I would consider myself one of the best Lockdown players in the game, as there were very few games where I was not top damage, captures and defends all in the same game. Any game where I was top damage but not top captures, I was only 1 or 2 captures from being top, having 4x everybodies damage just makes it that much better.

How I generally play lockdown is: Rush to the nearest enemy controlled point while letting my team get the points near the spawn. If I can get there before the enemy finishes capturing it (I use recond on 3 point maps and striker on larger ones) I will usually be able to contest it until my team can come help, or kill them all and capture it myself.

During the game, I spend most of my time killing players who are trying to capture points or who are on their way to capture points. Damage is the most important thing in lockdown ( as long as you are defending or attacking points) and I have found that the only times I don't win are when I have an off game and get under 6k damage. Please don't try to say that damage is not as important as captures and defends, because if you are doing damage for any reason other than to capture and defend, you are doing it wrong and will lose.

One of my most successful strategies is when I attack a point before my team gets there, and once another member of my team arrives to capture the point I have cleared, I move on the the next enemy point. I allow my less skilled teammates to stand in the point and capture it because I'm much more useful fighting the enemy team. I advise all players who are very good at striker/recon to use this strategy because I'm positive it will make you win more games.

I'm going to talk about a few things I think are a bit overpowered and a few things that I think are a bit underpowered and how these things interact as well as what can be done to fix/change them.

Regarding Bombs: I do not think most bombs are imbalanced at the moment, although I do find teams who only spam bombs on the points all game cowardly and very boring to play against. One bomb that I think needs to be reworked/nerfed a bit is the Voltaic Tempest. It's status application is a little bit imbalanced. The shivermist only applies a freeze by chance when you walk through it, and many times even with no freeze resist I can step on a shivermist for a second and not be frozen. The Voltaic Tempest however, applies shock almost instantly every single time, even with a double UV for high or more shock resist (which was more than my freeze when I was walking through shivermists). This should be reworked so that even players with no shock resist have a CHANCE, however small, of walking through it without any status debuff being applied.

Regarding Swords: I do not think any swords are "overpowered". Many complain about the Gran Faust just because they have no shadow defense. Trust me, those Gran Fausters wouldn't be doing much versus shadow defense, especially with that slow of a sword. You could tear them apart with a BTB or flourish. The main reason people QQ about the Gran Faust is because they don't want to sacrifice their increased damage or attack speed for defense. You will pay the price when I two shot you and laugh at you when you cry about it because you are in full vog/skolver. Faust is less OP than the divine avenger, but much less people have shadow resist than elemental resist. Also please keep in mind that faust does half normal half shadow, so using gear with shadow but no normal is worse than using gear with normal and no shadow. Just something to keep in mind.
I think the final flourish is a bit imbalanced because of it's attack animation, the second swing goes a little bit too far (hitbox wise) to be balanced in pvp. It allows people using the FF to destroy anybody from a very safe range. I think it should be reworked to have a similar animation and hitbox as the BTB or it should be given normal/pierce split damage. Pure non normal type weapons shouldn't be given amazing range and hitbox as well.

Regarding Guns: I think all guns are completely fine at the moment, I do think how some of the powerups work with guns should be reworked, but I can touch on that a little bit later. One thing that could be changed is maybe adding a little extra range to the auto guns attacks or charges, as they are a little too close ranged to be viable at all in pvp compared to antigua/pulsar lines.

Regarding Striker Class: I think the striker class was a bit overpowered in combat before the change to their sprint time, but now I think they are bit underpowered compared to recon and especially guardian. Striker is BY FAR the most pure skill and hand-eye requiring class to play. Everybody who plays a great striker is truely skilled at spiral knights, and can probably easily solo vanaduke without taking much damage, as they rely on the same mechanics of dodging attacks and dpsing while doing it. When I get into my grove on striker, I find that I am able to pull off such impressive moves and quite often get a WOW or a that was insane kind of response. One thing I think that could be done to give strikers a better fighting chance is to rework how the sprint works. I think strikers should get 5 1 second sprints, but only be able to spring for 3 seconds straight. Sprinting around the map was kind of imbalanced before the 5-3 second change, but now I find myself not being able to sprint behind people/backwards when I need to in fights. Striker has no defense buffs like guardian and recon, so it should be given the best offense. I think strikers should have increased gun speed as well, since they are the only class to have only one bonus.

Regarding Recon Class: I give props to anybody who uses this class well, as it truely takes something more than skill. This class by far requires the most strategy to play well. One problem with recon at the moment is that the only really viable way to play them, is by using swords, and they give a sword speed decrease. I think recon should have sword speed increased but also have sword damage decreased to prevent suprise two shotting. It would be fair to give recon minus sword damage medium, but also let them gain that damage bonus back by having 4x damage bonus medium on their gear and still getting maximum. This would make recons chose to have lower damage or VERY LOW defense. I think recon sniping with guns was a bit imbalanced, especially with the callahan, so I think removing the attack speed for guns would be fair as well. Recon class could also have a gun damage increase if this becomes a problem. One main problem was max attack speed recon getting multiple callahan hits off quickly causing you to be stunned forever and unable to stop them because of shoot-stealth-shoot-stealth-shoot-stealth etc. I think situations where you either hit them before they shoot you and kill them or where they hit you once and have you stunlocked are too chance based to be included in the game. There should be reward for landing a shot, but it shouldn't be a free kill, and their should be a penalty for missing a shot, but it shouldn't be getting destroyed because you are a slow recon who has just revealed himself. Increase gun damage to reward landing shots, but decrease speed to avoid stun combos with callahan just because they were able to land one shot while they were stealthed.

Regarding Guardian Class: This class is probably the most frustrating as the people who use it literally almost always do nothing but stand still shielded on a point and wait for you to attack and then poke you with a sword until you die. This is by far the best class and also by far the easiest, which makes no sense. Guardian class need to be taken down a notch. They need to have greatly decreased sword and gun speed. AT LEAST medium if not high or very high. It's almost impossible for a striker or recon to 1v1 a guardian when both players are at the same skill level. I think the best way to address Guardians is make is not so good for them to be using swords and guns and better to be using bombs. For example give them some bomb ctr if they charge say within 2 seconds of releasing their shield. This would make it so Guardians are no longer standing still for 2 minutes with their shield waiting for you to attack, and then destroying you with a single sword swing and then throwing their shield back up again. Guardians who use bombs have to sacrifice their shield being up to charge their bombs which gives strikers and recons a fighting chance to land a hit while they are charging. The turtling game is never fun and the easiest classes should never be the most powerful. I also think recons debuff should greatly decrease the damage a Guardians shield can take before breaking. If you don't fix the Guardians offence, at least make their shield have a timer to decrease their stupid ability to stand still on a point for unlimited amounts of time while shielded.

I would rank the classes is order of skill requirement: Striker>Recon>Guardian
I would rank the classes in order of strategy requirement: Recon>Striker>Guardian
I would rank the classes in order of usefulness on a team and importance on a team: Guardian>Recon>Striker

Seems silly that the easiest class is the most useful and that the hardest class is the least useful. :P

I hope this was a great read for all, and I hope to see you soon in PvP!
Please post your feedback below!
~Chris