Lockdown Guide

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Introduction

Welcome, Spiral Knight! This guide is meant to show you all the ins and outs of the Player versus Player (PvP) game, Lockdown. Lockdown is a PvP activity that closely resembles the game "King of the Hill." In this children's game and/or popular video game multiplayer PvP mode, multiple people compete to stay on top of the hill for the longest time. In Spiral Knight's Lockdown, two teams compete for multiple "hills," "capturing" a Control Point by standing by it until it has been claimed. Points are accumulated by both teams by keeping control of Control Points for a [certain amount of time] until a certain point goal has been met. Depending on the number of control points, the point goal is either 500 (for a 3 control points map) or 900(for a 5 control points map).

The purpose of this guide is to provide players tips on how to win Lockdown matches. We will give you helpful advice, such as equipment recommendations, strategies on how to attack and defend points, team coordination, and more.

Capturing Points

Using a Powerful or crowd controling bomb, like Shivermist Buster or other bombs, you can, for the most part, keep the opponent off the capture points. It is also good to stick with a group, because the more poeple there are on a point the faster it is captured.

Dealing Damage

Almost how everyone is nowadays, be a striker wearing something in the Wolver Line and hold the most powerful swords you can find, Divine Avenger, Graun Faust, Final Florish, Barbarous Thorn Blade, etc.

Common Weapons

There are many weapons that are used during Lockdown, but there are trends of commonly used equipment.

Note: the best version of the weapon alchemy line will be used.

Polaris - This shock-inducing gun that fires exploding bullets with high knock-back is a common sight in Lockdown arenas of any type. With its wide range, the Polaris line is a force to be recognized.

Strategy: To be effective with this weapon, one should stay far away from target(s). The bullets will expand and deal more damage, and possibly also hurt other nearby enemies as well.

Divine Avenger - This elemental, two-swing sword is a powerhouse of damage. Though slow, its heavy damage output is highly prized in both the PvP and PvE worlds.

Strategy: Best to keep some distance, like using a gun. Because of how slow you become, strikers can get behind their back after the second swing. Recons can sneak around them too. Just try not to be there when the enemy turns around and tries to strike back!

Gran Faust - This two-swing sword is almost exactly like the Divine Avenger, save for two very notable traits: it can induce the curse status effect, and it inflicts shadow damage instead of elemental damage.

Strategy: Same as DA's.

Final Flourish - This fast piercing sword can deal substantial damage in a short amount of time and is very effective in hit and run strategies.

Strategy: Very similar to the DA strategy, but this time you don't want to come in close. Stick to keeping distance.

Guardian Tips

Guardians are mostly a support player. It is advised that they use their shield to cover allies in the heat of battle. However, the shield may drain extremely quickly, especially if your allies are taking a lot of hits.

Guardians are also good for defending a point. Their shield ability allows them to defend from any surprise attack and launch a powerful counter-offensive. Be warned, this will not be increasingly effective against more than 2 enemies progressively.

It helps the team that the Guardians use their shield to cover wounded allies, as the shield has a slight healing ability, so allies need not travel all the way back to the base to recover.

Recon Tips

Because of their cloak ability, Recons are good for launching surprise attack, even in the heat of battle. A recon can disappear, only to re-appear behind the enemy with a hard and fast attack.

From a defensive standpoint, it is best for a Recon to not stand on the point directly, but stay cloaked. Unsuspecting enemies will advance to what they believe is an empty point, which allows the Recon to quickly eliminate the intruder.

As a Support role, the Recon may also use its Death Mark ability to strip opponents of their armor defense, making it easier for attackers to dispose of them. However, straying too close to the enemy will result in damage, which will break your cloak. Caution is advised when undertaking this course of action.

Be warned, although the Recon is rendered invisible during its use, the recon marks give away the fact that there is a Recon in the vicinity. It is advised that when launching surprise attacks, the Recon stays away until it wishes to strike.

It must also be noted that while the Recon Death Mark strips armor defense, this ability does not do anything to the shield of a Guardian. The shield's ability will stay the same, but the user itself will have no defense except the shield.

Another technique to be taken advantage of is shield tapping. The recon lasts about a second after you take of your shield. Using this with a quick weapon, you can repeatedly tap the shield button to slow the recon time limit and attack without being seen.

Striker Tips

Strikers are typically an offensive class, with increases in sword attack power and an speed (when the booster is used), the Striker is good for hitting hard and fast.

While attacking, a Striker should not rely on attack power alone. Instead, a Striker should use his speed to avaoid damage, usually by circling around to the back of an opponent while they are attacking, and hit them before they can react.

The Striker should take care to sustain as little damage as possible, due to the health decrease the Class provides.

Team Strategies

Not that many teams go into each battle with a plan. Simple team maneuvers can greatly increase your teams chances of winning. Here are a couple of tips:

1. Balance positions- don't all stick to a single group. Keep an equal amount of each class. 2. Stick together- going solo will leave you an easy target for large groups with a guardian. Stick in groups of twos or threes. Again, vary the classes. 3. Guard your bases- many people enjoy continuously attacking bases or circling the arena and conquering each base as you go. While sometimes effective, a more practical way to win involves simply guarding two of the three bases. Your team will win quickly.

Here are also some strategies that can be used in a guild battle:

• Shield wall: Create a wall of three guardians. Keep the shields up and take turns attacking. One attacks while the other two block. Damage taken will be canceled out by the group shields. Also have one or two strikers weaving their way in and out. Do quick attacks and then retreat behind the line.
• Recon Camping: good defense. Chill invisible next to a base. When an unsuspecting enemy comes along they can easily be surrounded.