Introduction
This guide is intended to give you detailed information on The Legacy of the Foefire sPvP map. It will cover basic game mechanics as well as general and class specific tips, tricks, and techniques. It will also go into the higher level strategy elements of this map.
While this guide strives to be accurate in all the information provided, I am also a human and not an Asura and therefore inherently prone to mistakes. If you feel there needs to be any corrections or additions please feel free to comment. The game is still in a Beta stage and all things are subject to change. Enjoy!
Plains of Ashford, just to the South of Ascalon.
BackgroundThe Legacy of the Foefire was the last sPvP map added to the Beta Weekend Events. It is a nod to the original Guild vs. Guild PvP found in the original Guild Wars. Fortunately it doesn’t have the same guild member requirements to play the map. This map, while titled Legacy of the Foefire, does not appear to have very much to do with the actual Foefire Eventthat occurred in 1090 AE, at least not in an obvious manner.
The map’s terrain closely resembles the area of Ascalon where Foefire occurred with lush grass covered rock features that are tiered. The Red base is at a shipyard that is made entirely out of metal, indicating that it may be the area called the Irondock Shipyard in the current Ascalon area. The Red Team’s Guild Lord stands on courtyard with a giant gear on it, perhaps referring to the charr Iron Legion whose symbol is a gear in the original Guild Wars and also held control over the Ascalon region where the Foefire Event occurred.
The Blue Keep Lord
The Blue Team’s Guild Lord stands in a shattered glass dome structure similar in design to the Upper City in Divinity’s Reach. This Guild Lord and his guards are ghost-like in appearence. This indicates that the Blue base may be located in what is now the Ghost Summit. There is also a circular structure located at the Ghost Summit which is similar to the shattered structure seen in the Blue base. Finally the Sanctum is refered to as a graveyard by the game’s announcer and conveniently the Ascalon Catacombs are located near this area on the map as well. This is, of course, all speculation on my part but I feel this map is a reasonable approximation of where this event is located outside of the Mists. Game Mechanics
The Legacy of the Foefire is a Conquest Game Type sPvP map, effectively a Capture and Hold game. Each team tries to capture 3 Control Points and hold them in order to receive 1 point every 2 seconds for each point held. The exact mechanics for Control Points can be found in The Battle of Kyhlo Guide. Points can also be acquired through killing enemy players granting 5 points per kill and by killing a Guild Lord which grants 100 points.
Control Points
The three Control Points are:
The Sanctum
The Sanctum with a skull icon in the center.
The Sanctum, called the “Graveyard” by the announcer in the match, has a larger than normal control point. It takes up the entire circular area of the courtyard it’s located in. There are a number of entry points with multiple stair cases, tiered levels, and catwalks crossing over the North and South Entrance. There is a LOT of high ground at this Control Point. Its major advantage, other than being in the middle of the map, is its ability to see players crossing the map along the Eastern paths, the path connecting the Blue base to the Quarry. However, there is a hill that can block a lot of the visibility of the Western path, which connects the Red base to the Waterfall.The Waterfall
The Waterfall with a drop of water in the center.
The Waterfall has a normal sized control point in the center of a small island surrounded by water from a waterfall. The island capture point blocks entry by fencing or ledges and allows access from only 3 small earth ramps. While there is water surrounding this point, none of it is deep enough to activate underwater skills. There are two hidden areas around this Control Point. There is a small cave, accessible by a path along the western rock wall which gives a height advantage and a view of the control point at a distance of about 1200 units. To the southwest there is a small encampment inside a rock cove. This area is at ground level and is about 1200 units distance from the Control Point. Finally, there is a small ledge that overlooks the Control Point on the northeast side.The Quarry
The Quarry with a filthy Red player on the point.
The quarry also has a normal sized control point which is located on a hill. It sits on a metal platform with some fencing around it, leaving only 3 accessible routes to the point. There is also a small encampment, similar to the Waterfall, on the northwest side covered with a tent and non-destructible crates creating Line of Sight. There is a rock ledge that extends towards the Control Point from the Southwest as well as a slight ledge running along the eastern rockwall that players can run up, basically the mirror of the Waterfall. A major difference is the entire southern area of the point leads back to a smelting/blacksmithing area giving a larger fighting space for players to fall back to without having to lose the highground.Other Map Characteristics
This map is unique in that it has almost no distinct high ground. While there are a number of points that do give higher visibility throughout the map there are a lot of inaccessible structures that prevents you from viewing a large area from any single vantage point.
