The dynamics of the "Opening Move"
In Domination, Opening Move is one of the most critical battles. This is especially so in BO2, because 1): it needs to be done twice; 2) The majority of the maps have B flags located at a wide open spot, making the capping a brutal effort; and 3) Players who don't care about the game type are drawn to it for leveling up weapons and completing weapon challenges for Sniper Rifle and LMG, and the enemies who are making Opening Move are ideal targets for such endeavor.
Also, IMHO BO2 offers (arguably) richest strategy options for making "Opening Move", due to 1) rich offerings of equipments; 2) ability to hack equipments, 3) scavenger to replenish equipments, 4) plant-able Assault Shield, 5) flexibility of pick-10 loadout customization.
In this post, I would like to offer my 2 cents and hopefully inspire great discussion on this topic.
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Tactical objectives during the opening moveObjective 1: capture the B flag;
Objective 2: eliminate enemies who are trying to capture B flag;
Objective 3: eliminate snipers/overwatchers who pose serious threats to the capturing;
Players can then be classified into different roles based on what they consider as their primary objective.
(Note: one objective not mentioned here is flank to C. It is out of the scope for this discussion because it does have great impact on the battle of Opening Move)
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Player roles during the opening moveRole #1: aggressive capper (Objective 1)
These guys have the absolute resolve to cap B and will stop at nothing to achieve that.
Abilities needed: speed, sight resistance, damage resistance, enemy disruption
Role #2: rusher (Objective 2, 3)
These guys prefer to eliminate enemy cappers before capping. They will run to (and often pass) the B flag, and flank the enemies who are going for the flag. They also provide support to cappers, and will step in for the cap when threats are eliminated and/or cappers are killed.
Abilities needed: speed, stealth, enemy discovery, enemy disruption, counter-sniping
Role #3: overwatcher (Objective 2 & 3)
These guys don't go near B on the opening move. Instead they go to a vantage point not far from home flag overwatching B and picking off cappers and rushers coming to B.
Abilities needed: sight advantage, enemy discovery, camp
ing support
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Obtain abilities through loadout customization(Note: choices that help the entire team are highlighted with underline)
1) Speed
Combat Knife or fast moving weapon
Lightweight
Extreme Conditioning
Tactical Insertion
2) Sight resistance
Ghost to counter UAV (not very helpful for cappers due to the standing still nature of capping)
Cold Blooded: immune to TF, DB, MMS, Sensor Grenade
Smoke Grenade3) Damage resistance
Flak Jacket against explosives
Tactical mask against shock/stun/flash/EMP grenades
Assault Shield against bulletsTrophy System4) Enemy disruption
Stun/Flash/EMP
Betty/Shock
Grenade/C4
SMAW/RPG
5) Stealth
Ghost
Cold Blooded
6) Enemy discovery
Engineer to discover equipment users
MMS
Sensor Grenade7) Sight advantage
Higher zoom weapons
Target Finder/Dual Band
8) Camp
ing support
9) Counter sniping
Weapons capable of killing head gli
chers
Target Finder / Dual Band / MMS to level the playing field of sight advantage.
Shock / Betty / C4
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Counter the abilitiesRock-paper-scissor games are abundant in BO2 (">" below means counter):
Cold Blooded > Target Finder / Dual Band / MMS / Sensor Grenade
Smoke > Target Finder
Dual Band / MMS / Sensor Grenade > Smoke
Engineer > Equipments
EMP >> Equipments except for Trophy
Trophy > EMP
Bullets > Trophy
Assault Shield > Bullets
SMAW/RPG > Assault Shield
Flak Jacket > Explosives
Tac Mask > Tactical grenades
and last but not least:
Blackhat = bad news for any hackable equipments: Trophy / Sensor / Shock / Betty / C4
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Capper LoadoutWhile rushers and overwatchers can have a lot of variations, capper loadout tends to be less variable. In particular, I find the following loadout quite effective:
Primary: Assault Shield
Secondary: B23R / KAP40
Perk 1: Lightweight + Flak Jacket
Perk 2: Cold Blooded
Perk 3: Extreme Conditioning + Tac Mask
Equipment: Smoke on small maps, TI on larger maps
This guy has the speed, the sight resistance and the damage resistance wrapping in one package, with strong CQC weapons to win the capper fight. With some strong rushers to support him, capping B is a much less daunting task to achieve.
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Capping supportPlayers who don't jump onto the flag head first should provide support to capping. Besides eliminating close range and long range threats, they can also use equipments:
1) Throw smoke the conceal cappers;
2) Put down a trophy to protect cappers;
3) Throw sensor grenade to reveal enemies;
4) Throw EMP grenade to destroy enemy equipments, especially TI, Sensor, Betty, and Shock;
5) Throw tac grenades and use explosives to deter enemy progress;
6) Use Blackhat to convert enemy Sensor / Trophy / Betty / Shock into yours;
7) Destroy Assault Shield with SMAW/RPG;
Below are 3 of my "rusher" classes that also provide such support:
1) Explosive based
Primary: SMG w/1 attachment
Secondary: SMAW/RPG
Perk 1: Ghost
Perk 2: Fast Hands + Scavenger
Perk 3: Dexterity
Equipment: Stun or Sensor + Frag or C4
2) MMS based
Primary: weapon w/MMS + another attachment
Secondary: SMAW/RPG
Perk 1: Ghost + Hardline (to take full advantage of scorestreaking opportunities provided by opening move) or Lightweight
Perk 3: Engineer
Equipment: Smoke + Frag/C4
3) EMP/Hacking based
Primary: SMG w/1 attachment
Secondary: FHJ/SMAW (anti-air support)
Perk 1: Blind Eye
Perk 2: Cold Blooded
Perk 3: Engineer
Equipment: 2 EMP + Blackhat