Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ This is Navi, the PLB - Pro-Learning Butterfly. She is here to help you out with a guide to King of the Hill! Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
No but seriously, these guides are meant to be in-depth guides for both the Crazy King and King of the Hill game modes. Following these instructions - well, at least the simpler ones, and when you get experience, the advanced ones - will increase your chances of winning by a lot compared to just playing the game mode as you would a deathmatch. Actually, playing these game modes as you would play deathmatch only works if you accidentally capture the point (and the enemy does not capture it back) or if you have an ally who focuses on capturing and holding the point. Don't be the guy who gets yelled at for ignoring the capture point(s)!
If you want to comment on these guides, add to them, or correct me, feel free to post! This is my first guide so I can really use the feedback. I will check back here regularly.
There is a TL;DR (Too long; didn't read) version of both basic information guides if you are in a hurry or just don't feel like reading a wall of text.
King of the Hill, basic information:
The game mode is about capturing and holding the point that is in the middle of the map. You can easily locate it by opening your map (M) and finding the little rotating cross (red, white, or blue, depending on who controls it). This is the only thing in this game mode that gets you points - you do not get any points for killing enemies. You need 600 points to win. When you control the capture point, you get one point per second.
You can only capture or neutralize the point if your team is the only team with ships inside the point's capture range. The capture range extends roughly 100m away from the balloon and all the way to the ground below the balloon. This is important; if you are too high above the point, i.e. above the balloon, it doesn't matter how close to the center of the map you are; you will not be able to interact with the point. Capturing - or neutralizing - the point takes 20 seconds in King of the Hill, regardless of how many ships are on the point. If your team is trying to capture the point back from the enemy, it takes in total 40 seconds to do it. If the other team enters the point during the capture/neutralization process, the process will be interrupted but not cancelled, i.e. the little capture icon on the top of the screen that fills or empties as you cap/decap the point will continue from where it was once one of the teams moves off the point. Think of this as a tug of war and you get the general idea.
You can see how many enemy or friendly ships are on the point by looking at the capture icon in the top middle part of the screen. Currently the capture point icon only shows how many defenders are on the point if it is being controlled by one of the teams, or how many ships of the attacking team about to capture a neutral point are on the point. You have to look closely at the little sphere to see if the point is being captured if it is neutral, as you can not see from the number whether the point is being blocked or not. This may sound a little complicated, but you will get the hang of it.
Furthermore, you can see if the point changes states in the top left of the screen - where you can also see the kills, the destroyed components, and the rebuilt components. The possible changes in state that you can see are the following:
1) Contesting. This means the captured point is being contested by the attacking team - not necessarily being neutralized if there are defenders.
2) Capturing. This means that the neutral point is being captured by one of the teams.
2) Blocked. This means that the other team has blocked the attackers' capturing process.
4) Captured. This means that one of the teams has captured the point.
The capture point balloon will switch colors to red, blue, or white when the capture or neutralization process is complete.
Fighting for the point is very important, but you need to pick your battles to ensure you won't be at a disadvantage. If your enemy has a lot of killing power (maybe several gat+mortar pyramidions or something similar), you need to be especially careful when entering the point. Make sure your ally is not dead, or far away from the point. Try to enter the point together so you either have the advantage over the enemy or are at least on equal footing. Sometimes going in 1v2 - or even 1v3 - is a good idea, but this is covered in the advanced part of the guide.
TL;DR:
These are the main points when it comes to basics:
- You don't get any points for kills, only for capturing and holding the point, so don't hunt for kills only.
- You can only capture, block, or neutralize the point if you are close enough to the balloon. The capture "cylinder" is roughly 100 meters to the each side of the capture point balloon and reaches the ground. If you are above the capture point balloon, you cannot neutralize, capture or defend the point.
- You need to be aware of where your teammate and where the enemies are in order to attack and defend the point properly. In addition, you can use the capture point icon that fills and empties as the point is being captured/neutralized on the top of the screen to your advantage, even though it's hard to make out what it is saying at times.
King of the Hill, advanced guide:
Ok, so you think you're ready for the advanced stuff? Beware, these tactics - unlike the ones in the basic information - can actually backfire, but if executed properly, they can give you a major advantage.
First of all, suicide rushing the point. Did you just die, and do you expect your ally to die shortly as well? Your survival instinct may tell you to wait until your ally respawns so you can attack together. However, if you can calculate your odds of reaching the point in time and surviving / being able to disable your enemy until your ally respawns and gets there, you just might be able to block the enemy from neutralizing or even capturing the point.
