Cool Controlling the Warzone: Stormbreak

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Finally we're down to the last of the three launch maps for Warzone, Stormbreak! Now I'm going to be honest with you all, of the current lineup of Warzone maps in matchmaking, this is probably my least favorite... However that's because I see this map more of a linear push with less options around the map compared to the other two, and I'm a man who likes his options :awesome: (I'm so glad I got another chance to use that smiley).

Anyway, it's preference that dictates my opinion, nothing more. Let's get onto the guide!

March on Stormbreak

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I will give you fair warning right now. This map has some strategies to it for sure. However as far as little tricks and jumps, there's too little to give them their own section. Therefore, slightly breaking the format of the previous two guides, I will cover them in the general information.

Continuing the trend, I will cover my advice and information on the map by referencing boss spawns in their time of occurrence.

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. Same scenario as with A. R. C. This time around, I highly recommend that you grab a Suppressor and some Pulse Grenades. They are great for the strategy I'm about to cover.

Once you clear these enemies, the base will open. Find the nearest lift and launch over to the Armory in front of your base. If you didn't manage to get any Suppressor or Pulse Grenades in the Home Base, try to get some from the enemies here. After it clears out, make sure someone is staying behind to capture it then head over to the center base, the Fortress.

Commander Lochagos in the Fortress

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So this map already does things very differently compared to the other two and it throws it right in your face at the start of the match. There's a Legendary takedown waiting for you in the center base. Commander Lochagos is a Knight. He's big and scary with an Incineration Cannon and a bunch of Prometheans guarding him. He looks like this:

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So remember when I said to grab the Suppressor and Pulse Grenades? It's to take him down quickly. It's a race to kill this guy before the enemy team. Rush him as a group. If he jumps down from the platform in the back of the base, good. If not, run up the ramp to the backside and fight him from there. When you're in position, immediately throw all of your pulse grenades at him. I mean everyone who is rushing throws their grenades at him. Then, shoot at him with the Suppressor. The Suppressor will home its bullets at Lochagos's weakpoints. His back is the main one, so if you can get behind him, do it. Handle the situation right at you'll take him down quickly before the enemy team even shows up. It may also be a good idea if you have a large group rushing the Fortress right away to have some people worry about taking out the other Prometheans, or at least the Watcher that hovers around him.

At the 2 minute mark, Elite Generals drop in at the platform off to the sides of the map by both Armories. They spawn with Fuel Rods and three grunts accompanying them. If you time it right, you can land a ground pound right on them as they spawn and take out all four enemies right away. The grunts will die and the Elite will just fall off of the map. You want to kill this guy right away, as it's the easiest 25 points you can get on this map. It also gives you the option of the Fuel Rod to help take control and capture the Fortress.

Your main concern should be to take the Fortress on this map. Usually the team who takes the Fortress first will win the match overall. Even if you don't manage to take down Lochagos, if you control the Fortress it puts your team in position to take down the next Legendary target. There are also two other 25-point bosses that spawn right outside of the Fortress that are difficult to approach if your team doesn't have control of the area.

At the 4 minute mark, a Covert Major will spawn with two other Elites at the Outpost, the tunnel that loops around the side of the Fortress that connects the two Armories. If you have a Ghost, splatter him and get the quick 25 points. Otherwise, be ready at the 4 minute mark with 2 or 3 Spartans ready to kill him.

The next boss spawns at 6 minutes in. A Knight Luminary will spawn at both sides of the Outpost tunnel behind the two Armories. If your team is behind on points, you can bring a small team of vehicles through the tunnel and steal the enemy team's Luminary kill. Ghosts and Warthogs play more of a role on this map in terms of control than the other two maps, so take advantage of that.

Early on, you need to be aware of the strategy to take the Fortress back if you need to capture it. Use the tunnel as a flanking route to move around the center and try to take the enemy's Armory with a small team, say 2-4 players max. While the enemy team heads over there to take it back, do a hard push on the Fortress. Be aware that 3 marines are usually sitting at the platforms in the back, so take them out quickly if you want to start capturing it.

