Vanguard has made Huttball my new favorite WZ

[Philosomanic]

...or at very least tied with Novare.

 

Playing an Assault Vanguard in Huttball has actually made me really enjoy the warzone now. It took me a while to find my niche, but now that I have some practice I'm realizing how powerful we are. I have a ton of flexibility and mobility now. I spend a good amount of time running around the square of ledges in the very center. I taunt the heck out of the melee group, and I keep the catwalks clear of freecasting Snipers, Mercs, and Sorcs.

 

If my team gets the ball and makes a strong push, I'm in position to make myself a good passing target. If their team gets the ball and makes a strong push, I'm in good position to (try to) take it back. If there's a big fight over the ball, or the carrier is in the pit or on the wrong side of the map, I can go back to keeping the center clear. The thing I like most is that I'm capable in any situation from any position. I can melee casters on the ledges and range melee players on the ground or behind hazards. If I get knocked down, I can use range to damage people on the ledges while I run back.

 

However, my number one favorite thing of all is Harpoon. It's good in other warzones, especially Voidstar, but it's not until Huttball that it really shines. Almost every match, I either pull a carrier into fire at their goal line so I can score or pull a carrier into fire at my goal line to prevent a score. I've had several matches where I've prevented a point by throwing myself into the fire for a Harpoon. Sure, it kills me, but it prevents a point and gets me lots of MVP votes. The ability to pull ball-carriers into hazards, or even just off ledges, is incredibly valuable. Harpoon is only tied with Assault Plastique as my favorite skill in the game. I get a small rush of pure joy every time I use it.

 

It's nice being happy when Huttball comes up, rather than groaning.

[Arzoo]

Yeah. On my commando I hated it, and always maintained that it was unfairly in favor of people with leaps/pulls.

 

Now that I have a vanguard I can say with certainty that it is DEFINITELY unfair towards people who don't have those abilities. It's night and day difference.

[Keypek]

Should have tried huttball pre 1.2 on a shield spec vanguard before they made them squishier. That was epic fun. But harpoon is still good for a laugh on my assault version.

[ATango]

Glad you're enjoying it.

 

Huttball is enjoyable for me as well as a SS-Tactics Hybrid. Being able to storm root a player helps me not only to move the ball/move around but also gets me back on to the balcony I was knocked from.

 

Also my harpoon has an attached root to it so even if the player is resolved capped I can root the player to nail a kill on a trap or slow down their progress.

 

I don't care much about MVP votes as on a lot of occasions it's given to a fellow guildie of friend. I just give it to the healer that was helpful to the team or if there is no heals the one that racked up the most medals.

[Arzoo]

Harpoon still roots players that are immune to the pull? Wow. I'm pretty sure concussion charge doesn't even slow them if they had full resolve.

[Philosomanic]

Yeah. On my commando I hated it, and always maintained that it was unfairly in favor of people with leaps/pulls.

 

Now that I have a vanguard I can say with certainty that it is DEFINITELY unfair towards people who don't have those abilities. It's night and day difference.

 

I know how you feel. My previous character was a Shadow (and I hated tank spec, so no pull). I actually still enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as I do on my Vanguard.

[Arzoo]

I know how you feel. My previous character was a Shadow (and I hated tank spec, so no pull). I actually still enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as I do on my Vanguard.

 

At least you had force speed and stealth on the shadow...

[Philosomanic]

At least you had force speed and stealth on the shadow...

 

Yeah, stealth was great. However, Force Speed isn't all that useful in Huttball.

 

It gives you +150% run speed for 2s. So turn off sprint and run for three seconds; that's how much extra distance it lets you cover. It ends up being an average speed boost of 7.6% if used on cooldown. That's great in flat maps, but in Huttball that's not so much. If a Shadow gets knocked off a ledge, he's going to have a long run to get back up even with Force Speed. I'd much rather be able to shoot and taunt people while I run on my Vanguard than to run slightly faster on my Shadow.

[GrandMoffMike]

You can harpoon pull someone off the bridge in void star along with you and if your lucky you can storm back on the bridge if you can target another enemy player nearby.

[evilxpoptart]

Yup, huttball makes our class shine. Once I got decent gear as well as properly using harpoon/storm huttball quickly became my favorite WZ. Using storm to get up on platforms quickly and protect the ball handler is just good times. Our aoe stun is just awesome at stopping players from ganking your ball handler.

[TehMerc]

Yeah, stealth was great. However, Force Speed isn't all that useful in Huttball.

