Guide:AB Capping

One of the most efficient ways to tackle an AB match is to have all teams efficiently capping. Often a win or loss is determined just by who is capping and holding cap points.

Purpose
This guide is to explain the tactic "capping" in the context of alliance battles.

Tactics
On each alliance battle map there are 7 cap points. These points will grant your team with a positive effect when you capture them. Capturing the resurrection shrine allows players to be resurrected closer to the battle, there are certain speed boosts and also "elite" NPC's that when spoken to will follow a player into battle. These buffs mean that if you hold the majority of capture points your team will be in a strategically better position.

There are five maps, Kaanai Canyon, Etnaran Keys, Saltspray Beach, Grenz Frontier and Ancestral Lands.
 * For Etnaran and Grenz the capture positions are the same.
 * Saltspray is similar to above with the addition of an extra resurrect shrine.
 * And lastly Kaanai has the same position of capture points as Ancestral Lands.

When the capping tactic is employed each team basically goes straight forward and caps the two points ahead of them. A team going left will cap both points on the left side of the map, center goes straight forward and the right team caps both points on the right.

One thing is vital when using capping, don't get caught up in petty fights, fair enough defend it from the first wave of people attempting to recap but ideally you should always be on the move in battle, moving to the next cap point. Once the first cap shrines have been taken the most efficient way to cap is to move in a circular fashion around the map capping as you go. It's worth mentioning that most people view the res shrine as an important cap point so there often is a huge battle there which if you are capping it's best not to get caught up in unless you're at 6 of the possible 7 cap points.

Note that holding shrines will yield 1 point per 7 seconds per shrine and that killing a player yields 3 points.

General usage
In all cases, a capping team is meant to run around the map at high speeds and wipe out the two to three NPCs at each shrine. This is nearly always done by bringing at least one player with Area of Effect damage.

As an example, see Build:Team - AB Balanced. This team contains:
 * 1) An Elementalist with Fire Magic nukes (Searing Heat plus Meteor) and the group movement buff "Fall Back!". This reduces time wasted walking between shrines.
 * 2) A Ranger with snares and interrupts to punish solo cappers.
 * 3) A Warrior frontliner to obliterate anything caught by the ranger.
 * 4) A Monk to sustain the team.

Exceptions
The offensive team is at a disadvantage on the Kaanai Canyon and Ancestral Lands maps. This is due to (1) the elite NPC shrines being located within the central fortifications, and (2) having a central resurrection location. Running around the perimeter capturing (and then losing) the five outside shrines may not be enough with the other two shrines ticking away in favour of the defensive team.

Instead of only capping, the offensive team should also consider defending shrines, specifically the two resurrection shrines on the bridge and the equipment station between them. Evidently capturing the northern 3 capture points alone will not be enough - you will need 4 capture points to win (one of the southeast or southwest equipment stations).