALONE!

I can't tell you how many time I see a striker run off alone while the Guardians and Recons huff it behind trying to catch up. All to often the Striker is caught alone without support and gets slaughtered. Again and again, every time.

Knock it off, it makes you look stupid.

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 20:01

#15

Madfruitz

The whole striker "hitting

The whole striker "hitting them before they can react" i suspect is more due to them having a poor connection (or playing outside the US) than charging from the bottom/right of the screen, it makes a difference though, sure. But i can tell you that i've been hit by people doing this A LOT especially the first few times i played as i'd REACT to them being in range but, alas...what im seeing is not whats happening and i'd already been hit

Anyway good stuff putting this up. It really is unfortunate that defenses seem meaningless in tier3, even having good shadow resistance isnt enough to shift a GF from a 2 shot to 3 shot..perhaps with double trinkets and some UVs it might be doable but then you'll be getting one/two shot by everything else, making it kinda pointless. I was so tempted to make a balanced set, defense wise as well ;[

Tue, 09/20/2011 - 05:11

#16

Volkani

WHY CAN'T I KILL THIS GUARDIAN

If you're a Guardian and an opponent is using one of the mist bombs, you can shield and walk into the mist to tank forever. You'll keep blocking the mist and while that's happening nothing else can hit you. Earlier today I had four guys swinging at me and stood there for more than the half second you'd expect because the mist kept hitting me instead of any of their attacks. As a bonus, if you immune the mist (i.e. Skolver vs Shiver, Vog vs AoA, Magic set vs AoA/VT) you can counterattack them at will.

Having someone resistant to the enemy's status bomb is by far the easiest way to kill a bomb spammer, by the way. They'll keep trying to bomb thinking that you'll eventually take the status, right until you plant a sword in their face. Skolver (or hell, if I can no sell AoA/VT with 4*, Ash Tail should do it too) Striker will eat every single SA spammer in existence.

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 20:43

#17

kettelfish

Legacy Username

Addition to Solkanar's Point

...and after the Strikers get wiped, the enemy moves right in to massacre the slow Guardians who wanted to protect the speedy Strikers, but couldn't keep up.

As someone who plays almost exclusively Guardian, this drives me absolutely insane. I've been able to team up with either a single Striker or Recon to take tons of control points from seemingly superior forces, all because my teammate realized what my strength is - keeping them from taking damage while they're destroying the opposition (and getting in some pretty good damage myself if the enemy focuses on them too much). However, I've been on too many teams who go all Leeroy Jenkins, so that I get to the battle just in time to see my Strikers die and then I get to watch a bunch of enemy Strikers swarm me, destroy my shield and stomp all over my corpse. These teams typically lose (and make me want to quit in the middle of a match, which is another thing that should never be done). In short, protect your friendly Guardian and we'll try to return the favor.

My Guardian strategy is to pick someone who looks like they can deal a lot of damage (Vog, GF, DA) and try to stick with them. If they're shielded by me, they can usually two-hit kill with impunity, and we wipe the map with the competition. I usually get less than 4,000 damage on the end report, but I always feel good when the person I protected pulls top damage (which happens more often than not).

Hopefully this guide will save me a lot of facepalms. I only wish we could PvP team with people on our friends list. Then I wouldn't have to fight against Gwen anymore (and some others I've met who know how to fight with me).

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 20:51

#18

Speetz131

Legacy Username

Nice post! Very constructive.

Nice post! Very constructive. I haven't read all of it yet but plan too; though I have some advice. Maybe clean it up a little and make smaller paragraphs/more organized. Idk, I feel a little blindsided by the block of text.

Though I know it's hard on these forums compared to others (can't change font size etc)

Good job and great guide!

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 21:17

#19

Ozin

Legacy Username

Thanks

Thanks for the advice, I'm terrible at lockdown mainly because I do everything you say NOT to do.

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 22:35

#20

Twest

Good advice! I've played a

Good advice!

