Review [Issue 47] The Merits of Light Hulls in Polygon CP - An Analysis

[greyat 2,972]

 
Load a Kungur CTF, and it would seem that the only hulls that existed were Hornets and Wasps. But come RU2 No-Supplies Polygon CP, and all of the light hulls vanish. The lightest hull you’ll find there will be Viking. Hunters are a rare sight, Hornets and Wasps virtually nonexistent. But what causes the extinction of the light hulls in such a battle?
 
The simple answer: they lack health. In a No-Supplies (from henceforth we’ll just refer to it as ‘PRO’) Polygon CP, the winning side is often whoever can stay on the point the longest. A Wasp simply cannot last in the center as long as a Mammoth.
 
However, most seem to forget the other important ability of a team that provides an advantage – the ability to get to the point rapidly. Consider the following scenario:
Suppose there are two pairs of Mammoths in the center, a pair from each team, fighting it out. In that case, no one can capture the point – there needs to be a numerical advantage on one side.
At this point, a Titan and a Wasp spawn, a bit of distance away from the point. The Wasp can easily reach the point from essentially any position on the map:







Meanwhile, the Titan sluggishly crawls to the point, all the while being exposed to enemy fire and only able to feebly fire from long range – usually not particularly effective.
 

 
The Wasp would have the advantages of:
-          Being able to reach the center quickly, and aid in capturing the point
-          Ability to avoid damaging enemy fire
-          If the situation is inhospitable, the Wasp can still rapidly reach the point at which it can deal maximum damage
The Titan, on the other hand, would relatively helpless:
-          More health
 
Of course, if you’ve decided to stay put and camp with Thunder or Vulcan, a light hull may not be your best choice. However, if you prefer what I call ‘active camping’, moving from site to site in response to location of enemies, a light hull may prove to be excellent. Just recently I saw a Wasp-Hammer sneak up behind a Mammoth-Thunder trying to reach the center, fire off two rapid shots, and speed off without receiving any damage at all. The aggravated Mammoth backpedalled, looking for the Wasp, but not finding it. Re-emerging, the Wasp finished the Mammoth off with another clip of three shots – all this was accomplished without any damage to the Wasp.
This, of course, is simply one illustration of the many advantages that light hulls have the potential to exploit over heavier hulls in Polygon CP. The above anecdote brings us into another function of light hulls in PRO Polygon CPs, in addition to capturing – distraction.
 
A distracted enemy is one that, for the most part, will not be able to help their team and harm your teammates. I would say that most normal tankers would turn their turret and look around if someone fired a Hammer or Railgun round into their rear end. If the perpetrator were a heavy hull, they would likely remain in view and be subsequently engaged in combat, probably ending with the destruction of one of the parties involved. Using a light hull, you can escape this fate – if you remain tantalizing out of range of the ambush victim, they may pursue you, and thus be rendered completely out of action. Moreover, with a light hull, you can escape most damage if they choose to do so, quite unlike heavier hulls, which are easily caught up with. This combination of characteristics makes light hulls the perfect distracter.
 
For the final section, let us revisit a point discussed earlier – capturing the point. As mentioned, light hulls can reach the point quickly. But once there, what can they do? Again, they are subject to one of the crucial weakness of their type – a lack of health. And here the remedy comes in. If there are teammates in the center with you in the center, as well as enemies, you can hide behind your teammates. There, only a few weapons can damage you – Firebird, Freeze, Thunder, Railgun, Shaft. The latter two are very rare in Polygon CPs, particularly Shaft, so ­you can put them out of mind. Thunder’s splash damage does very little damage – significantly less than even half the health of light hulls, so it can also be essentially disregarded. So the main enemies of light hulls in the center are Firebird and Freeze. Luckily, there are multiple paints that offer very good protection against both of those turrets. A M4 (fully microupgraded M3) Hornet has 210.0 HP. With a fully MU’d Inferno or Zeus, the effective HP of the Hornet against those weapons is 420.0 – which is more than the effective HP of a M4 Titan with a paint that does not protect against Firebird or Freeze.
Thus, with an effective strategy, dodging, and clever positioning, a light hull could very well outlast a heavy hull in the center, rendering moot the point raised by most opponents of light hulls in a PRO Polygon CP – that they lack survivability.
 
I leave you with a few recommendations of turrets and paints that pair well with light hulls. I would suggest a turret with high burst damage (able to output large amount of damage within a short, 2-3 second, period of time), but lower sustained damage. Railgun, Hammer, Shaft, Isida, Firebird, and Freeze come to mind here. You’ll find that turrets capable of high sustained damage such as Thunder, Smoky, Vulcan, and Twins to be less effective. Although Ricochet has high burst damage, its ridiculously high recoil per shot, combined with the ability to fire many shots at once, render it relatively unsuitable for light hulls, which need to be constantly on the move.
As for paints, I would suggest close range paints – Rock, Inferno, Zeus, and the like for those who would be more inclined to rush the center and try to capture the point, and longer-range paints, such as Clay, Nano, Tiger, and the like for those who prefer a life spent abusing and irritating heavy hulls. Some paints, such as Mars and Picasso, provide a good intermediate, offering protection from both types of turrets, and can be used in a more flexible manner.
 
