Guild Wars 2

Hey guys and gals of the WvW forum!

I’ve taken the first step along my path of helping my server and guildies in the grand battles of WvW. The only problem is that I have no experience as a Commander.

None. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

So, could y’all be as kind as to give me a few tips and general rules of Commanding? If it matters, I main my Warrior in WvW, with the occasional run around on the Thief.

I would try talking to your commanders on the server you are located on. Most people are willing to help if you just ask them.

I would also ask why you want to command as it’s not for everyone. If you get frustrated easily I’d say commanding isn’t for you. Any commander will tell you that pugmanding can burn you out real quick.

Some people enjoy when you tell everyone where you’re headed next, even if it’s obvious.

I would try to get as many people following you into your servers ts, to help coordinate things particularly a map switch as you will lose pugs every time you switch maps regardless of the reason.

Try to remember you don’t need to 1 push the enemy every time. keep an eye on your party/zerg, If you need a re-group then go ahead and back off – get some water – go back in and kill them.

As you’ve probably seen other Commanders doing, use the terrain to your advantage and don’t just rush the enemy in a headlong charge. Most members of guild groups will stay on tag so play the enemy and look for an opening. Pugs will be pugs and just attack right away/won’t follow you at all. If you have a 40 man zerg don’t expect more than 15 – 20 people to follow you in a push. (depending on many different factors)

Everyone has their own style of commanding so try different things out and don’t beat yourself up when they fail, it happens to everyone even the best commanders make mistakes. (also don’t let other people bring you down, It can happen a lot)

I would also recommend avoid placing open field siege. A lot of people including myself find it to be cowardly and low especially if You, outnumber the enemy. (just my opinion, I will get hate for this part)

As far as your character to play when commanding, Most people will play as a Guardian or a Warrior with solider runes. You don’t really need the most Dmg as you need to focus on staying alive and leading when everything’s going to hell.

Just a few of my opinions If you have any other question feel free to ask.

Have a good one.

Thanks sydney!

The reason I want to be a Commander is that I hardly ever see one in our own Borderlands when we need one, due to the fact they’re all at EBG leading the charge. I want to supplement the number of Commanders we have so there can be someone to coordinate back home to avoid losing our big stuff.

To put it bluntly, I worked as a cashier at a Mcdonalds. I can handle the people rather well. Thanks for all the tips too!

One could write or read a book on this subject, but the most straight forward tip I can give you is: Follow a different commander for a while, and learn from him/her. Higher tier servers have quite a few good commanders that one could learn from by simply following.

Bonus tip: When you’re leading pugs, never stop talking.

Don’t give up just because people don’t follow you.

Best advice would be to shadow another commander for a bit then tag up yourself during quiet hours.

Tagging during quiet hours will help you build up some confidence and also benefit your server.

Every commander has a different style so there is no point copying IMO. Its best to let yourself develop in your own way.

Best to figure out what kind of style you want early on. Do you want to PPT or fight?

If you want to fight then learn your basic rotations, when to push when not to push. Keep your calls clear and make sure people know what you want. (If you run in a guild its best to have some support from them when you command.) Get a vocal ele and mesmer on TS when you can. It helps a lot.

If you want to PPT then you need to learn basic siege placement. Whats in the tower your attacking and where you should be placing your siege. Learn defensive siege placement so you can hold for the tick!

If your going to be a home border commander then my best advice would be, get to know your scouts. They are the people that will feed you information and will most likely keep your towers secure until you arrive. Most scouts will refresh your siege and even place it for you.

Don’t get down about wipes, don’t blame pugs for wipes, try and explain everything you do no matter how simple so everyone is on the same page, use TS, carry siege, think ahead of what you’re doing, be creative!

