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How to cap ( for players who want to win )

12 replies [Last post]
Tue, 07/07/2015 - 12:33
Gun-Shots's picture
Gun-Shots

Hey, hammy here, and it has come to my attention that the new players in spiral knights don't really know how to cap, well of course they know how to cap, but they don't know how to cap efficiently. Knowing how to cap efficiently is how I win most of my games, and even if you don't know how to fight that good, you can still become a valuable player on any team, even without the damage. So here is a step by step guide on how I think you can cap efficently, and win games!

Step 1. Always make sure the point nearest to your based is always capped. Reason why is because that point is a good way to distract your team, if that point isn't capped your team won't bother going to cap anywhere else because they are to focused on that one point.

Step 2. Decap a point and quickly move on to the next one. By using this tactic you will be able to distract the enemy team with the decapped point, so they will move all their attention there, which gives you just enough time to cap the next point that you went to.

Step 3. Tag team capping - tag team capping is a tactic that can help you cap more points in a short amount of time. This process is done by decapping a point, and as soon as your teammate come to assist you, bolt to the next point . This to me is a good wait to cap 2 points at once, but a con for this tactic is you cap a little bit slower so always be ready to fight for the point.

Step 4. Double team capping - one way to double team cap is by capping points with a guardian, because guardians would be able to guard you while your fighting off the enemy, and while the guardian is guarding you, it will be capping the point at the same time.

Step 5. Back capping - this is something most of you have probably heard many times befour, back capping is the process of sneaking past all the violence and capping a point far away, this tactic is usually used when you're being camped on.

These are just some of many strategies that I use to cap efficiently and win games, I hope this has helped some of you xD.

Tue, 07/07/2015 - 16:04
#1
Vaked's picture
Vaked
You forgot your #1 strategy!

Spam Antigua with AA

Tue, 07/07/2015 - 18:00
#2
Holy-Nightmare's picture
Holy-Nightmare
.......

Class specific:

Recon

When you want to cap a point in enemy territory you should be hyperaware of the enemy. Even if you are invisible the enemy team will still be able to tell where you are if the point is getting capped. If you see one heading your way step off the point to wait for them to pass. Most Strikers will ignore a point on their side if it is still theirs or neutral. Since most are going for damage you need to not give them a reason to stick around, get off the point and they'll move on.

As a recon you can also deny enemy caps by standing on the point when they are, you can do this longer if you don't uncloak but rather aid your team with deathmark and cap prevention.

Guardian

As Guardian teammates will flock to you for HP regen and protection, this helps with cap rates and survival. Try to follow and cover the most successful players on your team, sit on points close to them and use them like watchdogs. If you have a Haze bomber you should also try to give them some cover since they generally focus on capping.

Striker

It is your job to hold off enemies and take advantage of your ally's support. Focus on statused, and deathmarked enemies while keeping enemies from your Guardians and Hazers. If all is clear then feel free to help cap but at least one Striker should be off the point to keep watch.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 07:35
#3
Momofuku's picture
Momofuku

Know how cap scoring works: Not all caps are worth the same, and it differs between 3 cap or 5 cap games. In most (~80%) of random lockdown games, this knowledge doesn't matter too much since weak cappers (underskilled or high ping players who die a lot) or non cappers (damage only players) skew the capping power of each team that it becomes onesided, but for close games knowing what to prioritize can mean the difference in winning or losing 501-497.

In 3 cap games: first cap is worth 5 points, second is 3 points, last cap is 1 point. Getting that last cap is not that essential for score control of the game. But at the very least it is worth neutralizing.

In 5 cap games: first cap is worth 5, second is 4, 3rd is 3, 2, then 1. Getting a 3rd or 4th cap is less important than neutralizing the enemy 1st or 2nd caps, but because these maps are typically large it is faster to complete caps than to hop around neutralizing caps (especially if they're on the other side of the map).

The first cap is the most important: The first cap (in either 3 cap or 5 cap games) is the most important - that first cap generates 5 points per tick and every subsequent cap generates less. Your high level objective is to always maintain having 1 cap in play and trying your best to neutralize (not necessarily cap) all of the enemy ones. In many cases it is worthwhile to secure at least 2 caps for 3 point games (3 in 5 point games) not because that extra cap gives you a lot of points, but so that you don't lose as much point growth if an enemy successfully neutralizes a cap.

