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Thread: Zone Battle Strategy Guide

  1. #1
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    Default Zone Battle Strategy Guide

    Aightfolks with all the recent hype around zone battle and how it wasnt fun, I decided to write a Helpful FAQ and Strategy guide JUST for zone battlers.

    Vartazian's Zone Battle Guide
    "Ayane Approved!"

    Tutorial Movie 1 ----> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otvQK...e=channel_page

    Zone Battle when understood is a Exhillerating and Challenging Mode that many a Pilot can Enjoy, I hope this Guide will help you perfect your technique while racing at blazing fast speed Online and Offline!

    The First thing I should mention is that to be an Effective Zone Battler is to first Get Aquainted with your ZONE Mode. Practice is key, You wont be flying at Super Zen speed without flaw on your first try, Practice is your friend! Soon you will be laughing at Wreckage that is left at your wake after you practice a bit.

    How do I start? To be an effective zone battler you should first be aquainted with your friendly neighbourhood ZONE MODE. PRactice on zone mode is key, you get familiarized with high speed's and how your zone ship handles, this is key to becoming victorious in zone battle! How can you win if you cant avoid barriers? After you get Aquainted with how your ship handles Fire up zone battle, if your looking for an accurate repersentation of how good some people are online, you can put it on elite, but Stick to novice for now, We dont want to throw you through the Gauntlet!

    So Theres 3 Main Type of Zone Battlers: Survivalists, Racers, and Blockers.

    RACERS

    Racers focus on speed, Charging their boost bar, and rely on their sharp Evasion skills to get past the barriers that they Themselves and other racers place in attempts to stop players. To be and Effective racer you need to be Extremley Confortable at high speeds, (Especially in 40+ ZB's) Racer is the hardest of the 3 Types to race at, it requires a Large amount of concentration and skill as one Mess up can devestate your entire race. A Few key things to remember about being a Racer are these.

    - Dont miss a Single Speed pad, Memorize your Speed Pad Chains (A Speed pad chain is where there is a 1 and 2 Speed pad beside each other Take the two)
    - Perfecgt your Racing Angle, Make sure you arent flying off the course, keep in mind a Zone Craft is substantially easier to pilot then an "Normal" AG Craft, use this to your Advantage!

    RACER PRO's AND CON's

    PROS


    - Highly Effective online
    - Gains an Early advantage
    - Allows Faster Speed Pad grab in later speeds

    CONS


    - EXTREMLEY Risky, One Barrier at the start and you are hurting badly
    - Hardest Method to learn
    - Requires Substatial amount of practice
    - Requires Global Knowledge of All courses

    BLOCKERS


    Most Zone Battlers start off as BLOCKERS, Blockers are pilots that drop Barriers as soon as it is available in their boost bar. This strategy is effective at stopping people going all speeds, a Well Balanced blocker can Stuff (Stop) a Racer in his tracks before he can even start his Boost Build. A Good Blocker can even Counter a Survivalist, a Survivalist cant avoid 3 Barriers locked into a single Bottleneck, its near impossible. The Problem with blockers is that their strategy mostly consists of knowing their opponents skill rating, a blocker's entire strategy is based on the fact that their opponent will screw up, this is Primary downfall. Their Secondary Downfall is the Fact that you sacrifice your acceleration to High Tier Racing, The Second you start Barrier spamming you Crush your boost chances, the hard part of playing blocker is knowing when to STOP blocking and start racing.

    Playing a Blocker is the Easiest of the 3 Strategies, Blockers can be called many things, Spammers, Stoppers, and Especially ANNOYING. But blockers can use this frustration to their advantage, most Racers and Survivalists get a tad "Shocked" when they hit a barrier and Blockers can use this to their advantage on the track by CHAINING BARRIERS.

    a BARRIER CHAIN consists of placing Barriers in a strategic way so that people when they trigger the first barrier, it is almost Guaranteed that the "engine shutdown" caused by they first barrier will cause the Pilot to slide into the 2nd, 3rd and if placed right, even off the track! A Properly placed Barrier Chain is very difficult to master but can be the turnign point in a zone battle!

    BLOCKERS PRO's AND CON's


    PROS

    - Easy Strategy to start
    - Effective against racers Somewhat above your skill level
    - Memorization of speed pad isnt required for mass Barrier Drops
    - Slower Speed's for longer time allows to see where other players drop Barriers

    CONS


    - Highly Ineffective against Good players
    - Slower Speeds means slow Aquisition of Speed Bar
    - Can Backfire. You may run into your own Barriers
    - Difficult to Master

    SURVIVALIST

    The Survivalist strategy is in their name, They survive. A Survivalist's Key Strategy is never dying, wether it be by being highly effective at Dodging barriers or by Sheild spamming, They dont die, they are very difficult to kill and can be a hassle to Blockers or a threat to racers. Survivalists are the middle ground between blockers and racers, They dont really Excell at either but are a threat to both. Survivalists both Drop Barriers (Not to the extent of the blocker) And Boost Charge (Not as Fast as Racers) Most Blockers move to Survivalist after they experiment a bit with Boost Charging.