I've played a few games as you, my IGN is Sypsy.
I cannot stress the unfreezing comment enough. Infact, it's fun to charge up and 1 hit KO (and safer).

What are your thoughts on a striker with max asi & damage on swords in T3?
In my opinion, it's overpowered.
I have a polaris for guardians, a fast shiver for recons and I can get a DA swing in and dash before you can hit me back in my swing cooldown (sans lag, and if I'm not being a noob 90% of the time).
Suddenly, a lot of the strategies against the striker you mentioned fall away.

I've played others who have the same max asi/damage swords and a good use of the polaris, boy is it tough; they are really the only other players that give me a challenge. I think they are the people who garnish all the GF/DA hate in the forums recently...

Do you think they should limit the asi for the sealed sword series to vhigh?
I would be interested in what people's strategies are against such a quick, high damaged striker as a recon and guardian. Or is it flee on sight? (sometimes mine)

----

On a different note, @solkanar512 and @kettelfish, I will take your comments about sticking with guardians to heart. I am guilty of running off in an attempt to stall the enemy. But if I ever play with a good guardian, I'll try to play more defensively!

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 22:15

#21

Pyrosaber

WOW

this guide is really useful in fact flawless!

ive been a recon several times in Lockdown and using this ive killed countless recons (cloaked of course)

if you wanna try tier2 Lockdown my ign is Pyrosaber we may be teammates or opponents :D

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 23:18

#22

marles

Legacy Username

Thanks everybody for the

Thanks everybody for the positive feedback and additions to the listed advice. A bunch of those things are great tips that I didn't really know (the recon losing stealth to bombs they're immune to) as I have mostly played striker.

@Sypsy
I never had a problem with strikers with max ASI and damage in T3, I have never played with max damage and only got max speed (through crafting two trinkets) yesterday. Even without max speed I still did well against the people running through lockdown with full Vog or speed trinkets. I wouldn't mind (and may even welcome) a limit to the ASI and damage somebody can get it lockdown. With less available stat buff I think it would really allow players to rely more on skill than having better equipment than the other players.

I think the community has decided upon the barbarous thorn blade and flourish lines to handle these power sword plays. That seems to work fairly well but again, a lot of the people doing this have max ASI and damage.

To me the most frustrating thing is people running around with a lot of health trinkets. A lot of times since they have so much health it seems like they don't even mind getting hit because they can tank it and then just hit you back and kill you. I have seen many great players with health trinkets and it just makes it impossible for most average players to even come close to killing them. I honestly think they should limit the health cap at some point, this would also help skill be a more important factor to the game.

I really wish that Three Rings can manage a better ranking system to help more evenly match players together. I can only imagine the frustration caused by the uneven match ups that end in 900-30 defeats or 500-0. I know that the most exciting game that I have played ended in a tie and continued on until one team out-scored the other; I wish I had more games like it.

Tue, 09/20/2011 - 04:33

#23

Buckdida

Legacy Username

Excellent guide. Many, many

Excellent guide. Many, many helpful tips in here- many that I already use, and can confirm their usefulness. Oh, backcapping, how many games you've turned around when your derpy teammates keep rushing into a wall of guardians at the close point.

As another random tip, here's one about a more rare status condition- Curse. It's very, very rare you get whacked with it, but it's possible.

Your respawn timer is about 25 seconds at most. Curse, without status protection, is often 40-45 seconds, and more often than not, you don't have curse protection. If you get cursed, it's faster to just get yourself killed and respawn, especially if you only have two weapon slots and can't use anything without hurting yourself anyway. If you're capping or defending a point, finish that as best you can, then send yourself back to the locker room. XD

