At the request of many hundreds members (magburner – above - is the only one that comes to mind right now
) I decided to do the map write-ups, hope they’re of any use to at least one of the members here, especially the ones who just started or are about to start. They’re leaned more towards ‘Team DeathMatch’ games, but work just as fine for ‘Free-For-All’ as well.
Basically, they’re just my opinions and my experiences compiled on a small write-up, I know I definitely left some important things out and will only remember them after I post this (as usual).
I’ll post these two now: Crash and Pipeline.
More tomorrow: Crossfire, Overgrown and Bloc. 👍
After that: Downpour, Countdown, Strike, District…
… and so on until I have covered them all, if there’s enough interest shown.
MAP INSIGHTS (by Beerz)
CRASH:
One of the maps most people like. It’s simple layout and small size make it a very easy to learn map, so starting from the very ‘noob’, it grows on you fast as you get results even with little experience.
It’s prone to different styles of play (team-wise); usually, teams will work as a block, moving around - attacking (or sticking around - defending) a very small area of the map, which allows for some very cool fights.
Other times, although less frequently, everyone scatters throughout the map, and for those that don’t know it that well or just have less experience dealing with that kind of situation, it’s very tricky, since despite it’s relatively small size, there are plenty of spots from where you can be shot when you’re not expecting and it doesn’t take much for an experienced team to pin down the opponents on a relatively small area where it’s hard to defend decently.
A great spot I tend to use a lot (for short periods) is the top floor of the big building behind the crashed heli. It provides great view, and if used with a couple of Claymores it’s almost perfect. Although it seems you’re very exposed (you have the feeling all your body is visible from the ground), if you do things right, it’s extremely difficult to take you down, since at ground level all they’ll see is your head-tip at a considerable distance, which means that it takes a bit to aim to take you down, while you have more time to kill them instead. Just don’t stand still for more than a few seconds
Another area I really like is the long alley running on the back of the buildings, the one with the debris and the smashed cars. They provide great cover and you can easily take out a few enemies within a short time-frame as they won’t notice you there behind a car or whatever for a small amount of time. Of course, since it’s a narrow place, kill and leave, or you’ll be dead in a while. This alley also allows you to take cover while checking the heli surroundings and provides direct access via the ladder on the wall, to the 1st floor of the ‘Wal-Mart’, from which you can easily take down an enemy camping on the roof with the sandbags.
Also, a great map for guys that really know their grenades, they’re more than helpful here.
Usual spots where people tend to camp:3rd floor of the big building (behind the crashed heli);
Windows of the blue-walled building facing the heli;
Windows of the 1st floor of the convenience store (that’s how I call it);
Roof with the sandbags next to the store (accessible only through an outside wall-mounted ladder.
Spots where you definitely don’t want to get caught camping (mainly if you’re not alone, since the biggest mistake is when entire teams crawl together in these places):
The garage (if you’re here, get out asap);
The small alley going down the stairs from the garage to the blue-walled building (you’ll be ‘naded until you pop);
The building on the map corner when you start on the underside part of the map (either ground or top floor);
The crash area, since you’re vulnerable from too many sides for comfort.
PIPELINE:
My favourite map of them all. It’s one of the biggest maps and also the one with more tricks that you’ll only learn through experience and watching more experienced players.
It’s easily one of the most complex maps (if not the most), with stuff you only find most times after playing there quite a few times. You have underground tunnels connecting some parts of the map (not often used, since you can get anywhere faster through the ground and under it your chances of finding someone to kill are pretty slim and you’ll lose valuable time walking through the tunnels).
