A set of tips and strategies for the PvP Zone, Recluse's Victory, by none other than Thomas Foss aka Archon_Voss, Senior Staff Designer & Zone Director at Cryptic Studioes.

Recluse's Victory is much more of an Epic war zone than a PVP arena. With this in mind, you need to think more like a player on a larger battlefield, and less like someone street sweeping other players. This is an area where Supergroups will be able to really show their teamwork abilities and gain prestige in the presence of their piers; Solo players can be of special importance making sure that flanks are secure, scouting sectors and infiltration behind enemy lines. Support players can speed up recoveries to players as they emerge from the hospital reclamators, getting more boots on the ground faster.

This zone has a lot going on, it is not just PvP. There are three NPC information contacts stationed throughout your base that will provide you with valuable information. Reading what they have to say can prevent several trips to the Hospital. These NPC informants can be found by the green ring at their feet.

Entering into the zone you will be in a secure base of your side. Take time to look around your base, finding the reclamation chambers, the OPS map the contacts and the base teleporter that will take you into the battlefield above ground. Use the teleporter to go topside and see the staging area, or the above ground area of your base. Note that there are two exit points that lead out into the zone proper, with a vis blocking wall so you cannot get camped very easily in a time when you are vulnerable.

Too many of the enemy camping your base can be an issue; If you find that there is a blocking force waiting at your base, use the alternate way out. Each base is set up with a back door or sally port. These are located on the bottom most level of the bases across from the main portal. Using one of these doors will take you to one of 5 randomly picked exits. This is a quick way to get past the enemy, but it is not secured, so be careful!

In your base you will find an operations situation, or OPS map, located next to one of the NPC information contacts. This map will instantly provide you with:[/p]
- Location of your base

- Location of all 7 pillboxes in the zone

- Location of your sides Heavy support platforms

- Color coded Sectors of which side owns and captured what

- Blue for Hero

- Red for Villain

One quick glance of this map and you will be able to formulate where the enemy has been, and where you want to strike next, all within the safety of your base. The Ops map is also a perfect meeting and re grouping location. This is the only place which shows you where the heavy support platforms for your side are located, so take note.

How many times have you come out of the hospital or your base and got sniped, stealth attacked or teleported? If it happened to you, it probably happened to the guy before you. Communication is a huge factor in base raids and in a Task or Strike force, and just as important in PvP.

As you leave your base and enter the staging area about ground, you are only in a semi secure area, so be ready, and go out in groups if at all possible. If you are attacked or there is a threat, make sure to communicate it to your side. So many times a sniper or a stalker lives to get another kill in due to nobody calling him out as a threat.

Like many other PvP games out there, Location is everything. There are key roof tops and alley ways that make for great fields of fire. If you know that there is a Mastermind or a controller camping a roof top and teleporting Foe (because some one on your side called them out to you) then make a concerted effort to take him out with a show of force and show that says that the area is untenable for them. Do this enough times, and that sweet camping area quickly becomes sour.

Overview:

Each side has at its command 3 Heavy Class robots that can be utilized as pets. The locations can be found on the OPS map in your starting base. Think of these as the tanks of this particular battlefield. As far as fire power and the amount of damage taken, a Heavy can go head to head with 4 elite bosses and emerge victorious most of the time. A Heavy can take out most players in three shots, and are not to be ignored. These Robots can be used by any class, and work exactly like a mastermind pet; remember that these are slow movers, so if super speed is your thing, you will have to wait a while for it to catch up with you.

To acquire a Heavy, locate a platform and click on the control panel. If there is no Robot on the platform, someone has already taken it. A Heavy will re-spawn on its platform only after it or its controller has been defeated, or it has been dismissed. Be careful not to camp the spot too much waiting for one to appear, as these areas, after being discovered by the other side, will no doubt camp them.

Tactics:

Heavies are very good at helping. One of the best uses for Heavies is to capture pillboxes. A single player with a Heavy can defeat the turrets of an undefended pillbox fairly quickly, without too much risk. If attacking a defended pillbox, set the Heavy to take down the turrets or send it straight at the pill box controller to help draw fire away from you as you attack.

