The math is pretty simple here:
At 1 base: taking base 2 = net 4 units vs taking best case scenario flag running = net 2.95 units
At 2 bases: taking Base 3 = net 4 units vs flag = net 2.8 units
At 3 bases: taking base 4 = net 6 units vs flag = net 2.95 units
All things equal, it’s better to fight at a base than the flag.
Of course committing a few to run the flag or disrupt the pickup can be a major contribution for those people, but commiting the majority of your team there is always the wrong choice.
Thats only under the assumption that you will get that base.
What about all the other times where you either. Keep wiping and never get the base
Or End up in a drawn out fight and get back capped at less defended bases because you over rotate.
The two scenarios i explained are VERY likely to happen in PUGs vs actually getting the 3rd node.
I agree ive won way more games holding 2 and capping flags rather than pushing for the 3rd.
A lot of people dont realize that the reason Mid is easier and safer to hold is because NO ONE on either team spawns there. Its not like attacking a 3rd node where you either have to out number them (which means sending more players to overpower the cap) or send the exact same amount and win the trade while they respawn 2 ft away every 30 seconds.
If you are running 4-4-7 (with 4 at each node and 7 people mid) theres a pretty high chance that 4 people will be able to hold off an assault until backup arrives or that the 7 of you mid can coordinate an attack to get flag.
you have to go back and forth between both strats depending on what the battlefield looks like at the current time. you have to improvise and communicate to get the edge in points
Considering eots strategy has already been solved in retail with rbgs, it’s surprising that classic players have gravitated to a more risky strat.
In an rbg, you cap 2, contest mid, and stealthies push for a 3rd, with mid team backup of they land the cap.
Giving up mid can be good if you well out-gear your opponents and will stomp them anyway, but if it’s closer, then losing a couple of early flag caps and not securing the 3rd is a potential game - losing play.
Towers are a much better strategy for a lot of reasons. First, you don’t need to “capture” a flag like in AB to take the points. Accordingly, it’s easy to take the towers compared to mid, where you do need to “capture” the flag with a long cast. Moreover, 3 towers will award more points than 1 tower with uncontested and constant flag captures. The best strategy is to push and defend towers with opportunistic flag captures.
Once in awhile mid plus 2 is the better strategy (very closely matched teams with good defense on towers). Also, when you’re a hundred or two hundred points ahead, going mid to ensure they can’t capture may be justified when the game is near completion. But generally speaking pushing the towers is by far the superior strategy.
Also a final point, even if you’re playing a 2 plus mid strategy, you really need people assaulting towers to pull their mid to the towers. If you’re winning mid, there is a good chance a couple people are hitting the towers and relieving pressure at mid.
Isn’t EOTS rated very different because the towers are easier to defend as they require cast-capture, like AB? Haven’t played rated on retail in a long time but that’s what I remember.
1:43 AM 8/13/2021
The people obsessed with 3 bases usually lose to the enemy that just sits on 2 and runs the flag. This isn’t worth as many points as 3 bases, but it’s easier to do. So while your team repeatedly fails to can or hold 3; the other team getting ahead with flag caps. 3 bases is worth trying for but if you can’t do it right away you should start capping flags with 2.
(This post is being unnecessarily censored by Blizzard until August 15th, 3:32pm.)
It makes sense i guess in retail because with the knock off ability at the flag it heavily depends on who has more of said class to knock people off (i think its shamans)
Opinion. Also in premades maybe but not pugs
Its only “easy” if youre sending more numbers and able to keep the players up on the node. But what makes it more difficult is the enemy is spawning ft away every 30 seconds if they can hold off an assault. If you have to send WAY more people to get a node you leave one of yours weak and they back cap.
This is pointless to state because no one is arguing that holding 1 and capping is better than anything
In pug matches i have lost way more games pushing 3 than holding 2 and capping
While true youre not really banking on getting the node and spreading your team thinner than necessary. Youre just hoping for a rotation. Your team could easily send 5-6 to a node to assault and wait for the rotation and backoff and help mid.
I have played many hundreds of EOTS with a very high win rate. On one retail toon it’s north of 75% (almost all solo queue). It’s my favorite BG and I know how to win it, mid is a bad strategy. Going and sitting mid is a vastly inferior strategy as a general matter. Of course the flag should be run opportunistically. And of course sometimes sitting mid to prevent a loss in a close game is credited.