Secondary Game Mechanic
The more solid of the two Guild Lords
The major secondary game mechanic in The Legacy of the Foefire is the Guild Lord, located inside each team’s base. These Guild Lords are located in the rear of a circular courtyard area inside the base. On either side closest to the Guild Lord are two “Casters” who, as you’d imagine, cast spells at you. These spell sit at a staggering number, TWO, both of which are lightning type spells. Further out from the Guild Lord on either side are two “Soldiers”. The Soldiers have melee attacks that can cripple, stun, and daze (needs more testing to verify).You may be asking yourself “But what about the Guild Lord? Surely he didn’t arrive at this auspicious title by happen stance, he must be unbelievably powerful!” Not so much. You are typically in more danger of accidently agro-ing the nearby guards or getting ganked by enemy players respawning then actually being killed by this guy. He has two major features: a metric ton of health and the ability to heal. You can see how this gets annoying really fast.
Once attacked the enemy team will be notified that their Guild Lord is under attack, giving them the opportunity to rescue him. The only difference between the two Guild Lords, other than color and the Red Lord being slightly more solid than the other, is the Blue Lord is standing atop a small pile of dirt. This can affect pull mechanics such as Spectral Grasp, which tend to come up short when the target is elevated in comparison to the caster.
If you kill one of the guards they will not respawn, however they do not currently give you any points. If you damage the guards or the Guild Lord but disengage or are killed before they die they will regenerate their health. The Guild Lord will give you 100 points when you kill him, but he will not respawn.
The Blue base door.
To access these NPC mobs you have to gain entrance to the enemy base by destroying one of two doors located on the exposed walls of the base. These doors have roughly 18,000 health and can be dropped rather quickly by multiple attackers. Upon attacking these doors the enemy team will be notified that their base is being attacked. Once inside the base you have access to the Guild Lord’s platform, which is raised, and the area immediately below where the enemy will respawn. While this would appear to permit graveyard camping there are escape routes accessible to the enemy team, since they are in a raised inaccessible area, by running along the beams or walls and exiting the base. The raised platform that the guards are standing can be attacked from the lower level, but attacks can often be obstructed by the ledges.
Tips, Tricks, and Techniques
Perhaps one of the best tricks in this map is false knocking. Essentially you start lightly attacking the enemy door using a very long ranged attack, typically done if you have the enemy’s Natural Control Point. This will immediately alert the enemy team. At best it will divert a number of enemy players to return to the base doors to find no attackers present giving your team an advantage throughout the map. At worst it will create an extremely annoying scenario where the announcer is constantly notifying them they’re base is under attack.
The Sanctum’s large Control Point area often attracts a lot of fighting in the center. Remember that it only takes one person to block a capture leaving the rest of your team, if they are ranged, to engage the enemy from the safety of the tiered areas located around the Sanctum. These areas not only provide a barrier to melee attacks but also a number of pillars that provide Line of Sight.
Targeting a spell from the cave at the Waterfall.
The shelter areas around the Waterfall and the Quarry are within 1200 units of the Control Point allowing long range attacks. This is a great spot to set up gun or explosive turrets or stick an Elementalist since they are a lot like a turret.
There are sally gates located near both base doors which allows friendly only entry into the base. Instead of engaging the enemy on the ground, particularly if you are outnumbered, you can enter the base and get on top of the catwalk overlooking the door and attack them from the high ground.
Profession Specific Tips
Warrior
Warriors have a unique disadvantage in this map. Many warriors favor the use of a GreatswordHundred Blades which does massive damage, but only in a frontal cone AoE. This works fine in normal sized Control Points where you can more easily force people into your damage or out of the Control Point you are standing in. Be warned, I have seen any number of Warriors waste that skill inside the much larger Sanctum where players can more easily dodge it.
