Guild Wars 2

Hello everyone, the reason why I posted this because there are a lot of people want to command and planned to buy their Commander tag but wanted to know how to command with basic tactics. I get a lot of whisper while commanding, players whispering me and ask for advise on what to do which one to do next.

Well this is just all basic on how to command at WvW. If I am missing something please post or comment below to add more basic tactic.

How to Command with basic tactics.

-Keep Calm and Always think ahead or 1 step ahead of what you’re going to do.

Basic stack:
Area Stealth = Smoke field + Blast
Area Might = Fire field + Blast
Area Healing = Water field + Blast
Area Swiftness = Static field + Blast

Basic tactics:
Every cap must have preparation
Every success cap must have sweep
Every battle must have stack for might or buffs
Every run must have stack for swiftness(DO NOT DROP SYMBOLS)

Basic capping Towers/Keeps tactics:
Make sure you have sieges
Make sure to get supplies (preparation)
Take out AC’s, Oils, and other siege before dropping rams
Water field on the rams
Send someone to scout for incoming
Do not let anyone get inside tower

Reward for success cap: Karma and Bags!

Basic Charge tactics:
Stack for might before charging
Drop static field upfront
Spam AOE attack on the commander
Everyone must stick with the commander
Do not stop to stomp
Do not stop to revive the dead
Stomp or DPS the down enemies after complete wipe

Rewards for success battle: Badges and Bags!

This is pretty basic in my opinion but please add more if you have something in mind to help out other players want to command.

PS: It will be hard to command if you have to type the call outs but get used to it or make everyone join Teamspeak.

Good Luck.

Try not to curse and be insulting when you have an ele or two who keep dropping water fields out of combat when you ask for static fields.

Chris.3290:

Try not to curse and be insulting when you have an ele or two who keep dropping water fields out of combat when you ask for static fields.

Yep and try to warn them ahead that you’re gonna stack up a might or swiftness. especially symbols when you stack a swiftness tell them do not drop a symbol before stacking. There’s gonna be a lot of fails on stacking up so just patience until everyone get used to it.

Nice helpful writeup. Commanding is something Ive often considered doing. Not sure I would.

Question about the basic stack… Why list area stealth? Ive yet to see a use for it in any composition from a static stacked position because of its short duration. Generally Id opt for veil/mas invis and if no Mesmer every other situation I’d opt for static or might. But you didn’t list AoE retaliation, which I’ve found has its place in some situations such as gate stacking.

sostronk.8167:

Nice helpful writeup. Commanding is something Ive often considered doing. Not sure I would.

Question about the basic stack… Why list area stealth? Ive yet to see a use for it in any composition from a static stacked position because of its short duration. Generally Id opt for veil/mas invis and if no Mesmer every other situation I’d opt for static or might. But you didn’t list AoE retaliation, which I’ve found has its place in some situations such as gate stacking.

If I were to guess…. If you stack on a smoke + blast you can get a much longer invis than using veil. Would be nice for entering a area like the hills lord room when portal bomb isn’t always an option or if they have enough siege to take out a mezmer before he/she could get the portal open. Would suggest having your heavies / ele’s stack in this situation.

BlazeQ.1095:

sostronk.8167:

Nice helpful writeup. Commanding is something Ive often considered doing. Not sure I would.

Question about the basic stack… Why list area stealth? Ive yet to see a use for it in any composition from a static stacked position because of its short duration. Generally Id opt for veil/mas invis and if no Mesmer every other situation I’d opt for static or might. But you didn’t list AoE retaliation, which I’ve found has its place in some situations such as gate stacking.

