Expert Pest Control Strategy & Tactics

[Githerax]

Now that we all know the basics of Pest Control, we need to learn the expert tactics if we're going to win. Like chess, the Pest Control game features particular "pieces" (monsters) that move in different ways (or attack in different ways) and must be blocked and/or destroyed. Also like chess, if you leave yourself open you will lose quickly and painfully.

 

 

 

In Pest Control, the entire team represents the chess pieces. If we all don't work together, we leave a hole and all the portal-bashing in the world won't save the game. So I've put together this guide of particular strategies and tactics to enhance your Pest Control power and win you more points!

 

 

 

Tactics by Position

 

 

 

1.) Knight's Platfrom

 

 

 

Knight Platform defenders need to watch for three things:

 

 

 

a.) Attacking the highest-level shifters first that land on the platform, then doing lower lvl ones afterwards.

 

b.) Watching the gates, closing them or stonewalling columns of monsters that break through (see Gates, below)

 

c.) Watching torcher and defiler shots coming from the south. If you observe too many shots coming over the south wall and your position on the platform is secure, exit out one of the side gates and run around to south (do not open south gate) to clear out the attackers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A well defended platform. The knight is healthy. All players gang shifters, thus shifters have no time to pile up and gang the knight. Two of the portals are already dead and the east portal is dying rapidly. There are no shots coming over the south wall. This game will be won.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uhoh, someone left the West Gate open. This is common at the beginning of the game. The West Gate isn't usually a problem since players tend to attack that portal first and destroy it before too many torchers and defilers get through. The few monsters that do get through are usually blocked by the door or can be disposed of by the platform crew if necessary.

 

 

 

The East Gate is another matter. Many times the East Portal exists for a longer period of time, spawning larger numbers of monsters. When the East Gate is breached, the column of monsters can be unstoppable by even the most capable platform team.

 

 

 

Note that the Knight is suffering. Why? There's only one shifter on the platform and it's hasn't started attacking yet. It can only be because the Knight is being hit by darts and flames from over the south wall (see "South Gate" below).

 

 

 

2.) Gates

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the monsters are allowed to advance two squares into the base, they will begin to kill the Knight. Stonewalling them, as pictured, is not enough. Two people need to work this line backwards. One to be the wall, the other to go through the line from front to back attacking each monster once, distracting it from the knight. This is the "gate winner" maneuver.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This gate was caught early, but I cannot move from this spot without risking the knight being attacked. I have no assistance, but that's ok here - this line isn't going to reach the knight. Also note that if you stonewall a column of monsters like this, they will not attack you; they will just stand there trying to get the knight and ignore you completely. If you have sufficient valor you can just stand and hold them back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the "gate winner" maneuver applied to the West Gate. A player has capped off the column of monsters, and I have gone down the line hitting each monster once. The front monster is nearly dead, and will no longer be a threat to the Knight. The rest of the line is turned towards me, ignoring the knight.

 

 

 

 

 

3.) Southern Plains

 

 

 

The Southern Gate can be easily neglected. Under good conditions, one or two players can adequately defend that area. Under bad conditions, six players will fail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good South Gate defence. Two players focus on the only monster throwing darts over the wall. Note the column stacked against the door is not attacking the knight. If you open the South Gate, the monsters will immediately attack, but unlike the west and east gates, these monsters do not advance, so closing the gate stops them cold.

 

 

 

Despite our efforts, notice that the Knight's health is extremely low. I wonder who was on Platform Duty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bad South Gate defence. Two defilers throwing darts. One player attacking a splatter, which is completely useless under all circumstances. Another player attacking a defiler which is not hitting the knight; it is blocked by the door. A third player is fighting monsters too far back to matter.

 

 

 

Apparently someone was also opening and closing the southern gate (see the player yelling "close the gate"?). Every time you open the southern gate, you are damaging the knight. There is never a reason to open the Southern Gate. If you must get out of the fort, use a side gate and run around.

 

 

 

4.) Portals

 

 

 

Portals are easy, you just run up and smack them.

 

 

 

WRONG.

 

 

 

Games are essentially won and lost at the portals. True, bad Knight defence can lose the game, but even the best Knight defense can't hold back the hordes if the portals are not shut down quickly enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at the numbers on the top of the screen. Three portals destroyed, the South Gate cleared out nicely, but the Knight nearly dead and...Why is that fourth portal still undamaged?? We shall see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This portal is being handled well. Players evenly spaced around the portal, and THE CENTER SQUARE IN FRONT OF PORTAL CLEAR OF PLAYERS. I cannot stress this enough. Occupying that spot is the only sure way to lose the game. Even a bad team can win as long as THE CENTER SQUARE STAYS CLEAR OF PLAYERS ON ALL PORTALS. If you learn only one thing from this guide, learn this. Stay out of the Center Square in front of the portal. The best spot to stand is left and right of the center square. This is because you then can run out from the portal easily if necessary, and you can also monitor the spawn square for spinners.

