When to Attack & General Strategy

[Meddsan]

Posting on behalf of my boyfriend, Gritteh.

From starting the game, there's always been the question of when to actively hunt people down, or completely avoid them. For a while, I, and the people I play with would end up always losing points at the end of the game even if we survive a long time and have good stuff!

We have found that the problem is being too passive.

When you look at the damage of no tool, it's half a heart (discounting armour), so it's the lowest amount of damage possible, therefore we decided fist fights are a complete waste of time, and to avoid combat if you have no tools to hit with.

Looking at the damage of a wooden sword (which is perceived to be terrible by most) it is 2 hearts! Stone is only half a heart more. This means, with a wooden sword, you do 4x the amount of damage than someone with no weapon! And it also means you're not at a huge disadvantage when fighting someone with a stone sword.

This lead to the mindset of how we play our games. To be very short: as soon as you get at least a wooden sword, HUNT PEOPLE DOWN. You may think this is silly and you should loot some more, but think about it... When you get a basic sword, you're going to be early in the game, this means others in the game will not have much at all, meaning the likelihood of finding someone with a sword is much lower than it will be a few minutes later!

So, don't misunderestimate the power of a wooden sword (or stone axe of course). Strike early and be bold, because that's how you get points.

 

[ThisJKid]

Sure, you can go hunting people down with your wooden sword but the likely hood of getting everyone in the server is pretty much nil. You may go an get 10 kills but the remaining players would have had the time to loot chests and get stuff equal to or better than your items.

I rarely target players unless I see someone who I know is extremely good and I need to take them out before they loot up, that's pretty much one of the only good reasons to go out killing players instead of looting chests.

 

[Meddsan]

Sure, you can go hunting people down with your wooden sword but the likely hood of getting everyone in the server is pretty much nil. You may go an get 10 kills but the remaining players would have had the time to loot chests and get stuff equal to or better than your items.

I rarely target players unless I see someone who I know is extremely good and I need to take them out before they loot up, that's pretty much one of the only good reasons to go out killing players instead of looting chests.

I disagree, you said there you "may go and get 10 kills" and this is exactly my point. Lots of kills = lots of points, and you're gonna pick up 10 people's-worth of looting time, therefore theoretically gaining more loot than you would searching for chests. In the end, being geared for the deathmatch AND already a lot of kills, so if you die you still will have gained more points than you'll lose.

 

[EvermoreHD]

There's this thing called running...

 

[Gunnishone]

I sorta disagree with this. If I get a sword straight away I might kill a couple of people around me, but then I'll get the hell away. I've been lucky to get a sword straight away, I don't want to blow it by trying to take on a team with weapons, or getting caught on low health. I generally try to stay away from people until DM, unless I see an easy target. The longer I'm away from people the longer I have to gear up, the more chance I have of winning. If I get full iron and an iron/diamond sword, then I may begin to look for people to speed the game up.

 

[Kaine]

in the past i have found that going out and just trying to kill people rarely turns out well, pick a solid chest route and stick to it.. you have more chance of winning and less chance of dying if you dont run into anyone the whole game and get looted up rather than going to kill someone with nothing but a wooden sword..

 

[EvermoreHD]

This method might be effective to get points, but not very effective when trying to win.

 

[ThisJKid]

I disagree, you said there you "may go and get 10 kills" and this is exactly my point. Lots of kills = lots of points, and you're gonna pick up 10 people's-worth of looting time, therefore theoretically gaining more loot than you would searching for chests. In the end, being geared for the deathmatch AND already a lot of kills, so if you die you still will have gained more points than you'll lose.

Points are only good for placing bounties on rivals and sponsoring friends, they won't get you higher in the leaderboards. And like you said before:

others in the game will not have much at all

What's the point in killing 5-10 people who have nothing of value while the remaining players actually loot chests and follow routes to the point where they out-gear you?

You may believe that a wooden sword is not much worse than a stone sword but that can make all the difference, on a player with no armour the difference between life and death is just 1 hit with a stone sword. A diamond sword kills in 2 hits less than a wood sword so unless you are a good pvper you won't get very lucky.

Referring to the original post, no-one, and I mean NO-ONE, should spend a whole game being passive and then end up dying in deathmatch. I have a maximum game length which is around 55 mins because I would be passive, loot chests to get good armour and weapon, avoid fights and in deathmatch able to win quickly.

 

[Meddsan]

I sorta disagree with this. If I get a sword straight away I might kill a couple of people around me, but then I'll get the hell away. I've been lucky to get a sword straight away, I don't want to blow it by trying to take on a team with weapons, or getting caught on low health. I generally try to stay away from people until DM, unless I see an easy target. The longer I'm away from people the longer I have to gear up, the more chance I have of winning. If I get full iron and an iron/diamond sword, then I may begin to look for people to speed the game up.

Well, I agree with "if I get a sword straight away I might kill a couple of people... then I'll get the hell away" this is kinda what I'm on about - I'm not saying DON'T LOOT CHESTS, I'm just exaggerating the point that a wooden sword is worth a LOT more than nothing, and you should put it to use sooner rather than later. However "The longer I'm away from people the longer I have to gear up" I don't completely agree with - if you have decent stuff I think attacking people you see WHILST looking for chests is the best way because they will have more loot than a chest will ever have.

 

[aussieentice]

Kick em while there down xoxox

 

[MrKorrenian]

I've always been the get what you can and bolt guy.

 

[Meddsan]

in the past i have found that going out and just trying to kill people rarely turns out well, pick a solid chest route and stick to it.. you have more chance of winning and less chance of dying if you dont run into anyone the whole game and get looted up rather than going to kill someone with nothing but a wooden sword..

Hmm, well to me, I like getting points, and for me, actively killing is the best way. However, I think killing whilst looking for chests, i.e. when you happen to come across people, is great for loot. And I'm not saying go around with a wooden sword the whole game.. When you loot chests and don't run away from fights, you will get great loot quicker.

This method might be effective to get points, but not very effective when trying to win.

It is great for points, and I think it is effective when trying to win. Again, not saying don't loot chests, but not running from fights when you have a sword is best.