If I were to guess…. If you stack on a smoke + blast you can get a much longer invis than using veil. Would be nice for entering a area like the hills lord room when portal bomb isn’t always an option or if they have enough siege to take out a mezmer before he/she could get the portal open. Would suggest having your heavies / ele’s stack in this situation.

yeah just like what he said, I barely use this stack, only when gate is about to drop then we stack up beside the gate keep stealth up and cut enemy zerg into half while other group getting wipe by killbox. tactics tactics more tactics. the reason why I didn’t put the other stacks is because I only put the basic tactics. there’s advance tactics, Zerg buster tactic. A LOT of tactics but I only put the basic for those who needs to learn how to command, but if people want to learn the advance then must have to learn from us.

Biggest tip ever: Encourage the use of voicecoms. Because 9/10 times, a same size zerg fight will be won by the zerg on voicecoms (if there is one)

Basic Tactics
WvW is a constantly flowing Real Time Strategy game. You need to treat it as such. The biggest rule is that speed is King. The faster you execute your strategy the more successful it will be. If you’re planning to sweep a chain of camps through the green border of Eternal and eventually take one of the towers don’t hesitate between camps. The enemy is countering your movement and if they’re faster you’ll fail.

Pro Tip Regarding the combo fields listed above the field that takes effect from the finishers is the FIRST ONE DROPPED when they’re stacked on each other. That is if an ele drops a water field and a mesmer drops an etherial field on top of it the water field will get all the blast finishes. This field cannot be overridden. It must end before a new field on the pile can take effect.

The stack
Order: “Stack on me” “Regroup on me” “Stack at x gate…”
The stack is the most basic starting point for most field combat movements. Stacks serve a primary purpose of focusing your force’s attention. Stacks serve a secondary purpose of spreading boons from combo fields. It is okay once you engage an enemy if your group scatters a little bit. Some builds are incapable of taking direct damage that accompanies the zergball tactic you’ve probably heard of or taken part in. They’re best off bombing from ranged.

Range/class types
There are 4 range and class types: Melee tank, melee damager, ranged damager, healer. The first three are the main focus of the majority of builds in WvW. As a commander you must understand that not all builds will operate the same way. This means that part of your zerg is simply going to hang back when you crash an enemy zerg while the other part pushes in with you. If you’re a ranged damage commander then you should respec to a melee damager or tank. Your front line won’t push in if you’re not spear heading the charge.

high level basic tactics

Understanding terrain
Terrain in GW2 is a big part in combat. The WvW maps offer interesting terrain to fight over. As a commander you must understand types of terrain and how they impact your fights.

Open Field
Open field is anywhere that is fairly open and flat. If you’re fighting an even sized zerg the fight will go to the zerg who is faster and has a better class composition. Class composition is a little more advanced than basic level commanding to understand. You have to know about snares and tripwire CC at a basic level. A tripwire cc is a skill like the guardian’s Line of Warding or the necro’s Spectral Wall. It causes a CC to anyone who tries to cross it. A snare is a skill that causes immobilize, cripple, or chilled. When used correctly these skills control the fight and determine the victor. As an open field commander you have to recognize when these skills are hitting you. They’re trying to split your force up to make the fight easier. If you see the skills hit behind your movement double back to regroup your zerg. Don’t take too long, you’ll get bombed my ranged dpsers.

Choke points
Think 300. The movie. Or history if you prefer. Do you know why Leonidas was able to hold back all of Xerces’ army? He knew how to identify and hold a choke point. GW2 fighting works like that. A choke point is any location where the enemy gets funneled into an area about 1.5x the diameter of a necro well. A choke point can be formed from any number of terrain features. The best features to look for are: doorways, stairwells, cliffs near walls, canyons, water on sides, bridges, the tops of keep walls, and the ramps in stonemist. Choke points are easily blocked by your frontline (re guardians, warriors, and they’ll be bunker specs carrying lots of snares and tripwire CCs). They prevent you from getting flanked and force your enemy to engage your front where you’re strongest. A good chokepoint hold can allow a 20 man zerg to hold back a 40 man zerg easily.

