Guide [Issue 8] Dream Team No. III

[SakuraVisions 120]

Fort Knox III Dream Team

“Hey, you’re not Ranger7!”

Good observation, Sherlock. Doesn't mean I can't write a dream team article!

Introduction

Fort Knox III. A great all-around map that is also quite visually appealing, it has a nice aesthetic atmosphere and provides a fabulous battleground for some great action to transpire. The map is intricate yet symmetrical- it’s identical fighting from both sides, which makes it considerably easier to strategize considering you only have to fight on one side, essentially, even if you switch teams and fight again. It can be played in both team deathmatch (TDM) or capture the flag (CTF), though it is yet to be granted the control points (CP) mode which still resides only scarcely across few maps on the servers. Without further ado, a very fancy overhead of the map.



TDM Defense

TDM is the basic team mode, simple enough as working together to destroy the enemy, rather than capturing an object of the opponent. Any team’s backbone in defense, but the term defense has a very different defense in TDM than it does CTF. In TDM, the opponent has no need to siege your base aside from the excellent opportunity to spawn kill all of your team and make all of your little tank lives a complete and utter misery. However, in TDM, the best defense is a constant and consistent offense. If you can counter the enemy so they can’t get to your base, there’s no point in having a single defender- and if you can spare a defender, you can have an extra on the attack to make sure there doesn’t need to be a defender in the first place. Perhaps a bit tough to follow at first, but it’s an essential concept.

While there is not a single defender necessary, some players will go full force to attack and others are required to hang back a tad and cover their allies, which is a strong strategy. If the front line is defeated, it will need a wave to hold them off while waiting for the destroyed first line to respawn. The two lines demand a variety of weapon and tank combinations to keep combat fresh and in the upper hand for your team. Complimentary weapons will be essential and teamwork is mandatory for success. The two lines can be split into “Offense” and “Coverage”, obviously the full-out attack being the one dubbed offense.

TDM Offense

There are two ways to travel on Fort Knox III- the top route and the bottom route (who would’ve guessed?). Given the maximum team of the map allots seven players, we can reserve four for constant, reliable offensive gameplay. Two for the upper and two for the lower paths. It’s silly to restrict the offense to which route they must always take- sometimes more help is required at bottom, and vice versa. So it’s much better and adaptable to instate four players that can attack through both top and bottom routes. Firstly, while Fort Knox III isn’t a strictly close ranged map like Farm or Island, it contains a lot of tight spots that encourage a close range weapon, like hiding behind a corner or guarding the ramp up onto the top route. Firebird is an excellent weapon that can kill the opponent after they kill you, and since kills are the most important objective in TDM, Firebird is a better choice than Freeze since slowing down the opponent won’t help as much face to face and there isn’t much space to play ring-around-the-rosie with the opposition. Mount the firebird on something quick yet sturdy like Dictator to help it get around the map but not be destroyed easily.

One player check. Firebird-Dictator. Secondly, a mid-range weapon is needed. Ricochet’s ammo is less than satisfactory after the rebalance, so Twins is a great choice especially taking into account the distance on the map is usually within the range of Twins’ fire. Stick the Twins on something heavy, durable, and can take a lot of damage like Mammoth. Easy enough. Have the Twins generally take the bottom path since the long straight across the top route is a bit long for Twins to shoot all the way across to hit its target. For a third player, a long range weapon is needed. Thunder is in danger of self damage during assault, so for offense it’s better to be safe with a Smoky, that has the awesome chance to do massive damage to the enemy with every shot. Top path would be the best idea to generally travel due to its range allowing for it against the Twins or Firebird on the team. Put the Smoky on a Dictator for a smooth combination of speed and health and you’re all set.

Finally, for a fourth offensive player, an Isida is required to always be healing the other attackers. Post-rebalance, its healing ability is phenomenal, and should it's client die it stands a fair chance to defeat and avenge whatever killed it's patient. Isida can win almost any duel one versus one due to its immense self healing potential. The Isida should never attack alone unless the probability of success is almost certain, or should it be left in a situation to fend for itself or die. Have the Isida alternate between top and bottom paths making sure to give each teammate the healing they need and deserve, they’ll thank you for it. To heal everyone quickly, a quick and agile tank is needed. Combine the Isida with a Wasp for a swift doctor that can help your team perform to their fullest. To recap- for TDM Offense, A Firebird-Dictator, a Twins-Mammoth, a Smoky-Dictator, and an Isida-Wasp.