Tue, 09/20/2011 - 08:21

#24

Ash-Rider

Recon radar

Umm.. For what I just found out for Recons are about the circle radar thingy when they are cloaked. The AWARE sign on the enemy is one thing I love about Recon. Like what he said, try to move around the enemy as long as you can and if you can.. until the sign turns red. When it turns red they are weaker and took 2 stabs only to kill them. I guess it includes morale too. When it turns red it means they are easy to be kill. If you want to avoid being kill by red sign use your shield if your a guardian. If your a striker, well your probably should run away.
This guide helped me a lot! Even though I'm a Tier 2 player but it works for my favorite, Recon class.
Thanks to you again :D

Tue, 09/20/2011 - 12:25

#25

Cadeau

Curses

@buckdida, today I felt like I got cursed every time I got hit by a GF. But I finally came to the same conclusion as you, if you're cursed just stay in the battle. If you have an extra uncursed weapon then use that; otherwise, try to get revenge and take out the guy that cursed you with your final swing. Respawning is the best way to counter being cursed.

Tue, 09/20/2011 - 15:21

#26

marles

Legacy Username

Thanks again everybody, keep

Thanks again everybody, keep the tips coming. Everybodys additions have been great.

Tue, 09/20/2011 - 15:27

#27

Twest

This is a one I feel that has

This is a one I feel that has not been communicated well:

/p or /game to all chat in game.
/team to team chat in lobby.

-- Sypsy

Tue, 09/20/2011 - 16:21

#28

NicoyaKitty

Legacy Username

I always use /s to chat all

I always use /s to chat all in game.

Tue, 09/20/2011 - 16:54

#29

Pyrosaber

oh yea

dont forget that a recon's cloack depletes if they get damaged while invisble

Tue, 09/20/2011 - 22:02

#30

ummeiko

Legacy Username

It's not about which team has

It's not about which team has the most kills. It's about which team controls the field better (this can include controlling where the other team is).

People seem to forget that sometimes.

Wed, 09/21/2011 - 00:12

#31

pikachupower

Legacy Username

I think these tips are

I think these tips are helpful, and I tried to go striker as long as I played lockdown; I even took out some Divine Avenger users with only my avenger (trying to find the the recipe in the terminals...) and I like how the diversity of users plays in the pvp, and I'll definitely play some of these tips.

Wed, 09/21/2011 - 02:08

#32

Altstav

kettelfish wrote:As someone

kettelfish wrote:
As someone who plays almost exclusively Guardian, this drives me absolutely insane. I've been able to team up with either a single Striker or Recon to take tons of control points from seemingly superior forces, all because my teammate realized what my strength is - keeping them from taking damage while they're destroying the opposition (and getting in some pretty good damage myself if the enemy focuses on them too much). However, I've been on too many teams who go all Leeroy Jenkins, so that I get to the battle just in time to see my Strikers die and then I get to watch a bunch of enemy Strikers swarm me, destroy my shield and stomp all over my corpse. These teams typically lose (and make me want to quit in the middle of a match, which is another thing that should never be done). In short, protect your friendly Guardian and we'll try to return the favor.
I can't stress those points enough. I have the same experience: When I as a guardian teamed up with a striker or two, we were virtually invincible.
In the last match I played a couple of days ago, I was BEGGING in the team chat for a striker to stay with me as I was playing Guardian, yet they were all running ahead alone, and I was able to reach them just as their corpses disappeared for them to go to the locker to respawn. Of course, it was a Tier 2 match, so I'd like to think that those players were just trying to figure out how Lockdown works but it surely felt like nobody was paying attention to the team chat (or me for that matter).

Fortunately, I was invited to a JK run immidiately after that and vented my frustration slicing jellies X-D.

By the way, nobody plays Tier 2 guild matches? We waited half hour and we couldn't find a team to play with. And it was a Sunday x_x.

Wed, 09/21/2011 - 11:09

#33

marles

Legacy Username

Everybody running away frm

Everybody running away frm the guardians is very annoying, especially since a lot of people use up all their boost to get to the next place and then they are alone, without boost in a group full of enemies. It is a lot better to wait for the guardians and recons even though it means you have to wait a WHOLE 2 seconds longer to get to the destination.

