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| Civil War in Star Wars: The Old Republic |
Contents:
What is the Civil War?
The Civil War map is my personal favorite. I also consider it to be the simplest map out there, but not necessarily the simplest when it comes to strategy.
The Goal: Destroy the enemy ship before they destroy yours.
How to Accomplish the Goal: Capture any/all of the three large turrets, once a team captures a turret it will begin automatically firing at the opponent's ship.
Since there are three turrets to capture and they all do the same amount of damage, capturing and holding two turrets is necessary to win. It is possible to capture all three turrets and hold them, but this is rare and only happens when one team very dramatically out-plays the other team.
Each ship begins the match with 600 life. The turrets fire regularly (~10 seconds) and do 5 damage per shot.
The Map
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| Map showing buffs and General Layout of the Civil War Warzone |
Each landing area has two drop off points. The Northern landing area drops into the middle or east side of the field. The Southern landing area drops into the middle and west side of the field. Since they have a small advantage - this usually results in Empire players attempting to take the east and middle controls, while republic players take the west and middle controls.
The middle area has ramps leading up to catwalks that span the east and west sides of the circle. You will normally find ranged classes up on these ramps firing down into the center area. From these ramps you can drop down to the east/west sides of the map. You can also move around beneath these catwalks in a more covered and concealed area.
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| CW underground entrance |
There are underground entrances with stairs leading down on the east and west sides of the middle. These take you to a small underground area that lets you bypass the dangerous middle location if you are trying to reach one of the other sides of the map.
How It Works
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| Civil War Starting Map |
You begin the match on your ship. There are three openings in the ship, each with a force field that prevents you from committing suicide before the match even starts - no, of course I didn't try it personally.
There is no timer to show when the match will begin, but you will hear/see a rousing speech before it's time to go. When the speech finishes two speeders will appear (one on each side of the ship). Clicking on the speeder sends you on a short ride and drops you off in the landing area.
Each team begins on one side of the map (north/south). The turrets are located in the middle and to the east/snow and west/grass (often also called right and left - though people seem to get confused with those types of directions. When called out they normally mean right/left when you are facing forward from the "spawn" area). Dev Request: Please color code objectives on the map so people stop getting annoyed.
Teams now send players to the objective points marked on the map. At each objective point there is controls pillar that is clickable. Players must click then stand in place for 8 seconds to capture the turret. Any damage (not including DOTs), CC or knockback will interrupt the capture and players will have to start all over attempting to capture the turret.
Once a player successfully finishes the 8 second channel to capture the turret it will change color on the map (green/red to indicate which faction holds it) and swivel to face the appropriate ship. The swivel takes a few seconds so there is a delay between capturing a point and having it begin doing damage.
NOTE: Once a team successfully captures a side turret (east or west) new speeders appear in the ship where you spawn after dying. These speeders are on the extreme right or left sides (the two middle speeders are always there). If you need to reinforce one of the side locations make sure to use one of these speeders, they are much faster and arrive right next to the control locations.
Basic Strategy
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| Doesn't get much closer than this |
Since you are playing against other players there is no way to guarantee a win in the Civil War - there are various things you (as a team) can do to stack things in your favour, but in the end one "strategy" will not always yield the same results.
General Tips
- When activating controls, try to stand on the far side of where the enemy will be coming from. The control node blocks LOS and prevents ranged classes from attacking you from a distance.
- Fight near the controls, if an enemy player is not near the controls they have no way to capture them (and are therefore not a threat). You are better of breaking LOS and forcing them to approach closely before attacking.
- Never stand with your back to a node when defending, a stealth player can sneak up behind you and capture without you noticing
- Never be the last one to leave a node, leaving a set of controls undefended means you will lose them in short order
- When defending a node be vocal, tell your team when (and how many) people are coming (even if you think you can handle it). Also tell them when the coast is clear after an attack so they can focus on other areas.
- If there are more green names than red names around you that means there will be more red names than green names elsewhere. Figure out where that is, and go there.
Common Beginning Strategies:
Normally you will see someone talking strategy and write out something like 3/4/1 or 3-4-1 (or some variation). They are indicating how many people should go to each location. In the above example, 3 west, 4 mid, 1 east.
The below numbers will be from a Republic stand point, flip all numbers when looking at it from the imperial perspective.
Two Sides
Holding the two sides is the "premier" strategy since by using the side speeders they are more easy to reinforce from the spawn point. Fewer defenders can hold a side node against overwhelming numbers for longer just by liberal use of the side speeders.
3/2/3 - The goal of this strategy is to guarantee a left capture, delay a middle capture and delay (or win) a right capture. Variations of this strategy include 3/1/4 or 2/2/4. Your best bet is to send a Guarded healer with his tank to the (2) position, they can hold back far more than their share of people for far longer than any other grouping.
Notes: Often you will be able to tell by how many people jump into the middle from the opposing side how many went to capture the side turret. Try to be flexible at this point, if only one person went to the side you might only need to send two people or three to the side and the rest can hold at the middle position for longer.
