Cool Controlling the Warzone: A. R. C.

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So last week, I covered some tips, tricks, and strategies for Apex 7. This week I'll be doing the same for A. R. C.

Escape from A. R. C.

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For the standard Warzone gametype, the matches play out, at least from my experiences, in a timely basis in accordance to certain bosses spawning in on the map. As such, my tips and guides will be laid out in reference to these bosses' spawns.

The Drop In

You will spawn dropping into the back of your team's home base with Promethean Soldiers and Crawlers all over the place. Kill them quickly and pick up any guns or ammo that you see fit.

A Sangheili General will spawn at the Relay Tower between the base and the Armory. Take the man cannon just outside of your base to get to him quickly. A simple backsmack will take him down quickly, and you can pick up either a Carbine or Sword from him. Both are great for early crowd control.

Once he's taken down you need to clear out your Armory and capture it quickly. The next phase of gameplay will probably be the most important one in the game.

You have two main options here:
  • The first is probably the most common and preferred method to approach. You'll want to capture the Garage before the other team. Now, the Garage is filled with a ton of Promethean enemies, especially on the top floor. Clearing out those enemies can be a major obstacle, especially if only a couple of players on your team push the garage early on. I recommend getting on top of the roof to take out the enemies on the top floor, as the hole in the roof gives some good positioning to take the enemies in there out. You can also quickly take out the enemies on the bottom floor and use the curved staircase to headglitch and shoot them down. Both are effective. Just keep in mind you also have to deal with an enemy team trying to go for the capture. If you fully focus on a garage capture, bring as many teammates into the garage as possible. It's also a good idea to have some players stay back and camp on top of the rock outside of your armory (we call it Pride Rock). If you snagged the Carbine from the Elite General, it's perfect for getting on top of Pride Rock and gunning down enemy Spartans running for the Garage. Spawning in Warthogs early on is also great for controlling the enemies so they don't interfere with the Garage capture.
  • The second method is a team assault onto the opposite armory to push the enemy back to home base early on. In order for this tactic to work out, you need a fair amount of teammates charging the enemy Armory. If the Elite General dropped a Sword, it's obviously fantastic for this strategy. Even if you don't manage to steal the enemy's Armory right away, it acts as a nice stall for other teammates to capture the Garage.
By the time one of the teams captures the Garage, Ranger Commanders will spawn inside of the tunnels between the Home Bases and the Garage. They are Elites accompanied by Covenant forces. Easy 25 points to go for, but not too important to pursue if you're still worrying about taking the Garage.

Soldier Enforcers at the Crane Pit

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At this point in the match, the Garage is probably captured by either you or the enemy team. The team that has the Garage captured has the advantage as far as positioning to take out all of the Legendary Bosses on the map. All 3 Legendary Bosses spawn directly behind the Garage at the Crane Pit, so holding the Garage should be top priority during the match while Legendary Bosses aren't up.

However, if for whatever reason your team failed to capture the Garage, and the enemy team's defense is too strong to throw out, this is really the only Warzone map where the Double Armory Hold actually works. Since both Armories are just about as close to each other as each Armory is to the Garage in the middle, you can hold onto both of them and defend them effectively. This method actually helps to secure the boss kills on the map, since for the most part you control the outside of the map. With a proper hold the enemy is forced to stay inside the Garage or spawn at their Home Base and try to recapture the Armory on their end. Any heavy duty vehicle like a Scorpion Tank or Wraith can't be spawned because it will come out right in front of the Garage and it's easy hijacking for your team. Spawning the vehicle at their home base keeps them pinned either in the tunnel by their Home Base or behind the Garage near the Crane Pit, both locations not optimal for these kinds of vehicles.

Anyway, a pair of Soldier Enforcers will spawn behind the Garage on both sides of the Crane Pit area. It's a Soldier with a Splinter Turret in hand and he's accompanied by two other Soldiers and a Watcher. They can actually be taken down with precision weapons from the Armory with the right angle. Same thing with the windows and balconies to the sides of the Garage.

Treat this boss spawn as a checkpoint for when you have your base holdout established. The first Legendary Boss is just around the corner.

