GLOSSARY (CAMP001)
CAMPING (CAMP002)
ESCAPING CAMPS (CAMP003)
CLASS INFORMATION (CAMP004)
IF YOU ARE HERE FROM GETTING LINKED THIS THREAD IN TF2, LET ME BE THE FIRST ONE TO SAY; READING IS GOOD.
Spawncamping. This has been an aspect of Xenogamers for over five years now. It's not going to go away, unless the higher ups pull a few strings. So you, dear player, have three major choices.
A. Bear with it. It's not going to go away. Get with the times, and learn how to camp! (and how to AVOID being camped!)
B. Use !friendly. This plug in turns you into a spooky, non-solid (in practice) ghost, that can't be hurt! At the same time, you cannot interact with the world. Some classes technically can, but shouldn't.
Some of the more egregious examples will follow. DO NOT DO THESE THINGS. YOU RISK BEING KICKED, BANNED, OR OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE PUNISHMENT.
Building a sentry/dispenser to block buildings/doorways. Friendly players still block bullets, and buildings are no exception. Normally, this is a useful technique in maps with multiple entrances for controlling chokepoints, such as the front door of Goldenrod Tower, the outside of Clocktown's BLU hall or the Astral Observatory, securing a doorway in Goldeneye, etc. The building still functions as cover, and absorbs bullets seemingly at random.
Blocking people/shots while in !friendly. Not only is this highly annoying, it isn't friendly at all. Yes, we appreciate huggy heavies. Yes, we love the sweet embrace of fuzzy mittens and a warm sandwich on a cold winter's evening. NO, we don't want to have to shoot through you. We can't be expected to pull a Lee Harvey Oswald every time we try to kill somebody. This is especially dangerous with explosives. Watch from a safe distance, or use spectator to watch the fun without interrupting it! This also applies to administrators and donors using buddha-style invulnerability, with the addendum that SENTRIES WILL SHOOT YOU, TOO. So be careful!
SAPPING ANYTHING AS SPY WHILE FRIENDLY. SAPPING ANYTHING AS SPY WHILE FRIENDLY. SAPPING ANYTHING AS SPY WHILE FRIENDLY. GET IT? GOOD.
C. Join in on the camping! Seriously, it's a lot of fun!
So! Now that we've gotten past that bit of hubbub, time for the meat and potatoes of this thread..guide, thing. The actual camping. Fun fun for everyone!
BEING THE CAMPER (CAMPOO2)
The spawncamping crew, 2014. Left to right; Kart, Vector, Kitsune, Vixen on the shoulders, Running_Death, Maymalays/Ponyboy.
You may be asking; Why did you post this picture? It's irrelevant! Well, bucko, the first rule of a successful spawncamp is to HAVE A FRIEND. It depends on the map, but you're gonna want at least one plucky helper who's in the know. Be it a friend on your steam list, or a player who actually realizes; Oh my GOD, a spawncamp is happening! Use the Team Text Chat to communicate plans and ideas. Otherwise, your enemy will know exactly what you are up to! Once you've got two, maybe three players in touch..it's time for the first step of spawncamping!
STEP 1: THE SET UP
To successfully keep a camp trained on a spawn, you and your plucky little band of helpers need to organize one of three common methods of spawncamping; The Big Charge, The Supply Line, or The Door Whore.
THE BIG CHARGE
The Big Charge is the most common and hated method of spawncamping. You know it. The teams are stacked, all of the good players are on RED, you're being dominated by scouts using the winger and medics spamming the overdose. When a team has a group of organized players, they tend to take back territory and control the map without using sentries, dispensers, or other buildings. That's not to say that nobody will use them; With enough time, engineers will get the right idea and set up buildings to hold your delicious spawncamp claim. Normal setups you see during a big charge are as follows;
Soldier/Demo/Heavy + Medic
Explosives are extremely deadly on most Xenogamers maps. This is because most of them aren't very wide-open, allowing few opportunities for Snipers, Scouts, and other classes to pick you off. The three classes all specialize in close-quarters combat (notably the heavy, with well over 300 DPS if you keep your minigun trained on somebody at point blank) and do an excellent job at controlling areas, denying turf, and just soaking up damage with their beefy overheals.
Sniper + Sniper + Sniper ad infinitum
On the contrary, there are some maps where you can train a rifle onto the spawn door and just spam them to death. This is more of a Door Whore technique,(To put that into perspective, Nimbus is the best Door Whore map!) but on maps like Hyrule, Rusty Bucket Bay, and other wide, open areas, sniper support is extremely useful for securing turf.
