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- How to beat that last camper in LMOTH
- How many times have you played Last Man On the Hill (LMOTH) and fought valiantly, besting two or even three armies, only to have a fourth guy come pouring onto the hill with 100% of his troops? What can you do about it?
- Well, the key to winning LMOTH is that you have to have uncontested control of the flag for 5 seconds. That's it, five measly seconds.
- So here's the usual scenario. The clock is down to "SUDDEN DEATH", there are three armies fighting on the hill, and you know a fourth is out there somewhere. You have a bunch of thrall and a few warriors left, as do most of the other players (they may have a dwarf or two, and you may have some archers that you protected with the warriors, so they will cancel each other out).
- The first thing you have to do is win the hill from the other people on it. The best way to do this is to be there, but to convince them all to fight each other and leave your guys alone as much as possible. I can't tell you how to do this exactly, but basically you "lurk" surrounding but not engaging the other troops. When the remaining enemy forces look weak enough, move in for the kill.
- In typical camper style, the last guy will begin streaming in about now. You have to be on the lookout for him. When you see him, take some extra forces (ones not needed to kill the troops fighting you for the flag) and go attack him. That's right, engage his superior forces. They key is, you have to do this as far away from the flag as possible. I personally like to use berzerks for this, because (a) they will do enough serious damage to command his attention, (b) they are hearty enough to take a while to kill and (c) they move fast and can engage him further from the flag.
- Remember that they are not trying to beat his entire army. Their purpose is just to slow him down for 5 SECONDS, so you can hold the uncontested flag that long. This is not hard at all once you think about it, and I can't tell you how many LMOTH games I've won with ~15% of my troops left, and one guy still had 80% but was stopped by me trying to reach the flag. This isn't hard at all when you consider that most hills in LMOTH have narrow passages approaching, and if you get to the pass before him he cannot pass untill your attacking force is dead.
- So that's how I deal with people who use this strategy. Maybe it will help you too.
- Games worth playing on bungie.net
- Some maps, and some types of games, are far more challenging than others. I thought I would mention some of my favorites, and some of my least favorites, and why. You might like to give something new a try, and this list would be a good starting place.
- Steal the Bacon on "Rest in Pieces". No one really seems to play this map, and it's too bad, because it's really great. There are ledges for archers, no safe waiting areas, and lots of places to stick the bacon for a great defense. You need all four starts being used to really make the most of this, but it's a lot of fun. I use my standard STB strategy here (get the ball, put it somewhere melee units can't reach it, and fortify a strong defense from a geographically superior position). If you haven't played STB, it's basically the same thing as Last Man on the Hill (LMOTH) except the hill can be moved. Try it!
- Captures on "Rest in Pieces (Dark)" is also a lot of fun. Captures is basically territories, except the flags are all balls. This is a good one. Again, you need all four armies to make the most of this.
- Flag Rally on "I'll Dance..." or "Mudpit Massacre". I love flag rally. It's the only game in Myth where the guy who moves the most and engages the least will usually win. I don't normally like "Mudpit Massacre" as a playing field, but it's well suited to this game.
- Capture the Flag (CTF) or Steal the Bacon on "Creep on the Borderlands". This map is really fun, and it's well suited to team games of 2 on 2 or 3 on 3 (if the players are less experienced, 3 on 3 is better because there's not as much troop management to do). I have a strategy for CTF on this board, but I'll keep it to myself for now. My STB strategy for this varies depending on which side I start on. If I start on the light side, I send out a horde of ghols and bring back the ball as usual. If I'm on the dark side, I jam the ball up onto the wall where it's unreachable and defend from the Northern riverbank. A fun game, with lots of carnage.
- Finally, I really like STB or LMOTH on "For Carnage Apply Within". This is played a lot, but I like it all the same. This is my favorite of the smaller maps.
- I don't like the desert levels at all. It's nothing specific, but I just don't do well on them. Maybe my strategy needs work, because I've played some brilliant games on that level when someone like Ol' Dirty was my team leader. All the same, you usually won't see me in a desert game.
- I don't play Body Count. People tell me it takes skill, etc., and maybe they are right, but I don't like it. No clear goals, no reason to gamble, just a bunch of pointless attacks. Count me out of this one.
- Losers on Bungie.net
- I still need to get my "Wall of Shame" going. In the mean time, I wanted to post a message with a few people to avoid on bungie.net, and why.
