Heavy Damage: Tricks of the PvP Trade Part 2

Heavy Damage is our weekly Tanking column – if you have suggestions of what you’d like covered, drop our resident Tank, Alec Bailey a line. Part 1 of this PvP roundup covering Huttball can be found here.

This week I will be going over some strategies for the Voidstar Warzone. Voidstar  involves two teams, offensive and defensive, fighting to plant or defend from the planting of bombs on blast doors. There are three sets of doors, along with two consoles that shut down ray shielding, allowing access to the second and third door. As there are two different strategies for offense and defense, I will break each Tank’s role into each category.

On the Offensive!

General Strategies 

Strong siding – a great strategy if you’re a Tank or not. Have your whole team attack one door for the first minute or so – putting a lot of pressure on one side will weaken the other side, sometimes so much that no-one is even guarding it.  Strong side is a great strategy if you have some Stealthers to attack the weak side when it’s vulnerable.

Draw them out – Leading the defense away from the doors into the middle is a great way to slip some players past to arm the bombs, this can be done pretty easily by using your pulls and ranged attacks to bring them in to the range you want.

Call it out – let your team know when you’re planting so they can swarm and defend your plant.

Advanced  Class Strategies

Vanguard – I use my Vanguard on the offensive like a walking damage reducer. Explosive Surge and Ion Pulse are used as often as I can to lower every enemy target’s damage output. When assaulting the doors I usually use my Guard ability on a Sentinel or Scoundrel, because they’re going to be putting out a lot of damage but are very squishy and go down fast. Keeping your damage dealers alive helps a lot on the offensive. Mortar Volley is key when getting those pesky bomb planters interrupted, it is also very useful when a fellow tank has several enemies grouped around him. Harpoon is also a great PvP utility skill, use it to pull attackers off of healers or damage dealers – it is also great when rooted to bring those Sorcerers close enough to Rifle Stock and Gut.

Shadow – I use my Shadow as a stealth planter. I have my team assault one  door then I sneak off and plant a bomb. Shadows are also, in my opinion, the best for defending a bomb planter. When your teammate is planting a bomb, watch his back and if anyone starts getting close use Force Wave to send them flying. If it’s a ranged class, hit them with one of your stuns. Force Wave is also very useful on the bridge before the second set of doors – if any defenders are foolish enough to venture that far out, use it to blast them off the bridge for a quick kill or two. Force Speed is very useful after the second doors have been breached – I use it to get to the farthest console and shut down those ray shields.

Guardian – The Guardian does well at defending the bomb planters with his own set of skills. Saber Throw is great to get a quick hit on someone that’s trying to defuse a planted bomb. Force Sweep (when properly specced in the talent tree) is great for lowering your opponent’s accuracy, effectively lowering their damage output.  Force Push is a great ability to keep people off the bomb planter, and pushing them off the bridge before the second set of doors.

Guard it with your life!

General Strategies

Spread evenly – never leave one side unguarded, always have at least two people guarding a door, even if the other team is strong siding hard. Keep a tank and a healer on the other door. A Tank and a damage dealer works well too, but having a healer insures you’ll stay on your feet long enough to get reinforcements.

Stick close – don’t let the attacking team control where the fight takes place, stick close to the doors and pull them in with Harpoon, Force Pull, etc.

Call it out – Just like on Defense, let your team know what’s going on. Communication is a key to victory.

Advanced Class Strategies

Vanguard – When playing defense I use a very similar strategy as I do when playing offense. Ion Pulse is still used to lower opponent damage. Explosive surge is great for interrupting the bomb planters – if you don’t have time to get close up, use your Mortar Volley. Usually when assaulting I guard a healer and ask him to stick close. Having a healer to keep you standing in Voidstar can help you rack up some serious medals and defend from bomb plants. Harpoon is great on the defensive to pull enemies off a door they are trying to plant the bomb on. Don’t forget to throw those Cryo Grenades on enemies who are attacking your Guard target.

Shadow – When defending with my Shadow I use my Force Breach and Force Wave to interrupt any would be bomb planters. As with the Vanguard I recommend placing Guard on a Healer and asking them to stick close. Force Pull is great for getting enemies off the doors. Again, when assaulting the second doors keep watch for the opportunity to Force Wave opponents off that bridge. Don’t forget all the utilities this class has like its stuns and slows, they’re invaluable in slowing the enemies assault.

Guardian – The Guardian plays its defensive game a lot like the Vanguard does – very close to the offensive game with a few slight change ups in strategy. Saber Throw is now used as an interrupt for bomb planters. Force Sweep is another great ability to break a bomb planter off the door. Force Push is great for setting up Force Leap, or getting planters off the door. As with the other two classes, I suggest guarding a Healer. Force Leap is a great skill in PvP or PvE and I find myself using it a lot to close distance and throw a Taunt on enemy players. Challenging Call is another great ability for lowering the enemy team’s damage output.

Remember if you’re really wanting to get far in PvP, group up or guild up. Also when in the Warzones your Taunts are extremely useful to your teammates to lower damage output, so don’t be afraid to toss them out as soon as they’re off cool down.

As always, keep your team alive and stay frosty.

May the Force be with you!