2/0/6 - The goal of this strategy is to allow a middle capture, but to almost guarantee a right capture and get a left capture as well. This will work if there is only minor (or no) resistance at the left side. Variations include 1/0/7 or 3/0/5.
Notes: Make sure if you over-commit to one side and give up the middle that you are prepared to quickly reinforce the left side once the middle is captured. If you fail to quickly move back to the left the other team will very quickly overwhelm the few defenders left stationed there.
Mid and Side
It is actually easier as a group to hold the middle and one side since they are closer together and are faster to reinforce by people still alive rather than relying on people to win by attrition (constantly re-spawning).
2/4/2 - The goal here is to capture the left turret and the middle turret while delaying the cap on the right turret as long as possible. Variations include 2/5/1 or 3/4/1. The 2/4/2 variation is also used to attempt a 3 cap from the start, this can work for well organized teams or teams that drastically outgear/outplay their competition.
Notes: This is really a "delay and hope to succeed" type of strategy. You are going to be overwhelmed somewhere, making a capture and reinforcing other locations will be the key to succeeding.
3/5/0 - The goal here is to place overwhelming numbers on the left and in the middle, you allow a free capture on the right, but hopefully can overwhelm the opposing team at both other locations. Variations include 2/6/0, 1/7/0 and 4/4/0.
Notes: This is the most common strategy. If no one speaks up this is usually what happens, with one or two people being good team players and going to the side while everyone else rushes into the middle to kill stuff.
Where Your Role Shines
A class with speed boost should head to the nearest point and try to capture it for your team (west for Reps, East for Imps).
Tank classes should choose a role where they will be delaying rather than attacking right at the start. Their high mitigation and ability to stay alive while being focus fired will really help your team get off on the right foot.
Someone with a ranged attack and high DPS should attack the contested side turret. Having a ranged attack will allow you to interrupt a cap from a greater distance. which is really what matters right off the bat.
Healers should stay with the largest group to keep them alive. If the groups are splitting evenly make the decision on who will be meeting the most resistance.
Advanced Strategy
Just knowing where to go isn't always enough, there are little tricks to give you an edge over your opponent. Most of the "tricks" on this map revolve around knowing where you are in relation to your environment and knowing where to go to get where you want to be.
Taking your Side Turret
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| Infographic for taking side turret |
Your goal here is for one person to get to the controls and activate them before the enemy gets there to interrupt them. This is NOT accomplished by two people running over to the controls and both trying to activate them at the same time. If someone else is activating the controls there are very few circumstances where you should also be activating the controls.
Instead, when attempting to capture your uncontested side turret one person should run to the controls and the other person should run parallel to the middle wall to intercept enemy players as they exit the middle area and attempt to run toward the control point.
In this role the more CC you have the better. Your goal is not to kill the enemy players, but to slow them down or flat out stop them from getting to the control point.
The side benefit of running parallel to the middle, is that if no one comes around that corner you can keep going and will end up flanking the opposing team when you come around the back side of the middle and attack them from the rear.
Deathmatch in the Middle
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| Infographic for middle fighting |
Smashing your head against the other team might sound like a good idea, but try to use the terrain to your advantage. Ranged classes getting up on the catwalks will let them pound destruction down on people (likely before they even notice).
Stealth classes circle around beneath the catwalks and attack the healers/ranged classes from behind.
Tank classes get into the middle of things and draw fire, then get back to protect your healers.
Always remember that your goal isn't to kill every red name there, instead your goal is to capture the control point and start blowing up the enemy ship. Don't get too focused on killing that you lose sight of the real objective.
There are multiple pillars surrounding the middle that can be used to get you out of LOS of ranged classes. Make use of these when possible to give yourself some breathing room.
Capturing a Turret
In general you can figure out where the enemy will be coming from in relation to a certain point. When you have cleared enough space to being the capture process - one person should begin capturing the controls and everyone else should fan out between the enemy location and the control point.
Your goal is to prevent the enemy from interrupting the capture, not to kill them. Killing them can come later. Stealth classes are fantastic at this with their sap skill that will KO a character for almost the full duration of a capture.
So get in the way and use any CC you have to keep the enemy busy while your team grabs the turret.
NOTE: You don't have to wait to kill everyone. If the other team is focused on fighting in a location away from the control point go ahead and try to capture it. If you notice someone on your team is attempting this, switch to using CC to delay the enemy response.
One Person can Make a Difference
This relates only to defenders. If you are being overwhelmed and people are dying and/or you are the last person alive. Break away from whoever you are trying to kill and start trying to delay them from capturing the turret as long as possible.
This usually involves vanishing, or running around using ranged attacks on anyone trying to cap while people chase you. Using an AOE on the control location will prevent it from being captured for that whole duration.
If you have CC, now is the time to use it to the full effect. AOE Mez skills are the best bet, generally the team will group up trying to kill you quickly. If you can mez them all at that point and run away you'll be doing very well.
