What Not to Build

Hi, hello.

I'd like to take this opportunity to address a few oft-made, sometimes even omnipresent mistakes, ones that generally inconvenience the team more than anything else. Hopefully, if everyone is aware of the problem, everyone will work towards solving it! Apologies for the lack of quality shots.



Exits - Placement and quantity of doors, ladders, etcetera are all too often a problem. In the example above, more time is spent fighting the building itself to get out than what the enemy takes to get in. Layered doors-especially upward ones-- waste more time than they spare during key moments; The simplest method of avoiding this problem is to keep doors on ground level. The extra layers of broadside stone aren't worth all the hubbub!



Design - In my experience, very few consider what each part of a building will serve before, during and after it has been erected. Instead, one relies on the rest of the team to "fill in the blanks", working together to achieve the finished product; sometimes this works out to great effect, and sometimes-most times-- it does not. As in the example, there are parts of this building that serve little or no purpose at all-or the purpose of slowing down friendlies--, e.g the walled off pit and the room in the upper right. An excellent way to combat this on an individual basis is to employ most of what this thread has to offer. Most importantly, creativity is key to efficient building, but don't throw together a mishmash of blocks until you get something half-decent; take something out of the book if you must. Generic they may be, they're still better than dead weight.



Traps - Traps are, in most peoples' opinions, a complete waste of time. Not without reason, either! On occasion, a single trap can thwart waves upon waves of helpless knights. Most of the time, however, traps are nothing more than shallow pits full of spikes between the tent and forward defenses- this won't stop so much as a knight in most cases! you'll be wasting more precious warmup time making them than the opposing team will spend getting through them. The only real advice to give on the matter is this; don't put sharp, pointy things between your team and the other one unless it'll actually accomplish something.

 

A very bad idea. Making door at ground level is just asking for a knight to get in. In every team there is at least one stupid player that will open the doors for the enemy because he is just so darn sure he can take them by himself. It's a lot wiser to build the door on an, at least, 4 block high wall. It's easy for your team to get out and stomp the attacking knights into the ground, while they can just sit there and do nothing.

 

I, personally, consider it the lesser of evils; if the tent is ferreted away behind huge walls, one can probably afford the (in)convenience that keeping them on the ground provides. Of course, this thread is largely contextual! Most setups are able to achieve utility if intelligent design is employed, the problem being often it is not. One must ask themselves if a few more obstacles for the enemy is worth slowing down your team even a little bit.

 

On my team there is always builder who does not build towers or forts he just builds for decoration. Theres always a builder that wastes their stone and builds a castle wall road.

Oh and its annoying when builders start to destroy their own buildings to get stone and then the whole building falls down. I guess people think its like minecraft where there is no gravity

 

On keeping doors at ground level, it's a matter of relativity.
If the door is at YOUR ground level but above head height for them, then you can quickly duck in and out, throw bombs in behind them, land on their heads, and corner them in weedy little holes they construct in the side. Of course, this is only really applicable to your perimeter buildings, as once they're inside that, there's not much issue either way, as they will need exterminating anyway.

 

FUCKING LADDERS

http://de.twitch.tv/totalbiscuit/b/298760794

Look at just before 25 minutes into this video, where a builder totally negates the tower he just made by creating a ladder on the enemy side.

 

He didn't know what he was doing to be fair.

 

Interesting measures Kyzak
Still Builders do this especially the no exits XD
I pretty much agree with everything you said
And by the way, Hey Kyzak :D

 

Yeah, I've always been mystified when I'm plugging away, building a tower or something, and someone blocks up all possible exits. Suddenly the whole team is trying to climb and/or bomb their way through, and yelling about how terrible the builders on their team are.

I think the game would be greatly improved if people who don't know what to build, simply don't build.

 

Don't build a wall in front of a reusable trap, unless it's significantly in front of it or strategically adds to it. I'm just kinda disappointed when I build a corridor thing that enemies are supposed to walk into, and die in, and then someone blocks it off with a large wall.

 

Pretty much this. Been telling people to "avoid playing a builder until you know how the game works."

 

Yeah, Go out and fight. When you find something which is obviously pwning you, then consider adding it to your repertoire of buildings.

 

Edited the OP with a bit about traps.

If only such pleas didn't fall on deaf ears. Ultimately, a lot of people want to treat the game as a 2D minecraft; that's fine when there aren't a dozen other people about, depending on you to put something between them and a hailstorm of projectiles.