- King Garfield. He played me and some others and was generally dishonest throughout. He camped, did the minimum to win, and then gloated incessantly if he won. A points player, and one not worth playing.
- Bander from Bander's Myth Takes reports problems from another "King" player. Maybe it's not worth playing anyone named "King _____ ".
- Some weenie going by "magic" kept trying to lure people into games to beat them via cheating, etc. When you join his game, he starts it instantly (only two players), with a 15 second planning time. I always abort on the "Waiting for server" screen when someone does this to me, but if I didn't have the large install loaded on my SCSI-II hard drive that might not be possible. If this happens to you, remember you can quit during the planning time with no penalty. People who do this are losers and you shouldn't waste your time.
- Someone gamed Genghis Kahn (or some variation thereof). This guy sucks. I was killing him most heinously, and he bailed. Then he did it again leter the same day. I have the film to prove it. Pissed me off, it did.
- If you see someone being nasty on bungie.net, or cheating, send the film of them to Ferrex and myself with a description of the offense. I'm an admin, and he has a gazillion visitors to his site every day, so you can effectively stop them by being proactive.
- Winning "I'll Dance on Your Grave"
- People who only have the Myth demo can only play one level: I'll Dance on Your Grave. This is a great level to get an idea of the multiplayer capabilities of Myth. Two possible games are offered: LMOTH and Territories.
- I like territories better of the two, and I usually win when I play territories (I have a great strategy, I may discuss it later). LMOTH is by far the more common game that is played. This may be because the goal is more obvious and requires a new player to watch less parts of the field at one time.
- For LMOTH on this level, most people seem to max out on dwarves. Not me. I ditch all my dwarves, my journeyman, and all ghols. I max out on archers, warriors, and thrall. The name of the game in LMOTH is attrition, and the more units you have, the better.
- If you start on the flag (I never seem to), consider keeping one dwarf. It can come in handy if someone comes up the hill with a force of thrall and no archers to protect them. I usually give up the flag if I have it (I don not retreat from the hill, only from the flag). I stay on the hill, but move to the edges and set up a defensive position to protect my archers while allowing them to still inflict damage, and I wait for the other armies to come try to take the hill.
- The first order of business is dividing your units. I make three groups: one with the archers and warriors, the second of all the thrall, and the third being the lone wight.
- I move the wight away from my other guys. If I can sneak him into battle at some point I try to do so. If not, I send him after an army to distract them for a little while and don't sweat it when he dies. Wights can be great against newbies, but any experienced player will see a wight and take him out before he does any real damage.
- The warrior/archer group goes in first. I try not to be the only one attacking when I go in. I set up the archers on the periphery of the hill somewhere that they can only be attacked by a frontal assault. There are several places on the map that will work. Then I use the warriors to protect them as needed. I do NOT engage anyone not attacking my archers with the warriors.
- The archers should take out archers and dwarves first. If someone spends all their points on dwarves, and you kill them off before they can hurt you, you'll win every time. Three dwarves cost 18 points, so they'd have to kill ALL your thrall for it to be worthwhile for them to have bought them.
- Meanwhile, my thrall move into place. I try to make a shallow encirclement from which to attack the hill/flag. They move in, hopefully encircling the enemy forces and wiping them out. If not, the archers are shooting the opposing force in the back all the while, weakening them.
- Don't camp, but try to let the other armies on the hill fight while yours stand around them, ready to kill the survivors. Let your thrall wait patiently while the archers pick everyone off, then move in for the kill.
- As time runs out, make sure you have units in there challenging for the flag. I have lost many LMOTH games because my thrall force wasn't close enough to the flag to challenge, even though I had a superior force. Give the thrall TWO FULL MINUTES to get to the flag (they are that slow). This is if they are within sight of the hill, NOT from the starting position (you didn't camp, did you?). If they are on the hill, move them to guard the entrances with ONE minute remaining.
- One final tip: If you have the hill with less than a minute left, and you have a full force of thrall left, make a circle around the flag and set them to guard (G key). Put your archers and warriors inside the circle to shore up any breaks in the thrall-wall that may occur. No one will be able to kill them and get in to challenge the flag before time runs out. Great against campers.
- Quitters during a Game:
- Nothing pisses me off more than someone who quits because I am beating them. It's absolutely the most lame thing you can do. If you do this and I am around you're gonna regret it.
- If you are naive and just don't know what is okay and what is not, go read the Code of Conduct. This code has been written by beta testers, Bungie, and bungie.net users. Follow these rules and you will be a first-class bungie.net citizen.