Do your best to neutralize a cap during a fight - don't necessarily need to cap: Related to the above point, there are a handful of times when I've won due to decapping the last enemy cap when they're at 490 or lost because we couldn't decap it fast enough - either I got there too late or teammates are busy managing the fight off screen. The saddest is when I see teammates fighting around the cap when they could have decapped and stalled the enemy from winning.

Don't clump together in a cap: Anticipate being dive bombed by a GF double swing from below, and AT ping advantage will secure being hit even if you react fast enough. Even more applicable if you're aware of any recons on enemy team in play. Try to stand along the edges of the allowed capping range to maximize spacing out of you and your teammates along the cap.

Guardian: In the face of haze bombs providing area of denial, the shield is for stalling: Guardian shield ticks in haze bombs are worth pointing out because it allows guardians to sit practically invincibly on a cap. Assuming enemy haze bomber is also on the cap, that stops the cap from changing ownership - ie. stalling. Understand when it is appropriate to stall - assuming you have no backup to fend off the haze bomber, stalling actually helps enemy team when they own the cap. Since the cap won't change ownership, stalling just helps them earn points off that cap. Don't stall just because you can - sometimes I see enemy guardians do this and I leave the haze bomb/guardian stalemate alone because it actually helps my team. Stall when you have a team lead to prevent enemy team from gaining ground.

Underused: In team capping (ie. 2 or more people on a cap) in a cap that has a bottom screen blind spot, have one person scout the bottom of the screen to prevent ambushes. This is something I admit I don't do enough, but understand its value - on the one hand, that 1 person could have spent the time speeding up the cap by helping out. On the other, I believe it is more valuable to stay in bottom screen as "lookout" to prevent being ambushed from below with a GF combo or charge attack and risk having the cappers killed. Essentially the scout "protects" or helps anticipate enemies who would otherwise disrupt a cap from succeeding. Becomes incredibly useful when enemies are smart about using bottom screen advantage, and there are some players who are really good at securing mass kills by surprising cappers from below.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 10:02
#4
Krakob's picture
Krakob

Wow, people understand basic game mechanics? That's amazing! A few more things you should think of:

Pay attention to respawn timers, especially when solo capping
Respawns are at x:1, x:16, x:31, and x:46. Pay attention to the timer to see when you will be attacked next. If you're solo capping and there's a respawn wave coming up in 5 seconds, you most probably will not be able to cap the point and you should consider doing something else unless you're confident you can take one or more enemies on.

While capping points vulnerable from the south, pay attention to any attempted alchemer charges or incoming enemies.
This goes hand in hand with the previous point. An enemy will usually be able to reach their home point within a few seconds of respawning. Try to scout just south of the point you're capping on maps such Forest to avoid being shot by an alchemer charge or letting the enemy get a good start on a fight with a GF strike or something.

Watch the map whenever you aren't fighting
Looking at the map can tell you which teammates are where and what they're doing, based on their movement patterns. Strikers have a very distinct pattern of moving a bit quite quickly and seemingly somewhat randomly, standing still for a split second, and moving again while fighting. Based on what your teammates are doing, you can also tell where the enemies are likely to be.

When you cap doesn't matter between point ticks
You only gain points every 5 seconds. As such, it doesn't matter if you capture a point 4 seconds before the next tick or 1 second before it. Consider this when you see teammates who are almost done capping a point.

Stay on the damn point, get the enemies off it
Don't walk off it. Stay on it and cap it even if there are enemies nearby. LD is a game about map control, not kills. Getting the point sooner and getting the kill later is better than getting the point later and getting the kill sooner.

Focus on pushing as opposed to capping in some cases
Suppose we have the following scenario. You're on Ruins, your team has capped both of its home points and just won a fight on the middle point. The enemy team has its two home points as well. Most likely, this will end with your team capturing the middle point, and then moving on. This is not ideal, though. If you'd instead push to the enemy's top home point, you can quite quickly remove all their score income, as you'll decap their top home point, and can then dispatch a few players to go to the bottom row to decap their other home point while you can also send someone back to cap the middle point.