TDM Midfield

With four of the seven spots on the team occupied, it leaves three positions open for the “second line”- reliable teammates that will do their best to stay back and cover those that go in. They need to be long ranged to cover the entire map. It is best to have one player snipe from the top to the bottom path through the jagged castle wall, which requires a sniper weapon like Railgun or Shaft. With Shaft being better at its part-time pizza delivery job than a sniper weapon after the rebalance, Railgun is a much better choice unless the team needs to eat a fresh meal to celebrate after victory. Have the Railgun snipe from top to bottom as aforementioned, on a sturdy and tall tank like Dictator to give it the stability and health points it needs to survive should its defense be compromised. The shape of Dictator allows for smooth shots with Railgun over the perch the castle wall.

For a second midfield player, a Thunder would be a superb accompaniment to the team, with the ability to fire splash damaging shots into the enemy base from afar. It is probably a bit more useful as backup on the bottom path incase the Firebird or Twins is struggling in a fight. A worthy tank for the Thunder would be Dictator, providing the speed for a quick getaway while the health to stand and fight for a few crucial seconds. Concentrate on getting kills, and remember to always self destruct if someone is about to kill you. In TDM it is of upmost importance to limit kills for the enemy, and if that means not letting your death count as a kill for them, so be it.

For a third midfield player and final player to round out the team, take another Railgun to hang out close to the base but not officially be a defender. Have them closely monitor the bottom path and keep an eye on the top route through peripheral view, though the primary focus should be on not letting anyone past the gate of the bottom route. This player should go with the attack on the bottom path but never get right in the heat of battle, and use hit-and-run tactics to use Railgun to its full potential. Mount the Railgun on a heavy hull like Mammoth to ensure that as the final barrier between the midfield and base will not fall easily. To recap, the coverage team is composed of a Railgun-Dictator, a Thunder-Dictator, and a Railgun-Mammoth to assist the main offense comprised of a Firebird-Dictator, Twins-Mammoth, Smoky-Dictator, and Isida-Wasp. With exemplary teamwork and sufficient cooperation, this team should beat just about anyone.

CTF Defense

The huge difference between TDM and CTF teams is the defense, because the entire goal of the battle changes from simply killing the enemy to entering their base, grabbing their flag, and returning alive to your own base to capture a flag. Now, a defense team is certainly called for. Out of the seven spots allotted on a Fort Knox III team, save two for defense, three for midfield play, and two for constant attack. In a closed base map like Fort Knox III, a Freeze for a primary defender is in order. The hugely enhanced freezing effect is core to protecting the flag. Have a Freeze Mammoth sit under the ramp leading up to the top route, so that it is within range of the flag but impossible to hit by anything other than a Ricochet (which are becoming more rare to see every day).

For the second defender to help the main Freeze, a long weapon like Thunder is needed to hide behind the houses in the base and snipe the enemy before they even reach the base. Put the Thunder also on a Mammoth for the health it needs to survive waves of attackers even with self damage. Two good spots for this camper are behind the house near the bottom path tunnel entrance and the opposite corner of the base, behind the pole and building. Keep the Freeze alive at all costs, because if the Freeze is killed the Thunder will have a very rough time especially if the attacker utilizes the disadvantage of self damage for you. Work together with the Freeze and become comfortable alerting each other and the team or incoming danger to the base and potential flag maneuvers. Optimally a voice call would be activated for essential communication. If someone takes the flag and runs into a far corner with it, don’t return it unless someone is about to pick it up. Other than that, be observant and alert on defense. To recap, on defense is a Freeze-Mammoth and a Thunder-Mammoth to cover it.

CTF-Midfield

With five players left to assign roles, take out three and reserve them for covering the middle of the map, which is the vast majority of it- from the tunnel entrances on either side of the bottom to the gates on the top leading out to the bases, inclusive to the sniper perches formed by stretches of castle wall on all sides. Firstly, an aggressive sniper is needed. Take the same Railgun and Dictator used to snipe coverage in TDM and apply it for the exact same situation on the top path, sniping into the enemy base through the bottom path. This Railgun now also has the secondary role of making sure to kill anyone who could get the flag through the bottom route and try to escape by top.

For the second midfielder, once again use a Twins to both fight offensively and stay back and ensure defensive coverage. The Twins should operate mainly on the bottom route helping the attack there. Should the two primary attackers attempt to siege the enemy base with the Twins nearby, the Twins should follow. To do this and keep up, Dictator is a good choice since it dying no longer matters as much aside from the annoyance of respawning. If the attackers die, the Twins can carry the flag safely back to base. The extremely fast damage output of the Twins should almost guarantee destruction of anyone in its way.

Finally, a third midfielder should be the good old Smoky used in the TDM mode. The critical chance will annoy the opponent excessively, and a distraught and desperate opponent is twice as easy as a sane one. The Smoky should alternate covering top and bottom, and work with the Twins and Railgun to give the attackers safe passage while generously handing the enemy their worst nightmares. Put the Smoky on a Dictator once again to have the speed to escape with the health to stand and fight back. While the Smoky shouldn’t directly charge straight into battle, it should be involved in fights, just hang back so it doesn’t take the damage but instead deals massive pain to the other team. To recap, the midfield team should consist of a Railgun-Dictator, Twins-Dictator, and a Smoky-Dictator. It should become clear that Dictator is a very reliable tank for team battles despite its awkward shape, due to its excellent statistics.

