Flanking, or how a level 3 teleporter can cost you the match - Games

This is a common strategic error that a lot of people make. Don't always attack your enemy from the same direction! If your team has a helpful engineer who has a level 3 teleporter right next to the enemy point, it can actually [b]hurt[/b] your team if everyone keeps using it. It's more important to attack their defenses from all sides than it is to make it quickly to the front lines. The problem is that if almost the entire team is only taking the teleporter then they're only going to be attacking the enemy from one direction. Sure, it's advantageous to get to the front lines quickly, but you completely nix that advantage if you repeatedly crash against the same point in your enemy's defenses over and over again. It's much easier to defend when your enemy only attacks from one direction. So for the engineers out there, either [b]1. Build your teleporter far enough back so that your teammates can easily chose a direction to attack from after taking it, or 2. Build your teleporter far forward but also far away from any other engie's teleporters in order to keep you attacks varied[/b] This happens a lot on cp_dustbowl. On the first two stages there are those tunnels with one-way doors near the point where engineers love to place teleporters. The problem is that usually almost the whole team ends up rushing from that same place over and over again - making it really easy for the defenders to repel them. On offense I've seen my team lose because of it, and on defense I've seen my team easily win because of it. Often I've been able to single-handedly punch through a defensive line simply because I attacked from a direction that my team had been neglecting. Every stage on dustbowl provides flanking opportunities for the second point and rarely do I see a team fully take advantage of them.

I hate when 3 engineers all have teleporters to go to the same location.

Hmm... I didn't think of that. Second stage dustbowl is a real killer for that error I guess.

This is why you put ninja teleporters in places that they wouldn't be expected. :3

[QUOTE={FP}ST;17194436]This is why you put ninja teleporters in places that they wouldn't be expected. :3[/QUOTE] But those advantages tend to fade very quickly since the enemy will see the glow on your teammate's feet and immediately realize there's a teleport in the vicinity. Now if the enemy's dumber than a sack of potatoes they'll ignore the teleport until your whole team's inside their base.

It all depends on the map I think. Sure, you might be able to get away with a single tele in the enemy sewer in 2fort, but for larger maps you really need multiple options.

If you're a sneaky Engie, you can get your teleporters quite far back.

Third level of Goldrush, I managed to sneak past RED, and built an exit tele in a building near the last cap (the one with the drop that's opposite boxes that lead to the balcony above the RED spawn). Got an extra Engi to help fortify, and we didn't stop until the last metre.

[QUOTE=Quickoatz;17194370]I hate when 3 engineers all have teleporters to go to the same location.[/QUOTE] Exactly, one should go before a point, one should go behind a point (if possible) and then one should go in some weird location that's still useful.

Good, idea. I never really thought of it that way.

I like putting a level three exit near the place we need to go (intel, cp) and sit next to the teleporter with two other engies and repiair the fuck out of it so it never dies.

Just played and we took both tunnels in second stage dustbowl. Winning was much much easier with both sides being attacked. When the other team was attacking us they only had TPs on one side and my SG which was vulnerable form the other survived fine. This really works :D

[QUOTE=conman420;17194424]Hmm... I didn't think of that. Second stage dustbowl is a real killer for that error I guess.[/QUOTE] Quite the opposite. After losing the first point, your allies start to teleport behind enemy lines. Perfect for spies and pyros.

Thanks for this extra strategy to chew on. I never thought about it before.

I hate it when I have my teleporter set up, an entire base set up, and an engineer comes and builds his crap right next to mine, especially the tele.

This is why you run all the way to badwater's red spawn, and set your shit on the sniper house, BEFORE capping the first point :D

[QUOTE=conman420;17200701]Just played and we took both tunnels in second stage dustbowl. Winning was much much easier with both sides being attacked. When the other team was attacking us they only had TPs on one side and my SG which was vulnerable form the other survived fine. This really works :D[/QUOTE] Definitely. The left tunnel isn't even that hard to hold, just put a tele in the nook on the right and place your sentry back just far enough to still cover the enemy entrance. With your teammates pouring in from both sides the enemy team has a really hard time defending.