Baron 'Sraom above the Crane Pit

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The Baron spawns behind the cliffs in the background and flies into the map with a Banshee. He's really not that bulky at all when it comes to dealing him damage, so your team should be fully focused on taking him down when he's spawning in. At this point you'll likely be REQ lvl 4 or maybe 5 if you're doing well enough, so Rail Guns are going to be your best option here. The Spartan Laser is of course better if you are REQ 5 and have it. Warthog turrets are also very effective at taking down the Baron, but be cautious of the angle you have to shoot him from. The Baron moves around a lot in the air, so he sometimes flies just above your turret angle (which is quite frustrating). He also loves to single out players on foot that are near him so make sure that if you run to the Baron's location on foot you find some cover between you and him. This is one of the Legendary boss kills that I see stolen from me more often, so wait for the right time to get that Rail Gun shot or Laser shot off.

After the Baron is taken out, if your team has taken him out, you should be around REQ lvl 5 or 6. If your team has two of the bases, especially if you're doing the Double Armory Hold, Banshees are awesome to use on this map. A.R.C. is by far the best map in Warzone for Banshees, because the skies are open yet compact to a small area, so Banshees have a lot of freedom to move around and evade AND they have a lot of freedom for bombing players. The Double Armory Hold is especially nice for Banshees because the enemy is stuck in the Garage, so you can literally fly circles around the Garage and bomb anyone that dares to leave or just bomb straight into the windows and hole in the roof for some sneaky kills.

Before the next Legendary Boss, Knight Marshalls will spawn in the tunnels at the same locations as the Ranger Commanders. You'll want to clean these guys up too for the 25 points. Try to steal the enemy's Knight if you can as well. The Tunnel bosses get neglected more than any other Warzone boss (at least as far as my experiences go).

Knight Strategos at the Crane Pit

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Knight Strategos spawns at a pretty awkward time during the match. He spawns in the exact same position as the Baron, and he's got a ton of Prometheans guarding him. Between the 3 Warzone maps, this is the most annoying Knight boss to take down. My advice? At this point your team will be able to spawn a plethora of powerful vehicles. Take him out with some good ol' vehicular manslaughter. The problem isn't necessarily him but all of the enemies with him. Tanks and Wraiths are just built for cleanup. Banshees, while overall amazing on this map, can't really do anything but quick in-and-out bombs on Strategos because there's too many enemies shooting at you to stay in there for any longer than a few seconds.

Patrol Captains will spawn by the relay towers in front of the two Home Bases. It's an Elite in a Sword Ghost but it's tankier than it should be. It'll go down after a good number of hits but you probably want to actually go for this boss right away when it spawns in since you can shoot it down from the roof of the Armory most of the time.

Between this guy and the Warden, a pair of Hunters will spawn in each tunnel. Really odd how 3 of the bosses on this map all spawn in the tunnels. These hunters are actually really annoying to take out because the fight is in a fairly enclosed space so vehicles have a harder time landing hits on these hunters. I honestly recommend only going for these hunters if you desperately need the points.


Warden Eternal at the Crane Pit

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I know the picture above isn't of the Warden, but it's too cool to pass up and it presents a certain point I want to make about dealing with the Warden on this map.

Notice the weapons the Spartans are holding in this picture, particularly the Sniper Rifle and Laser. If you want to get the Warden kill on this map, you need to control the enemy movement towards the Crane Pit. Snipers on top of the Armories can take out any players on foot, and Lasers can take out vehicles that are headed the Warden's direction. Since the Garage's position diverts two clear pathways towards the Crane Pit, it's easy to identify and control the route.

In terms of the vehicles you should spawn here, tanks are never a bad idea. However I'd say air vehicles are better here. Since they are free to roam the skies, the method of controlling the routes to the Crane Pit I described above is practically irrelevant to one who roams the skies. Also the Warden has a big tendency to EMP slow moving vehicles, so your Banshee need not worry. The Knights that spawn along side him aren't much of a problem against vehicles either.