CTF- Offense

The remaining two slots on the team should be devoted to all out attack and efforts to capture the flag, which is important since it’s the goal of the game. The more flags captured and the bigger lead obtained, the better. The main attacker should be a close ranged weapon that can hurt all of the opposing defenders at once. With a Freeze defending the flag, it’s probably good to take a Firebird to attack. A useful tactic may be to run in and set everyone on fire, then duck out of their base and wait for them all to die, and finally rush in, take the flag, and claim your capture. Mount the Firebird on something quick but with a bit extra health, and it needs to be low to the ground so that it can hit an enemy pushing against it. Despite worse statistics than Wasp overall, Hornet has the stability to support Firebird well, and working together with the other attacker it should be able to perform well and capture some flags.

As for the other attacker, the team needs an Isida to heal all of them. The Isida should make sure every time it dies that the two defenders are healed to full health, and only then start attacking. The Isida should only attack with the Firebird or occasionally the Twins. It is fine to heal anyone that needs healing, as its only helping the team. Remember that it’s more important to always heal the person with the flag, and always sacrifice yourself so the flag carrier can get away. Put the Isida on something agile enough to get around the map, but also can take a beating to heal the attacker for a while. This time, Dictator is a good choice to mount an Isida on. To recap, an Isida-Dictator and a Firebird-Hornet should be on full-time offense. They should always be covered by a Twins-Dictator, a Smoky-Dictator, and a Railgun-Dictator. At base always defending should be a primary Freeze-Mammoth and secondary Thunder-Mammoth. This team should be able to win comfortably, especially with the proper teamwork and cooperation!

Variants

This guide was designed for play like that in clan wars, with no supplies and only the clan non-protective paint. However, with supplies on I would recommend a much more heavy-based tank system, with many Mammoths which when equipped with nitro will perform very well in capturing flags. In an everyday no supplies or normal battle, paints are clearly allowed. There are several paints that are good to counter a weapon set that works well on Fort Knox III. The best paint for an attacker that will have to face close ranged defenders is Inferno, with 40% Freeze, 30% Firebird, and even 12% Twins protection, all which are used in this dream team. At midfield, a good paint would be Rock, which protects 48% against the annoying Twins with also 30% against Isida which is very helpful, and an extra 15% Freeze for good measure. Finally, for long ranged protection, Emerald is an excellent option with 42% Thunder, 26% Twins, and 10% Railgun, which would work great against this setup. However, different enemy teams require different paint combinations, but overall take one of those three and you should be set.

Conclusion

Overall, Fort Knox III is a great and interesting map that calls for a lot of intricate strategy and planning to succeed. With a well thought out combination of weapons and tanks in the fighting force, victory can be easily within grasp. Both TDM and CTF modes are supported and can be deciphered into individual dream teams. I hope you enjoyed this article, it was my personal first “Dream Team” and feedback would be appreciated. See you in the battle!

Thanks for reading,
ShadowVisions

Edited September 26, 2017 by Hexed

[hogree 4,179]

Brill article, and i liked your throw-in humour regarding shaft's pizza-delivery job, but I have to admit your a bit keen on your dictators. At least one of those coverers and attackers mounted in particularly ctf, should be using a Hunter. Due to the small amount of space in fkiii as well, it can be pesky having four dictators on one team. Hunters can be more efficient as a coverer to grab the flag and take it back quicker on top of this.

 

All the same, awesome article and some great stuff there to read :)

[Meliora 1,652]

I skipped the last bit, but is this supposed to be advice for clans, as it's impossible to do this in any old battle? Yes, it says 'Dream Team' but the tone of the text is more like giving somone instructions...

 

Well done on a decrease in errors, I've only seen 3 or 4 :P. Good article anyway.

[chriswu 25]

Yeah, I agree with what you're saying about it relating more to clans. Then again, there isn't anything about the title that should indicate that it's meant for anything other than a clan or team.

[skitee 555]

Well done on a decrease in errors, I've only seen 3 or 4 :P. Good article anyway.

The decrease in errors is due in part to increased excellence in proofreading and may also be due to the change of author in this series....

[r_Masoon0 1]

Good article but YOU NEED TO POST ABOUT CLANS!!! AS I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO JOIN ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[skitee 555]

Good article but YOU NEED TO POST ABOUT CLANS!!! AS I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO JOIN ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wrote an article about clans sometime last year, http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=117311

 

For more FAQs, here: http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=120014

[Queen.GangsTa 19]

so much words.. :o