Strand of the Ancients (Offensive): PvP Strategy
A few weeks ago I wrote a post detailing The Strand of the Ancients defensive strategy, and left with a promise to write an offensive strategy as well as an ongoing list of PvP battlegrounds strategies following. So this week I am going to make another step in fullfilling that promise and write the Offensive version to the Strand of the Ancients. So again lets kick this off.
If you are looking for the Densive Strategy check this post here.
Strand of the Ancients (Defensive)
Overview of Strand of the Ancients
Strand of the ancients is a “storm the beach” type of invasion in which one team will try to land on the beach and then penetrate the defending forces layers of security which are walls or barricades using “Demolishers” or World of Warcrafts version of battle tanks. The goal is either to defend or to reach the Titan Relic at the top of the island located inside Chamber of Ancient Relics, which is defended by 3 rows of walls, as well as the door to the relic chamber. Defensive players must preserve the integrity of the walls in order by preventing the offensive team from destroying the walls using Battleground Destroyers.(see diagram below)
Map showing points of intrest in Strand of the Ancients
Map showing points of interest in Strand of the Ancients
Strand of the Ancients Offensive Strategy
Take the hill and remember…..uhhh…mmm remember the Demolisher‘s, oh yeah the Demolisher’s. Again just as destroying the Demolisher’s are the defensive strategy being sure to grab those Demolisher’s on offense is a key part to winning Strand of the Ancients. If there aren’t any Demolisher’s to mount up on, try to be virtuous and do something meaningful like attack anyone trying to destroy your Demolisher’s. When you get off of the boat be sure to pick up a Seaforium Charge right away off of the dock so you have it on hand should you get a chance to plant it on the gate. Even if you are planning on driving the Demolisher have a Seaforium Charge in your bag so that if your Demolisher is destroyed you can still get that last little bit of destruction put in place.
If you are a casting class and want to defend a demolisher your best bet is to ride in one of the passenger positions. Warlocks are great for this because they can fear anyone who gets near the Demolisher, and through on those nifty little DOTs as they run away. It wont only be an asset but your probably not gonna die while mounted up there, trust me this makes things much easier when you have someone riding passenger and putting the work in to keeping that Demolisher alive.
Before starting the round get your strategy together, and start organizing. Suggest everyone attack one gate or the other, you will be surprised that many people will follow directions if someone just takes charge. You don’t need to be overly aggressive just make the suggestions, and it will all fall in line.
Be sure to buff who you can on the ships, this can be something people forget in Strand for some reason. Even on the boats while were in that waiting period I often notice that I don’t get buffs from classes that are on my boat. The offense is notorious for not buffing so give yourself, and your team the upper hand by making sure you are giving everyone as much boost in their game as possible.
Storming the Beach
Once the boats arrive at the beach it is best to act quickly. When the boats reach the dock the first thing you should do is grab some seaforium charges off of the dock (they are the little black bomb looking things sitting in piles around the doc), so once you are close to a gate you can place them at the base for explosion. Personally because I am of great destructive power I choose to usually stay on the ground unless other people are just not mounting up. The reason is I know I am a bigger advantage of clearing people away from the Demolishers since I am well geared and do alot of damage.
Once you have equipped your Seaforium immediately focus on grabbing the Demolisher‘s generally the defense will already be putting some work in on them before anyone is able to mount them, so I usually try to clear out anyone currently working on destroying them before mounting them. If you mount one that has someone chucking away at it your chances of getting any real damage done to the gate are slim so its best to try and kill them out quickly. If people are already working on killing the enemy who is attacking the demolisher mount it may be OK to jump in, and start heading for the gate. If your team decided before the battle to attack one specific gate identify which side it is on based on its color (green or blue) and head towards that specific gate.
