--The Basics--

Raid Perparedness:

The key to any successful defense is a fully prepared and in-tune defense group. There are many skills that can come into play here, but to fully utilize these skills, whoever is defending must be ready to listen, fight, and die for the defense of the City. There are a few things that you can do to be ready for a raid.

1. If you are able to use a bow, or have an artefact bow, keep a quiver full of arrows ready to go and make sure that your forged bows aren't about to decay. The arrow venom types that, in my experience, have been the most effective to use are curare(paralysis) and aconite(stupidity).

2. Keep a healthy stock of eye sigils handy. The best practice for this is to keep them in a bag of stasis to prevent decay. Eye sigils are key to pulling phased serpents out, avoiding possibly lethal backstab chains.

3. Place a shimmering orb on the ground in the room where your defense party is regrouping/staging. This orb will prevent veilglance and other farsighted abilities from the enemy.

4. Be ready to follow orders. A successful defense depends on how well our soldiers can follow the orders of the defense leader. It is crucial to put pride and ego aside for the good of the City and do what the raid leader says. Discrepancies can be discussed when the raid is over.

--LoS--

LoS, or 'line of sight' is a very common tactic in group scenarios. LoS skills vary, but three of the most popular are:

Snipe(Serpent) - A maximum of 10 rooms in direct line of sight.
Bowmanship(Runewarden/Paladin/Infernal) - A maximum of one room in direct line of sight.
Breathstream(Dragon) - A maximum of one room in direct line of sight.

A well executed LoS attack can win a battle. I have seen it drive raiding groups away very effectively, as arrow damage scales based upon health amounts.

--Shielding--

This actually plays into LoS attacks, as shielding is usually the best way to avoid getting hit by them. Shields stop LoS arrows and breathstreams from hitting you, plain and simple, so make sure that everyone in the defense party has a fully charged shield tattoo before combat commences.

--Icewalls and Stonewalls--

Another effective countermeasure against LoS attacks are icewalls and stone walls. Arrows cannot penetrate these obstructions and these can give you crucial time to regroup.


--Parties--

When it becomes clear that a raiding force has entered Cyrene, a raid defense party should be formed immediately. As a leader steps forward and designated themselves as such, the party invites can begin. The best practice here is for everyone who wishes to defend to get indoors on a guard stack, or out of direct line of sight and on a guard stack. Once the party is formed, the leader should define themselves as such to the party, assume command, name their secondary and tertiary leaders, and begin the defense tactic that they choose.stat


--Following Orders--

This is quite possibly the most important concept of raid defense. There needs to be a CLEARLY defined leader calling targets and shots, with everyone else falling into order acceptance and focusing on the called targets. The defense leader should have two backup leads in case he or she dies in combat. All defense leads need to be clearly named at the beginning of the defense. Seasoned raiders will do everything they can to break up a raid group and get people fighting a battle on multuiple fronts. This is what kills a good defense.

--Rushing--

Sometimes, when the raid leader deems appropriate, the defense group will rush the attacking enemy force, which causes a switch to melee, in-room combat. The key thing in this scenario is to keep a cool head, be in-tune with defense leadership and target calls, and focus fire where instructed. These fights can get very loud and chaotic, but can be very winnable if orders are properly followed.

--Regrouping--

There are times when you will need to regroup your defense party. Always watch the party chat to find out if and where the regroup will take place, and get there as quickly as possible. These breaks in combat can give you a chance to re-def, re-rune, or re-tattoo as needed, and tilt the advantage back to your force.

--Announcing--