Guild Wars 2

Hey everyone

So my guild and I have been on a server that’s in the lower tiers of WvW. However our guild is really starting to grow and expand our presence in WvW. A part of our expansion has been moving into having Team Leaders for whatever strategies and roles our Guild Leader wants.

As such I was really hoping to get some input from you guys on the organization, strategy and requirements for a team. I want my team to be the best in the Guild and the best 5 man group on the server. I plan for having us practice, have strategies (yes I know WvW is a living world), requirements for communication and teamwork, the over all attitude, etc.

I really want to take it seriously and have fun being the best. Any insight into how to run a good team, the strategies and anything else really would be very helpful.

Have any tips for us to be successful? Please let me know! Everything is REALLY appreciated guys.

Thank you in advance

Looks like you are your team’s leader. Getting dedicated team leaders who are willing to spend time to train, manage and get the group together is the hardest part of it.

First, get a deputy to help you out on the management and training. Usually if the leader is not on, the team doesn’t function so you will need a reliable deputy leader to take over the team when you’re not around.

Second is just play together! just roam around and play wvw lots of times together. Do team runs even when your guild is not doing a major raid. Those really help. Get in those outmanned impossible situations all the time so they get used to it. In the end of each run, talk about what you did wrong and what you could’ve done to make it better. Any suggestions? opinions? violent reactions?

Third, Have fun!

Warning:
Make sure that you always report to your guild leader and socialize with the other teams. It’s easy to become your own identity within the guild. Expect that you will get better and really good. This may result in your guys becoming elitist and segregate themselves from the rest of the guild. I know this coz this happened in my own guild. We experimented on this formation for over 4 months and through trial and error, the synergy between the teams are really good right now. We learned a lot and gained experience running multiple teams or squads(that’s what we call it in our guild). You need humility and never look down on your own guild members.

COMMUNICATION – that’s the key.

I am sharing this to you because very few guilds apply this kind of formation and I’m glad more guilds are starting to do this for better tactical play. I wanna share what my guild has gone through to get to the level of organization that we have now.

Here’s a sample for you on how our guild uses the multiple teams.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZInldB8l4FM

During guild raids, each squad reps their squad’s roster guild to be able to see their members better.The guild leader is a member of all the squad roster guilds.

The format is :

Squad Name [FTF]

We then make sure that we get everyone to rep the main guild everytime a guild raid ends.

It’s gonna be quite a task for your guild leader to unite and use multiple teams effectively. It took me a while but once he/she gets it in, it works wonders. Goodluck to you and your guild.

Thank you very much Noice for the great write up! Your response is perfect and really assures me that I’m heading in the right direction. I’ll have to follow you for any more WvW vids

A couple quick questions though:

Do you guys have written strats? Or edited maps with pathing and the like? Or do you group up and just play the tactics as they come? I’m really trying to evaluate all the resources I should provide my team and what factors are most important and should be addressed.

Another question would be, do you know of any good resources for WvW tactics / strategy? Our guild is WvW only almost and so when I’m on I’m basically in WvW so I’m very familiar. But taking it to the next level of tactics and thinking would be nice.

Also, I feel this wouldn’t work out, but do you pick classes for squads? I feel I would be pigeon holed into who I end up with and would create more elitist attitudes if I went ahead and hand picked the best line up. Chances are we’d end up as the better group in the guild if that’s the case as no one is currently taking it as seriously.

Personally, I think class requirements is actually a bad idea. I prefer to play inclusion not exclusion. Besides, getting people to play in WvW is a challenge sometimes without added restrictions. It’s better to work with what you have and improve that. Working with what you have makes your team stronger anyway because you learn to adapt and come up with solutions to problems.
I think the easiest way to to learn anything in WvW even tactics and strategies is to learn the home BL map and how to defend and keep it first. Often homelands provide a slow period when not much is happening on the map, this allows your team to learn better siege placement, hiding holes, and shortcuts. Plus you learn about upgrading and defending the things you already have. This also allows for smaller skirmishes rather than falling into the big zerg.
Eb lands tend to be heavy on action because all 3 teams are always competing there. So homelands is defiantly a better choice for learning and training.
I don’t know how other servers view their homelands. But personally I have priorities on homelands. Garrison, hills and bay most important. Hold the north first above the south as the south is where the enemy spawns and often flips fast. That’s just a brief rundown of my priorities. Of course camps and running supplies is always important for upgrades. Just my thoughts on your post.

hmsgoddess.3869:

Personally, I think class requirements is actually a bad idea.

If the goal is to “be the best 5 man group on the server”, you better be prepared to put demands on classes, builds and gear. It doesnt matter in a zerg (well it does, just not so much) but in a 5 man group the design is critical. What’s even more critical is the intended targets. If the 5 are supposed to be the best solo enemy gankers, then thieves are the obvious choice. Zergbusting, not so much.

If I designed a group, I would say 2 bunker CC (guardian/warrior with hammers), a glass cannon thief to flank and gank what the group CC, a well necro and a glamour mesmer to put pressure in the path of the warrior and guardian. Cant get everything. Possibly swap the well necro for a grenade engineer, more mobile assault but you loose some of the fancier condition applications.

Dawdler.8521:

hmsgoddess.3869:

Personally, I think class requirements is actually a bad idea.

If the goal is to “be the best 5 man group on the server”, you better be prepared to put demands on classes, builds and gear. It doesnt matter in a zerg (well it does, just not so much) but in a 5 man group the design is critical. What’s even more critical is the intended targets. If the 5 are supposed to be the best solo enemy gankers, then thieves are the obvious choice. Zergbusting, not so much.

If I designed a group, I would say 2 bunker CC (guardian/warrior with hammers), a glass cannon thief to flank and gank what the group CC, a well necro and a glamour mesmer to put pressure in the path of the warrior and guardian. Cant get everything. Possibly swap the well necro for a grenade engineer, more mobile assault but you loose some of the fancier condition applications.

I see what you mean, there is no doubt a well designed team has the upper hand. I feel the player’s attitude and camaraderie is very important factor though.

But with that said, I’m a Tank Eng. and as such what would you feel is a good team design to build around that? If it’s not something I enforce and require, I can at least prioritize the correct classes for the team.

While this is something I could ponder myself, I always enjoy other’s perspectives and opinions.

Edit: I did want to mention too that since we’ve just started this initiative we haven’t yet decided what the roles of the teams are. So really anything is an option at this point.

We don’t have any written strats or anything like that. I usually command and decide tactics through experience and reading the flow of the battle.
As far as running as a small group, always make sure you position your team on the most advantageous spot. It is your duty as the team leader to find those said spots.
Things you wanna do are hiding your numbers, look for those good flanking positions, choke points, the high ground or positions where they cannot get behind you.

First, decide what your team’s function is. Is it by doing diversions? Holding the line? Flanking? Sieging? Sabotage? Assassination-focus on one then get out…attack then repeat, Roaming taking camps and small objectives?
Then work around that.

If I would make a 5 man group, this will be the line up:
Guardian, Warrior , Mesmer, Ranger, Thief(or whatever your class is)
Then I will ask them to modify their builds into more team oriented builds.

Here’s a small team with good synergy. Some of these guys are not in my guild anymore but they are really good at what they do so I wanna share this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmMUc-TbdnU
Watch his videos. You’ll learn a lot about running a small team. Things you wanna watch out specifically are the boons they use on certain situations, aoe/field placements. combo finishers.

This one over here is more recent but this one is more into big numbered fights.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYtKITq9zIs