High Ground
High ground is any section of terrain where a player is above another player. There is good high ground and bad high ground. A good high ground has a wall or impassable feature between you and the enemy. A bad high ground doesn’t. High ground increases the effective range of Trebuchets and Catapults. Good high ground can be used by ranged dps to bomb the enemy zerg from a relatively safe location. A safe ranged dpser puts out more dps than one that’s in danger or getting chased. High ground is also an excellent place to deploy arrow carts or ballistas. These siege weapons get a better line of sight and effective kill range from high ground.

Bridges
Bridges get a special mention. They form choke points where ranged dps can actually bomb targets well ahead of the end of the choke’s end. A bridge that is properly defended can deal a devastating blow to an advancing enemy force. The most famous bridge to fight on is the one at south Hills on a borderland map. The ends of this bridge frequently get guarded by siege where both sides end up in a stalemate.

I’ll add a post on siege, I might be hitting a length cap.
Know your siege
Siege has different uses. A clever commander can design a siege placement that allows him to destroy any objective while protecting the siege used to do it. You probably have an idea from before commanding of what siege does but now that you’re the commander you’re the one placing it. Here’s what to know:

Structure siege
Structure siege are Rams, Catapults, Trebuchets, and Golems. These siege are intended to destroy structures and perform poorly for fighting players.
Field siege
Arrow carts and Ballistas are field siege. These siege perform poorly against structures but are excellent for fighting players.

Rams
Rams are best used for taking relatively low upgraded keeps or towers. Rams are obviously vulnerable to defenses on the objective. You’ll need to learn when an enemy defense gets too strong.

Catapults
These are for going through walls but will also damage gates if you need them to. On a “paper” tower catapults will be as fast on a wall as rams are on a gate. This is a good alternative to know when you’re faced with a gate loaded with arrow carts. Range is increased with a high ground difference between the catapult and its target. High ground also enables a faster fire rate at closer targets.

Trebuchets
Trebs are best used as “bunker busters”. That is they’re best used against heavily fortified towers and keeps. 1 treb does the same amount of DPS as 2 catapults. The thing with trebs to know is that their long range enables them to fire from inside other towers or keeps at objectives. The most famous placement is the third floor of stonemist. From there trebs can control all of the towers directly adjacent to stonemist except Ogrewatch and Quentin Lake. Learn all the good spots for trebs. Like catapults their range increases with a high ground relationship to the target. High ground also enables trebs to fire faster at nearby targets.

Golems
Personally I hate golems because moving them is almost always a trainwreck. Some mesmers come in thinking they’re super cool with this new 10 second warp method and 8 times out of 10 it fails miserably. Enough about that though, this part is about golems. Golems are basically moving rams. 1 golem does the same DPS as 2 rams. They move slowly so they require defensive forces to escort them to objectives. Despite the number of skills ANET gave them they are not actually good against players.

(I promise this is the last part of my big wallo text)
Arrow carts
They’re famous… They’re famous because they got buffed to the point where they became the ultimate defensive weapon. This kittened off a lot of people. Arrow carts are turrets that will cause a constant aoe over their target area. They have a bleed skill and a cripple skill as you know. From the commander’s perspective an arrow cart is the best weapon to cover a choke. Place 1-2 arrow carts over choke points you want to defend, stack your front line in the choke and rain bloody murder on anything that tries to push it. There are other creative ways to use ACs to further your strategy.

Ballistas
They’re the overlooked sister of the Arrow cart. What they lack in AOE they make up for in range and sheer firepower. Ballistas are almost exclusively field artillery. Walls often have a lip on them that absorbs the shots. When ballistas are placed on an open field high ground they can devastate an advancing enemy force. The best place as an example of this is the area between cragtop (northeast tower) and garrison. When trebbing the garrison trebs can be placed on the plateau to hit the inner keep. Ballistas when deployed on the ridge to the west will cover an enemy advance from the keep to destroy the trebs. Combine this with a stationed frontline in range of the ballistas and you have a nearly impregnable siege against the garrison.