Wed, 09/21/2011 - 15:00

#34

Gwenyvier

I will admit to dashing off

I will admit to dashing off on my own when I play Striker. I also stop far enough below where I am going that the enemy can't see me to let my boost recharge. Then dash in and commence the slaughter. Do I recommend it? NO!!!!! As most people will just end up dead doing it. A lone Striker is very often a dead Striker. And I only do it when I see one or two people on the point.

On that note, I did think of one other thing I do in PvP. Think about what YOU would do if you were on the other team. If your team has all but one point capped then that means the other team is going to trying to be capping your spots, which would you go to if you were on their team? Is there a Recon hiding? If you were the Recon where would you be, attack there instead of randomly. Recons are very good at what they do, but they're often predictable due to wanting to get a Death Mark on you. The best Recon I've seen didn't even use swords, he'd peg you with a Callahan repeatedly. And he was f$%#ing hard to kill because I couldn't predict where he'd be.

~Gwen

Wed, 09/21/2011 - 21:57

#35

marles

Legacy Username

bump to help others trying to

bump to help others trying to improve their playing

Thu, 09/22/2011 - 10:12

#36

Zenrox

Good guide~

That's very informative Skankingrove!

I want to add one more thing but I'm not very sure:
Do the Guardian's shield will detect the location of incoming cloaked Recon with a signal of animated green bold ring on the ground?
This is because in a random match someone was activated his Guardian's shield when a Recon warning signal appeared, I shoot my hail driver after saw a green bold ring and the enemy's recon get freeze right on the spot.

Or is it just lucky? :D

Fri, 09/23/2011 - 09:35

#37

Eurydice

Community Manager

I'm going to add this to the

I'm going to add this to the list of links in New Recruits. Good thread!

Fri, 09/23/2011 - 20:28

#38

Skankingrove

Thanks Eurydice, that's

Thanks Eurydice, that's awesome!

@Zenrox
I'm unsure, I'll have to play as guardian to see for myself. For now I would just say it was luck because I don't think OOO would make it so easy for the recons to be detected. Also, I've seen plenty of recons run through guardian shields and hit people before being seen; I feel like if what you're saying is true it would be a lot more known by now. Either way, congrats on surprising and stopping a recon in their tracks.

Unfortunately my forum account has no characters on it as I use steam so my original posts are under a different account.

Anybody that has more questions, don't be afraid to send me a mail or friend request (make sure you mention this in the request) and we can meet up sometime to talk about it. I've had a couple people friend me and ask questions, all are welcome!

Sat, 09/24/2011 - 12:00

#39

Raunwynn

Recon help

"The best Recon I've seen didn't even use swords, he'd peg you with a Callahan repeatedly."

does the callahan cause knockdown on players like it does to monsters?
are there any status effects that work in pve but do not work in pvp?

i've only just started pvp and it's frustrating!
in pve, i play a gunner and i don't bother with a sword at all.
in pvp, my damage is always among the lowest and i can't kill anything!
should i use a da or a gf despite having no bonuses for swords on my equipment?
will it still two-shot everything up close?

i've been playing recon, but i don't understand the death mark thing.
does the first debuff, the yellow exclamation point, do anything to your target?
what does the red debuff do?
i assume it makes them take more damage, but does that only apply to your attacks or can you assist your attacking teammates by debuffing their targets?

thanks for the thread!
i'm trying to suck less!

Sat, 09/24/2011 - 12:06

#40

Skankingrove

The callahan is an awesome

The callahan is an awesome gun for pvp, it causes a bit of knockback to other players and definitely can still cause stun. All status effects work in pvp just like in pve so there are no worries there.

Damage isn't everything! If you can stay alive and help your team capture and defend points then you're doing a great job. If you prefer guns and are used to each one that you have, I would say stick to those. Guns can be incredibly helpful and really frustrating to the other team. The GF and DA will only two shot people with really low health or strikers usually.