Don't chase while on your half of the map
Chasing can be good sometimes, at least if you're confident if you can take the enemy out. Doing so will hinder them from getting back into combat very quickly and thus you get more time to spend on capping. However, if you're trying to recap your home point, the enemy will need a decent amount of time to run back to their base and your team is most probably quite pressured on your home points, meaning that keeping them capped is essential or you'll lose all point income. As such, it might be more beneficial to let the enemy run and focus on capping the point instead.

Don't run past uncapped point even if you're going for healing at base
Suppose your team is pushing the enemy team quite hard on a 3 point map - you have a player capping the middle point and the rest of your team is spawn camping or at the enemy's home point. You need to retreat to heal, though. You gain more from helping your teammate capping the middle point than running past it, however. If you cap it, you'll let your teammate free sooner so that they can go help the rest of your team, giving you a numeric advantage where the action is at. If you instead run past it, you may get back a bit sooner but your teammate will spend more time capping and it will take longer until you can get someone to help the rest of your team.

Wed, 07/08/2015 - 11:22
#5
Gun-Shots's picture
Gun-Shots
Thank you momo and kraka lol

Thank you momo and kraka lol :).

Thu, 07/09/2015 - 22:27
#6
Theirillusion's picture
Theirillusion

If you are the best player on the field and can kill everyone on the opposite team. It is by far the best strategy to do so, letting all your team mates cap in peace.

Thu, 07/09/2015 - 23:22
#7
Deleted-Knight's picture
Deleted-Knight

Stay on the damn point, get the enemies off it
^This. I've facepalmed so many times while spectating because people somehow do not understand this. Someone literally ran off a point while it was half a second from being captured to chase a guy that wasn't even threatening the point. Why do you even bother trying to cap if you aren't going to commit to it?

If you are the best player on the field and can kill everyone on the opposite team. It is by far the best strategy to do so, letting all your team mates cap in peace.
I would say this is only true on small maps and if your teammates have almost no chance against the enemy. The exception is if the enemy team is full of damage farmers.

I would like to add:
Adjust your aggressiveness to maximize your team's presence on the field
If you're the only one alive on your team, you want to push a point close to the enemy base. There's two scenarios that can occur:
a) They kill you, but that leaves them on their side of the field, buying your teammates time to come back.
b) They are gathered at your base, so you successfully take the point, bringing their attention back to their side.

If your whole team is alive, but most of your teammates are on low health, do NOT rush to help them. Instead, hang back until they die, then go in and take their place. It's tempting to have the whole team push the enemies into their base, but unless it's endgame (or horribly unbalanced), it usually ends with your entire team dying and a reversal of the situation.

Two is company, three is a crowd
Two people capture much faster than one. Three people is too much, mainly because it statistically doesn't leave a lot of teammates on the rest of the map, and it also doesn't give you that much more edge than two people in a skirmish. The exception is if you are traveling with a good guardian and capture systematically.

Fri, 07/10/2015 - 05:38
#8
Bleyken-Forums's picture
Bleyken-Forums

@Deleted-Knight

if your teammates have almost no chance against the enemy, the game is lost. You don't even have to think about it

Fri, 07/10/2015 - 21:50
#9
Deleted-Knight's picture
Deleted-Knight
I've seen carries in 4v4, but

I've seen carries in 4v4, but it takes a special type of person to pull it off.

Fri, 07/10/2015 - 23:57
#10
Good-Spirit's picture
Good-Spirit

Momo nailed it. Krakob +1.
A must read for anyone playing LD
Good stuff guys!

Sat, 07/11/2015 - 03:01
#11
Krakob's picture
Krakob

Carrying depends more on how the level of your opponents are, as everything does in LD to be fair. For example, I can carry a disadvantaged team in 4v4 even if they're bad so long as the enemy team is also quite bad. However, throw someone like Scirio on it and I'll have my ability matched and I'm not nearly as significant to my team because I'll probably end up with a lot of deaths to Scirio.

Thu, 08/27/2015 - 09:18
#12
Fayeth's picture
Fayeth

BOMBS. That is all.

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