    The Survivalist doesnt have a strategy like Barrier Chaining or Boost Charging, they get their points from not Dying, they wont last against a pure racer lobby so they rely on dodging the barriers that the racers place and Strategically placing barriers in return. However a Good Survivalisgt will Balance to best of both worlds and can still pass a racer by being a constant harassment.

    However a Survivalist can do a TACTICAL BARRIER HARASS. A TACTICAL BARRIER HARASS is only effective in the first lap before racers can accelerate and before blockers can set up a Gauntlet. For the Harass you Constantly blast the people behind you in the first lap with .3 Barriers (Barriers at the .3 Boost Charge rating) this will give the Survivalist some room to breathe. This only works if you are in 1st and SOMETIMES Second place, therefore is highly conditional to where you start in the race.

    SURVIVALIST PROS AND CONS

    PROS


    - Death never happens so your Zone score never actually depletes.
    - Amazing at Harassing both Racers and Blockers.
    - Can take the Game at his/her own pace.
    - Shield Spam

    CONS


    - Doesnt Specialize in any real area.
    - Cant Accelerate as fast as racers.
    - Quickly Passed
    - Smart Blockers will counter The Survivalist dodge patterns, Devestating the Survivaists main strategy

    Remember that these are the 3 Basic outlines, your play style can vary in between any of these 3 basic outlines, A Good Zone Battler is a Perfect balance of these 3 aspects.

    A good motto is this while your on the track

    Block your Opponents
    Go as Fast as you Can
    Stay Alive


    Okay now that thats done ill give you a few globably effective Strategies. these strategies take alot of skills to Perfect and are very risky at the Start of your Zone battle carrer. But Practice makes perfect!

    TACTICAL DROP
    Difficulty 9/10

    A Tactical Drop is a VERY Risky strategy and requires near PERFECT memorization of a track. a Tactical drop consists of intentionally falling off the track to get another crack at a Pad Chain (2 or more pads) quickly charging your boost meter. You need to know that when you fall that you will actually respawn in an Accessable position of the boost pads, if you dont, you just lost 40 Life and your race Position for no reason.

    Pros : Quicker Charge
    Cons : Position Loss, Large Health Loss

    PERFECT LAP

    Difficulty : Variable 1/10 Lower Speeds 8/10 Higher Speeds
    This is so important it even has a badge! Perfect laps give you that much needed edge in races by giving you .02 (That 2 boost pads if you havent grabed any!) and gets Substatially bigger if you already have a Boost Charge!

    Pros - Free Boost Charge
    - No Damage
    Cons - None!

    BARREL ROLL BARRIER
    Difficuty 7/10

    A Barrel Roll Barrer increases the Area that there is to hit on a Barrier. A Barriers Placement is Dependent on where the ship is located when activating the boost, You can use this to your Advantage, While in mid Barrel roll if you activate your Boost you can PLace a Barrier on its side Increasing its Hit Potential Substantially!

    Pros - Provides bigger Barrier for people to Hit
    Cons - YOU can hit it
    - Difficult to pull off
    - Not Available on All courses

    STEALTH BARRIER
    Difficulty 6/10

    A Stealth barrier is a tactic that is quite dirty but can give you that edge that you need stop a good racer, a Racer depends on his eyesight to see barriers that are coming towards him, what if he cant see the barrier? a Stealth Barrier shouldnt be done multiple times as it causes health loss and Loss of movement but can trick an Opponent. A Steath barrier requires you to turn your ship precisely 90 degrees left or right and too BOOST straight into a wall. The Barrier will be on its side and be substantially harder to see for pilots moving fast.

    Pros - Near impossible to see Barrier
    - Lower speeds health loss is minimal

    Cons - Requires boosting into a wall
    - Small hit Radius
    - Loss of Position

    AMBUSH BARRIER

    Difficulty 10/10

    Another Barrier Strategy that requites impecable timing and skill to pull off. An Ambush barrier does exactly what it says, it ambushes. While some of my other strategies require taking damage yourself, this one only requires a great sense of timing and knowledge fo your track. An Ambush Barrier is a Barrier that the second someone falls off the track is Unavoidable, cant be dodged and maybe even be in a spot where someone respawns from a fall or death. To place a ambush barrier simply place it on the respawn point or directly in front of the respawn point so that when an opponent falls off the track he smashes right into your well laid trap! If placed right after an opponent falls off its a whopping 80 damage and 4 Boost Bar loss! a Devestating blow to any racer indeed!