 

 

 

Uhoh, someone left the West Gate open here, notice the column has already begun to attack the Knight. That'll be a problem if the Platform crew doesn't run the "gate winner" maneuver.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This portal is in very bad shape. There are at least five players here, none of whom are touching the portal. Why not? Because of THE SPINNER. The Spinner heals the portal. One spinner can heal the damage done by four or more players. Spinners must be distracted or destroyed.

 

 

 

In fact, it appears this sad crew is trying to get to the spinner, but cannot because it is corked in. They're trying desperately to kill the monsters around the spinner to get in, but they will fail.

 

 

 

Right now, under that spinner, dozens of torchers, brawlers, defilers, shifter and more spinners are spawning. As soon as any one of those guys kills their enemy, another one will advance before they can move in. This position is hopeless, this game cannot be won, period.

 

 

 

What's the solution? Uncork. These players should run half a screen away and let all those corked up monsters loose. Most of those monsters will head for the South Gate (let's hope that crew is more on the ball). After the monsters clear out, the squares to the left and right of that center spot will be clear and ready to be occupied. Maybe then the portal can be destroyed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This game is going pretty well, but a danger appeared that could lose the whole match; a spinner in the center. You'll notice some differences in this portal attack from the first picture above; There's a player standing on the center spot.

 

 

 

This is critical for two reasons:

 

 

 

1.) The other players cannot see a spinner appear, or the spinners little zappy healing effect because the human character is blocking their view.

 

 

 

2.) If either of the two left- and right-of-center players were to move in any direction, monsters would fill those spots and attack the center player.

 

 

 

From that point, the game is pretty much over. The flanking monsters will cork the center, the center player will be unable to move out or to attack any spinners that spawn, and nobody will be able to get in to help him.

 

 

 

If a player occupies the center square and becomes surrounded with monsters, the only hope is for that player to die. There is no other way to uncork that situation. STAY OUT OF THE CENTER SQUARE.

 

 

 

The left- and right-of-center spots are perfect places to stand. From that spot you can monitor the spawn point and attack any spinners IMMEDIATELY when they appear.

 

 

 

 

 

Strategy:

 

 

 

A skilled Pest Control player must always watch the Knight's health and the Portal health. Seeing the Kights health drop, you can break away and figure out which problem the knight is having:

 

 

 

1.) Bad south gate defense, approach and attack anything throwing projectiles

 

2.) Open gate with column of monsters intruding, blockade and try to enlist help with "gate winner" solution

 

3.) Bad platform defense, jump in and kill shifters

 

 

 

If you see a Portal that is not shutting down, or is healing, you can approach that problem and:

 

 

 

1.) Find the Spinner and kill it

 

2.) If someone has corked the monsters, warn players to "Back away from the portal! Uncork the monsters!" Of course, nobody will understand this without having read the guide, but you gotta do what you gotta do :)

 

 

 

If you decide to focus on Knight defense:

 

1.) Make sure gates are closed

 

2.) Gang the shifters from highest lvl to lowest level

 

3.) Watch for projectiles coming from South Gate

 

4.) Blockade and "gate winner" any monsters from west or east

 

 

 

If you decide to focus on Portals:

 

1.) Keep the center square clear

 

2.) Kill spinners immediately

 

 

 

The game is usually too fast paced for tactical communication, so every team has the strategic necessity to understand how the numbers reflect the progress being made in different parts of the island and how to respond to it without having to ask or discuss. Regardless, some communications can be effective:

 

 

 

"spinner" - alerts a portal crew to find and kill a spinner

 

"west gate" - or "east gate" or "south gate" can tell a platform crew to cover a breached gate

 

 

 

Otherwise you have to keep your eyes open and your camera view mobile - keep watching your companions, your surroundings, and the numbers.

[Who]

very nice =D> though most of your factors are obsolite if the game only lasts like 40 seconds \

[imaerehw14]

something else to add is to move around in the boat before lauch. if done correctly, while in mid click, you are running double speed towards the southwest gate. works quite well to quicken the games pace.

[n64jive]

or you can just goto the pc world and not have to worry bout tatics

[wild_goat_14]

very nice...... =D>

[archetect_2k]

there are not many low-levels in the minigames but if there are - the best thing they can do is attack the things that send range attacks at the knight - simply fighting them stops the knight being hurt and it doesnt matter if they die cause they respawn. however they are a burden as they cant get to effective monster-killing

[Bauke]

Or use my tactic.. join a decent pc group :P

[All_Bogs]

Well thought out and all. Certainly works if all lower levels on the average public PC world would work like that, and it'd really be interesting if you HAVE to play like that.

 

 

 

But as it is, murdering all portals as fast as possible and not paying ANY attention to the mobs works too, seeing as killing a portal heals Voidy, and with portals down not much mobs are shooting at him.

[Githerax]

very nice =D> though most of your factors are obsolite if the game only lasts like 40 seconds \

 

 

 

Matches won't end in 40 seconds if you don't use your head ;)

[bjbj1991]

or you can just goto the pc world and not have to worry bout tatics

 

Have you been there before?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bref description of world 78

 

 

 

 

 

A pain in the *butt* to enter.