When attacking players, each heavy has special attacks particular to it. The Freedom Corps Cataphract has excellent medium and long range AoE capabilities, where the Arachnos Blaster has great medium range hold attacks and is extremely dangerous in hand to hand combat; and is no slouch at long range. The best thing to take out a Heavy is another Heavy.

If you are I.D.'d as the controller of the Heavy (and your name does show up on its target bar) the enemy will be looking to take you out as quickly as they can, so make sure that you are in a position such that you cannot be easily spotted, or if in the open, that you are properly defended by your team. If you have a team set up, make sure the person with the best chance of survivability has control of robot.

Overview:

The main Goal of R.V. is to secure the Temporal Anchors, aka the pill boxes. Pillboxes are cross shaped platform with a central open topped control area, with a turret on each of the 4 arms. In their neutral state, pillboxes boast a defense system of 4 boss ball turrets with amazing range, accuracy and firepower. In order to take over a pillbox all 4 turrets must be destroyed, which will enable the holographic control system to be clicked on. Once clicked on (a 5 second timer, interruptible) the temporal anchor will be set to your side, and the Pillbox and surroundings will change to either Hero or villain under your feet. Remember that everyone knows what you just did, so expect company.

Note that pillboxes, as their name states, are static defense areas. This makes them perfect targets for Warburg missile strikes.

When a pillbox converts, a defense bubble will pop up around you, and 4 new boss turrets, two long range slug throwers and two medium range missile bays, will be under your command. The Defense shield will give you defense buffs and make you immune from teleportation. The turrets give you the fire power to do some extra damage, while giving you the freedom to use your own powers.

Tactics:

Hand of God- you control 4 bosses; aiming these at one target can do a large amount of damage very quickly. The range of the turrets makes them particularly good at hitting flying enemies, with the bonus of the missiles having a chance to drop them out of the sky. This is a very good tactic against Heavies coming at you, or if you have team support.

If you are only one person to defend the pillbox, put the two missile turrets on defense, and use the longer range gun turrets as your weapon of choice. This will let you still reach out and touch someone, and have good support on covering your back when attacked. Your job is to survive the attack long enough to call out to your side for help.

Any AoE defensive powers like caltrops should be spread out near the pillbox to optimize slowing your attackers and allowing you to rein fire down upon them.

Should you need to leave the center of the pill box or are knocked out, you will lose control of the turrets. They will revert to defensive mode. Simply jump back in and regain control by clicking on the control panel again.

If no one is controlling a pillbox that has been set to your side, and it still has turrets, anyone on your team can gain control by clicking on the control panel.

When one side has captured 4 pillboxes, Signature Characters from the losing side will join in on the battle to help out. They will make a bee line for the nearest enemy held pillbox and attack anyone there, especially taking down the turrets. There are two tactical options here:

Follow them!

Take a look at the pill box that they are attacking ( the information as to which pill box they are going is displayed in the chat menu) to see if there are many of the enemy around. If not, when the SIG's clobber the turrets, jump in and take the pill box. They will then immediately run to another Pill box and cause the same carnage.

Use them for a Drawing force!

Everyone wants to take down a Signature Character, for the Kudo's as well as the Temporal points and the badge: If you find that your reinforcements have drawn a large force of the enemy to them, then they are not paying attention to other pill boxes- go and attack one of them.

Once a side has captured 6 pillboxes and wins the round, a timer clock of 5 minutes starts. This is hunting time.

Winners: you get double temporal points for each enemy slain- now is the time to bring that up to 1000, which will gain you a Temp power Robot when the game resets.

Losers: The battle is lost but not the war- you have the ability to reset the clock and position yourself for the next battle. Killing 100 things (enemy, critters, and turrets) not only gets you straight up temporal points values, but also resets the clock. Remember, if you have 1000 points when the temporal reversion happens, you too get a temp power Robot.

These strategies will help you thrive in Recluse's Victory in particular, but are helpful in all the PvP zones in City of Heroes and City of Villains. Like all information, it is only good when your team knows it, so make sure to share!

Follow these guidelines, use your head, and your team will have a better chance of stopping Lord Recluse's evil plan-or stomping those tight-wearing capes into the pavement.