    PROS: -Highly Damaging
    - If Placed right, Unavoidable
    - Doesnt require damage on your half

    Cons: - Requires impecable timing
    - Much Practice is needed
    - Hard yto Succesfully pull off.

    Ill add more Strategies at a later date.

    BASIC INFO

    The Basic Charge Ratings for BOOST Charge are as Follows per Pad.

    0.0 - 0.3 - 0.6 - 1.1 - 1.7 - 2.5 - 5.2 - 6.5 - 7.9 - 8.0

    The Basic Recovery Gauge for Shield charging is as Follows per Pad.

    0.0 - 18.6 - 27.9 - 37.1 - 46.4 - 55.7 - 80.7 - 90.0 - 99.3 - 100.0

    The Zones Are As Follows


    Sub-Venom - 0.0
    Venom 2.0
    Sub Flash - 3.0
    Flash - 5.0
    Sub Rapier - 7.0
    Rapier - 12.0
    Sub-Phantom - 16.0
    Phantom - 20.0
    Super-Phantom - 27.0
    Zen - 35.0
    Super-Zen - 42.0
    Subsonic - 50.0

    Piloting Strategies

    So Adding Just Blocker tips wouldnt be fair now no? im gonna add a few of my Piloting Strategies. Some of them are Basic, Some Require practice but they will all Help!

    S-SWEEP

    The "S" Sweep does exactly as it sounds. It moves in a "S" motion. Maybe with a simple diagram I can show you how this move is very useful on the track.

    For instance If your doing Metropia Reverse and are flying into the Magstrip a very popular place to place a Barrier is right in front of the first Chained Boost Pad.

    Sort of Like this.

    = Track
    -- Wall (outsides of Track)
    | Barrier
    > Speed Pad

    ---------------------------------------------
    ====|== >> =====|============= PEAK
    =====================|==>>===| PEAK
    ---------------------------------------------

    How are You going to take the Speed Pads? S Curve! I will mark your path in Red!

    ---------------------------------------------
    ====|== >> =====|============= PEAK
    =====================|==>>===| PEAK
    ---------------------------------------------

    Some people might just say "Why not sideshift", This is the main reason SIDESHIFT RECOVERY TIME, Your Sideshift has a recovery time of about .75 to 1 Second. You cant side shift fast enough in and out of the curve fast enough to get the pads and not hit the Barriers!

    Forgive my Poor Diagram, but ill do my Best to explain how to pull off a S-CURVE to the best of my abilities, to Start off the S Curve as you are heading into the Start of the "S" Pin your Airbrake in the direction of the Speed pads, After your ship starts to shift into the Direction That you want to turn, PIN Your OPPOSITE Airbrake, Your momentum will cause you to side to your original orientation, but by pinning your second Airbrake, you will start to move in the Opposite Direction! It Takes practice but is a Very Useful Strategy! In this case you would gain a 4 Boost Charge that other in-experienced pilots would just skim over!


    General Tips and Tricks
    - Damage is Greatly reduced in zone battle when hitting walls. therefore it is Substatially better to hit a wall then to hit a barrier, if Grinding along a wall is what is needed to dodge a barrier, then it is the most desirable effect

    - You dont lose boost energy falling off the Track, where as a barrier will Make you lose 4.0 Boost energy! if it means falling off the course or hitting a barrier, take the fall. (You may learn something for the Tactical Drop!)

    - Sideshift is your friend, Master it! A Smart Side shift can stop Barrier hits, Track falls and even other AG Craft! Sideshift is the best "weapon" in your Arsenal (for those just starting wipeout A side shift is a double tap of L2 or R2 for the default controls)

    - Memorize your OWN Barriers FIRST, Keep in mind that nobodies racing line is exactly the same as your own, the highest risk to you on the Zone Battle track is yourself! Remember that your barrier placement will hinder your own racing ine better then anybody elses, so prepare for on the fly changes to your line.
    To be continued...

    Link to ProblemSolvers Zone Battle Guide ---> http://www.wipeoutzone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6501

    If you Have any Questions feel free to ask!

    ~Var
    Last edited by Vartazian; 3rd August 2009 at 05:33 AM.

  2. #2
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    Default good job m8

    nice. This will help allot of people I think. If I was a mod, I made it sticky...but im not...so ill shut up now.

