Spiral Knights - To hold or to cap?

To hold or to cap?

13 replies [Last post]

Wed, 10/09/2013 - 08:53

Awoogawooga

Title says it all really. I'm a noob at LD. I tend to play as a Recon Bomber 'cause that's the only way I can survive and contribute to my team.

So let's say, we're in a cap war. Our team takes one, their team takes another. And eventually, all 3/5 caps just keep rotating ownership.

As a Recon Bomber, I have the ability to either try to defend one of our CP or to sneak behind enemy lines to cap theirs.

So, which is better? Do we get more points from capping or retaining? Like, if I defend a point really well vs capping multiple CP, which is generally the better tactic? Do you get points for each cap or is it dependent on how many you own at each points interval?

Thanks.

Wed, 10/09/2013 - 08:59

Fayeth

You're better off moving

You're better off moving around with the team if you're a recon bomber. Only guardian bombers can really hold a point, effectively anyway, if several guys start shooting at you with different gun combinations you're going to find it impossible to lay down a bomb as a recon without the guardian shield.

Wed, 10/09/2013 - 09:16

Awoogawooga

Ah, thanks. That makes sense.

Ah, thanks. That makes sense. I'm a terrible Guardian anyway.

Hmm, you say going with my team... that's another thing I'd like to ask. I find myself going off to do my own thing half the time. Like, if I see a lot of grey or opponent colors, I tend to sneak behind enemy lines to cap. As a rule of thumb, is it better to do that or should I be focusing on supporting my team more, since I'm a bomber?

Wed, 10/09/2013 - 12:09

Terra-Necro

@OP

Sneak around. Caps are more important. Your striker teammates can distract them so you can cap their points. If your enemies manage to defeat your teammates, they will most likely go to the bases you just captured (since it is on their side). You can simply hide and continue capping, or blast them to smitherines as they come dashing in, since your teammtes will most likely have knocked them down to a few pips of health.

Wed, 10/09/2013 - 16:33

Alphappy

>Do you get points for each

>Do you get points for each cap or is it dependent on how many you own at each points interval?

Only the latter, every 5 seconds. On a 3CP map, it's 5+3+1 points; on a 5CP map, it's 5+4+3+2+1(e.g. having two points on a 5CP map is worth 9).

>Like, if I see a lot of grey or opponent colors, I tend to sneak behind enemy lines to cap. As a rule of thumb, is it better to do that or should I be focusing on supporting my team more, since I'm a bomber?

If you're using nothing but bombs, it's going to be hard to support your team by going with them between points, because if a striker battles that ensue out in the open, your bombs will almost certainly be avoided by the enemy, whereas if you're on a point, supporting your team with bombs is absolutely viable. However, if you take advantage of your recon CTR with something like a brandish, that would work between points too.

Wed, 10/09/2013 - 19:00

Awoogawooga

Thanks for the advice guys.

Wed, 10/09/2013 - 20:55

Jawny

As a recon, your main goal is to shove a GF combo into a high priority target (e.g. A good striker) and get away by moving in awkard and random directions (while cloaked). After that, you should sneak to where the battle isn't going on, and DE-CAP their bases.

As a rule of thumb (in a 3 point map)
ALWAYS DECAP (Completely capping is too risky, as a striker will probably rush at you once he sees the grey point.

For 5 point maps, if they are nearly dominating you (e.g. you have 1 cap, they have 4) then you'll want to completely cap it. make sure you go to the other side of the map where it's calm. Even if you can't cap it, you'll buy your team some time to cap. (as their team has to send forces to that side of the map)

Source:
-Annoying recons that take out my caps and waste my time
-Being a recon every once in a while
-LD since it came out.

Thu, 10/10/2013 - 14:47

Blue-Flood

^^^ Good structure to follow. There are always variables, but recons are really awesome at making the enemy team split up if they're moving as a force (or camping your base).

Mon, 10/14/2013 - 21:42

Aiden-Curry-Puff

decap == reduce an enemy point until just before neutral, then step off?

Tue, 10/15/2013 - 09:40

Blue-Flood

Ya. A single point gives you the most points per tick. So if you can uncap the solo enemy point and deny them any, the gain your team gets is huge. Very effective in 3 point matches.

Tue, 10/15/2013 - 10:06

#10

Deleted-Knight

@Blueflood

Doesn't that depend on the situation?
If the opponents are clearly distracted, it would be a much better deal to fully cap. Not only because you will gain a point for your team, but also because it would take twice as long for the opponent to retake that point. Furthermore, the travel time between points rack up, and strikers can potentially recap the point you neutralized before you can fully neutralize another.
As a recon especially, I think it would be more strategic to cap as far as possible. When a threat comes, go cloak and escape. Even if you didn't fully cap that point, the extra time you stood on it adds to the time it takes for a striker to retake it. The longer time a striker is stuck capping behind lines, the more of a chance your offensive teammates can smash through.

The only situation I think it is more valuable to neutralize points is toward the last few seconds of a close game. Neutralizing two points is then more valuable than flipping a single one.

Tue, 10/15/2013 - 11:25

#11

Jawny

@cradarc
assuming the strikers on their team are absolute trash and can't kill a recon, then yeah.

Tue, 10/22/2013 - 09:08

#12

Doctorspacebar

It's a Concrete Jungle out there

@Jawny
I've gotten away from lots of strikers. Plop down a Nitronome or two before cloaking, the explosions throw them off a lot.

Tue, 10/22/2013 - 19:48

#13

Skold-The-Drac

flashbangarang

Blast bomb prior to cloak with strikers to throw em off.
Keep a strong sidearm handy.
Haze or vortex while capping, strikers do hate risk and will normally begin engagement with a pulsar if they "know" you have a good sword.
Death before dishonor in singular engagements, in large engagements, screen snipe/ retreat enough to cap again.

Search

To hold or to cap?