Basic Halo 4 Team Strats: Ragnarok

Posted by CHa0s:

The best successes I’ve experienced on this map so far occured when my team played Ragnarok with the same strats we used on Valhalla. This may sound like common sense, but how often are you in parties where it doesn’t happen? Encourage your buddies to follow these simple strategies, and they just might be amazed at how well they work.

First Rush

The basic Valhalla first-rush strat is where two load up ‘Hog, one jumps out man-cannon to get laser, one gets snipe and either jumps out toward water-cave or split rock OR stays in base, one nabs Banshee.

 

Warthog Team

In first rush, the ‘Hog Team’s job is to back up the guy going for laser. It cannot be stressed how important laser is in first rush. Not only does obtaining the laser ensure you can take down their vehicles, it ensures your vehicles won’t be taken out by the laser.

It’s true you may not get many kills in the ‘Hog, but you can assure your team maintains map control by laying down suppressive fire and basically harassing the enemy to a state where it becomes more difficult for them to get focused.

The longer the ‘Hog stays alive, the longer this effect can be maintained. Since Halo 3 when I began a love-affair with the Halo ‘Hog, I’ve watched people drive straight into clouds of enemy and lose this most precious weapon of map control. In Halo 4 often the ‘Hog is not used at all, but when it is this continues to occur. It is best to keep a safe distance and always stay in motion, doing drivebys  and attempting to approach from unexpected angles. Communication from your team is imperative to stay alive and know where you are most needed to accomplish the full support that a ‘Hog Team can provide.

Mantis

The introduction of the Mantis changes the Valhalla strat little. Of course the more communication the team has on the whereabouts of the enemy’s Mantis, the longer our Mantis and ‘Hog can stay alive. Mantis operators who push the Mantis past top-mid don’t survive very long. Two good spots to hang out with the Mantis until the enemies’ vehicles have been taken down are Pride Rock (water-base’s left rock structure), Split Rock (water-base’s right rock structure), waterfall base’s cave (base-side), and water cave (base-side).

Once enemy vehicles are taken down, the Mantis works very well top-mid – provided your teammates watch your back and help protect you from being boarded by infiltrators. The Mantis is a powerful weapon of control on this map. As such, teammates can better ensure victory by making sure they are aware of enemy location and promptly calling them out.

 

Communication

Once the enemies’ vehicles are down, using impeccable team communication the Mantis can stay alive for a very long time, aiding your team in holding the power position: top-mid. But it takes more than calling out enemy positions to work as a team in maintaining map control. Good team players will actively listen to these callouts and immediately respond.

If you’ve almost finished a kill from top-mid in their cave, but your target has retreated back into the cave to regain their shields, but the call is made that there is a threat to your Mantis as an enemy sneaks around Goat Path (the little path above the river, top mid) with a Plasma Pistol, the obvious course of action is to turn your attention to the Mantis threat. However, too often might a teammate throw his self-control to the wind in the drive to finish that kill, so instead he spends precious moments chucking ‘nades into the cave.

To be blunt: it is his fault if your team then loses it’s power position.

Being a solid team player takes self-awareness and self-discipline. It’s never too late to start practicing, and the benefits can show in other areas of your life as well.

Goat Path on Ragnarok

Map Control

On Ragnarok, as on Valhalla, once first rush is achieved the strongest place to “set up” is top-mid. From here, using high-awareness communication and team fire, and using the top of the hill for cover when shields are down, teams can quickly take down any enemy attempting to navigate through open territory to take your hill and your lives.

Supporting top hill, teammates taking positions on Pelican, Goat Path, and Turret can easily view key areas of the map and call out enemy positions, enabling their team to focus attention and team fire to these areas.

When none of your team has control of these areas, be especially aware of enemy sneaking around from Turret and Pelican sides, as they can finish you off when you duck behind the hill to regain your shields. Too often these lone, “pinging and ducking” enemy are greatly underestimated if they aren’t in possession of a power weapon, when often they are key to breaking map control and assuring a win against what might be a superior heavily slayer-oriented team.

 

Respawns

Be on the lookout for sneaky infiltrators making a beeline for your Banshee and Mantis respawns, and make absolutely sure your team hears you if any of them get past, to assure they don’t break your hold on the hill with your own power weapons. At this time, most Halo 4 vehicles respawn approximately two minutes from the time they are destroyed, although this is random and not always dependable. The settings are also subject to change during updates.

Breaking your enemies’ map control

Enemy got hill? Don’t be afraid to “kill some time” getting into positions that can aid your team in breaking their hold. If you’ve decided you are more interested in being a great team player instead of padding your stats, more interested in the win than the instant gratification of steady kills, practice navigating a map without being seen by the enemy. Practice getting into positions like mentioned above, that will shake up and rattle your enemies’ map control.

Every team can benefit from having a “duck and ping” bastidge. Then, once you own the hill again, relish in the pride and accomplishment that you did that. As you make up for lost time and continue the killing, of course!

~

Like what you read? Check out other Basic Team Strats >>

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