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FORMATIONS

Definition

  • A "Formation" is the sum of 2 parts:

    • How the team positions and moves in the field, this is the Strategy

    • The composition of roles present in the team, that are needed to succeed with the strategy. 

  • There are many formations, and they are usually seen only in big squads, mainly in WvW, but their idea can be implemented in other game modes and smaller teams as well.

STANDARD FORMATION

In this guild we have selected a particular formation as our "standard formation" because it is easy to transition into other formations from it. Our standard formation is the:  Lines formation

Lines Formation

The lines formation is a complex formation which consists of 3 lines of players.​

lines formation 1.PNG

The idea of this formation is to have a separation of the players by their roles, allowing each role to do its job without worrying about other things.

For defense:

When attacking:

Here you can see a video describing the main features of this formation

In the next 2 clips you will see the squad practicing this formation. Notice there are 3 Commanders/Lieutennats: 

  • The commander tag, for the front line

  • The heart marker, for midline

  • The star marker, for the backline

All of them move independantly based on their job, but they are coordinated to attack and reposition. In this formation it is necessary to have this tasks division, thats why this formation is the most complex.

In this clip you can see the perspective of the backline.

 

Notice how the backline is always doing their damage on top of the tanks team. This will help soften the enemy team, by making them waste their sustain skills. It also helps the ally tanks by preventing the enemy from being too aggressive.

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Also notice the backline team is always moving sideways, this makes it harder for the enemy to focus them.

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in minute 2:10 see how the team repositions using a Crossing Maneuver, in the case of the backline they cross the enemy on the sides to prevent damage as much as possible. You can see this again at 2:50

In this clip you can see the perspective of the midline.

 

Midline waits for the right moment to engage, and when they do they use their engage skill chain, you can see they use buffing skills and leaps to get fast to the enemy. They do their peak damage and then they disengage using another skill chain, which includes dodges and leaps. Then they wait for their next engage and repeat.​

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In both clips you can see that the frontline team is always the first to engage and last to disengage, this makes them an obstacle between the enemy and the rest of the team, as you can see they can survive the damage and prepare the stage for the midline to bomb.

Now you will see the theory applied to real GvGs, and other fights enjoy:

​ADVANTAGES

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  1. With this formation you keep the fragile DPS players away from direct damage and you reduce the amount of movement they have to do 

  2. By keeping your DPS away from danger, they are able to focus better on bombing the enemy, rather than focus on surviving. 

  3. This formation has the highest % of uptime pressure on the enemy, as you are constantly showering damage on them with your long range group.  

DISADVANTAGES

 

  1. It requires significantly more preparation and coordination than other formations

COUNTERS

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  1. Cloud formation is a big counter because the fragile DPS players become more exposed than in other formations.

  2. Portals, stealth or any other distraction that allows the enemy squad to position behind the backline, this allows for easy access to the dps players

Stack 
FORMATION

Stack formation consists of having all the players as close to the commander tag as possible. It is the most common formation and it can be melee based or long range based.

Melee based Stack formation

The melee version of this formation is the same as mixing frontline and midline from the lines formation.

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It is a simple formation that allows the commander to know where is everyone in the squad, they all are in his same position. Knowing this, is useful for a commander that needs to avoid specific mechanics or bad positions during an encounter with the enemy.

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Due to this, it is the most common formation in PvE. Often PvE bosses dont deal huge damage throughout the fight, only when they use their special skills which are AoE and usually very punishing. Bad positioning in this scenario results in instant death and even a squad wipe. For this reason the commander is paying close attention to the boss transitions and moves the team to safe position when it is required. The rest of the time the damage is not an issue and even the fragile DPS players can survive with help of the support players. 

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​ADVANTAGES

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  1. In this formation players dont have the distraction of thinking where to go, they only follow the tag and get as close as possible, this allows players to focus on their skill rotations.

 

In WvW 

  1. Players are protected from enemy roamers because they cant get close due to the amount of damage they would take 

DISADVANTAGES

 

  1. A mistake on the commander movement, will cause all the squad to be badly positioned and this often leads to many downs and even wipes. Some of the most common mistakes are:

    • Slow reaction

    • Bad prediction

    • Moving faster than the rest of the team. Players that stay behind are a great issue in this formation: 

      • If it is a support that stays behind, then the players in the front will die easier 

      • If it is a dps player, he becomes an easy prey as he is no longer under the protection of its supports

    • Forgetting about the tag protection 

      • The commander tag has hidden sustain advantages, this is not explicit in any tooltip so often commanders push through the enemy damage thinking their squad is doing as well, later they realize all the squad died while trying to move through the enemy damage and only him and the tank players survived  

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In WvW

  1. This formation gives a very easy target for enemies. They dont even need to make an effort targeting the fragile players because they can just easily drop all damage in the same place and they are going to hurt everyone. This means incoming cleave damage from the enemy is maximized.

  2. The major disadvantage of this formation is that the fragile players are receiving constant damage throughout the fight. For this reason in pvp and wvw (which are punishing during all the length of the fight) this formation is often used with a distraction that can be either stealth, portals, or simply another group of ally players that engaged first.