That’s all for this article. Hope to catch you in the next Polygon CP – with a light hull!
 

Edited July 24, 2017 by Hexed

[Rico_Viking_9000 942]

 

 

 

Load a Kungur CTF, and it would seem that the only hulls that existed were Hornets and Wasps. But come RU2 No-Supplies Polygon CP, and all of the light hulls vanish. The lightest hull you’ll find there will be Viking. Hunters are a rare sight, Hornets and Wasps virtually nonexistent. But what causes the extinction of the light hulls in such a battle?

 

The simple answer: they lack health. In a No-Supplies (from henceforth we’ll just refer to it as ‘PRO’) Polygon CP, the winning side is often whoever can stay on the point the longest. A Wasp simply cannot last in the center as long as a Mammoth.

 

However, most seem to forget the other important ability of a team that provides an advantage – the ability to get to the point rapidly. Consider the following scenario:

Suppose there are two pairs of Mammoths in the center, a pair from each team, fighting it out. In that case, no one can capture the point – there needs to be a numerical advantage on one side.

At this point, a Titan and a Wasp spawn, a bit of distance away from the point. The Wasp can easily reach the point from essentially any position on the map:

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, the Titan sluggishly crawls to the point, all the while being exposed to enemy fire and only able to feebly fire from long range – usually not particularly effective.

 

 

The Wasp would have the advantages of:

-          Being able to reach the center quickly, and aid in capturing the point

-          Ability to avoid damaging enemy fire

-          If the situation is inhospitable, the Wasp can still rapidly reach the point at which it can deal maximum damage

The Titan, on the other hand, would relatively helpless:

-          More health

 

Of course, if you’ve decided to stay put and camp with Thunder or Vulcan, a light hull may not be your best choice. However, if you prefer what I call ‘active camping’, moving from site to site in response to location of enemies, a light hull may prove to be excellent. Just recently I saw a Wasp-Hammer sneak up behind a Mammoth-Thunder trying to reach the center, fire off two rapid shots, and speed off without receiving any damage at all. The aggravated Mammoth backpedalled, looking for the Wasp, but not finding it. Re-emerging, the Wasp finished the Mammoth off with another clip of three shots – all this was accomplished without any damage to the Wasp.

This, of course, is simply one illustration of the many advantages that light hulls have the potential to exploit over heavier hulls in Polygon CP. The above anecdote brings us into another function of light hulls in PRO Polygon CPs, in addition to capturing – distraction.

 

A distracted enemy is one that, for the most part, will not be able to help their team and harm your teammates. I would say that most normal tankers would turn their turret and look around if someone fired a Hammer or Railgun round into their rear end. If the perpetrator were a heavy hull, they would likely remain in view and be subsequently engaged in combat, probably ending with the destruction of one of the parties involved. Using a light hull, you can escape this fate – if you remain tantalizing out of range of the ambush victim, they may pursue you, and thus be rendered completely out of action. Moreover, with a light hull, you can escape most damage if they choose to do so, quite unlike heavier hulls, which are easily caught up with. This combination of characteristics makes light hulls the perfect distracter.

 

For the final section, let us revisit a point discussed earlier – capturing the point. As mentioned, light hulls can reach the point quickly. But once there, what can they do? Again, they are subject to one of the crucial weakness of their type – a lack of health. And here the remedy comes in. If there are teammates in the center with you in the center, as well as enemies, you can hide behind your teammates. There, only a few weapons can damage you – Firebird, Freeze, Thunder, Railgun, Shaft. The latter two are very rare in Polygon CPs, particularly Shaft, so ­you can put them out of mind. Thunder’s splash damage does very little damage – significantly less than even half the health of light hulls, so it can also be essentially disregarded. So the main enemies of light hulls in the center are Firebird and Freeze. Luckily, there are multiple paints that offer very good protection against both of those turrets. A M4 (fully microupgraded M3) Hornet has 210.0 HP. With a fully MU’d Inferno or Zeus, the effective HP of the Hornet against those weapons is 420.0 – which is more than the effective HP of a M4 Titan with a paint that does not protect against Firebird or Freeze.

Thus, with an effective strategy, dodging, and clever positioning, a light hull could very well outlast a heavy hull in the center, rendering moot the point raised by most opponents of light hulls in a PRO Polygon CP – that they lack survivability.

 

I leave you with a few recommendations of turrets and paints that pair well with light hulls. I would suggest a turret with high burst damage (able to output large amount of damage within a short, 2-3 second, period of time), but lower sustained damage. Railgun, Hammer, Shaft, Isida, Firebird, and Freeze come to mind here. You’ll find that turrets capable of high sustained damage such as Thunder, Smoky, Vulcan, and Twins to be less effective. Although Ricochet has high burst damage, its ridiculously high recoil per shot, combined with the ability to fire many shots at once, render it relatively unsuitable for light hulls, which need to be constantly on the move.

