Guild Wars 2

When watching some tournament matches, I hear the term “rotate” or “rotation” from the shoutcasters.

I assume that “rotate” would mean floating between nodes. For instance, far-point assaulter rotating between mid and far.

Yep, that’s what “Rotate” means. Being able to “rotate” properly means being able to take the right decisions as to WHEN and WHERE to move during a match.
For istance, if you go close at start and you see an enemy coming, if you are able to kill him you could go mid to help the teamfight instead than staying on close and doing “nothing” there.

I’d say that the ability to “rotate” properly is the only show of “skillful” play in this game, as the amount of hardcounters and braindead specs made the combat part of GW2 completely predictable and easy to play.

Thanks hihey! That’s a pvp nomenclature I was not certain of.

nastyjman.8207:

When watching some tournament matches, I hear the term “rotate” or “rotation” from the shoutcasters.

I assume that “rotate” would mean floating between nodes. For instance, far-point assaulter rotating between mid and far.

That and also covering points and come over/backup teamates…leaving guard afking at mid for example is a well known mistake, good teams will always bring bunker guard in teamfight cause it gives awesome support and an AH shout guardian alone has really no point…long story short rotations are those player’s movements aimed on always being superior (For number or hardcounters) in teamfights, basic stuff it’s like going with 2 wars 1 guard thief and something else on 2 points…then leaving wars on 2 points and roaming with guard and a dps/cond while thief can always backup if things go wrong or just decap far while others are fighting if they leave it and teamfight is going well…rotating good is probably the hardest thing in tpvp and it makes the difference between good teams and top teams and to get it right you should practice with always same ppl over and over again (On ts obviously) and get used to it, that’s why it’s the hardest part for a team.

Seifer Thalaen.7869:

nastyjman.8207:

When watching some tournament matches, I hear the term “rotate” or “rotation” from the shoutcasters.

I assume that “rotate” would mean floating between nodes. For instance, far-point assaulter rotating between mid and far.

That and also covering points and come over/backup teamates…leaving guard afking at mid for example is a well known mistake, good teams will always bring bunker guard in teamfight cause it gives awesome support and an AH shout guardian alone has really no point…long story short rotations are those player’s movements aimed on always being superior (For number or hardcounters) in teamfights, basic stuff it’s like going with 2 wars 1 guard thief and something else on 2 points…then leaving wars on 2 points and roaming with guard and a dps/cond while thief can always backup if things go wrong or just decap far while others are fighting if they leave it and teamfight is going well…rotating good is probably the hardest thing in tpvp and it makes the difference between good teams and top teams and to get it right you should practice with always same ppl over and over again (On ts obviously) and get used to it, that’s why it’s the hardest part for a team.

Yeah, I’ve noticed that the best matches usually has a team that has an aggressive far-point assaulter. I love it when they decap and disengage—just annoying the hell out of their back-point defender when they rotate out.

nastyjman.8207:

Seifer Thalaen.7869:

nastyjman.8207:

When watching some tournament matches, I hear the term “rotate” or “rotation” from the shoutcasters.

I assume that “rotate” would mean floating between nodes. For instance, far-point assaulter rotating between mid and far.

That and also covering points and come over/backup teamates…leaving guard afking at mid for example is a well known mistake, good teams will always bring bunker guard in teamfight cause it gives awesome support and an AH shout guardian alone has really no point…long story short rotations are those player’s movements aimed on always being superior (For number or hardcounters) in teamfights, basic stuff it’s like going with 2 wars 1 guard thief and something else on 2 points…then leaving wars on 2 points and roaming with guard and a dps/cond while thief can always backup if things go wrong or just decap far while others are fighting if they leave it and teamfight is going well…rotating good is probably the hardest thing in tpvp and it makes the difference between good teams and top teams and to get it right you should practice with always same ppl over and over again (On ts obviously) and get used to it, that’s why it’s the hardest part for a team.

Yeah, I’ve noticed that the best matches usually has a team that has an aggressive far-point assaulter. I love it when they decap and disengage—just annoying the hell out of their back-point defender when they rotate out.

Just because there’s actually noone (Ele maybe, but only if he spots the thief going close/leaving teamfight and mesmer with portal, but mesmer is probably gonna die even vs pretty bad thieves if he’s not really good since thief had always been mesmer’s hardcounter) that can roam as fast as a thief, the only real safe solution to thief decapping your freecap close is to always leave one guy there, but if they don’t do the same (Because they rotate better or because you have noone going to neutralize far while freecap) you’re basically going 4v5 on other points because thief won’t come at your close and you still have one guy afking, anyway how to cover close vs thieves decapping is already a situation that deserves it’s own thread imo..

