The enemy has captured your flag again and now you intend to do something about it.

Good for you. Deciding to play defense is a great idea. It's the most most important thing you can do for your team. If your team can't defend their flag, it's going to be VERY hard to win.

Choosing to defend your flag is great, but let's take a moment to think about the best way to do so. Keeping a few things in mind can make all the difference between successfully defending your flag and not being able to stop the enemy.

1. You are not a mountain



Mountains can cover huge, open areas. You can't. Find a small area to defend. A tiny doorway enemies need to pass through. A narrow corridor. Any time you can force an enemy to attack a small area, you have an excellent chance of scoring a direct hit, as they have nowhere to dodge.

2. Listen



You will hear things on defense. Bumps and grunts, explosions and cracks. Try to learn what they mean. For example, every time an enemy jumps down an elevator you will hear a cracking sound (if you are nearby). Learn to repond to this sound, and you'll be ready to kill the attacker before he even knows you're there. Every map and every base has places where the enemy will make some small noise, and alert you to where they are attacking from.

3. Be Ready to Retreat



So you've found a great spot to defend, and you're looking and listening actively. That's a great start, and should help you get the jump on any single attacker you face. What happens if a group of attackers show up?


One of two things will happen: You will retreat or you will die.

Plan out in advance where you plan to fall back to. Ideally, pick a spot that gets you out of the enemy's line of fire as fast as possible so you can get set to face them again. Don't stand your ground and fight a hopeless battle - fall back - and let your team know what's coming in.

4. A Quick, Tough Defense: Build a Sentry Gun in your Flag Room, then defend it.



Want a quick defense that will stop many inexperienced players cold? Build a flag room sentry gun. Once you upgrade your sentry gun to level 3, it will exterminate many unsuspecting enemies on offense. Even if the opposing team manages to destroy your gun, (which takes a fair bit of time and effort) they only get to capture your flag once before you have the gun rebuilt and upgraded again, ready to kill them once again.

With an experienced soldier protecting your gun, (checking for spies and watching for heavier offense) your gun can secure your team's flag against all but the most skilled attackers.

With some practice, you can become good at killing spies and defending your gun as a lone engineer, basically providing your team with a one-man defense.

5. Can't do this Alone for Long



Defense is a team sport. There are many more ways in and out of your base then you can defend alone. A setry gun in the flag room helps, but cannot do it all against the many talented players in MegaTF. Communicate right from the start - let your team know where the enemy is attacking, and if an enemy takes your flag. Even if your teammates aren't communicating well at first - keep talking - many players will try to help.