Captain Wamik above the Cargo Dock

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The Captain spawns above that platform connected to the South entrance of the Fortress. Same scenario as Baron 'Sraom. It's a Sword Banshee that spawns to the backside of the center base on the map. The Fortress team has a better view to shoot him from, but the other team can definitely get an angle. There's a lot of different ways you can take him down. As far as the basic "gunning him down" method, Rail Guns, Lasers, and any weapon with the Kinetic Tip (the orange tip) on it do decent damage. Spawning in a Banshee yourself to take him down is also a viable option, although you'll likely get shot down with him if you take that route. But, if you get in quick and do some heavy damage, you can take him out nice and easy with another Banshee.

Since he spawns in the air above a big fall below you actually have the option of EMPing him with a Plasma Pistol. I've seen it done. Right as he spawns someone is waiting at the Cargo Dock with a charged shot ready to go. He gets EMPed and falls down below to blow up in the process. This is really more of an option for the Fortress team but if you don't have control of the Fortress you can pull this off if you get close enough. Just make sure someone on your team damages him as he's falling to make sure your team gets the takedown.

At this point in the match, a bunch of smaller bosses spawn in but they're not completely necessary to win. A Soldier Commando will spawn at the same location as the Elite General earlier on in the match and he's another easy 25 points. Later on, a pair of Serpent Hunters will spawn in, another 25 points each totaling to 50 points by each Armory. These guys are a bit of a pain though and they are known to kill people and damage vehicles very quickly. You should only go after them if you really need the points or commendations for Hunter kills.

You also need to be aware of the bosses that spawn by the Cargo Dock, the same location where the Captain spawns in. The first boss that spawns down there is a Knight Bannerman, basically a Knight with a Scattershot. He has a bunch of Prometheans guarding him but with a small group it shouldn't be too bad to manage. The second boss that spawns at the Cargo Dock is a Wraith Officer. He's a bit more annoying to take down compared to the rest of the standard bosses that spawn in on this map, because you have to fight a Wraith in close quarters and you can't hijack it. The main problem here is the Elite on the turret. You need to take him out quickly. It's a much easier fight after that.

The two bosses by the Cargo Dock that I mentioned above often go ignored on this map. If your team is behind and needs some points, even after the Warden kill, try to go for these guys. I've ended up winning matches after losing the Warden takedown to the other team by taking out the Wraith Officer and securing the extra 25 points at the end of the match. Never forget your options.

Warden Eternal at the Outpost

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This Warden takedown is pretty much based on one thing, control. Your team needs to have control of the Outpost tunnel in order to secure this kill. That means you need to have the entrances on the West AND East sides covered. Here's the point of the map where you need to spawn in your heavy vehicles. Of course, tanks are your best bet. There's actually nothing covering the sky above this area either, so Banshees can swoop in and lay some quick bombs before flying off again. If you want to be a team player at this point, spawn in a Laser or Sniper to take out enemy vehicles or Spartans respectively coming in from the opposite entrance of the tunnel.

You can never have too many tanks for this guy. It's a close encounter, so the Warden will be shooting out his annoying EMP blast much more often and you can't avoid it with a tank. The best strategy I find to secure the Warden on this map is to take out most of the enemies on the opposite side of the tunnel then push up with one tank while another tank or two behind it push up to shoot the Warden. Even if the tank that pushes into the enemy gets taken down quickly, it still serves as a great diversion for your team to take down the Warden. It's also worth mentioning that if your team has full control of the tunnel that this is the easiest map to assassinate the Warden on, so pray your random teammates don't steal it from you and good luck!


Warzone Assault on Summit

I would have to go on a limb here and say that this map is probably the most balanced between the Attacking and Defending teams in Warzone Assault. The way the three locations are set up, the spawning and approach toward each location is pretty evenly spaced out and fair compared to the other Warzone Assault maps, with exception of the Home Base which never changes.