 

 

 

After you have enterd you are greted with hundreds or thousands of

 

players, each giving you a little bit lag.

 

 

 

So after battling lag and entering the boat you are greated with text stating your 1st prioity, soon its 4th.

 

 

 

Hurray! Your inside the game, half the playerd dont know what to do so you only have 15 players. Some even harm you.

 

 

 

During this time your being spammed by "z3z1m4 is here!!" and "n00bz"

 

 

 

Sound like fun?

[Rebdragon]

I still cannot figure out how people can overcomplicate such a simple game. Kill the portals(s), get in 50 dmg, go to the boat, do it again. Oh, and it may help to join Affliction or Heart Unit :wink: .

 

 

 

Anyways, very nice guide; I see you have a lot of time on your hands :P .

[Lord Diddy]

Id really like to see world 78 have a planned game, most of the people playing there moto is "whack anything anywhere"

 

 

 

Joining Affliction or Heart Unit is the best idea Cough* Affliction Cough*

[Githerax]

I still cannot figure out how people can overcomplicate such a simple game. Kill the portals(s), get in 50 dmg, go to the boat, do it again. Oh, and it may help to join Affliction or Heart Unit :wink: .

 

 

 

Anyways, very nice guide; I see you have a lot of time on your hands :P .

 

 

 

It's not a matter of overcomplication - it's rather simplification. Too many players run around at random, hit things at random, open gates without thinking, and box in monsters around portals making success impossible.

 

 

 

With just a few simple tactics you can win faster and more often. How is that more complicated?

 

 

 

I can't count the number of times I've seen a game completely lost because one portal had one spinner and nobody could get it because one player corked the middle. Isn't it sad that one player can ruin the match for 24 other people trying their best?

 

 

 

Read this guide, learn something from it - the match you save may be your own!

[RAHK]

I still cannot figure out how people can overcomplicate such a simple game. Kill the portals(s), get in 50 dmg, go to the boat, do it again. Oh, and it may help to join Affliction or Heart Unit :wink: .

 

 

 

Anyways, very nice guide; I see you have a lot of time on your hands :P .

 

 

 

It's not a matter of overcomplication - it's rather simplification. Too many players run around at random, hit things at random, open gates without thinking, and box in monsters around portals making success impossible.

 

 

 

With just a few simple tactics you can win faster and more often. How is that more complicated?

 

 

 

I can't count the number of times I've seen a game completely lost because one portal had one spinner and nobody could get it because one player corked the middle. Isn't it sad that one player can ruin the match for 24 other people trying their best?

 

 

 

Read this guide, learn something from it - the match you save may be your own!

 

 

 

No offense but expert pcers don't waste time doing (nearly) anything that you posted. This is a guide for newby (not nooby, but they should read it too, lol) or your average world. The only places that this guide would help... have no expert players there.

 

 

 

Other than the attempted target audience mis-fire, this is a GREAT guide for new pcers or those who enjoy longer games on 78, etc.

[Githerax]

RAHK, I would love to see the kind of game you're talking about. All I've ever seen is stumbling, fumbling, maybe 5 effective people in a group of 25.

 

 

 

I'm interested in what I'm seeing about PC clans. If anyone is taking applications I'd be interested in getting together. Add 'Githerax' in-game.

[RAHK]

RAHK, I would love to see the kind of game you're talking about. All I've ever seen is stumbling, fumbling, maybe 5 effective people in a group of 25.

 

 

 

I'm interested in what I'm seeing about PC clans. If anyone is taking applications I'd be interested in getting together. Add 'Githerax' in-game.

 

 

 

After recieving your pm I want to stress that I was NOT intending ANY insult or anything towards you or your guide. It is VERY well constructed and, without previous knowledge of high leveled pc groups, it has loads of the best advice. The ONLY problem that I noticed was the one I noted.

 

 

 

P.S. Can't wait to see you on the Affliction boats, by the way. :D

[Trojann2]

I still cannot figure out how people can overcomplicate such a simple game. Kill the portals(s), get in 50 dmg, go to the boat, do it again. Oh, and it may help to join Affliction or Heart Unit :wink: .

 

 

 

Anyways, very nice guide; I see you have a lot of time on your hands :P .

 

 

 

Yes to the first Part...It's odd how people can't just kill portals? #-o

[nomader]

yes, this would be a great guide for the lower levels and the people on 78...good job on that.

 

 

 

Like you have seen though, affliction and heart unit use a strategy of swamping the portals (they go down within seconds and I have to use 4 dds specials and a whip just to get my 50 points). The only players not swarming the portals are the 1 or 2 people at the night killing the things attacking him.

 

 

 

By swarming I mean, if the portal doesnt have more than 2 spinners on it, it is going to die.

[look_its_rob]

Ugh! You forgot my noob tactics! Chop wood and fix gates and baricades even though some are pointless.

[nobbla]

or you can just goto the pc world and not have to worry bout tatics

 

 

 

still have to deal 50 damage, lazy git.