Tribes: Ascend/Arx Novena

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Arx Novena takes place outside of a Blood Eagle city that is being bombarded from orbit, a city can be seen burning in the distance. The structures in the map are of Roman design with villas near the aqueducts in the middle of the map. While the facade may be of ancient Rome, the inside of the buildings are certainly far more modern. All over the map, the Blood Eagle presence is seen with flags, banners, and other iconography, not just on the bases, but around the villas as well. This map is available for Capture the Flag and CTF Blitz modes.

Design

The main base is a two story structure with corridors running through the second story allowing for access to the flag from all sides. There are two decorative towers on top of each side of the base, and one tower on the ground off to the side. There are several small structures around the base used for decoration and for turret and radar sensor emplacements. The base turrets provide cover for all sides of the base. There is a small room on the side of the base which connects to the generator room via a small corridor. There is also a larger opening in the back of the base which can access the generator. There are three repair stations inside of the basement for quickly repairing the generator, along with an inventory. There are also two other inventories on each side of the map, but they are out of the way and not quickly accessible. For this reason, Supply Drop call-ins are generally seen around the base.

The generator room is in the basement of the base, below the flag stand. The rear entrance to the basement leads into a large supply area with crates, an inventory station, and two repair stations. There are plenty of places for Infiltrators to hide, and lots of things to get stuck on when fighting. The opening is large enough that some players have managed to get a Beowulf into the supply area, though this is not a wise strategy as there is very little room to maneuver, and will most likely damage itself trying to fire the main cannon. The generator sits on a platform in the connecting room surrounded by openings in the floor that are covered by force fields. While projectiles go through these force fields, they allow players to walk on them, both friendlies and enemies. The other side of the generator room connects to a small storage area with places to hide, and then connects to a small corridor that leads to the other entrance.

The vehicle station is located behind the base near the turret and the aqueduct system. The Beowulf tends to get stuck on the ledge where the terrain meets the tile flooring, and can get permanently stuck on the tree near the vehicle station.

The aqueduct system runs from behind the base, up the side of the map, across the middle of the map, and then back towards the enemy base, and then behind their base. While it is possible to go from one base to the other via the aqueduct system, it is almost flat and makes it difficult to get much speed. The aqueducts have large arches that support them across most of the map, which can provide cover for players.

Strategies

Flag

The aqueduct system, villa, and surrounding hills allow for Juggernauts to bombard the flag and surrounding area with mortars, killing anyone in the way and any form of defense. The two corridors are used generally by Pathfinders going for the flag. In order to prevent them from using the corridors, Doombringers can place Mines or Force Fields in them and Technicians can place Light Turrets in them as well. If bombardment is not a problem, these can be placed around the flag as well. The Beowulf is also a nice defensive unit to have as it can easily kill a flag runner in one hit.

Generator

The generator can be easily accessed via the small entrance on the side of the base, however, the connecting corridor is small and can spammed with mortars with no way to escape. The generator sits on a platform, like in most maps, which makes it more difficult for mortars to damage it. Infiltrators can use Sticky Grenades to destroy the generator quickly and then hide behind any of the numerous crates.