Warzone Assault on Dispatch

Not too many people are actually a fan of this map in Warzone Assault. Some say it's too easy for the defenders because the Garage is too enclosed and is easily held down. Others say there are too many options for Attackers to climb on top of the Garage from outside and it influences spawning for defenders too easily. Personally I really just think it depends on the teams, but I kinda see where both arguments come from.

The Garage

Defenders spawn inside and Attackers outside. Since they spawn inside of a building, Defenders should try to stay inside of the building. There are a couple of main positions you need to watch for attackers to come in from. The bottom of the ramp on the East Side will be one of the two big ones. It's the side the Attackers spawn on, and if they don't hop onto the roof they'll more than likely come in from here. The other big one is the hold in the roof. Since the roof of the Garage is easily accessible from multiple positions, more than likely the Attackers will be looking down into the Garage from above and either shoot at Defenders or jump in. The best spot for Defenders to stay is on the top section of the ramp on the East side. From there you can watch both of the entrances I mentioned above and you can escape from both of them if there is too much gunfire.

Attackers play a much more interesting game here. They have to work their way into the Garage and at the same time drive the Defenders out and keep them out. Attackers are pretty much going to spawn in the same position in the first phase regardless of the defenders' actions. So for the Attackers, influencing the spawns is the way to pull ahead. You'll want to get on top of the roof and have at least one or two people up there at all times. This will cause Defenders to spawn way out in the tunnel on the West side of the map. Attackers on the roof can easily shoot at Defenders headed back towards the Garage with precision weapons. Also, to the Northwest of the Garage there is a REQ station available for Attackers. You can camp there to gun down Defenders coming out of the cave and keep replenishing your ammo. They can only shoot back at you from this angle if they fully step out of the tunnel into the open or walk out against the south wall of the tunnel, both options leaving them vulnerable.

As far as entering the Garage to kill Defenders you want to enter the Garage unexpectedly. The two best options I've seen for this is the window on the South side of the Garage where you can just clamber in by jumping up from a crate and jumping directly onto the balcony on the second floor using some crates on the Northwestern side of the Garage. Of course, if you are on the roof of the building, shooting people from the hole in the roof is always an option too, but smart players tend to stay clear of that.

West Armory

I honestly find the fight for the West Armory to be entirely based on the teams playing each other. I have rarely been able to hold off the Attackers from the Armory after they have captured the Garage.

For attackers, this one is fairly simple. Keep pushing in and keep killing Defenders. Getting to the highest part of the roof gives you a solid vantage point against the Defenders spawning near the Home Base.

Defenders have it rough here. The Armory is vulnerable to attackers from all sides except your own and they spawn pretty far away and in the open. If you want to hold this down, you need a strong defense for the roof and the downstairs. Downstairs is a matter of plenty of teamshooting and maybe some close range power weapons like Swords and Shotguns. Upstairs is a bit more complicated. Defenders on the roof of the Armory can easily be shot at by Attackers from the Garage. To defend from a safe angle try using the pathway to the Armory from the tunnel. Just keep watch in case an attacker or two tries to flank you from the other side of the tunnel.

Home Base

To be honest, the fight for the Core at the Home Base is the same here as it is on Ark 7. I'll just go ahead and quote myself from the last Warzone guide I posted.

"For defenders, keep the defense solid and well positioned. When I say well positioned, I mean that not everyone should just be camping inside the base right in front of the staircases and the core. This allows attackers to push into the base and around the sides. Use those bridges to the left and right of the core. They give you a fantastic sightline of the outside, and they serve as great cover too. The stairs leading up to the core from both sides must be watched AT ALL TIMES. You need to watch for everything, mainly Active Camo, Grenades, Vehicles, and ESPECIALLY FUEL ROD CANNONS. Fuel Rods ANNIHILATE the core, to the point where I seriously believe they were put into the game for the sole purpose of core destruction. Do not be afraid to spam grenades at the stairs when you see red on the radar. Close quarters weapons like Swords and Shotguns are not a bad idea here, but Snipers are fantastic for incoming crowd control and Lasers are amazing for vehicle control.