Playing on the roof tops (without getting killed straight out) is almost an art, which I’m trying to master lately, since although you have amazing overall view of large portions of the map, you’ll appear to the enemy (if they’re experienced and also look up instead of ground level all the time) as an easy kill with virtually no cover, so you have to be really careful and always spot them and shoot first before they spot you. The most used way to go onto the roofs is the little inner division inside the big building near the train lines. In here, you’ll find a ladder (starts at your height) that you can climb to the first level, followed immediately by another smaller ladder that takes you to the top level and from there you can access all four sides at roof height. I’ve nearly stopped using this way to get up there for two reasons:
1) While you’re climbing the ladders, you’re an easy target for both ground experienced players and enemies already on the top level, and you’ve got nowhere to hide;
2) Many of the enemy players plant Claymores (trip-activated explosive mines for those less familiar with it) on top of the ladders, which kill you instantly (unless you have the Juggernaut perk
), and which you only see – if well placed – a fraction of a second before you die, with no possibility of avoiding it.
So… I’ve been mainly using the other way up there, which is through the little house near the horizontal gas tank. There’s a ladder on the outer wall facing the tank, I go up that ladder, and from the small roof, I run and jump to the lowest roof of the big building. And you’re there. It’s been working great for me, since most of the times, the enemy players think they’re alone on the roofs because the Claymores haven’t ‘popped’ yet, so you can take out a few in a relatively easy way.
Another thing with this map is that, inside the big buildings, at ground level, if you’re near the darkest walls and still, you’ll become almost invisible (especially if you’re on the Spetnasz team, which wear all-black uniforms. So, take advantage of this on tight situations (alone with more that one enemy or taking time to reload an LMG for instance), and always look carefully, don’t just glance on these walls.
Strategy-wise, if you’re fighting a well organized clan and your team doesn’t “click” fast, you’re going to get wasted pretty badly. Worst case scenario is the enemy team taking all or most of the advantage spots simultaneously and you’re left with virtually no cover anywhere on the map, or getting your team pinned inside only one building, where you’ll be ‘naded, flashed and shot until you’re no more. Please, don’t let that happen. Please.
Another advice I would give is when you’re outside, stick near walls. There’s always someone watching from some high vantage point and in the open you’re way too visible, not to mention cover points will be too far away for a quick hide.
Also, although it doesn’t seem at the beginning, snipers camped on the grassy hills are relatively easy to take out if you go around them through the ‘back’ of the map, crouched and eyes wide open for any ‘bulge’ on the grass, especially near the trees. As soon as you spot them (or have a fair idea of where they are), you can take them out easily by throwing a flash grenade to that spot and waiting for him to get up to shoot him, or just follow the flash by a standard grenade, which will either kill him or make him get up for good so he’s an easy target. It’s best not to let snipers camp there for too long, since (if they’re good, and some are VERY good) they rack up many kills and keep you/your team on other parts of the map as he pleases as no one wants to have his brains splattered on some wall even before hearing the shot.
Usual spots where people tend to camp:Roof tops of the building nearest to the train lines;
Little house (and surroundings) near the horizontal gas tank facing the train lines;
Upper windows and small roof on the building near the two huge vertical gas tanks;
Upper floor of the small building with the smashed squared windows (used less frequently as time goes, since it doesn’t provide that good of a cover);
Crawling people near the wall on the northernmost part of the map, where you have sight of both narrow passages beneath the lateral roofs.
The grassy hills near where the team that starts above begins the match (mainly snipers)
Spots where you definitely don’t want to get caught camping:
Ground/upper floor of the small building with the smashed squared windows (see above why);
At ground level inside any of the biggest buildings, since both of them have at least 2 or more entries into them and you can be surprised at any time;
The large dust road in between both big buildings (not so much camping, but even crossing here can prove a real challenge on some of the matches);
Train lines and both sides of it (easy target without many places to take cover).
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If anyone has any suggestions, I’ll be happy to include them, since although It’s my opinion only, not a strict guide, I may very well have forgotten a lot of stuff on this, so that’s always helpful.
Thanks for reading, guys!
Also, think I'll add the 'GTP' tag to my name. My other clan was naff, and I'm fed up of being a lone wolf now, so why not eh? I Will put more time in with the GTP crew. 👍