Ok i’m done now. That is all I have that a basic commander should know. The rest of strategy is personal preference and creativity. There isn’t one strategy for every situation. When you command be creative in your strategy. You’ll find out what works and what doesn’t. The last thing to remember: your fame among the Militia is related to your success on the battle field.

What lioka qiao.8734 post is not just basic tactics but advance tactics and everything he post up will require more and better cooperation. Yes I agree with him and all of those work well as a guild or if pugs joined your TS but if you are running with pugs with no TS try to stay on the very basic call outs and tactics. Now I am not saying that you should ignore his post, everything he post up there will need a lot of WvW commanding experience just like playing a chess game – You must think fast and has to be step ahead when you are making a move and this you will gain slowly when you command. Always learn from your mistake and remember his advice or everyone’s advice here. Brand new commander will do make a lot of mistakes but just hang on there you will be in our level sooner or later because the longer you command the better you will be as long as you keep your heads up.

Thank you for everyone who gave tips on commanding and those who want to add more please do help new commanders.

lioka qiao.8734:

Pro Tip Regarding the combo fields listed above the field that takes effect from the finishers is the FIRST ONE DROPPED when they’re stacked on each other. That is if an ele drops a water field and a mesmer drops an etherial field on top of it the water field will get all the blast finishes. This field cannot be overridden. It must end before a new field on the pile can take effect.

I do not believe this to be correct. I frequently see static fields dropped first, followed by symbols of swiftness on top and getting area retal from it. There has to be a prioritisation order outside of time. If you believe I am incorrect, feel free to test it for yourself, but unless there is something seriously laggy/buggy going on, the light field takes priority over a static field regardless of whether it was dropped first or second.

Rage quit – never rage quit. Even if pugs don’t listen to You and You got wiped. It does not look good and players will remember it.
using TS – talk, a lot, if You start using voice comm, and there is only one people with You there, talk to him. Ask him where he is, ask him if he would go scouting while you lead pugs.
If there are more people on TS, give them dicertions, like go left, go right, stack, push, back, to tower, to walls. You just need to keep talking so people will know what do you want.

sostronk.8167:

lioka qiao.8734:

Pro Tip Regarding the combo fields listed above the field that takes effect from the finishers is the FIRST ONE DROPPED when they’re stacked on each other. That is if an ele drops a water field and a mesmer drops an etherial field on top of it the water field will get all the blast finishes. This field cannot be overridden. It must end before a new field on the pile can take effect.

I do not believe this to be correct. I frequently see static fields dropped first, followed by symbols of swiftness on top and getting area retal from it. There has to be a prioritisation order outside of time. If you believe I am incorrect, feel free to test it for yourself, but unless there is something seriously laggy/buggy going on, the light field takes priority over a static field regardless of whether it was dropped first or second.

I’ve actually tested this in sPvP by the golems with some friends. We would drop a fire field and put a light field right on top of it, then blast finish. Everyone ended up with might stacks instead of retaliation stacks. You can repeat this experiment if you want too:
You need 1 elementalist, 1 guardian, 1 thief.
Have the ele drop a fire field and have the guardian immediately drop a light field on top of it. Then have the thief blast finish on the fields. You should get might stacks until the fire field fades. Then if the light field is up still you’ll get retaliation when it is blasted. Next reverse the order. Have the guardian drop the light field and the ele put the fire field on top of it. Have the thief blast finish again. You’ll end up with retaliation but no might. When the light field ends you can blast it again and you’ll get might.

@ others: what I stated is actually basic knowledge. The stuff about analyzing terrain is imo at the top edge of a basic level and possibly intermediate level. Knowing your siege is basic stuff though. I once passed anzalias in eternal battleground and saw a treb built right outside of the gate. Not the wall and not half a mile away like usual trebs but right at the gate. To understand why my guild laughed for 5 minutes afterward (I screen-shotted that treb too) is basic knowledge a commander needs.

IMO the more advanced stuff is how to conduct open field combat, how to push a choke, how to guard a choke and how to anticipate enemy movements.