As for the recon debuffs; the first mark is just a warning, nothing changes with that one. The death mark though lowers their defenses a lot. Usually I can one or two shot people with a death mark on them, they take a lot more damage than usual. The death mark applies to anybody that hits them so follow your teammate and mark away!

Again though, don't think you suck just because you aren't doing the most damage. This is an objective game, not a death match. Damage helps, but it is not how you win.

Sat, 09/24/2011 - 13:24

#41

Thyme-Stealer

Aaah dangit pyro, ur the

Aaah dangit pyro, ur the Sealed recon that always gets the most damage. I've suffered many a kill from you. I need to work on my Recon detection.

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 11:00

#42

Mindfreaked

Ahh yes

As a full-timer lockdown tier 2 player

i gotta say this is a pretty good tip/advice/guide/watever.
but still bomb is a pretty good way to hit off annoying recon and striker
ill recommend a freeze/shock/fire type bomb cos it can make them (try)to run off to the nearest guardian/healers
its good for scaring off people though

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 12:17

#43

Azulflame

Thyme-Stealer, you are WRONG

that's me :)

if you are a recon w/ a Sealed Sword (which looks crappy after that update, OOO), camp on the bottom half of the point. everyone coming from the side goes straight across on a full combo, which leaves them wide open to a sealed sword combo, which, unless they have maxed 3* normal defence, will kill them. and the knockback leaves them far, far away from you, so you can run or attack again.

my impression of T3 LD:

bring a gun
kite to the end of the world
bring a DA
recon and assassinate them
bring a bomb
spam (not recommended)

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 12:21

#44

Nechrome

"Use the radar jam and death

"Use the radar jam and death mark notifications to your advantage. Sometimes giving these effects to an enemy is enough by itself to have them running away, off a capture point, frantically swinging and shooting in every direction."

I've seen the death mark before, but what exactly does it do? and what's radar jam?

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 13:59

#45

Onionflunkie

I've found that a BTB

I've found that a BTB Guardian combo is very effective against certain people.

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 15:30

#46

Radeko

I've noticed that usually the

I've noticed that usually the winning teams is the one who has the most Defends. I think defending a point might be more important than capturing it. As a card-carrying Guardian, I try to do it the most I can.

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 17:56

#47

Ubernerd

Also something to note: If

Also something to note:

If you have a full Ash Tail or Skolver set, freeze bombs have no effect on you other than the small initial damage. Same with Vog Cub sets and fire bombs. If someone's spamming a point with one of these bombs and you have enough status resist, get in there and kill the bomber so your team can get at the point.

Sat, 10/29/2011 - 21:34

#48

Redfevrier

Dealing with the new Ivisi Glitch in Lockdown (recon)

Recons are really helpful when dealing with invisible knights in Lockdown nowadays, because the cloak can "see" the person. I tend to cloak up right when I see the striker running streak thing (glitchers/invisi-knights are usually strikers) and let my cloak tell me exactly where the invisible knight is.

Sat, 10/29/2011 - 21:58

#49

Evilduck

Second vote for using the

Second vote for using the recon cloak to scare people off - especially when your teammates aren't far behind you. Shield up and circle them; they'll start slashing randomly and be extremely vulnerable for your strikers to dash in and GF/DA them all to pieces.

Also, I recently found out how exceedingly effective a shivermist can be on lockdown. 4v4 match, it's literally even at 255 points each and I'm standing on a CP shivermisting when 3/4 enemies run into my freeze field and get stuck. I spent more than four minutes keeping them all still while the rest of my teammates captured and defended the other two points from the remaining enemy. It was awesome.

Sat, 10/29/2011 - 22:16

#50

Softhead

I hate Striker

When I tell my group to stay close, they run off and we lose. I stay with Guardians when I'm recon.

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Lockdown for Dummies (A long list of tips and advice)