Guild Wars 2

So I just became a commander, and I was wondering if anyone would like to give me some pointers as to how to command, various strategies, etc. Any help would be great. Thanks!

Why would you get an icon before getting your feet wet?

Oh I’ve played WvW plenty. Just curious what people think I should do so I don’t screw up too much.

If you don’t know what to do my advice is: turn the commander symbol off

purplepegasus.2791:

Oh I’ve played WvW plenty. Just curious what people think I should do so I don’t screw up too much.

Playing WvW is not quite the same as commanding it. Perhaps you should try running small groups with your icon off before tackling the big fish.

well you just need to do it and learn from your mistakes
I would suggest to start on enemy borderlands if you are unsure what to do – it hurts less loosing a keep there than loosing t3 stuff in EB or your home border :P Also you get used to pugs that dont listen to you at all or just want to play PvE.

You will learn all the “cute tactics” by following or asking other commanders (some even might run with you without their tags and point out what you should do). Also make sure to join some guildevents and participate in organized group fights, so you know what to look for there.

In general.. you need to learn to look at the map every 5-20 seconds and know what is happening everywhere while you are still moving and telling everyone what to do. If you stop for too long or dont talk enough, the pugs run away. Next step is to anticipate enemy movement and tactics and start countering it before it hits while coordinating multiple strike teams across the map – always keep in mind to leave someone “in charge” of smaller tasks so you dont have to worry about it yourself.

Best advise I can give is to run small camp capping group for a while. If you feel confident commanding them then you can move up to a bigger group

Aha alright thanks everyone! I’ll get some practice in the BLs with small groups for now until I’m more confident

There are many bad commanders… don’t join their number.

Spend more time watching commanders and you’ll quickly see what separates a good commander from a bad one. You don’t want people seeing your ID and thinking “what a di..”

Though I do know a commander who purposely got the zerg to build a couple of golems, then him and a mate proceeded to fight wildlife outside a keep they didn’t own.

If you have your tag on make sure you have siege. Be nice, and ask for things nicely, don’t scream or lose your temper. The other players are there to have fun, not to do chores. Keep your zerg well feed, as in give them plenty of karma, experience, kills and fun, and they will gladly follow you next time.

But most importantly, know when to turn your tag off or on. If there are more experienced or liked commanders around, turn it off and set aside unless they ask for help, otherwise you will just get in the way an no one will appreciate it.

The best way of learning is just to do it tbh it depends on which server you’re on also, a big T1 server might cry at you more if you do make a mistake your first time leading, as it might be more of a big deal for them.

My advice is to follow other commanders around and see stuff they do, especially those you think are ‘good’; asking them for pointers helped also.

Furthermore there are just a few general tips I can give:
• With pugs/randoms, using /say chat is generally the best, stand where they can see the speech bubbles.
• Pick your targets wisely, assuming EBG, you won’t want to go for a Tower like Veloka as it’s invariably well defended and easily defendable. You need to look at the map to figure out if any of your own objectives are being attacked and if so, don’t go on the offensive so soon.
• Learn to read the map, you should know just from the map where all the T3 locations are, where big battles are occurring, and hence which targets are most viable and how distracted the enemy defenders will be at any given moment.
• Always keep your group supplied and carry siege with you, you can get your Zerg to stand on you so as to check their supply and number with the /supplyinfo command.
• Try to deal with things in a level-headed way, be amicable in your commands and never rude, don’t feed the trolls.
• Deal with situations in different ways – if need be, set up catapults and dig in further away to siege a Tower, rams aren’t always effective and can be easily countered.
• Know your limits, generally for pug commanders, organised enemy guild groups are jar to wipe, likewise relative numbers matter, 30 of you and 50 of them means you’re probably better off targeting the 3rd server or attacking with speed whilst they are distracted – don’t engage in fights you can’t win.

The rest comes with experience, and you won’t get that by sitting down waiting for it get out there and command, and good luck to you hope this helps you find your feet.

Best thing you can do is follow a good one and imitate find out good seige placement then immitate.