 

You or your team has been doing it wrong then. Get someone to pass the ball near the fire pits, force speed through (If you Force Speed as you fall you have a good chance of having your character position bug out for everyone else too, shows you where you landed for a few seconds before it finally corrects itself to your current position) before fires activate and use Force Shroud to give a big middle finger to any pulls, knockbacks or stuns and get an easy touchdown.

 

As for commandos, if you aren't pushing the ball carrier and his group off catwalks or into fires when you aren't helping control the middle you are doing it wrong.

[Philosomanic]

You or your team has been doing it wrong then. Get someone to pass the ball near the fire pits, force speed through (If you Force Speed as you fall you have a good chance of having your character position bug out for everyone else too, shows you where you landed for a few seconds before it finally corrects itself to your current position) before fires activate and use Force Shroud to give a big middle finger to any pulls, knockbacks or stuns and get an easy touchdown.

 

I really don't care for carrying the ball. I was DPS, so I was unbelievably squishy. Carrying the ball meant dying in seconds. On my Shadow, I focused more on taunting them off the carrier and knocking them off catwalks, or getting in position to receive the ball and pass it on. But yeah, for a Tank spec that's a really strong strategy.

 

Either way, Vanguard rocks ^^

[Arzoo]

 

As for commandos, if you aren't pushing the ball carrier and his group off catwalks or into fires when you aren't helping control the middle you are doing it wrong.

 

My time on the Catwalk invariably ends with a juggernaught leaping up, being immune to knockbacks briefly, and pushing me off long before their immunity wears off. Getting pulled off is in 2nd place for frustrating things I can't defend against.

[exphryl]

I really don't care for carrying the ball. I was DPS, so I was unbelievably squishy. Carrying the ball meant dying in seconds. On my Shadow, I focused more on taunting them off the carrier and knocking them off catwalks, or getting in position to receive the ball and pass it on. But yeah, for a Tank spec that's a really strong strategy.

 

Either way, Vanguard rocks ^^

 

Kind of how I play my Pyro. I carry the ball as a last resort, otherwise it's best to use my class to help control mid so we always have control of the ball and leave the carrying to players with charge/speed.

 

Pulling to fire is a nice gimmick, but people focus on that way to much in this warzone.

[Philosomanic]

Kind of how I play my Pyro. I carry the ball as a last resort, otherwise it's best to use my class to help control mid so we always have control of the ball and leave the carrying to players with charge/speed.

 

Pulling to fire is a nice gimmick, but people focus on that way to much in this warzone.

 

Yeah, pulling into fire is a great trick, and I use it whenever I see a good opportunity. However, I'm always a little sad when I see Vanguards/Shadows hanging around fire pits for no good reason, clearly waiting for a chance to pull. It's not an opportunity you should actively seek out, just one that you should jump on whenever you see it. Frankly, I get more use out of Harpoon just pulling ball-carriers off of catwalks than I do pulling them into hazards.

[ATango]

I specifically save my harpoons for pulling players on to traps or pulling receivers or suspected receivers. It's funny to see the ball land on a spot that I just yanked a player from a sec ago.

 

Waiting away from the action for a possible pull is useless. But waiting for the enemy who is about to get there is very useful. Let's face it, pulling on to fire trap is the quickest way to nail a kill on this wz. Make it count by killing a ball carrier or their healer. Been commended on numerous occasions for pulling players on to fire traps and saving our team from a possible score. Sometimes I have to deliberately walk into the fire to pull the ball carrier in there before they get out of range to nail the kill. Resets the ball but it prevents the score. Do what it takes to win, besides cheating.

[Lokeel]

As a Guardian, having all of these utility abilities in my toolbox is amazing.

 

Vanguards make great harassers in Huttball. If there was a way to reset the CD on Storm via a talent or ability like Guardians with Force Leap then they would be really epic. Glad you are enjoying Huttball more, getting your guild involved and on vent will make you love it even more.

 

On Infinity Gate, I am in a guild called 'The Knights Templar' and when we pvp together it is a load of fun. Most of the time we come out on top in the Warzones due to better communication.

 

I would love to hear more about your experiences in Huttball from clutch plays to horrible slipups. Its all great.

 

Cheers,

Bera

[LeggoMyMuoio]

Yeah, pulling into fire is a great trick, and I use it whenever I see a good opportunity. However, I'm always a little sad when I see Vanguards/Shadows hanging around fire pits for no good reason, clearly waiting for a chance to pull. It's not an opportunity you should actively seek out, just one that you should jump on whenever you see it. Frankly, I get more use out of Harpoon just pulling ball-carriers off of catwalks than I do pulling them into hazards.

 

Pulling into the first is kinda cheap, but it's just so damn effective it's not hard to see why people do it (especially since we get a snare after the pull, it's practically begging us to kill people with it).