Raap.9065:

One could write or read a book on this subject

I think someone did, a while ago. Sun Tzu or whatever his name was :p

Anyway, if you want to begin commanding, just pick up alot of siege (you dont have to have superior, but it helps), get on TS, put on tag and go out there and command. I would highly recommend being backed up by a guild/friends in the beginning. When you are known on the servers, people will flock to you. Starting from scratch is kind of hard though, but 5 people is often enough to start commanding a border. Unless you meet a 60 man borderzerg while still having said 5 peeps, more will gather, you will cap some keeps and you’ll have fun.

Type/Speak often.
A clear mind, always knowing what you need to do next and communicate about it to your followers often.
Don’t be arrogant and start trash talking other guilds (unless the other guilds started it), do what you need to do and that is commanding.
Situation awareness
Map awareness
Class/composition awareness
If you lose a push, think about why you fail a push.

This is a guide from the forums that explains what calls you make on TS during a raid depending on what class you have. This also explains what you do as a driver and as front line/backline when the calls are made. This was not written by me, it was written by someone from PYRO a Maguuma guild at the time. It is a good starting point for pins. If you ever fight JQ send Mance a tell, and 500 mango pies =)

General Comms: Things everyone should be saying:

Downed Calls – This a call that every single member of the guild should be familiar with. On the surface, it seems very simple, but “I’m down” doesn’t cut it most of the time. In general, if you are going down, you should know it, and be able to give either a countdown or a rough approximation of when you’re going down. “I’m about to go down,” or, “I’m going down in 3, 2, down,” is a lot easier for warriors and myself to cover. If you communicate your location on top of this, you’re much more likely to get up.
Low Calls – This plays into the same idea. If you are low, let us know. We can cover you or go for a regroup. This is also a hint for eles to be able to drop a water on us to help you out. If an ele hears a bunch of low callouts at the same time, they will most likely throw us a water field mid-combat. It also allows for guardians to know when to book, myself for when to pull off, and warriors when to prep their banners.
Low Target – If you see an enemy low, it’s good to call it. I don’t see everything, nor does anyone, so calling it allows us to properly focus.
Enemy Legs – This is a more specialized call, but legs are essentially enemy stability. If you get interrupts or see the stab buff go off the enemy frontline, call it. We will hammerstun/line/ring/pull in response.
Rezzing/Hard Rezzing – Call this if you’re going to rez someone. “Stabilizing” is good too if they’re going to be bannered.
Getting Focused/Trained – Make sure you’re ACTUALLY being trained or focused, and then call it out. I will either come to you, or ask you to come to me.
Interrupted – If you are interrupted casting something that you called, note it to us.

Driver Comms – What I Mean:

Movement/Positional Callouts – These are generally pretty easy to grasp. Go left, go right, move towards the corner, move towards the hill, go down the stairs, etc. Note that directional calling is a bit harder than positional calling. I would rather give us a landmark than say go left or right, because our cameras may not be facing the same direction.
Leap – When I call for leaps, I am generally trying to engage an enemy backline or just doing a first pass. It’s useful to get behind them, but it’s also useful to get the blind/cripple/damage/combos that leaps all have.
Reverse – This is a movement call, but it’s important to note that when we do reverse, be careful. Our left and right may have reversed as well.
Empower – I call for this before engages, but don’t be afraid to go for empowers on your own.
Veil – Veil should be almost right on top of us. Rarely will be go straight through it.
Stability 1 and 2 – Guardians with F3 stab, that is your stab 1. All other guardians use SYG on stab 1. On stab 2, the guardians who used their F3 stab will use their SYG. We generally need 3-4 two stab guardians in order for this to work.
Cleave – Keep melee damage on me, as well as ranged autos. Generally mobile damage.
Bomb – Somewhat more stationary. Good time for suffering well, hammerstuns, guardian symbols, meteors, etc.
Regroup – Small water, blasts, and empowers only. Do not drop other fields on the regroup water.
Roll – Roll back, left, right, or through. I will generally call a direction. Sometimes it will be reversed or just wrong, so be prepared for that.
Rez/Stabilize – If I call to rez someone, everyone should be hitting f. If you do not, they may not be rezzed quickly enough, and we might all die.
Ranged Pressure – Staff guardian cleave and ranged bomb to zone ahead of us.
Standstill Bomb – 3 to 5 second melee bomb with ranged support. Used to force large groups of downed. A good time to combat empower.
Full Bomb – All wells, sharknados, both symbols if possible, empowers. Just huge damage.
Protection – I know it sounds redundant, but I call for protection when we need to go deep in a fight. 33% damage reduction is no joke. Call it back at me.
Purging/Cleanse – I will call my purges, but this does not necessarily mean to drop all purging flames on the same spot. Use them as needed. If I say I “need cleanse,” then purging spam is appropriate.
Lines/Ring/Hammerstuns (hard CC) – If legs are down, I’ll call for hard CC.
Pulls – I call for pulls a lot. Call it back at me, and be ready to actually pull.
Immob (and other soft CC) – I will occasionally call for immob, but don’t forget to do it as much as possible (and call it).