There are many variables you need to take into account when considering this option. Do you have a durable ship? Do you have a reliable crew, especially a reliable main engineer? Can you disable the enemy guns quickly to stop them from killing you instantly? If the situation calls for it, can you get your crew to quickly switch to tanking mode and do the "spanner dance" around the hull and if needed, have one guy on the balloon? If the answer is yes, well, better brace yourself and tell your crew what's about to happen. Some may be scared (main engineer), others may even question your judgement (anyone, really). But there is always the occasional crew member that goes "Hell yeah! Let's give em hell!" (usually this is the powder monkey).
You need to be prepared for this and quickly tell your crew that they may need to start focusing on repairs instead of shooting. You, as a pilot, can also help repairing stuff. This is especially true on the junker, the pyramidion, and the galleon, and to a lesser extent the spire. These all have easy to reach balloons and/or hulls, and you can help your crew rebuild or repair them as needed. Consider bringing a spanner! The best ship for tanking in a situation like this is the galleon (well, the squid is also really good, but you need 4 people with spanners on the hull for that tactic to work really well). You would be amazed at how long a galleon or a squid lasts under enemy fire if you have 3-4 people whacking spanners and the occasional mallet when a component is rebuilt.
Oh yeah, and forget extinguishers and chem sprays when the hull is going down rapidly. The fire stacks will not be the main problem if the hull goes down in seconds. However, chem spraying the balloon may actually be a good idea if you have the time, if the enemy has reliable fire weapons. This is because balloons take amplified damage from fire.
Okay, so there goes the tanking part. Have fun! Now for the other tactical moves.
Second, luring the enemy off the point. This is pretty simple. You initiate on the enemy, have them spot you (maybe have your gunners fire a few rounds at the enemy from a distance) and hope that they will take the bait and chase you down. Meanwhile, your ally captures the point uncontested or the enemy stops capturing the point because they chase you. You may need to repair things, but you rarely need to go in tanking mode if you keep your distance and just keep shooting at them. If you just go to tanking mode and back off, they may realize what you're trying to do and ignore you, which is less likely if you're trying to kill them. Medium range weapons such as hades and/or flak guns, maybe hwacha or even a lumberjack if you have a good gunner and a good pilot, are all worth considering. All of them do a good job at aggrevating the enemy from afar.
Third, ramming people off the point. If you are almost done capturing a point, but the enemy manages to block it, you can bump them off the point with a well placed ram. Be careful though, since a missed ram might have the opposite effect! If you want to try an even higher risk move, you can try to "reverse-teabag" someone above the point by using hydrogen when you're below them! If your balloon is buffed this is even more effective. However, this only works when the enemy is roughly at the balloon level, since you can't bump others up very much.
Fourth, letting enemy rush to the point in order to get the upper hand. This is a little tricky, and should only be applied if the enemy is not close to capturing the point but you expect them to reach it quickly. You basically wait in the shadows for the enemy to reach the point and go low as they usually do, then attack from behind and/or above and crush them to the ground. This works especially well in Labyrinth but not so well in Desert Scrap, because in Desert Scrap a lot of ships will be spotted as soon as they spawn because of the open areas and daylight. Also, if you want to do this, you should consider a ship with a lot of suppressing/killing power, like a gat/mortar or a carro/flamer pyramidion. If you can engage a ship from behind or/and above with one of these builds, you definitely have the upper hand.
Finally, some tactical info about the maps.
In Labyrinth, the globe in the middle is a very dangerous place to be in. If you can ram the enemy inside the globe or pop their balloon when they are above it, they will have a very hard time fighting back. Yes, they will block the point, but they will likely die quickly since they cannot escape, especially if you can keep their balloon down. Furthermore, ramming people against the globe on the outside works well too, if you time it properly they will not only be pushed back and take damage from the globe but also down.
On Desert Scrap, you can use the sandstorms to your advantage either by placing mines in them or disabling the enemy engines when they are forced to move through the sandstorm.
Furthermore, in both Labyrinth and Desert Scrap, it's recommended to equip kerosene - or if you have good engineers, even moonshine - to reach the point as quickly as possible. In the Labyrinth, you can use hydrogen to rise above the buildings so you can beeline to the point. Just remember to turn it off in time so you can get down in the "capture cylinder" as soon as possible.
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ This guide was brought to yo by Navi, the PLB - Pro-Learning Butterfly! Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