- Campers in LMOTH and other Games:
- Camping is when someone sits out of all the battles and rushes the hill with two minutes left. Campers often win because everyone else in the game has been fighting and has lost a lot of forces.
- Engaging first and winning are almost mutually exclusive goals. Even a good hill attack will result in some losses, and some damaged units. If the camper doesn't royally suck, you'll probably lose to them if you engage someone else first and they don't.
- When I am in a team game, I often lead because I am more familiar with the game than some others. It's good netiquette on bungie.net to ask your partners if they prefer a good gory battle or the best chance at victory. Keep this in mind -- it's part of being a good leader.
- Camping is perfectly legal (hey, it's war!). They are within their right to do this. If you are playing on bungie.net for rank and points, I can understand why people do it. During the beta-testing, it was determined that among equal players, the last to engage in a game with more than two people almost always wins.
- Camping is no fun. It's not fun for the person who missed all the fighting and won at the end, and it's not fun for the group who fought bravely and beat most of the opposition, only to be slaughtered by a camper.
- You can't do anything about campers, but you do have the right to make fun of them if you want to. If enough people do this, they will either engage or stop playing with you. You can also refuse to play people who do this if it bothers you. Finally, you can host a game where camping is difficult. Just set the time limit for the game down to less than 6 minutes and everyone will have to hurry to get to the hill before time runs out.
- Trow and Forest Giants:
- They don't ruin games. They make them better. If you lose a game you can't blame it on this because you could have the same units as the other guy.
- Everyone seems to think the best way to kill trow is with another trow. This is incredibly stupid. You are in effect giving up the advantage of them when you do this. Think of it this way... you take 10 berzerkers, at 3 points each, and they will kill a trow easily. You will still have 6 of them left at least. It cost you 12 points to their 24, and you still have your trow in full health. You can use this info to succeed on the solo level Bagrada as well.
- A better plan is to use your trow to attack the enemy trow, while your 10 berzerks hack the enemy trow up from behind. That way, you keep your trow and all your berzerks. One-on-one just screws up both you and your opponent.
- So what should you use these units for? Kill soulless, archers, dwarves, fetches, and myrimidons with them. They eat these guys for lunch. Don't use them to fight thrall, warriors, or especially berzerkers... you are wasting them (unless all the other enemy units are dead of course).
- Dwarves
- Dwarves are really popular, especially among newbies. The reasoning is obvious -- they do a lot of damage. One dwarf can kill 10 thrall with no problem if they are the only units on the field.
- The problem with dwarves is they are usually NOT the only units on the field, and dwarves suck against all other units in a fair fight. On a flat map, three warriors cost the same as a dwarf and will kick his butt every time. And the people most likely to mis-use dwarves are newbies. These people should get other units instead.
- Dwarves are not a replacement for Thrall. Not at all. I'll take 18 thrall over three dwarves any day. Then again, 12 thrall and one dwarf is not a bad compromise, especially if you are defending in a level like "I'll Dance on Your Grave"
- Sometimes you do want the dwarves. If you are offered dwarven heros especially in a multiplayer game, GET THEM. They are so much better than regular dwarves it's not even funny.
- On maps like "For Carnage Apply Within", the terrain makes it worthwhile to have dwarves. There are so many places you can throw downhill on maps like this that you need the dwarf. Same thing applies if you are defending the home base on "The Desert Between Your Ears".
- Archers
- Get all the archers you can on every multiplayer game. You always need them. Always. If you don't, you are not playing as well as you could.
- Put them on high ground and flank your melee forces. If you don't, you'll end up shooting your own guys in the back.
- Always keep a thrall or two with your archers unless you're sure they won't get attacked. Nothing sucks more than losing your archers to a pack of ghols because you weren't able to get your warriors over there in time.
- Berzerkers
- These guys rule. Nothing warms my heart like a swarm of berzerkers racing into battle on "Ground Zero" to cause havoc. Always get as many of these guys as you can.
- Attack in packs. They are good in a fair fight, but this game is about winning, not playing fair. A full complement of berzerks will kill ANYTHING, including Trow.
- They are good against fetch. They move fast enough that the fetchw ill only get in one or two shots, and they can take one fetch attack and keep on attacking alive.
- Berzerkers totally ROCK against spiders. Especially against a pack, the spiders are so dead it's not even close (and they can keep up with the nasty little critters too, which is saying something). A berzerk against a spider is like a trow against a thrall.
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