Guardian Comms:

Stability – This may seem a little redundant to call after I call for it, but it is essential that it is called. When stability is called, we know that it actually was casted, and we know when we have leeway to push or pull off. It is also a huge part of what I call the guild’s stream of consciousness. Stability is one of the most common and first calls, so it is the call that makes sure that everyone is having good comms. Remember, calling things out makes sure you actually do it correctly.
Empower – This is similar to the above, but it’s important to call because I know when we have damage and when we have sustain. Standstill bombs are a good time to empower on your own if you think you can survive by not moving. The amount of might, healing, and sustain this spell gives makes it incredibly important.
Book – Try to call your book as it comes up and as it ends. Avoid saying “book down.” “Book ending,” or, “book over,” is a lot safer. Try to avoid the word “down” in general. Unless you’re down.
Purging Flames – Call it, again, part of the stream of consciousness and lets people know where they can stand to reduce condi duration.
Lines – Call their location, not just that you’re casting it. In general, try to hit backline with it. Only aim it at frontline if they have no stability.
Ring – If on JI, wait for me to ask for it, unless it’s a reaaalllyyyy good ring. Let me know the ring status and cooldowns when you see an opportunity.
Immobilize – Just call it. It’s good.
Punt – Useful on downs, but call it first.
Protection – Another part of the stream of consciousness.

Warrior Comms:

Hammer/Stun/Hammerstun – Useful even when there is enemy stability as an offensive blast. Most effective on backline or frontline without legs.
Immobilize – Focus immobs on bombs or on close backline. Calling them lets me know when I can hit things. If you immobilize a specific person (ele or something), call that as well.
Banner – Be sure to say what banner you are when you’re casting. Communicate your cooldowns before fights. Call if you’re interrupted.

Elementalist Comms:

Big Blast/Big Water – Big water is useful on engages. If you’re water 1, call it on first engage. If you’re water 2, call it on the next engage. Blast is somewhat preferable to water, but both are fine.
Small Blast/Small Water – Useful in regroups or as a self-heal. Only call it when it is on the frontline so we can blast it. Calling positions of it is useful, too, such as on sentry or road.
Static – Make sure you call where the static is hitting, like enemy backline, frontline, sentry, etc.
Chill – Helps keep the stream of consciousness of the guild going.
Wall – Similar to a guardian line, throw it on backline most of the time and call its position.
Immob – It’s useful to hear when immobs are going out from anyone. Be specific if you’re hitting another backliner.
Meteor – Don’t call every one, but it’s not a bad call either. Lets me know if I can ask for a shark or not.
Sharknado – Call when you start the tornado, or if you know 100% sure that you will be able to shark.
Fire field – Only really call before first engage. That’s the only time we’ll blast it, likely.

Necro Comms:

Strip/Boonstrip – Good to know when they might not have stability or other boons. Useful on first engage.
Bombing/full bomb – Generally bombing is just suffering well, but all 3 wells should be called as full bomb.
Blind/chill – Call these as needed, they’re both linked together.
Immobilize – DS 5 is very powerful. Call it out.
Weakness – Weakness lets us know if we can push or not. It’s like protection.
Fearing x – Call who you’re fearing.
Plague – Let us know when you start plague and when it’s about to end.