The attackers need to keep the pressure on the defense, making sure that they are confined to the interior of the base. Now is the time for attackers to be spawn vehicles like Warthogs, Ghosts, and maybe Wraiths if you're at REQ level 5 by now. Tanks are great too, but don't push too close to the base with them. It's much better to fire shells from a distance and pick people off. As far as weapons, anything with good range and precision damage will help a lot, especially if defenders are sitting in the bridges popping shots with long range BRs or DMRs. As mentioned above, when you're ready to damage the core, charge in as a group, and have some Fuel Rods to do core damage. The standard Fuel Rod is decent, but the other two are much preferred for their faster fire rate. You will usually have very little windows for core damage, so make the most of them. It's also a good idea to throw some grenades in front of the core before charging in so the defenders are forced to move out of the way."

One thing that's different is that the entrances to the left and right side of the Home Base are slightly separated from each other due to elevation differences in terrain around the base (in contrast to Apex 7 where the terrain is level over the whole area) so only smaller vehicles like Ghosts, Warthogs, and Mongooses can quickly move between the two sides of the base.

Also worth noting is that the cliff on the left side of the Home Base (right side for the Attackers looking into the base) is an awkward angle that exposes Attackers feet and prevents them from shooting into the base without crouching. Not really sure why that is but because of this and the fact that there is less space Defenders can expect more Attackers on the right side than the left.

General Tips and Jump Locations

Really not too many jumps to cover for this map. There are a lot of obvious ways to quickly get to the top of the Armories, and the only location on the map where vertical movement is really an issue in the Garage itself. For that, you should be aware of the multiple routes to get on top of the roof of the Garage. There are 3 main ways to get on top.

The first way is probably the most obvious. There is this structure on the East side of the Garage that can be clambered on top of. Run to the top of this structure and jump onto a little ledge and jump up again to reach the rooftop.

The second way is still obvious but it's not staring you in the face at the start of your Warzone Assault match like the first. There is a rock with a large vehicle on top of it behind the West side of the Garage. Simply run up this rock under the vehicle and jump onto the roof from the top.


There is also a tree right next to this rock that has multiple branches that can be clambered on. You could technically hide in this tree I guess but it's really just another stepping stone to reach the roof.

The third way isn't known by as many people as the other two, but is a method I use often in both standard Warzone and Warzone Assault matches. You can simply clamber up the structure seen in the video below from the balcony on the West side of the Garage.


There's really no other jumps or anything like that to cover. But wait, there's more! How about a nice bonus clip I got when recording in the match I used for the second jump video? So as some of you may or may not know, Speed Boost can be stacked up if you use multiple levels of it on your player at the same time. So theoretically, you could use Speed Boost I, II, and III at the same time if you have 7 REQ points. But how fast will you go? This fast.


I was actually so busy laughing that I couldn't take the situation seriously. All is good fun in Warzone I suppose.

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So, that's it for this weeks Controlling the Warzone post! Be sure to look out for my post for next week on Stormbreak and Summit.
 
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It may be selfish, but here's what I like to do on A.R.C:
- Once the base is cleared, stand on the bridge outside and steal the Elite General with pistol headshots.
- Stay in the Armory, then when it caps you'll have Req level 3. Pull a Spitfire, Br, and head to the Ranger spawn.
- Either Noob Combo or assassinate him, then head to the garage and get at least 3 kills.
- At 3:30 pull an Ultra Ghost and prepare to spawn kill the Soldier Enforcer, both if possible. If done properly, you'll easily have Req level 5
- Head back to the Armory, pull a Spartan Laser and kill the Baron.

1400 points within 6 minutes.
 
It may be selfish, but here's what I like to do on A.R.C:
- Once the base is cleared, stand on the bridge outside and steal the Elite General with pistol headshots.
- Stay in the Armory, then when it caps you'll have Req level 3. Pull a Spitfire, Br, and head to the Ranger spawn.
- Either Noob Combo or assassinate him, then head to the garage and get at least 3 kills.
- At 3:30 pull an Ultra Ghost and prepare to spawn kill the Soldier Enforcer, both if possible. If done properly, you'll easily have Req level 5
- Head back to the Armory, pull a Spartan Laser and kill the Baron.

1400 points within 6 minutes.
You... you are a monster!