Capper is short for one who captures the flag. This is one of the primary positions in the Capture the Flag game type. In simple terms, the job of the capper is to grab the enemy flag off of their flag stand as fast as possible and bring it back to your base, then, if possible, capture (or cap) it by bringing it to his own team's flag when it is on the flag stand. The method of achieving this cap changed greatly between Base and Classic. In Base, capper was not a very intricate position, and just about anyone could do it as long as the enemy defense was disrupted, and just about no one could do it if the enemy defense wasn't disrupted. There really wasn't much that could qualify one capper as being better than another. In Classic, capper is a much more dominant and variable position, where many skills come into play, such as knowledge of the fastest routes and ability to improvise said routes, move the enemy's heavy on flag or light on flag, weave past turret fire, and more.
Routes
If you are playing Classic, then the absolute most important things for you to learn as a capper are cap routes. A cap route is the path you take to get to the enemy flag and then back to your base. While it is possible to improvise these routes every time you go for a cap, it is definitely better to memorize an exact route, and make sure it is the fastest route you can run from this direction. Memorizing a route involves taking note of every hill that you need to ski down, the angle at which you need to land on each hill, how much you need to jet at every step of the route, and various other things that should come as common sense as you memorize the route.
For each side of each map, it is good to know multiple routes. If you only know one route, then obviously the enemy defense will eventually be realize this and be waiting for you every time. Each route should preferably approach the enemy flag from a different direction for the same reason. It's up to you which route you want to run each time, but if it looks like the enemy defense can readily stop you when you use one route, you should probably switch to another.
The route from where you start skiing to the enemy flag is what we'll call an entrance route. The route you take back to your own base after grabbing the enemy flag is what we'll call an exit route. Many player don't even distinguish between the two, but we will here just for specificity.
Front-to-Back routes
These routes, often called just front routes, involve coming at the enemy flag stand from the direction of your own flag stand - in other words, you are approaching from the front of the enemy base. Sometimes these can be good routes if you have a viable exit route that quickly turns you around, but often you will find it hard to make it back to your own base. Routes such as this are mostly used for emergency grabs, as they generally take you from your base to the enemy flag faster than other routes. Again though, if you have a good exit route, then they can make great routes for regular caps as well.
Back-to-Front routes
These routes, often called just back routes, involve coming at the enemy flag stand from the back of the enemy base and exiting the flag stand in the direction of your own base. It is often difficult to locate back routes without them being setup routes, and as such it can take a significant amount of time to set up for them. Additionally, the fact that you go around the enemy base makes it more likely that the enemy defense will notice you. On the bright side, the fact that your exit route consists of heading straight toward your own base makes these the easiest route to escape from - usually. If you die, at least the enemy flag will be much closer to your own flag stand than it was before.
Side routes
These routes involve coming at the enemy flag stand from either side. In general, the difficulty of these routes lies in between the other two, both in terms of the entrance route and the exit route. These are the most common routes on most maps, because it's much easier to find hills that direct you to and from each base from the sides than from the back.
The availability and effectiveness of each type of route is entirely dependent on the map. The above is just an attempt at a general overview.
Setup routes
A setup route is a route where you ski to a remote location on the map and (possibly) wait there before actually heading towards the enemy flag. While these routes can sometimes be faster (in terms of velocity, not in terms of time spent) than continuous routes, they are generally worse because they force you to wait away from the action. If you are heading to or waiting at a setup route, your team is essentially missing a player for that span of time. It does allow you to be ready for a fast cap the moment the enemy flag is returned to the flag stand, but in most cases, that is not a good trade-off for the other things you could be doing besides waiting away from the action - such as, helping your flag carrier, killing the enemy flag carrier if there is one, helping destroy the enemy base while their defense is distracted with your flag carrier, or even helping out on defense to keep your flag home. I suppose there are cases where being ready with a cap route is the best option, but that is something you will have to determine on a case-by-case basis with experience based on the competence of the enemy team and other subjective factors.