Condensed so it’s easier to read and not a dissertation (which would not even be enough to learn how to command, but this is a start)

1. Know your server, your tier, and how many people you expect to have and how many you normally will face. Answer the question: Are you GVG or pug-manding? The way to lead each group is VERY different.

2. Play as many professions in WvW as you can to get a feel of what they can do, if this is not an option you need to spend time looking on the forums to understand the current meta builds you will face off against or use to your advantage.

3. The vast majority of commanders suck. Plain and simple, shadowing some won’t necessarily help you.

4. You must think tactically. If you are not setting traps for your opponent zergs to die 5, 10, 30, 60 minutes in advance, you need to learn how to do it.

5. Know every inch of terrain and where the best tactical spots are and what to do in each spot compared to what your enemies are running.

6. Know which terrain is best to lead stupid zerglings into an ambush.

7. There are certain places to put siege as o where they will most likely never be seen or countered, find those places.

8. Most commanders do the same thing every time. You MUST change it up.

9. You must learn your enemy commanders and adjust your style to counter theirs.

10. Call out food reminders

11. You will screw it up, own it, admit it and move on.

A good portion of the people in WvW get distracted easily. They see a squirrel and a whole blob will run after that person. Use it to your advantage to fight only half a zerg at a time or lead the zerg into an ambush.

Most important to be a good LEADER:

1. Don’t yell in TS (or other chat) to your followers. Things happen, discuss a better alternative action to do in a situation and move on.

2. Greet people as they follow you. People are more likely to follow someone who befriends them and will continue to follow them even after some bad deaths instead of giving up.

3. Pay attention and give out praise when your team or an individual really contributes

4. Be nice, no one likes a jerk, especially in a game.

5. You aren’t half as good as you think you are.

6. Be respectful, letting people joke around but don’t let it go too far.

Those are just a few and I have kept out a lot of stuff obviously. Hopefully, that will help a bit though.

As an exercise, imagine yourself as the commander while in the field, before you get the tag. Put yourself in the mindset of what you would do, what you would say in comms, what you would type in /t and /s. Visualize yourself in the role, in detail, and really practice making the decisions you’ll need to make moment by moment in a real rather than just abstract sense.

Also, don’t be afraid to let others who might be more knowledgeable about certain things handle those things. For example, most servers have people who have no desire to command, but they’re experts on siege placement and how to defend or attack particular structures, how to manage upgrades and supply levels, etc. I’m one of those types. I love those rare occasions when a commander lets me place defensive siege, and they just bring the supplies.

Develop relationships with the people who take care of your BL and your corner of EB and try to help them when you can. Respect the the time/effort and coin they put in and defend upgraded structures when you can.

Strive to never log off right after a failure, especially in your corner of EB, or your own BL . If things go badly, and you’re ready to quit, try to rally a few people up to go do something positive. Sometimes that means going to another map and flipping a few camps or a tower. Sometimes it means waiting a few minutes for the enemy zerg to leave your BL so you can retake your Garrison. You don’t want to develop a reputation as a commander who vanishes when the going gets tough. It’s better to leave after at least a small victory, rather than a big loss.

Invictorum.7643:

Hey guys and gals of the WvW forum!

I’ve taken the first step along my path of helping my server and guildies in the grand battles of WvW. The only problem is that I have no experience as a Commander.

None. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

So, could y’all be as kind as to give me a few tips and general rules of Commanding? If it matters, I main my Warrior in WvW, with the occasional run around on the Thief.

To add to the above

Understand the term “rallybait” fully and completely and that it refers not only to uplevels but also incorrectly build / geared backline and frontline consisting of people who are new, unaware or even veteran players. There are many incorrect rallybait builds posted on sites such as metabattle and gw2efficiency. Do not use them as the people who posted them are often 1 vs 1 roamers or in general part of the problem rather then the solution.

