[1110][Guide] How to be a Better Offensive Builder

Okay, so many people are now trying out the offensive builder, and it makes me happy to see this, because it breaks a lot of stalemates, but the only trouble is that those who are trying it out have little to no clue what exactly to do. I'm here to solve this dilemma.

First: Survey the battlefield as another class, such as an archer. Take note of any weak-points in the enemy's defense that either have minimal access to it or would be easy to break through.

Second: Go back to your base and change to a builder. Make sure you don't have anything incredibly valuable on you. No gold. Minimal stone (unless you have a plan in mind, I'd only take 50 - 150). Any amount of wood under 300 is generally ok, but take more if you feel it necessary.

Third: Find a friend, if possible. If it means saving their life, or simply asking them to come along, try to get a knight or archer to support you in your valiant effort.

Fourth: (Optional, but recommended) Explain your plan to your friend(s). Tell them what you plan to do, and what to do should something go horribly wrong.

Fifth: Execute your plan. If you don't have a plan, here's what you should generally do. First off, expect hazards. You'll probably die, so don't go crazy if you do. Next, try to let your friend(s) take care of any dangers while you hang back. Keep your camera zoomed out as much as possible. Once the coast is generally clear (knights don't expect a builder to jump over them in the middle of combat, so take advantage), then head up to the structure you're trying to get through. Make sure you either place doors or have your friends right beside you, and then surround yourself with a pattern of stone, wood, stone, wood. Note that you can create your protection with all wood first, and then create the pattern by placing stone over the wood. Once you're blocked off, start mining. Your friends should be protecting you inside of your mini-mine. Don't forget that it's usually not just you and your group. There's usually a full-scale war going on outside of your mini-mine.

Sixth: Remember this: If ANY competent enemy spots you, you're definitely top-priority. Alert your friends if you see any enemies so that they can be prepared. Once you've taken out most of the base of a structure, then attempt to collapse it. You don't always have to do this, though. If you're just going for one objective, then make sure your friends are safe, and get that objective. If it's a hall, then just capture it and fight off defenders. If it's a flag, you'll need to escape. One thing I should mention is that it may be a good idea to bring enough wood and stone along to make a transport tunnel, so that you don't have to make an escape. Just make sure there's one at your base first!

Seventh: The escape in detail. If you haven't been spotted yet, once you grab that flag / capture that hall, you will be. If SOMEHOW you're still not spotted even then, then just run home. If you have been spotted, you have a few options. By now, there are probably enemy builders trying to break into your mini-mine. Shoot them off first, if possible. They prove to be quite annoying in an escape. Your next priority is, believe it or not, archers. Remember that you're defenseless on the escape, so you need to either escape by tunneling underground, or take them out. Knights should prove easy, as long as you have some friends. If not, then I recommend either a surprise escape or a defended escape. If you should choose the surprise escape, what you need to do is whittle down (but not break) multiple blocks that could lead to a possible exits. Make it so that you would only need to hit one block one time to start running. Then, start playing mind games with your enemies. Run around. Fake them out. Taunt them. Converse with them, then ditch them while they're typing. Once you start running, never stop running. If you should choose the defended escape, then you may still want to start out with the surprise escape, and then once you break out, here's what you should do: pull out your wooden platforms and rotate them so that you could turn around and run through them. Every once in awhile, place a stack of 1-3. Try not to stop while doing so. This should make it difficult for anyone to follow you. I personally recommend the defended escape if it's just you (which it shouldn't be) and the surprise escape if you have friends. These escapes are mostly for CTF, though. If you captured a hall, you can usually just transport back to your base hall.

Eight: Make it back home. Hopefully you've done good, but now you need to re-supply. Get some more stone and wood. If you captured a hall, go build defenses around it. Get prepared for another attack if necessary.

Tips & Tricks
Here are some neat little things that might help you, should you want to devise your own plan.

1) Unbeknownst to most players, builders can wall climb just like knights, but they need a little help. If you buy a chicken, and start holding W & D to a wall (on your right) then start tapping A in place of D, you can climb any flat wall.

2) Crates. If you hide in a crate, then have a friend carry you to the front lines, then you're not in danger whatsoever until you get there. This greatly increases your chance of survival.

3) Seed placement. If you should chop down some trees and steal the seeds, then you can grow trees wherever you'd like. Including right where you need to attack (in order to conceal the spot). You can even do this as a knight in order to prepare for your builder attack. Just hit "C" to pick up the seed from a fallen tree, then Left-Click to place it. Hit "C" again, if you're a knight.

4) Back walls. If you completely cover your mini-mine in back wall, then no light can get to it, and thus, the enemies can rarely tell if anyone's even in there. This trick is negated if you use doors.

5) Hammer. Should a plan go horribly wrong, and a builder gets into your mini-mine, don't forget they you have a weapon as well as the capability to build spikes all over the place. Make him regret invading your mini-mine.

6) 'Pop goes the weasel!' One particularly neat trick, although it takes a bit of time, is that you can build wooden back walls next to a tree up into it's bushy branches, then put blocks there. You can then stand right in the middle of the blocks and become hidden. Once any threats pass by, just jump out and continue on your merry way. Usually only works with pines. Can be combined with trick #3 for multiple hiding spots.

7) "Mine'd your back!" Another great trick to use is to either buy a mine and put it in your inventory before you go, so that when you die, your corpse is a hazard, or to place it behind you when you're mining into the enemy's defenses, so that anyone who enters must be careful not to rush at you. Also see [1110] Koto's guide to defensive mining. His techniques can be used here as well. Even though it says defensive.

Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps. Pictures may or may not come soon.

 

Is it bad I just run into the fray spamming ladders and blocking doors till I die?

 

Probably. That often doesn't do much other than make the other team hate your guts. You don't want that as a builder.

EDIT: However, it does go very well with a protected transport tunnel to the front lines, because with everything harassing the enemies, and you blocking off any ways of defense and providing a stable offense, it will often knock the enemy off balance and provide your team with an advantage.

 

Being solid with archer & builder is great for switching out when you get the chance to mine something out.
I'd say most of the time though, a full offensive builder is going to get wasted before he digs in. I like setting up a sawmill in base so i can always have a fair amount of wood when I head out. Watch where the action is, if theres too much fighting in front of the enemy buildings, hang back a little bit and build forward structures to give your team a foothold. This helps your team keep the pressure on so you can move in and start sapping once the enemy gets pushed back a bit. Basically, if you're always dying or sitting waiting for your opportunity to sap, you're wasting time, always have something to do while waiting for the right moment.
The forward structures help protect you from archers too. Any builder moving up the map is going to be top priority archer food. Even a few wooden platforms placed right make you way harder to take out.

Feel free to ignore all of this and run into archers though, I could always use the extra gold

 

Thanks for this added info. I appreciate it. And remember, folks: offensive builders are any competent enemy's priority target.

 

Something I really should have added: Check the mini map!
It's the best way to tell where the action is and how far it's safe to move up. You can tell how much action is between you and the enemy base and figure out your approach accordingly. You can always hang back and patch your own base up if it's too hot, or switch classes and take some ground, then go builder and run in when you see an opening. Archers & Knights really need to do this too when buying kegs & bomb arrows to avoid losing them. If the map is full of enemies and you make a run on their base, you're just giving them free stuff.