Tartarus is a Capture the Flag and Capture and Hold map in Tribes: Ascend. It was introduced along with Hinterlands in the Tartarus Update to give Ascend a few maps with a more natural, organic look. According to developers the crashed ship in the swamp is the reason the Blood Eagle and Diamond Sword tribes came to this world; it contain ancient secrets that both want to get their hands on.
Terrain
The terrain on Tartarus is a swampy forest. There are several large hills with giant trees atop them. A waterfall-carved ravine divides the two bases and feeds into a bog where an ancient ship has crashed. Luminescent sprout-like plants grow in the water as well as under the trees. Glowing purple grass/moss can also be found around the landscape.
Base
The bases on Tartarus take a minimalist approach as there are few structures unlike many other maps. Everything is raised to keep it out of the water and there are cargo containers all over indicating that the teams have just landed on this world.
Offense
Flag Routes
Defense
Flag Defense
The flag stand is very open on this map (like most Ascend maps) and therefore can be difficult to defend. There are boxes at each of the corners of the stand which somewhat limit the directions cappers can come from but they are so small that a skilled capper can jump them. Like other open flag stands, this one is hard to keep deployables on due to bombardment.
Doombringer
Common approaches are to deploy Force Fields either between the boxes at either side or one directly behind the flag (this position will prevent any other deployment of FF's on the stand but it usually doesn't matter since they won't last long anyway). Mines between the boxes are a good idea, but again they will go quickly. The open area around the stand makes the Chain Gun/Chain Cannon, Titan Launcher, or even Saber Launcher valid weapons.
Generator Defense
Capture & Hold
There are 5 control points for C&H on this map:
- Point A is located in front of the waterfall.
- Point B is located under the tree to the right of the waterfall log (when facing the waterfall).
- Point C is located under the tree to the left of the waterfall log (when facing the waterfall).
- Point D is located under the tree to the right of the crashed ship (when facing the waterfall).
- Point E is located under the tree to the left of the crashed ship (when facing the waterfall).
Video Guides
Flag Routes by Vol1tion