This week’s question focuses on siege etiquette. As we all know, siege weapons are a hot commodity in World vs. World. Why? Well, they’re game changers for the most part.
Q. I’m always so frustrated by siege weapons. All my world talks about is people who place siege down and demand people rush supply to them or why we need it. I want to help, but why should I bother caring whenever I never get a turn?
A. Well, you should bother because ultimately, a defense or offense will fail or succeed by the amount and type of siege. The biggest problem is that there isn’t a direct personal reward in assisting with building or placing siege. Odds are whoever built it or a zerg of players will spam their keys to try and hop onto the first siege they see. Thankfully, their selfishness is an asset because siege weapons are inherently superior to players when it comes to attacking and defending
Enjoying the game should be everyone’s priority, so if you don’t feel like helping run supply then you shouldn’t worry about it. It is rewarding, in a way, since siege weapons will help greatly in a fight, even if you’re not the one manning it. We all wish we could be in the arrow cart when two armies are fighting and you have the advantage, but sadly we can’t.
Lots of people do ask for supply in chat, sometimes for a good cause and sometimes for trebuchets that are going to hit walls that won’t really help anyone. This kind of segues into a discussion about general chat. There is a lot of noise in general chat. There are lots of bad ideas, bad strategies, and bad advice and a lot of selfishness. Some people want to have their very own trebuchet ready to fire at a target that no one should be attacking while others are busy trying to recruit people for a mission that goes nowhere. The good news is that everyone anyone does in WvW helps, so even if the trebuchet is going to attack the walls of a target no one is going to, at the very least it’s wasting that world’s supply (smart players won’t repair the walls though).
Ultimately, you have to kind of filter it out. Help where you want to help and ignore the pleas for anything that is A. inconvenient and not fun for you and B. obviously not going to help the world. Building trebuchets to go after Stonemist for instance is only viable when you have your third of the Eternal Battlegrounds locked up; going for it any sooner is wasting points. Building siege in the open is generally a terrible idea, unless there is enough defense around it.
As for etiquette, there is none. First come first serve with siege. The only etiquette you need to follow is never take supply from a keep or tower that needs it, always take it from resource camps or fully upgraded structures. I wouldn't want that to dissuade anyone from helping though. Carry supply with you and use it, you'll get some XP and your world will be a bit more closer to winning the points race. The same with blueprints. It doesn't hurt.
If you're ever curious of repair vs. siege, ask your team. Lots of scenarios will put repair above building siege, especially if it's going to be destroyed shortly, while other scenarios place repair below siege. For instance, if your world is building a last stand with the tower/keep lord, then it might be best to get the siege up instead of repair.
Tactic of the Week
I was going to name it “Tactic of the Weak” this week, but I wanted to talk a little bit about avoiding unwinnable scenarios and time efficiency, and how a "weak" strategy sometimes is the best one. A lot of times you’re going to face unwinnable scenarios. These are scenarios where there is no chance, even with your contribution, that the tides will turn. For instance:
- When you are assaulting an objective with a force that is smaller than the defenders.
- When are you outnumbered two to one in a defense.
- When you are attacking a tower or keep without a siege ram and there are enough defenders to down people.
- When your world is outmanned and the opposing force has pushed it back to your spawn location, effectively spawn camping you.
- Anytime your world keeps pushing for a heavily defended Stonemist with fewer numbers of attackers, especially if they keep getting pushed back.
Unwinnable scenarios can be flipped into winning scenarios by imploring a tactic I like to call running away. No, you're not "weak" for bowing out of a battle, it's smart move to abandon something that is already lost. If you’re faced with an unwinnable scenario then your best course of action is just walk away from it. If there is no hope that the army is going to ride in from the east and save the day then there is little point in wasting your time. I'm not talking about situations where defeat is possible, I'm talking about situations where there is no possible way for you to win.
If you're running into the problem a lot, consider joining or running a WvW focused guild, get players who do want to contribute into a group and coordinate, hop on skype, and do lots of research. GW2 gives you tons of options when it comes to what you want to do in the game, including in WvW. If your spawn is camped, there are two sides you can sneak out of. If you're about to lose a tower, then know their forces are preoccupied and this is a great time to hit somewhere else (far away from the action). If your realm is battering stonemist then try to flip some other objectives, the lure of karma and XP will get them back on the right track.
I’m a huge champion of the fact that you can do a lot of things in WvW without a zerg, from taking resource camps to flipping mercenaries over to your side. If things aren’t going to work out, then you’re wasting your time. You’re not a traitor, you’re just smart. Sometimes it’s good to break away from the zerg and try some guerilla tactics. I always bring up my article on things you do with small groups as some good idea starters.
Well that’s the Art of War this week. Be sure to send your questions to Xerin@TenTonHammer.com!
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