    • Since the players are constantly receiving damage and CC they are easily interrupted and killed before they are able to use their skills or move. It is common even for dps players to be more focused about healing than dealing damage​

  3. Due to the high amount of damage received by the fragile dps players, it is necessary for the commander to stay moving around the field trying to get out of the enemy damage.

    • All this movement removes the advantage of being able to focus only on using skills, furthermore it becomes prioritary for the dps players to move and keep up with the tag, rather than doing their job of dealing damage to the enemy​

    • Due to lag, internet ping, processor, delay in communications, and tag protection; the commander always ends up moving faster and farther ahead than the rest of the team. this creates something called a TAIL. The tail is made by players left behind and they are the easiest target because they are in panic trying to get to their tag and they dont even defend, they also lack support so it is very easy to kill them

  4. Cloud formation is a big counter. Stacked melee formation works when it is able to jump into the enemy, cloud formation doesnt present a single target, so the team needs to start MOPING the floor (moving around the field like a mop) to be able to get downs on the enemy. Meanwhile the enemy is doing constant damage and killing the tail. ​

  5. The fact that commanders expect lots of damage on their teams, makes them opt for a composition with more support and tanks than DPS players, causing again a MOP effect because they charge into the enemy but cant get any kills due to the low damage produced.

(this video has to be played in youtube due to copyright of the music, it is also in spanish but dont worry i will comment the most important bits, please watch it as it is the only video in the whole internet that shows both the advantages and disadvantages of this formation)

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In the first 2 minutes notice how roamers try to get them and instantly die. This is an important advantage.

 

In minute 2:00 notice the tag protection. Only the commander and tanks were able to survive.

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From minute 2:45-6:00 notice how dangerous it is for the dps players to jump into the damage they can easily die. In minute 9:00 and 11:40 even while winning the fight notice how many downs on the ally team. 

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In minute 7:44 you can see the TAIL effect, the commander and the front of the team survived and repositioned while the tail got wiped.

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In minute 13:35 and 15:15 notice how the yellow tag uses the other allies out of squad as a distraction and is able to approach effectively and wipe the enemy

Long Range-based Stack formation

The long range version of this formation is the same as using only the backline from the lines formation.

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The same as the melee version this is a simple formation that allows the commander to know where is everyone in the squad, they all are in his same position. Knowing this, is useful for a commander that needs to avoid specific mechanics or bad positions during an encounter with the enemy.

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​ADVANTAGES

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  1. In this formation players dont have the distraction of thinking where to go, they only follow the tag and get as close as possible, this allows players to focus on their skill rotations.

  2. By placing all the damage at the feet of the players this formation can virtually become a melee formation.

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In WvW 

  1. Players are protected from enemy roamers because they cant get close due to the amount of damage they would take 

DISADVANTAGES

 

  1. A mistake on the commander movement, will cause all the squad to be badly positioned and this often leads to many downs and even wipes. Some of the most common mistakes are:

    • Slow reaction

    • Bad prediction

    • Moving faster than the rest of the team. Players that stay behind are a great issue in this formation: 

      • If it is a support that stays behind, then the players in the front will die easier 

      • If it is a dps player, he becomes an easy prey as he is no longer under the protection of its supports

    • Forgetting about the tag protection 

      • The commander tag has hidden sustain advantages, this is not explicit in any tooltip so often commanders push through the enemy damage thinking their squad is doing as well, later they realize all the squad died while trying to move through the enemy damage and only him and the tank players survived  

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In WvW

  1. This formation gives a very easy target for enemies. They dont even need to make an effort targeting the fragile players because they can just easily drop all damage in the same place and they are going to hurt everyone. This means incoming cleave damage from the enemy is maximized.

    • To counter this weakness players can place their AoE damage in front of them even if the enemy is not present. By doing this they create a GAP effect, a safe space between them and the enemy which can be exploited: if the enemy is too shy to cross it then the squad can push forward keeping that safe space and dealing damage while not receiving any​

    • But if the enemy team has a good tanky frontline they can push through the gape and have direct access to all of the team

  2. This formation focuses damage in one singe direction, if the enemy moves away it will be unharmed. For that reason this formation can be easily attacked from the flanks. 

    • Cloud formations and sneak attacks are very effective against this formation due to the lack of quick repositioning of the damage

      • For this reason it is common to practice the damage at the feet of the squad to use as protection when the enemy attacks from an unexpected position. Having a secondary melee weapon is another option to reduce this risk.​​

  3. Due to the high amount of damage that can be received by the fragile dps players, it is necessary for the commander to stay moving around the field trying to get out of the enemy damage. 

    • This problem is not as bad as for the melee version thanks to the gap effect, which gives some control over the position of the enemy. 

  4. The fact that commanders expect lots of damage on their teams, makes them opt for a composition with more support and tanks than DPS players, causing again a MOP effect because they charge into the enemy but cant get any kills due to the low damage produced.

