With the articles on specific strats being a bit on the more complex side, I wanted to do a series focused on the basics of the meta. This series on default defense meta setups focuses on operator neutral reinforcement and destruction explanations. I won't be focusing on bomb sites that aren't common primary/secondary sites or have too variable of setups. Teams will vary these based on specific strats or operator choices, but these defaults should give every ranked player a good starting point.
As a side note, I'm not using the blueprints for these simply to make it easier for those less familiar with map layouts to have more visual references.
First off will be Clubhouse, starting with the best site, Church/Arsenal:
The spots marked (1) are the default plant spots for the two sites as they are the safest and quickest to access.
The primary things to reinforce are:
- The 3 panel Church wall to deny easy entrance from main stairs/memorial.
- The 2 panel external entrance to the dirt tunnel to make a dirt tunnel flank more difficult
- The 3 access hatches in Bar, Stock, and Kitchen to at least cost time/resources as well as providing potential denial and sound cues
The last 2 reinforcements vary more, but are generally used:
- The 1st panel of the Arsenal hallway wall to prevent Ash/Zofia/Sledge/Buck from quickly opening this up and rushing into Arsenal from main stairs for an easy plant
- The Church wall panel behind generator in blue to help protect the player playing behind the generator marked (3)
Destruction
- 2 crouch rotation holes near the player position marked (3) to allow quick rotation between Arsenal, Blue and Church. The boxes in arsenal between the rotation hole and dirt door provide some coverage at crouch height, but the table in church doesn't provide much.
- A long or wide hole along the wall marked 2 that allows line of sight from Church to attackers dropping into Arsenal from the Kitchen hatch. It also provides line of sight for defenders in arsenal to shoot attackers coming from bottom of main stairs into hallway. This hole can optionally be vaultable, but keep in mind that attackers can use that too.
Next the second best bomb site, Cash:
The spots marked (1) are the default plant spots for the two sites as they are the safest depending on the areas of the map you control.
The primary things to reinforce are:
- The 2 panels in Server leading out to the roof. A large amount of the rounds revolve around this access.
- The 4 garage door panels to not allow easy access underneath the Garage rafters where the player marked (2) will be playing.
- The 2 Cash room panels that lead to Construction Connector to try and funnel attackers through the door instead.
These next two can be a little more variable, but have specific purposes:
- The panel on "trash wall" that leads to the overhang from Construction Connector. You want to prevent easy access in and out of Construction Connector from the outside and instead force them to come from Master Bedroom or the external window.
- The panel in Server to the Garage rafters. This helps deny some line of sight onto the player marked (2) in rafters after the external Server wall is opened.
Destruction
- Crouch rotate hole from Cash to top of Cash stairs. This provides a quick rotate in and out of Cash once the Server wall is opened. Allows a player to rotate to/from Cash stairs as well as fight attackers entering from Server wall through the doorway to Server.
- Crouch rotate from Garage rafters to Server. This allows a rotate to/from the rafters without being funneled through the window where you are more exposed to attackers already in Garage. It also provides line of sight to attackers attempting to plant in the default spot.
I will not be covering Bar/Stock as its rarely played (see the previous post for INTZ's setup), or Gym as the setups there vary quite a bit.
While this is far from an exhaustive guide to all the possible PL defensive setups, it should give you something to start with as a base for your own ideas! Stay tuned for more in this series covering other PL maps. - mzo
PS. Both these setups are available in my public Battleplan for you view! Click on the Information button at the top to get a button to copy it to your account to use as a starting point.