As for paints, I would suggest close range paints – Rock, Inferno, Zeus, and the like for those who would be more inclined to rush the center and try to capture the point, and longer-range paints, such as Clay, Nano, Tiger, and the like for those who prefer a life spent abusing and irritating heavy hulls. Some paints, such as Mars and Picasso, provide a good intermediate, offering protection from both types of turrets, and can be used in a more flexible manner.

 

That’s all for this article. Hope to catch you in the next Polygon CP – with a light hull!

 

 

 

I like viking. Well balanced. I despise heavy hulls. I have wasp on most of my alt accounts.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Rico_Viking_9000

[DragonOfStorms 2,706]

Well written, You make a good point!

[lukey0 27,543]

I'll stick with my Dictator, though I have proven (to myself) light hulls do work if in the right hands.

 

Nice guide!

[Zenyth 6,494]

Good article

I liked the part where you said "you would obviously turn your turret around if somebody fired a Hammer at your rear end"

:ph34r: I see what you secretly imply there

[Quarks 2,255]

Well done cat, an enjoyable read, just another reason to use hornet...

[wow349 4]

nice article!!!!!!!! 

[Podey_the_Buster 87]

So that how, I'n most of my accounts I'm highly lacking in heavy hulls. I think I'll try some of these. Thanks!

[BSG-62 512]

Good article

I liked the part where you said "you would obviously turn your turret around if somebody fired a Hammer at your rear end"

:ph34r: I see what you secretly imply there

damn

[fightermalikio20115 374]

nice

[Bugs.meeny 1,013]

Aslo a great strategy with fast hulls is to get inside of a mammoth or titan before they can fully spawn. its easy to keep them useless and is kinda fun

[Nebula 101]

i didn't think like that.i will  use light hulls in polygon and shoot the  heavy hulls and run away that's will be soo funny

 

GOOD LUCK ALL

[MandolinMarc 874]

The title sounds so academic  :wub:

[Rammstein_the_master 3]

It could work in some cases, but i doubt it would work in the end. It also depends alot on the team. 

[Jwimmer 2,835]

Having a wasp fire is quite nice. It can deal alot of damage to everyone, then die and go back quickly. However, with anything else that has a quick firing rate and quick reload *cough cough* twins *cough cough*, wasp is not the right thing to do. With fire, it uses its ammo quickly, and dieing relaods it faster than staying alive. With anything else, however, it is better to use atleast a medium hull

[constantboom 74]

lol i always used hornet in poly cp :) not the most effective but suits my play style 

Edited January 31, 2016 by constantboom

[DragonOfStorms 2,706]

I hate seeing Wasp-Twins or Wasp-Railgun/Thunder/Vulcan/Smoky on my team in Poly CP. THOSE are tanks that have no business in that map during CP Mode :/

[Gigalink 116]

if poly cp has few players, then lighter hull is feasible, however, when the density increases, the chance of light hulls having room to maneuver and not get hit decreases. As a heavy tank user, I love seeing an enemy team with majority light hulls! I equipt me twins titan with inferno, lumberjack, loam, or mars and i watch the death and destruction sround me as my team and i charge into the death pit. With heavy hull and isida backup, its a tall order for those light hulls to pry me off efficiently. I can usually get a 2 to 1, 3 to 1. And maybe even 4 to 1. K/D vs light hull before I am removed from point.

[masterkill155 0]

what if the mammoth turned around the hammer cn not kill it fst enouph

[BlackWasp777 4,498]

When an light hull with Rail (both M4) it can be a usefull supporter on CP matches as well.

Althogh all players start to complain that a wasp/rail is a mult.. they will start to notice:

- that a rail cuts a Vikings health in half; and cuts 33% of a Titan or MAmmuth

- that a skilled pilot usually strikes two targets at once (so in average takes out the equivalent of one Viking all 6 seconds)

- that in their DPS calculations they usually do not consider, that noone has Rail-protection in CP battles

- that by this assistance his team will reach the point with more health, and so will last longer

 

So if the Wasp/Rail works hard as an agile sniper to have a good shot position all 6 seconds, and manages to hit 2 Targets with each shot.. the support effect on the team is tremendous. No other hull can hunt him down, except they come from two sides.. so the low health of the wasp is not very important in this scenario.

 

While in the beginning of such matches the enemy ignores the Wasp most of the time, they start to hunt it usually when it comes to the end. Simply becuase the enemy realises that this dam white rail-trace was again the last thig they saw before they blew up ;)

 

Only Ricos and Thunders are a real threat (so such a paint is usefull). Of course the light hulls get into trouble, if there is a 10vs10 polygon. There are no spaces left, that are not under enemies fire. So 7vs7 or 8vs8 battles are best (although a Wasp/Rail can perfectly take cover behind his own teams Mammuth and simply shot through it ;))

Edited February 3, 2016 by BlackWasp777

[BlackWasp777 4,498]

what if the mammoth turned around the hammer cn not kill it fst enouph

The point is to use a hit-and-run tactics with a light hull.

You dont stay and wait to reload.. you rush from one cover to the next, and while on the go you place your shots.

 

Lights hulls have never been designed for 1-vs-1 standoffs..