Continuous routes
A continuous route is one that starts and ends at your own base with no stopping in between. It can sometimes be difficult to find routes that are sufficiently fast when they start from your own base, but plenty of them exist on most maps. The largest benefit over setup routes is that continuous routes generally take less time between when you spawn at your base and when you actually grab the enemy flag. A bowl in the terrain.
Bowl
An important part of any fast cap route is something called a bowl. A bowl is any curved hill in the terrain that covers a large angle. Bowls are a crucial part of changing your direction and gaining speed. You should practice skiing on bowls to get a feel for exactly how they affect your velocity, and you should keep an eye out for any bowls that you can use as you ski around any map.
Shrike capping
The easiest and most common alternative to capping with routes is shrike capping. Shrike capping can obviously only be done on maps with vehicles. The average shrike cap is nothing more than flying a shrike towards the flag from the back and jumping out of it. Shrike caps are incredibly slow and very easy to stop, but non-the-less, they are by far the most common capping method on any vehicle map in the average pub. Shrike caps can actually be useful if you do them in medium armor. Medium shrike capping is actually a very viable strategy on maps where the flags are relatively close together, as that doesn't leave enemy defenders as much time to chase you down. However, shrike capping in light armor is a very dumb and ineffective tactic, and is inferior to literally every single other method you could be using to cap. The only time you should consider it is if you have no other choice, such as if you just happen to be in a shrike and in light armor, and you need to make an emergency grab at that moment. This could happen if you bought a shrike to chase down the enemy capper, but aren't able to kill him in time to stop the cap.
Emergency grab
An emergency grab, usually called an e-grab, is a grab that is done to prevent the enemy from capping the flag at that moment. If your enemy is about to cap, then getting the flag off the stand will delay them for at least a few seconds, even if you die right away. This is sometimes enough time for their capper to be killed, or for someone else to come in and do another e-grab, possibly more successful than yours.
Closely related to the e-grab is the llama grab. A llama grab is when you grab the enemy flag without a route. This is usually the most common form of e-grab, and usually, should only be done as an e-grab. It is pretty much always a bad idea to llama grab if you don't need to. It's much slower than a route, and it annoys your team's real capper. However, if the enemy team is about to cap, it's rare that your capper will have time to come in on a route, so it is better to have another person in the area do a llama grab.
Other roles of the capper
Obviously, when the enemy flag is not on the flag stand, the capper will need to do something else. Some cappers might decide to sit off to the side waiting on a setup route, but this is only useful if the enemy players are distraught enough that your team doesn't need you in the action.
Standoff
- Main article: Tribes 2/Terms/Standoff
A very common situation in CTF is a flag standoff. In this situation, you will have the enemy flag at your base, and the enemy will have your flag at their base. This is definitely a situation where a capper can't afford to just sit out of the action. In the case, most cappers will continue to go offense in attempt to kill the enemy flag carrier and return the flag. A strategy is to run a cap route even though the enemy flag is not on the stand. One reason for this is that it's probably the fastest way to get to the enemy base anyway. Another reason is that it's very possible that your flag carrier will be killed and the enemy flag returned while you are running the route, in which case you will be ready to quickly grab it again. If the standoff is still going when you arrive on the flag stand, you can then continue your effort to kill their flag carrier.
Light offense
- Main article: Tribes 2/Roles/Light Offense
If your team has multiple cappers, most likely one of them will defer to being a light offense on occasion. If another capper beats you to the route, you can either escort him, or fully take on the role of light offense - discing enemy deployed equipment from afar etc.
Heavy offense
- Main article: Tribes 2/Roles/Heavy Offense
Very often on maps that require strong HO pressure, such as Dangerous Crossing, the capper won't even be a capper for the first couple minutes of the map. Instead, he will go heavy offense to help destroy the enemy base and keep it down. Once the enemy is thoroughly raped, then the capper will start capping.