Understand the fact that there will be many times when its better to leave all rallybait behind and engage your opponents even being outnumbered then engage with a larger force while having rallybait among the group you are commanding, regardless if the rallybait is PUG or even your own Guild.

Adjust to the changing meta, do not become “stuck” in the hammertrain mindset of yesteryear. While it is still somewhat effective in some situations vs certain opponents, there are many commanders that fail at this currently and are unable to figure out why they keep wiping and adjust their gameplay style and team comp appropriately.

Start small, best start you can have is a havoc squad, 5-10 people, then grow from there. Note that your and everyones builds for group of 10, 20, 30+ are completely different and often opposite. If someone is not adjusting that person needs to be removed / replaced.

Tongku.5326:

To add to the above

Understand the term “rallybait” fully and completely and that it refers not only to uplevels but also incorrectly build / geared backline and frontline consisting of people who are new, unaware or even veteran players. There are many incorrect rallybait builds posted on sites such as metabattle and gw2efficiency. Do not use them as the people who posted them are often 1 vs 1 roamers or in general part of the problem rather then the solution.

Understand the fact that there will be many times when its better to leave all rallybait behind and engage your opponents even being outnumbered then engage with a larger force while having rallybait among the group you are commanding, regardless if the rallybait is PUG or even your own Guild.

Adjust to the changing meta, do not become “stuck” in the hammertrain mindset of yesteryear. While it is still somewhat effective in some situations vs certain opponents, there are many commanders that fail at this currently and are unable to figure out why they keep wiping and adjust their gameplay style and team comp appropriately.

Start small, best start you can have is a havoc squad, 5-10 people, then grow from there. Note that your and everyones builds for group of 10, 20, 30+ are completely different and often opposite. If someone is not adjusting that person needs to be removed / replaced.

Thats a guide to guild raiding, not commanding. Rallybots will always be a factor when pug commanding. All you need to know is how much ranged and how much melee you have and adjust the way you push accordingly. You arent going to be able to change that composition very much unless its people that are willing to change for you.

You need a good motivation for yourself as to why you want to be commanding. It’s nothing easy, and if you aren’t in the right mindset for it you can easily break your mood for doing it.

I recommend that if you have a bunch of friends or guildies, you should ask for them to join you in your runs. Even if it’s a few, these are people that can support you in some way. When you run pug groups, you will often see that people will come and go regardless of what happens. Whether you get wiped, you cap a tower/keep, you kill an enemy group, at some point pugs will drop out for IRL, lost of interest, roaming on their own, etc. So don’t let that bother you really if your number fluctuates in a run, or if you had 20 players on you and it decreased suddenly to 10. It happens all the time.

Provide your own siege, especially superior siege. Superior rams and catapults make the hugest difference in dps and people following you know that.

When it comes to fighting, know what all the classes around you do. What can ele do for you? What do necros do? What can wars and guards for the group? Also, choose a class that you can command effectively on for the situation. Are you going to get into huge group fights? I’d bring a heavy class like guard/war. Are you going to be flipping things with a few people? Maybe bring a mobile class like D/D ele that can fight in small group situations while still flipping stuff around. I say this because some builds, like a zerg build for guard, isn’t the best if you only have have a few on you.