(i couldnt find a good video that showed both the advantages and disadvantages as in the melee version. But at least here you can see the idea. Please dont be fooled by the epic music i personally played with one of the guilds forming this squad for a long time and 8 of 10 fights we were wiped because the enemy was able to cross the gap)

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In the first fight notice the POV squad starts doing damage at their feet as they exit the gate, then they gradually move backwards and thanks to the enemy being shy they are able to create a Gap. At 0:44 the gap between the 2 teams has been formed and when the enemy decides to attack they are jumping into the gap where they dont get to do any damage but they eat all of the squads AoE.

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This is the basic idea of this formation: pressure them, then move backwards and let them walk into your damage, when they realize they are being baited they move backwards creating the gap, and from that point on the control is on your squad as long as the enemy doesnt corss the gap, your squad can push with total safety and unharmed.

 

GAP EFFECTS
At 1:27 again a gap is created allowing safe reposition of the squad. 2:24 again gap created and enemy self wipes when they push into the gap, the pov squad didnt receive a single bit of damage. 3:20 again gap created and at 3:26 enemy suicides jumping into the damage of the gap.

 

Minute 5:00 notice during the whole fight the squad didnt receive any significant damage due to the gap and the enemy being afraid of crossing it, meanwhile it only takes a small push from the squad to place their damage beyond the gap and into the enemy. This happens again at min 6:00 and only at 6:22 the enemy crosses the gap by flanking but instead of pushing all the way through they got scared and stopped allowing the pov squad to reposition and create the gap again. Next time the enemy decides to push at 6:45 they jump into the AoE of the gap and they suicide.

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MELEE TRANSFORMATION MANEUVER
At 1:42 again damage on the squad's feet transforming them into a melee formation. 4:09 again damage on the feet.

CC Bomb 
FORMATION

CC stands for crowd control, and as the name implies, the idea of this formation is to control the enemy and prevent them from using skills. 

CC Bomb Stack formation

This formation is used when an ally squad is fighting an enemy squad and they are in a stalemate fight. Being stale mated means that both squads are either to afraid to push the other, or do not have the damage to kill the other one even after pushing. In this scenario the CC bomb squad will jump into the enemy, will disrupt, will absorb the enemy dps bomb and will leave them open, then the allied squad will jump with the damage for the kills.

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The CC bomb requires a very specific composition and every member of the team has to be a support tank, either healer, boon giver or CC tank. This is mandatory as the team will jump inside the highest damage zone. Ally downs are expected in this formation, but as long as the other squad does its job, the formation will be successful

 

The formation is Stacked, everyone as close as possible to the commander

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In this boring video notice how we break a stalemated fight with our CC bomb.

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There are 2 ally teams, ours with the yellow tag, only 11 people and a lines formation, and then there is our allies with hidden tag but around 40 people. Notice we stay away from the fight during the first 8 minutes, our plan was to finish any downs that our allies could get.

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This is when the stalemate happened, even though we had numbers superiority the allies are using a Stacked Formation which makes them have more support than dps, thus very little damage, and they are more interested in moving away from danger than doing it, this results in even less damage output 

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Around minute 9:00 the enemy gets reinforcements and now their numbers match ours, yet notice the stalefight continues because both them and our allies have the same formation, and they are worried about receiving damage and thus both sides produce very little danger, and the booooring dance continues.

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At 9:40 i get tired, i check my team we do a Role Swap manneuver and we change for CC support. inmediatly at 10:08 we get the first 4 kills for the big ally squad. Imagine it: having 40 people in squad and not being able to kill a single enemy for 10 minutes, and just a CC bomb from a handfull of players gets you inmediate results.

 

Then at 11:30 i find an opening we drop CC we get instant kills including the commander and the enemy is forced to flee. The enemy finally understands that they cant win (now that our small group is on CC) so they changed map. 

 

So you can see how important is a well coordinated CC bomb, it gives value even to small teams and gets done things that even big squads cant. 

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Cloud FORMATION

Cloud formation is the natural counter of the other formations. An organized squad camouflages itself as a disorganized random group. The enemy thinks it is just roamers bothering and when they realize they are having downs in their team, is already to late, and the cloud ends up defeating bigger zergs

Cloud Formation

cloud.png

Main Features:

  • The squad spreads in pairs and surrounds the bigger enemy squad. At least one support and one dps player, or a single roamer per division.

  • Used to gradually reduce a stronger and bigger group.

  • This formation spreads all players in the squad to eliminate the reference for the enemy zerg.

  • An enemy zerg will most times target the bigger group because is easier to see, is easier to place the aoe damage, and without having to move or target too much you get the most hits on each skill you use. Cloud formation removes this liability and confuses the enemy, not giving them a reference to attack.

  • Cloud formation requires constant movement of the players to prevent being targeted by the enemy zerg

    •  Each pair requires at least one from the following:

      • a) bunker build

      • b) a pull + dps

      • c) cc build + escape

    •  Movements in the cloud have to be very coordinated opposite sides shall be hit at the same time. The enemy zerg will try to save one of the sides, but will not save both.

      • Example: a bunker pair can jump on the left side of the zerg to draw their attention, and at the same time in the right side of the zerg a pull + dps pair kills a single target.

  •  On this formation the enemy zerg is defeated gradually by killing singles.

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