If you have enemy players charging for you on the way to the gate don’t forget your battering ram on the front of the Demolisher. Its really a great tool to push them back and gain a few seconds before they are able to get to you, and start attacking. Hopefully if all goes well you burst through the first gate with ease and be well on your way to the next gate. If the other team actually has it together and manages to destroy your Demolisher don’t forget that seaforium charge you picked up earlier, and go place it at the gate. Afterward check to see if there are any Demolisher that are unmounted, and take control if them if no one else is.
Graveyards
Graveyards are an important aspect of Strand of the Ancients. Graveyards will unlock the Demolisher workshops in the second phase so you want to be sure to capture them as soon as you are through the first phase of walls. However keep it in mid that after you have destroyed the purple and red gates you don’t want to rush in and take the graveyards, because it will cause your team spawn further away from the demolisher workshops slowing down the speed in which your team can redeploy Demolisher’s and gather new seaforium charges. Once the yellow gate has been destroyed it is ok to take the graveyard, because it causes the defending team to re spawn farther away, but still leaves you quite a ways to travel to gain tanks. Some people say to wait for the Relic Chamber doorto actually be broken first but the benefits of having the opposing team not re spawning right on top of you I feel make up for the extra distance you may have to travel to grab a tank. Its a matter of philosophy I guess.
Purple and Red Gates
After you have broken through the Blue and Green Gates on the beach it is no time to lose momentum. I have found that a team that is able to get those tanks rolling through the gates as fast as possible have a greater chance of winning based on momentum since it will take at least a few people some time to realize it is time to get off the beach. After getting through the first gates this is your best chance to make a leap ahead of the other team by catching some of their payers off guard and rushing a few Demolisher‘s forward as fast as possible. Also you want to grab the East and West graveyards as quickly as possible so you can get those extra 2 Demolisher’s up and hopefully charge the gates with more force than the Defense can handle.
Gate of the Yellow Moon
RAWR! PvP
Once you have cleared through Purple and Red hopefully you will still be rolling without the same momentum we stated earlier. If the defense is wise to your advances this is usually where the greatest battle happens, because there is only one gate in this phase. The gate of the yellow moon is a choke point in which the entire offense has a chance to come together and try to push you the offense off before you have a chance to reach the Titan Relic Door. In this phase don’t rush in to grab the graveyard immediately as it will ultimately hinder your teams ability to quickly get to the Demolisher workshops.
I see that it is best for someone to become a leader in this phase and start to group everyone up for a single massive attack of Demolishers from both sides of the hill. If you go in one at a time the entire team will be able to focus on your one Demolisher giving it no chance to reach the gate. Defending the Demolishers is key in this phase as it is where you will have the most damage coming in on them at one time since the entire defense will all be together. As mentioned before if you are a caster class or a class with good CCs mount up as a passenger and fear the oppposing team away from the Demolishers or just sit up there and do your ranged attacks from safety.
Another strategy is for everyone to be sure and grab those seaforiums charge the gate all at once or during your mounted Demolisher run and create so much havoc and lay so many charges that it is impossible for them to disarm them all, as well as focus on the Demolisher. The trick to the Yellow moon is to either beat them up the hill so fast they don’t know whats happening, or to attack them in huge waves.
Chamber of Ancient Relics
Once you have blown through the Yellow Gate grab the southern graveyard and start killing them off as quickly as possible, or if possible at least, and continue the rush to the chamber door. If you are able to keep your tanks alive in this first push through the gate as well as a quickly grab the graveyard, you will have seriously ham-stringed any advantage the defending team had. As you are killing them they will be forced to spawn far away while they are killing your team you will be spawning right back into the fight. If you still have your seaforium on you try to stay alive long enough to thin out the defending team and make your break to the Relic Door. Just repeat the strategy for the Yellow gate and profit!
The Titan Relic is Exposed
Get in there you’ve won YAY!!!!!!!
[...] link them together. So lets kick this off.If you are looking for the Offensive Strategy check here:Strand of the Ancients Offensive Strategy!Overview of Strand of the AncientsStrand of the ancients is a "storm the beach" type of invasion in [...]