| BY: djthunder | THE NEW KREWE |
WvW can be both the most daunting and most rewarding thing in Guild Wars 2 to get into. On the one hand, it can be very fun and rewarding, but on the other hand, the sheer scope of it as well as the costs (mainly via repairing armor) can put players off.
This is only exacerbated when you’re on the losing side, or when most of your server isn’t on or simply lacks organization. In these cases or even outside of them, there are still a few things you can do to make the most of your time in WvW.
While their are large objectives in WvW (namely the keeps), the smaller objectives also add up to play a major role in the overall effort and should definitely not be ignored. So let’s examine some of these smaller group (3-10 people) friendly objectives and some of the ways you can go about them.
Map Knowledge
Before I get into the specific objectives and strategies, it should noted that map knowledge and awareness is key to objective-based PvP, including WvW. The very first thing to do would be to get familiarized with and learn the map, of which there’s much to do with all the hidden paths, vantage points, size of the map and areas of interest.
Once you’re familiar with the map, you’ll be able to get from one objective to whichever else you choose to go to next quicker and safer. Familiarity and knowledge of the map will only come with exploration and experience, so don’t just stick to one area – explore your surroundings as much as you can.
There are also two different maps to learn: The Borderlands, for which the location names are slightly altered for each different servers version, and the Eternal Battleground.
Sentries
These are veteran-tier NPC guards that are solo friendly objectives which you can also do in groups to speed up the process.
Defending these can add an additional defense to your supply lines, while attacking them will allow you to replace the enemy sentry with one of your own, which will attack incoming enemy NPCs or players. They’re dotted around the map, and regularly taking these objectives will add up in the reward xp/gold/karma you get.
Neutral Mercenary Camps
You may be thinking I’m talking about jungling in a MOBA at this point, but you’d be mistaken – I am in fact referring to the camps of NPCs around the WvW maps that may require your aide, which in exchange for receiving your aide will help defend locations your server owns near their camps from enemy players.
Examples of these are the quaggan from the central lake in the Borderlands map and ogres from the Orgarth Uplands in the Eternal Battlegrounds.
These are also PvE objectives that will contribute to the overall WvW effort and should be easier to tackle unless the other servers turn up to contest your presence around these NPCs.
Escorting Dolyaks
People often underestimate the importance of this and how protection/harassment of Dolyak supply lines can swing the favor of battle.
Dolyaks bring in supplies essential to the maintenance and building of keep defenses and siege weapons – two things that make a huge difference in both controlling an area of a map as well as points contributed to your servers standing. Siege weapons (built from supplies) allow you to defend or attack far more effectively, so ensuring the supplies arrive at a tower or keep is worth the effort. You can find these moving along paths between locations your server owns.
Dolyaks are fairly easy to kill, making them easy prey for enemy players. You can, however, upgrade the NPC escorts for a Dolyak, but these too can be taken out and neutral NPCs can also attack the Dolyak and its NPC escorts along its travel path. This means that these guys, while being the lifeblood of your server’s efforts are more vulnerable then you may imagine, qualifying them worthy of putting your efforts into protecting them.
It may not be the most exciting thing to do in WvW, but it can also serve as a regular source of rewards on top of being crucial to your victory in WvW.
Supply Camps
One of my favorite things to do in WvW is to capture enemy supply camps (identified by the tent symbol). It can be fairly fast and easy to do and can make a huge difference in your WvW effort by crippling the enemies ability to build or repair their walls & siege weapons.
Supply Camps will be guarded by NPCs, which can also be upgraded, so it’s best to come here packing some firepower to take out the enemy forces at the camp and capture it as quickly as possible, hopefully before the enemy team is on to you. This can be more difficult to do if there are real players guarding the camp, as with some upgrades and a few siege weapons (especially ballista). These can be very well defended, something to consider if you’re looking to defend them yourself.
Siege weapon blueprints are bought from Siegemaster NPCs, found at server bases, and NPCs elsewhere on the WvW map as well as from loot. The WvW jumping puzzle also guarantees a couple of blueprints on completion.
Map knowledge and familiarity is crucial for capturing or defending Supply Camps effectively, but once you get the hang of it, you can start hitting up consecutive camps to disable the supplies flowing into an area of the map and get some decent rewards for doing so.
Orbs of Power
Each of these grants your server an additional 5% HP and can be easier to acquire then you may imagine. They’re kept at the very north of the Borderlands maps and are guarded by NPCs, but by being so out of the way means that they’re often unguarded by real players, which gives you the opportunity to sneak up (as a group) and take it.
Be warned though – you’ll have 15 minutes to get the orb to your own main camp, or it will be reset. Being located where they are means you’ll be deep in the enemy territory, so you will want to get a move on before enemy players arrive.
In conclusion
WvW can be about more then outnumbering your opponent. WvW also has too many variables to be too competitive over, so don’t forget to have fun, as there’s much fun to be had! Hopefully this introduction to objectives you can tackle will add some variety to your WvW experience.