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    Default

    That's nice in all. But who should profit from such an description? Not much
    of any help for those that want to become good at Zone Battle. Seriously.
    The division into RACERS, BLOCKERS, and SURIVALIST is nonsens.

    EDIT: Ok, ok. I've removed my ad.
    Last edited by ProblemSolver; 1st August 2009 at 12:05 PM.

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    Default

    Your Attacking my thread? Thanks PS. Knew you Had integrity.

    Not to mention this coming from a guy who wont even respond to my Zone Battle Challenge.

    Edit: Nonsense? These are basic outlines, its what IVE Noticed. Its not that there cant be Hybrids these are just basic starting groups. Get out of my thread if you dont have something positive to say. Someone is pissy because he took his sweet time writing a guide on Zone Battle

    2nd Edit: I made this thread to help people, Give them a little insight on different paystyles that vary from their own, if they dont find it helpful they dont need to listen to me, You dont need to come in here and Advertise your Guide in MY Thread.

    This is Meant to HELP people.
    Last edited by Vartazian; 1st August 2009 at 11:52 AM.

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    No offense, dude. But show me how one can become good using you
    description. "Practice is key, You wont be flying at Super Zen speed
    without flaw on your first try, Practice is your friend!
    " Oh really? I think
    everybody knows this. It's like saying; stay away from the walls in
    ZONE. xD Btw; If you can't build on criticism, not my problem.

  6. #6
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    Thumbs up

    Thumbs up from me for this guide!

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    Mentioning something is better then mentioning nothing, I can take critisism, I cant take someone outright saying my thread is "nonsense" as you put it. Some people expect to be instantly good, know why? Im one of those people, we need reminders. theres no point in NOT saying it.

    Anyways its over.

    So Far im glad people have liked it! Ill be adding more onto it as time progresses its 5AM here for me ATM so I cant think too clearly, but there will be more! I PROMISE!

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    Default Moderator message.

    Watchdog mode: GRRRRRRRRRR

    Any criticism should be constructive and give positive suggestions for improvement.

    Reactions to non-constructive criticism should be cool instead of attacking.

    In other words, please be civilised.

    OR DIE!!

  9. #9
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    Very nice guide for people who are just starting out in zone battle.
    Really like the strategy section, add more! Never thought of the tactical drop idea, goes against basic nature. I’ll have to give it a try sometime, although very situational.

    Great breakdown for explaining the different ways to play, although I don’t think most people can win by sticking to just one method when you need to rely on all three. Perhaps instead of singling each one out, explain that you must change to ‘this state of mind’ when you encounter such and such situation. For example; at start of race be a ‘racer’ and try to take lead as fast as possible and maintain it. On tracks with choke points (Anulpha pass etc.) be more of a ‘survivalist’ almost needing to shield every lap at certain points.
    I can see blocker only really being effective in a 1 vs 1 battle.

    Look forward to updates and more strategy!

  10. #10
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    Default

    nice guide, but you forgot to mention that barrel rolls and perfect zones add to your boost gague too

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    neat-o vart.

    nice tactic pointers in that guide

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    Added a Few Tips and Tricks to the Guide, more will be added in the Near Future.

    Added PS's Guide to My Description

    A Few Minor Changes have been made.

    Keep rockin Zone battlers!

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    do you have something to show what dropping a barrier while making a BR makes?

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    I can try to take a picture of one for you. They are hard to pull off, Easiest on Syncopia though.

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    EDIT

    Added Piloting Tricks.

    Added "S-CURVE"

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    Default

    what about this one?

    HIDDEN BARRIER

    the best way to destroy someone is to make him take damage from 2 barriers at one time. To succeed, you need to place a barrier right behind another. The only way to not destroy the previous barrier is going through it, using shield. So get enough bar to have enough shield time, pass over at least 2 pads, go through a barrier with your shield and boost at the same time with your 0.3, you will leave a barrier right behind the first one. This requier a lot of timing to have your shield when you go into the barrier, and a lot of timing to boost and leave the barrier as close as possible to the first one.


    *that's just an idea*
    can't try it now, and don't know if you keep your shield when you boost...

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    Great Idea, Ill add an "Outside Suggestions" to this FAQ!

    Hopefuly that will spark more interest in zone battle! Great idea Space2!

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    Default

    I think I'm ok with Zone Battles for the moment - at least for elite campaign mode .. but it's all thanks to bits and pieces that I've read on the forums.

    Think it's great that you have taken the time to put it all into one place with a good structure - if I need any further help with online zone battles, then I'm sure I'll be revisiting this post - so just wanted to say thanks in advance.

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    No problem! I made the guide for people to read at their leisure when they need help! I'm glad people are finding it useful!!!

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