| Tribes: Ascend/Drydock | |
|---|---|
 Click Image for Full Size | |
| Map Size | Medium |
| Terrain Type | Foothills |
| Remake? | No |
| Capture the Flag | Yes |
| Flag Exposure | Completely Exposed |
| Gen Room Entrances | 2 |
| Base Turrets | 2 |
| Capture and Hold | No |
| CTF Blitz | Yes |
| Team Deathmatch | No |
| Arena | No |
| Rabbit | No |
Drydock is a Capture the Flag and CTF Blitz map in Tribes: Ascend. It is a different map from the similarly named Drydock Night (a Team Deathmatch map), though it conceivably takes place on the same world.
Terrain
Like most CTF maps in Tribes: Ascend, Drydock has a symmetrical layout. A large hill with a cliff on one side divides the map, and green rolling hills allow fast ski travel back and forth. The terrain is reminiscent of foothills, with conifer trees and mountains nearby. Large hills around the edges on the map provide good sniping and artillery positions. Each team has three buildings and a tower which house their base assets, and each side of the map has a capital ship in drydock.
Base
Drydock has a wide open flag stand and a Generator in the basement. Uphill from the flag stand is a building which has the team's Radar Sensor on top. Above that is another building which houses two Inventory Stations. A tower near the flag stand holds another station, and a fourth one can be found down near the generator. There are two Base Turrets, one next to the entrance to the generator building and another closer to the enemy base downhill from the tower. The Vehicle Pad is located next to the large ship in drydock. There is also another tower near this position where many players respawn which has an additional inventory station.
Offense
The Base Turrets on Drydock are very vulnerable to both Mortar and Spinfusor bombardment. The large middle hill provides a relatively safe position for artillery strikes or snipers to harrass the enemy base. Heavy offense can quickly ski over to either of the generator entrances and blast their way inside. The generator can be accessed by a tunnel from the building with the Radar Sensor on top or through the building adjacent to the flag stand.
Flag Routes
The most common flag capping route on this map is to start behind the bases and travel around so you aproach the flag from uphill. This allows you to build up lots of speed going in for the grab. After taking the flag, you can either cut across the face of the cliff where there are usually more players, or go back around the two capital ships which takes a bit longer.
Defense
Flag Defense
The flag on Drydock is very difficult to defend because it's so open. If you can keep the Base Turrets up they will help catch more novice cappers, especially if you can back them up with a few Light Turrets. Doombringers can help by laying mines between the stand and the forward turret, as cappers will often ski across this area after a grab. The openness also makes Saber missiles useful if a foolish capper gets to much air. The Super Heavy perk is good here since you can usually see cappers coming a long way off, but staying on the flag will be difficult with the ease of enemy bombardment.
Doombringer
A HoF is essential on this map as any deployables will be destroyed in about five seconds. You can place Force Fields around the flag to cover the common flag routes, but don't rely on them to be around much. Mines are better since they can't be seen from a long way off, so place them wherever you see cappers coming in from. Common routes will come down from the cliff above you, down the long hillside above the base, and up from the area near the vehicle pad. Use the Chain Gun because you will be able to see cappers coming often on this map and may get a lot of clean shots.
Technician
Turrets won't survive long anywhere near the flag, but try putting one on the slanted part of the roof near the flag and another behind an electrical box on the flag stand near the tower; these will cover a lot of common routes, but be ready to replace them a lot. The one behind the box has the potential to surprise many attackers, if they aren't careful. Put a few motion sensors around the flag where cappers will trigger them skiing through but not be able to hit them when they shoot the flag stand. Keep the Radar Sensor repaired to help spot enemies coming in sooner.
Sentinel
Your sniping skills will be invaluable on this map to get cappers coming in and out. You can put Claymores on the flag but they will get taken out pretty quickly, so it might be better to cover the generator with them as well as one of your Drop Jammers.
Generator Defense
Both entrances to the gen room have good choke points. Below the ramp inside the flag stand building Technicians should have a turret set up, as well as some motion sensors. Doombringers and Sentinels can place mines or claymores. Additional mines just inside the gen room itself will catch players who make it inside injured. Light Turrets should be placed around the corners to surprise enemies who pass the first defenses. If there is no force field, a single turrret is often placed in sight of the tunnel to catch players just as they land. Skilled Infiltrators and Raiders will break through these defenses easily, so it is necessary for a player to quickly respond to any indication of a breach.
Doombringer
Use mines everywhere, the underground section hides them really well. Try placing one on the ledge in the shaft at the back of the base to catch emenies on the way down and also behind the corners in that doorway. Corners are great for mines. Use Force Fields to block passages that you have mined to lure enemies in close. This is especially effective in the doorway of the gen room itself. Underground the quarters are close, so the Heavy Bolt Launcher is very useful.
Technician
There are two ways to deploy turrets down here. One way is to hide them around corners to catch enemies, but these will often be destroyed before they get a shot off by Mortars or Grenade Launchers. The other option is to places them where they can cover more than one door/hallway, such as the T intersection in the back, the hallway behind the gen room, or the room with the Inv. Station where it can see up the ramp, down the hall, and into the gen room. Place motion sensors around corners that are in sight of turrets because there will be a lot of Infiltrators on this map. If you're guarding the generator yourself then be sure to use the Thumper if you can.
Sentinel
Although defending the generator isn't your normal job, a Jammer placed in the corner of the gen room closest to the Inv. Station would be very helpful to defenders for spotting Infiltrators, if you can spare one. This location is very central and will cover a lot of the base. Also a quick claymore at the bottom of the ramp or the shaft in the back is helpful too.
CTF Blitz
In CTF Blitz mode the flag changes positions each time it is captured, changing the tactics needed to capture it again. Sometimes this makes the flag easier to defend, and sometimes it makes defense more difficult. Usually the final flag position is in a covered area. On Drydock, the CTF Blitz flag locations are:
- Standard Location
- On the lower ledge of the tower near the flag stand
- On the roof of the building next to the flag stand.
- On the highest ledge of the tower near the flag stand
- Inside the building next to the flag stand.
Video Guides
Flag Route: Fast Low to High by TheSmallKiwiBird
Flag Route: Easy Low to High by TheSmallKiwiBird
Flag Route: DS Back to Front by TheSmallKiwiBird