Where Warriors do shine is their high mobility throughout the map. A sword/warhorn can get you end to end of the map in relatively short time while allowing you to maintain high damage output. Your ranged attacks with the short bow is actually very beneficial to lay down AoE burning damage before you rush in to do some melee attacks since players tend to clump in the center of the Sanctum.
Guardian
You little overpowered buggers are in for a rude awakening, I’m kidding of course, you aren’t little. Your knockbacks are less effective throughout the map. On the normal size Control Points there are barriers which can prevent players from being knocked out of the area. On the Sanctum the area is so large it becomes excruciatingly difficult to knock people out of this area. However, by working in conjunction with another Guardian you can stagger your knockbacks, particularly Shield of Absorption, to knock players out of the center.
Your abilities to block enemy players from entering a point can give you valuable seconds to capture a point. Often there are a number of routes into the Control Point, but they are accessible by choke points which you can control with skills like Line of Warding.
Ranger
The Ranger Swoop ability from the Greatsword is actually perfect for the Ranger in this map. Since there are a number of tiered levels in this map you can traverse a lot of ground rapidly while skipping over the pit of battle below.
Thief
The Thief is perhaps one of the best “roamers” or scouts. With your speed, stealth, and flexibility in handling many different scenarios you can be a force that can quickly swing the tide of any engagement on the map. Make use of the terrain to favor your ranged abilities and allow you to fall back quickly if the situation goes south. Among the best places to snipe from are the tiered levels surrounding the sanctum, which also allow you to rapidly mobilize or get eyes on other control points. Finally, as a roamer you are also well suited to lend a hand if your team goes for the Guild Lord. Make liberal use of your crowd control abilities to lower the damage the Guild Lord puts out, which isn’t much but every bit cuts down on the time to kill them.
Engineer
Oh Engineers, how you boggle my mind with your abilities. One of the more difficult aspects of this map is turret placement. Since the Waterfall and the Quarry are raised points your turrets can have trouble attacking enemies on the elevated terrain because of LoS. If you place them on the points you risk them getting quickly taken out by AoE attacks because of the small real estate you have available to you. You could of course whip out your handy wrench but then again that means you are taking up an important skill slot to basically just repair. Theoretically you can place them on the ledges or encampments around the control points which should give you the proper angles and range, plus added protection from enemies identifying where they are located. This method, while potentially amazing, I have currently been unable to confirm as viable.
Elementalist
The burst capability of the Elementalist is extremely important for burning down the Guild Lord should you choose to go after them. However, your abilities can agro other guards if they have an AoE or chaining element to them so be careful what you use so you don’t grab more than you can handle.
Mesmer
Like most maps your illusions can cause mass confusion on this map. It works even better in the Sanctum because of the multi-tiered nature of the terrain. You can plop an Illusion down in a higher area, protected from AoE damage and move somewhere else, plant another on a different tier, and so forth. This can make it very difficult for the enemy to figure out who is the biggest threat since many times you will find over half both teams fighting in that area. There is a rather nice analysis of Mesmer dps in this map in the premier episode of Buildcast.
Necromancer
The Necomancer skill Spectral Walk can give your team a very distinct advantage by getting to the enemies Natural Control Point very rapidly. This can be achieved by severing the tether, which does give you 3 seconds of vulnerability, but this will easily wear off by the time you reach the enemy Natural. The other useful skill is the Elite: Flesh Golem. This guy has one very useful ability that favors fighting in the Sanctum’s floor, charge. The charge ability not only hits the target and knocks them down but also causes damage to every person between the golem and the target.
Grand Strategy
The Guild Lord
Avoid at all costs. No, seriously. “But Sryii,” you whine in a nasal voice that is nearly as incoherent as it is grating, “ I thought this was a major mechanic which was a throwback to the original Guild Wars Guild vs Guild maps where you KILL the Guild Lord.” Yes, it is a throwback to those maps, but the major difference is the winning conditions of the old maps versus the new one. Killing the Guild Lord meant you won but in this map it means you are, at best, 100 points closer to wining the match. This isn’t a paltry sum, true, but it comes at a cost. Team Resources.
