My CTF Capping Guide from the MW2 forum

I decided to post my guide on here and update it a bit.

This guide is mostly for lone cappers because you can't really depend on having help in pubs. I may make a capping guide for clans later. I don't care for this game that much but I usually do a capping guide for every game so here we go...

Classes

CTF is my favorite mode so I currently have 4 (my 5th class is for FFA, TDM, and SnD) different classes that I use for capping, depending on the situation. I know that some cappers prefer using a handgun with the tactical knife but I don't have any experience with that so I'm going with what works really well for me. My opinions may change when I hit 70 but this is what works at the moment.

Capper 1 UMP with Silencer, Magnum with Tact Knife, Claymore, smoke grenade, Marathon, Lightweight, Ninja. I prefer using Ninja on this one because commando with the tact knife is cheap. But if you're new to capping, using commando will be helpful.

This one is made for pure speed and elusiveness. The first thing I do is place the claymore at some point in the route I plan to use to get back to our flag in case I have a chaser on me. It works pretty well. And I like to use the smoke grenade for multiple reasons. Its useful for going through open areas, its useful for tossing at the flag if you know where their campers are, and sometimes if I'm playing an open map like Wasteland, I like to toss the smoke nade in a different direction to divert a defender's attention away when I'm approaching the flag. You wouldn't believe how often it works.

Capper 2 UMP with Silencer, G18 with silencer , stun grenade, tactical insertion, Marathon, Cold-Blooded, and Ninja. This is my stealth capper class. I use the tactical insertion for another quick capping attempt after I die. Its easy to catch defenders off guard right after they kill you.

The next two classes are for kicking some ass. ;O)

Capper 3 ACR with Red Dot, Spas-12, frag grenade, stun grenade, Marathon, Stopping Power, Ninja. If you see the Spas-12 in my hands, it means I'm coming to kick your ass before I take your flag. This is the loadout I use when they have a lot of defense on the other side or I'm just annoyed. LOL

Capper 4 ACR with Red Dot, Akimbo G18, Tactical Insertion, stun grenade, Maration, Lightweight, and Commando. This is another good one for kicking ass. And I use commando to eliminate fall damage (I use some crazy routes on some maps) I rarely knife with this class. This is probably one of the cheaper classes in the game but when you're playing against a stacked team in a pub, it helps even the odds a bit.

Knowing the maps

The most important thing for any good capper is to memorize every single part of the map. You need to know the best capping routes, where you can break off into an alternate route if necessary, where every object is that can be used as cover, where people usually camp, where people usually try to cutoff a capper, etc...

Awareness

You always see people talking about awareness in almost any type of fps gaming guide because its one of the most important things for any fsp gamer. This is especially important for CTF. You need to know what is going on around you at all times. You need to listen for sounds, watch for movements, know where both flags are on the map when they get taken, constantly be looking around and moving, watching areas where people like to camp, etc...

Route-Running

One thing that always makes me laugh is when I see someone grab a flag and then basically run in a straight line back to their base. Needless to say, they die more often than not. One thing you need to do is to learn how to zigzag and use cover (trees, pipes, vehicles, anything that obstructs the chaser's view) while running. The majority of my deaths as capper happen either immediately when I grab the flag or when I get back to my own flag area to discover half the opposing team waiting for me. I don't die (except on a couple of maps that I'm still learning) as often on the run back to my flag area because I make it very difficult for people to hit me.

Do NOT run in straight line, learn to use cover while running, and do NOT use the same route over and over because it makes you predictable and an easy target.

Before I end this, I need to discuss one important aspect of becoming an elite capper. You absolutely MUST forget about kd/ ratio. Don't look at it and dont worry about it. A truly elite capper is probably going to die and die often. As a result the elite capper will probably have more deaths than kills. Why? Because the main difference between an elite capper and a good capper is that the good capper will often go for unneccessary kills on his way to or from the enemy flag. When you do this, two things happen: First, they know you are coming. Second, they know what direction you are coming from. An elite capper will ignore potential kills unless the person is a serious threat to your cap on the way back (camping a spot that you plan to run past) or they are directly defending the flag.

A true test for any capper is to grab the flag and get back to your own flag without firing a single shot but that can be difficult sometimes. But regardless, you should NOT go for a kill unless you absolutely have to... Remember, your main goal is the flag so don't get distracted and don't give away your position.

One time in a CTF match I played on another game, I actually went 7-33 while capping. And in the end, my team won because of the 5 caps I had. That's what really matters above all to a true capper... Capping the flag. Don't worry about the rest and you'll find yourself capping easily.

I'm going to make some videos of my capping routes for each map sometime next week and post them on youtube. I'm not going to give away all of my routes but I'll post one good one for each map. I'm sure some people are saying, "oh what could she possibly know, she's only been playing a little while and i've been playing since the game was released!" Well, I've seen experienced people on this game who run bad routes and don't use cover very well. I've only been playing for a month and already average 3-4 caps a game and have only had a handful of games where I didn't cap at all. I've also been a capper on nearly every fps game I have played for the past 10 years, I've been a capper on several very successful CTF teams, and even won a tournament for capping on a game. So yeah, I know a thing or two about the subject.

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UPDATE

Well, I joined a scrim last with -IA- against [LsD] and it gave me a few more ideas for my CTF Guide.When I joined the game and we were waiting to start a couple of the [LsD] guys decided to mock my name for some reason. And of course that irritated me and I wanted to completely own them in the scrim. So when the map started, I picked my ass-kicking capper class and immediately rushed their flag area. The big difference between doing this in a pub against random players and in a scrim against an organized clan is that the clans generally have good defenses in place. That was the case with [LsD] so I died repeatedly. I did manage to kill several of them in the process but I wasn't able to grab their flag. This went on for about 3 minutes into the first half and the score was still 0-0, so at this point I finally decided to chill and use a method that works. So what I did next is....

Learn to Adapt

Having problems with Tubers? Is that annoying sniper on the roof taking you out everytime you touch the flag? Is your route being shut down everytime by clever defenders? Being able to adapt to situations is another important quality in a capper. If what you are doing isn't working you need to try something different. Experiment against their defense and find a weakness. Even though the [LsD] guys thought it was funny to mock me, I have to admit they had an excellent defense and my method of rushing in with guns blazing was failing miserably. So I tried something different.....

Timing and Patience

These are two more things any good capper needs to learn. After my many failed attempts at rushing the [LsD] flag, I decided to take another approach and waited nearby for one of the other cappers on my team to grab. After he grabbed it and ran off around a corner, two of the chasers went after him and killed him. This left one person behind guarding the flag so I immediately took him out, snatched their flag and ran in the opposite direction of the original capper, which meant the other two guys were out of position to chase me. This resulted in an easy cap for me and the other good thing about it was that it forced the defenders to start checking that spot (and others) to be sure that I wasn't hiding there again.

So one my next run, I went to the roof of the building near the flag and waited for my other capper again. After he came in and was killed before he even touched the flag, they started checking the spots to make sure I wasn't going to come rushing at the flag again. So while they were distracted, I killed them from the roof and then jumped down and snatched their flag. Again, another easy cap.So now in just a couple of minutes, I had capped against them twice and at the end of the scrim they didn't mock me anymore.