Seifer Thalaen.7869:

nastyjman.8207:

When watching some tournament matches, I hear the term “rotate” or “rotation” from the shoutcasters.

I assume that “rotate” would mean floating between nodes. For instance, far-point assaulter rotating between mid and far.

That and also covering points and come over/backup teamates…leaving guard afking at mid for example is a well known mistake, good teams will always bring bunker guard in teamfight cause it gives awesome support and an AH shout guardian alone has really no point…long story short rotations are those player’s movements aimed on always being superior (For number or hardcounters) in teamfights, basic stuff it’s like going with 2 wars 1 guard thief and something else on 2 points…then leaving wars on 2 points and roaming with guard and a dps/cond while thief can always backup if things go wrong or just decap far while others are fighting if they leave it and teamfight is going well…rotating good is probably the hardest thing in tpvp and it makes the difference between good teams and top teams and to get it right you should practice with always same ppl over and over again (On ts obviously) and get used to it, that’s why it’s the hardest part for a team.

Not sure I agree much with pulling your guardian off the middle point except under very special circumstances. Most of the time you can only hold 2 points. I don’t really know about at high levels of play but for your average players not on voicecom just going to whatever point you don’t own once you have two points is not smart. I’m a believer in holding home and middle and hedgeing. Sure if you have a decapper send him to far to cause trouble.

brannigan.9831:

Seifer Thalaen.7869:

nastyjman.8207:

When watching some tournament matches, I hear the term “rotate” or “rotation” from the shoutcasters.

I assume that “rotate” would mean floating between nodes. For instance, far-point assaulter rotating between mid and far.

That and also covering points and come over/backup teamates…leaving guard afking at mid for example is a well known mistake, good teams will always bring bunker guard in teamfight cause it gives awesome support and an AH shout guardian alone has really no point…long story short rotations are those player’s movements aimed on always being superior (For number or hardcounters) in teamfights, basic stuff it’s like going with 2 wars 1 guard thief and something else on 2 points…then leaving wars on 2 points and roaming with guard and a dps/cond while thief can always backup if things go wrong or just decap far while others are fighting if they leave it and teamfight is going well…rotating good is probably the hardest thing in tpvp and it makes the difference between good teams and top teams and to get it right you should practice with always same ppl over and over again (On ts obviously) and get used to it, that’s why it’s the hardest part for a team.

Not sure I agree much with pulling your guardian off the middle point except under very special circumstances. Most of the time you can only hold 2 points. I don’t really know about at high levels of play but for your average players not on voicecom just going to whatever point you don’t own once you have two points is not smart. I’m a believer in holding home and middle and hedgeing. Sure if you have a decapper send him to far to cause trouble.

Pardon me for chiming in but I love talking strategy and tactics. Re: bunkers and holding points…

One of the most significant differences I’ve noticed between the top tier play and everything else is the attention paid to putting the right team personnel in the right places so that they’re not being asked to perform outside their specific role which does not allow them to perform at their most effective.

So with that said, anyone can baby sit an empty point. Not everyone can sustain your entire team through the thick of a skirmish on a small piece of heavily focused real-estate – i.e. the capture point. So unless your comp comes equipped with a lot of sustained healing/defense your “mid point” bunker should be moving to team fights to make sure everyone is still operating in their specific roles. And if you have a strong mid point bunker and win the initial team fight, the first thing your opponent is likely to do is move the team fight away from him so that your team loses that advantage.

I used to be a subscriber to the “hold home/mid” strat and it is still quite effective given the game mode’s scoring and the right comp to utilize it. It has it’s drawbacks though, such as inviting the enemy team to push 5 to either of your held capture points which can be a gamble for your team since at either point you’ll initially be disadvantaged on numbers until the rest of your team can rotate. If the enemy manages a kill before your team can rotate over, that fight can quickly turn against your team and potentially create a funnel whereby your team gets farmed and your strategy countered. And if your mid bunker is sitting on mid by himself while the enemy pushes 5 to your close, then the strat begins to work against you for the reasons I mentioned above. Far easier IMO to rotate the “mid bunker” to the team fight, and send your best duelist to take far and/or police mid thereby punishing the opposing team’s counter to your strat and keeping the proper team members performing their proper roles.

Your team is wasting way more if you leave guard afking at mid than if you just leave a war there. War is a self sustained class (With basically every spec you can run), that’s why is one of the best if not the best close point defender atm, while bunker guard is a full team support spec and is not designed to stay alone..and keep in mind that if an engi ot thief comes at you when you’re defending a point alone (Pretty common) you can’t do kitten with guard outside trying to keep up and not get decapped while on warrior you can still fight him back killing him eventually (With the right spec) without even calling for backup….having someone who can win 1v1 or always have to waste another player in order to backup a guardian because he can do nothing outside surviving it’s a big difference in tn