The Fortress

Defenders spawn inside the Fortress while Attackers spawn out in the Cargo Dock where Captain Wamik spawns. Most people on both teams will initially run towards the South opening and it turns into a massive firefight. Here's my advice.

Defenders obviously need to stay inside of the Fortress as often as possible. That being said, in the beginning of the match it is worthwhile to run out to the East and West sides of the Fortress and come around the sides towards the Cargo Dock. Attackers will try to do the same thing. If you do this kind of push early on you will force the Attackers to spawn purely at the Cargo Dock and you will have a nice control of the map. Just don't push up too far, as you will force some Attackers to spawn in the Outpost tunnel to the North and that will mess up the people outside of the West side of the Fortress.

Attackers should also push up around the West side of the Fortress. The East side should be seen as a lost cause, since the Defenders only spawn either inside of the Fortress if they have good control or next to the Fortress on the East side.

Your main goal as the attacker is to push all Defenders out of the Fortress as quickly as possible. DO NOT forget about the marines at the back of the Fortress. Attacking teams often lose time for capturing the base because they are unable to take out these marines quickly. Also, look out for Defenders who like to hide inside of the base. There are a number of spots where the defenders can just hide and prevent base capture in the Fortress, which separates it from the other Warzone Assault bases.

Now Defenders, the Fortress is the only place where you can just be annoying as hell and win the game. If the Attackers are overpowering your teammates inside of the Fortress, go ahead and hide somewhere. If your team is losing the base for the Attackers, there's actually an even more annoying little trick that lets you prevent them from capturing. Since it's the Fortress you can guarantee a spawn inside even if its being captured by the Attackers if you spawn in a vehicle. So if your team is losing the Fortress, spawn in a Mongoose, a Ghost, whatever, and stop the capture. I know I'm promoting something obnoxious, but honestly being cheap works here.

East Armory

Bring that low REQ level firepower for this match. This advice applies to both teams, since it's a pretty even fight here and the rules of engagement don't change much between Attackers and Defenders.

Shotguns and Swords do wonders here. If you're inside of the Armory holding out, close quarters weapons are certainly the most effective. SMGs are just as useful since they can take people down relatively quickly in the right hands.

Controlling the area around the Armory is just as important. Slowing or halting the enemy approach is very helpful to your teammates looking to hold the Armory. Bring out your Ghosts, Warthogs, and Gungooses.

Home Base

I find this Home Base to be the most annoying to attack of all of the Warzone Assault maps. The two entrances into the base are almost completely segmented because they are bridges with railings. Vehicles have the go all the way around by the Armory in order to move from one side to the other, with exception of Ghosts, Mongooses, and Warthogs which can fit through the small tunnel at the front of the base. However, heavy vehicles like tanks and Wraiths, which are much more useful to push back Defenders are greatly affected by this limitation. The only solution is to have multiple so that both entrances into the Home Base are covered. The other problem though is that these heavier vehicles cannot get away from things like Lasers or Rail Guns, so they can be easily taken down by Defenders with the right tools.

While it's annoying for vehicles to approach the Home Base, it is also the easiest home base to approach on foot. Defenders only have a good sight line on the bridge leading up to the base but not of the areas below and around it. It's easy to walk up on foot and enter the base. And that's why I don't like defending this base either. Snipers are a little less useful to defend with, and Attackers running in with Fuel Rods are more common. Looking from inside the base, the right entrance also has an awkward site line to shoot at for Defenders. There's a number of crates for Attackers to use as cover on the bridge on the right side to boot.

I actually like running the Gungoose defense setup on this map. You have a Gungoose sit in front of the core with its guns pointed at one of the staircase leading up to the core. On the other side, you have someone sitting on the back of the Gungoose chucking their supply of infinite grenades at the other doorway. It works well on this map because attacking vehicles have a harder time getting hear the base and shooting into the core room unlike the other maps.
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Well, that's the last of the first batch of Controlling the Warzone guides! I'll likely do more of these for the upcoming Warzone maps added to matchmaking. Until then, I hope you guys enjoy them and find the information helpful or useful in any way.