Anything you do in battle, particularly in sPvP, comes at a cost. In a competitive match you only have 5 players and must make the most of them. If you allocate resources to an objective you must always do it with a clear understanding of the intended outcome and that outcome MUST be beneficial over doing something else. If not, you have automatically wasted resources and thus given your enemy an advantage and who would want that? How do we prevent that? Simple, we use MATH! (Oh sweet Grenth take me now!)
Not to worry my fellow haters of the mathematical dark arts, I shall keep this as simple as I can. To look at the advantage of diverting resources to kill the enemy Guild Lord we are going to look at how many points are lost and the time that will cause the killing of the keep lord to be a null victory.
Here we are calling X the number of seconds required to equal 100 points depending on whether your enemy is in control of 3, 2, or 1 Control Points. Remember you gain 1 point every 2 seconds.
Now even in the worst case scenario, your enemy having 3 control points and your team deciding NOW is the perfect time for a heroic and glorious slaughter of the enemy Guild Lord, you have 67 seconds, which seems quite doable. Not so fast. You have to keep in mind that TTK is a little deceiving. TTK includes:
- Traveling to the enemy base
- Destroying the gate if it still is up
- Traveling through the base
- Dealing with the enemy guards
- Killing the Guild Lord
- Traveling BACK to the Control Points
- Retaking said Control Points to stem the bleeding of points due to your little PVE excursion mid-PVP.
The Cage of Death from which the Red Team will respawn and kill you if you attack our Guild Lord
Oh yes, and did I mention that all of these steps can be hindered by even ONE enemy player at any point with relatively little effort or skill. On top of THAT, take into account that any enemy player who bites the dust elsewhere on the map will be reborn inside the base a stones throw away from wrecking your boss attempt.FURTHERMORE, even if the entire enemy team was suddenly struck deaf and could no longer hear the announcer incessantly bleating that the base and/or Guild Lord is under attack the rather small size of the map will almost instantly allow the enemy team to predict where you are by where you aren’t.
“Gee, its rather curious that we haven’t seen any of those darned Red bastards around for a while. Wherever COULD they be?”
That may have been a little bit ranty. That’s ok. This is a design flaw, not because I say so (even though I am right), but because the high level teams just completely and utterly ignore this mechanic. If anyone does attempt this I have only seen it met with failure and tragedy. Typically an attempt, even with only 1 or 2 players, will result in one or all Control Points being flipped to enemy control. It may seem like 1 or 2 players couldn’t cause a serious disadvantage but in a highly competitive match with only 5 players this will have a serious impact on your team’s performance. Again, this is still Beta and these mechanics and difficulty can and most likely will be changed. For now leave this to the 8v8 Hot Join crowd.
Other tactics
Kill stuff? What . . . I suppose you want more than that? Fine, kill stuff harder. So this map is a bit interesting at the moment with the whole ignoring the secondary mechanic issue. It is almost purely PvP with no secondary mechanics to influence gameplay. The map is also shaped a bit like Kyhlo but flatter. So the number of “openers” is rather limited. I recommend not going all infor any point and definitely NOT all in at the Sanctum. What will end up happening is the enemy team will stall the capture of the Sanctum and if they are of average intelligence will have taken their natural, thus earning a steady if meager lead and if they are especially smart will send another player to leave the Sanctum and make a push towards your Natural.
So what IS the best strategy? Well the best possible solution is again, MATH! Shhh, shh, trust me this one isn’t that bad. You only have to capture and hold 2 points the entire match and die less than the other team to win. Simple, right? While that was a complete oversimplification of a winning strategy that’s the gist of it. Defend where you control and apply pressure where you don’t. Like I’ve said in other guides communication is one of the best weapons you have, make use of it and you are that much closer to victory. This section is a little sparse(I know, shut up) and I will update it as new strategies emerge and develop.
Conclusion
The Legacy of Foefire is an interesting map. It combines sPvP with some PvE elements but at the same time this PvE element is often ignored. This beautiful map offers a format that we are familiar with a terrain that deviates from previous maps. As always, Live Strong and Fight Hard.
Source: http://www.guildwarsinsider.com/legacy-foefire-gw2-pvpguide/
I'm just proud that I got through half of it... decent read though. I'll probably read the rest when I have time.