THE SUPPLY LINE
The Supply Line is my favored way of spawncamping. This is when you want to waste your day on TF2, and plan on camping a map for hours. It's also very difficult to prepare. All you have to do is deploy a sentry outside of the enemy spawn. Your team will gravitate towards it naturally and keep it camped. Easy? Not so much.
Engineer + Pyro/Engineer/Any aggressor (sometimes)
Because this is the only feasible way to prepare said camp. You HAVE to have a Pyro covering your nest...Usually! Spies will go for you, soldiers will shoot you. As a good example, Vexx tends to airblast targets away from the nest while I work on it. Vixen blows them up with missiles. Vector upgrades my stuff while I collect metal...There are plenty of options, but you need somebody to hug you while you work. Otherwise, a soldier will just blow it up from a safe distance.
THE DOOR WHORE
On certain maps, such as Rusty Bucket Bay, the spawns use gigantic doors to open and close. The Door Whore is a camp that specializes on that fact. Unlike the previous camping methods, I can't list a specific set of classes, because the maps wildly vary. Nimbus land is an exception.
SNIPER + ENGINEER
Engineer defends hall. Sniper shoots down it. Make BLU cry. It's really that simple.
STEP 2: SUSTAINING A CAMP
Keeping a camp up and running isn't easy. You have to make sure that you have enough bodies, your nests are okay, ammo is full, etc. No matter which method you use, you're going to want to have an engineer set up a nest to keep the area secure.
A meaty example. Once your sentry is up, follow with a dispenser. After that, you're going to want a teleporter. MAX OUT THE TELEPORTER BEFORE THE DISPENSER. PEOPLE > AMMO/METAL. You don't want more than three engineers, unless it's a teleport-out spawn..and that only applies if the rule is lifted.
In case you didn't read the rules, you can't camp this pipe. This is an old picture from the Golden Age of xG.
STEP 3: ENDURANCE
To keep a camp sustainable and functional, you can't grow bored. It's..pretty simple. See (CAMP003) for more details on how they'll try to break out!
ESCAPING A SPAWNCAMP (CAMP003)
Welcome to hell! Most of you will be reading this section. Since you're likely on the server right now, and have no time to religiously study this thread, I'll keep it simple.
ARE THEY AIRBLASTING/SENTRYCAMPING? RTD.
ARE THEY SENTRYCAMPING WITHOUT PYROS? UBERCHARGE.
IS THERE ONLY ONE SENTRY? SOLDIER.
IS THERE MORE THAN ONE? HEAVY.
ARE THE PYROS DOING THEIR JOB? DEMOMAN.
ARE THEY USING SNIPERS? UBERCHARGE.
ARE YOU WHINING AND NAGGING FOR A RTV BECAUSE YOU CAN'T ESCAPE THE SPAWNCAMP? DON'T HARASS THE ADMINS/PLAYERS. USE !FRIENDLY AND WE CANNOT STOP YOU.
This is simple stuff, people! Spawncamping is NOT against the rules, unless you are camping a teleport-out spawn with a single exit.
I'm going to be updating this thread over time, so keep in mind that some sections may be a bit empty.
WEAPONS AND CLASSES(CAMP004)
SOLDIER OPTIONS
Beggar's Bazooka - The gun that started it all. On maps that are indoors, along with any map with close-range sentries, this badass-ballistic-boomer will melt and destroy anything short of a Heavy. Unfortunately, it has seen nerfs in the recent past. You need finesse to aim it properly now, or else it deals less than 40 damage a rocket. Ouch.
Stock/Original - Good for anything, especially critical rockets. The Original is a bit better because you can actually see the right side of your FoV.
Liberty Launcher/Air Strike - Both of these launchers are EXTREMELY situational. That situation is CRITS. With critical hits from a medic or a lucky RTD, nothing tops them, with the exception of the Beggar's Bazooka.
Cow Mangler - No. Ammo isn't a concern, the alt-fire is highly situational..UNLESS you bring a shotgun. But that means no aura, and the auras are really nice.
Righteous Bison - This gun is amazing! The Vaccinator and other forms of critical resistance don't apply to lasers from it, and every shot deals 45-450 damage, depending on how cowardly your target is. Use it if you've got a kritz medic, or if you're on Nimbus Land.
Auras - Any aura buff will do your team great. Batallion's Backup is arguably the best due to critical hit immunity and the ability to overheal a ton of health.
Use whatever melee you prefer. Boot upgrades are a bad choice if you don't intend on letting them leave spawn.
DEMOMAN OPTIONS
FURTHER RESEARCH REQUIRED
MEDIC OPTIONS
TO BE WRITTEN
THREAD WILL BE UPDATED OVER TIME, I'M JUST BORED OF WRITING FOR NOW