This also applies to people who have died and are running back, if you're the only person running into a group of enemies DO IT - if you will prevent a capture. If you can't get to the controls in time don't just kill yourself, stop and try something else.
Flood, don't Trickle
If there is one thing that I hope anyone can take from this guide - this is it.
Generally as the game wears on people are going to die and have to re-spawn. If one team overpowers the other and this happens rapidly they will strengthen their position to a point where assaulting it with reinforcements is impossible.
If there are 6 people defending a point and only two of you run in to assault them, you are going to die. Unless you can bring equal numbers DO NOT attack, you're better off waiting for help. This applies only if you will be running into a losing situation. If there are 3 of your group members still fighting and you can reinforce them, do it. But if you're going to be running in alone, stop and think.
Frequently during Civil War games I will see people run into the middle over and over and over and continually die while accomplishing nothing. This is not productive. It doesn't take long to group up and move in as a group, instead of everyone running back as fast as they personally can.
NOTE: This applies less when defending than attacking. Defenders always want to try to reinforce a weak position even if it's just one person at a time (see: one person can make a difference).
When you're Winning
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| Proper defensive stance at side node |
If you're winning, by definition, you control two of the turrets and have moved into a defensive posture. Your goal at this point is to maintain control of the two turrets you have captured and prevent the enemy from taking them.
To accomplish this, always leave at least 2 people to guard a turret. A single person is vulnerable to a stealth class opening up on them and possibly killing them before help can arrive. Recommended to have at least 3 at each node.
Caveat: If the other team is pushing the second node with 7 or 8 players it might be necessary to have only 1 person guarding until that push is prevented
Normally the opposing team will attempt to overwhelm one node at a time and won't spread out their attackers trying to take multiple nodes. This can be their downfall. It is far easier to defend a node than it is to attack one. There are two reasons it is easier to defend.
1) The Trickle effect. It is easier to kill reinforcements as they trickle in than it is to overwhelm an already solid defense
2) Even if you are overwhelmed you only have to delay and interrupt an 8 second channeled skill to prevent a capture.
When you are guarding a turret make sure you are vocal, tell your team when and how many opponents are coming. Indicate if you will need help defending.
If you are not guarding and see someone calling for help make sure to leave enough people to defend the turret. Not everyone has to ride to the rescue - especially if there are three people guarding a turret and only 2 people attacking it. Maybe 1 person can go help (if any at all). Open up your map frequently to check where your team is positioned so you can react accordingly.
Tanking Tips - you should either be guarding a healer, or standing by a node and defending it. You don't need to be the one running between nodes and trying to stop them from capturing it. Pick a node and don't let anyone take it from you.
When you're Losing
Avoid the Trickle Effect, it won't get you anywhere. When you're losing, you have to outmaneuver, not beat them in a straight up fight. In fact avoid straight up fights as much as possible - they will have to be more spread out by definition since they will be guarding two points and you only have to guard a single point.
Group up and attack a single node. Often you can overwhelm the defenders and recapture the node. If you get beat back and reinforcements aren't coming fast enough to overwhelm the defenders, change tactics.
Have everyone group up and rush the other node. Leave one or two people trickling in with the hopes of tying up 3 or more defenders. It's OK to continue killing yourself if you are keeping more than your share of people busy.
Alternatively, if the majority of players are defending a single node, send 1 or 2 stealth characters to the other node and have them attempt to capture it - this is often referred to as "ninja-ing" a node (ninja-ing can also refer to capturing a node while the defenders aren't paying attention without killing them).
Tanking Tips - you can either be the single person guarding (and do it well) or you can be the single person running solo into a group of bad guys and tying them up for as long as possible. Keeping 4 people busy for 30 seconds can be the difference between winning and losing.
Finishing the Game
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| Just waiting for the "Game Over" |
The game is over when one ship reaches 0 health and falls out of the sky. If you haven't seen that happen it's actually pretty cool - check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUKCm6-Z9Is
It is almost impossible unless you dramatically outperform the opposing team to capture all three turrets and hold them for an extended period. Because of that the game can be "called", long before the ship actually crashes to the ground. Since theoretically a team can hold a single turret indefinitely once one ship has fallen below half the health of the other ship ( 195 - 400, 80 - 165, 295 - 600 ) then the team with more health has "won" and it's just a matter of playing the match to completion.
Some people claim it is better to give up the third turret and let the game end faster - personally I'll continue to defend the last turret just on principle.
Terms
Contested Side - The turret that your side has a disadvantage in capturing, your landing point does not drop you into this side and you must run across the middle to reach it.
Controls - The clickable object located by the turret that allows you to take control of it
LOS - Line of Sight.
Mez - A stun that breaks on damage.
Node - See Controls.
Sap - a skill used in stealth that stuns a character. These stuns break on any damage and can only be used when both people are out of combat.
Turret - The giant gun that fires at the enemy ship
Uncontested Side - The turret that your side has the advantage in capturing, your landing point drops you into this side without having to run across the middle.
