flagging help

[deathy]

currently playing the flagger role in our gvg's

e/mo water ele

blinding flash
armour of mist
shard storm
ice spikes
deep freeze
heal party
extinguish
ether prodigy

My questions:

In what situations do i need to/im able to stay back at the flag stand and help the team.

In what situations do i have to accept that i cant/shouldnt cap and accept that they will get the morale boost?

Also, any improvements on the build and some other general 'advanced' tips, would be very appreciated

[tarutaru]

I believe in the PvP Guides Forum there are some nice guides to Flag-Running. However, I'll give you a few pointers. Others may agree or disagree, as you would be hard-pressed to find two guilds with the exact same flag-running tactics. But I'll try to keep it as general as possible.

1. When the GvG begins, you should not run the flag. Have another member of your team do that. You should stay back at base. The temp flag-walker on your team will cap the flag stand as soon as they get there. The flag will re-appear at your base. NOW you grab it and run away. This will give you a one-up on the capping back-and-forth, and should give you an ample opportunity for an early morale boost. (Added note: this also allows you to be a "guard" of the base and identify if the other team has sent any gankers. Very good to know this early on.)

2. After you grab the flag for the first time and run to the flag stand (as written above) watch the situation. If the other team has not yet capped, find a nice hiding spot for your flag nearby, and then help-out your team. (Note: this is why you should always, before a GvG battle, just go to your guild hall and walk around everywhere around and near the flag-stand. Try and memorize it as much as possible, and pick out before-hand w/ your teammates the best hiding spots for flags. This saves alot of time in-battle.)

3. However, as soon as the other side does cap, immediately start running back to your base. Do not cap your hidden flag yourself. Again, have someone else do it. By the time they do, you will most likely be near the respawn point of the flag, saving you an extra 20-30 seconds of flag running that you would have had to do had you capped your hidden flag yourself. Rinse, wash, repeat.

4. In the off-situation vs some better guilds that you find yourself going 1v1 versus their flag-runner, you'll need some sort of self heal. Many E/Mo's like to take Healing Breeze just for this purpose. But again, it's a matter of personal preference. Should you find yourself going toe-to-toe with the other team's runner, watch out for what kind they are. Use your limited skills wisely, but DO NOT try and kill them. Possibly ask for a one man assistance from your main team to come and help do that. Your job is to prevent that other flagger from capping. That's why those slow spells are in there. Also, if it is a E/Mo air build, watch out for Lightning Orb. It's usually their sinch way to kill you off. If you watch carefully (and again, practice with a guildie before-hand) you can dodge the flying projectile of the Orb every time.

That's enough for you to digest for now. Happy running!

[deathy]

thanks for the advice

already do 1+4

do 2 in that i help out at the flag

2+3 look very interesting however, and ill definately try them out tonight, but i've always been reluctant to drop/hide the flag just in case the enemy returns it to our base...

[nightrunner]

PS, what are your attributes set at? I'd think it would be tough trying to power Blinding Flash, your Water Hexes, and Heal Party at the same time.

[deathy]

can't remember off the top of my head

but something like 16, 8, 8, 8

[Ivadene]

well if your going to be flag runner a good tip is to go to lions arch and run ALL the maps in your spare time to get them down...it can save you alot of time if you know where your going...i run a build close to yours but i throw rebirth on there just in case we are out of rez sigs.

[Parker Bsb]

If you have HP on your bar Ivadene, why do you use rebirth instead of res chant?

[MagicFiber]

I'd take out Shard Storm & Ice Spikes & put in 2 Ice Prisons. (We run with Heal Breeze instead of Extinquish aswell). This makes a powerfull split with a warrior.
You should always be as long as possible with the team. It depends on each map how long you're waiting with running.

Also i don't agree on capping right away, this always relies on the opposing team. It also relies on your own build. If you run a ganker assassin or a split. You should always cap ofcourse. But if you run a 1v1 main build. You should delay the capping as long as possible as your runner can help you out.

Only when their runner is bothering you you should cap to make the match 7v7.

by the way, the attributes for a water ele runner with Blind Flash should be around
6 Air (Makes for a 6 second blind flash. Pretty much constant)
14 Water (Never run a superior in gvg unless you're a warrior)
9 Energy Storage
9 Healing Prayers

[deathy]

ive been running with a major, +health armour and a +60hp weaponset, (+energy one as well if i need it)

this leaves me with 590 health before dp, whats the conventional setup? personally i've found the extra health extremely useful, but what does everyone else think?

[Dogbert]

ive been running with a major, +health armour and a +60hp weaponset, (+energy one as well if i need it)

this leaves me with 590 health before dp, whats the conventional setup? personally i've found the extra health extremely useful, but what does everyone else think?

+health armour is probably the best since you will get crip shot rangers, degen mesmers and condition assassins on you.

I use +5 armour and +20% enchantment on staff.

You can use a +60 hp staff also if the other team is a spike team (ranger spike, obsidian spike, blood spike etc)

I use frozen burst instead of shard storm when i do water runner.
When people try and bodyblock me at the flagstand, which happens alot, i use frozen burst to slow them all then i just run around them and capture.

Has been working ok so far.

The reason i prefer frozen burst here is because its a 3/4 sec activation time so it's very fast. If you try and use deep freeze or ice spikes it will get interrupted most of the time.

I noticed you have no self heal. Bring breeze to stay safe vs degen.

[HappyPants]

Here is a simple flagging tip:

Type in team chat the times when you cap the flag and when your opponent caps the flag. This way you know when you are getting a morale boost or when your opponent is. This allows you to make strategic decisions such as stalling for a boost or trying to prevent a boost.

There is no set situation when you should or should not stay on the stand. It will always depend on what your team is doing, what your team wants to accomplish, and what the other team is doing.

It is usually better to get ahead of the opposing team on flag control. In many cases this will allow your team to push the opposing team to their side of the flag stand and this will allow you to put good pressure on the opposing team when they try to run a flag. A flagger cannot properly kite, and will likely not try to anyways. They are going to take a lot of damage and in many cases are going to overextend themselves of expose their backline. Pressure applied properly here is going to get a kill on the monk(s) or the flagger. If not a kill then the monks will likely have almost exhausted their energy pool. Of course this is speaking for a build that has the ability to pressure. If you are a spike build then it is not of big of a deal to get a head of flags.

Also, if you are the only heal party in the build and your team needs it at the stand or where ever they are fighting it is likely better to send someone else to run the flag instead of you.

[Ivadene]

i use rebirth over rez chant because i dont have to be near the target and it does pull them back to me out of the fight.....i also warn the monks ahead of time im using it so they can instant heal rez'd party member

[necrolemming]

i use rebirth over rez chant because i dont have to be near the target and it does pull them back to me out of the fight.....i also warn the monks ahead of time im using it so they can instant heal rez'd party member
What kind of pvp are you talking about?