1. Don’t pop tag just because you have it or right when you get it.
2. Follow commanders of PUGS, learn common commands and methods…things PUGs will be familiar with.
3. IGNORE TROLLS! You WILL be trolled. That’s life. Shrug it off.
4. YOU need to throw siege, have lots of it. Noone likes a commander that depends on others to throw siege, and it is slow, cluttered, and inefficient with supply.
5. Take time to keep your zerg somewhat coherent. You can’t just run around without stopping from time to time to rally your zerg. Let them catch up.
6. Zergs need success from time to time. When you get wiped, regroup, and lead the zerg to a few successes, flip camps, capture easy points, wipe small roamers. It’s a momentum thing. Don’t let your zerg get wiped 2 to 3 times consecutively. That will be the end of your run, everyone will bail on you. String together a couple little victories to rebuild your zergs enthusiasm.
7. Resupply as often as possible. Always keep your zerg as topped off with supply as possible. Don’t forget, it;s easy to do when you get rolling flipping towers and such.
8. Don’t waypoint too much. If you can run from point A to point B, do it unless getting to be is really urgent. Waypointing erodes a zerg.
9. A zerg works on enthusiasm and morale. That’s most important. Don’t do anything to erode morale and enthusiasm. Do everything to keep them entertained. PUGs only care about entertainment and loot/Karma/XP. They don’t care about you, your tag, or your server’s score. Give them what they want and you’ll do fine.
10. You will have good days and bad days. Some will be really good, and some really bad. Don’t sweat it, don’t rage. PUGs tend to favor commanders that don’t get angry, grumpy, depressed, or quit. When things are going bad, just set smaller goals, make some jokes…whatever. Never let them see you mentally or emotionally beaten, no matter how bad you are beaten on the field of battle.

Just my personal list of top 10. Hope it helps.

Dawdler.8521:

Tongku.5326:

To add to the above

Understand the term “rallybait” fully and completely and that it refers not only to uplevels but also incorrectly build / geared backline and frontline consisting of people who are new, unaware or even veteran players. There are many incorrect rallybait builds posted on sites such as metabattle and gw2efficiency. Do not use them as the people who posted them are often 1 vs 1 roamers or in general part of the problem rather then the solution.

Understand the fact that there will be many times when its better to leave all rallybait behind and engage your opponents even being outnumbered then engage with a larger force while having rallybait among the group you are commanding, regardless if the rallybait is PUG or even your own Guild.

Adjust to the changing meta, do not become “stuck” in the hammertrain mindset of yesteryear. While it is still somewhat effective in some situations vs certain opponents, there are many commanders that fail at this currently and are unable to figure out why they keep wiping and adjust their gameplay style and team comp appropriately.

Start small, best start you can have is a havoc squad, 5-10 people, then grow from there. Note that your and everyones builds for group of 10, 20, 30+ are completely different and often opposite. If someone is not adjusting that person needs to be removed / replaced.

Thats a guide to guild raiding, not commanding. Rallybots will always be a factor when pug commanding. All you need to know is how much ranged and how much melee you have and adjust the way you push accordingly. You arent going to be able to change that composition very much unless its people that are willing to change for you.

Nope.

Depends on your server and even if you are on one that can be described as uncooperative, you can improve and change it greatly although more over time then immediately. Many pugs that prefer to stay in their own small guilds for example, will adjust to you and as you both become regular players within your roles they will often outperform your guild mates despite having a different guild tag.

You would be surprised just how large the overall improvements can be if you just ask for them on TS or whatever your VOIP of choice happens to be.

1 more extremely important thing I forgot to add. Get max or nearly maxxed bag slots and all 20 slotter bags. There is nothing more annoying then a stingy commander thats holding up a group of 30-40 or even 50+ people because he has to drop vendors and empty out his inventory on every fight or every 2nd fight. Sometimes in rapid succession, and sometimes this will even cost you high value objectives due to the delay it causes.

just do it, get max bagspace.

Don’t be a baby.

That’s really the biggest thing. Your attitude effects everything. There will be times when people don’t want to follow you, because either youre bad or they dont know you or theyre roamers. There will be times you lose / wipe. There will be times you cant be effective because you are outnumbered, or because people didnt listen.

The minute you start complaining, you don’t deserve to wear the tag. A commander has zero business complaining because his negativity effects everyone. Be up-beat, positive, win, lose, die, respawn. Tag up when you want, tag down when you want, dont worry too much about finding a replacement because when you get good, no one will want to tag up after you, and staying tagged up when you’d rather not be will just burn you out.

Agree on max bagspace.

If you aren’t talking on the server’s official TS, you aren’t commanding anything, you are just some pug with his pve-commander tag on.