Team Build: The Hammer and Anvil - U/[Cerberus or Geth]/Gold Approved

Since my last team post The Blood Pack Hitsquad was relatively well received, I thought I would talk about the regular team build my crew rolls with since the hitsquad is more of a novelty team.

I refer to this team build as the Hammer and Anvil because it consists of dividing and conquering the enemy and smashing them. This team build can work against any enemy, but it really shines against Geth and Cerberus because they don't press as hard as Collectors, and Banshees can wreck havoc on your lines.

So, Against Geth or Cerberus you'll have a nice, smooth round using few if any consumables.

The map:

In short, you need to find any place on any map where enemys approach from two sides only. My personal favorite is Firebase Glacier in the lower levels or Firebase White at the back of the map.

The Team

Each pair needs to have a specialized Shield Stripper/Debuffer (The Anvil) and a damage dealer (The Hammer). The beauty is that there are so many classes to fulfill the roles, you can keep things fresh and rotate your classes.

My favorite Anvil is a demolisher, which using arc grenades can quickly erase groups of shields and stun enemies for his Hammer, and a Homing Grenade speced for Armor mitigation will allow his Hammer to absolutely wreck any Bosses. Or (as mentioned previously) a volus engineer with an acolyte/Recon mine set to expose. Newly added to this list is the Sentinel Paladin, who can use energy drain and snap freeze to debuff and wreck anus with the fire shield.

The Hammer is generally someone with a high powered armor piercing weapon. Generally a Destroyer with a Typhoon, Particle rifle or an Infiltrator with a Widow/Black Widow/Javilin. It also can be a Vorcha with flamer (provided he stay with his Anvil) or a Melee specc'd Krogan/Batarian.

The Game Play

Each Hammer and Anvil split into pairs and hold an area of the map. The closer the two teams, the better.

First: Do not leave your teammate. Ever. If someone needs Ammo, you both go to the Ammo box. On Objective waves, either a pair goes, or the whole group goes. (Notable Exception: An Infiltrator can go by himself for the Disarm objectives.) If this happens, it really helps if the Hammer is a demolisher, who can spam grenades and hold their own. If the Hammer cannot hold back waves of enemies by themselves, the Hammer should move to the other fire team.

While playing, the Hammer should skip targets with shields or easy/unthreatening targets in favor armored or unshielded targets.

The Anvil should always attack shielded targets or debuff bosses and let the hammer finish off the now unprotected and debuffed targets.

Of course, when there's only one guy in the field of view, anyone can kill whomever they want. Otherwise, it is important for the Hammer to keep track of who the Anvil is debuffing.

The Result

Without having to worry about shields, heavy hitting weapons classes will absolutely wreck debuffed bosses and tougher bad guys. No more shield gating preventing you from taking out a bad guy in one shot because you hit the chest instead of the head - without shields you can hit that nemesis in the groin and still get a kill.

Again, the Anvils in this case end up getting the lower scores but who really cares? The end result is a relaxing and easy Gold round that will allow you to sip on a beverage while playing.

Note: It is perfectly acceptable and fun to replace a weapons based pair with a Biotic team, where the Anvil will be the biotic primer (Here's looking at you, Justicar) and the Hammer will be the other biotic spamming Throw/Warp/Shockwave. Give one or both of these classes acolytes and prepare for a fun game.

Finally, sometimes you'll be at a time when ALL of the enemies are going to one of the Hammer/Anvil pairs' side. In these circumstances, the second fireteam can and should move to support the first - but only so that the Hammer can assist. The second Anvil should watch their back and watch for flanking, so that the s/he can have the second hammer return if necessary.

Finally2: When introducing new people to this strategy, I've been told that it's 'boring' because it makes Gold too easy. Which is exactly the point. This will make Gold seem like Silver. If that's not your thing? Take this to Platinum and have fun, or don't work as a team. My favorite Gold rounds are the ones where I forget I'm playing Gold.

TL;Dr: Work in pairs with one person specializing in shields and armor debuff and the second person specializing in armor penetration and damage dealing.